JKA 30

“I’ll check on it in the middle so it won’t be a bother. Would it be okay to give just a few jobs, even if it’s not much? The kid has some circumstances.”

—What in the world is wrong with you. You, doing dishes and even asking for favors. Well, he still has to take a test. You know what I mean, right?

“Yes, I understand.”

—I’m making a special exception because you’re asking. If you’re thankful, finish the work and send it by today. I haven’t been able to rest lately between live streams and editing, so my mind is all over the place.

Jiwoon replied, “Okay,” and squeezed the sponge hard. The overflowing foam filled the sink. It was because he had used too much detergent just to wash a few dishes.

—…Nothing’s wrong, right?

Seungyoon, who had been quietly listening to the clattering of dishes, asked in a rather serious tone. At that voice, Jiwoon let out a long sigh. Then, he unknowingly followed with a complaint-like remark.

“Someone got mad at me, but I don’t know why they were mad.”

—Today?

“Yes.”

—What did they say?

“They didn’t say much.”

—Why would they get mad if they didn’t say much? Didn’t you say something that might have provoked them?

“There’s someone who’s been helping me with a few things recently. That person… anyway, I told them I wanted to help someone, and they got mad, saying something like, ‘mind your own business.’”

—…

“I just did as they taught me, you know? They said to look people in the eye when I talk, so I looked them in the eye. They said to ask directly if I have questions, and to speak clearly if I have something to say, so I did that.”

Jiwoon mulled over his conversation with 1129. He couldn’t say everything from one to ten, but he tried his best to convey the nuance of what 1129 had said.

“So I did as I was told, and this was the result, and I felt like I wanted to help. I asked what I should do from now on. And then they were sarcastic, asking if they should praise me or something.”

—Hmm.

“It’s not a problem for me to think that I want to help others, is it? Of course, I’m not even taking care of my own business properly. But I still, in my own way…”

—In your own way?

“…I mean, I wanted to help with what I could. I thought the very act of having that thought was progress.”

—That’s true.

Seungyoon didn’t answer right away, as if he were thinking about something, then after a moment of consideration, he spoke to Jiwoon.

—Just from what you’re saying, that person does seem a bit strange, but I think we can consider a few possibilities.

“Like what?”

—If they said something like, ‘mind your own business,’ it probably means you’re not doing most of what they taught you well enough to their satisfaction. You’re not doing what they actually want you to do, and you’re stepping up to help someone else, so they might be frustrated.

“…”

—I don’t know exactly what they’re helping you with, but based on the fact that you’re getting help, it seems they’re also giving you advice on human relationships. They probably thought you’re not in a position to be helping anyone out of the blue.

“…It’s a bit complicated. I’m the only person the person I want to help can consult with.”

—Ha, to the point where they need help from you. That’s really like borrowing a cat’s paw. Just hearing it, it doesn’t sound like a good thing.

Jiwoon flinched at Seungyoon’s words. Right, thinking about it, the matter he wanted to get involved in by saying he wanted to help was definitely not an easy one. If anything, it was an incredibly difficult matter, wasn’t it? Of course, to him, it was an important matter since Hanbyeol’s life was at stake, but it was a matter that involved a demon, no less.

If so, that demon could have a bad influence on him. But Jiwoon hadn’t actually thought about that. He was just filled with the thought of having to help Hanbyeol. No, that wasn’t it. He seemed to have had an implicit confidence that 1129 wouldn’t let that happen to him. That was why he was able to ask 1129 what he should do.

—To put it simply, how can a person lost in the mountains save someone who has fallen into the sea far away? I understand the sentiment, but if I went to rescue a lost person and they were a complete mess, and they were saying, ‘I need to swim right now and go save that person,’ would that be understandable?

“…I don’t think so.”

—But for you to even ask, ‘how can I help,’ it must be frustrating. The situation being unfortunate is one thing, but that person probably went to save you. While saving you, they said, ‘do this from now on, don’t do that,’ and then before you’re even all the way down the mountain, you’re at a cliff saying, ‘Okay, I’ll jump in and save them now.’ If it were me, I’d also say, ‘mind your own business.’

“The example is a bit extreme.”

—I mean, to give an example, that’s how it is. I don’t really know. And I don’t know with what kind of heart they’re helping you.

“…”

—From the perspective of the rescuer, they could have been desperate. Even if they’re a firefighter. Part of it is because it’s their job, but when they’re saving someone who’s really dying in front of them, they’re probably not working just for that reason. Just like you genuinely worry about that person and want to help them, that person is also probably continuing to help you for that reason.

You might not think of that right away when you’re the one being helped, but it’s good to think about things like that too. Seungyoon added. He said that the heart of the person helping is also something to consider. At that moment, Jiwoon recalled the last words 1129 had said.

‘I have no interest in anything other than you living or dying.’

‘…’

‘No, it’s not my job.’

1129 had said he wasn’t interested, then immediately corrected himself, saying it wasn’t his job. And he had been hurt, though not really hurt, by those words ‘my job’. For some reason, those words had shattered his heart without a trace.

“He said he was only interested in things related to me, but later he said other things weren’t his job. But I don’t think that person is that desperate for me.”

—…Is he a social worker?

“No.”

—The word ‘job’ is a bit…. Are you sure he’s not a social worker? Or maybe a hospital?

“No, I said he’s not.”

Even though Jiwoon kept explaining that it wasn’t like that, Seungyoon muttered strange things to himself. They were all such worthless wordplay that he didn’t even want to listen anymore.

—‘Not my job,’ well, that roughly means ‘not my business.’ So, he’s only interested in what you do. To summarize, he’s only interested in you, not in other people’s business. Does that person like you?

“What?”

—Yeah, no way. What is this, a dating sim?

“…”

—This bastard, he’s so crazy about some dating sim these days that he didn’t even send in his work on time. He’s so fucking immersed… I sincerely respect him. Are you telling me you’re calling it a fight because you chose the wrong option right now?

Crazy bastard, how fun must the game be for you to even improve your interpersonal relationships as the character tells you to. Seungyoon said, shouting at Jiwoon in a genuinely shocked voice.

—Fucking god-tier game. What’s the name of the game? Let me play it too! Who’s your favorite character? I need to tell this story on my stream. The human rehabilitation dating sim that helped a shut-in editor make a real-life friend…

“I’m hanging up.”

—It even makes you do the dishes!

“Damn it.”

Jiwoon irritably hung up the phone. Then he turned the water on full blast and continued his furious dishwashing. The piled-up foam dissolved in the water and poured down the drain. He had asked seriously, and the answer was a dating sim. He had to be kidding.

Jiwoon, who was neurotically washing off the foam, suddenly turned off the gushing water and hung his head low.

—Does that person like you?

Seungyoon’s shout echoed in his ears. It sounded like an auditory hallucination, alternating between his left and right ear, and he was so dumbfounded that he turned the water back on with a whoosh. But even with the loud sound of the water, Seungyoon’s voice just wouldn’t disappear.

There was absolutely no way. It was absolutely, completely impossible. Even if heaven and earth were turned upside down, even if he died and came back to life, such a thing could never happen. But Jiwoon’s face was flushing beet red. Though, since he couldn’t see his own face, Jiwoon himself was unaware of it.

After finishing the dishes, Jiwoon flopped onto his bed and thrashed around in all sorts of stray thoughts, then shot up, sat at his desk, and opened his laptop. Then, as if escaping, he immersed himself in editing the video Seungyoon had sent. There was nothing better than this for shaking off stray thoughts.

In the video, Seungyoon was chattering away nonstop, and Jiwoon took the video clips of the checkpoint sections Seungyoon had chosen, added his chattering words as subtitles, and at the same time, found the chat he was reading and even did the image work.

He listened to the same words over and over again, continuing with various tasks from sound effects onwards. His hands and mind moved so busily that there was no room for stray thoughts to intrude. He focused on his work without even realizing dawn was approaching. By the time the world grew quiet, 1129 had not returned home.

Jiwoon had no way of contacting him. Even if he did, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to. But he did briefly think that it would be nice if 1129 had a cell phone. It was when he was lying in bed after finishing the video editing.

An angel carrying a smartphone. Just the thought of it was absurd. But Jiwoon was much more comfortable with messages than with facing someone or talking on the phone. Still, with 1129, a phone call seemed like it would be okay. It was because he felt like he could talk much more comfortably, like with his call with Seungyoon.

If he called him now, without seeing his face like this, what would he say to 1129? Honestly, it didn’t come to mind easily. Do you happen to like me? He would rather die than ask a question like that. He’d sooner just die.

Jiwoon pulled the covers up over his head and closed his eyes. His eyes were dry and stiff from staring at the monitor. But the sleep he wanted didn’t come, and his mind was filled with thoughts of 1129. When he finally dozed off, Jiwoon had a dream about 1129.

It was by no means a dream he could tell anyone else.

As a cold touch reached Jiwoon’s bare skin, which was tensed up and curled around the blanket, Jiwoon, who was lying on his side with his face buried as much as possible in the pillow, flinched and moaned. The touch that gently caressed his thigh with fingertips, as if to tease him, was unfamiliar and stimulating.

Soon, that hand grew more aggressive, digging between his tightly clenched legs. At this, Jiwoon gasped in surprise, huck, and covered his own mouth with both hands. At that sight, a low laugh was heard.

“This makes it seem like I’m doing something bad.”

At those words, Jiwoon slowly lowered the hands covering his face and peeked out with only his eyes. What he saw was 1129 reaching his hand towards his own penis, which was beginning to swell. Before he could stop him, he stroked the shaft and then lightly squeezed the tip.

“Ha, ugh!”

At the unfamiliar touch of another, a rush of blood pooled in his lower body. As the hand groping his penis, which was erect to the point of tingling, applied more pressure, Jiwoon’s face also began to flush beet red. Blood rushed through his entire body. It was to the point where his fingertips and toes were hot with a burning sensation.

He exposed his private parts to a being of unknown identity and moaned beneath him. The movement of 1129, who had been stroking the shaft so tantalizingly it could be called careful, became explicit, and as the piece of flesh trembled in his grasp with hot friction, a clear fluid welled up at the tip and trickled down.