Part 2. Spring (2)
"Hello."
Fluent Korean flowed from the green dragon's mouth.
「Collapsed Babel (S)」
A skill that allows the free use of foreign languages and scripts. It was one of the skills dragons are born with.
"Why have you come to see me?"
"I have business with you."
"So you came knowing who I am?"
"Of course."
Yu Ji-tae looked at the creature's face. There was a strange, inscrutable air about it—hard to tell what it was thinking.
A brief silence hung between them.
Up until now, to Yu Ji-tae, dragons had been like bombs he wanted to keep hidden and pray would never go off. For that reason, over the hundred years of repeated regressions, he had exchanged fewer than twenty words a year with dragons. There was no need to talk to a bomb.
But now, he felt that conversation was necessary. And that was unfamiliar to a regressor who was more accustomed to swords than words.
Carefully, he opened his mouth.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Yes."
The answer came instantly. That was unexpected.
Did it already know?
"Who am I, then?"
"Yu Ji-tae."
"Where did you hear that name?"
"It's written on your chest."
Chest? Come to think of it, he was wearing his superhuman police uniform, and there was a name tag on it.
He had come out dressed roughly, since obscuring people's eyes and ears was trivial for him anyway.
He glanced vaguely down at his chest, then lifted his head. The dragon was wearing a peculiar smile.
"I'm joking. Honestly, I don't know who you are. But I think I know one thing."
"What's that?"
"I've been living here for over a year now. I especially like traveling, so I've been to many places. But I've never seen or heard of a human as strong as you. And someone as…."
The green dragon chose its words carefully.
"…dangerous as you, either."
Though young, it was still of the green lineage.
They say green dragons can read the laws of providence—some kind of rules that run through the world, by which they analyze things and phenomena from every angle. As a human, it was something he couldn't really understand, and in truth, didn't care about.
"Did you come to kill me?"
"No."
"Then what? Do you harbor sexual desires toward dragons?"
"No."
"Then kidnapping? Abduction?"
"Close enough."
"If you kidnap me, what will you do then?"
"I'm going to keep you."
"Why?"
"You don't need to know."
At Yu Ji-tae's one-sided manner of speaking, the green dragon fell silent for a moment. It stared at the cracked tiles of the road, thinking, then spoke again.
"What if I refuse?"
"I'll still take you."
"By force?"
Yu Ji-tae didn't answer.
"Are you going to do bad things to me?"
"I have no intention of that."
"But kidnapping itself is a bad thing. So you're already doing something bad."
I see.
"But once you take me, you won't do bad things?"
Again, Yu Ji-tae didn't answer. This silence, too, was an affirmation.
The green dragon pondered. From the start, it didn't seem inclined to refuse.
It was a very dragon-like judgment—one that didn't go against providence. It knew that if Yu Ji-tae truly decided to take it, no matter how it resisted, it would be meaningless.
"I liked it here."
"I see."
"It's the first place I've stayed for half a year."
"Complaining won't help."
Without a word, he gazed into the green eyes.
The reason dragons are great lies in the long history they accumulate over their lives. Conversely, even a dragon hatchling is, as the name suggests, just a baby—knowing little, finding the world wondrous, and still at an age of fear.
Yet even so, it was remarkably calm.
"Alright. Then let's go, mister."
The dragon suddenly began walking toward Yoo Jitae.
Mister?
"I'm going on my own two feet."
"What?"
"I mean, it's not that you're kidnapping me—I'm going willingly. I'm not being abducted; I'm a guest. And you're not a kidnapper."
"And?"
"So please treat me kindly, like a guest."
It naturally followed him and held out its hand, as if it could already see what was about to happen and how Yu Ji-tae would take it along.
He didn't dislike the dragon's natural ease. He'd met it several times before, but this was a side he'd never seen—so it felt a bit new.
But that faint interest ended there.
"You seem to be under a misunderstanding. I'm not that nice a person. This isn't a joke."
His voice was gloomy, like thick poison slowly flowing.
To a regressor, this was like letting a tiger into one's home. If you didn't put a proper leash on it while it was young, someday it would inevitably become uncontrollable.
He, too, had things he cherished—things he'd spent long periods with. In his first and second lives, there were bonds with whom he had imagined a shared future, believing he would surely succeed this time.
But when the final day inevitably arrived, everything but him turned to ashes and vanished. In a ruined world where all had left, he was left alone.
Again and again.
Yu Ji-tae began to speak slowly.
"From now on, you'll live in front of my eyes. You'll do what I know, where my eyes and ears can reach. If you listen to me, no harm will come to you. But if you don't, I can't guarantee what happens after that. Do you think my words are harsh? Even so, you must endure them. This is the best I can give you."
"...."
"This isn't the world you lived in. If you look closely, it's ugly and filthy in many ways. I intend to protect you from this dangerous world. But if you step outside the fence I've set up, I'll become something even more dangerous—and in this world, there's no fence that can protect you from me. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Ordinary words. A flat tone. Yet the moment they left his mouth, they became more oppressive than any threat.
Even then, the green dragon's expression remained calm.
Yu Ji-tae reached out to take the hand it had offered. The dragon subtly extended its little finger.
"You said you won't hurt me if I listen well. That's a promise, right?"
A child was still a child.
Yu Ji-tae hooked his little finger around it. The small, pale hand trembled faintly.
He'd thought it was relaxed, but perhaps not after all.
"I promise."
Immediately after, the man and the dragon vanished from the street.
***
Morning dawned the next day.
It was a weekend, but the Rare District Police Station was bustling from early on. Because of Jo Ho-sik, the entire superhuman investigation team had been sent out to stake out the scene.
Yu Ji-tae was no exception.
"Then, I will carry out the order."
Wearing his uniform, Yu Ji-tae bowed at a perfect right angle.
But the man receiving his salute was also Yu Ji-tae.
「Shadow of the Archduke (SS)」
It was a clone that could exert up to 50% of the original body's abilities. Normally, it was a skill used by demon archdukes to project influence over distant principalities. Now, however, it was being used to clock in for work by proxy.
He waved his hand dismissively at the clone. Having received the instruction, "Go and do whatever they tell you," the clone headed to Rare for work.
Yu Ji-tae lay on the sofa as usual, reading the newspaper.
"Mm, hmm…."
Just then, the green dragon walked out of his room, wearing pajamas he had bought.
He had let the dragon sleep in his room and spent the night on the living room sofa.
"Good morning."
Despite being a dragon—and despite being kidnapped—it seemed to have slept soundly, rubbing its eyes. Its messy hair glinted in the morning sunlight.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Breakfast?"
"We should eat. You didn't eat anything yesterday either."
"Oh."
"…Don't tell me you haven't been eating meals all this time?"
He had. Once. With coworkers.
"And you—do you eat every meal?"
"Yes."
"Why? You wouldn't even be hungry."
"Because eating something delicious makes me happy."
He simply said, "I see."
Then the green dragon asked,
"Don't you have anything to say to me? We barely talked yesterday."
Well.
"Like things I should be careful about while living here. Things you like or dislike. Or what you expect from me. There must be something like that."
"Nothing."
"You told me to listen well, though."
"Just stay here. Soon, all your friends will come here too. You just need to live here with them."
"Really? Can I go out, then?"
He nodded. Whether it went out or not didn't matter. What mattered was whether it remained within the range of his influence.
If a dragon seriously tried to conceal its presence, even for him it would be troublesome. He would find it eventually, but it would be annoying.
"You can do whatever you want. If you need something, I'll take care of it."
"Wow."
"Just don't do it without me knowing."
"Anything?"
"Yes. Anything."
"Even going to the bathroom? Or menstruating?"
Silence served as the answer.
Menstruation, for a dragon?
"I'm joking. Ah—something I want to do today just came to mind."
"What is it?"
"Go grocery shopping with you."
"What?"
"Please eat properly. I'll cook for you."
It was an unexpected suggestion.
***
Yu Ji-tae went grocery shopping with the green dragon.
From the street stalls to the supermarket, the eyes of men and women, young and old, all turned toward the green dragon.
"Hey, look over there…."
"Wow, that's insane. Totally insane… Is that an actor or something?"
"The person next to them looks really scary."
"Let's not make eye contact…."
He could hear people murmuring.
Exclamations kept coming, and whenever their eyes met Yu Ji-tae's, they would gasp and quickly look away.
On the way back after buying groceries, he decided it would be a good time to issue an identity as well. He slipped into a back alley and visited a broker he knew to make an ID.
The broker was a one-eyed man wearing an eyepatch, and with his one good eye, he kept sneaking glances at the green dragon's face.
Her surprise was plain to see.
"Huh… well, I'll be. Is that young lady over there your girlfriend, boss?"
Yu Ji-tae ignored him, and the Green Dragon pretended not to hear either. Still, the man kept glancing over and his hands kept stopping, until Yu Ji-tae finally spoke.
"Want me to gouge out that one eye you've got left too?"
"Pardon? Ah, no, that's not—"
"ID."
Yu Ji-tae growled. His voice sounded like metal being scraped.
"Yes, sir...."
Only then did the man realize the danger, and he began moving his hands while trembling.
This kind of reaction was familiar.
Beauty that could not be protected became poison, and for that very reason, the end of the world had once drawn near.
At that moment, the broker swallowed dryly and started watching Yu Ji-tae's expression. After hesitating for quite a while, just as Yu Ji-tae was beginning to lose his patience, the man finally spoke to the Green Dragon.
"Um, excuse me…"
"Me?"
Her voice is beautiful too…! the broker thought, hurriedly hiding his expression.
"May I ask your honorable name, miss?"
"My honorable name? Oh, you mean my name?"
"Hm." The Green Dragon looked at Yu Ji-tae.
What's there to think about? There are four dragons. Just string together something simple so it's not confusing.
"Spring."
Summer, autumn, and winter would do nicely for the rest.
"T-then your family name is…?"
"Yu."
That was simply because he himself was a Yu.
"Yu Spring. Understood."
At least there were four of them.
If there had been three, it would've been rock-paper-scissors. If seven, he would've roughly cobbled together Monday through Sunday.
"It's finished."
After that, the two continued to walk around the city buying the things they needed. While he was at it, Yu Ji-tae activated a hologram watch for her, and applied for a debit card under the name Spring.
There was nothing to worry about. To a regressor, money was something he could obtain in any amount, anytime he wished.
***
On the way home after finishing their shopping.
The Green Dragon stared blankly at the ID card in her hand, then looked up at Yu Ji-tae walking ahead of her. Something greater than the difference in their heights as people could be felt from his back.
Whenever she looked at him, she felt uneasy.
This man is dangerous.
Extremely so.
He was certainly a killer. At some point he must have been a tyrant, and perhaps even someone who had slaughtered his own kind.
The Eye of Providence was still issuing warnings in real time.
Dangerous.
And yet, she had already been caught.
Lost in such thoughts, the Green Dragon's gaze returned to the ID card in her hand.
+++
Yu Bom Female xxxxxx-xxxxxxx
123-332, Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
+++
Spring.
The season of life that comes to the world.
A name so beautiful, and one that suited her perfectly.
Perhaps this man was not quite as dangerous as she had thought.
Last night had been that way, and today as well. She had been safe, and he had not been threatening.
Spring looked once more at the man's back. His broad, solid back was there. The feeling of fear was still present, but seen another way, it was like a tall fortress, and that brought her a sense of relief.
And so, Spring decided to watch him a little longer.