25. You knew all about it, right?
Neoul stopped.
"You're saying you memorized the spell and made rabbit liver?"
Is Baek Yuri a shaman or priest like the sea priestess?
Baek Yuri handed the box to Neoul, who was thinking about something strange.
"No, it's not a spell... Anyway, there's something like that. If you buy it online, it'll be delivered by courier."
Neoul opened the box lid. There was something vacuum-packed and soft inside.
"I couldn't bring this to the dorm, so I called you here. Judging by the ice pack, it's still cool, so I think it's not spoiled."
"Is this really rabbit liver?"
"Yes. It's 1kg."
Neoul hugged the icebox with a surprised expression. The tip of his nose tingled.
This is the elixir that will save Abamama! How did he get this precious thing?
Neoul, who thought that time would be delayed for a long time, were at a loss for joy and bewilderment.
"Thank you, rabbit... no, Sir. Baek Yuri. But what is this?"
Neoul noticed a small medicine box next to the vacuum-packed rabbit liver and asked. Baek Yuri touched his forehead and explained awkwardly.
"It's a dewormer. It's a medicine to remove parasites. You won't be able to light a fire in the ocean, and you'll probably eat it raw... Just in case."
I didn't know if the Dragon King would really need the dewormer, but I went to the pharmacy to buy some separately out of concern.
Baek Yuri remembered how Neoul tried to eat the chocolate bar without opening it, and added hurriedly.
"Don't let him eat it with the packaging, just open it and give him the contents."
He couldn't let the Dragon King eat the packaging made of plastic and vinyl.
Neoul, who had been bewildered at first, nodded happily and tried to bow down.
"I will definitely repay your kindness. Please accept my bow, Master."
"Ugh. What are you doing, get up!"
"I'm just expressing my gratitude..."
"Okay. It wasn't expensive."
Baek Yuri hurriedly tried to dissuade Neoul, and felt relieved inside. The seller didn't contact him, so he thought he had just paid the money and been scammed, but fortunately, he received a message the day before yesterday apologizing for the late reply.
The rabbit liver that was initially sent to the courier service was damaged due to delayed delivery, so they took it back and quickly sent a new product.
Thanks to that, he was able to deliver the rabbit liver to Neoul without too much delay.
"You won't run out of liver, right...? It's not like the Dragon King is so big that he has to eat 100 rabbits to be effective, right?"
"...?"
Neoul's eyes widened. It seemed like he hadn't thought about how much he needed.
Baek Yuri's expression became pale.
"Should I order more...?"
"Yes?!"
Neoul's eyes widened even more.
"Are you saying I can get rabbit liver again?"
"Yes, well... It's a world where you can get anything if you have money. Is there a delivery service in Yonggung?"
Neoul shook his head at the unfamiliar word.
"If there were intelligent life forms like mermaids living in the deep sea, I vaguely thought they would have a similar civilization even if their development speed was a little different... It seems to be very different."
Baek Yuri turned his gaze to the road and buildings on the other side of the beach. He could see cars zooming past, making loud noises, between the palm trees that were used as street trees.
"When are you going back to Yonggung?"
"I have to go back as soon as possible. I think this amount of liver will be enough. Thank you very much."
Neoul repeatedly thanked his.
Baek Yuri turned his head and met Neoul's eyes.
"Then I will go and tell the PD that I will be leaving right now."
It was a firm voice that he had never heard before.
"The team has just been decided and practice hasn't even started yet. If you are planning on leaving, you should tell them as soon as possible."
"Ah.."
Neoul trailed off at Baek Yuri's unexpected words.
Neoul had never imagined that Baek Yuri would hand over rabbit liver right away when he came to the beach. He had never expected that he would suddenly return like this without even having the first team battle. It was sudden and embarrassing.
Neoul thought about his teammates who were chatting happily. Woo Cheong, who was happy that he got the main vocal.
Baek Gi-yeom, who helped him a lot with Baek Yuri in learning running and dancing.
Daiki, who was happy that Neoul could speak Japanese. Go Woon-gu, a bright-eyed little boy like a penguin.
They were all kind people who willingly pushed meat dumplings and egg rolls in front of Neoul.
Although he was so distracted that he couldn't taste the food properly.... The smell of the food seemed pretty good.
Neoul hesitated for a moment and then said.
"Sir Baek Yuri. Since you kept your promise to give me rabbit liver, I will keep my promise. Just go to the Dragon Palace quickly and come back and join again. We will definitely debut together."
"No. You don't have to do that."
But Baek Yuri cut him off.
"The debut story was just something I said in front of the camera. You don't have to do it. I will just give you the rabbit liver. Even if it wasn't intentional, it is true that I lied because I didn't tell you the truth from the beginning, so think of it as a gift of apology and accept it. The price is actually cheaper than you think."
"...."
Neoul was speechless.
It must be a good thing.
It was something to be happy and thankful for, that he would give him rabbit liver for free.
'Why does it feels so regretful?'
Neoul tried to say it one more time. Still, since I owed him a favor, I will definitely return and repay the favor.
However, Baek Yuri opened his mouth faster.
"Neoul ssi, you don't even know what an idol is. You don't know what it is, but you bravely and recklessly say you're going to debut."
"....!"
"Mermaids should live freely in the sea. Why do you come up to the complicated land and go through all the trouble?"
Neoul was surprised, thinking that Baek Yuri had used mind reading and answered in advance.
However, Baek Yuri did not have such strange supernatural powers. The gloomy expression on Neoul's face was so transparent that it was all readable.
"After debuting, you can't go back to the sea even if you want to. You will be tied to the land for several years during the contract period. If you leave on your own, it would be a breach of contract. How can you do that when your father is sick?"
"Abamama is strong. He is the Dragon King who has protected the sea for over 3,000 years since he ascended to the throne as a dragon. He will not die easily."
Neoul hurriedly made an excuse.
Baek Yuri stared at Neoul with a look that was not very trustworthy.
"Are you sure...?"
Neoul hesitated, speechless, and shook his head. It was the first time he had seen the Dragon King fall.
Abamama, who seemed to be the strongest in the world.
I heard from the sea priestess that a mermaid's lifespan is about 200 years. If he doesn't get eaten, doesn't get sick, and dies peacefully when he gets old.
It was almost like an eternal life, but it was much shorter than the dragons who live for thousands of years. It was natural for Neoul to leave first.
So he never imagined that he would see Abamama's weak side while he was alive. In fact, he still didn't realize that Abamama was in critical condition.
He thought that when he returned to the Dragon Palace, he would wake up fine. Or that he would get angry and ask where he was going in danger.
"Still... Abamama is a strong person. After eating rabbit liver, he will get up and walk away as if nothing happened."
Just as he had believed all his life, he wanted to continue to believe that. The voice of Neoul, who spoke without confidence, was gloomy.
Baek Yuri tried to persuade Neoul softly.
"I hope that Neoul ssi makes a choice that he won't regret. And if it's discovered that Neoul ssi is a mermaid, the world will turn upside down. It's almost like discovering an alien."
"...."
"Bad people might display the mermaids in an aquarium and use them to make money, or they might lock them up and study them while drawing their blood every day. There are so many scary people in the world."
Wasn't that always the case in movies? Reality is much crueler than those movies.
There were many selfish people in the world who only cared about their own human rights and didn't care about others' human rights. So how would they treat non-human life forms?
It would be better if they were designated as natural monuments and protected.
Baek Yuri's mind kept imagining bad people ravaging the ocean in case there were more mermaids, or holding mermaid shows to attract tourists.
However, Neoul didn't quite understand why Baek Yuri was trying to dissuade him.
All the people he had met so far had been kind to him.
He tilted his head.
Even the choreographer who had been pointing out Neoul's dance seemed to have a lot to say after seeing the enthusiastic Neoul, and brought a few more bottles of water.
Baek Yuri, who was right in front of him, was also worried about the rabbit liver that he had brought to Neoul.
''Abamama's subjects said that humans slaughtered mermaids to obtain mermaid oil, but.....'
Neoul simply could not believe it.
"...."
He thought of the calm deep sea and the chaotic Dragon Palace. Everyone in the Dragon Palace was busy except for Neoul. Even the youngest prince, Morae, was busy training to become a dragon, but Neoul had nothing to do but eat, sleep, and play.
That's why he often disobeyed Abamama's orders not to go out and went out secretly.
For Neoul, the time he spent on land was…
'There was never a moment to be bored.'
A beautiful otherworldly world. A paradise filled with light in the sky, in the buildings that filled the city, and in people's eyes.
The more he learned about this place, the more curious he became about it.
He also wondered what idols were and why so many people danced and worked so hard to become like that.
That's why he didn't want to end it like this. That was when.
Whoosh! A thin stream of water poured down the back of Neoul's head.
Neoul looked back in surprise.
"?!"
The sea priestess was standing there, holding a small dolphin-shaped water gun in one hand and aiming at Neoul. The corners of her mouth went up.
"Prince. Should I give it instead?"
The sea priestess lowered her hand and gestured to the icebox Neoul was holding tightly.
She approached with a charming smile on her lips, her feet making a clicking sound.
"I'll tell you the price, Prince, continue what you were doing here."
At that moment, Neoul warned Baek Yuri.
"Sir Baek Yuri. Don't talk."
"....?"
Baek Yuri looked nervously at the sea priestess and Neoul.
'When did you show up? Does Neoul knows her? Why can't I speak? Is she dangerous?'
The sea priestess' short black hair swayed at the nape of her neck. The ends of her hair were sticking out, and her bangs covered only half of her forehead.
She threw a dolphin-shaped water gun at Baek Yuri. Baek Yuri caught the gun absentmindedly.
The sea priestess, now empty-handed, held out her hand to Neoul.
"Give it to me."
"Sea priestess. Before that, I have something to ask you."
Neoul lifted the icebox up and avoided her hand.
Baek Yuri was a little surprised when he heard the name 'Sea priestess', the name that helped Neoul. Just hearing the name made him think of a fairy in a martial arts uniform, but the woman in front of him was a beautiful figure just like an actress on the red carpet.
A somewhat strange and arrogant atmosphere flowed from her sleepy, languid eyes.
"When I said I found the rabbit, why didn't you tell me the truth that it wasn't a real rabbit?"
Baek Yuri took a step back because Neoul's words stung. Neoul glanced at Baek Yuri and then looked at Sea Priestess again.
"Sea Priestess knew everything , right?"
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