Han Seori, wearing an expression as if to say “you came just in time,” gave me a faint smile. She rose from her seat and began to approach me slowly.
Eventually, she placed her hands on either side of my face, her expression slightly weary.
It was similar to how some famous chef in an internet photo had wedged someone’s face between slices of bread and barked orders.
Why is she doing this?
Could it really be she plans to bark some order at me?
At my puzzled apprehension, Jelly started to quiver. Han Seori, however, asked me with an unexpectedly calm voice,
“By any chance, did you do something strange?”
…What?
Though her voice was kind, her question was nothing short of random.
It felt like she was asking, “How many times do you think you should be hit?”
As I stared blankly, pretending to be flustered, she let out a mild sigh and muttered,
“There’s no response… What’s going on?”
Could she be testing me?
Does she think if I’ve done something wrong, I would react?
Sigh.
What does she even think I am?
Feeling my mood drop in irritation as Jelly quivered, Han Seori removed her sticky hands and looked at me.
“Eh… Why are you like this?”
Since continuing this might make me appear petty, I dried my body, stood confidently, and shrugged.
As my gooey form dried, she seemed to think I’d acted capriciously and silently picked me up, cradling me.
She once patted my head softly, then sat in a chair while cradling me, poking my soft and squishy body.
Thinking there was something strange as her fingers poked into my body, each time her fingers withdrew slowly, her lips relaxed further.
She must be stressed out.
How could someone who usually seems intelligent and calm end up like this?
If people break, would they end up like this?
While leaving her to poke me aimlessly, I glanced at the screen she had raised.
All I had expected to see was the snow piled outside, so nothing should be out of the ordinary.
But something strange caught my eye.
[Individuals who consumed the retort dish exhibited impulsive purchasing behavior towards pudding.]
[Individuals, whether directly or indirectly, who had contact with 7496 – KR reported a desire to give pudding.]
[Due to this, there is a possibility of unidentified individuals visiting the hidden location.]
[Serious Threat. Please report findings after investigation.]
Here it was about pudding.
If my memory serves, that 7496 – KR refers to me.
Could it be that the head chef who brought pudding to me wasn’t a mere coincidence?
To be honest, it was odd from the moment someone came in with a spoon.
…What does this mean, exactly?
Since such incidents hadn’t occurred until now, I began to feel that it might be linked to the powers that came with eating the chunk of meat.
Is it real?
Feeling bewildered, I focused on the strange sensation of her repeatedly poking me and tried to concentrate.
And then…
While thinking about Kim Cheon-soo, I intensely imagined a desire to immediately eat pudding.
I felt the absurdity, but the sentences I had glimpsed from the screen intrigued me enough that I couldn’t help but try.
When my jelly body had grown slightly warm by the heat of Han Seori’s core temperature,
Something seems wrong?
At the moment that thought crossed my mind, the door opened, and Kim Cheon-soo carefully entered.
In his hands was a plate, presumably containing pudding.
The spoon he used for eating was still stuck in it.
“Hmm?”
Han Seori emitted a curious tone, and Kim Cheon-soo, looking somewhat embarrassed as he approached slowly, stated,
“Would Dr. Han like some as well?”
“Ah… Is it pudding?”
“Yes. Somehow, I felt like I should bring pudding here.”
“…”
At Kim Cheon-soo’s mumbling, Han Seori began to glance at me with an inquisitive gaze, as if interrogating whether I had truly done nothing. Jelly began to tremble.
No, I didn’t know this would happen…
“This time, there’s a reaction?”
Oh no…
Kim Cheon-soo alone seemed confused on the spot.
Han Seori accepted the bowl of pudding from him and placed it upside-down on my head.
Plunk, plunk.
Sweet and rich pudding poured inside my head as the stainless steel bowl fitted like a helmet on me.
“Ah… W-what are you doing?”
“Ah… I thought we could conduct an experiment.”
“Why suddenly?”
“Yep.”
Smirking like someone who had found a breakthrough, Han Seori slipped her hands under my armpits and lifted me up.
As if reflecting my wish to escape, the jelly around my waist stretched, but since my arms were trapped beneath hers, escaping looked difficult.
Even if I managed to escape, I’d only run around within the facility, so it wouldn’t delay the inevitable.
Thinking about it, it might be childish to run.
Upon further reflection, I realized there was no reason for me to avoid this.
It wasn’t like it was my intention, anyway.
Lifting the gelatinous mass to adjust the stainless steel helmet, I looked at Han Seori.
Whenever you’re ready.
I looked at her as if conveying that I was ready to do whatever.
Still, wearing this bowl like a helmet reminded me of military traumatic memories.
Anyway,
After observing my movements with apparent satisfaction, Han Seori briefly contemplated then whispered to me, softly enough that Kim Cheon-soo nearby wouldn’t clearly hear.
“Um… Would you try asking Chef Kim to bring the sandwich from the fridge?”
She, who had appeared exhausted moments ago, now seemed energized and wore a mischievous grin.
Why is she smiling?
Does she find joy in controlling Chef Kim?
Or in the act of the experiment?
Being unable to understand, I thought about Kim Cheon-soo in my mind and imagined him retrieving the sandwich from the fridge.
The man who had alternately stared at me and the bowl suddenly scratched his head as if responding to an unknown impulse and turned around.
Han Seori asked him with a hint of contained laughter,
“Chef Kim? Where are you going suddenly?”
“Uh? Oh… Um, it just crossed my mind that there’s a sandwich left in the fridge. Since… I thought he might want more to eat…”
“Ah, I see.”
Kim Cheon-soo produced an original excuse I hadn’t even inputted and left the management room.
After he exited, Han Seori chuckled and said to me,
“Are you that hungry?”
…No, you made me do it!
Out of absurdity, moving my consciousness made the stainless steel bowl perched loosely atop my head fall with a loud clatter.
“Are you upset?”
Han Seori chuckled sheepishly, then pulled a chocolate from her bosom, and pushed it into my body.
As the black, hard chocolate entered, sweetness spread throughout my jelly.
…That I would forgive you with something as trivial as this?
That’s correct.
There was nothing to be angry about anyway.
Since my protests were rewarded with chocolate, it might have been a profitable bargain.
While I was savoring the sweetness of the chocolate, Han Seori murmured while lifting the bowl.
“Hmm… Guess this isn’t enough to block anything. My headache is worsening.”
What’s she talking about?
Occasionally, she delved into her own world and muttered things only she understood, and this felt exactly like one of those moments.
Eventually, Kim Cheon-soo returned with a cold sandwich.
Upon seeing him, Han Seori smoothed her chin and asked,
“How are you feeling now?”
“Uh? Well… neither good nor bad, but…”
“Did you feel like you absolutely needed to get the sandwich when that thought came to you?”
A question that would seem bizarre if you lacked the knowledge, Kim Cheon-soo seemed momentarily flustered.
But he was a professional.
Quickly composing himself, he closed his eyes as if contemplating Han Seori’s words.
“Um… Not exactly a strict need, just a sense that I should do it.”
“What did you think would happen if you didn’t follow through?”
“I… Didn’t think much about it, but it might have been something unpleasant. Why are you asking this, though?”
And it was then that Han Seori showed Kim Cheon-soo the thoughts I’d had and the information displayed on the screen. Kim Cheon-soo alternated his gaze between me and the screen with a bewildered expression.
“Ah… So, this little guy… developed some kind of brainwashing power?”
“Not exactly brainwashing, but perhaps a way of transmitting personal desires as impulses? To ask for pudding. How cute a desire, right? Anyway, would your head really hurt or explode if you ignored the impulse?”
Hearing the murmured words from Han Seori, Kim Cheon-soo shivered slightly as if struck by a chill.
But Han Seori pressed on further.
“Shall we conduct an experiment?”
“Ah… An experiment about whether his head will explode?”
“Pfft. It won’t. According to the documents sent from the other side, there’s no such mention.”
Kim Cheon-soo let out a deep sigh but, possibly thinking that it wouldn’t happen to him, silently nodded his head.
…Is that really what he thought?
Or did he just agree because it was Han Seori, risking it even if it meant choking himself to death?
Still, at the slight upturn of his lips after she addressed him by name earlier,
…It’s likely the latter.
Anyway,
With the gazes of the two fixed on me becoming inevitable, and I too wanting to learn more about this power,
I was prepared to participate.
…Right? His head won’t explode for real?
