50. Rabbit Alliance (3)
Baek Yuri, who was the first to go down to the first floor, relaxed and sat down on the floor after reaching the last step.
His wrists, which had been tied with tape, felt numb. His heart was beating fast and he was sweating coldly, as if someone was chasing him at any moment.
"Sir Baek Yuri. Are you okay?"
Neoul asked.
As he was about to open his mouth to answer, Baek Yuri got up as if he was racing when he heard someone running down, ran down the hallway, looked back, and stopped.
It was a woman named Dongdong who had come to his house to pick Neoul up.
"Haa......."
Baek Yuri took a deep breath and crouched down again.
"I don't feel okay.... I want to get out of this house right now."
He tried to act calm while he was upstairs, but in fact, he wanted to scream loudly. The atmosphere was like someone was going to rip his stomach open with an unsterilized knife.
Save me! Baek Gi-yeom! Call the police quickly! I'm dying! Oh my! Baek Namoo! If you're watching from the sky, drop something heavy on those people's heads and knock them out! Come and buy me time to escape!
Neoul! Let me loosen this! Or at least let's run outside with the chair! Why won't you let me loose!
Are you part of the gang? No? Say no! I bought you a kilogram of rabbit liver! Are you going to repay my kindness with enmity?
His head was in turmoil.
In particular, the intimidation radiated by the sea priestess wearing a hood and the martial arts uniform was no joke. It was his second time seeing her, but she felt much scarier now than when he first saw her.
'Well, when I first saw her, she left saying she was leaving the prince and take care of him, and this time she tied my wrists saying that I might be a rabbit!'
Could I really be a reincarnated rabbit?
A moment ago, he said that since they're twins, wouldn't their strengths be split in half? In fact, that was just Baek Yu-ri's inference.
Isn't it possible that the elixir of the mountain spirit was absorbed only by Baek Yu-ri?
Baek Yuri's gaze met Neoul's as he raised his head. For a moment, the realization that Neoul might be thinking similar thoughts flashed through his mind.
Baek Yuri moved away from Neoul and Dongdong.
"You believe me, don't you? I'm not really a rabbit. It's probably my first birthday. Everything I do except reading books is difficult and full of things that don't work out. You can never do this unless it's your first time."
"...."
"..."
"...Yes. I believe you."
Why is the answer so late? Why is the interval taking so long? Baek Yuri felt like crying.
Baek Yuri's thoughts were correct. Neoul was not fooled by Baek Yuri's trickery.
The rabbit was so cunning that it could fool Abamama and all the servants of the Dragon Palace and run away in the old days, so Neoul was on guard, not completely believing Baek Yuri's plausible excuses and responses.
However, he was confused.
'I thought everything was solved when she delivered the rabbit's liver to the Dragon Palace.'
It had to be the liver of that rabbit from 1,400 years ago?
But that rabbit was a human?
It was a story that in order to save Abamama, he might have to harm a human.
His eyes went dark.
'And what if Baek Yuri is the reincarnation of that rabbit...?'
Baek Yuri was a benefactor who taught Neoul how to walk and even personally brought him rabbit liver without any compensation. When he asked for 50,000 won out of the blue, didn't he lend it to him without hesitation?
He was a person with a pure soul and a kind heart.
Even if the rotten Kim Ji-rok or the corrupt Gye Tae-seok were rabbits, it would be awkward to cut open the stomach of a living person. Why did the number one rabbit candidate happen to be Baek Yuri?
Even Baek Yuri's cousin Baek Gi-yeom helped him a lot and became close with him while fighting in the first team battle.
Baek Yuri's dead twin brother Baek Namoo was the greatest teacher who raised his poor dancing skills to a level that was worthy of performing on stage.
You're telling Baek Yuri, who has been struggling to pursue his dream while struggling to grieve for a long time after losing his brother, to give up his liver?
I'll save my father with your liver, so you're telling me to have a late-night concert at a closed amusement park with your twin brother who became a grim reaper?
Then Baek Yuri's mother would lose both of his sons.
There were many people who would be unhappy. Just imagining that situation made his heart beat very irregularly.
'This is... this is not it.'
Neoul couldn't bring himself to do that. He felt a strong sense of rejection.
He was so embarrassed that he couldn't even look Baek Yuri in the face, so he lowered his head.
At that time, Baek Yuri asked cautiously.
"Are you crying?"
Neoul shook his head. He didn't shed tears. He just felt confused and lost, not knowing what to do.
The window rattled in the wind. As if representing Neoul's confused feelings.
Baek Yuri also seemed to have mixed feelings, looking up at the ceiling, the wall, and the floor, sighing deeply before hesitating and saying.
"Is it because you're so confused? Well... Well, I'm not a rabbit. I don't remember anything. But if I really remember my past life... Well, if I really am a rabbit."
"..."
"Then I'll give you my liver."
"Yes...?!"
Neoul raised his head with a stiff face in surprise. Is he in his right mind?
Maybe Baek Yuri was so shocked by the commotion caused by the sea priestess upstairs that he lost his mind.
Neoul frowned in worry.
However, Baek Yuri was completely in his right mind. He wasn't just spouting nonsense, he was serious.
"Not all of it. About 70 percent? Even if I give you that much, I won't die."
You won't die...?
Neoul opened his eyes wide.
Baek Yuri scratched his cheek and continued to grumble.
"If the Dragon King is sick due to water pollution or rising water temperatures, I feel a sense of responsibility as a human who contributed to environmental pollution. Also... if my past life was a rabbit, my karma of stealing someone else's medicine, misusing it without a prescription, and overdosing on it is huge."
"No, is it true that you won't die if you take out your liver?"
"I'll tell you again, you can't take out all of it. If you do, you'll die. You can only take out a part of it."
"..."
"Of course, there could be aftereffects, and it's not without risk. But liver donation surgery is being done safely, and there are great doctors."
"...."
"It'll take some time to recover my health again... but I'm healthy, so I think I'll recover quickly."
Neoul listened with his mouth open like an idiot, then asked a beat later.
"How much is a portion?"
Baek Yuri realized that Neoul didn't understand the concept of percentages, and showed him his palm to explain visually.
"If the liver is this big, then... this much?"
It was more than half.
Humans are much bigger than rabbits, so their livers would be much bigger. Then, wouldn't it be possible to save Abamama if we just took a portion?
It seemed quite possible.
"But if it could be dangerous, how could you..."
"I've watched over my sick family."
Baek Yuri said with a bitter smile.
"I can't fully understand how you feel, Neoul ssi, but… I hope I'm the only one who's going through the grief of a family member's death."
"...."
"I don't want to see someone sad because I could have helped but didn't. I think that would be more painful to me than the fear of surgery."
Strange.
Most of the actions of humans were strange and incomprehensible, but Baek Yuri's words right now were the strangest of them all.
A moment ago, he had been sitting down in fear. Now, he was as brave as a different person, spitting out words he couldn't take back.
Just a moment ago, evil mermaid and octopuses were surrounding him, threatening him, saying, "Are you a rabbit or not?" But now, when he should be worrying about himself, he's worrying about others.
Neoul wanted to accept this favor right away.
He want to say childish things like, "There's no turning back," and "If you don't keep your word, you'll start losing your hair from the top of your head."
However, Baek Yuri was currently participating in
'If he could regain his rabbit memories in the near future.....'
Baek Yuri said that if you cut out your liver, it would take time to recover your health. Then, it could interfere with your debut or activities.
"If you do it, let's do this."
Neoul opened his mouth.
"If Sir Baek Yuri is a rabbit, it will be decided within 3 years. They said that you would get your past life's memories before you turn 25."
"Right...?"
"But if I found out early that Sir Baek Yuri is a rabbit, I will wait until 4 years and 10 months have passed without asking for a liver."
"...Is that okay?"
"Since the Sea Priestess has given me 5 years, I will gratefully receive the liver a little before the 5 years are over. The distance to the Dragon Palace can be reached in less than 15 days if I swim without stopping for several days, I will have enough time to receive it then."
"Still..."
Would it really be okay to leave your sick family behind and stay on the mainland?
He must feel like his blood is drying up every day.
Neoul asked the same question to Baek Yuri's worries.
"If I don't wait, will you be okay?"
"Yes?"
"You have to debut and perform on stage."
At the words 'debut' and 'stage', Baek Yuri's nose turned red and his eyes turned red.
"That's right. In fact, I have a lot to do, but I was worried that if I remembered something right away and had surgery, I wouldn't be able to debut because I would have to recover."
"...."
"If I had surgery right after my debut, my debut would be canceled, and if I had surgery during my promotions, what would happen? I was worried inside."
Baek Yuri rubbed his eyes with his palms.
"Once I debut... I want to do everything I promised to do with Baek Namoo one by one. I want to release an album, have a fan meeting, and hold a concert."
"Is that so?"
"I want to win the Rookie of the Year award, go on a world tour, and someday I want to win the highest award at the Korean Popular Music Awards."
It's the highest award.
Abamama also sometimes gave rewards to his subjects who performed well. Neoul nodded and listened, then a good idea came to mind. A way to repay the kindness of the benefactor who suddenly offered to give him his liver.
"The highest award."
"Yes?"
"I will let you receive it."
"Yes?"
"I will help you. We will win the highest award at the Korean Popular Music Awards before the five years are up."
"Huh?"
Tears started to well up but stopped and went away. Baek Yu-ri rolled his eyes at the absurd story.
In 5 years? Can we really do it?
'Me and Neoul are just survival show contestants who haven't even debuted yet?'
Besides, there was another thing that was unsettling.
The fact that Neoul's bombshell comment during the bus scene probably already generated millions of anti-fans.
Even though he didn't do anything that could be caught, antis would always bite him like a piranha, and he ended up feeding them from the start.
'We need to improve our image first.'
We can't turn back time and stop a bomb that's already exploded. However, we can collect the debris and clean up the surroundings to dilute the image of 'rudeness' that has stuck to him. It all depends on what he does in the future.
Fortunately, one thing we can look forward to is that Gal Neoul is a rare visual main vocalist wherever he goes.
What's more, he sing melodies well with that amazing tone?
Idol fans and the industry can't miss out on Neoul. He's a talent that everyone's eyes light up and covet.
His dancing is still lacking, but considering he only just started walking a few weeks ago, he's learned remarkably fast. Amazingly.
'He didn't stand out at all in the first team match and just got along well. Even the facial expressions were pretty good.'
It was a strange growth rate. It was as if they had secretly invited professional idols to receive eye-level education.
With this level of learning ability, it was a little scary to think how much more his skills would have improved by the end of the survival show. The production team must be keeping an eye on him because it is good for growth stories. There's no need to worry about him being in the stable debut zone.
Baek Yuri picked a few people besides Gal Neoul and formed a team in his head, and he was preoccupied with whether he could go to the Korean Popular Music Awards with them.
Then he stopped thinking and just laughed.
He's gone too far. Let's stop thinking complicated thoughts.
"Okay. Let's do it, okay!"
Baek Yuri didn't have high expectations. He was greedy, but he lacked confidence in himself. He was a person who was far from optimistic.
However, seeing the absurd being in front of him who said absurd things so casually, he somehow thought that it might not be impossible.
'I've only seen him briefly, but Neoul ssi is not the type to talk nonsense.'
Since he made a promise out loud, he will do his best. He has enough passion and perseverance to dance all night long.
The scary growth rate of this mysterious mermaid prince might not be limited to him, but might give wings to the group.
Baek Yuri said, feeling better.
"If I'm not the reincarnated rabbit, I'll definitely help you find the rabbit."
"Thank you for your concern."
"What? It's a win-win. We're comrades now. We're on the same boat."
Baek Yuri held out his hand to shake it. Now that Neoul was used to it, he shook hands naturally.
"I don't need to take a boat. I can swim."
"That's not what I meant...."
"....?"
Anyway, this is how the Rabbit Alliance was formed.
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