She looked at him blankly. He just looked at her without saying anything. The two just looked at each other for a while. How long has it been like that? Finally she stretched out her hand. Her pale arms, her shoulders, her chest, her waist, and finally her smooth toenails, all covered by her thin, soft blanket. Her pure white naked body was revealed in the dim lighting. But neither she nor he cared at all.
One shot. And another shot.
She walked towards him. Her slender fingers stopped an inch in front of his cheek. The fur on his cheeks stood up as he brushed against her trembling fingertips. She quickly withdrew her hand, closed her eyes deeply, and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth, but only a grating sound escaped from her dry mouth and her throat. And the next moment, he came toward her with long strides. His gaze looking down met her gaze looking up. His shirt touched her bare chest. He didn’t blink once. There was no expression on his dry face. When she first met him in her dream, he had that kind of expression.
“Why.”
She could tell that he was here without having to listen to what he said.
“Why? Why… Rani, I don’t know… la…”
Her bright red hair billowed off her white shoulders as she shook her head. His eyes were fixed on the ends of her hair.
“What is this…”
Why was her hair red? It wasn’t even dark red, but bright red. He grabbed the end of her hair that was fluttering around her waist and pulled hard. It didn’t hurt, but the pulling feeling was undeniable. Her once pale cheeks turned completely bloodless. It’s not a dream. She lifted her head.
“Bow.”
“What?”
“Bow down.”
As soon as he reflexively bent her back slightly, she bit the bridge of his nose with her teeth. His sunken sky blue eyes collided with her bright blue eyes, sparkling with electricity like sparks spreading. The distance between each other’s breath. There was no screaming or moaning. When he bit her nose and didn’t respond, she awkwardly took a step back. Even if he was fine, he was too fine. He clearly bit his nose, and the feeling at the moment of biting was clear. She suddenly barged her teeth, but the feeling of biting was so vivid that she lost strength in the middle… Because he doesn’t react at all.
“Dream… Is this a dream?”
He shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose as she managed to mutter something.
“It’s not a dream.”
“It doesn’t hurt…”
“It doesn’t hurt too much, but there is a feeling of being bitten and pain.”
“Isn’t that just what you think?”
“Yes.”
He took her hand and brushed it down the bridge of her nose. Her slender fingers were trembling as she traced the area where she had bitten. In the dream, her nose that had been bitten by him was very smooth.
“Ha… I’m in trouble.”
Silence fell between the two. It was a very, very uncomfortable silence. Unable to bear it any longer, she spat out.
“Hit me real hard.”
“I don’t want to do that.”
“Hit me so hard that my eyes light up, enough to make me believe that this isn’t a dream.”
“You’ll pass out before you even know it hurts.”
“I’d rather pass out!”
Her chin was shaking as she screamed. He looked at her closely and then passed her by. Standing there as if nailed to her feet, she didn’t even look at him. Because her vision was becoming increasingly dark. The ground seemed to tremble beneath her feet. No, she felt sick. Just when she thought her vision was spinning and her legs were giving out strength. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her. He easily lifted her limp body into his arms. Unable to get her to sit on her sofa, her wetness hanging like a bandage, she just put her down on her bed. Her bright red hair was scattered on her white back as she lay face down. He moved silently and approached the bookshelf. He picked up any book she could get his hands on and returned to her. He placed the book on top of her head, pressing her face against the bed and letting out small breaths every now and then. She lifted her face as she was just breathing, as if dead from the feeling of heaviness. He caught her book before it rolled over and opened it in front of her, showing any page.
“It’s not a blank piece of paper.”
She saw letters packed tightly together. Unreadable, unintelligible characters she couldn’t read. Her face crumpled. She squeezed her eyes shut, but the sight she saw did not change. His long fingers, covering the book, grabbed her head with one hand and pressed it.
“Now you know it’s not a dream, even if I don’t hit you.”
She whimpered and struggled. Her closed fist hit her bed.
“Shall I check out the other books?”
No answer came back. He put down the book, sat down on the bed, opened his mouth, but immediately closed it. He tried calling her name, but then realized she didn’t even know her name. Her frustrating silence weighed on the two of them, and she, unable to bear it again, raised her head.
“Why did you come here?”
Just like in her dream, random words without context or context came out of nowhere. And just like in the dream, he gave a calm answer.
“I have a book to look for, and like you said, I thought I could sleep for a while in such a nice bed.”
“It doesn’t help at all in this situation.”
“Help?”
“I’m not saying I came here to do or do anything strange or special… No, is it special that you came to sleep in the bedroom?”
“Well.”
“I don’t think so, do you?”
She let out a sigh that came from deep within her and remembered the time before she opened her eyes. It was the same as usual. In her dream she met him and after some time she opened her eyes. She didn’t talk to anyone in her sleep or have an accident inside the house. She turned back time a little more. Did something special happen when you got home and before you went to sleep? She had never picked up a strange object, heard strange words from a strange person, been struck by lightning, or been hit by a truck or something.
In other words, there was absolutely no reason to be in this situation where a dream suddenly becomes reality.
She held her head.
“What kind of situation is this?”
Her muttering, which came out like a moan, was answered.
“The dream has become reality.”
“It’s not such a hopeful situation!”
“A dream becoming reality is a hopeful situation?”
She let out a meaningless moan in her dry voice.
“You mean that world?”
“Yes. Dream comes true! There are very hopeful words.”
“That’s pretty good. I could use it for motivation.”
“Ugh, is your head turning that way even in this situation? No, no. I’ll go back.”
During the time she spent with him in her dreams, she didn’t need to carefully review the conversations she had with him. Just by bringing up the story of yesterday, you can clearly understand the situation he is in and what he has to do.
“After all, villains are busier and more tired than heroes.”
His face subtly fell as she muttered incoherently and out of focus.
“The villain has to plot, scheme and get things done, while the hero just has to destroy what the villain is doing.”
At the soulless voice that flowed from between her lips, he covered his mouth with one hand and turned his head away. The blurred focus returned. It was like that in her dream too, but she couldn’t tell at what point she started laughing… She narrowed her eyes and straightened her body. She stood close to him and covered her mouth. She removed the fingers of his right hand one by one and sighed.
“Just smile.”
Only then did she hear an intermittent whistling sound. When she saw him smiling and squinting between her eyes, her nerves, which had been stretched tight and seemed ready to snap at any moment, loosened a little. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
“Stop escaping reality, what should I do about this situation now…”
-Knock, knock.
At the sound of a knock on her door, he and she turned their heads towards her door without even thinking about who was the first. The knocking sound was heard once again by both of their ears.
-Knock, knock.
Anxiety appeared on her face. The nerve cord, which had become slightly loose, was pulled tight again, as if it might break.
“Shouldn’t I hide now? No, should I run away? Bed… if you hide under the bed, you won’t know. No. Have you ever been caught hiding there once or twice? Preferably a closet? Go into the closet… There’s no closet here!”
He spun her around in her tracks, spewing out random words and stopping her. Her slender white shoulders, held in one hand, were cold. He held her eyes and took a deep breath. Soon she followed suit. Her trembling, reflected in her blue eyes, gradually subsided. When he took her hand, her warmth and a little pain seeped through her held hand.
-Knock, knock.
Third time.
“There is no need to hide or run away. Everything here is mine.”
He smiled, squinting between his eyes.
“And you are my guest.”
This time she stretched out her hand. She tapped him between the eyes and opened her mouth.
“Even if it’s not a dream?”
“Even if it’s not a dream.”
-Knock, knock.
After the fourth knock, there was a slight commotion outside the door. I couldn’t hear the content itself, but at least two people. Or it seemed like three people were talking. She gritted her teeth. Good. It’s not a dream, it’s reality. She still couldn’t believe it, but no, she didn’t want to believe it! Reality was reality. Plus, she didn’t have time to lose her mind. Her mind spun, faster than it had ever been in her life. Of course it was idling. Just as she was wondering if her head was going to explode without thinking, a thought occurred to her.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on February, 28.
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