April 24th, Clear ☀

Today I came to Jeju Island with Kim In-woo.

It was a suddenly decided trip last week. I brought up traveling because I wanted to go to a casino, but Kim In-woo responded more enthusiastically than expected. Thanks to that, I had to scrap my casino plans and make pure travel plans instead.

Actually, I meant to write in my journal then too, but Kim In-woo looked so happy planning the trip that I got caught up joining him and ended up forgetting, so I’m writing it together now.

At first, I suggested going to Europe, but Kim In-woo seemed burdened by traveling somewhere so far at once. When I read his memories, Kim In-woo barely had experience traveling even to nearby places, let alone actual trips.

So I suggested some closer countries, but he seemed more drawn to farther countries. Since he got language recognition surgery at the training center and can speak English, he probably figured it would be better to go somewhere where the language works.

Kim In-woo’s ears turned red as he said he originally couldn’t speak English. From memories I’d read before, Kim In-woo had some inferiority complex about dropping out of high school. It might be good to suggest studying together…

More than that, I wonder if Kim In-woo would want to finish his studies and go to university, or if he’d want to continue the acting he was doing before?

Whatever he wants to do, I’ll let him do as he wishes.

If he’s going to university anyway, it would be good to go to a prestigious one. Getting a perfect score would be easy if I find out the college entrance exam answers in advance and imprint them in Kim In-woo’s mind like suggestions. For knowledge needed for university life, I could scrape information from professors’ minds and put it in his head. If classmates become annoying with group projects or whatever, I can just fix their attitudes.

If he wants to continue acting, I’ll make the whole nation Kim In-woo’s captive. If I make Kim In-woo a global star, people worldwide would know his charm. How cute and lovely my Kim In-woo is…

…

No, there’s nothing good about too many people knowing about Kim In-woo, is there? Kim In-woo is already so lovable, but if he becomes famous, worse bastards than Seo Jae-hyun will cling to him.

Of course, I could eliminate such vicious bastards preemptively but…

…

What is this.

I’m not quite satisfied with everything I’m writing. I guess I’m just not drawn to it. Kim In-woo becoming globally famous, that is.

I don’t know why, but it doesn’t feel good…

Well, even without me pushing too hard, Kim In-woo is pretty and talented so he’ll do well on his own.

I’ll just take care of vicious anti-fans or stalkers by killing them or making them wish they were dead. That should be enough. Whether Raseti barks or not (there are traces of editing and rewriting with different words), I’ll do as I want.

…Anyway, back to the main point.

Even though the language wouldn’t be a problem, Kim In-woo seemed a bit scared since he had no travel experience at all. So I suggested we go on domestic travel first.

Since Kim In-woo said he missed his school trip before and wanted to try riding an airplane, among other reasons, we chose to go to Jeju Island. I had no reason to object if Kim In-woo wanted to go. We postponed overseas travel and quickly booked flights and a hotel for Jeju. Then I contacted Raseti for help.

Kim In-woo didn’t like it, asking why we needed help from aliens, but it would be more comfortable getting Raseti’s help than spending all day with strangers.

To persuade him, I said I wanted to comfortably travel around just the two of us, and Kim In-woo soon quieted down and understood.

Since last night, Kim In-woo has been excitedly packing. The newly bought carrier was filled with equally new items. Seeing Kim In-woo happy made me happy too.

Kim In-woo’s only worry was the weather. That’s because the weather forecast recently announced rain for the next two days.

But it’s not a problem. I brought climate control equipment along with the ship just in case we might need it. Though it’s less efficient compared to full-scale facilities, it can block short rains if not typhoons. The weather will be clear throughout our five-day trip. Well, if we want atmosphere, it wouldn’t be bad to sprinkle some light rain for a day.

I gave sleeping pills to Kim In-woo who couldn’t sleep because he was so excited. After taking the sleeping pills, Kim In-woo slept deeply and comfortably without even dreaming.

But despite sleeping well, Kim In-woo seemed somewhat tense at the airport. Unlike when he was scared of me, Kim In-woo looking around with round eyes mixed with excitement and tension was really cute. I fully understood why humans upload animal videos on YouTube and such.

He’s really cute and lovely. Anyone who sees Kim In-woo wouldn’t be able to help but say he’s cute. I want to announce that such a cute Kim In-woo is traveling with me. Of course, I won’t actually announce it. He’s already too cute as is, I’m worried he might get kidnapped.

When I smiled because I was in a good mood, Kim In-woo seemed to think I was also really looking forward to the trip. When he asked if I was excited, I said yes. Even his playful words while being dozens of times more excited than me are just cute.

However, once we got on the plane, Kim In-woo became even more tense. Then he explained to me about accidents that could happen on planes. That was quite surprising as it was something I hadn’t checked. I don’t know why he deliberately looked up such things when I told him not to look at strange things…

I felt like teasing him. But it would be troublesome if he got sick from being so tense during the flight. There was no need to leave bad memories of his first trip, so I held back.

Actually, an android is aboard this plane just in case. There’s a model responsible for rescuing lives in space. So even if the plane were to crash, Kim In-woo and I would survive safely. But since I couldn’t tell him that, I just held his hand.

Sometimes I wonder. What if I had met Kim In-woo when I was young, before I lost my memories.

Of course, it’s not exact since I only confirmed my younger self through some people’s memories around me. Still, the previous me wasn’t an Arkea who took life lightly. Rather, wouldn’t I have tried to save Kim In-woo? No, I definitely would have. I…

…

…

No, no. It would have been better not to meet then.

…

I’m glad I didn’t have this thought then. Because I’m not confident I could have maintained my composure pretending nothing was wrong. Yeah…

…

Anyway, contrary to Kim In-woo’s many worries, the plane smoothly took off, flew for about an hour, and landed safely.

We flew for quite a while for a distance that could have been covered in the blink of an eye. The fact that the long flight time didn’t bother me shows I’ve become quite accustomed to Earth.

We received a car equipped with artificial intelligence by asking Raseti. Once I got in the driver’s seat and Kim In-woo in the passenger seat, the car moved on its own. Even Kim In-woo, who was anxious at first, enjoyed it comfortably later. We went straight out after going to the hotel to unpack and having a quick bite.

The travel course wasn’t anything special really. I’m too old to be amazed by ordinary travel now.

But Kim In-woo brightened up and enjoyed himself at every ordinary place. And I was amazed watching Kim In-woo. When Kim In-woo smiled, everything around seemed to sparkle.

At some beach, Kim In-woo took off his shoes and walked barefoot on the sand. Every time his white, clean feet stepped on the sand, I was seized by a strange urge.

Just like when I kept Kim In-woo in a cage on the planet where I used to live. I wanted to return to my original size and put Kim In-woo in my mouth, thoroughly lick every part of his body, roll him around and eat him.

His white and soft skin looks like it would taste nutty and sweet like the white inside of well-baked bread if licked, but recalling the few times I’ve licked it before, there wasn’t really any particular taste. Even when I secretly licked last night, I only tasted the artificial body wash scent.

Even knowing this, I still want to put him in my mouth. I want to bite too. Of course, not enough to kill, just slightly, just a little… Just enough to make Kim In-woo slightly furrow his brows, or for tears to well up in the corners of his eyes.

It’s strange. Kim In-woo is precious to me, so why do I want to hurt him? My throat felt strangely parched. I wanted to swallow Kim In-woo whole. Why am I like this…

…?

I still don’t understand even thinking about it again. Anyway, I concluded that I must have gotten used to eating Earth-style. It makes sense since I’ve lived with Kim In-woo for quite a while.

(Note: The Arkea race can flexibly change their appearance according to their surroundings. Temperature and size are the most basic transformations, and ultimately they change their body composition to be similar to the life forms living on that planet. Though mentally weak, their physical adaptability is the best in the universe.)

We decided to go for an early dinner. The menu was braised cutlassfish, but Kim In-woo busily ate the side dishes like soy sauce marinated crab and grilled mackerel that came out before the main dish. When I asked if he wouldn’t get full eating beforehand, he said it was fine, but he seemed a bit surprised when the braised cutlassfish came out. Unlike the small fish dishes we saw in Seoul, it came out abundantly in a pot long enough to cross the table, with the cutlassfish’s mouth open alongside clams, octopus, and fish.

Fortunately, it seemed to suit Kim In-woo’s taste as he ate well. Watching Kim In-woo eat deliciously, the hunger I felt earlier somewhat subsided and I felt full naturally. I finished my meal while occasionally placing deboned fish in front of Kim In-woo.

Perhaps because he had been tense since morning, Kim In-woo became drowsy after eating. After somewhat abbreviating our schedule, we came straight back to the hotel.

Still, maybe because he’s young, Kim In-woo quickly regained energy after lying down for a bit. Right now he’s gone to wash up, but since he has enough energy to go wash up on his own, he might want to go out later. After all, Kim In-woo was really looking forward to this trip.

It’s a bit awkwardly late to go far. I should look up what’s nearby. I-

—

T/N: The entry was cut off on purpose^^