Chapter 73
Sob!
“Mister!”
It was a strange voice.
No, was it closer to baby talk?
Tap-!
Soi, who discovered me, immediately stood up from her seat. She began running towards me.
With her short legs, using all her strength.
How urgent those footsteps were.
Without even realizing that her kimono had become larger as her body had become smaller.
Soi…
Tuk-!
‘Ah….’
Stepping on the hem of her clothes that she had failed to notice, Soi then…
Thud-!
Fell down hard.
“Soi!”
I belatedly approached Soi and grabbed her by the waist to help her stand up.
Fortunately, just by looking, it didn’t seem like she was badly hurt.
As soon as Soi felt my touch.
Squeeze-!
!
She squeezed into my arms and hugged me tightly. I was bewildered by Soi’s sudden behavior.
I tried to pull Soi away from my embrace.
But…
Squeeze-!
As soon as Soi’s delicate hands grabbed my clothes.
!!
Soi began to cry.
Sobbing pitifully, her soft whimpers transmitted through her entire body.
“Zzungni! Zzungni! Zzungni…”
The inarticulate sobbing of a young girl flowing through her tiny throat reached me.
It lingered endlessly around my ears.
Sadness filled the space.
Soi’s sobbing was more heartbreaking than ever, and it seemed to even cut into my heart.
Soi just silently. She only continued to sob endlessly in my arms.
Continuously.
She kept sobbing.
Her reddened eyes grew darker, and her trembling escaped with her breath.
A man who could only watch blankly as she cried as if the world was ending.
At this moment, all he could do was.
Wait…
That was all.
Until Soi’s sorrow stopped.
Until she composed her emotions.
Just silently.
Park Yeon-jeong, without saying a word, just waited.
*****
…Sniff.
As the sniffling sounds gradually subsided.
When the tears that had been flowing like a waterfall down her fair cheeks temporarily stopped.
Swish-
Looking at Soi, who was still in my arms, I gently stroked her head.
And,
I cautiously opened my mouth.
Slowly induced a conversation.
The matter that needed to be asked right now was, above all else…
It would be Soi’s current physical condition.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“……”
Soi didn’t make any sound.
Just.
…Nod.
She only slowly moved her head up and down slightly.
‘So there’s nothing wrong with her body?’
But actually.
Isn’t becoming this small itself abnormal?
Soi’s current physical state was too small, even for being small.
Including Soi’s physique, which had become small enough to fit snugly in my arms.
The house itself seemed to be significantly affected by Soi’s influence, as much as her body had shrunk.
Fortunately, the assumption that Soi had abandoned me was proven false…
‘Now, what do I do?’
Really, what should I do?
I couldn’t grasp where to start from.
At present…
Asking Soi, who was the likely victim here and.
An important witness was the only option.
Unless I heard the full story, it seemed difficult to find a clue to the current situation.
I asked quietly, trying not to trigger Soi’s tear ducts.
“What happened?”
“…Gwubbu, jeo-e geojimy-ang.”
???
…Ah.
‘So that’s what happened.’
Only after hearing Soi’s additional statement, I was able to quickly reach a conclusion.
The current case, as of now.
Is reclassified as a ‘cold case’.
…Why, you ask?
‘I can’t understand anything!’
Out of all that baby talk from Soi just now.
Hand on my heart, I understood absolutely nothing.
Someone who has raised children might possibly understand.
Unless I suddenly acquire a ‘degree in child linguistics’, it would be nearly impossible to interpret those words right now.
This was truly an unexpected obstacle.
While I was struggling with this unforeseen situation, Soi stared at my face intently with her marble-like eyes and.
Jump!
She suddenly got up and started walking hurriedly somewhere.
“So, Soi!”
I called out to her urgently, but.
What came back was.
Thud!
…
It was just the sight of Soi tripping over her kimono and falling again.
That sight was like watching our three little teddy bears, and as I took in the scene.
‘…How cute.’
With a full fatherly smile on my face, before me, Soi had somehow returned.
With her hands full of something unidentifiable.
What Soi was struggling to carry with her delicate arms was none other than.
White paper.
And a black marker pen.
Scribble, scribble-
Soi immediately sat down and began to write something diligently on the paper.
Soi, who had been passionately writing something, soon handed the paper to Park Yeon-jeong.
There, I saw slightly crooked writing.
“That person lied to me!!”
That person?
Lie?
For now, there was only one person Soi would refer to as ‘that person’.
Noise.
The writing seemed to be complaining that Noise had lied to Soi herself.
Despite the crooked writing, it seemed to contain considerable emotion.
The first reason I thought emotions were conveyed in the writing was.
‘Our Soi, her lips are pouting.’
Just looking at Soi’s lips, protruding like a duck’s bill, I felt I could roughly understand how angry she was at Noise.
However,
More than the fact that Noise had lied to Soi herself.
There was something I was most curious about.
Her current physical condition.
“Why did your body become smaller?”
I waited for Soi’s answer.
Soi, who had been contemplating while holding the marker for a while after my question.
Scribble-
She began to write something down on the paper again. And when she held up the paper to me with both hands.
The content inside was.
“There is something I would like to ask you first, Master.”
“Me?”
Soi’s expression, which indicated she had something to ask me instead, revealed a gravity that could not be felt on her youthful face.
Scribble-
Soon, Soi wrote down what she wanted to ask on the next paper and showed it to me.
And at that moment.
I am at a loss for words.
“Master… you almost died this time, didn’t you?”
!
Soi asked me a question I never expected.
Has she heard about me from Noise?
The very fact that she asked this question suggested that she had already sensed something, and I felt that if I didn’t give a proper answer here, it wouldn’t be right.
I opened my mouth in the most playful tone possible.
I didn’t want Soi to worry.
“Well, it was a bit… dangerous?”
“!!!”
‘I actually almost died…’
After hearing my playful voice, Soi’s reaction was.
“……”
Not looking very good.
Grip-!
Soi tightly grasped the marker in her hand, strode toward me.
And began hitting my arm with all her might.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
It didn’t hurt.
But Soi seemed to be hitting me with all her strength.
With her lips tightly bitten.
With all her heart.
With all her might.
She was expressing something like anger toward me.
…No, to be precise, it was a punch filled with quite complex emotions.
Drop-
Bursting into tears that she had been trying hard to hold back until now, her fist that had been clenched for the punches was somehow now grabbing my arm as she sobbed.
With her face buried in my forearm.
She swallowed tears endlessly.
Seeing that sight.
I couldn’t open my mouth.
Nor could I leave a word of comfort.
Somehow now, I just…
Felt like I should silently accept Soi’s emotions without saying anything. My body was telling me that I had to do so.
After the storm of deep emotions passed.
When Soi’s emotions had somewhat subsided and she held the pen in her hand again.
Scribble-
Scribble-
The written content was.
Densely packed to the point of being painful to the eyes.
“Master… Please stay alive. No matter what happens, please think of yourself as the first priority. Even more than others… even if it’s selfish! Please think of yourself first!”
“……”
While confirming the words densely written on the white paper, my gaze did not stray from Soi’s expression.
Clearly, though her physical frame had become smaller making each of her actions seem childlike, the way her teardrops fell along her tear-stained eyes was indeed just like a child.
But her eyes.
Those eyes of Soi’s were intensely gazing directly at Park Yeon-jeong himself.
I answered quietly.
“…I’m sorry.”
“……”
Only after hearing my brief answer did Soi stop crying again. Only then did a hint of relief appear in her eyes.
…Somehow.
If one were to look at the situation alone, in this strange scene where a young child was admonishing a grown adult, as the waves of emotion gradually subsided.
Soi continued with additional explanations she had not mentioned until now.
Scribble, scribble-
The first topic was the most crucial matter of the current situation.
It was about Soi’s current physical state.
“It seems that as the only one who remembers my existence, when your existence begins to fade, I am also affected by it.”
This point reminded me of the content from Professor Noise’s special lecture, ‘The Birth of Ghost Stories.’
-Ghost Stories are a clan that imprint their existence on humans and use that small attention as nourishment.
In light of this statement.
The life of Park Yeon-jeong, the only human who remembers Soi, is connected to Soi’s existence.
If that’s the case, the reason Soi has become smaller like this… Park Yeon-jeong himself bears considerable responsibility.
‘One mind and body… is that it?’
Somehow, I felt even more sorry for Soi.
“Then, will you stay in this shrunken state?”
“That probably won’t be the case. As you fully recover, Master, I will likely return to my original form as well.”
This point was fortunate.
After all, having to continue sleeping in this building that seemed like it could collapse at any moment would be another headache.
The explanation about Soi’s shrunken body seemed to be mostly complete.
Then.
The remaining question is.
‘It must be a lie from that Noise.’
What kind of lie did that guy tell? That made Soi so downcast.
Honestly, I was genuinely curious.
“What lie did he tell?”
I asked Soi.
However, Soi, who had been explaining smoothly until now, showed a hesitant appearance when it came to this final statement.
Could it be that it was something unspeakable?
If that was the case.
“You don’t have to force yourself to say it.”
If it was really something unspeakable, I didn’t particularly want to hear it.
If I heard it unnecessarily and became entangled in something like a curse, that would be more troublesome.
Hesitating-
After hearing such words from me, Soi seemed to be considering even more.
…Scribble.
She began to write something on the paper.
Perhaps because the content wasn’t as long as expected. After finishing writing, Soi showed several signs of contemplating whether to show it to me or not.
From my perspective, watching Soi like that.
‘I even don’t want to see it.’
I just hoped Soi wouldn’t show it.
Grip-
But Soi, as if she had made a big decision, grasped the paper.
Thrust-!
When she showed me the paper she was holding in both hands.
The content inside was.
The content was…
……
“That person… said that you had died, Master.”
“……”
Noise, you…
‘You have quite a childish side, I see.’
I learned about an unexpected new aspect of Noise.
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