“Zza!”
The hangar, now the new home of Lime and the Jellies.
The human-sized door opened, and beyond it, Yang Ha-na—her face radiating with satisfaction and pride—entered singing lightheartedly “Lululala.”
Approaching the spot where Lime’s group had gathered with light steps, Yang Ha-na lifted something dramatically as if to announce, “A new successor has arrived!”
Her shining, expectant eyes scanned the room, waiting for their reaction.
However, contrary to her bright eyes, the reaction she was hoping for never came. The group she was looking forward to—Lime’s entourage—simply glanced at her with, “Oh, you’re here?” before turning their attention back to the TV.
Faced with this dispiriting scene, Yang Ha-na unknowingly puffed her cheeks slightly before letting out a sigh.
“…I guess they don’t know why I brought this.”
Even I, as an adult(?), must be patient.
Grunting silently to herself, she shook ‘Something,’ that is, the new doll in her hand, and spoke toward Daesik.
“Take a look at this, Daesik! I’ve made a cute little doll! Don’t you think it would be perfect to transfer here?”
Although it felt like reading from a Korean textbook somewhere, the message at least was conveyed, wasn’t it?
At last, Daesik’s gaze, buried behind the bed while Lime lounged about, turned toward Yang Ha-na.
Daesik’s emotionless, pitch-black eyes sparkled faintly a moment. Then, with a sign of excitement, he rose from his hunched posture in front of the TV.
His curled-up figure before the TV was like a bear waking from hibernation.
With his overwhelming mass casting a shadow, Yang Ha-na’s beaming face, proud of Daesik’s reaction, grew flustered. Even if Alice, Daesik’s current form, was a doll, her massive body couldn’t be easily overlooked.
Yang Ha-na recalled the grumbling of Ki Hyang, buried under an avalanche of dolls, struggling to dig herself out. It was impossible to forget, even if she wanted to, having listened to her complaints enough to grow calluses in her ears.
“Eh, um… if Ki Hyang can survive that, then… am I really going to end up a pancake?”
Snapping out of her thoughts, Yang Ha-na waved her arms left and right, shouting hastily. She didn’t want to be crushed by the doll.
“Hey, calm down!”
The problem was now too much attention.
Though Yang Ha-na worried whether her voice would even reach the gigantic Daesik, something miraculous happened. Daesik froze the moment he heard her voice. As Yang Ha-na let out a sigh of relief, Daesik changed his posture, crouching down to look her in the eyes.
Yang Ha-na, giving an awkward smile, approached Daesik and shook the doll again. Around this time, perhaps intrigued, Lime also came over to look. The scattered Ki Hyang trailed behind.
“What exactly are you making, making this?”
“Mhm! How is it? Isn’t it cute? Isn’t it lovable?”
“I’m not sure—though I suppose it kind of is.”
“Pfft, it’ll take a while to get used to.”
While grinning at Ki Hyang, Yang Ha-na turned back to Daesik.
“Alright, does the thought of moving appeal to you? Here, I’ll put it down, so do whatever you want!”
Saying this, Yang Ha-na placed the doll she had made on the ground.
Actually, she hadn’t made the doll entirely on her own. She had borrowed it from Kim Cheon-soo and modified it.
It was the key doll, remodeled to resemble Alice in both scale and charm.
The reason she had it made was naturally because she found Daesik’s current state pitiable.
At first, the giant Daesik seemed very happy. It was like pressing a button on a toy dog that emitted sounds, but he could speak and enjoyed gently touching Lime too.
It had seemed that way, at least, until Lime grew irritated and swung her body against Daesik’s enormous form.
That aside (Yang Ha-na thought this factor also played a role), Daesik began lying down extended for long periods, more often than not.
From Yang Ha-na’s observations, it was clear: it was because of Daesik’s large body.
When the other Jellies gathered cozily together for meals, Daesik was forced to eat alone because of his size.
And the same went for sleeping.
While the other Jellies rested peacefully in their beds, Daesik didn’t have a bed. Searching for him early one morning revealed him curled up like a giant mass covering the bed.
Judging from the looks of it, he wanted to sleep not just in a bed, but with Lime and the other Jellies.
It seemed to cry out for compassion. As if someone was holding a knife to her throat, she felt it was her duty to help.
Could the wide-reaching Yang Ha-na stand idly by?
Of course not.
During the time when everyone else was busy with Yoo-jin’s affairs and she had nothing better to do, she started modifying the doll.
Thus was its result—what she now had before her eyes.
“Thank you!”
“Hehe… think nothing of it.”
When Daesik pressed his belly to speak, Yang Ha-na grinned like someone who’d already succeeded, twirling her hair.
As Daesik extended his doll’s enormous hand, the suddenly tense Yang Ha-na solemnly placed the doll into his hand.
Truthfully, she wasn’t sure if this would succeed or not. She had no real knowledge of these matters.
She had simply decorated it prettily, hoping it would work well.
And with that wish of hers, the doll soon approached Daesik’s face, who then brought it closer to his mouth.
To some, it looked like a kiss to the doll.
To others, it resembled a giant devouring a small human.
The former was naturally Yang Ha-na’s interpretation, and the latter… well… Lime’s.
The difference in appearances might seem flipped on the surface, but when considering the nature inside, it seemed appropriate enough.
Anyway.
Amidst these contrasting impressions,
The small doll, pressed against Daesik, showed no movement. Watching him remain still, as if time had stopped, the group felt an odd tension, sweat gathering in their hands.
Though of course, Yang Ha-na was the only one visibly sweating.
How much time had passed?
“Huh?”
The new doll, which had been touching the face of the large doll, began to plummet. Simultaneously, the giant Alice slowly started to topple forward.
“Hey, mama!”
“…Be careful.”
Startled that the scenario she had imagined was playing out, Yang Ha-na took a step back, falling onto her bottom. Fortunately, she didn’t get hurt thanks to Ki Hyang, who grabbed her in time.
As Ki Hyang pulled Yang Ha-na to safety, Lime observed the giant Alice falling and caught the plummeting new doll with her tentacles. The twitching movements suggested that the transfer had indeed worked.
Thus, as Lime and the new Daesik stepped out of the way,
Bang, bang!
“Eh?”
“Hmm?”
“Huh?”
The massive mass crushed Sosik, watching TV, along with the TV, the bed, and furniture. With Daesik losing control of the giant doll form, the colossal Alice collapsed, shattering the TV and splintering the furniture.
A vague, indescribable atmosphere filled the hangar.
Yang Ha-na’s intentions had been truly noble.
After all, she had created a small, cute body for Daesik, who had been isolated. There was no ulterior motive, just the beautiful desire to help Daesik.
If one were to ask if Daesik’s intentions were nefarious, the answer would still be no.
At first, he simply wished to grow large again. But when he became small, he felt dejected by not being able to join in with them.
Then whose fault was this?
The TV, colliding with the huge Alice, shattered with a crackling sound, and the bed fractured in half under the weight.
The mirror was hardly worth mentioning—it was sheer luck that it didn’t catch fire.
The awkward silence was broken by Sosik, who crawled out from under the fallen giant Alice. Emerging from what looked like ruins (?), Sosik glanced around with an empty face, then slumped to the floor.
It was all the more visible how great of a shock had shaken Sosik, given his usual lack of emotion and expression.
In Sosik’s bright blue eyes was reflected the broken TV, now smoking.
Witnessing this, Daesik seemed at a loss, slumping heavily with a blank expression. Whether he had fainted or was pretending to be a doll, as he used to in board games, was unclear.
Based on his usual behavior, it seemed closer to the former. With all his reasons for action shattered, this was understandable. It was almost as though the sky had fallen. And he felt apologetic.
As Lime shook the slumped Daesik and touched her cool forehead, her jelly rippled violently, showing her own agitation.
Startled by the rippling sound—“Hot!”—Yang Ha-na pulled herself together, grimacing as she spoke.
“I, I didn’t… mean for this to happen…”
“It doesn’t seem to be your fault.”
As Ki Hyang consoled Yang Ha-na, she lifted up one of the jelly warriors that had been squished by the massive Alice. Unlike Sosik, this one had been pancaked.
It still twitched faintly, still alive.
Ki Hyang sighed in relief, thankful her workforce hadn’t been entirely lost.
Workers are important, after all.
Finally,
“Hey, what on earth is going on here…?”
Han Seori entered the hangar, blinking at the scene before her.
Rubbing her eyes, she still saw the same scene—nothing had changed.
