The Truth

[author] orz. Edit club too elite. I'm heading back to the no-edit club. Time to just run and see where this path leads, haha...[/author]

[You asshole! See! She's not like my Seonhwa! She's delicate! Fragile! And she still loves you even now! Why the f-]

I KNOW! STOP YELLING!

[I'LL STOP YELLING WHEN YOU GET IT THROUGH THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS! WHY THE FUCK!?]

I did my best to ignore the urge to scream out loud back at Blackie. Instead, I focused on making ramen.

This was a mess. Seonhwa definitely took me friendzone/sisterzoning her seriously. And it looked like she took another big hit after overhearing that phone call-

[NO SHIT!]

SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO THINK!

[Fucking- Fine! I'm going to vent. Eva needs to get cleaned up. Might as well mop up some assholes while you're wasting time. But I swear to god, if you don't fix this-]

"I fucking know, alright?"

"Did you say something, Jihu?"

I let out a light laugh and said, "Just thinking to myself, Seonhwa. Trying to remember the old recipe, you know?"

[...Anyway, don't fuck this up. You've done a decent job this far. Don't make me take over. I don't know how I will, but I'll fucking find a way.]

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled under my breath and went back to cooking.

First, opening the ramen pack. Measuring out the exact amount of water...

It was a weird sensation. Was it because I was making it specifically for Seonhwa?

Faint memories were coming back to me. Muscle memory I didn't know I had.

But it was just that. Faint memories.

I didn't know how to cook like Seol did in the past. And enough time had passed that what little I remembered from both his life and mine were pretty much washed away.

But it wasn't good to be a half-baked copy of him anyway. I had enough of that... and I was pretty sure Seonhwa would see through it too.

I also didn't have his god-tier cooking skills. But I did have something he didn't have.

I focused on each step, carefully analyzing the interplay between each.

The water boiling was used to increase the speed that the water soaked the dehydrated noodles. Heat in general was meant to increase the chemical reactions of the powder dissolving as well as that rehydration process.

The flavor in the noodles came from both the noodle texture and the absorption rate of the broth into the noodles. A good enough broth could compensate for lacklustre noodles, but the best of both worlds were perfectly spongy noodles with bites of flavor paired with a sauce that complemented the noodles and didn't overpower them...

It was simple. But that didn't mean it was easy. Every act had to be carefully measured. Precise.

Well, if you were cooking it with just pure skill.

But for me...

The water boiled and removed any impurities. After that, I dumped in the powder for the broth and stirred it before putting in the ramen and placed the lid on the pot.

Capturing the vapors, infusing that back into the noodles while they were reinvigorated by the boiling water.

That was the concept I was going for. The interconnected steps.

...I was cheating on that part with <Conceptual Manipulation>, but the result should come out similar to if Seol had actually cooked it.

Time ticked past as the noodles simmered, slowly infusing all the proper flavors and textures together along with a tiny wish from me to be perfect.

During that time, the place was silent. Seonhwa didn't say a word and just waited.

It was nerve-wracking. I also felt really guilty, but I knew that was coming from the beginning, so I just accepted that emotion. Something I honestly should have done much earlier, but it wasn't like I could turn back time.

...Maybe?

...No. That was a bad idea. Even if I could... and I probably could, it wouldn't change the fact that I had already done it. And I was already keeping a few big secrets. Adding more wasn't a good idea.

Not to mention that it would be betraying everyone who relied on me up to this point.

I sighed and then glanced back at the noodles.

They were finished.

I turned off the heat and grabbed a pair of bowls from the cabinets before pouring one out for Seonhwa. Setting that to the side, I poured one out for myself. After that, I conjured a pair of silver forks and walked back to Seonhwa with everything. "Here you go."

The atmosphere was awkward. Seonhwa took the bowl with a nod but didn't say anything else.

I sat across from her with my own bowl and then waited, wondering how to start.

I had to explain a lot of stuff. And apologize.

I didn't like to think I was the same as Seol, but it turned out that I ended up breaking her heart pretty much the same as he did, huh?

That made me wonder a bit too about who exactly 'I' was again. And that was another thing I had to explain to Seonhwa.

She deserved to know, after all. She had been waiting for the person she loved to return, but that wouldn't ever be the case. I wasn't the Pipster she remembered. We were similar, but different at our cores.

A somber silence filled the air.

Seonhwa quietly twirled some noodles around her fork.

I did the same and watched her.

It really was like Blackie said. This Seonhwa was different from the one that Seol should know.

Was it because of me showing up at an earlier point in time? Before the relationship degraded so much? Or was I mistaken about how and where I arrived? Was this really the same world that 'Seol' experienced, or did it change because of my presence?

I frowned and took a bite from my ramen.

It was good. It didn't have that super salty or greasy texture and taste that should be there from instant ramen. And the noodles were a light and chewy texture with a slight beefy taste from the broth. Almost a packet of taste breaking apart completely in my mouth with just a small chew.

Better than anything I could make in the past, at least.

But even so, Seonhwa looked like she didn't really like it.

"Is something wrong with it, Seonhwa?"

She shook her head and twirled some more noodles. After taking another bite, she said, "Nothing's wrong. It's good. Just as good as how you used to make it. But..."

"It's different, right?"

Seonhwa looked up at me and then slowly nodded. "That's right. It's different." She laughed and said, "But then again, you're also different now. So... I should've expected this." She muttered and twirled around the ramen.

I stared at her, hesitating.

It was easy to tell Flone, but Seonhwa...

No. Out of everyone, she was the person who should know the most. So-

"Jihu."

Before I could speak, Seonhwa called out to me.

I blinked and looked at her. "Yes, Seonhwa?"

"What made you change?"

Gah.

Seonhwa stared at me and then quietly said, "I thought I knew you. And you're still similar. But... you're different. The Jihu I knew... my Pipster. He was never so confident or arrogant. Not only that, but he was a perfectionist. Especially when it came to cooking ramen." She looked down at her bowl and quietly stirred her noodles. "This is good. But this is different. Everything works together... but this isn't really ramen. Not your ramen. It looks the same, but it's completely different on the inside."

Guh. W-Was this what they called woman's intuition? No, Seonhwa had good instincts from her time as Baek Haeju, so this should be expected. Even so...

Seonhwa let out a pained face and said, "Was it me? Did you change because I went overseas? Because I-"

"No." I cut her off.

Seonhwa was already blaming herself a lot. I couldn't let her keep doing that, especially since she was completely off base. "It's not you."

"Then... Why?" Seonhwa looked at me, tears glittering in her eyes. "Just... why?"

She didn't say it, but I could tell what she was asking.

Why didn't I choose her? No, why did I throw her away?

I sighed and then nodded. "Well. This is something I really should have mentioned a long time ago... But better late than never, right?"

"Jihu?" Seonhwa looked confused.

I stared at her and then put on a serious expression. Pushing my ramen off to the side, I laced my hands together and placed them on the table. "Seonhwa. I am not Seol Jihu."

"H-Huh?" She blinked and looked even more confused. "What do you mean? Jihu, you're-"

"I'm someone else. I'm not the Jihu you knew." I sighed and leaned back, scratching my head. "That guy... I have his memories. And it looks like I picked up a lot of his mannerisms and a bit of his personality because we were similar... but I'm not him."

Seonhwa stared at me and then said, "...Did you hit your head or something, Jihu? You're not making any sense."

I laughed. "Yeah. It doesn't make much sense, but... Well, to start off with. ...Where do I start off?" I let out a wry smile and placed my hand on my chin, thinking. And then...

xxx

Seonhwa walked back into her apartment, lost in thought. She hugged a giant teddy bear in one arm and a bouquet of flowers in the other. The gifts Jihu gave her.

"Hm?" A female voice echoed. Seonhwa's younger sister, Seunghae. She looked up and said, "You're back, Unni? ...Wait, what are those?"

"Yeah." Seonhwa gave an absent-minded response and shut the door behind her, locking it. After that, she walked to her room.

"Unni?" Seunghae sounded concerned. "...Are you alright? Did Oppa give those to you? Did he do something?"

Seonhwa shook her head. "I'm fine. I just... need some time to think."

Seunghae frowned.

Seonhwa ignored her and then went into her room. She set the bouquet of flowers on her desk. After that, she sat down on her bed and hugged the teddy bear, staring at the wall while going over what Jihu said.

"...So it is my fault."

Jihu wasn't Jihu. The person he was right now...

Seonhwa didn't completely believe it.

A different world? A place where this entire world was nothing more than a story?

It didn't make sense. She could believe if Jihu went back in time from the future. That would explain everything better. It was more plausible too, considering the miracles that could be obtained in Paradise.

But to have a different soul entirely take over Jihu's body...

No. Seonhwa was sure of it.

Jihu thought that he was someone else, but he was still the same person, deep down. At least, the core of his being was the same.

But he was still different.

Even if he was just delusional, the truth was that Jihu *had* become someone else. Someone so different that he didn't feel right simply continuing the relationship they had before.

Whether this was an elaborate setup to get Seonhwa to believe he had changed or some other reason, she still wasn't sure. But Jihu seemed to be sincere in his emotions at least.

"A fresh start..." Seonhwa muttered and hugged the teddy bear.

She didn't know what to think. She didn't know anything except for what Jihu said back then. When she first noticed that he started to change again. "It looks like you really are going to hurt me, aren't you, Jihu?"

A bit of hope. A bit of pain. Bitterness, but also sweet expectations...

Seonhwa sighed and leaned back on her bed.

xxx

[You fucked it up. How the hell did you fuck it up?!]

I glanced around at my surroundings and muttered, "It was complicated, alright?"

[Complicated my ass! What was with that half-hearted explanation? Gah. Fuck it. I'm going to come over there. Just you fucking wait. When I rack up enough achievements, we're going to have a nice long chat.]

I stopped and then said, "Oi. You're kidding, right?"

[Of course not! Someone needs to set your head on straight and help you out. You're a crazy bastard who completely lacks commonsense.]

"I do not-" I paused to think about that. "...Okay, maybe I do."

I blamed that on the fact that I was technically a mishmash of different people though. I mean, considering Seol didn't really have common sense and that I didn't have any memories of my previous life other than bits about this world and random knowledge...

...Nah. That really wasn't a good excuse.

[About time you're being self-aware.]

I shrugged and then took a better look around.

I left Seonhwa's cafe a few minutes ago after telling her everything. She... was taking it okay? I had a feeling she didn't quite believe me, but she also didn't really have any way to refute it. Then there were her emotions and everything...

It was a mess.

Also made me feel like a jerk since I was basically saying that I wasn't her boyfriend but I was still interested if she was interested but that it'd be kind of like starting from scratch.

Wow that doesn't sound good when I thought about it like that.

[Again. I told you that you should have sorted it all out-]

Beforehand, yeah, yeah.

Anyway. I was in downtown again. Lots of stuff to do. Women to talk to. I pulled out my phone and sighed. "Well. Guess I'll go make the rounds."

xxx

Time passed. To sum things up... it was a mess.

Turns out juggling relationships is hard. Especially if you want to treat each person with a proper level of respect. It ended up involving a lot of time management and careful wording and speaking.

Seriously. It felt like I was the main character from like Persona and having to juggle all of my social links between training, business, and other things.

But things went well. Maybe since everyone was being considerate of me for just recovering from that stunt in Paradise as well as the situation with Sinyoung... well, the people who knew about the latter anyway.

Which was mostly just Seora and Seohui right now. I mean, Hao knew, and Claire did as well, along with Hannah and Flone... Huh. Actually, that was a lot of people.

But anyway, most of Carpe Diem was still out of the loop. And most of them were also still doing their own things and just checking up on me occassionally. Things like how I was feeling and that we should get together to meet soon... things like that.

But overall, it was just a relaxing time. A breather from the hectic and violent world of Paradise. And also a break from the stress of everything else. Just spending happy days with Flone, Hannah, Claire, and then getting dragged out on double dates with Teresa and Yuhui. Jinhee grabbing me now and then to complain about how I was being a total ladykiller and messing around too much. Me showing up at Sora's restaurant to complain while eating some good food.

It was nice.

For about two days.

And then I got kidnapped.

xxx

"...Tell me again why this is necessary?"

I let out a deep sigh and looked around, ignoring the blindfold over my eyes.

Flone giggled and said, "Well. Since Jihu's been such a bad boy, you need a bit of punishment."

Hannah's voice echoed from beside me and she said, "That's right. And besides, if we don't keep you occupied, God knows how many other girls are going to fall for your wily charms."

Claire's voice echoed as well and she said, "Indeed. I fear that the time will soon come when we may have to establish the hierarchy if Jihu's harem expands more."

"I do not have a harem."

I denied it. But the moment I said those words, I could already tell that they weren't sincere. Not to mention the sudden three sharp glares I had on me.

I cleared my throat and said, "Anyway... Anyone want to tell me what's going on? Or am I just going to have to assume that you girls decided to be extra kinky today and take me out for a wild ride with all this bondage."

"W-W-What the hell are you even thinking!?" Hannah screamed and then swatted my shoulder. "Pervert! Dick! Tits for brains!"

"That's Ian, Hannah. I'm just well-aware of the fact that I'm apparently a very desirable individual."

Claire sighed and said, "God help us all. It was better when you were still playing dense, but now..."

Flone laughed and said, "Careful now. We don't want to tempt fate too much, do we?"

Hannah clicked her tongue and said, "Right. With Jihu's luck, both Fate and Karma might actually be girls and fall in love with him or something."

I felt a shiver run down my back and said, "Please stop."

"Sure, sure... Anyway, don't stress about things too much, *Dear.* We're just going to go on a little family trip to meet some friends."

"...And this trip requires you guys blindfolding me and dragging me into a car taking me to an undisclosed location?"

"Yes."

"...Alright. I'm game. I might as well just go with the flow for now."

Or so I said. But even though I was blindfolded, I could still 'see' where we were going.

xxx

[Undisclosed location?]

Due to your recent actions, people you care about have decided to take you out to have some fun overseas.

Current destination: Airport

xxx

It was a bit much for them to just literally up and kidnap me... But then again, this seemed more like a big surprise party instead of anything drastic like an intervention.

I was also curious about how this was going to end up so I did like they said and relaxed.

...Now how exactly were they going to explain me being blindfolded on the plane?

xxx

"I still can't believe someone as stingy as you went out of her way to arrange all of this." Chohong took a look around and said, "Not only first class, but a private jet..." She looked at Maria and grinned. "Don't tell me that you're trying to impress your Oppa Jihu."

Maria crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. "I don't want to hear that from the tomboy who showed up in Korea with nothing but dresses instead of her usual clothes."

Chohong blushed and said, "T-That's different! I j-just thought I'd like to try something different for once..."

"Uh-huh." Maria swept her gaze up and down Chohong's outfit.

It was a pretty blue dress. A light fabric that hugged her body and emphasized her assets while softening her toned body and hiding the sharp muscles. Also one that seemed a lot like the sort of dress that a certain Saintess liked to wear.

Chohong looked away.

The two were seated in the lounge on the private jet, waiting for the others to arrive.

Which meant that it was awkward. After all, neither Maria nor Chohong particularly liked each other in the past. Since they were both on the same team now, they could at least be cordial. But like this...

Maria cleared her throat and said, "I'm still surprised that a dimwit like you managed to pick up English."

Chohong scoffed. "I'm not an idiot. And in this world, if you don't know English, how are you supposed to get by?"

"You say that, but I'm pretty sure that the infamous Chohong was known to proudly speak only Cantonese." Maria smirked and said, "I guess you got some extra motivation recently, hm?"

Chohong's face turned red and she opened her mouth to say something. But before she could, a pair of people boarded the plane. The Yi siblings, Seol-Ah and Sungjin.

"Oh! Miss Chohong!" Seol-Ah waved and walked over, speaking in Korean. "I heard from Unni that you were coming, but I didn't think you were here already!"

Sungjin walked in after his sister and then did a double-take. "Miss Chohong? That Miss Chohong? From our team?"

Maria laughed and pointed at Chohong. "See! That dress doesn't suit you, birdbrain!"

Chohong glared at Maria and then pulled out her phone from her purse. "Whatever." She looked at Sungjin and Seol-Ah and then smiled. "Nice to meet you two in person finally- Ah." She paused and said, "Um... How did you say it in Korean again...? Dammit. I knew I should have studied that first."

Before anyone could respond, another person boarded the plane and called out. "The world really must be ending. To think I'd hear the day that Chohong spoke in English and tried to learn Korean too... Now I've seen it all." Maldong walked over, wearing his usual suit and fedora while lugging a suitcase.

Chohong huffed and said, "Why does everyone think I'm stupid? I didn't manage to get to where I was in that place by being an idiot, you know?"

Maria shrugged. "Could've fooled me."

Chohong glared at her.

"Ai." Maldong sent Chohong a sharp glare and spoke in Cantonese. "Don't make a fool of yourself."

Chohong flinched and pointed at Maldong, responding in kind. "You can speak Cantonese?"

"I used to work as an interpreter. This much is nothing." Maldong put his suitcase in the overhead storage and then sat down next to Maria. After that, he gestured towards the Yi siblings and said in Korean, "Sit down, kids. It might be a bit awkward not being able to communicate with this woman." He pointed at Chohong. "But we'll make it work. And I'm sure that crazy bastard will sort something out when he gets here."

Seol-Ah sat down and shook her head. "It's not that awkward. But..." She looked to Chohong and let out a wry smile. "I guess I really should have tried to learn English more in school..."

Sungjin stored his stuff away before sitting next to his sister. "I'm sure you'll pick it up soon, Noona. Just a bit of practice and people will think you're a natural."

Seol-Ah laughed. "Well, maybe..."

Maldong looked at Maria and said, "Did you manage to get that guy here?"

Maria frowned. "I wanted to go pick Oppa up in person, but... Well apparently things got complicated and he's coming here with some other people. At least, that's what Flone said."

Maldong rubbed his chin. "Things got complicated? Did that guy get involved in more women troubles?"

At that time, another person boarded the airplane. Phi Sora, wearing a casual white t-shirt and jeans with a backpack slung over her shoulder. She took a look around and then paused on Chohong.

Chohong crossed her arms and glared back.

Sora shrugged and looked over to Maldong. "Is our fearless leader not here yet?"

Maldong scoffed and said, "Fearless leader... That crazy guy should learn some fear. If he did, he wouldn't wrap himself up in so many ridiculous situations."

Sora stowed her bags away and then took a seat down next to the Yi siblings.

Seol-Ah flinched.

Sungjin narrowed his eyes.

Sora noticed and then scoffed. She waved her hands and said, "Relax. I won't bite. Although..." She pointed at them and said, "I told you so. If you put in a bit more effort you'd be successful."

Sungjin nodded. "And if you learned a bit of humility, you wouldn't be half bad. Looks like Hyung changed all of us then, huh?"

Sora's eye twitched.

Maria sighed and said, "Kid, could you not bother the hothead? We've already got one here."

Sora scoffed and said, "One? More like two."

Maria took a deep breath and then pulled out her phone to check the time. "...It's almost time to leave. Only a few more people and we're good to go..."

As if waiting for that cue, three more people boarded the plane. Specifically, three women.

Maria blinked. And then she blinked again.

Yuhui waved at everyone, Teresa and Seonhwa standing behind her. "Hi~! Sorry we're late. Some idiot kept trying to flirt with us at the gate... Anyway, Jihu's not here yet, right?"

Silence.

And then Maldong burst out laughing. "Well now... This is going to be an exciting trip, isn't it?"

xxx

I felt a shiver run down my spine as I was led through the airport with the blindfold still over my eyes.

Not just from the fact that Hannah expertly made up an excuse about me recovering from an eye surgery to explain away the blindfold, but also because I had a feeling that things were going to get hectic again.

Just like when I had to make the rounds balancing all of those relationships earlier.

"What?" Hannah's voice called out. "Worried already, Hubby?"

I rubbed the back of my neck and didn't say anything.

...Was this how animals felt when they were brought out for slaughter? Because it sure felt like it...

I felt Flone grab my left arm. She giggled and then said, "Don't worry, Jihu! We're going on a vacation! You won't get beat up. Yet."

"...Yet?"

Flone whistled.

Claire chuckled from behind me and said, "Rest assured, Jihu. At most you will only suffer emotional damage."

"That's the part I'm worried about."

Getting stabbed? Fine. Having my body burn up from the inside? No problem.

But seeing beautiful women break down in tears or look disappointed at my actions... there really wasn't any getting used to that.

[Do you know how much you sound like an asshole who goes around playing with girls' hearts now?]

Seriously. Are you just my conscience now or something, Blackie?

[I might as well be, considering you don't have one. And that's saying something considering how much of a heartless bastard I was.]

Whatever. Did you have something to tell me, or did you just want to troll me again?

[Yes.]

...

[Gula says that you should be careful about sorting out your karma before coming back. Also, it's freaking hilarious how your life is a romcom right now while my younger self is in full edgelord.]

...Okay, goodbye.

I forcibly cut the connection off.

And at that time, I felt my blindfold get ripped off my face.

The interior of a luxurious private jet. One where it looked like a comfortable hotel lounge instead of a plane.

And seated all around were familiar faces.

Coach Maldong, Seol-Ah, Sungjin and Sora.

Maria, Chohong... who was wearing a dress and looking super embarrassed.

Yuhui. Teresa.

...And Seonhwa.

Hooboy. This was going to be a long plane ride, wasn't it?