[What a strange line of questioning! Was I happy, you ask? Of course! I am an entertainer who enjoys every role…]
“So, being a good friend wasn’t particularly more enjoyable than any other role? Not even a little?”
[……]
The body controlled by Lee Jaheon remained completely still.
Then, the giant TV screen lit up.
[Ah, I see what you’re trying to say.]
[Is it that you wish for me to become that warm-hearted stuffed toy and become your good friend once more? Hahaha!]
[To keep playing the happy little role of the good friend?!]
Inside the giant TV, a rabbit plushie appeared, waving its hand—just like a certain moment from a month ago.
“That would’ve been nice. I miss it.”
[Oh, Mr. Kim Soleum.]
The TV spoke in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone, almost mockingly.
On-screen, the rabbit plushie looked around nervously before curling up in a corner.
[Unfortunately, that good friend has already been torn apart and reduced to ashes! You’ll never see it again!]
“No, it’s you.”
[……!]
“The plush body was just an external appearance.”
That’s right.
In the end, the one who willingly accepted the constraints of being a good friend and moved within that plush body… was the host standing right in front of him right here and now. ɽÅŊÒ𝔟ËṨ
Even now, displaying that rabbit plushie on the screen—
‘That’s you.’
He was the one speaking about it himself.
“I’ve heard something like this before.”
Kim Soleum’s calm voice filled the space.
“When actors play deeply memorable roles, even after the performance ends, sometimes they struggle to fully leave the character behind.”
Because.
“If the role was fun or immersive enough, traces of it remain even after it’s over.”
[……]
He recalled what he had seen earlier.
The host, freezing when Kim Soleum’s plush body was torn apart.
‘Honestly, he should’ve known that I wouldn’t actually die just because the plushie was destroyed.’
After all, wasn’t he the one who put me inside it?
Going further, it was odd for a talk show host to allow silence to linger on his show just because a guest had died.
A being like him should’ve simply displayed a crying emoticon on the TV screen, pretended to mourn for a moment, then turned it into material for the next segment.
Yet, if he had been startled enough to try and hold the stuffing together—
That was definitely strange.
“I wondered if the same applied to you.”
[Oh. You mean to say that this great host who brought that role to life was affected by a mere mask he wore for a few months… You think my professionalism is that lacking?]
“I don’t see why doing such a thing would mean you were lacking in any way. Even great actors sometimes struggle to separate from their roles. That just means they were deeply immersed.”
[That is…]
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
Lee Jaheon continued to recite Kim Soleum’s words in a detached tone.
“And in a slightly different way… I also found a lot of comfort in you being my ‘good friend’.”
[……]
“I appreciate it. Really, thank you. In difficult times, having you as a friend really helped and reassured me. And… there were a lot of fun moments, too.”
Kim Soleum’s voice resonated.
“Didn’t you feel the same?”
[……]
[Goodness.]
The host’s voice dropped slightly.
[How embarrassing, but I suppose I must admit it. Yes. It was a truly fresh and enjoyable experience!]
[It’s rare to find someone with such natural talent as both a creator and a performer. Watching and meddling in your journey was an utterly unique delight…]
“I see.”
But.
“That’s exactly why I don’t want to work at this talk show anymore.”
A calm voice.
“For one, this talk show scares me. It’s not that I didn’t find it entertaining, but honestly, it’s difficult for me to work here. You know that—my personality.”
Just the thought of people dying sent chills down his spine. The idea of contributing to that in any way was horrifying.
And Kim Soleum understood something else.
‘Even if I try to convince him, would he—the host—suddenly start making ethical decisions?’
Absolutely not.
Just as Kim Soleum, being who he was, would always reject working as a crew member here, the host would never suddenly develop moral scruples.
And the more terrifying possibility, if he lost that sense of rejection entirely, if he no longer felt any aversion to this place, that would mean something far worse.
Whether it was brainwashing or contamination, it would mean the erasure of his own identity.
“To be honest, even if you called me a partner, this whole thing was one-sided. I was basically forced into your crew. The atmosphere even made me start calling you ‘Mr. Host’ out of habit.”
A joking remark with an undeniable edge of truth.
“In that state, we can’t stay friends. I’ll be your subordinate if things stay like that. I wouldn’t be acting of my own will anymore.”
Kim Soleum looked beyond his own vision.
“And when that happens, you’ll get bored of me pretty fast.”
[……]
“So, I have to go back. …It’ll be much more fun for you that way, too.”
A strange gleam passed over the surface of the TV.
Kim Soleum speculated that perhaps this was why the host had wanted to keep him working at the talk show—keeping him as intact as possible, without changing his way of thinking too drastically.
Like a steady drizzle slowly soaking someone through.
‘It almost worked to some extent… but not like this.’
He couldn’t stay in this creepy place forever.
But still.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
[…!]
“Do you remember what I said before?”
– Friends try to understand each other’s differences, and even when they can’t, they still care for one another.
– …By talking things through.
“We don’t have to work at the same place to share our lives and stay friends.”
Since the bridge had already been burned, it was time to rebuild it in a different way with this entity he had summoned.
If you can’t avoid it, just face it.
“You don’t have to be a good friend. Just a friend is fine.”
Inside the TV, the plush rabbit seemed to lean toward the screen as if listening intently.
Kim Soleum almost wanted to smile.
“If you’re okay with it, how about we try that?”