After ordering delivery food and having the TV on without being able to focus, peeking into the study several times, and then getting tired of even that – several hours passed.

“Alright, it’s done.”

Raseti and Ezel came out of the room and handed over a thick stack of papers. Despite being aliens who use strange machines not seen even in movies, Ezel had printed the documents on A4 paper of all things. In-woo received Radel’s rather thick journal.

“Read comfortably. I read the journal while monitoring, but I’ll be receiving memory erasure soon so don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t really worried about that.”

“It’s better to erase it.”

…What on earth was written in there? The stack of papers in his hands felt even heavier.

“Um… Should we step out then?”

“Do whatever you want.”

At In-woo’s response, both Raseti and Ezel stayed put. Though he wasn’t sure what they thought there was to see, In-woo ignored them and glared at the thick journal.

<Human Observation Journal.>

After glaring at those cold six characters, In-woo turned the page with trembling hands.

Ezel, who was worried about me possibly entering rest soon due to my recent depression, brought me a human creature to raise.

The journal started with extremely detached and ordinary sentences. Impressions that showed no emotion toward the subject. Though it said ‘creature,’ the perspective of dealing with something worthless was clearly preserved in the journal. With each short sentence that ended, nightmares of the past came alive in In-woo’s mind.

The fear and pain Kim In-woo had experienced were described in the journal as merely ridiculous actions of a stupid creature.

In-woo’s complexion gradually turned pale. Unable to watch any longer, Raseti tried to stop him.

“Mr. Kim In-woo. Why don’t you rest a bit more before reading? Calm down first.”

“I’m going to read it.”

“I’m not saying don’t read it. I’m suggesting you read it after settling down a bit.”

“If I need to be calm to read this, I’ll never be able to read it in my life.”

He thought it would be fine to just check it now that several years had passed. But not everything is forgotten just because time passes. Rather, that moment became clearer, as if retracing memories. In-woo clenched his teeth and turned the pages slowly while taking deep breaths.

Slowly turning the pages, In-woo paused.

“What’s this?”

There was a part marked ‘(Censored)’. Raseti shrugged their shoulders.

“It’s rated R. You’re still too young to see it.”

“Don’t say nonsense.”

“It was just like that. It’s not edited, seems like parts were deleted.”

“……”

“If it’s deleted, they marked it as deleted, but there aren’t many when you look through it.”

He thought about getting angry and demanding the original, but left it alone for now.

There were parts throughout the pages where Ezel had added footnotes. There were also parts Raseti had explained further, and he learned some quite shocking content about how Radel had disposed of his father who had been missing.

After reading the journal for a long while, In-woo reached the last page. He glared at sentences he couldn’t understand.

(Seems something was written but not uploaded finally. No signs of uploading despite waiting.)

“What does this mean?”

Raseti poked their head out and looked at the translated part, letting out a low groan.

“Well, you see. It seems Radel wrote today’s entry, but it’s not uploaded to the server yet. We can tell something was written but we can’t see it since it hasn’t been uploaded yet. I was going to leave it out since it wasn’t uploaded, but Ezel insisted on adding the explanation…”

In-woo sneered at the pathetic trick. Content left unfinished. Would Radel not have known In-woo would be interested in this last page? That couldn’t be. His mood, which had been getting lower throughout reading the journal, hit rock bottom.

“Tell him to come directly if he has something to say to me.”

Raseti jumped in surprise at In-woo’s words. It was an excessive reaction.

“What for? Don’t meet him.”

“Why?”

“Well, Radel’s current state…”

“Ezel, contact him.”

Regardless of Raseti trying to stop him, In-woo had an easy solution. Ezel threw In-woo a strange look while immediately contacting Radel. For some reason, Raseti was pacing anxiously.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“…You remember how irritable I was a few days ago, right?”

Of course he remembered. Raseti, who was always energetic, had been completely deflated. They said it was depression. Though different from human depression, it was even more fatal.

“Radel’s depression has gotten worse again…”

“What, are you worried about Radel?”

“The one I’m worried about is you!”

Raseti quickly protested. In-woo snorted at their words. They had pretended to worry about him, pretended to be generous, but it was all lies. He knew all of it had Radel’s touch, so how could he believe Raseti’s words now?

“You might be in danger…”

“Raseti.”

And far too quickly, Radel arrived. Raseti, who had been about to say something more, froze. Then they turned to look at Radel with an extremely tense face.

“Radel! Not now. You agreed to…”

“Both of you, out.”

At the short command, Raseti stopped speaking. Their face, which had been pale until just now, regained its usual color, and they retreated from their spot while wearing a slight smile. Ezel also clicked their tongue lightly and turned around without hesitation.

Focused only on glaring at Radel, In-woo didn’t notice something strange.

The man standing before him was shockingly unfamiliar and, at the same time, terribly familiar.

Radel wore the same severe blank expression as when they first met in the cage. The face he had when he viewed Kim In-woo as a being less than an insect.

“In-woo.”

The affectionate tone in his flat voice brought an unpleasant sense of dissonance. Seeing Radel after just reading the journal only added fuel to Kim In-woo’s already unstable state. He couldn’t stand the sight of him.

In-woo quickly regretted calling Radel. He had made a mistake carelessly thinking of Radel as the same person as Lee Sun-ho. The person before him wasn’t his generous former lover but the most brutal mass murderer in the universe.

In-woo unconsciously stepped backward and stumbled when his legs hit the sofa. Unable to keep his balance, his body collapsed onto it. Even during this, Radel kept staring intently at In-woo. In-woo gritted his teeth in disgust.

“You bastard.”

“……”

“You perverted freak.”

“What are you saying?”

Radel asked while taking a big step closer. In-woo threw the thick journal he was holding at the man. The stack of papers fluttered, repeatedly hiding and revealing the man’s face.

“What do you mean why? I saw everything.”

“If you saw it, then you know.”

Radel picked up a sheet of paper that had fallen at his feet and handed it to In-woo.

“I love you.”