Chapter 127.1
[What a strange line of questioning! Was I happy, you ask? Of course! I am an entertainer who enjoys every roleâŠ]
“So, being a good friend wasnât particularly more enjoyable than any other role? Not even a little?”
[âŠâŠ]
The body controlled by Lee Jaheon remained completely still.
Then, the giant TV screen lit up.
[Ah, I see what youâre trying to say.]
[Is it that you wish for me to become that warm-hearted stuffed toy and become your good friend once more? Hahaha!]
[To keep playing the happy little role of the good friend?!]
Inside the giant TV, a rabbit plushie appeared, waving its handâjust like a certain moment from a month ago.
But Kim Soleum remained unfazed.
“That wouldâve been nice. I miss it.”
[Oh, Mr. Kim Soleum.]
The TV spoke in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone, almost mockingly.
On-screen, the rabbit plushie looked around nervously before curling up in a corner.
[Unfortunately, that good friend has already been torn apart and reduced to ashes! Youâll never see it again!]
“No, itâs you.”
[âŠâŠ!]
“The plush body was just an external appearance.”
Thatâs right.
In the end, the one who willingly accepted the constraints of being a good friend and moved within that plush body⊠was the host standing right in front of him right here and now.
Even now, displaying that rabbit plushie on the screenâ
âThatâs you.â
He was the one speaking about it himself.
“Iâve heard something like this before.”
Kim Soleumâs calm voice filled the space.
“When actors play deeply memorable roles, even after the performance ends, sometimes they struggle to fully leave the character behind.”
Because.
“If the role was fun or immersive enough, traces of it remain even after itâs over.”
[âŠâŠ]
He recalled what he had seen earlier.
The host, freezing when Kim Soleumâs plush body was torn apart.
âHonestly, he shouldâve known that I wouldnât actually die just because the plushie was destroyed.â
After all, wasnât he the one who put me inside it?
Going further, it was odd for a talk show host to allow silence to linger on his show just because a guest had died.
A being like him shouldâve simply displayed a crying emoticon on the TV screen, pretended to mourn for a moment, then turned it into material for the next segment.
Yet, if he had been startled enough to try and hold the stuffing togetherâ
That was definitely strange.
“I wondered if the same applied to you.”
[Oh. You mean to say that this great host who brought that role to life was affected by a mere mask he wore for a few months⊠You think my professionalism is that lacking?]
“I donât see why doing such a thing would mean you were lacking in any way. Even great actors sometimes struggle to separate from their roles. That just means they were deeply immersed.”
[That isâŠ]
“Itâs true, isnât it?”
Lee Jaheon continued to recite Kim Soleumâs words in a detached tone.
“And in a slightly different way⊠I also found a lot of comfort in you being my âgood friendâ.”
[âŠâŠ]
“I appreciate it. Really, thank you. In difficult times, having you as a friend really helped and reassured me. And⊠there were a lot of fun moments, too.”
Kim Soleumâs voice resonated.
“Didnât you feel the same?”
[âŠâŠ]
[Goodness.]
The hostâs voice dropped slightly.
[How embarrassing, but I suppose I must admit it. Yes. It was a truly fresh and enjoyable experience!]
[Itâs rare to find someone with such natural talent as both a creator and a performer. Watching and meddling in your journey was an utterly unique delightâŠ]
“I see.”
But.
“Thatâs exactly why I donât want to work at this talk show anymore.”
A calm voice.
“For one, this talk show scares me. Itâs not that I didnât find it entertaining, but honestly, itâs difficult for me to work here. You know thatâmy personality.”
Just the thought of people dying sent chills down his spine. The idea of contributing to that in any way was horrifying.
And Kim Soleum understood something else.
âEven if I try to convince him, would heâthe hostâsuddenly start making ethical decisions?â
Absolutely not.
Just as Kim Soleum, being who he was, would always reject working as a crew member here, the host would never suddenly develop moral scruples.
And the more terrifying possibility, if he lost that sense of rejection entirely, if he no longer felt any aversion to this place, that would mean something far worse.
Whether it was brainwashing or contamination, it would mean the erasure of his own identity.
“To be honest, even if you called me a partner, this whole thing was one-sided. I was basically forced into your crew. The atmosphere even made me start calling you âMr. Hostâ out of habit.”
A joking remark with an undeniable edge of truth.
“In that state, we canât stay friends. Iâll be your subordinate if things stay like that. I wouldnât be acting of my own will anymore.”
Kim Soleum looked beyond his own vision.
“And when that happens, youâll get bored of me pretty fast.”
[âŠâŠ]
“So, I have to go back. âŠItâll be much more fun for you that way, too.”
A strange gleam passed over the surface of the TV.
Kim Soleum speculated that perhaps this was why the host had wanted to keep him working at the talk showâkeeping him as intact as possible, without changing his way of thinking too drastically.
Like a steady drizzle slowly soaking someone through.
âIt almost worked to some extent⊠but not like this.â
He couldnât stay in this creepy place forever.
But still.
“That doesnât mean we canât be friends.”
[âŠ!]
“Do you remember what I said before?”
– Friends try to understand each otherâs differences, and even when they canât, they still care for one another.
– âŠBy talking things through.
“We donât have to work at the same place to share our lives and stay friends.”
Since the bridge had already been burned, it was time to rebuild it in a different way with this entity he had summoned.
If you canât avoid it, just face it.
“You donât have to be a good friend. Just a friend is fine.”
Inside the TV, the plush rabbit seemed to lean toward the screen as if listening intently.
Kim Soleum almost wanted to smile.
“If youâre okay with it, how about we try that?”
Dreik
They’re so cute.. Braun, please, say “YES”!
Siptea
They’re only talking but I already fall for them
Lackthose
I really love Soleum
CHELY_
friendship…