Chapter 31 Into The Predator's Lair Part 8

Hajime, using Chun's reanimated body, dove into the depths of the pitch-black pond. He couldn't see everything clearly, likely a limitation of possessing Chun's unfamiliar form. He peered around but saw no sign of Yul. He wondered what had happened to him; it was a small pond, not the ocean, so Yul had nowhere to go unless there was a hidden tunnel. That thought, the possibility of Yul being lost, scared Hajime suddenly.

Hajime hated dark places the most. In his previous life, he'd spent many nights alone in his room. When he awoke from a nightmare, he always hoped someone would assuage his fear with a hug, but when he opened his eyes, the dark room was always empty. As he peered into the oppressive blackness, the shadows of his clothes and toys would inexplicably transform into grotesque monsters, lurking on the walls and around him. Sometimes, he thought he even heard their voices and breathing behind his ears.

Just as Hajime was immersed in the memory of his past trauma, a soft, distinctly male groan suddenly came from beside his ear. "Ahh…"

Hajime's heart began beating wildly. He turned quickly, trying to feel who could make that sound underwater, but his hands met only empty water. He thought that the sudden groan might be his own mind playing tricks on him. Then, a chilling realization washed over him: he suddenly felt that many pairs of unseen eyes were watching his every move. He whirled quickly to the left when he felt a caressing sensation, like a cold, phantom touch, slide from his shoulder to his hand.

Hajime heard another soft moan, and he turned quickly to investigate further. A moment later, a pale, bloated corpse floated past him. He instinctively flicked Chun's powerful tail in fright, slamming it aggressively into the corpse. The cadaver was violently pushed away, falling into the seamount not far from him.

When the unknown corpse hit the seamount, it made the seamount sink even further into the thick mud. Hajime began to swim upward, away from the horrifying corpse. But then, he spotted what he thought was Yul. He had no choice but to swim back towards the seamount. In this pitch-black pond, the only thing he could see clearly was the shiny object Yul was holding in his left hand. The dim light from the object allowed him to make out Yul struggling desperately to free his feet from whatever held them in place. Hajime opened Chun's mouth, attempting to call Yul's name, but only hollow sounds and streams of bubbles escaped. Hajime swam quickly towards Yul.

Yul, trapped in the murky depths, knew that no one could hear or see him in this dark underground pond. If he wanted to escape, he had to save himself. Suddenly, the numerous hands that had been gripping him loosened their grasp around his feet. He watched as the pale, macerated corpses that had surrounded him snapped back, seemingly hiding themselves under the seamount. He seized the opportunity to break free from their restraints. When he shone the stone to his left, he saw Chun swimming quickly towards him. He finally understood why the corpses in this pond had released him. They weren't afraid of him, but of Chun. Frightened and exhausted, he swam desperately towards the surface, with Chun swimming rapidly behind him.

Hajime, still in Chun's body, grabbed one of Yul's feet, but Yul quickly kicked him away with his other foot. Pulling the knife from his waist, Yul began to stab Chun's body. Yul stabbed Chun in the abdomen several times, but the possessed form still refused to cease moving.

Yul must be crazy, Hajime thought to himself, bewildered. He didn't understand why Yul kept fighting with him when they were on the same team. Hajime was happy to see Yul alive and well, but Yul was acting so cold towards him. He then raced upward in pursuit of Yul, completely unaware that he was still possessing Chun's large, snakelike body.

Yul surfaced, gasping for breath. He looked around, only to see Hajime standing rigidly by the pond, with a wolf guarding him. Yul began to swim towards the edge, shouting, "Hajime!"

No matter how loudly and how hard Yul yelled at Hajime, Hajime didn't turn around to look at him, but stood motionless, guarded by his magical wolf.

"Hajime!" Yul yelled again and again, his voice strained.

Then the water behind him suddenly moved, and he knew that Chun's body would be the next to emerge from the pond. He hurriedly stuffed the glowing stone into his inner robe, put his knife in an attacking position, and made up his mind: he would attack Chun the moment her head came out of the water.

As expected, Chun's head slowly emerged from the water. Yul immediately rushed forward and plunged his knife into the middle of her head.

"Ah… what the hell are you doing?!" Hajime screamed, but the voice that came out was Chun's deep, guttural tone.

Yul quickly recoiled from Hajime.

"Do you want to dig out her brain too?" Hajime frowned, using Chun's left hand to pull the knife from her own head. "While it didn't cause me any physical pain, it still felt uncomfortable."

"How could you still be alive?" Yul demanded, utterly bewildered. "I killed you with my own hands."

"That's because I'm using her body to find you," Hajime explained, a touch of exasperation in his voice. "I can't hold my breath underwater, and you haven't come back, so this was the only way for me to make sure that you weren't in danger." He returned the bloodied knife to Yul.

Yul took the knife, his gaze suspicious. "Hajime?" he questioned.

"What?!" Chun's head jumped up abruptly in front of Yul. Yul quickly raised his right hand, ready to attack Chun's head again. "Hey… hey… don't stab me again! It's me!"

"How do I know this is the real you?" Yul asked, still wary.

Hajime, still in Chun's body, replied, "I married you into my family."

"No," Yul retorted immediately. "I married you into my family."

"What's the difference between you marrying me and me marrying you?!" Hajime asked angrily, frustrated by Yul's stubbornness.

"The difference is that I married you," Yul insisted, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"I see," Hajime said, shaking Chun's head slowly. "You want to save face. You want others to call you the husband and me the wife…" He stared at Yul, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. "Is that right?"

"You also want to save your own face," Yul countered, unflinching.

Hajime scoffed, shaking Chun's head. "No, I didn't."

"Well, if you don't, then why are you arguing?" Yul paused, then his eyes narrowed. "Chun could know all this from you." He began to back away slowly, approaching the middle of the pond again. He looked at Hajime, who hadn't moved since he came up to the surface, and then he looked at Chun, who was only a few feet away from him. "Hajime said there is a secret word in his clan between lovers. Since you don't know this secret word, then you are not the real Hajime." He gripped the knife tightly. "I'm not afraid to kill you again."

"She's dead. How can you kill her again?" Hajime said, looking at Yul, a puzzled expression on Chun's face. "About this secret word… if the mage had a secret word, I would have known it when I took over his body." Hajime looked at Yul, then muttered to himself. Yul's gloomy, suspicious expression told him that Yul was serious about the secret word. Hajime tried desperately to recall if there were any secret words the mage might have sealed from his memory, but he came up empty-handed. "What is the secret word?" he finally conceded, confused.

Hajime pondered deeply, the more he thought about this "secret word," the more confused he became. When he saw his own body standing by the pond, he sighed and turned around, only to realize that he was still possessing Chun's dead body. Suddenly, the thought of having a snake-like body was utterly nauseating.

Hajime finally opened his eyes, staring at Yul who was still in the middle of the pond. He stretched out his arms and walked towards the pond. "Yul," he called out, his real voice now. "Are you going to soak in that pond all day?"

Yul looked up at the edge of the pond. He saw Hajime standing there, and the gray wolf standing beside him. Yul immediately started swimming towards the edge of the pond. Hajime stretched out his hand and pulled Yul out of the water.

Yul looked at Hajime, his eyes still wide. "Chun…" He turned around and saw Chun's body already floating lifelessly in the pond. "Did you possess Chun's body just now?"

"Yeah," Hajime confirmed, nodding. "Because you'd been down there for too long, and I was worried about you, so I borrowed her vessel and dived into the pond." He looked at Yul, his mind still preoccupied with that so-called secret word. "Now, what about the secret word?"

"You forgot?" Yul asked, a hint of playful exasperation in his voice.

"No, I didn't forget…" Hajime insisted, refusing to admit he genuinely didn't know what the secret word was. "When you suspect that I'm not the real me, you may not be the real you. So, when did I tell you this secret word?"

"Back in Skeleton Desert," Yul supplied.

Hajime's eyes widened in sudden recognition. "That's right! You're the real Yul!" He smiled awkwardly, a blush creeping up his neck. "In our clan, when you love someone dearly and are too embarrassed to express your deepest affection to the person you love, you just say, 'Christmas.'" He gave Yul a sheepish grin. "Christmas…"