003. Tutorial Begins (3)
“Damn, damn it. What… is this?”
As soon as Jaehee regained consciousness, he felt nauseated from a headache that felt like being stabbed with an awl. Even the slightest movement of his head brought up vomit, forcing him to cover his mouth with his hand.
It felt like when he once had a severe case of the flu. Had he caught a cold?
When he finally managed to get up after groaning for a while, Jaehee realized something was wrong.
The place where he had been lying was a white room with nothing in it. The room, completely filled with white, contained nothing except for the bed where Jaehee had been lying. It was an artificial space that looked like it had been painted.
Had he been kidnapped?
The thought of being kidnapped immediately brought him to his senses. He quickly retraced the situation. The last scene Jaehee remembered was being with Jeongwoo. That crazy guy had called him out to a crowded downtown area on a freezing Christmas Eve, and then did some bizarre things…
“Damn it! Woo Jeongwoo!”
That crazy bastard had dragged him and jumped into a black hole.
“Oh my, you’re already awake?”
“Ahh! W-what the!”
Jaehee was startled by a woman who suddenly appeared in front of him. There had clearly been no one there before…
The woman had long blonde hair and was wearing clothes from ancient Roman times, the kind you’d only see in movies.
“I’m sorry. Did I startle you?”
“W-who are you? Where is this? Why am I here?”
Jaehee flinched and stepped back when he saw the woman smile smoothly. The woman’s eyes were pink.
Do people have eyes of that color? Is she wearing colored lenses? Is she some kind of cosplayer?
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind in that instant. She seemed too strange to be a kidnapper, and this was too extreme to be a joke.
“Sister. Is our guest already awake?”
“Ahh!”
Jaehee nearly bit his tongue while screaming. Another woman, similar to the previous one, had suddenly popped out of thin air. The woman looked nearly identical except for a slight difference in hair length.
“We’ve been waiting for a while. Such a sleepyhead.”
“W-what… W-why am I… here?”
“Oh my, you don’t remember? This is serious, sister.”
“Don’t make such a fuss. It’s probably because he just woke up. Once you have a meal and get some rest, you’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. Girls, bring the meal.”
Jaehee swallowed hard as he looked at the two women. Although they spoke in a kind tone, they didn’t properly explain anything. It felt like unspoken pressure to not respond and just follow their instructions.
When one of the pink-eyed women gestured, women appeared from somewhere and began preparing a table in front of the bed. A large table was covered with a white tablecloth. It all happened in an instant. All the women were petite, and upon closer inspection, they had ears protruding from the tops of their heads. The pointed animal-like ears were something you’d only see in animation.
Could they be members of some cosplay club? The women busily carried food to the table. The food ranged from familiar dishes to ones he had never seen before, all steaming as if freshly made. Though he wasn’t hungry, smelling the food made his stomach churn. Jaehee stared blankly at the food on the table before shaking his head. This wasn’t important right now, yet he kept losing focus without realizing it.
“Ah… wait a moment. Before the food, where exactly is this place?”
Suddenly, the bustling women all froze at once. It was eerie how they all stopped simultaneously, like dolls that had been switched off. Just then, the blonde woman who had first spoken to Jaehee approached him.
“You really don’t remember anything? Really? Oh my! I don’t like this kind of joke!”
The woman gently caressed Jaehee’s face and whispered in his ear. As her breath touched his ear, he felt languid. Suddenly, everything felt bothersome, and he didn’t want to think about anything. The woman gently stroked his face again with her slender fingers.
“No, I mean… I’m just curious. W-who are you?”
“I am your fiancée. No matter how angry you are with me, please don’t say such cold things like you don’t remember me. You don’t know how excited I am to have such a handsome person as my fiancé. Now, you’re just lacking energy. Have this and you’ll feel better.”
The woman took a grape that was in front of her and approached Jaehee. While Jaehee stared at her blankly, as if entranced, the woman pushed the grape into his mouth. At that moment, a spark flashed from Jaehee’s mouth with a crackling sound.
“Argh, kuhh.”
It was such a strong shock that his tongue tingled and his lips trembled. Jaehee rubbed his smarting mouth while his eyes watered.
For some reason, the woman was now glaring at him with an angry expression. But when her eyes met Jaehee’s, she smiled as if nothing had happened.
“Are you not hurt? I guess you didn’t like the grape. How about this? Strawberry? Or we have the finest wine that you can’t taste anywhere else.”
Was it his imagination that the woman’s smiling expression seemed strangely distorted? The woman continued to bring fruit to Jaehee, but Jaehee frowned and shook his head.
“That’s enough. Instead of joking around, tell me who you are.”
“Oh? Really? Then would you like to have a proper meal instead of fruit?”
“Later… I’ll eat later.”
“No, please, just try one bite.”
The food that had looked appetizing just moments ago now didn’t seem appealing at all. When he declined to eat, the woman became even more insistent in offering food.
At this point, he began to feel suspicious.
Why is she so determined to make me eat? Has she drugged the food?
‘Don’t eat anything when you go in there.’
He recalled Jeongwoo’s final words, which he had emphasized several times before Jaehee lost consciousness.
But where is Jeongwoo now? Did I fall alone? Or is this my dream?
As Jaehee was frowning and thinking about Jeongwoo, the woman suddenly embraced him.
“Have you grown tired of me now? Are you abandoning me like this?”
“W-what are you saying? When did we ever meet?”
“Are you now saying you don’t even remember? What about all those times you said you loved me? This is too much!”
Jaehee swung his arms trying to detach this woman whose identity he didn’t know. The woman was quite beautiful, but something about her felt off. Despite her delicate appearance, she was so strong that Jaehee couldn’t break free from her arms.
Jaehee clicked his tongue. Until now, he had merely been cautious, but now he was definitely uncomfortable. At first, he had gone along because he couldn’t understand the situation, but now he realized this was no joking matter. Jaehee shook his body with all his might and pushed the woman away forcefully.
“You—who are you?”
“You still don’t remember me?”
“To remember, we’d have to have met before, wouldn’t we? I’m seeing you for the first time.”
The woman gently furrowed her brow and tilted her head.
Jaehee slowly looked around. Come to think of it, this place was strange too. It was like a movie set, wasn’t it?
He had definitely been shivering from the cold, but the sunlight outside the window was blazing like midsummer. As he began to recognize one oddity after another, everything in this place started to seem suspicious.
“Hmm. This is strange. Why can’t you remember me? Then, do you at least remember who you are?”
The woman tilted her head quizzically and poked Jaehee’s chest with her finger.
“What are you saying? Of course I remember!”
“Really? Then what’s your name? Who are you?”
Jaehee tried to say his name but suddenly felt so dizzy he couldn’t open his mouth.
What’s my name? My name. Something so obvious, but suddenly his mind went blank and he couldn’t think of anything.
Is this even possible? Not being able to remember a name I’ve heard for 20 years, something that’s not even difficult.
Ah, 20 years? Why 20 years? How old am I?
His memories crumbled like sand being washed away by waves. The more he tried to grasp them, the more they disappeared one by one.
My name… my name…
A ringing sound in his ears and a terrible headache pierced through. As he continued to struggle to remember his name, he felt nauseous all the way to his stomach. When Jaehee looked at the woman with a confused expression, she smiled brightly.
“Your name is Zephyros. You’re Zephyros, my love.”
“My name… Zephyros…”
The thought “this isn’t right” flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t easily reject the woman’s words. It felt like something worse than a headache would happen if he denied it. Jaehee slowly nodded, and the woman smiled and embraced him.
“My love. You seem very tired. Take the drink we’ve prepared for you and get some rest. After a good sleep and some rest, the confusion will disappear.”
The woman smiled while holding up a beautifully crafted bottle. When she opened it, a fragrant aroma instantly filled the air. Just smelling it made his tense muscles relax and his headache slightly fade.
At some point, everything was forgotten. The anxiety and uneasiness disappeared, and his mood gradually improved.
Oh well, whatever. What does it matter? But isn’t there someone who’s supposed to find me?
Something was about to come to mind, but he couldn’t continue the thought.
Why bother thinking so hard?
Why not just live comfortably?
For a moment, he wondered how such a small woman could manipulate a grown man like himself, but he soon forgot about this too.
“Now, let’s toast together. Meeting a loved one deserves a toast, doesn’t it? Your name is Zephyros. The one who will become the husband of me, Flora. My beloved, take this cup.”
The woman’s light voice felt like a song. As he listened, his mind became increasingly hazy.
Before Jaehee knew it, he was holding a cup the woman had given him. Looking at the golden cup that rippled like the woman’s hair, his mouth unconsciously opened.
The liquor in the cup was shimmering as if it were melted gold.
As he held the liquor in his mouth, for a moment it felt like his mouth was burning. He wanted to spit it all out, but his lips were stuck together and wouldn’t open. It was as if someone else was controlling his body.
“Hey!”
Along with a thunderous shout, someone smacked the back of Jaehee’s head with force.
“Argh!”
“Giving alcohol to a minor—this is all illegal! I’m going to report this!”
The hit was so hard that Jaehee saw stars. But at the same time, something that had been blocking his vision fell away, and his foggy mind cleared up. Jaehee opened his eyes wide, holding the back of his head, and looked at the person who had hit him.
“…You! You!”
“I get it, so stop shouting. Hey, Shin Jaehee, you didn’t drink that, did you?”
“Uh, huh?”
Jaehee was about to yell at the person who had hit him, but then he blinked and stammered.
“I told you so clearly! So clearly! Not to eat anything! You couldn’t wait that long! Hey, spit it out. Spit it out!”
Woo Jeongwoo rushed to Jaehee, grabbed his neck, and started to force his mouth open.
“Damn it, let go! Let me go!”
“Spit it out! Vomit! I said vomit!”
Woo Jeongwoo yelled for him to vomit while shoving his fingers into his mouth.
Jaehee’s mouth was already sore from the electric shock, and now Jeongwoo was forcibly poking around with his fingers, making his irritation surge.
“Get lost, you crazy bastard!”
“Vomit! I told you that and you forgot? Are you birdbrained? Huh? Are you birdbrained? Why can’t you remember what I tell you! How did you even take the college entrance exam with that brain?”
“Sure, good for you having a smart brain! You crazy bastard, because of you, really!”
Shin Jaehee and Woo Jeongwoo faced each other and shouted. Finally, the fingers pushing into Jaehee’s throat made him gag. As Jaehee started dry heaving, Jeongwoo patted his back, saying he was doing well.
“Ptui, ptui ptui! I didn’t eat! I didn’t eat it! Damn it!”
Shin Jaehee was pinned under Woo Jeongwoo, unable to move, gagging until he was about to bring up stomach acid before being released. They say the crazy one is strong, and Woo Jeongwoo was exactly that. Being pressed down by his large body made it impossible to move at all.
“You remember who I am, right?”
After immobilizing him with his weight and making him vomit, Woo Jeongwoo now backed away and looked at Shin Jaehee anxiously. For a moment, Shin Jaehee raised his lips in a pout.
“Who are you?”
“Hey! Shin Jaehee!”
“I am Zephyros.”
Woo Jeongwoo’s mouth fell open and his expression went blank.
