Chapter 6
Lee Yeorae dreamed that a giant snake wrapped itself around her and swallowed her whole.
When she opened her eyes, she understood why she had that dream.
“…”
Cheerful birdsong came from outside the window, announcing the morning.
Warm sunlight slipped through the curtains and drew a line of light across the room.
White dust floated and danced inside it.
Leandros’s strong arms and legs were wrapped tightly around her from behind.
Yeorae groaned and tried to escape from his embrace, but he was so strong that he did not move at all.
Then Leandros slowly opened his eyes halfway in his sleep.
Yeorae immediately took her chance.
“W-Wait, I need to use the bathroom…”
“Mmm.”
He shifted slightly and loosened his arms.
But he did not let go with his legs, so Yeorae had to struggle once again first thing in the morning.
“…”
She looked into the bathroom mirror and checked her left cheek first.
As expected, it was even more swollen than yesterday.
The scratch had formed a dark scab and was very noticeable.
But for someone who had cried after being slapped by a family member, she looked strangely excited, like someone preparing for a big celebration.
Have I ever been this excited on a Sunday morning before?
Then Yeorae noticed her swollen lips in the mirror and quickly washed her face as if she had seen something she was not supposed to see.
“Good morning.”
After changing her clothes and pouring cereal into a bowl, two arms suddenly wrapped around her waist from behind.
Leandros let out a sleepy sigh and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s Sunday. Shall we go out together today?”
There was no answer.
When Yeorae looked up, Leandros was wearing a meaningful expression.
“Does that mean I’m allowed to leave this place?”
“Of course. Anyone listening would think I’ve been keeping you locked up.”
“…Wasn’t that the case?”
Yeorae bit her spoon and took a step back to look him over.
After spending several days here, he had already lost some of the feeling of being a stranger from another world.
“People might stare because you stand out, but I think it’s okay for you to go outside now.”
Yeorae shrugged.
Thankfully, her apartment was far from her university.
If she met one of her classmates, she would have to come up with an explanation.
Then she suddenly remembered something she had forgotten and frowned.
“But let’s go out after it gets a little darker. Otherwise, people will misunderstand you.”
Leandros, whose eyes had been shining with curiosity, immediately understood.
“Ah.”
Yeorae touched her swollen cheek and laughed.
Only then did her face grow hot.
It really was not a normal Sunday morning.
* * *
Yeorae took a taxi for the first time in a long while.
Leandros, who had been nervous, immediately fixed his gaze outside the window as soon as the taxi started moving.
His eyes moved everywhere, following the city lights rushing past.
“A pile of metal moving this fast. The more I see of this world, the more amazing it becomes. And you’re saying this isn’t magic.”
“There are metal machines that move even faster than this underground.”
“U-Underground?”
“Some metal machines even fly through the sky.”
“Fly through the sky?!”
“With hundreds of people inside them.”
“F-Fly? Carrying people too?!”
Leandros shouted so loudly that Yeorae quickly covered his mouth.
The taxi driver glanced at them again through the rearview mirror.
Yeorae covered her left cheek with her hair and smiled awkwardly.
Maybe we should’ve gone somewhere closer…
She had already made eye contact with the driver several times.
Then again, a blond foreigner speaking a strange language and a woman with a swollen cheek did make a strange pair.
Even she would stare.
Not long afterward, they got out of the taxi.
A salty sea breeze washed over their faces.
They had come to the closest beach to her home.
“Sorry. I wanted to show you somewhere special, but I don’t really go out much, so this is the only place I know.”
“I like it.”
Under the hood pulled low over his head, his throat moved clearly as he spoke.
A gentle smile rested on his lips.
The sun had already set, and the line between the sky and the horizon had become blurred like a painting.
She had purposely left home at sunset because she wanted to show him a beautiful view.
She had not expected night to arrive so quickly.
“The sea is no different from the one in my world. Wide and peaceful.”
“A sea is a sea. Whenever my mind is troubled, I come here. Looking at the horizon helps me calm down… although you can’t really see it now.”
Her hand, which had been pointing toward the horizon, slowly dropped.
She shoved her hands into her pockets and sniffed awkwardly.
Leandros’s pleasant voice fell over her shoulder.
“Are there no stars in this world? The evening sky is completely dark, like it has been covered with black cloth.”
“There are stars. You just can’t see them. The streetlights and building lights in the city hide them. But if you go somewhere far away, like Mongolia or a desert, you can see lots of stars.”
“Mongolia?”
“It’s a country. About four hours away by plane. When I was young, my family traveled there. That was the first time I ever saw the Milky Way. It was huge. I seriously thought it looked like a photograph.”
Yeorae spread both arms wide and laughed brightly.
Leandros smiled warmly and touched the bandage on her cheek.
“I wish I could pour the Milky Way from my sky into your hands.”
The headlights of passing cars flowed across his sharp features.
Yeorae stared at him blankly.
Then she suddenly pulled out her phone and took a picture.
“…What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“I want to remember you after you’re gone. If I’d known things would be like this, I would’ve taken more pictures earlier.”
She showed him the photo.
Leandros groaned when he saw himself trapped inside the screen.
But unlike before, he was not shocked.
After seeing so many strange things in this world, he had become used to them.
Then, for some reason, sadness slowly filled his calm eyes.
He whispered in a trembling voice,
“I want to take you with me too.”
“When you return to your world, you’ll forget someone like me soon enough. I guarantee the women around you are twice as beautiful and talented as I am.”
“Noona is prettier.”
“Ugh, seriously, ever since last night… D-Don’t call me Noona…”
Yeorae quickly covered her burning face with both hands.
I wish you could stay by my side forever.
The words rose all the way to her throat.
But she swallowed them back down.
Everything eventually returned to its proper place according to the laws of the world.
It was impossible anyway.
She did not want to make him even sadder by being greedy when he would eventually leave.
Just then, a gentle warmth wrapped around both of her wrists.
Through the small gap between her fingers, she could see Leandros’s mysterious eyes.
“…”
Surprisingly, he seemed to be thinking the same thing.
It felt as if two interlocking gears had finally found their proper place.
Leandros’s transparent feelings flowed into her like a river.
Then suddenly—
A cold drop of water landed on her forehead.
…Rain?
The light drizzle grew in an instant into a heavy downpour.
Their clothes were soaked immediately.
The mist rising from the wet concrete became so thick that it was hard to see ahead.
“That’s strange. The weather forecast didn’t mention rain today.”
Even the people walking through the night streets were running for cover.
“We should hurry and find somewhere to go too!”
The cold was making her lips tremble.
Yeorae quickly pulled her jacket over her head and reached toward Leandros.
But—
She grabbed nothing.
Her hand passed through empty air again and again.
A terrible feeling crept into her heart.
She slowly turned around.
“…Leandros?”
A car’s headlights flashed through the white mist.
But the person who should have been standing there was gone.
Yeorae forced her stiff neck downward.
The clothes she had bought for him lay on the ground like an empty shell.
Proof that he was no longer there.
.
.
.
Everything eventually returns to its proper place according to the laws of the world.
One of the two gears that had finally fit together had fallen away.
