28: Emissary Baek Namoo
Baek Giyeom went to bed at 10 p.m. as soon as it was dark. The other team members also went in one by one.
Since most of the team members were short-mouthed, Neoul, who had eaten a lot of cake, happily patted his stomach and rolled around the practice room.
The choreography that Woo Cheong had made was difficult but interesting. There were many movements that stretched out arms and legs, and Woo Cheong, who was dancing, looked like a betta fish with colorful fins.
Every time he made a big move, his hair and clothes fluttered as if they were dancing, which caught people's attention.
'Can I dance like that too?'
Neoul diligently moved around the practice room, thinking of Woo Cheong's restrained and light movements. There were still many parts that were sluggish or stuttered.
'Repeat, repeat.'
I'll do better tomorrow.
Somehow, he felt competitive.
I don't know what I'm aiming for, but I wanted to show my teammates that I danced better tomorrow than I did today.
'I want to show my dad and my younger brother.'
I wanted to show them that I had this side of me, too, other than the boring time I was wasting away at the Dragon Palace. I wanted to brag about how I could dance this cool and fun. Isn't that amazing?
'It's fun.'
Even though I danced until my clothes were soaked with sweat and my head was spinning, it was still fun. I didn't even realize how much time had passed.
'Oh no. There's no water.'
Neoul stumbled out to find water and found that the lights were still on in the practice room on the right.
When he opened the door, he saw Baek Yuri alone in front of the mirror, talking to himself in the mirror. The camera had already turned off.
Just like Baek Gi-yeom, Baek Yuri was a person who strictly kept to his sleep schedule and tried to maintain the best condition every day. So he wondered why he was still here.
"It seems like it's all my fault."
A face full of shadows, darkness that had briefly appeared and disappeared before enveloped him.
"I want to do well in everything like you… but no matter how much I try to imagine what you would have done in this situation, I can't quite figure out the answer."
Baek Yuri lowered his head as he spoke gloomily.
But it was strange. The face in the mirror didn't lower its head and was staring at Baek Yuri.
"Baek Namoo. Why am I always so pathetic and stupid? If it weren't for you, our team would have been completely divided. If the stage fails, it's all my fault. I made the wrong decision from the beginning...."
In the mirror, a face that looked exactly like Baek Yuri snorted.
[Sigh! You're torturing yourself again. You're digging a hole again, what the?]
Baek Yuri muttered as if answering.
"I hate you. Can you just comfort me at times like this?"
[Ah, that's enough! Those who don't listen, just break their legs with a club! Then they'll listen to you!]
"Hey. How can you dance if you break their legs?"
Baek Yuri replied grumpily, but he giggled as if he liked the harsh words of the other person.
"Anyway, Baek Namoo, you're dirty."
[Hehe. I'm a bit...]
"That's not a compliment."
As Baek Yuri buried his face in his knees and crouched, the face in the mirror stared at Baek Yuri and spoke seriously.
[Don't try to force someone who doesn't cooperate, and just show them your skills. After all, your debut is a solo exhibition.]
"Yeah."
[You've improved a lot. But you still have a long way to go to catch up.]
"...Don't make me laugh. I've caught up to you. Now I'm better than you."
[Sigh! It was so far away?!]
"No. If I can't even do as well as you did when you were seventeen, how can I be number one here?"
[Wow! This is so unfair! On Baek Yuri's behalf! Huh? The kid who couldn't even reach my toes is now crawling up to my head? Just like that?]
As the face in the mirror swung around, Baek Yuri laughed, shaking his shoulders. However, that laughter looked exactly like crying to Neoul's eyes.
"Sir Baek Yuri."
Neoul couldn't stand it anymore and called him.
Baek Yuri was startled and got up from his seat. His brown eyes shook wildly as he found Neoul.
Neoul asked.
"Do you have water?"
Baek Yuri quickly found a water bottle and handed it to him.
"Did, did you see it?"
"Yes."
"Ah.."
Baek Yuri sat down with his back to the mirror while wiping his face dry.
"I'm also keeping Neoul ssi's secret, so please keep what you saw today a secret, Neoul ssi. Please."
"Yes."
It wasn't a difficult request, so why are you asking so painfully?
Neoul answered casually and gulped down the water.
Baek Yuri bit his lips with a frown.
"Did I look like a crazy person? Talking to myself in the mirror, laughing to myself...."
He wasn't talking to himself.
As Neoul thought about it indifferently, Baek Yuri groaned and grabbed his head alone, then confessed gloomily.
"This is a secret."
"Yes."
"When I look in the mirror, sometimes I see my brother's face instead of my own."
"Yes."
"It seems like he's talking to me. Sometimes he curses and tells me to cheer up."
"Yes."
"...No matter how you look at it, it sounds crazy. I think I'm not mentally healthy."
No, it seems like he's really your brother...?
This time, Neoul couldn't say 'yes.' Baek Yuri was sitting with his back to the mirror, but Baek Yuri reflected in the mirror was looking at his front, not his back.
Neoul tried to tell him that fact.
However, Baek Yuri's brother in the mirror didn't seem to want to know that he was really here. He put his index finger to his mouth and made a shushing sound, then smiled.
Baek Yuri completely relaxed and spoke as if complaining. "I'm actually have a twin."
It was a story he couldn't tell people, but Neoul was an unrealistic being who seemed to be out of touch with reality, so he just wanted to tell him.
Maybe he was so frustrated that he wanted to talk about it one day. Maybe the reins were loosened after being caught talking to himself strangely.
"My twin... Baek Namoo left when he was seventeen... so five years ago."
"..."
"He got into an accident while trying to save a child who jumped into the road."
The ghosts of middle school girls on the ceiling were crying, saying, 'Oh, oh, oh... what should I do? What should I do?'
Baek Namoo, who was in the mirror, slipped out of the mirror and shook off his clothes. In the mirror, he was wearing the same clothes as Baek Yuri, but when he came out, his clothes were different.
He was wearing a black suit with a black robe over his shoulders, similar to the grim reapers who sometimes came to the Dragon Palace. However, the earrings hanging from his ears and the rings on all ten fingers were very flashy.
He had a small dot in the middle of his right cheek. His face looked exactly like Baek Yuri, but his impression was different because of the dot.
Baek Namoo approached the female middle school ghosts, checked their names as if he was checking attendance, and placed a slap on their foreheads.
[You guys! You didn't listen to the grim reapers and left? Hurry up and go back. Hurry up! If you don't, you won't be able to go to the afterlife and will be eaten by bad ghosts!]
The ghosts made a regretful sound and disappeared.
"It was said that Baek Namoo would not live long because of illness. The childhood cancer that he had been diagnosed with when he was fourteen and had to be treated with difficulty relapsed when he was seventeen."
Baek Yuri continued his story.
In the meantime, Baek Namoo, who had exorcised the ghost, approached Neoul and sat down next to him. No, it was floating in the air with its legs crossed as if it was sitting.
[Hello. Can you see me?]
Neoul glanced at Baek Namoo and then at Baek Yuri. Baek Yuri seemed unable to see Baek Namu or hear his voice at the moment.
'Can he only see through the mirror?'
That was probably the case.
Only Baek Yuri's back and Neoul were reflected in the mirror. Baek Namoo, who was floating and leaning next to Neoul, was not reflected in the mirror.
Because he was dead.
"He said he didn't want to die a meaningless death."
[You can't see me? Huh?]
"He said he didn't want to spend time listlessly in a hospital bed and die of illness."
[You can see me, right? What is your identity?]
...I can't concentrate.
Neoul was confused about which of the twins to focus on. He decided to nod to Baek Namoo and listen to Baek Yuri first.
"The doctor told Baek Namoo that he didn't have much time left, and Baek Namoo often talked about death, but I didn't believe it. I believed that he would be cured and get better like before. Because Baek Namoo was better at swimming, running, dancing, and just being better at everything. Ever since we were little."
[You heard? I was pretty great.]
"If one of us had to get sick, it would be me who just sat and read books except for the time I was exercising. I didn't understand why Baek Namoo got sick. He was clearly healthier than me, so there was no reason why he would suddenly get sick."
[Oh, you idiot. There's no reason to get sick. It was just unlucky.]
"But Baek Namoo must have been convinced that he was going to die."
Baek Yuri lowered his head and buried his face in his knees.
"You said you didn't want meaningless deaths, but in the end, you saved a child who jumped into the street and created a meaningful death."
"...."
"A guy who can only feel better if even death is under your control."
Neoul looked back at Baek Namoo quietly.
Baek Namoo stopped whining and closed his mouth. When his eyes met Neoul's, he smiled bitterly.
"I see that child's face in my reflection in the mirror and sometimes hear auditory hallucinations... I don't know if it's because I hate that child who left without permission or because I miss him so much."
Baek Yuri rubbed his eyes and raised his head. His eyes were red before he knew it.
"It's just that I still... I know in my head that the child is dead, but my heart can't accept it, so that might be why.'
[Ask him if he doesn't like what he sees.]
Baek Namoo tapped the grove and said. The grove relayed the message.
"Do you hate seeing your brother through the mirror?"
"No. I'm glad to see him."
Baek Yuri smiled faintly.
"I'm a little scared because I think I'm crazy, but I'm still glad to see him. I'm really glad... It's just a little sad. That it's an illusion."
Baek Yuri seemed to firmly believe that what he saw was an illusion.
"I briefly considered going to a psychiatrist, but I thought it would be even harder if I took medication and stopped having hallucinations, so I gave up."
"....."
Neoul stared at Baek Namoo again.
His eyes were filled with a question, asking if he could tell Baek Yuri the truth that he wasn't crazy.
Baek Namoo raised his index finger and brought it to his lips.
[Shh. Don't tell him.]
When he shook his head, the dangling earrings jingled loudly and shook.
However, Baek Yuri didn't hear the sound at all.
"Please keep it a secret from Baek Giyeom. He'll be upset if he finds out I'm doing this."
"Yes."
"....."
Baek Yuri looked at Neoul, who nodded indifferently, strangely.
Usually, when people hear this kind of story, they wouldn't react indifferently, try to comfort him, or tell him to go to the hospital... There would be various reactions.
Neoul didn't try to do anything.
Somehow that made Baek Yuri feel at ease.
"I kept it to myself for 5 years. Now that I've said it, I feel better. Thank you for listening. And thank you for helping me today."
Baek Yuri rubbed his face and got up from his seat.
"I should probably go now. I have to wake up early again tomorrow."
"Sir Baek Yuri, you go first. I'll be leaving later."
Neoul said, hugging the water bottle.
After Baek Yuri left and the footsteps grew distant, Neoul and Baek Namoo, who had been listening, opened their mouths at the same time.
"Are you a grim reaper?"
[What is your identity? You don't seem to be a human or a goblin.]
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