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“Don’t cry and speak slowly. What’s going on?”
“…That’s…” Koo Hui-seo slowly continued to speak as he rubbed at his tear-laden eyelashes. “That day, Kyungman-ie… his condition suddenly worsened. He kept throwing up whatever I fed him… So.”
“Ah.” I had forgotten about Koo Hui-seo’s brother for a while, though his words made me recall the guy. Rather, it’s more accurate to say I recalled the guy’s demise more than his face.
When I remembered that terrible scene, my brows furrowed, but I tried to calmly look into the ex-chimera’s eyes.
Perhaps he understood my silent urging; Koo Hui-seo hurriedly began to speak again, “S-So… I was going to call a doctor…”
“But?”
Before answering my question, Koo Hui-seo adopted a miserable expression. His desperate bearing reminded me of a man whose precious property was stolen from him.
But, he soon wiped away his tears and confessed, eyes downcast, “I was flustered… while the attending physician was on his way, I let him out of the bed briefly…”
“……”
“At that moment… I think…Kyungman-ie tried to take his life.”
“……”
“Perhaps he knew that, unless he did something now, he wouldn’t be able to avoid giving [birth]…”
So…It seems like Koo Kyungman tried to escape his situation while Koo Hui-seo was momentarily careless.
Although my relationship with Koo Kyungman was terrible, his situation was honestly worthy of sympathy from any human being. If I were him, I would have gone insane far earlier.
However, Koo Hui-seo’s expression tugged at my heart when the other talked about Koo Kyungman’s attempt at death… The ex-chimera seemed ignorant of his own desperate expression. So, I asked him a pointless question, “Did Koo Kyungman-ssi die?”
“…No. He hasn’t died.”
“Then, perhaps… were you feeling guilty?”
“What?”
“That is to say… Koo Kyungman-ssi is your younger brother. Well… things don’t work out necessarily exactly the way you want them to go. Your emotions…”
However, contrary to my expectations, Koo Hui-seo blinked as if he couldn’t understand me. His expression strangely reminded me of Lackey–perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything.
To be honest, if he had any human heart left, he would have killed his brother sooner. Giving Koo Kyungman death now would be like an apology.
‘Then, why does he have such a sorrowful expression?’ I glared at Koo Hui-seo’s pallid face.
He still looked blank, as if he could read nothing from my glare, and suddenly asked, “Do you think I regret this?”
“……”
I had no answer to his question. This time, I was the one who was struck speechless, so I simply shrugged. Koo Hui-seo must not have expected much of a response either–he didn’t dig any further into that line of thought.
Soon, an awkward silence fell between us. Fortunately, this disquieting calm didn’t last long.
“Excuse me. Then… Then, Hui-seo-ssi must have stopped Koo Kyungman from dying, then… What happened after that?” I asked after some reflection.
Koo Hui-seo’s shoulders flinched, as if his mind was on other things, before replying meekly, “Ah, yes… I tried to stop Kyungman-ie, but he suddenly attacked me…”
His answer was quite flooring–I was surprised that Koo Kyungman had enough energy to resist. Cutting off the ex-chimera, I flung further questions at him. How on earth did he attack? Perhaps it’s a bit strange to point this out, but he had no limbs to attack with…the only thing that could move on that body was the neck. Did he tear at the ex-chimera with his teeth? “Koo Kyungman attacked Hui-seo-ssi? How…”
“…Kyungman-ie understands my unique constitution well.” Koo Hui-seo closed his mouth with a complicated smile, as if he didn’t want to explain any further. Of course I wanted to probe and learn more, but Koo Hui-seo cut me off.  “Anyway… I still overpowered Kyungman-ie.”
“…..Right.”
“In the end, I ended up falling asleep as well.” With that said, rubbed his face several times as if he somehow blamed himself for acting foolishly.
Of course, I couldn’t understand anything with that sort of explanation–I shot him a curious look. Annoyingly, as soon as he and I locked gazes, Koo Hui-seo began to match the timing of his blinks to mine. Faced with the impenetrable wall of the ex-chimera’s lack of perception and tact, I had to interrogate him further. “…Excuse me, what’s wrong with sleeping? You’ve already overpowered Koo Kyungman… or did your brother have an accomplice there?  Actually, if you said you slept, how did you walk all the way over to my home?”
“Ah.” Perhaps Koo Hui-seo finally understood my confusion, he continued to explain, “Actually, I stabbed myself with a knife…to try and wake up.”
“……”
“I accidentally cut myself too deep… I thought I would die. Just then, I thought, ‘wouldn’t Lee-kyung-ssi have a solution?’ So…”
“……”
“But, by the time I arrived at Lee-kyung-ssi’s dorm, I was already almost half-asleep. My memories are quite fuzzy. I probably caused you much trouble before the fuse of my consciousness snuffed out, but… I wasn’t in a good enough condition to explain or argue about anything…”
Of course, his words were still incoherent. As soon as I crossed my arms across my chest, Koo Hui-seo nervously rolled his eyes and fidgeted, “Uh, mm… I shouldn’t fall into deep sleep.”
“…Why?”
“When I sleep deeply, I have nightmares.” Koo Hui-seo tapped his head with his index finger. “That wouldn’t be a problem when I’m in a good condition. However, when I’m not…”
“……”
“I’ll fall asleep for a long while. Well…that’s normally not a huge deal, but…”
“Uh huh…”
“Because your blood and mine have mixed together, things have gotten complicated. It’s gotten…worse.”
My mood slightly dampened because I felt like he was blaming me; in any case, I felt like I was slowly grasping what the ex-chimera was trying to say.
If I understood correctly, [Koo Hui-seo has nightmares when in a horrid physical condition–the tussle with Koo Kyungman led to that condition. Therefore, before he could fully fall asleep, he came to me for help].
‘…Wait a minute. Why would someone try to hurt themselves in order to wake up just because of a nightmare?’
Furthermore, it’s unbelievable to think he could sweep others around him into his nightmares.
Naturally, I had never experienced this sort of situation before, and Koo Hui-seo’s attitude caught my eye. I pondered what was so strange when suddenly an idea occurred to me.
‘Does Koo Hui-seo know what sort of state his body is in?’
Most ill folk may not realize how broken down their bodies are.
I recalled Kim Olim and Seo Dawon’s conversation when Koo Hui-seo had first arrived at my house. The ex-chimera was not a normal human, and his mentality was different from normal modes of thought. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about mental illnesses, but even I could tell the man was short-sighted and cruel.
Therefore, it was hard to take Koo Hui-seo’s babbles at face value. Rather, perhaps it’d be more accurate to say that the ex-chimera didn’t understand his situation either and constructed child-like theories based on his short-sighted judgment.
“May I ask why you don’t want to have nightmares? You must be incredibly scared of falling asleep if you’re willing to scar yourself to chase it away.” I asked him another question to confirm my theories.
Koo Hui-seo’s pupils began rolling around as he stammered significantly and rambled. “M-Mother appears… Also, I’m alone…”
“……”
“….Ah! Also, if I’m injured in my nightmares, the injuries are still there when I open my eyes… C-Come to think of it, Lee-kyung-ssi has broken his leg… S-Sorry.”
“……It’s alright. Disregarding that…you said that injuries attained in the nightmare appear in real life as well?”
“Ye~es….”
As I looked into Koo Hui-seo’s vacant eyes, I was certain. ‘This place… It’s a place made from Koo Hui-seo’s [skills].’
Before he was trapped in the hospital, he was the next guildmaster of the Red Dragon Guild; he must have been a User.
‘Though, it seems like his memories of his time as a User have either dissipated or distorted…’
Since the body remains intact, perhaps he was able to access his old skills?