But I can't seem to find the right time to say, "Let me go." How can I beat Ha-min with force? The only way to get out of here is for him to let me go.
“…. I feel suffocated.”
"oh"
Fortunately, Ha Min-i let go of me without any trouble. Contrary to her pitiful voice, she wasn't crying.
Just because his distorted face looked like a cat soaked in rain—I couldn't help but stroke his head.
Hamin was blinking his eyes and being petted without resistance, and he really seemed like a harmless small animal. But now, if he yawns, the surrounding area will be scorched… .
But I think it's too big to be called a small animal. Should I call it a large animal?
“I’d like to hear an explanation of what’s going on. Can we talk about it somewhere quiet?”
If you ever felt like this was a line about a bully dragging away a good student… I want to tell you that it was just your imagination.
When I looked up with my arms crossed with a somewhat serious expression, Ha Min avoided my gaze and scratched the back of his neck as if embarrassed.
“Wow… so cute… no, first of all, if I get out of here-”
… . I think there was something strange said just now?
'Kugu-kung-'
“Whoaaah!! What the heck!”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake with a loud noise, as if an earthquake had occurred.
As debris fell from the ceiling onto my head, I clung to Ha-min, shaking like a fish out of water.
It's a funny situation, since I'm now clinging to Ha-min, who I had barely managed to get away from, like a cicada—
As the fear of 'what if this building collapses?' came over me, I couldn't even afford to laugh.
“Wh, what, what, what is this? Is it collapsing here? What happened somewhere? Were we being attacked? Were we targeted? I don’t want to get crushed to death by a pile of rocks!”
“Brother, please calm down—”
The shaking stopped quickly, and the ceiling didn't collapse or anything. It was such a short period of time that it was embarrassing to think that there was chaos.
When the surroundings became quiet again, I cautiously poked my head out. The moment I realized that nothing was happening, I slowly pulled away from Ha Min, and along with embarrassment, a hot feeling rose in my ears.
Fortunately, Ha Min didn't seem to care much. He calmly looked around, then slowly turned toward me.
There was a moment of silence—
"…. brother"
"…. why?"
“I have good news and bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?”
“Ahh! Don’t be so shaky…. Why are you so nervous….”
When you hear lines like this in movies, most of them are about bad situations. I threw a tantrum at the cliché-filled words, grabbing Ha-min's arm and jumping around.
But, judging by the way the corners of your lips are trembling slightly… Are you holding back laughter right now? If so, then it might not be such a serious situation. Can we look forward to it a little?
“…. Usually, you have to hear bad news first and then good news for the results to be good.”
“I feel like we’re trapped here.”
“It’s not good at all!!!”
The cliché has betrayed me!! Even Munch's 'The Scream' would be a peaceful cheer compared to how I feel right now.
I fell to my knees, clutching my head at the words that were even more horrific than I had expected. Whether or not he knew my feelings, Ha-min bent down on one knee, patted my back, and recited the good news I had promised to hear later.
“Don’t worry. I know the way out of here.”
“Really…? Then, there’s no problem?”
“But something similar to what I just got rid of might pop out.”
“There’s a problem!!”
“Just stick close to me and follow me. I can protect you because we’re together.”
The hand that had been patting my shoulder reached out to me as if telling me to stand up. I looked at Ha-min and the hand alternately with anxious eyes, then carefully took the hand and stood up. Ha-min’s hand was as big as his height, and it was hard with calluses. It felt like touching a stone.
“Oh, that’s right. I have this for self-defense.”
He suddenly pulled out a large gun out of thin air and handed it to me very casually.
I was startled by the sudden appearance of the weapon, but now I'm not so surprised anymore.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation, so maybe I'm slowly getting used to surreal things.
Is that magic? I am reminded of a novel where a boy living in a closet hears the words, "You are a wizard," and learns the secret of his birth.
“…Hamin-ah. Do you know how to play Wingardium Leviosa~?”
“That’s a different genre.”
"aha."
I wanted to see you, Kabi.
I was surprised to see Ha Min walking away, saying, “I brought my self-defense weapon, so let’s go now,” and I followed him.
The subway station in the afternoon should normally be bustling with people and making noise, but now, instead, only a cold silence filled the space, which felt quite eerie.
If you were to experience the word dissonance in person, this is what it would feel like.
“You said you would explain it to me earlier. Should we talk about it while we walk?”
"huh!!"
Those words felt even more welcome as I was getting scared by the sound of footsteps in the quiet subway station.
As I nodded vigorously in agreement with the question, Ha Min crossed his arms and rubbed his chin as if he was unsure of where to start talking.
“I don’t know where to start when it comes to explaining… The fact that you even remember me was unexpected.”
“Then can I ask a question?”
“Yeah, that would be better.”
I decided to continue the explanation in the form of me asking questions and Ha-min answering them.
There were a lot of things I was curious about, and this moment had finally arrived. The first question I asked was…!
“Are you a wizard? You just used something like Obliviate [a memory removal spell from Harry Potter] to erase the memories of everyone around you, but the spell didn’t work on me? Then I’m also… A wizard with a hidden bloodline? Something like that cliché?”
“…. Really…. That’s a very brotherly question.”
“….Is that an insult?”
“No, I think you’re cute.”
I feel like he secretly treats me like a younger sibling because I'm shorter than him. Is it just me? Where can you find a younger sibling that loves their older brother?
“Then what are you? Are you a human? Chun-ok said you’re not a ghost.”
“…. How do you know him, hyung? Can you see him?”
“Huh? Yeah, somehow….”
Ha Min opened his eyes wide in surprise at the fact that I saw a ghost. Like a child who had encountered something unimaginable. I thought his wide-eyed, surprised face was a little cute.
“This has never happened before….”
“Ever like this?”
“By the way, do you believe in aliens?”
Did you just change the subject? I blinked at Ha Min's words, which naturally changed my question and brought up a different topic.
For now, I pretended not to know and focused on his question. It was quite an interesting topic.
“Are you an alien?”
“Terra… Well, it did come from outside Earth.”
“!! Really?”
When I heard that the subject of 'alien', which had been a frequent subject of my childhood fantasies, actually existed, my eyes sparkled in a way that was different from my current situation.
Is Ha Min an alien? Really? Real? Honto?
I stopped walking and started observing Ha Min by circling around him. When Ha Min saw me, he burst into laughter.
“But on the outside, they look no different from Earthlings? Do aliens all look like humans?”
“No, that’s not true. The reason we look similar is because… we originated from Earth. By the way, you believed us without a second thought, right?”
“Considering what we’ve experienced so far, wouldn’t it be more strange to be suspicious? If anything, the fact that it’s an alien adds credibility to what’s happening now.”
By the way, I think I just heard something important?
'Originated from Earth'? This was such an interesting topic that really expanded my imagination. I felt like a kid who was completely absorbed in science fiction.
“I’m not the only alien. In fact, my brother is just like me.”
“…. Me? Me?”
“Yeah. He was from an alien dimension called Caelum. My brother.”
In my head, was I actually a child who was picked up? Was it true that my mother said she picked me up under a bridge when I was young, and did she raise me after I crash-landed from outer space? The fact that I can see ghosts at this age is because I was a human who suffered a serious head injury and belatedly awakened to my supernatural powers.
“Don’t imagine anything strange.”
“…. How do you know what I imagined?”
“It all shows in your expression. Don’t worry. Your family is your real family now. What I was talking about was your past life.”
I was an alien in my past life?
My eyes widened once again at the unexpected topic. We were soon locked in silence, and Ha Min met my eyes with a slightly bitter smile.
“My soul was broken into many pieces. One of the broken pieces of my soul was reborn on Earth, and I followed it here.”
A shattered soul reincarnated…? Without realizing it, I put my right hand to my heart.
My heartbeat, which always beats healthily, felt strangely uneasy. It felt like it meant that my current self was not perfect.
So, the situation right now is—
“…. Okay. I understand.”
“Really?”
Ha Min-i made a happy expression as if she was relieved—
“So, since I am not the me controlling me now, and since what I am now is the real me controlling me, my life is a Truman Show, a virtual reality created by actors?”
“Brother, you didn’t listen to a single word I said.”