Reunion pt.9

Radel gazed through the wall, watching In-woo’s figure. At least he didn’t seem to fear Radel’s existence as much as before, so that was some progress. Of course, things had to change. With mixed feelings of faint satisfaction at the change and fundamental dissatisfaction, Radel also left the room following In-woo.

In-woo was standing in the kitchen. For some reason, the android Kim Cheol-su was there too. Radel had clearly warned the android to stay away from Kim In-woo except in emergencies. As Radel shot a sharp glare at the android, In-woo explained on its behalf.

“I messed up while cooking. I don’t want to order delivery, so I’m having Kim Cheol-su do it.”

“…I see.”

Radel had no choice but to accept this. In-woo wasn’t particularly good at cooking. He didn’t especially enjoy it either, so he rarely spent time in the kitchen. The fact that Kim In-woo had attempted to cook was itself a positive sign. Despite all the effort put into feeding him well, he seemed even thinner than when he first came to the cage.

“I have no intention of eating food you make, so just sit quietly.”

Radel, who had been moving to cook instead of the android, stopped abruptly.

Though the words were harsh, looking deeper, it meant to sit here instead of being sent away. Radel considered In-woo’s thoughts before quietly taking a seat as told.

The android completed the cooking despite Radel’s piercing gaze. Thanks to detailed updates to its cooking functions, the food was prepared exactly to Kim In-woo’s taste. Based on Radel’s knowledge, the food was plated in a similar way to how Radel would do it. Two bowls of rice were placed on the table, one in front of In-woo and one in front of Radel.

In-woo, who had waited for the food with an unreadable expression, picked up his chopsticks without saying anything. When Radel just silently watched In-woo, he frowned.

“Stop ruining my appetite and just eat. You look awful, all skin and bones.”

In-woo harshly scolded Radel. Objectively speaking, he wasn’t really that thin… Though he had relied on medication and hadn’t eaten properly for the past year, Arkeans don’t lose muscle mass as quickly as humans do, so there wasn’t much change in his physique. But perhaps it deviated slightly from Kim In-woo’s preferences.

“……”

This was a time when he needed to make a good impression. Finally, Radel ate quietly. He finished one bowl of rice and got another. When he got a second serving, In-woo just glanced at him without saying anything.

After clearing the table set for two, In-woo got up without hesitation. When In-woo disappeared toward the bedroom, Radel turned to look at the android.

“Any emergencies during that time?”

“Emergencies kept occurring whenever he needed something from me. On the fourth day, following Kim In-woo’s request, I began residing in this house, and there have been no emergencies since then.”

“I see. Stand by then.”

“Understood.”

The android returned to its small spherical form and quietly disappeared. It would maintain this form until detecting any anomalies like emergencies. Radel stared at where the android had vanished, thinking about the week he had been asleep.

Emergencies, in other words, meant Kim In-woo’s suicide attempts.

There had been warning signs quite early on. It started with small things, like developing a nail-biting habit he never had before. Though it was just minor injuries at the time, Radel had tripled the guards stationed around Kim In-woo.

Self-harm isn’t just about physical injury. In Korean society, which is harsh toward homosexuality, coming out as a young male actor like Kim In-woo was beyond damaging—it was career suicide. Despite loving acting, his work, so much. In-woo threw away his career, putting all his effort into that dangerous gamble. When In-woo finally tried to jump from a tall building, it was truly horrifying.

Every time Radel received reports of Kim In-woo’s suicide attempts, he vomited blood mixed with flesh from stress. With the feeling of all the blood draining from his body, he hesitated many times about going back to find In-woo.

For the past year, Radel hadn’t been in his right mind. Even though he had been rejected by Kim In-woo, things were somewhat better when he was nearby, but being completely separated felt like death. When rejected by their imprinted partner, Arkeans die a hundred times out of a hundred. Particularly for possessive alphas, rejection from their partner was even more painful. Even Radel, who disliked his own species, found it difficult to break free from those chains.

Arkeans’ depression erases emotions themselves. But the affection for their imprinted partner often remains. When they imprint out of intense love, that love becomes a lifelong collar for the Arkeans.

Every time Kim In-woo treated him as worthless, Radel kept imagining snatching him away and imprisoning him while resenting him. In fact, an artificial planet prepared solely to care for In-woo had been ready for the past year, waiting for its master. A paradise for just the two of them, needing no one else, had such a sweet ring to it.

“……”

Radel forcefully suppressed the violent impulse that uniquely shook him. Then he got up and headed to the master bedroom.

Earlier there had been the sound of teeth brushing, but now the inside was completely quiet. Looking through the wall, he could see In-woo lying on the bed with his back turned. He wanted to see his face.

However, the door was locked and the doorknob wouldn’t turn. Unconsciously, his hand tightened its grip. Such a crude doorknob would break easily with just a little force. He could force his way in and overpower the fragile Kim In-woo right there…

“Don’t come in.”

Just as his imagination was reaching a violent stage, Kim In-woo’s voice came from inside the door.

“Don’t stand nearby. Don’t peek, go away.”

Radel, who had been watching In-woo’s back, hesitated. In-woo had read the diary where Radel had transferred all his thoughts. It was no longer a secret that Radel could see through walls.

He wanted to break the doorknob and enter the room right now. Once again, Radel barely held back. If he pushed too hard here, it would negate the worth of staying away for a year while vomiting blood.

“Alright. Goodnight, In-woo.”

It was easy to fake an affectionate voice while maintaining an expressionless face. Radel turned away.

He said don’t come in, but not to leave. Given Kim In-woo’s personality, if he wanted to drive him away, he would have done so already, meaning he had allowed Radel into his space. It was progress of sorts.

‘Hold back.’

He wasn’t used to holding back. When curious about others, Radel’s way was to read them completely and then kill them or deal with them in his own way. But he had to accomplish this unfamiliar task, something he had never done before.

Radel looked around the house.

As if the events from a year ago were a dream, the house was neatly organized. Many things had changed since the time Radel lived here with In-woo. After that day, when In-woo had destroyed all traces of their life together in what seemed like a fit, things weren’t returned to their original state.

As Radel walked around the house, his steps led him to the study. On the desk lay a stack of papers that looked like a script. Radel recalled In-woo’s schedule that he had kept track of. There shouldn’t be any works under review right now.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a script. It was just A4 papers with printed content organized for easy reading. Radel quietly looked down at the paper stack worn with use, then carefully reached out to examine it.

The hundred or so pages had faded slightly from white due to frequent handling, with the edges curled and worn from creasing. As he carefully turned the pages, he could see pages that had once been crumpled and torn. The paper had once been completely crumpled but now lay neatly inserted between pages, leaving only thin traces.

After turning to the last page, Radel returned to the first. Skipping past the preliminary first page, Radel read with his eyes the first sentence of the page where this document properly began.

Concerned about my depression and the possibility that I might soon enter eternal rest, Ezel brought me a creature called a human to raise.

It was Radel’s human observation journal that Raseti and Ezel had translated and handed over a year ago.