JKA 76

He was just accepting that there must have been a good reason for sending him to Myeong Jiwoon’s side under the name of disciplinary action. It wasn’t that he understood. It was because, unlike 1129, he did not attach the question of ‘why’ to God’s will. Even if such a thought occurred to him, he quickly forgot it.

“An angel with only one wing… Yes, that is strange.”

“…”

“How many do you have?”

At Hanbyeol’s question, 17 scoffed in disbelief. As he neared the destination, he slowly reduced his speed and eventually stopped the car.

“I have four.”

“Four of them.”

“…”

“That’s amazing.”

His tone didn’t feel like a compliment at all. 17 turned his head and stared fixedly at Hanbyeol. At that, Hanbyeol, who was about to get out of the car, froze in place and met 17’s gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

“Mr. Im Hanbyeol, are you putting on an act in front of Mr. Myeong Jiwoon?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“I mean, your personalities are so different.”

“I don’t show courtesy to things that aren’t human.”

Saying that angels and demons were all the same, Hanbyeol got out of the car, went around to the back, and started pounding on the trunk. Thump, thump. 17, his brow furrowed, opened the trunk and then watched Hanbyeol bustling about in the rearview mirror as he muttered.

“…Did the demon get something wrong and attach itself to him? He’s got such a bad attitude.”

Holding a cup of instant noodles filled with hot water, Jiwoon sat on a plastic chair outside the convenience store and took a deep breath in and out. The day-long shoot had left everyone exhausted, so they got a short break while Hanbyeol went to get the clothes.

Everyone suggested they eat something, and they were about to order kimbap for a light meal, when Jiwoon approached Huichan and asked if he could be alone for a little while, even if it was short. Huichan, who knew Jiwoon didn’t particularly like being crowded by people, readily sent him off to take a short break.

Shooting was definitely not an easy task. Since they had to film all the scenes that needed to be shot outdoors while the sun was out, the timeline was all jumbled up. He knew they couldn’t film in the order of the script and had to shoot each scene separately and piece them together, but now that he was an actor trying to do it, it was overwhelming.

It was difficult enough to get into character even when filming chronologically, but here he had to cry and then suddenly laugh, and he had to shoot the last scene when they hadn’t even filmed the first one, so he couldn’t keep his wits about him. It was his first time acting, and his first time at a shoot like this.

Somehow, he managed to deliver his lines without mistakes, but it was more like reciting memorized lines than acting. Thankfully, the lines were short, and some were even cut out in between. In fact, what was harder than delivering lines was making the right facial expression for the scene. Everyone said it was okay, that he was doing well for a first-timer, but Jiwoon wasn’t quite satisfied.

It was because the point of comparison was so clear. Egarsia’s acting was far too good to be in a club-level film. His command of the scene was so great that he could easily beat most professionals. Then again, it was only natural. That was his livelihood; how could he take a person’s soul with amateurish acting?

Jiwoon snapped a pair of wooden chopsticks in half and, with a rush of hunger, tore off the lid of the instant noodle cup and stirred the inside. It had been quite a while since he’d eaten instant noodles. Just as he was about to quickly take a bite, drawn in by the salty and pungent smell that pricked his nose, someone sat down heavily in front of him.

“Oh, I like that one too. The spicy seafood flavor.”

Jiwoon raised his head and looked at the person pointing at his cup of noodles. It was Egarsia.

“Aren’t you having a rice ball with that? You’ll be hungry if you only eat that.”

“Y-you d-don’t have to p-pretend to be human.”

“I’m not pretending to be human. I know what hunger is, and I’ve really eaten that before.”

“W-why do you e-eat human f-food?”

“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

Egarsia said, drinking the coffee in his hand. Come to think of it, he had been holding an Americano throughout the entire shoot. Jiwoon had thought he was just carrying it around as a prop and only pretending to drink it, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“It has no nutritional value, but I can eat everything humans eat and taste it too.”

“…”

“You have that ‘Then why do you eat humans?’ look on your face.”

Instead of answering, Jiwoon just stirred his poor noodles with his chopsticks. His appetite had somehow completely vanished.

“Humans aren’t for eating… although we do consume their life force. Anyway, souls are a type of currency.”

“…”

“When you pull out a soul, it comes out with the memories, you see? Then it hardens like a crystal. We split it, break it, and use it. The memories on the outside are used for entertainment, and the soul inside is made into currency.”

“I-I d-don’t really want to kn-know about th-things like that…”

“Using them for entertainment means we use them like drugs, by human standards.”

“…”

“The memories of being bewitched and toyed with by a demon, all the misfortunes that made them have no choice but to sell their souls to a demon. We inhale that and enjoy it. Because hell is a really boring place.”

Egarsia said, sitting with his legs crossed and tapping his foot. Jiwoon watched him silently for a moment, then put down his chopsticks. In truth, there was another reason he had asked to be alone, away from the others.

He did really want to be alone, but it was also because he thought that if he was left by himself, Egarsia would definitely appear. And just as he had guessed, Egarsia appeared before him as if to prove a point.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“W-when I s-said I had a l-lot of questions. W-why d-did you l-laugh?”

At Jiwoon’s question, Egarsia once again burst into loud laughter. Watching him, a deep frown formed on Jiwoon’s brow. He couldn’t understand what was so funny that it made him laugh. Weren’t the questions he would ask obvious anyway? He couldn’t understand why Egarsia was laughing like that, even knowing this.

“Well, on the surface, this is our first time meeting, right? So it was funny when you said that then.”

“I-it’s not like w-we’ve met m-many times, either.”

“True. But we’re two people who have heard a lot about each other, in one way or another, aren’t we?”

“…I haven’t r-really heard anything.”

Jiwoon scowled. He didn’t like a single thing Egarsia did while wearing Seonwoo’s face. Not only did he ramble on about things he wasn’t asked, but the stories weren’t pleasant to hear either. It wasn’t like Jiwoon didn’t know that Egarsia was after Hanbyeol’s soul, so was it really appropriate to talk about taking it and smashing it to pieces?

The way he laughed so frivolously, and the condescending, mocking tone he used were unpleasant. Jiwoon could tell that just because the demon was using polite language, it didn’t mean he was actually treating him as an equal.

“You really haven’t heard anything? You’ve heard quite a lot, from Hanbyeol at home.”

“D-don’t c-call him th-that.”

“Who, Im Hanbyeol?”

“Yes.”

“Wow… I’ve heard all sorts of criticisms in my life, but this is a new one. What does it matter to you what I call anyone?”

“I-it does matter. H-Hanbyeol is my friend. A-and the name you’re using is related to me, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like your brother is the only person in the world who uses the name Seonwoo, is he?”

“T-the only person who uses the n-name Seonwoo with th-that face is probably my b-brother.”

“Ah. So? What about it, he’s dead.”

“…”

“Isn’t that why you ran away as soon as you saw me? Thanks to you, that annoying…”

For a moment, a red gleam flickered in Egarsia’s black eyes. But as he was about to continue, the fire vanished as if extinguished, and Egarsia, with a furious expression, shot up from his seat before clenching his fists and sitting back down.

At this strange behavior, Jiwoon looked at Egarsia with a slightly frightened expression. He jumped up as if possessed, then sat back down and smiled as if nothing had happened, sending a momentary shiver down Jiwoon’s spine.

“Ha, fuck… this is the really fun part.”

“…”

“I really hate it when people tell me what to do, you see? But that keeps happening, so I’m really pissed off right now. So my mood, it just flares up over nothing, you know?”

“…”

“You probably don’t know, but I’m telling you that my business has gotten very, very tangled up because of you.”

As Egarsia squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to suppress his surging anger, Jiwoon could see his eyelashes tremble. He swept his hair back, then suddenly snatched the cup of noodles from in front of Jiwoon, took the chopsticks as well, and began to eat without asking for permission.

Jiwoon let out a gasp, finding the sight absurd. Watching Egarsia eat the instant noodles like a madman, he was simply dumbfounded.

“The noodles are all soggy.”

He practically slurped down the few strands of noodles in the small cup, drank every last drop of the broth, and then placed the empty cup on the table with a thud. Then, he started drinking his coffee again and spoke.

“If you have any questions, ask away. What I just ate is the price.”

“…”

“I can’t tell you for free. I’m letting you pay with a bowl of soggy noodles.”

“I-if I ask, w-will you answer e-everything?”

“Only what I know.”

“H-how do I know if i-it’s true or not?”

“You can find that out if you make a contract.”

“…I-I don’t want that.”

“Then just ask for what this cup of noodles is worth.”

When Egarsia tapped it with his fingertip, the empty instant noodle container fell over. Jiwoon stared at the container for a moment, then opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“H-have you ever m-met my brother?”

*

17 followed Hanbyeol, who was carrying in a box full of clothes. At the appearance of a stranger, the people who had been gathered in the small room eating kimbap stood up and gestured to Hanbyeol with their eyes, as if asking who he was.

“Ah, he’s Jiwoon’s cousin.”

At Hanbyeol’s introduction, Youngeun, who was stuffing her mouth with kimbap, shot up from her seat and mumbled as if she had something to say. Huichan looked at her with a pitying expression, then spoke up instead.

“The cousin we met before, uh, he was blonde? Is this a different person?”

At Huichan’s words, Hanbyeol turned his head and looked at 17. At that, 17 walked inside with the box and looked over the club members. Although the box of clothes was somewhat heavy, it wasn’t so heavy that Hanbyeol couldn’t have carried it all in by himself.