Chapter 99: Can you hear me? |
*Zzzip*
Along with the sound of the zipper opening, fairly fresh air and faint light entered.
And… Kim Cheonsu’s voice as well.
“Okay, now that we’ve arrived, you can come out.”
Hearing his words, I poked my head out of the bag.
…But I didn’t come all the way out.
If I stay like this, he’ll manage to get to the control room, won’t he?
As if reading my mind, Kim Cheonsu sighed with a face that seemed to say he had a headache, then slung the bag containing me over his shoulder and started walking again.
My body swayed up and down.
After all that hardship earlier, he can at least do this much for me, can’t he?
I’m super~ light anyway.
He probably can’t even feel my weight… so it shouldn’t be too strenuous for him.
As I was rocking with a feeling of longing,
I saw the familiar door.
With a *swoosh*, the tightly closed door opened.
Realizing it led to the control room, I surreptitiously slipped out of the bag and stood on two feet.
It was cozy inside, but I felt it would be somewhat awkward to show this appearance to the other slimes.
I especially didn’t want Sosik, sprawled out on the sphere, to see me like this.
“Ahh, you startled me! When did you get down?”
Looks like I unintentionally gave Kim Cheonsu a fright.
Feeling satisfied by that, I went inside.
I heard the rustle of clothes, then felt the sensation of someone embracing me.
…Inside the control room, there was only one person who would hug me.
Of course, that someone was Han Seori.
“You made it back safely!”
Feeling the soft pressure touching my jelly, I awkwardly wobbled as I looked at her.
Then I heard a voice from behind.
“Um, I’ve also returned.”
“Ah, you worked hard too, Mr. Cheonsu.”
“…Yes.”
For some reason, Kim Cheonsu’s shoulders seemed to slump… I don’t think it was my imagination.
He seems to be trying not to show it, but could he be feeling neglected that she greeted me first and not him?
Heh.
I feel a strange sense of superiority.
…Although Han Seori probably has no intention of seeing me as a man, it still feels good.
Snickering inwardly, I stretched my jelly to pat his shoulder, relishing my feeling of triumph.
Kim Cheonsu looked at me with an odd gaze and sighed, muttering,
“…I’ll go organize the things I brought first.”
“Oh, should I help you a bit?”
“Th-that would be great.”
…That simple Kim Cheonsu brightened up again in no time, and he carefully set me down before disappearing into the kitchen with Han Seori.
So now, in the control room…
It’s just us precious ones left, I guess?
The moment I thought that, I saw Daesik (Alice) running towards me from the chair where Han Seori had been sitting.
As I was thinking a doll could run like that too,
Daesik *splat!* stuck to my leg and rubbed its body against me.
I’m not sure if it watched the screen with Han Seori or if it’s just because I was away for a while… but I felt a bit strange.
Remembering how I made a lump on the back of Kim Cheonsu’s head, I carefully picked up Daesik and placed him on my shoulder.
Then Daesik bumped its doll face against my cheek.
It seemed like he was happy, but I also felt something odd.
Daesik is currently inside the doll Alice, isn’t it?
So, he didn’t really have any expressions to speak of.
He was also strangely stiff.
…If Daesik had a body closer to a human’s, would his joy be felt more clearly?
As I felt that strange feeling while Daesik tapped his face against me,
Jungsik splashed jelly as he crashed into my stomach.
With the sensation of my lower abdomen jiggling, a sticky jelly fountain splattered on my face.
This one sprays jelly whether he’s happy or angry, I see.
…But he is happy, right?
Could he be angry that I went somewhere without him…?
This makes me feel uncomfortable again.
Even though we’re all slimes, we don’t know what each other is thinking, do we?
…They may know what I’m thinking, but at least I can’t clearly gauge what they’re thinking or feeling.
Compared to that, Sosik is relatively easy to read.
Since he was a miniature version of me, he had facial features.
These days, the problem is that he spends most of his time sleeping.
Anyway.
With those two slimes clinging to my body, I approached the sphere.
Then I saw Sosik still sprawled out, stuck to the sphere.
That kid stays the same no matter what I go through… As I was thinking that,
He opened his jelly eyes hazily and waved his hand at me limply.
It’s ridiculous, but I think that he should at least get up and welcome me.
…Is this how the head of a household feels when coming home late from work?
I’ve never been married, so I’m not sure, but I feel it’s probably something like this.
Finally placing my hand on the sphere, it muttered in an indifferent voice,
That was quite an impressive battle.
…Really bland.
But having communicated with everyone in some way, I truly felt I had returned.
If I think of the odd feeling I had when opening the door to my empty studio apartment…
Turning into a slime might not be such a bad thing after all.
Feeling like my nonexistent heart was thumping,
I savored that feeling for a while.
The day after we eliminated that unidentified monster and returned,
We had a little party with the things Kim Cheonsu had carefully packed in his bag.
It was to commemorate Kim Cheonsu’s safe return.
And presumably to celebrate me, defeating the monster.
Well, the reason wasn’t clear… but thinking that we’d be eating something delicious after so long, I was in a great mood.
Especially since the most recent thing I ate was the monster’s tasteless lump of meat.
I was confident that anything I ate now would taste heavenly.
And then, I saw it.
Really well-grilled steaks arranged immaculately.
More meat?
I didn’t think that.
It would be rude to compare those irredeemable lumps of meat, unsalvageable even with seasoning, to these steaks.
Chef Kim Cheonsu demonstrated his truly excellent skills and sent up not only steaks but various other dishes to the control room.
Next to me was Han Seori, who was also looking at them with a somewhat vexed face.
What’s she so vexed about?
When you have someone who can whip up several servings like this… shouldn’t you just be happy?
Well… There’s no way for me to know what Doctor Han is thinking, so I sniffed with my jelly, taking in the aroma of the food.
The memory of eating lumps of meat was now replaced by lovely steaks.
As I was looking at the dishes with a feeling of jelly oozing,
Something I wanted to eat came to mind.
From the time before I was a slime… a pudding I had eaten once in Japan.
A jiggling yellow surface with a topping of melted brown sugar.
I remember it being quite tasty despite not being very expensive.
…I want to eat it.
Is it possible?
I can’t suddenly ask the two of them to go to Japan, and I certainly can’t tell them to go there just to eat a pudding.
Never mind going abroad, how can I say let’s go to a foreign country to eat a pudding?
It’s a bit… embarrassing.
But even as I thought that,
The pudding kept floating around in my head.
I’ve heard that if you’re told not to think of an elephant, an elephant comes to mind.
…I got to fully experience that.
I had the thought that it’s silly to be obsessing over pudding with all this delicious food in front of me, but what can I do when it suddenly came to mind?
As my jelly jiggled with an unspeakable concern,
Kim Cheonsu came up to the control room with a tray, saying,
“This is the last one.”
And on the tray, he was holding…
Huh? There was something that made me let out a startled sound.
It was…
Pudding.
I was craving it, but what is this? As I was flustered,
Han Seori, seemingly sharing my confusion, tilted her head and spoke.
“Huh… Why the sudden pudding?”
“What? Oh… I don’t know. I just felt like I had to make it for some reason.”
“Do you like pudding?”
“Not particularly…”
What is this?
If Kim Cheonsu himself doesn’t like pudding, is there any reason for him to suddenly make it?
As I felt that something was off, the slimes who had been “waiting” slowly headed for the plates upon Kim Cheonsu’s arrival.
Finally, with Kim Cheonsu and Han Seori’s laughter,
The little party began.
It was closer to just eating the delicious food Chef Kim Cheonsu had bestowed upon us rather than a party.
I also made teeth in my mouth and put in the steak, chewing *chomp chomp*.
The sensation of juices seeping out and spreading through my jelly and the soft texture as I chewed was really nice.
Ultimately, meat should be eaten cooked, not raw, right?
All the foods Kim Cheonsu made suited my tastes, so I was very satisfied.
…And.
The pudding in question also wasn’t the flavor I expected, but it was enough to satisfy me.
It felt a bit odd like I was eating something similar to myself…
Hmm.
More than that.
As I watched the pudding melt and float around inside my body… the thought I had put aside a little while ago came creeping back.
Pudding.
It’s just a coincidence, right?
I mean, what could it be?
…I felt a bit disturbed by the thought that Kim Cheonsu and I had telepathy, but other than that, it seemed there was nothing to it.
