10. Sea Priestess (2)
Neoul confessed while hugging his bag.
"I don't know how to read or write."
"Huh? I thought you were Korean. You were a foreigner?"
That was it.
A commotion was heard in the hallway. A knock was heard, and soon after, the door opened, and the clanking of shoes echoed. The clanking of a suitcase was also heard.
"Outsiders are not allowed in here. How did you come here?"
"Hello."
A beautiful voice rang out. Neoul opened his eyes wide when he saw Sea Priestess.
How did Sea Priestess get here?
And where did her eight arms go? Sea Priestess, who looked perfectly human from head to toe, was amazing to see for the first time. As always, the only thing that was the same was her unaged face.
"I came here because I saw your location when you were gone."
"Oh, are you the guardian of Neoul ssi?"
"Yes."
"I'm really sorry. We didn't check properly...…! By the way, if I may ask, what is your relationship with Neoul ssi?"
Curious eyes turned to the Sea Priestess. She looked too young to be a mother, was she an older sister?
Her languid eyes and three-dimensional face gave off an aura that could not be explained. If you just looked at her, you would feel fascinated.
Her alluring red lips went up.
"I'm his aunt."
Neoul looked at the sea priestess with a bewildered expression.
Aunt? What aunt?
Does a 2,000-year-old old woman have a conscience?
But it didn't matter whether the sea priestess wrapped her conscience in a net and threw it into the sea or left it on a mountain. Neoul's eyebrows arched. The moment he jumped up from his seat and was about to shout.
Shh.
The sea priestess smiled, holding her index finger in front of her lips.
"You're his aunt! Nice to meet you!"
Seok PD greeted the sea priestess excessively and got straight to the point. He briefly told her that he mistakenly brought him as a trainee during filming and made a casting offer.
"Neoul ssi just accepted and was filling out the application form."
"Can I help? Neoul has been sick a lot since he was little and hasn't been able to receive compulsory education. He's not very good at reading and writing."
"Oh, that's what happened! Is he feeling better now?"
"Heaven helped."
"Thank goodness!"
"But the program proposal and the decision by Neoul were a bit sudden. It seems like something that needs to be carefully thought about. Can we talk about it?"
"Oh, yes. Sure. I'll leave."
The production staff seemed a little worried that she might oppose Neoul's appearance, but they obediently left.
Click. The door closed and the people moved away a little.
The sea priestess sat across from Neoul, crossing her arms and legs.
"Now, tell me. Prince."
"Sea Priestess! Abamama has collapsed...!"
Neoul started the story as if he had been waiting for it, and his face became sad.
"They say that eating the liver of rabbits that live on land will cure illnesses..."
"So you came all the way here without fear? You even raided my cave?"
"Yes..."
"I'm going crazy."
The sea priestess touched her forehead.
"When I look into the future, I hear 'leg, leg,' and you dig my cave. Why on earth did you do that? I didn't know you were trying to catch rabbits to feed the Dragon King yourself."
Don't you know how scary the world is! Huh? Where did you come from?
When she glared at him and seemed to be about to scold him, Neoul sullenly stuck out his lips.
"But since I found the rabbit, now all I have to do is get the liver. He said he'll give me the liver if we debut together."
At Neoul's words, Sea Priestess snorted and narrowed her eyes. She looked at Neoul with an expression that made it hard to tell what she was thinking, then looked away and asked.
"Are you sure? Can you fill out the application?"
Sea Priestess took out her wallet from her small bag and showed her driver's license.
[Jo Geum-yeong]
On the first-class ordinary driver's license, Sea Priestess' current name, address, and forged resident registration number were written. Of course, Neoul didn't know what it was.
"You need an ID on land, okay? You don't have it, prince. Then you can't debut or anything."
"ID...? I can't do anything...? Why...?"
Neoul looked at the driver's license with a vain expression. The unchanging face of the sea priestess was firmly attached to the small card.
This little thing proves his identity? But why should he prove his identity?
As a prince, Neoul never had to prove himself. No matter where he was in the dragon palace, someone else would recognize him first and bow to him.
"Where did the sea priestess get this? Where can I get it?"
As Neoul's expression grew darker, the sea priestess giggled and took out another card from her wallet.
"This is. Your ID card."
"....!"
It was a brand new resident registration card with a picture of Neoul.
[Gal Neoul]
There was an unfamiliar surname written in front of the name. Of course, Neoul couldn't read it, so the sea priestess read it for him.
"The prince's name is now Gal Neoul."
"Gal Neoul? But I'm just Neoul?"
"When you come to Rome, you have to follow Roman law."
"Is the name of this land Rome?"
"No, Jeju Island. It's Korea."
"...?"
The sea priestess pulled the tablet PC towards her and quickly filled out the application form.
"Listen carefully and memorize it, prince. Name is Gal Neoul. Age 20. Nationality Korean. Residence Jeju Island. Date of birth September 15, 20XX. No education or work experience. You were sick a lot since you were young, to the point where you only stayed at home. Until recently. Let's say you got better like a miracle."
"Why?"
"Because you have to pretend to be human to debut as an idol. Humans need to have a clear identity, and it's okay if you go around saying you're a prince because no one will believe you anyway, but just don't get caught. It'll be a mess."
"Aren't you going to stop me?"
"If I stop you, will you listen? Do you want to go back to the sea now?"
"No. I won't go until I get the liver from Sir Rabbit."
Sea Priestess shook her head at his stubborn answer.
With a worried expression, Neoul looked at the resident registration card that Sea Priestess gave him.
"But... what if it's too late? The doctor said that he could last two and a half years at the longest, or one year at the shortest, but what if his condition worsens faster than expected?"
"Really? If you're worried about that, just steal it."
Sea Priestess whispered with narrowed eyes.
"Did you ask if Rabbit has his liver in his stomach right now or if he took it out somewhere else?"
Neoul shook his head. I never thought of stealing or forcibly taking it!
Sea Priestess gave him advice with a soft look in her eyes.
"If you get the chance, just cut open his stomach."
***
Neoul's bag was taken away by Sea Priestess.
The sea priestess retrieved all the language pills that Neoul had taken, such as [puppy language] and [cat language].
"This poop puppies became like this."
Then she took out Sangsang and Stardust dolls from his bag, held their tails in one hand, and hit their bodies.
"Sea Priestess!"
Neoul, who had planned to show her the sharks, was surprised when she, whom he trusted, swung her hand sharply.
He grabbed the sea priestess' arm and asked why she was hitting the babies. But the sharks, which had not moved at all since they became dolls, started to wag their tails.
"Sangsang! Stardust!"
Neoul quickly hugged the sharks. The sharks rubbed their heads against Neoul and acted spoiled.
"Your babies are all dying, so I am trying to save them, okay? Hide them."
"Hide them...?"
"Yeah. If it had been just a little bit later, they would have died."
The sea priestess made a crooked expression and pretended to cut their throats with her thumb.
Neoul's eyes wavered. "Thank you. Sea Priestess."
Neoul carefully stroked the sharks that had become dolls. He felt sorry that he had not realized that he could have lost them like this.
Sea Priestess quietly looked at Neoul, whose face had darkened, and warned him.
"Four days later. You have to release them into the sea that night. Before midnight. The effects of the medicine will wear off by then and they will return to normal."
Neoul nodded.
"Yes. I will definitely take them and take care of them, but they will feel more comfortable with you by their side."
The sea priestess shrugged and gave the luggage she had brought instead of returning the bag she had taken from him. It was a bag full of several clean clothes, underwear, pajamas, towels, toiletries, a smartphone with an active connection, a charger, and sneakers.
The sea priestess opened the luggage and quickly and concisely explained how to use the items. Neoul's eyes widened.
"What are all these? Did you prepare them in advance?"
"Just in case."
The sea priestess closed the luggage again and stood up. Neoul stared at her while holding the handle of the luggage and hugging the sharks.
"Where are you going, sea priestess?"
"I plan to stay on this island for the time being. I'm going to tour Jeju Island?"
"...."
"Do your best, prince. Don't take off the necklace even when you sleep and always wear it. Drink lots of water, and don't forget it four nights later, okay?"
She finished what she had to do and suddenly disappeared.
"Oh, goodbye, Aunt!"
The main writer's voice was heard greeting the sea priestess from the end of the hallway. Soon the door opened and the writer came in with a rustling sound. The sharks that had been flapping suddenly became calm when they saw the person.
"Neoul ssi, did you have a good conversation? Eat some kimbap. Everyone is already eating."
The main writer handed over a roll of kimbap and a bottle of water that she had packed separately, and then discovered the dolls in Neoul's arms.
"Oh my. What are those dolls? Are they sharks? Is one a whale shark? They're cute."
"They're my friends."
Sangsang twitched in delight at Neoul's voice. The main writer rubbed her eyes curiously, thinking that she had seen the doll move.
When she looked again, the doll was quiet, as if she had never seen it move. The main writer thought she had seen it wrong, and ignored it as nothing serious, and checked Neoul's application form.
"Hmm. Your last name is Gal, huh?"
Neoul, who was hungry, put the doll on his lap. Then he put the kimbap wrapped in paper packaging into his mouth.
The writer who witnessed this was startled and snatched the kimbap away.
"Why are you eating the packaging?! You should open it and eat it! Is this your first time eating kimbap?"
"Ah...…. Yes, it's the first time."
Neoul, who had his food taken away from him in front of him, became gloomy.
"Huh? Is this really your first time eating?"
Neoul nodded and the writer's expression turned sad.
'She said he was sick, so he only ate porridge?'
If you were sick enough to not be able to receive compulsory education and not be able to properly do homeschooling, how much did you have to be sick?
She brought another roll of kimbap and unwrapped it herself.
"Eat a lot. A lot."
Usually, when you see someone trying to eat paper wrappers, you'd think, 'Are you crazy?', but when you see him doing it with his chiseled face, it's just pitiful.
"Thank you."
Neoul's eyes sparkled and he picked up the kimbap with his hands and ate it. His eyes filled his mouth with surprise as he ate it.
'I gave you chopsticks, so why aren't you using them.... But the way you're eating is so cute.'
The main writer stopped checking the application form and got distracted by Neoul's mukbang. Only after Neoul ate two rolls of kimbap in an instant could she turn her gaze elsewhere.
'Ah! I should've filmed that!'
'Oh, no.... It's not even a broadcast scene, so why am I going to film it and where to use it?'
After checking the application form with regret, she talked to PD Seok and the production crew again. In addition to Neoul, the fifteen additional participants were also called in one by one and asked to fill out the application form.
Everything went smoothly. However, it was worrying about how to tell Baek Yuri the news of the mission failure.
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