“You’re staring too much.”
At that, Seolhyang poked my side with her index finger.
When I coughed awkwardly and looked away, she just stared at me with a slight hint of dissatisfaction, not saying anything else.
It was such a moment.
“Wow.”
The moment Nae-ki let out a short exclamation, even Baeksan was staring at Juk-sim with wide eyes.
Above the ceiling.
Instead of the chandelier that had been there just moments ago, the night sky was now spread out.
As if the night sky had been sprinkled above, countless stars were shining, forming a galaxy.
The overwhelming sight was so grand that even I, who had just stepped into this world, was left in awe.
“So this is what it’s like.”
At that moment, I heard Seolhyang muttering to herself.
Even she seemed surprised by what Juk-sim was showing now.
“I knew it, but she really is from the Heavenly Realm.”
At Baeksan’s voice, I glanced back at him.
The guy, who couldn’t take his eyes off Juk-sim, met my gaze and then swept his hair back.
He had noticed my questioning look.
“From the Heavenly Realm, meaning she’s one of those constellations.”
Constellation.
It clearly means a star sign.
“I told you before that there’s one dangerous guy in Giraseong from the patient association’s perspective.”
When I nodded at his words, Baeksan clicked his tongue.
“One of Giraseong’s guys was that constellation from the Heavenly Realm. And the Juk-sim over there is the same.”
So, in short, Juk-sim.
‘Is she some kind of crazy overpowered being?’
I looked at Juk-sim, who was still holding Eva’s hand while spreading out the constellation.
Baeksan had clearly said the world had been destroyed.
Given that Baeksan couldn’t find Juk-sim until the end, it seemed she hadn’t come out of her room even when the world was ending.
‘What kind of hikikomori is she?’
Still, I was really grateful that she had come out personally for my request.
As I looked at Juk-sim’s back, the night sky above the ceiling slowly disappeared.
Then, she let go of Eva’s hand and made a thoughtful expression.
“How is it, Juk-sim?”
When I asked with a bit of concern, Juk-sim immediately picked up her phone again.
[She says it’s possible for now.]
Possible.
As soon as I heard that, my eyes turned to Eva.
Eva’s eyes widened as they met mine, and she quickly covered her mouth.
She had accepted her death and was living a life with a time limit.
Hearing that she could live again was the happiest thing for her.
“‘For now’ means there are conditions, right?”
At that moment, as if it was too early to rejoice, Seolhyang spoke to Juk-sim.
Indeed, Juk-sim had added ‘for now’ instead of being certain.
When I looked at her, waiting for an explanation, Juk-sim slightly covered her face with her hair, perhaps because the attention was too much.
Why is someone from the Heavenly Realm, a constellation, so weak to people’s gazes?
Looking at her again, Juk-sim was still puzzling.
[The reason she said ‘for now’ is because the thread between the spirit and the body is too thin.]
[The basic condition for revival is that the spirit hasn’t disappeared yet, but in Eva’s case, it’s the opposite.]
Eva had been separated from her soul and body for a very long time.
That’s why Juk-sim saw the weak connection as a problem.
[In her current state, even if she regains her body, she wouldn’t be able to come back to life.]
Hearing that, I realized why Hyuk-seo, who had successfully kidnapped Si-ho in that worldline, couldn’t save Eva.
Even if he brought her body back, there was no way for her to live.
Even if he had brought her body back, Hyuk-seo would have had to watch Eva die right in front of him, and he must have gone mad.
[But doing this, even if we want to make a new body, the probability of the soul breaking during the transfer is higher.]
Juk-sim made a slightly troubled expression, her eyebrows forming an eight.
“So what should we do?”
When I asked worriedly, Juk-sim glanced at Eva and then continued.
[If we have even a piece of the original body, like blood or a nail, we can solve it.]
A part of the body.
That meant we had to bring back Eva’s body, which was trapped in the dimensional rift.
In other words, it meant we were back to square one.
No, not exactly.
“…Si-ho.”
Even if not the whole body, maybe we could get a part of it.
No, there’s an easier way.
We could ask Si-ho to bring Eva from another worldline and take a drop of blood.
Si-ho had already brought her mother.
It wouldn’t be impossible.
I immediately told Juk-sim about this idea.
After hearing my story, Juk-sim thought for a moment and then shook her head.
[Because the worldlines are different, the imprints of the body and soul are different, so it’s impossible.]
Another sigh escaped my lips.
In the end, the first method was essentially a prerequisite.
[She says she’s sorry she couldn’t help.]
“No, why are you apologizing, Juk-sim? If it weren’t for you, even with Si-ho, this wouldn’t have been resolved.”
I quickly responded as Juk-sim apologized with a gloomy face.
But seeing her face still not brighten, Eva, who was behind her, slightly bent her knees and wrapped her arms around Juk-sim’s head.
“Don’t be gloomy. Thanks to you, we finally have hope.”
Everyone nodded.
Then, Seolhyang patted my back and said.
“Anyway, if we have a part of the body, it’s possible, right? Ha-chan, you haven’t even asked Si-ho if this is possible or not. Let’s discuss that first.”
“…Alright. I’ll call Si-ho.”
Encouraged by Seolhyang’s words, I straightened my back and exhaled.
Right, it’s not time to give up yet.
“I’ll make the call and come back.”
Saying that, I left the four of them and went outside.
Then, I immediately picked up my phone.
It was already almost 11 o’clock.
It was quite late, but given the urgency, I decided to call Si-ho right away.
Ring ring-
[Hello? Manager?]
A voice answered almost immediately after a short ring.
“Si-ho.”
[Is something wrong? Wait a moment. I’ll come there.]
As soon as she heard my voice, she seemed to sense something and said that.
Before I could respond, Si-ho appeared in front of me shortly after.
Still small in stature, she was wearing animal pajamas, seemingly ready for bed.
Meeting my eyes, she immediately stood on her tiptoes and cupped my cheeks with her small hands.
“What’s wrong, Manager? Did someone bother you? Tell Si-ho. Si-ho will listen.”
Looking at Si-ho’s worried eyes and feeling the warmth from her hands, my heart softened a bit.
I reached up and held her hands that were cupping my cheeks.
Maybe I was also inwardly struggling with Eva and Hyuk-seo’s situation.
“Bother? Do I look like someone who’d let that happen?”
“If you did, Si-ho would scold that person. Tell me. What’s wrong?”
Was it a joke on her part?
Si-ho smiled and spoke to me.
“If something happens to Manager, Si-ho will be the first to help, so go ahead.”
How did a 19-year-old grow up to be so dependable?
Hearing her response, I began to explain what had happened calmly.
Standing in front of me, Si-ho nodded as she listened to the whole story, then glanced around.
“So this is the Association President’s house?”
“Yeah, uh, Seolhyang’s house.”
“Hmm, so Manager followed the Association President here.”
Seeing Si-ho’s reaction, I flinched.
Seeing her eyes slightly smiling as she looked at me, I belatedly remembered that Si-ho liked me.
From Si-ho’s perspective, the person she liked had followed someone else to their house.
“Si-ho, uh.”
“Just kidding. Si-ho isn’t that clueless.”
Her laughter didn’t seem like laughter, though.
“So, about the dimensional rift, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
Seeing Si-ho change the topic, I stammered in response, and Si-ho made a thoughtful expression.
When it comes to space movement, Si-ho is an expert.
So, I waited quietly while she thought.
After a few minutes, she slowly began to nod.
“It might be possible.”
“‘Might’ means you’re not sure.”
“Yeah, I’ve never tried it before. But if we talk to that Juk-sim person, we might find an answer.”
A more hopeful response than I expected.
“But the problem is we don’t know how much the dimensional rift has consumed. Whether a part of the body is possible within Si-ho’s power range is honestly ambiguous.”
“So we have to try to know.”
“Right. And as Manager knows.”
“Yeah, after sending my mother back, it might be possible.”
Si-ho looked at me apologetically.
The day she decided to part with her mother was September 14th.
For Si-ho, it was the most important day, the day she made the decision after talking with her mother and Seo-ho.
I knew well how much she cried that day after talking to me.
No matter what, this was something Si-ho had to keep.
Seeing Si-ho hesitate, I began to pat her head.
“This is the most important thing for you, Si-ho. There’s nothing to be sorry about. If anything, I’m sorry.”
Eva’s limit is next month.
September 14th is two days from now.
There’s enough time to wait.
Seeing me like that, Si-ho suddenly reached out and hugged my waist.
As I froze at her action, Si-ho spoke to me in that position.
“…Manager, you’re important enough for Si-ho to worry about, so please understand.”
Hearing that, I could only smile and stroke her head.
“Thank you.”
“Just words?”
“Really, really thank you.”
“Then hug Si-ho properly.”
Uh, that’s.
As I made an awkward face, Si-ho looked up at me, urging.
“Come on.”
For some reason, I thought I saw a tail behind her waist again.
Thud-
“Not going that far?”
As I hesitated, the closed door opened with a thud.
There stood Seolhyang, and she glanced at Si-ho hugging me, then showed a chilling smile.
“Ha Si-ho, long time no see. Isn’t it too late for a ‘minor’ to be out?”
“Then Si-ho is a ‘minor,’ so Manager should take her home so nothing bad happens on the dark road.”
“Ha Si-ho can just use space movement, so what’s this about taking her home?”
“Ah, Si-ho, my nose is bleeding. I must have used too much power.”
“What a big deal. I’ll call a car right away. Let’s go to the hospital. How about being admitted?”
Si-ho and Seolhyang started glaring at each other, sparks flying.
I looked back and forth between the two and stayed quiet for a moment before finally speaking.
“…Should I just leave and let you two talk?”
I knew they both liked me, but being caught in the middle was quite a headache.
No, this is actually my responsibility.
If I were dating someone, it would be one thing, but since I’m not doing anything, the two of them are just fighting over me.
‘Sigh, trash Kang Ha-chan.’
“Did you just realize you’re trash, Kang Ha-chan?”
At that moment, Baeksan, who seemed to have read my thoughts, stuck his head out from the wall and clicked his tongue.
“I told you before. If you’re going to date, date everyone or don’t date anyone.”
Is that even advice?
There’s a way to be a decent person. How can someone date multiple people at the same time?
It’s absolutely disrespectful to the other person.
“The world might end, and you’re worrying about happy problems?”
I had nothing to say about that part.
