I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan - Episode 92

Episode 92

“…What is this?”

The next day, as soon as Seung-hyun saw Jae-young’s face, he asked while looking at something that had arrived before him. In the late morning, a display case had arrived unexpectedly without prior notice. He was about to send it back when he checked the name of the person who ordered it and left it as it was.

“It arrived earlier than I thought.”

Jae-young said while slightly adjusting the position of the display case. His actions were so natural that anyone who saw him would think it was really his house.

“It would be great if the things to fill it arrived quickly too.”

“…Were you serious about that?”

“Of course. When have I ever said empty words?”

Jae-young put down the box he had brought from the car on the floor. Looking at the items inside, there were indeed a few small decorations.

“Actually, I didn’t know it would arrive this early, so I just brought some items from home that I thought would go well with winter.”

As Jae-young said that, he put the items from the box into the display case. He wasn’t sure if they went well with winter, but it did feel like he had carefully picked them out with some consistency.

“What’s this?”

“Ah. This…”

Most were like that, but there was one thing that wasn’t. A slightly worn-out, palm-sized black cat doll. It was an item that didn’t suit Jae-young or winter.

“I had a chance to try a claw machine when I was young. You control the claw to pick out the dolls inside the machine… It was harder than I thought. It was the first time I had picked one out, so I kept it in my room as a memento… As I was packing, it seemed to resemble Seung-hyun a bit.”

It was amusing how Jae-young eagerly explained it, as if he thought Seung-hyun wouldn’t know what a claw machine was. Seung-hyun chuckled and said,

“I think I get it. How much did you spend?”

“I don’t think it was 100,000 won…”

With that money, he could have bought over twenty of these dolls. Of course, it would be a meaningless amount to Jae-young, but Seung-hyun thought it was a waste.

“You could have just bought it separately. Why bother doing that?”

“Then it wouldn’t have meaning. Isn’t it important that I picked it out myself?”

All dolls were the same. Seung-hyun had always thought claw machines were the most meaningless waste of money among all wastes of money.

He had never tried it even once, thinking there were better ways to spend money. But seeing Jae-young smiling as if he still felt proud thinking about that time, Seung-hyun thought his opinion might change a bit.

“Anyway, it has nothing to do with winter… I just thought of it when I saw it.”

As Jae-young said that, he placed the doll in the most visible spot in the display case. Seung-hyun thought the reason about doing it for him was just an excuse, and Jae-young was just doing what he wanted to do.

But what did it matter anyway? Seung-hyun approached Jae-young and straightened the slightly tilted doll properly.

“We should start preparing for lunch now. Eating the same thing every day gets tiring, so I’m thinking of making something different today.”

“I’ll help today too.”

“No, there’s no need for that. Just go inside and rest.”

Jae-young refused Seung-hyun’s help. He was planning to have Seung-hyun rest while cooking and find the hidden medicines in between. If Seung-hyun didn’t go inside, there would be no chance to do that.

“It feels like I’m always just receiving. I want to try it again after a long time too.”

“You don’t need to think like that. I’m doing it because I like it.”

“And I’m saying I’ll do it because I want to.”

But Seung-hyun didn’t seem to have any intention of going inside at all. Jae-young thought about persuading him more, but he stopped, thinking it would look more suspicious.

‘Yeah. There will be many more opportunities…’

“Alright. Then can you prepare this for me? I’ll do this.”

Jae-young assigned the simplest task to Seung-hyun and grabbed a knife. It seemed his words about knowing how to cook weren’t a lie, as he looked familiar with handling the knife and preparing the ingredients.

“Ah.”

“Are you okay?”

Jae-young, who was lost in thought and slightly cut his hand, hurriedly pulled his hand away from the cutting board. Seung-hyun quickly noticed and checked the wound.

“It’s just a small cut… but it’s not good for the wound to get wet. I’ll get some ointment and a band-aid. Wait a moment.”

Seung-hyun, who had been looking at the small wound with an exaggeratedly serious expression, went to find the first-aid kit. Jae-young followed behind him.

‘If I’m lucky, I might be able to see where he keeps the medicines.’

“I told you to be careful.”

“I was too busy watching you do well next to me.”

“You can do well on your own, so don’t worry about that. Don’t get hurt worrying unnecessarily.”

Seung-hyun held Jae-young’s hand and treated it. Jae-young’s eyes quickly scanned around.

‘Doesn’t seem to be here.’

The medicines he had seen last time weren’t in the cabinet where the first-aid kit was stored. While Seung-hyun was focused on treating Jae-young’s hand, Jae-young looked around the room, but there was nothing that looked like a medicine bottle in plain sight.

“There. It’s done. If it hurts, tell me to change it right away. And don’t take your eyes off the knife.”

Meanwhile, Seung-hyun, who had carefully wrapped a band-aid around Jae-young’s finger, let go of his hand. Jae-young stared at his finger for a moment, feeling like he could see Seung-hyun’s personality in the treatment.

The lunch they made together was definitely delicious. Despite saying he hadn’t tried it much, Seung-hyun’s cooking skills were quite good.

“You’re better than I thought. Did you secretly practice without telling me?”

“…Practice, my foot. I just looked it up a bit because I felt bad for always relying on you.”

Seung-hyun couldn’t say it was cooking he learned for survival, so he gave a short reply and changed the subject.

“You seem to be forgetting, but this is my house. So shouldn’t I be the one doing things?”

“Where does it say that? If I want to do it for you, I’ll do it.”

Jae-young didn’t back down at all. It was definitely a problem that rather than finding him annoying, Seung-hyun thought he was getting cuter.

“…Anyway, even if you don’t do it, the housekeeper does everything for me.”

“Still, I want to do it for you. Even now. Don’t overexert yourself and rest a bit.”

“How is walking around inside the house overexerting…”

Seung-hyun made a dumbfounded face. It seemed the reason was because he had collapsed in front of Jae-young due to dizziness, but no matter what, being treated like someone who couldn’t even walk around was a bit surprising.

‘This won’t do. If it’s like this, I won’t have the leisure to look around the house…’

Jae-young was lost in his own worries. If Seung-hyun quietly went inside the room, he would be able to look around the house and find out what the problematic medicine was.

“Then shall we think about how to fill the display case? We decided to fill it with items that suit winter.”

Jae-young, who quickly racked his brain, thought of another way to keep Seung-hyun occupied. Although he acted annoyed, it clearly wasn’t a look of dislike.

If he suggested looking for items to fill the display case, Seung-hyun would definitely agree. And while looking for the items, he would surely be distracted enough to not notice if Jae-young left for a bit.

“…Since you already bought the display case, I have no choice.”

As planned, Seung-hyun immediately nodded, and the two of them ended up looking for items in the room.

“I think it would be good to go and pick them out in person. Let’s think of it as just looking for reference…”

“The weather is cold, so let’s just buy them online. There are many interesting things.”

Although he spoke as if it was bothersome, his gaze was fixed on his phone, so it seemed possible to buy some time. Jae-young sat in the chair across from Seung-hyun, pretending to search for decorations, and then got up from his seat.

“I’ll be right back from the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

Leaving Seung-hyun, whose attention was focused elsewhere, Jae-young quietly went into another room and looked inside. He did feel a pang of conscience, but he thought he would feel more at ease this way.

“What’s this?”

Then Jae-young discovered something and stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t the medicine bottle he was looking for, but there was one item that strangely bothered him.

“Looks like a test kit. What’s it used for?”

It wouldn’t hurt to take a look. Jae-young picked up the item and examined it for a moment, then took a picture of the kit first. After taking pictures of both the front and back, he put it back where it was and moved to the next room.

“Not here either. Here too… Ah.”

Jae-young, who had been quietly moving around the house, found a pill bottle. Although it was a different type from the one he had seen last time and there was only one bottle, it would definitely help satisfy Jae-young’s curiosity.

♩♪♬.

“…!”

Jae-young, who had taken another picture and quietly came out to the hallway, almost dropped his phone, startled by the sudden ringtone. The screen displayed the name [Madam Ju].

“She must be bored again.”

Jae-young thought it was no big deal and hung up the call. As soon as he sent an automatic reply message saying he was outside and unable to talk, a reply came back from her.

[Madam Ju: You’re outside? Come home today. I have something to tell you.]

It didn’t seem urgent, but it looked like she had something she wanted to convey. Jae-young sent a reply saying he understood and headed back to the room where Seung-hyun was.