Chapter 25
Kid let out a hollow laugh. After he had kindly saved her life, Seniel’s wife seemed to think he had fed her poison. Finding her misunderstanding ridiculous, Kid decided to correct her.
“It’s not poison. It’s medicine.”
“Stop lying, please…”
Half out of her mind from pain and the drug’s effects, Bibi blurted out whatever came to her head. Kid stared at her in disbelief—and then Bibi wriggled toward him and grabbed his hand.
Trying to reach him from where she lay, her grip kept loosening. Even so, she clung stubbornly to his fingers, as if determined not to let go.
Kid looked down at the hand holding his.
Someone desperately grasping a murderer’s hand—this was a first. His eyebrow twitched in faint surprise.
Since he had no intention of playing nurse any longer, Kid tried to pull his hand away without mercy. But seeing her cling to him so desperately, as if he were her savior, struck him as oddly amusing. The impulse to stay a little longer crossed his mind.
Bibi’s hand began to tremble with exhaustion. It looked like even the slightest touch would make it fall away.
Watching her shaking hand with interest, Kid decided to give in to the impulse. When he let go to sit on the bed, Bibi immediately began to tear up again.
With a short sigh, he even found himself soothing her.
“Stop crying and stay still. I’m not leaving.”
Kid sat on the bed just like he had the day before. Feeling the warmth beside her, Bibi calmed down and shut her eyes tightly.
The medicine hadn’t fully taken effect yet, so she continued to breathe painfully. For a long time, she lay there with her eyes closed, waiting to die.
But instead of dying, her condition didn’t worsen either. Struggling, Bibi opened her eyes and looked up at Kid.
Without hesitation, she voiced the thought in her head.
“So… when am I going to die?”
“You’re not.”
“Oh… I see. But when am I going to die?”
Kid didn’t answer.
Should he just kill her for real?
She looked completely out of her mind. Bibi stared at him blankly, not really expecting an answer. She was simply looking at him because dying alone was frightening.
Burning with fever, her gaze drifted down to Kid’s hand. His knuckles were slightly red, his fingers long and elegant—strangely beautiful for a murderer’s hand. And she remembered how cool it had felt earlier.
Bibi coveted that coolness.
And if she wanted something, why hesitate now?
“By the way… your hand felt really cool earlier. Give me your hand again.”
Now she was boldly making demands.
Kid was dumbfounded—but also intrigued. Wondering just how far this woman would go, he held out his hand.
Bibi slapped it against her burning forehead. His body temperature was normal, but to her it felt wonderfully cool.
Unsatisfied with cooling only her forehead, she pressed it to her cheek as well. But once her heat warmed his hand, she shoved it away.
“Give me the other hand…”
With a scoff, Kid obediently offered his other hand.
“Do you even realize whose hand you’re calling cool right now?”
Seeing her cling to hands that had only ever killed, never healed, was absurdly amusing. He wondered how she would react once she came back to her senses—and at the same time felt strangely unsettled.
Bibi didn’t answer and kept fiddling with his hand.
Then she laid her head on it like a pillow.
He could feel the soft touch of her cheek, the faint warmth of her breath.
The medicine gradually began to take effect. With her head resting on his hand, Bibi half-closed her eyes. The pain seemed to fade—and then suddenly her vision blurred.
Along with the medicine, the hallucinogenic effects began to set in.
Blinking hazily, Bibi suddenly thought the hand she was lying on belonged to her mother.
The small remaining part of her rational mind protested.
‘Mom can’t be here… but if not, whose hand is this?’
Was there anyone else who would ever reach out to her like this? Besides her mother, no one.
Struggling, Bibi lifted her head to look at the owner of the hand. Tears welled in her eyes.
The face before her looked exactly like the mother she only saw in dreams.
“Mom…?”
She squeezed Kid’s hand tightly.
“So it really is you… then I must have died. I must be dead…”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
Kid stared at Bibi as she clung to him more and more. What is wrong with her? He’d gone through the trouble of giving her medicine, and now she was rambling about being dead.
After thinking seriously for a moment, Bibi decided that at least she wasn’t in as much pain as she’d expected. Between the fever and the drug, she could barely think straight.
She tugged at Kid’s hand. He didn’t budge.
She tugged again and again, then whined like a stubborn child.
“Mom, lie down too. We finally meet after so long—why are you just sitting there?”
“Hurry. Okay?”
Kid let out an incredulous breath.
When he showed no intention of lying down, Bibi gathered every ounce of strength she had and pulled harder. But all it did was make her head hurt more.
Finally, she burst into tears.
“Why won’t you lie down with meee?”
At her childish tantrum, Kid was completely at a loss. He couldn’t make sense of it at all. Was there something wrong with the medicine?
But it was hard to think clearly with her sobbing and hiccupping so pitifully.
For some reason, Kid felt like he should grant her request. He could have ignored her—but he didn’t want to.
Giving in to yet another strange impulse, he decided to do as she asked.
The moment Kid lay down beside her, Bibi stopped crying.
“Hehe.”
She laughed softly and clung to him tightly.
Her cheek pressed against his chest. Kid, for once, was flustered.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“Mom…”
He tried to push her away. But Bibi clung desperately, refusing to let go of the mother she’d finally found.
In the end, Kid gave up—not because she overpowered him, but because every time he tried to move away, she cried like she might pass out.
Bibi buried herself in his arms.
“Mom, I’ve had such a hard time… why did you come so late? I had a really strange dream too… it was so hard there. But seeing you means I must’ve died even in that dream…”
“I told you, you didn’t die.”
“No… I did die. But Mom, before I died, this scary uncle kept bothering me. But it’s okay now. Everything’s okay… I’m just happy to see you.”
Okay? Not really.
“Tell me I did a good job. Pat me on the back. Hurry…”
Without a word, Kid began patting her back.
He just wanted her to fall asleep quickly so he could leave.
Of course, he could have pushed her away and gone—but ever since earlier, his body hadn’t been listening to reason, only to strange impulses.
Kid had never done anything like this before and had no idea how much strength to use. But Bibi seemed satisfied, gradually calming down and closing her eyes.
Feeling better, she unconsciously rubbed her cheek against his chest.
“Mom, you must have worked out. Your body feels really strong now…”
Ridiculous.
Looking down at the woman burying her face into him, Kid laughed again.
He kept patting her back, urging her silently to hurry up and sleep.
Her whining faded, and soon Bibi fell asleep with a peaceful smile.
“…….”
The noisy room fell silent once more.
Bibi slept soundly without moving at all.
Even after realizing she was asleep, Kid didn’t stop patting her back.
A strange, inexplicable sense of satisfaction filled him.
* * *
I woke up shivering from the cold.
‘Wait… woke up?’
I was definitely dead. Yesterday I’d reunited with Mom in tears. That hadn’t been a dream. Even now I was holding her tightly…
“What… what is going on…?”
I’d opened my eyes happily, expecting to see Mom’s arms around me.
Instead, the sight in front of me left me speechless.
Too shocked to even move, I just rolled my eyes in confusion.
“Why… is Seniel here…?”
Frozen for a moment, I tried to move the arm draped over me before he woke up. But no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t budge.
‘Didn’t I die and return to Mom?’
I clearly drank the poison Kid gave me and died. I reunited with Mom and was enjoying the afterlife.
I pinched my cheek to check reality. It hurt.
Not a dream.
My groggy mind slowly began to piece things together.
‘If I fell asleep hugging Mom and woke up next to Seniel…’
Unless I had begged him to stay with me last night, there was no way I’d have slept holding him.
‘No way… no, that can’t be.’
Fragments of memory floated up.
[Could you stay with me until I die…? I’m scared…]
[It’s not poison, it’s medicine.]
[Please don’t lie…]
As last night’s memories returned one by one, chills ran through my entire body.
No. Don’t remember. Please don’t remember.
I grabbed my head—but my clearer mind cruelly replayed everything.
[Your hand was really cool earlier. Give it to me again.]
I’ve lost my mind.
[Pat me and tell me I did well. Hurry…]
Wow. I’ve heard there are many ways to die these days, but I might be the first to die of sheer embarrassment.
Just as I was drowning in shock, a last glimmer of hope appeared.
‘There’s no way Kid would have obediently stayed and put me to sleep. It must’ve been a dream, right?’
Logically, all my memories had to be dreams.
But my rational side quickly shot that down.
‘Then why is Seniel here? And why is his hair down?’
I froze like a statue, mouth hanging open.
Why on earth is his hair loose?
