After the embarrassnt and sha settled down a bit, guilt was the first thing to surface. Thankfully. Uijae ran a hand through his hair.
‘Can I really be thinking like this about soone who's unwell?’
There was no worse thought than this. Uijae rubbed his masked face vigorously, but he still couldn’t shake the mory of the firm body that had clung to him earlier.
Those arms that had wrapped around his waist as if they’d never let go, the subtle rise and fall of Sayoung’s back as he caught his breath, and the small, tear-choked breaths. How could he not welco that warmth? Uijae never knew how to refuse warmth.
Especially if it was the only warmth that belonged to him.
“Ugh, I’m going crazy!”
But wasn’t this all so ssed up?
As he ssily tousled his hair, he heard soft footsteps approaching across the wooden floor. Uijae stuck his head out the door. Kkokko, the ceramic chicken, was walking toward him with a wooden tray balanced on her head.
On the tray were two ceramic cups filled with *sikhye* (sweet rice punch), and despite the movent, the liquid remained perfectly still until Kkokko reached the door.
‘That’s as steady as a bed.’
When Kkokko reached the room, she stopped in front of Uijae, her black, beady eyes rolling up to look at him. Uijae lifted the tray off her head and placed it on the table, making sure to express his thanks.
“Thanks.”
“Kkok.”
Proud of herself, Kkokko puffed out her smooth, round chest. Uijae glanced at the cups. One of the cups had “For Hong Yeseong” written on it. For a mont, he was tempted to ss with Yeseong’s designated cup, but he refrained. After all, he had co seeking help.
Uijae grabbed the cup that had no label, but he couldn’t bring himself to drink from it.
‘Those eyes…’
Kkokko, after finishing her serving task, had curled up on her cushion, staring at Uijae with her round, black eyes as if expecting sothing from him. What did she want? Unsure, Uijae gave her a cautious glance before attempting to engage in conversation.
“…What?”
“Kkok.”
Kkokko tilted her head. Uijae was good at many things, but understanding the language of ceramic chickens wasn’t one of them. He tried taking a sip from the cup, mimicking the action.
“…You want to drink this?”
“Kkooo.”
Kkokko shook her head vigorously, then let out a deep sigh, sounding almost like an exasperated human. A chicken sighing! And not just any sigh, but one designed to grate on his nerves.
‘This thing isn’t just a chicken, is it?’
Now that he thought about it, there was a certain intelligence to those eyes. Uijae stared intently into Kkokko’s black, beady eyes. Kkokko t his gaze head-on without flinching.
As this unexpected staring contest continued, Hong Yeseong suddenly burst into the room, carrying a plastic bag. Dressed in a green tracksuit, he looked even more like a slacker than usual.
“Have you tried the *sikhye* yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Try it! I made it myself. Even the bureaucrat approved of the taste. There’s also so scorched rice. Should I bring you so pickled radish too?”
“I appreciate it, but can we get to the main point?”
“You’ll leave right after we’re done talking, won’t you?”
Yeseong made a pouty face.
“I’m bored…”
Uijae narrowed his eyes behind his mask, giving him a hard stare. Grumbling with his lips sticking out like Kkokko’s beak, Hong Yeseong adjusted his posture and started breaking the scorched rice into pieces.
“Fine, fine. You brought Lee Sayoung with you, so it’s probably about him, right?”
“Yeah. He woke up.”
Hong Yeseong’s face lit up as he chewed on the scorched rice.
“That’s great! He woke up earlier than I expected.”
“But there’s a problem.”
“A problem?”
“You said before that since two souls were inhabiting one body, we needed to wait for things to settle. That we had to leave him alone until he stabilized.”
“I did.”
Uijae fiddled with his cup before asking,
“I didn’t get to ask last ti, but what did you an by ‘stabilize’ exactly?”
Hong Yeseong thought for a mont, then downed the rest of his *sikhye* in one go and slamd the empty cup onto the table.
“Well… imagine it’s like juice. Over ti, the liquid evaporates, right? If there’s no outside interference, the juice wouldn’t shake or spill. It’s the sa with souls. If you wait for them to rge naturally without any external stimuli, they’ll eventually stabilize on their own.”
“…So are you saying Sayoung woke up too early?”
“What?”
Yeseong, who had been balancing a piece of scorched rice on top of Kkokko’s head, blinked.
“Hold on, the way you’re talking… Don’t tell …”
“The souls didn’t rge.”
“Huh?”
“Sayoung has two souls inside him.”
“Whaaat?!”
Hong Yeseong’s eyes widened in shock. Uijae pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered,
“I’m sure of it. The one from the ruined world is in there. But it’s not just him—the Lee Sayoung we know is still in there too…”
“That’s really strange… Two souls, both fully conscious and aware, coexisting in one body? That’s… huh…”
Yeseong, who had been rambling like a madman, suddenly yawned, his eyes narrowing sleepily. His eyelids drooped as if he were about to doze off at any mont.
‘What’s going on with him?’
Uijae reached out and grabbed Yeseong’s shoulder as his head began to nod back and forth.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
“Huh? Oh… I don’t know…”
Even as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, his eyelids continued to droop.
“Why am I suddenly so sleepy…”
“What the hell are you talking about? Hey!”
“Mmm…”
With that, Hong Yeseong slumped forward in Uijae’s grip, letting out a small snore. Was this guy narcoleptic or sothing? Uijae, growing more frustrated, shook Yeseong’s shoulders roughly.
“Hey! You can’t just fall asleep after dropping a few hints!”
But then, a voice ca from sowhere other than Hong Yeseong’s mouth.
“I’ll answer that for you.”
“What?”
“Don’t be alard, my friend. I put him to sleep for a bit. I had to in order to intervene.”
Uijae slowly turned his head, creaking as he did so. Kkokko, still sitting calmly on her cushion, was staring at him. Her glossy beak was moving.
“Rember? Two versions of the sa person can’t exist in one world. The sa goes for and this guy. This little trick is within the system’s rules. As long as you recognize as Kkokko, we’re good.”
Kkokko was talking!
Uijae’s eyes widened. No matter how hard he rubbed his eyes, the voice was definitely coming from Kkokko’s beak. And it was a familiar voice—Hong Yeseong’s voice. The black, round eyes now had a golden symbol spinning within them.
It was the **Eye of Insight**, though far more intricate and complex than Uijae had ever seen before.
“You…”
“Hold on.”
Kkokko raised one of her white wings.
“I know you have a lot to say and I know what you want to ask, but don’t confuse with my owner. Words have power, you know. Thinking sothing and saying it aloud are different.”
“…”
“The system is already keeping an eye on Lee Sayoung. It’s also watching this place because he’s here.”
Uijae, now standing stiffly, glanced toward the ceiling. Kkokko continued in a calm tone.
“The mont we go against the rules, I won’t be able to answer your questions, and I’ll be kicked out imdiately. So let’s help each other out. I can’t tell you everything, but…”
Uijae swallowed his words and nodded, slowly lowering his head. He was speaking with the “Hong Yeseong” he had encountered at the end of the morial Dungeon. And he was the one holding the most information.
Hong Ye… no, Kkokko flapped her wings lightly and clicked her beak.
“I wasn’t planning on getting involved this ti, but here I am again. Watching you is always entertaining because you never act predictably.”
Kkokko tilted her head and started chattering away.
“But seriously, my friend, what did you do? Why did Lee Sayoung end up like this? Why didn’t the souls rge? This is sothing I didn’t foresee either. Care to explain?”
“…You.”
“Yes, friend?”
Kkokko stretched her neck forward. Uijae trembled for a mont before he suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Kkokko and shaking her wildly.
“Give back Kkokko, you crazy bastard!”
“Kkaaaak!”
The quiet mountainside echoed with the loud crowing of a chicken.
---
Twenty minutes later, Uijae was still sitting in Hong Yeseong’s love house, but now he was facing Kkokko.
Kkokko was sitting on a stack
of cushions to match Uijae’s eye level. Hong Yeseong was curled up next to her, snoring peacefully. Uijae had taken off his mask and placed it beside him, sipping his *sikhye* while glaring at Kkokko.
As Kkokko busied herself preening, she finally opened her beak to speak.
“What could have woken Lee Sayoung? Where did things go wrong?”
“Stop asking questions and just give a straight answer.”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Even though you claim you did nothing, there must have been so kind of stimulus.”
“…What kind of stimulus?”
“Well, sothing strong enough to jolt him awake. Like…”
Kkokko bobbed her head, her eyes rolling around.
“A kiss, perhaps?”
“Ugh.”
Uijae coughed into his hand, awkwardly averting his gaze. Kkokko’s already wide eyes grew even wider.
Kkokko tilted her head curiously.
“What, did you actually do it? I was just throwing that out there.”
“…”
“Wow…”
Kkokko covered her beak with one wing and muttered, her eyes narrowing into slits.
“You thief.”
Feeling a surge of guilt, Uijae shouted,
“Shut up!”
“Well, no wonder he woke up. According to the plan of the Lee Sayoung from the ruined world, the two were supposed to rge without even realizing it.”
“How do you know that plan?”
“Hm? Because…”
The **Eye of Insight** flickered again over Kkokko’s black eyes.
“I’m the one who modified that watch to make it reusable.”
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