12. Something Not Human
"When the core body temperature falls below 28 degrees, it is classified as severe hypothermia... At that time, cardiac arrest occurs due to arrhythmia, blood pressure drops, and consciousness is lost. Corneal reflexes and pain reflexes are also lost. It is impossible to remain normal like this."
"...."
"But patient Gal Neoul's lips are not blue but red. This means that blood circulation is sufficiently smooth right now..."
The doctor's eyes, which were explaining in detail, lost focus and relaxed. Since this was a rare case that the doctor had never encountered before, he was at a loss as to what diagnosis to make.
"For now, let's hospitalize him and keep him warm while observing the progress."
In fact, since the corpse seemed to have come back to life, he wanted to tell him to go, but he recommended hospitalization in order to fulfill his duty as a doctor.
"Hospitalization?"
However, Neoul's expression was not good.
There was no concept of hospitalization in the Yonggung Palace, and there was a doctor on duty (even though he ran away), so Neoul didn't know the word hospitalization. However, he could read the mood just by the nuance of the words.
"I don't want to. I'm healthy."
The writer and assistant director tried to persuade Neoul. But Neoul was stubborn.
"If the patient doesn't want it, forced hospitalization is not possible. For now, go home, and if you show any abnormal findings, it would be better to come back and get tested. And... just in case. I'll write a medical opinion for you, so if possible, it would be better to go to a large hospital."
In the end, they had no choice but to return without much gain.
On the way back to the dormitory pension. The assistant director who had been texting the sea priestess who wasn't answering the phone checked if she had replied.
The reply he got was a strange one, 'Neoul-i has a low body temperature by nature and a slightly slow heartbeat. However, that's normal for him. Rather, if his body temperature gets too high, it's abnormal, so please contact me if it goes over 30 degrees.'
"H-how could that be...?"
The assistant director thought it was just crazy. However, the youngest mystery maniac writer chattered seriously.
"There are people with two heads, people with different colored eyes, and children who remember their past lives. Isn't there also a person whose normal body temperature is 26 degrees?"
"But how can a human body temperature be 26 degrees…?"
"It could be a rare disease that has not yet been scientifically proven. I heard that the Gal Neoul participant had suffered from it for a long time since he was a baby."
Neoul went back to the dorm where the participants were staying. As soon as he arrived, he hugged Sangsang and Byeoldongi and hid in bed.
He had been swimming for days without sleep, had tortured himself with chemicals in an unfamiliar environment, and had gone to the hospital to undergo all kinds of tests, so he was exhausted.
Neoul covered himself with the blanket to avoid the dazzling fluorescent lights.
The assistant director and the youngest writer asked the participants sharing the same room to call them if anything happened, and then left without any choice.
***
Everyone was fast asleep. 4 AM.
Baek Yuri was the first to open his eyes and started the day early. He moved quietly, washed his face and teeth, and even changed his clothes. He checked if Gal Neoul was alive. After that, he hit Baek Gi-yeom and went outside.
Then Baek Gi-yeom, who opened his eyes, washed his face like a cat, put on some clothes, and followed Baek Yu-ri.
Neoul's eyes, which had been sleeping, opened wide.
'The rabbit ran away?!'
He suspected that he might be trying to run away secretly because he didn't want to give his liver. Neoul sneaked out in his pajamas.
Baek Yu-ri and Baek Gi-yeom were stretching out their arms and legs in the yard.
'Are they trying to run away?'
He hid behind a tree and watched, and they started to run lightly. It seemed like they were running lightly, but their legs were long, so in the blink of an eye, they flew far away.
'Are they running away?!'
Neoul sat down in despair, unable to jump like them. If it was the ocean, he could have caught up in an instant.
But they ran all the way to the end of the yard and came back. Neoul hurriedly hid behind the tree again.
Baek Yuri's voice was heard.
"But why are you here?"
Oh, did I get caught?
"You didn't answer me yesterday. Were you going to debut as a rapper?"
"...."
"I heard that the CEO of the company you joined is insisting that you debut within this year."
It seems like he didn't get caught. Baek Gi-yeom, who had been silent, answered.
"It's just... we don't get along. The direction of the song doesn't match, and there are troubles with the lyrics."
"What doesn't fit?"
"It might be funny if you hear it."
"....?"
The two continued to run back and forth from one end of the wide yard to the other while talking. A voice came out, looking embarrassed.
"I've never starved, even though I've inherited some clothes in my life, but they keep telling me to write things like 'when I was hungry' and 'when I was extremely poor.'"
Phew.
Baek Yuri laughed, then quickly covered his mouth and looked around the building with wide eyes. He was worried that his loud laughter might wake someone up.
"That is a strange company."
"And as you know, my mom can't cook, but they insisted on writing that I wanted to eat the soybean paste stew she made."
"Then the pork ribs and spicy stir-fried chicken that father made were not allowed...?"
"They said that it didn't relate to those lyrics... They rejected me."
"Uncle's ribs are delicious."
"My father is upset that you haven't come to visit lately. Stop by."
"Okay. I'll definitely go next time."
Since Baek Gi-yeom's father is Baek Yuri's uncle, they must be cousins.
One is a rabbit, the other is a human....
Is Baek Gi-yeom also a rabbit in disguise? But while Baek Yuri was white, round, and innocent, Baek Gi Yeom had thick lines, dark eyebrows, large facial features, and a refreshing impression. Baek Gi Yeom also had darker skin.
The two of them were so completely different...? Or were they adopted children like me? Did Baek Gi Yeom live for 1400 years like Baek Yuri?
Neoul sat with his back against the tree and wondered. But aside from their identities, the thing he was most curious about was...
'Why on earth are you running around at a time when the sun hasn't risen yet?'
Neoul yawned sleepily and fiddled with his unfamiliar legs and feet.
After that, Baek Gi-yeom and Baek Yu-ri, who had been running for a while, stopped and stretched again with refreshed faces. Baek Yu-ri asked again.
"But why didn't you tell me in advance that you were coming here? Do you know how surprised I was when I saw you come in with the PD-nim while eating kimbap yesterday?"
"To surprise."
Baek Gi-yeom smiled refreshingly and made a V sign with his hand.
"I came here to debut with you."
"If you're confident, then do it."
Baek Yu-ri smiled and teased, then started practicing the signal song choreography he had seen yesterday.
"It would be nice to debut together, but for now, you and I are competitors. Don't look at me."
"Yes~ is there any chance?"
Competitor. I see.
Neoul realized.
Baek Yuri clearly said that he would give him a liver if they debuted 'together'. If Baek Yuri fails and Neoul debuts, or vice versa, he won't receive a liver. So to Neoul, all the contestants other than Baek Yuri were competitors.
'How many people can debut?'
The production team hasn't revealed the details yet.
'I have to catch Sir Rabbit and somehow debut together.'
If I fail, like the Sea Priestess said, should I open it while they're sleeping?
But, except for shrimp, anchovies, plankton, and other small fish, which were his staples, Neoul had never harmed any other living beings. Of course, he had never cut open someone's stomach.
Have you ever seen what a liver looks like? Of course not.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a mountain beyond a mountain.
Abamama... Are you doing well?
—ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴡᴇʟʟ! ᴡʜʏ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜꜱʟʏ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴜɴᴋ!
From far away, it seemed like the angry shouts of the Dragon King, who was worried about his disobedient son, could be heard.
Even in his imagination, Neoul was upset because of the Dragon King who didn't trust his son.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh~ Gal Neoul. You woke up early… Huh, you came out in your pajamas?"
At that moment, Baek Yuri and Baek Gi-yeom found Neoul behind a tree and approached him. Neoul hurriedly got up from his seat.
"I also came out to practice dancing."
Then he walked barefoot on the yard. The feeling of the grass tickling his toes was good. The sun was rising and the grass was covered with clear dew.
The dawn on land was damp and fresh.
Neoul lay down on the grass and rolled around. Baek Gi-yeom made a playful expression and followed Neoul, lying down and rolling around, enjoying himself alone.
After playing for a while, Baek Gi-yeom spoke to Neoul brightly.
"Neoul and Yuri must have seen and the Signal Song before! Did you memorize it? Teach me too!"
At Giyeom's request, Neoul got up and moved his body, recalling the dance moves he had learned from Baek Yuri yesterday. Doom chit, doom chit.
"...."
"...? Is this right?"
Baek Giyeom was embarrassed as he compared Baek Yuri's dance that he had just seen with Gal Neoul's dance.
Unlike Baek Giyeom, Baek Yuri felt a chill when he found Gal Neoul hiding behind a tree in his pajamas and barefoot, but quickly hid his expression.
Baek Yuri smiled faintly and showed him proper choreography.
"Oh."
"As expected, Baek Yuri, you're good."
Gal Neoul and Baek Giyeom became onlookers and admired each other.
"I can only get this far."
Baek Yuri stopped in the middle and advised Gal Neoul to walk around the yard before practicing the dance. While doing so, he taught him the correct walking and running posture.
Gal Neoul followed Baek Yuri's teachings faithfully. Then, he walked around the yard without stopping for several laps. The first lap was awkward and difficult, but after two or three laps, he felt more natural and much better.
Baek Yuri observed Gal Neoul and corrected his posture, and kept wiping his arms that gave him goosebumps.
'That doesn't seem like a person after all.'
At first, he thought he was sick and couldn't walk properly because he was cold. His face was pale and bloodless. But the more he looked at him, the more he noticed his behaviors that were either innocent or like an animal imitating people.
Like trying to eat the chocolate he gave him without peeling it, or watching Woo Cheong peel the cookie and imitating it. Like walking around barefoot without wearing shoes.
It didn't make sense that he was walking around without dying or collapsing when his body temperature was 26 degrees...
And those movements. They weren't the movements of someone who was hurt or sick. They were the movements of someone who had never walked or run before, so they were clumsy.
And his learning speed was also very fast.
When Neoul gradually got used to walking and started running, Baek Gi-yeom ran with him and coached him on how to breathe properly while running. Neoul watched Baek Gi-yeom's actions closely and followed suit.
Even while looking at that strange creature, Baek Gi-yeom didn't seem to have any particular thoughts. It was like the gaze of a friendly gym owner who found a beginner who had just come to the gym and tried to teach him the right way to exercise. Just a simple kid.
'What is it? Is it a water ghost or something...?'
The running picked up speed little by little. Gal Neoul started laughing like a child, as if he was having fun running. His smiling face was too pure and innocent to be a ghost. However, it was creepy that he laughed without making a sound at all.
Baek Yu-ri recalled yesterday's conversation.
— ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ꜱᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ ᴋɪɴɢ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ ᴘᴀʟᴀᴄᴇ, ɴᴇᴏᴜʟ.
— ʙʏᴇᴏʟᴊᴜʙᴜᴊᴇᴏɴ! ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʙʏᴇᴏʟᴊᴜʙᴜᴊᴇᴏɴ?
Maybe those words weren't a joke or a situational drama, but were serious?
'Then why did he followed me and hid behind the tree.... was he after my liver? Did he think I was a rabbit?'
A chill ran down his spine.
—