An Accounting Error

Chapter 2

Not long after Ron left a floral smell began to waft in from the room Kim Rok Soo assumed was a bathroom. The perfumey scent, which in his opinion was slightly too strong, was somewhat refreshing especially compared to the strong scent of alcohol that emanates from Cale's room. Given a moment to himself, Kim Rok Soo tried to assess the current situation.

The first question was why when this room had so many plush and comfortable-looking furnishings, why was he lying on the cold stone floor? Was there a reason why they hadn't placed him in the seating area but instead on the floor by the foot of the bed? They hadn't seemed hostile towards him, Ron had been surprised but he hadn't felt anything negative in his reaction. As Kim Rok Soo ruefully pondered the reasons why such comfort had been so cruelly denied to him, the bathroom door had opened.

Cale walked out of the steamy bathroom in a bathrobe after taking a quick shower to clear his head. The headache was still there but it had subsided quite a bit. He walked over and sat on the bench that was at the foot of his bed, his gaze staying on Kim Rok Soo the entire time. They sat there in silence, neither of them breaking eye contact all the while. They finally stopped the impromptu staring contest and let out a synchronized sigh. What followed was a weird feeling running through their bodies.

'What the heck?' The two of them thought.

'Is this a side effect of our souls fusing?' Cale mused.

As quickly as the strange feeling came it left.

Ron finally arrived pushing a trolly in. Off the trolley, he took a large ceramic bowl that would usually be used for face washing, setting it in front of Kim Rok Soo.

Kim Rok Soo stared suspiciously at the water basin. "What's that for?" He croaked out.

"It's water for you to drink. I apologize for the presentation but it was the biggest vessel we had on hand." Ron said, unsure of where the misunderstanding was, how else was he supposed to give a satisfactory amount of water to such a large guest.

Kim Rok Soo decided to put the water issue aside and ask about what had been bothering him the most.

"Why am I lying on the floor? I would like to be moved to somewhere a bit more comfortable." He took a shaky breath. "Please."

"I'm sorry Guest-nim," Ron sounded regretful, "you're not able to be moved at the moment."

"Why?" Kim Rok Soo almost whined. " Wait, do I have some sort of head injury, is that why I can't move my body?"

Was all of this actually some sort of head trauma-induced hallucination, was that why characters from the book he was reading were appearing in front of him? What if it was actually his teammates that were talking to him? Perhaps it was a consequence of overusing Record. It may have been some type of overlapping of different records that caused a change in perception, similar to flashback episodes that occur when certain records are triggered?

"There doesn't seem to be any fresh external wounds," Ron said, eyeing Kim Rok Soo's body.

"Ah," Cale exclaimed, surprising the other two, " I get what the issue is."

Ron looked at his Young Master with a questioning gaze.

Cale continues "He is completely unaware of his current state. Ron," he commanded, pointing to the full-length mirror in his dressing area, " the mirror over there, move it so our precious guest can see his current appearance."

"Yes, Young Master," Ron says as he moves the mirror in front of Kim Rok Soo.

What Kim Rok Soo saw made him understand why it was that he was lying on the floor. He understood why his drinking water had been brought in such a way, why Ron had been so shocked by his presence, and why the room felt so drafty. The shock caused him to recoil back lifting his head off the ground for the first time, creature in the mirror copying his action. The altitude made him dizzy, his head falling back down. He took deep breaths to calm himself.