Existence Itself Is an Error Ch 04

 

Chapter 04

“You have to be careful. What if something goes wrong with that body ?”

While Seo Hee-jun enjoyed some privileges as the male lead, that didn’t mean he was immortal or invincible. As with his past experiences, there was a good chance he’d suffer a sudden accident in the midst of his ordinary life.

The food poisoning incident also occurred while I was cooking with ingredients I’d bought at Seo Hee-jun’s house. The mart’s mistake was to buy expired food, and the person who ate the food, not me, was Seo Hee-jun.

As I was reminiscing about the absurd and unfair past, a drop of water dripping onto the floor caught my eye. Realizing that the water was coming from Seo Hee-jun, who hadn’t properly dried his hair, I shoved him away in shock.

“What are you doing now ?”

“Yes ?”

“What are you going to do if you get electrocuted ?”

The power strip was right in front of me, and Seo Hee-jun was standing behind me, so I knew the risk of electric shock was practically nonexistent. But who would have ever expected something like food poisoning or a car accident to happen to the male lead? So, in any situation, I had to be two steps ahead, cautious, and careful.

“…Electric shock, huh ?”

Leaving Seo Hee-jun behind with a sullen expression, I snatched the towel he was holding and covered it with his head. Then, I tossed him away from the power strip and, with rough hands, gently brushed his hair.

“Why didn’t you dry your hair before you came out ? You’ll catch a cold if you keep doing that.”

“Who catches a cold because they don’t dry their hair ?”

“Don’t vomit, go and dry it.”

I pushed Seo Hee-jun’s back, who responded with a look of disbelief. He finally gave up and began to move quietly.

“How much did my older sister ask you to do for her to be like this ?”

“That’s right. Your older sister was a bit extreme.”

“That’s a lie. My sister isn’t that kind of person.”

“Then why did you ask ?” I swallowed the words and watched Seo Hee-jun enter the bathroom.

While I was checking to make sure all the windows in the house were closed, I briefly heard the sound of a hair dryer turning on, but it quickly stopped. I looked back with a suspicious look, and saw Seo Hee-jun, who was slowly making his way into the living room, smiling brightly.

“My hair is completely dry.”

At first glance, it looked like his hair was really dry, but I couldn’t be sure.

I waved my hand as if to say, “Come here.” Seo Hee-jun approached me quietly.

“Why don’t you believe me ?”

“You didn’t believe me either.”

Seo Hee-jun, unable to find a rebuttal, closed his mouth. I reached out to him, who had become quiet, and stroked his shiny hair.

There wasn’t even a hint of moisture left. I withdrew my hand without saying anything, and Seo Hee-jun looked smug, as if he was telling me to look at it.

It goes without saying, but I sighed at the sight of Seo Hee-jun, who still hadn’t grown in so many ‘months’.

“Well then, go to sleep now.”

“Where do you sleep, senior ?”

Without hesitation, he pointed to a tightly closed room.

“You’ll sleep well in your sister’s room.”

“You said your sister allowed that ?”

“Stop asking questions and go to sleep.”

After dragging Seo Hee-jun to the bed and placing him in front of it, he lay down neatly on the bed without saying a word. I pulled the blanket up to his neck and turned off the lights in the room.

As I was about to close the door and leave, a soft voice reached me.

“Have a nice dream.”

I closed the door without responding to the greeting. I stood there dumbfounded, then walked away, keeping my foot pressed against the wall.

I told Seo Hee-jun I was going to sleep in his sister’s room, but I really didn’t intend to. It wasn’t for moral reasons like “I can’t invade someone else’s space without permission,” but rather out of fear of coveting something that wasn’t mine.

I entered the dark living room, barely relying on the moonlight outside the window. As I sat down on the sofa, the fatigue I’d been trying to ignore suddenly surged back to me.

I blinked slowly and thought of the person who had been by my side just a moment ago.

“…Seo Hee-jun.”

From Seo Hee-jun’s perspective, I’d only known him for a day. He still believed my name wasn’t “error,” so we hadn’t even properly introduced ourselves.

But as always, Seo Hee-jun easily dismissed the suspicion and broke down the guard with a trivial favor.

Even if he’d been sent by his older sister, it was still shocking to see a stranger wandering around his home, only to quickly fall asleep. Even if Seo Hee-jun truly believed we knew each other but had forgotten, he was being overly cautious.

He acts friendly, having pointless conversations like we’ve known each other for a long time, but when March 2nd rolls around, he tirelessly erases me from his memories.

It wasn’t as disappointing as I’d thought it would be. It was just a little bittersweet.

I closed my eyes, leaving the meaningless sentiment behind. Because of my ego, I couldn’t pass the time pretending to exist or not, nor could I stay up all night and feel fine. So I needed to get enough sleep.

My mind was so fluttering that I quickly fell into a dream.

_____________

Seo Hee-jun froze as he looked at the toast and scrambled eggs served for breakfast, trying to drink some water.

“…I don’t eat breakfast.”

“Eat from today.”

I sat Seo Hee-jun down at the table, offering him a command rather than a request. He sat down, taken aback by my guidance, and let out a laugh, seemingly dumbfounded.

“It’s only been a day, but aren’t you acting like you’re at home too much ?”

I pushed the plate of toast toward Seo Hee-jun. With my other hand, I held a fork and scooped up some scrambled eggs.

“You’ve only seen me for so long. Let me just wander around the house and do whatever I want.”

“You said we knew each other.”

“You forgot everything. Then it must be our first meeting.”

“Well, that’s right.”

He ignored the bland, nutritious response and moved his fork. Seo Hee-jun flinched as he realized the fork was now right in front of his mouth.

“…Senior ?”

“Why ?”

“Why…?”

Seo Hee-jun opened his mouth slightly, as if he were performing a ventriloquism, as if he were afraid a fork would pierce him at any moment if he opened it the wrong way. But I wasn’t the one who would let that go.

“Open your mouth quietly. Before I shove it in.”

Seo Hee-jun, trembling even more violently than before, forced his trembling lips open. His appearance resembled that of a baby beast that had been succumbing to its rage.

Seo Hee-jun, who had just finished scrambled eggs, snatched my fork away with a determined look in his eyes, telling me I couldn’t take it anymore. Thinking he’d figure out how to eat it on his own, I gave up and readily handed over my fork.

I sat down across from Seo Hee-jun and watched him while eating my portion of toast. Seo Hee-jun glanced at me, but he still finished his toast and scrambled eggs cleanly.

After that, we cleaned up what we’d eaten and, soon after, finished getting ready for school and headed out the front door. Perhaps because it was so early, there were hardly any students on the way to school.

Seo Hee-jun, who had regained his composure while observing me at the table, kept pace with me and didn’t stop talking for even a moment.

“So, will you stay at our house until my older sister returns ?”

“Maybe.”

It was as I was turning the corner of the street, vaguely answering the never-ending questions.

I saw a female student walking ahead of us. I recognized her immediately without even having to look closely at her back.

The female protagonist, Jeong Da-won, confesses to the male protagonist.

A beauty with long, brown hair and light brown eyes, and a teardrop mole on her right eye as her main charm.

‘I ran into the female lead here, so suddenly ?’

I was flustered, having never expected to run into Jeong Da-won so suddenly. I was racking my brain, weighing whether I should send Seo Hee-jun to greet her first, or whether it would be better to join them naturally and walk to school together. Then I saw Jeong Da-won’s foot twist and fall. Her body tilted toward the uneven floor.

There was no time to think about anything else. I gave Seo Hee-jun, who was walking alongside me, a push on the back.