Chapter 44 – Chapter 44
A short silence followed.
She sat down on the sofa, looked up at me and remained silent.
By the time Do-gyun was swallowing his nerves, thinking that I might have made a mistake, a faint smile was drawn on her lips.
“He’s not a very bad guy.”
She said that and got up.
Moving past Do-gyun, she continued her conversation as she walked towards the shelf in the kitchen.
“There is a moderate amount of fighting.”
With a familiar movement, she bent down and rummaged through the lower shelf, took out a bottle of alcohol and two glasses from there, and returned to the living room where Do-gyun was standing.
After that, she sat down on the sofa again and poured a drink into the glass she brought and continued.
“Sit down.”
Do-gyun looked at her and the glass alternately, swallowed a dry saliva, and sat down next to her with enough distance for one person to enter.
“Are you going to drink?”
At her words, I looked at the bottle on the table. It was a golden liquor that looked expensive even at a glance with what was written in English on the label.
My body hasn’t calmed down yet, so I wanted to borrow some alcohol, but I shook my head and replied, thinking that the alcohol smell was so strong that I wouldn’t be able to continue a proper conversation if I drank that.
“Fine.”
“Yes?”
A voice full of puck or regret.
She licked her lips and said that, but didn’t offer it a second time.
Afterwards, out of the two glasses she had brought, she filled only her own, drank him in one go, and continued.
“Okay, what are you curious about?”
Do-gyun looked at her as he filled the empty glass again.
A very cooperative attitude.
She still maintained an attitude of indifference to Do-gyun, but it seemed that she had no intention of ignoring him either.
Do-gyun continued his thoughts as he watched the glass rise above it.
There were so many things I wanted to ask.
He didn’t know anything about her yet.
Even though he had been with her for 15 days, all he knew about her was her name and age, her taste in a few foods, and the level of mental illness she was suffering from.
No, I wasn’t even sure about that.
Besides multiple personalities, who knows if she has any other illnesses.
A lot of thoughts passed by, and a lot of questions came to mind.
Still, there was something I had to ask first.
“Which one is real?”
I wonder if the girl I’ve seen, the smile that blooms clearly, and that pitiful warmth are really her true self.
Or is it just a made-up personality?
Wanted to know that
“Really…”
After hearing Do-gyun’s question, she rolled her eyes and rolled the word ‘real’ into her mouth.
“If the answer you want is about who the original owner of this body is, Go Eun-ah is right.”
Hit.
The moment I heard that, I was confident that I was relieved without knowing it.
After she finished speaking, looking at my expression, she smiled and continued.
“Is it that good?”
“Ah.”
My body trembled.
It was only then that he realized that the question he had asked just before might have offended the person he was talking with, so he hurriedly apologized.
“You don’t have to apologize. That kind of reaction would be normal.”
She answered in a tone that didn’t matter much and took a drink.
Do-gyun watched her nervously for a moment, then spoke to her as she put down her drinking glass.
“I…”
“Go Eun-seol.”
“Yeah?”
As she cast her gaze toward me, she spoke again.
“Call me Go Eun-seol. Keep me, that, there. Can’t you call me like this?”
Go Eun-seol.
Another personality introduced himself that way.
Do-gyun engraved the name into his heart for a moment, then opened his mouth again to speak.
“Go Eun-seol.”
“Say.”
“Are you my sister?”
After the question was over, she glanced at me for a moment, then nodded her head in affirmation.
“Right. Go Eun-ah defined me as an older sister.”
For the first time among the hypotheses that have been carried on so far, it came out.
Do-gyun nodded her head at the answer he heard and brought out the next question he had prepared.
“Then…Does Eunah know that you are her own alternate personality?”
When I asked that question, a smile formed on her lips.
Do-gyun looked at her face with a light of satisfaction.
“You are quick to notice.”
It was an affirmative answer.
Filling her empty glass once more, she continued with her eyes on her glass.
“I think I noticed it to some extent… Yes, it’s a little tasteless.”
“I can’t tell how much is reality and how much is delusion.”
After saying that, she paused for a moment, then raised her full glass of wine and continued her words.
“Hmm… I should say I don’t want to be precise.”
The answer I heard created a feeling of frustration as if my stomach was tight.
Even though he was expecting it, the answer he heard made Do-gyun feel sick to his stomach.
“…Is it abuse?”
“Abusive…”
That was the most reasonable answer Do-gyun could think of.
The obsessive behavior she exhibited.
Her behavior obsessed with being a ‘good kid’.
A life pattern that seems mechanical, as if a screw is missing.
At the end of the direction it all pointed was the assumption of abuse.
She seemed to be thinking for a while at Do-gyun’s question, but this time she didn’t drink it all and stared at the glass that was half left and spat out the answer.
“Yeah, I guess I should call it abuse.”
That’s an appropriate answer.
It was just such a sentimental expression.
“I don’t want to admit it, but I’ll tell you that if you bring me anyone in the world.”
As she said that, her eyes were dazed as if she had been groping for a long time somewhere.
After that, after thinking about it for a while, she drank all the remaining alcohol in her glass and put him on the table, continuing her words.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“A lot.”
“Try.”
She wanted to know the details of the abuse and other illnesses she was suffering from, but she was clear and refused to give more information.
What I learned from a short conversation is that that ‘sister’, Ko Eun-seol, is a very calm and intelligent person.
The sunken devastation, which can be called the beauty of decadence oozing from the eyes, was observing me coldly, hiding itself through boredom.
The words that came out of my mouth were controlling me, skillfully using the superiority of the information I had.
It was a person who knew how to stamp and suppress the opponent with the way he looked or the sense of intimidation he gave off.
‘It’s not an easy opponent.’
It won’t be as easy as the Q&A with Eun-ah that was done before.
All she showed me was just a sketch.
He didn’t give me any more information, and when I tried to ask for it, he indirectly expressed his intention of refusal by showing actions such as pouring alcohol or turning around after drinking him.
Her demeanor seemed cooperative, but she didn’t know what kind of person she was and what she wanted, so she couldn’t ask for it.
Perhaps, more than that means finding out for yourself.
Do-gyun organized his thoughts and raised the next question.
“It was… What was it?”
It was a question about the empty eyes that had swallowed me up until the moment before.
It’s an unclear question, but I thought she would be able to understand it.
As if my expectations had been met, she stopped refilling her glass and stared at me.
What followed was a quiz, not an answer.
“What do you think?”
My mouth was shut on the problem presented.
I couldn’t find a word to answer and continued my silence.
Do-gyun elaborated her question again and spit it out to her.
“Is that a personality too?”
Learning that she has multiple personalities has been an unanswered question.
It was different from the aspect of multiple personalities that Do-gyun knew.
There was no difference that could be distinguished from ‘Go Eun-ah’ to be a different personality, and her tone or eyes were too different to just be her seizures.
As Do-kyun said that and stared at her, she gave her answer with a smile on her lips.
“Great. I think I’m smarter than I thought.”
“That means…”
“It’s a different personality.”
I heard an answer, but the frustration did not go away. There were too many unexplained things, so as she was about to ask another question, one more word came out of her mouth.
“Not yet.”
Yet.
The word grew significant.
“…Could you elaborate more?”
She hasn’t poured her drink yet. The gaze is directed towards oneself. She seemed willing to tell me more, at least on this part.
Just as Do-gyun thought, she leaned back on her sofa and crossed her arms as she continued her words.
“Okay, where should I start explaining…”
Closing her eyes while saying that seemed like she was organizing her thoughts.
After choosing her words for a moment, she began to speak in a calm tone as if telling her old story.
“At first, it was just Go Eun-ah.”
The open eyes seemed to be groping into the very distant past.
“While it was holding out on its own, when the stimulation exceeded its threshold and it could no longer handle it, the mad bitch was born.”
After saying that and patting her forearm with her fingers for a moment, she continued her words as she leaned forward on her couch.
“Okay, I’d better explain it this way.”
Unfolding her arms, she picked up her bottle again and poured her drink into her glass.
Squeak-.
The empty glass began to fill with golden wine again.
“This cup is the threshold Go Eun-ah can endure.”
The glass that has risen to the top of the glass spills over half.
“This alcohol is the stimulus Ko Eun-ah received.”
The wine glass was full.
“And this overflow is that crazy bitch.”
The glass was full and the spilled wine spilled onto the table.
Pop-.
Only then did she stop pouring her alcohol and looked at Do-gyun and said with a smile on her face.
“Go Eun-ah created a substitute to endure stimuli beyond my threshold.”
So she said, raising her glass, taking a small sip of him, and continued her words.
“It was a great response. Splitting oneself and erasing stimuli that cross the threshold.”
Having said that, she suddenly burst out laughing.
“But that was the problem.”
Setting her glass down on her thighs, she continued with her eyes slightly lowered.
“That crazy bitch didn’t know how to stop.”
Do-gyun, listening to her words, suddenly remembered the situation just before.
-Stop… Please…
-No.
Despite her own pleas, she tore her wrists and erected them.
– Kick.
Even so, she was the one who let out a laugh that was tinged with joy somewhere.
Eun-seol, who was glancing at me, seemed to see through what I was thinking, as she smiled and recited a single word in a low voice.
“Go Eun-chae.”
As Do-gyun looked at her, she added her explanation again.
“The name of that crazy bitch.”
“Ah…”
A stupid sound came out of her mouth.
“As you can see, once she starts, she has to finish somehow.”
She seemed to know what she was talking about.
Because what Do-gyun saw seemed like it would never stop hurting himself.
“Therefore.”
In Do-gyun’s field of vision, her smile faded, and her words continued in a low voice.
“I am.”
A word that sounds hollow somewhere.
Calmly, she was talking about the process of her coming into being.
“I needed brakes to stop that bitch.”
For a moment, Do-gyun felt that her expression seemed to disappear from her.
“Everything is perfect now.”
Her lips parted as she continued speaking.
“Go Eun-ah was able to grasp the sweet fruit of being a ‘kind child,’ and Ko Eun-chae was able to pour out her desires to her heart’s content.”
Do-gyun couldn’t understand her expression, so he wanted to ask the question, ‘Then you?’
“I’ve been living like that for a long time without any problems, and then the problem suddenly exploded.”
“A problem… You mean.”
Do-gyun felt that she was about to say something serious and agreed with her words.
Nodding her head, she emptied her drink again before she knew it, then refilled her empty glass and continued her words.
“Because that crazy bitch started to lust after her.”
Greed.
It was an ominous sound.
“I don’t know how to stop, and I’m impulsive. That’s why I can’t tolerate it.”
She said and put the cup in her hand.
“I can’t accept that I have to share this body.”
“…That means.”
I don’t want to share, it’s still a different personality.
Do-gyun opened his mouth at the outline drawn at first glance and spat out words.
“Can I understand that Eun-chae Ko is trying to devour Eun-ah, and she wants to devour you?”
After her words, an expression appeared on her face again.
“It’s nice to notice.”
“There are still things I don’t understand.”
Do-kyun knew something about the disease of multiple personalities. In a way, it was a very natural story.
As multiple personalities are a subject that is often worn out in genre literature, he couldn’t help but be interested in it, so it was because he had been looking for it.
“We know that the treatment of multiple personalities ultimately ends with merging the personalities into one.”
It heals fragmented personalities by suturing them together. That was the cure for the multiple personalities he knew.
“By the way… Then, wouldn’t Eun-ah, who is the original personality, survive?”
Her eyes, which were looking at me, narrowed slightly and drew an arc.
Looking at him, Do-gyun felt something in his heart empty at the momentary sense of alienation.
It’s the same face, and despite the same expression, Eun-ah was nowhere to be seen.
“Didn’t I tell you? It’s a bit tasteless.”
“Then…”
“Go Eun-ah has to be eaten. In addition, if her goeunah is eaten, I will no longer be able to control that crazy bitch.”
“…”
“I’m still fine, but Go Eun-ah is already half eaten.”
Her fists clenched. The truth he faced took a slightly more urgent and dangerous form than he thought.
Only then was it explained. Even though she has her mechanical patterns, she acts impulsively somewhere, and once she touches her trigger, she acts like her madman.
When the impression settled on Do-gyun’s face, she added a word.
“Therefore.”
When I met her eyes with hers, she opened her mouth with an expression that anyone could say was a smile.
“We brought you here.”
Stop.
Body froze Caught at the end of her gaze, I saw her staring at me.
‘Us.’
A word she hinted at.
Do-gyun was not stupid enough to not know the meaning of the words.
“…You, Eunchae Ko, aren’t the end.”
Goeunchae will not be included in the cage.
In addition, from the atmosphere of the words conveyed, it was felt that the us did not refer to Go Eun-ah.
Her smile deepened at the question handed to her.
“Excellent.”
The answer that came back was yes.
