“Jaehee, are you really going to stay home alone? Wouldn’t it be better to just stay at the main house while I’m gone?”
“It’s fine. I’ll handle it myself, so you just hurry up and go. Your mother is waiting.”
“Still… will you be okay alone?”
“Am I Yiyeong? Am I a preschooler? Why do you think I can’t be alone? Besides, I’ve been playing around so much that I couldn’t do all the things I planned to do during break. It’s fine.”
Indeed, because he’d been attached to Jeongwoo the entire break, he hadn’t done a single thing he was supposed to do. Even with Jaehee’s firm answer, Jeongwoo kept glancing at Jaehee worriedly before finally nodding.
“You said you’d be back in a few days?”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure. I have to visit my grandfather’s house, so it’ll take at least three or four days. Grandfather’s house is really in the countryside. If it takes longer, it could be about a week.”
“I see…”
“I’ll come back as soon as possible.”
“No. You’re spending time with your family after a long while, so take your time and come back comfortably.”
Jeongwoo pulled Jaehee into a tight embrace. When Jaehee startled and squirmed, Jeongwoo whispered softly in his ear.
“You’re my family. I’ll come back quickly.”
Jaehee chuckled as he watched Jeongwoo leave with those final words.
Jeongwoo had suggested staying at the main house while he was gone, but Jaehee decided to just stay home.
He’d never told Jeongwoo this, but Jaehee actually found this place more comfortable than the main house. Beyond simply whether the house was good or bad, being with Jeongwoo was more enjoyable, and now this place felt like his own home.
It was also true that he hadn’t been able to study because he’d been playing around with Jeongwoo. For Jeongwoo, maintaining his grades wasn’t difficult even without studying, so it wasn’t a problem, but in Jaehee’s case it was a bit different. He had to work diligently and earnestly.
“Was the house always this big…”
It wasn’t that Jeongwoo was particularly talkative, but the empty house felt incredibly large and quiet. He’d only lived with Jeongwoo for a few months at most, yet now he couldn’t really imagine a life without Jeongwoo.
Perhaps that’s why his heart felt restless now that Jeongwoo would be away for a few days. Even sitting at his desk to study, he couldn’t concentrate well. With a hollow feeling, he kept wandering around here and there throughout the house.
[Did you arrive?]
Since the text saying he’d met his parents and departed, Jeongwoo hadn’t replied. Jaehee anxiously kept checking his phone, and when his throat felt dry, he opened the refrigerator.
[Fresh fruit juice, drink within today.]
There was a note Jeongwoo had stuck on top of the refrigerator. Seeing it made him chuckle. Like a mother leaving a young child behind to go on a long trip, Jeongwoo had filled the refrigerator with side dishes and snacks for Jaehee to eat while he was gone. The hollow feeling in his heart began to gradually fill bit by bit upon discovering Jeongwoo’s traces. Normally when alone, he wouldn’t bother eating properly out of laziness, but seeing such a heartfelt refrigerator, he couldn’t do that.
“Does Woo Jeongwoo think I’m his child and not his lover? Though, even a mother wouldn’t do this much. I don’t think my mom did this much for me.”
While it was unfair to his biological mother who passed away when he was young, Jeongwoo was taking care of him far better.
Drinking the sweet juice with just the right amount of honey for his taste made him feel good.
“Woo Jeongwoo would make a really good father.”
As he unconsciously muttered to himself, a strange feeling came over him and he scratched his neck.
Come to think of it, something really strange had happened a few days ago.
That red flame he’d seen when he was with Jeongwoo—what was that flame?
Even now, several days later, it was still vivid.
Moreover, this morning he’d had a strange dream. A giant snake appeared and clicked its tongue at him, then gave him a large egg. While holding the egg, it gradually became hotter. Later it was so hot he couldn’t even hold the egg. Then the egg slipped right into his belly. He couldn’t understand how it got in, but more importantly, he could hear a thumping heartbeat sound from inside his belly.
Jaehee found it so vivid that even after waking from the dream, he stroked his belly several times.
“This… if I were a woman, I’d definitely call this a conception dream.”
Jaehee scratched his head. Was it because Jeongwoo kept going on about children? He found himself unconsciously associating things with children.
It was when he was taking out the side dishes Jeongwoo had prepared to eat a somewhat late lunch.
“Urgh… Wh-what is this.”
When he picked up a side dish he normally ate well, an indescribable nausea rose up. It had been fine just a few days ago, but he couldn’t understand why it was suddenly like this. Since Jeongwoo had busily made it until this morning, it couldn’t have gone bad.
“This… could it be morning sickness… no? Is this imaginary pregnancy?”
Jaehee burst out laughing at the absurdity.
What kind of ridiculous situation is this?
A conception dream followed by morning sickness.
It was fortunate Jeongwoo wasn’t around in this situation. If Jeongwoo had seen it, he would have dug into the ground to the depths of hell from embarrassment.
Should he go to the hospital? It was when Jaehee was scratching his head.
[Congratulations. A King’s Candidate has been born on the protected planet Earth.
Since a King’s Candidate has been born, the Judgment of the End is postponed until the candidate’s qualification examination is completed.]
…?
What is this?
Jaehee rubbed his eyes several times. Suddenly letters appeared before his eyes, but the even stranger thing was that such letters appearing felt very familiar. He should have suspected he was going crazy, but instead he was more interested in the content of those letters.
A King’s Candidate has been born…? On the protected planet Earth…?
“A K-King’s Candidate…?”
A stabbing headache struck his head. Scenes he’d never seen flashed through his mind.
Unforgettable memories and memories he wanted to forget—all of it jumbled together and floated through his mind.
Jaehee couldn’t even scream and collapsed right there, slumping down.
Tears flowed down endlessly, but he didn’t even realize he was crying.
His hands trembled violently.
What on earth had I been doing all this time?
The image of Jeongwoo lying unconscious came to mind. And the wooden crown he’d personally destroyed with his own hands.
And the earthquake and screams that occurred immediately after.
His self-loathing for destroying the crown and his obsession with the collapsed Jeongwoo all mixed together in a jumble. As all of it came flooding back, nausea rose.
Jaehee slumped down, dry heaving several times and trembling all over.
What happened?
Is all of this just an illusion? Did Earth perish and I died, but I’m just having a brief sweet dream for a moment?
“…Blazing Flame. You did this, didn’t you? What exactly happened?”
After a bout of intense emotions swept through and passed, his head became strangely clear. Jaehee looked at the empty air and spoke with certainty.
Then a small flame flickered before his eyes. Its appearance was so precarious and small that Jaehee unconsciously reached out his hand.
A small flame flickered above Jaehee’s hand.
– It’s not a dream or an illusion. Hello, Mom. I can finally speak now.
He’d suspected it, but hearing it directly called ‘Mom’ made his head go blank. Jaehee bit his lips tightly with a hardened expression.
…So that’s it. Yes, it was all you. Blazing Flame.
“Blazing Flame. You did all of this. What exactly happened?”
– How was it? Were you happy? Was the time with Dad satisfactory for you, Mom?
“Did you play with me? By showing me an illusion I’d like?”
– I told you it’s not an illusion. I just gave you another chance. I turned back time for the entire Earth.
“…You! H-how could you…!”
– Dad was disappearing because he disturbed the timeline. Because the before and after of time got all tangled up, it violated the laws. Actually, time doesn’t flow toward the future but exists like coordinates. And actually, a bigger problem than time was that there was no King. No matter how much the timeline was disturbed, a planet without a King will eventually perish.
The flame trembled as if laughing and spun round and round on Jaehee’s palm. It was like a dance and also like laughter.
– So I turned back the entire planet’s time. To before the Judgment of the End began. And Mom, you made a contract with me, right? So you have to give birth to me.
“You…!”
– I’m your son from a much more distant timeline. Mom, I’ve been waiting to meet you for a very, very long time. A very, very long time.
The red flame grew smaller and smaller, then disappeared without a trace.
“Blazing Flame! What is going on!”
– This time isn’t my time period, so having lost most of my power, I can no longer maintain my form. Oh! From this incident, Dad probably regained his memories too. Mom. After I’m born, please take care of me.
After that, Jaehee stood in the kitchen with a dazed expression for quite a while.
A little later, his phone rang loudly. It was Woo Jeongwoo.
