It passed by quickly, but for so reason, I just felt like doing it.
“…Liam.”
He blinked. Eighteen-year-old Liam was less guarded and more amicable than I expected. I wondered if I could use this opportunity to uncover so secrets.
“What do you an by ‘hearing voices’?”
He stayed silent for a while, scrunching up his face before slowly opening his mouth.
“Just what it sounds like. I hear voices. They always wish for my death.”
“When did you start hearing them?”
“Since I was a child. From the mont I started rembering. As soon as I began to see and feel them, they started talking to . I rember the first thing they said: ‘You will never be free from us forever.’”
The voices enjoyed mimicking people, mocking Liam as he fell for their tricks. They deceived him so convincingly that he spent his childhood in terror, thinking they were real people.
“It was awful. Living most of my childhood being treated like a mad person really ssed up my personality.”
“Wow, what jerks! Who do they think they are, tornting people like that?”
Was it my use of harsh words? Young Liam widened his eyes and then burst into laughter. His pleasant, lodious laughter rang softly.
“Tell about the person you’re looking for.”
I hadn’t expected the question to co back to , so I looked a bit flustered. I was also worried that young Liam might catch on.
Here lies the problem: Does Liam Moore’s sharpness develop even at eighteen?
“Uh, well, why are you suddenly curious about that?”
He looked at as if asking why I was questioning the obvious.
“I need to know to help you. You do want to find them, right?”
“Too much honesty can hurt adults, Liam Moore.”
“What’s with that tone? You’re not a teacher.”
Oops. I guess I was too accustod to the role-playing with the older Moore. As I tried to shift the conversation, he gave a look as if saying, ‘I’ll let it slide this ti.’ Reluctantly, I recited the details of thirty-year-old Liam Moore.
“Well, he’s thirty. Over six feet tall. An adult man.”
“Hmm.”
“Black hair and grey eyes.”
“Hmm.”
“And… uh….”
Liam sighed deeply and turned to look at . After rubbing his hair into place, he appeared a bit embarrassed, with his ears and neck reddening.
“…Are you looking for the thirty-year-old ?”
Eek!
I was naturally startled by Liam Moore’s sudden politeness. Why had he turned into such a polite child? Where did the rebellious teenager go?
My head spun in confusion as he sighed again. He returned to his usual cheeky tone and explained.
“You knew my na, and it wasn’t just a voice. Black hair and grey eyes aren’t a common combination. So, you’re really looking for the thirty-year-old , the ‘adorable crybaby’? What was the relationship between you and ?”
Damn it.
Young Liam Moore’s sharpness was already fully developed. I had underestimated him and let slip the information one by one, making it inevitable for him to catch on. Having walked into it myself, there was no way out but to co clean.
“Yeah, you’re a crybaby.”
“Damn.”
“I don’t know how many tis you’ve cried in front of .”
The sight of young Liam cursing at his thirty-year-old self was a spectacle. I kindly waited for his embarrassnt to subside.
After a while, Liam, who had been ruffling his hair, raised his head. Calming down quickly, he explained to .
“There must be a problem with him. I don’t know how you ended up here, but it wouldn’t be possible without soone’s interference.”
Even though he was still unsteady and easily shaken, thinking that such a person would grow up to et felt… strange. Knowing he would turn out well but throwing a bomb like at the clueless young Liam made feel conflicted.
Anyway, ti travel is impossible with just individual power. I sighed deeply.
“Ah, this is driving crazy. Why is life so tough?”
“You can think of it this way: a lively eighteen-year-old is cuter than a thirty-year-old.”
“Do you really say that about yourself?”
The lively eighteen-year-old grinned.
“I’m quite shaless. Didn’t the thirty-year-old teach you that?”
No. He’s shaless too. I didn’t want two Liam Moores competing in ego, so I just nodded. In ego battles, I’m always the one who gets caught in the crossfire.
Liam cleared his throat and straightened up.
“Listen. I’m currently resting in my room at Nifoisse Hall. I have the flu. Where are you?”
I looked around briefly. Then I started to describe what I saw.
“It’s black, dark. There’s no light.”
“And?”
“It’s quiet. There’s no sound at all.”
“And?”
Sharing the sa ti but different spaces felt distinctly odd. I was a bit confused. My mouth moved on its own.
“There’s only you here….”
Yeah, only you. Despite the darkness obscuring everything, it’s like there’s a spotlight on you, making everything around you clear. Then where am I?
I couldn’t understand. Struggling to speak, I gave up and looked down.
At that mont.
“It seems like it’s ti for you to go.”
Breaking the silence, young Liam spoke. He fixed his gaze on sothing I couldn’t perceive. Was sothing changing? He slowly climbed out of the bed, parting the canopy with his thin arm.
There was a change happening to him. The faint glow was dimming, and a boldness, a fearless expression, began to show on his face.
Then a pale hand grabbed mine. So pale that you could see the veins clearly, it clasped tightly around mine.
“How?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
How? Just a mont ago, you couldn’t even see . How are you now seeing and touching ?
Young Liam helped up and led out of the bed, saying,
“I didn’t do it. He’s stitching up the rift from the other side.”
“Liam?”
“Thanks to him, I’ve beco sowhat similar to you. But only for a short while. After all, I’m your ‘past’.”
So, thirty-year-old Liam is fixing so… tear in the soul from afar, and in the process, young Liam and I sohow synced up temporarily.
I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Liam or Owen would know more about such theories than I do.
Anyway, it seems like that’s the principle. If thirty-year-old Liam can interfere, so can eighteen-year-old Liam. With both of them holding the threads from opposite ends, I, floating in the middle, was found.
“It’s around here.”
Young Liam groped the empty air as if feeling for a wall and caught hold of sothing. He turned to , explaining softly.
“Take a deep breath. It won’t feel pleasant.”
“What?”
It wasn’t a kind explanation. I knew that much. Liam Moore was not a teacher. But shouldn’t he at least tell what’s about to happen?
Without ti to prepare, the dark shadow began creeping up my arm, ready to pull away.
Terrified, I clung to young Liam’s hand.
“Liam, wait.”
“This isn’t the place.”
Young Liam smiled softly. He tightened my coat around and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“This isn’t it. Staying here won’t do any good. You need to find your ‘.’”
“That’s—uh, aaaaaah!”
Without a chance to respond, I was shoved, and I began to fall imdiately. As if soone had pulled the floor out from under , the ground started sinking rapidly, increasing speed.
‘I won’t die from falling in a hallucination, right?’
But the unrelenting speed scared .
In the midst of it, the cheeky adolescent who pushed bid farewell.
‘Damn kid Liam!’
I never imagined there’d be gravity in this space. I thought the darkness would continue indefinitely, but there was an end. I fell endlessly sowhere, unable to even scream.
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