Epilogue: An Afterimage
"...If things keep going like this, I'll end up becoming an old granny."
A few days before she called Kim Jae-heon.
After The Troupe Leader, who had been playing with The Observer, said that, The Observer looked at her as if she'd said something absurd.
"Don't we all become old grannies someday?"
"Not that kind of granny."
The Troupe Leader answered calmly and shook her head at The Observer's words.
"I thought he'd come looking for me soon."
"For what?"
"For an affair."
"...You were really waiting for that?"
The Observer asked as if it were ridiculous, and The Troupe Leader tilted her head, looking at her.
"Should I call him under false pretenses then?"
"No, it's not that."
"It's weird, don't you think? That he can go off and play with other women when he has a woman like me."
"...Hasn't it only been about a month since you got married?"
It didn't seem like enough time for the honeymoon phase to be over.
Besides, it wasn't time for the other women's honeymoon phases to be over either.
"...Don't tell me you seriously thought Jae-heon would come looking for you?"
Under Jang Chae-yeon's gaze, The Troupe Leader met her eyes as if to ask what kind of obvious question that was.
"Then why hasn't he come?"
"...Well, because he's married."
Wasn't the original plan to give up anyway?
The Observer thought that as she looked at The Troupe Leader.
"I think you're misunderstanding something."
The Troupe Leader spoke in a calm voice.
"People naturally obsess more over what they can't have."
"..."
"A prime example. If I had clung to Kim Jae-heon, whining in a coquettish voice that I liked him, he would have accepted me, of course."
"...I... guess so?"
"But that would be meaningless."
"Really?"
What is she talking about, A-rin?
Thinking that, The Observer looked at The Troupe Leader, but The Troupe Leader just looked back at her with a rather matter-of-fact expression.
"By not letting him have me, Jae-heon will come looking for me."
"Huh?"
"To him, the young and plain me is no different from a fish he's already caught."
The Troupe Leader lifted her chin.
"Then, being together would only be fun for a little while."
"..."
"Soon, he'd get tired of this body. Then he'd leave to find new stimulation."
"But you and A-rin have the same body."
"No. Mine is more... concentrated."
"You're still in your 20s..."
"A 200-year-old is not human."
"Right..."
Feeling no need to say more on that, The Observer closed her mouth.
"But it's strange."
"What is?"
"It should be about time for him to get tired, since it's been about a month."
The Troupe Leader said with a confident expression.
"According to my calculations, it's about time for him to contact me and shyly ask."
"Ask what?"
"'Are you doing well?' 'What have you been up to lately?' 'Aren't you bored?'... things like that."
"..."
"'Are you free tonight, by any chance?' sort of thing."
I wonder what happened to the A-rin from that world.
Thinking that, The Observer closed her eyes.
"Don't you think so too?"
"I don't really..."
"Aren't you a bit frustrated too, since I brought you out?"
That's right.
The Observer The Troupe Leader was talking to now wasn't the one inside Jang Chae-yeon's body, but the one The Troupe Leader had cleverly placed inside a doll.
Of course, its body and composition were strangely similar to Jang Chae-yeon's, and it was a doll made of flesh and blood, but still.
"How did you do that, by the way? This?"
"You get good at making props too."
Answering The Observer's question calmly, The Troupe Leader continued.
"Anyway. You're frustrated too, aren't you?"
"Me... not really?"
"..."
The Troupe Leader looked at The Observer quietly, then spoke.
"So you only go to him when you need something."
"It's not when I need something..."
"At night? Or, what, when you want to share love?"
"..."
One of the functions The Troupe Leader had given this Observer was to synchronize senses with Jang Chae-yeon.
"...I didn't go because I wanted to, I went at night..."
"What was the reason for going at night in the first place?"
"..."
The Observer said nothing in response to The Troupe Leader's words, and The Troupe Leader narrowed her eyes.
"Should I call it the feeling of betrayal after so long? It's kind of making my skin crawl."
"Is that something to get so angry about?"
"The fact that I'm the only one here who didn't get to have any fun is making my blood boil unbearably."
Muttering in a tone that suggested it was anything but unbearable, The Troupe Leader looked into the distance.
"This won't do."
"Huh?"
"I should call him."
"Who?"
"Who do you think? A man to have an affair with."
"...You're going to call Jae-heon?"
"You don't get a say. You just put a huge scratch on my heart."
The Observer silently watched The Troupe Leader, who spoke with a completely unscratched expression, but only for a moment.
"I'll call."
She didn't try to stop The Troupe Leader as she took out her smartphone and dialed the number.
And.
*
"And that's how the story led to this."
Clatter. With a sound, the wooden puppet with its string cut fell to the ground.
"I found it very interesting to watch, but that doesn't seem like a reason to call me here."
The Troupe Leader's play... I guess it's true that The Troupe Leader is The Troupe Leader; she even did the voice impersonations excellently.
The quality of the play went without saying.
When she directly imitated The Observer's voice, it was so detailed I thought she could be a voice actor.
"Why isn't it a reason?"
The Troupe Leader looked at me with a confident expression.
"Didn't you want to see me?"
"...Not particularly?"
"Aren't you tired of Song A-rin's body?"
"...Uh..."
What should I say to this?
It's not like I've done it enough to think I'm 'tired' of it... Wait, no.
"...Ah."
Then, seeing my expression, The Troupe Leader expressionlessly tapped her own forehead.
"I overlooked one thing."
"What?"
"You have a lot of wives, don't you?"
"...Well, yes."
I do have a few.
Then, hearing my words, The Troupe Leader again expressionlessly tapped her forehead.
"Since you have many wives, you don't get tired of the body of young, plain me."
"What nonsense."
"If you get tired of one, you can just move on to another."
"Come here. This won't do. You need to be punished."
"Today it's young me, tomorrow it's the annoying one, and the day after it's the old lady. So there's no day to get tired."
"Hey, someone shut her mouth."
"I don't have telekinesis anymore."
The Observer, who had a face and body terrifyingly identical to Jang Chae-yeon's, gave a bitter smile.
"It seems A-rin can recreate the body and face, but she can't recreate the telekinesis."
"If I could do even that, I would have created a human."
The Troupe Leader answered in a calm voice.
"Anyway. That's not it."
"Then why won't you have an affair with me?"
"Because it's not the right thing to do."
"..."
"See, I told you Jae-heon would say something like that."
At my answer, The Troupe Leader fell silent, and The Observer, still wearing a bitter smile, spoke.
"I told you he'd never fall for your temptations."
"..."
"Anyway. Is that the end?"
"You really won't have an affair?"
"I won't."
Why is she talking as if having an affair is a given?
Affairs are wrong.
"Not even if I ask you like this?"
"No, originally you told me to come find you when it was time to forget. Why are you clinging so desperately all of a sudden?"
"If this keeps up, I really think it'll be ten years before you visit."
"It won't be that long."
"So you'll come for an affair soon?"
"No. Maybe I'll visit during the holidays?"
"So it was about snatching New Year's money all along. How cold-hearted. You planned to laugh at me, the loser, and another Jang Chae-yeon, and reduce us to mere sources of pocket money for the kids."
"That's not it. I was thinking of sharing some of that with you before."
I thought I'd give those without families a taste of what it's like.
"..."
The Troupe Leader stared at me intently, then blinked.
"I see."
See what?
"You see it too?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you."
At The Troupe Leader's question, The Observer pointed at herself, then gave an awkward smile and looked at me.
"Sorry, Jae-heon. We made you uncomfortable for no reason, didn't we?"
"...It's not like that. I was actually thinking it was about time I came to see you guys anyway."
Those two keep popping into my mind.
It feels like watching a younger sister and an older sister, wondering what kind of trouble they'll get into.
"Do you two live here now?"
I look around.
Song A-rin's house.
I knew Song A-rin had handed over her house to The Troupe Leader when she moved out, but I didn't know The Observer was living here too.
"We can live elsewhere, but this place is nice."
"Yeah, I'm living here too, killing two birds with one stone."
The two nodded.
Seeing them like this, they look like close sisters.
Anyway.
"Then, I'll be going."
"Are you really leaving?"
"Yeah."
"..."
The Troupe Leader looked at me, then nodded.
"Go safely."
"Okay."
In the end, we didn't have an affair.
*
A few days later.
Song A-rin stretches languidly next to me.
"You went to see those guys, I heard."
"Yeah, well."
I look out the window.
The sun has already set, and it's night.
And today was...
"...What, something wrong?"
It was Song A-rin's day.
After the honeymoon, they somehow arranged dates among themselves and started visiting, and now they come on an allocated roster.
I was very flustered at first, but now I just accept it.
What can I do? I'll consider it a cross I have to bear.
Thinking that, I look at Song A-rin.
"I told you not to watch me undress."
"Then I told you, you can just go sleep in A-rin's room."
"Shut up and turn around."
"Yep."
I turn my head.
I hear the rustling sound of clothes being taken off.
"..."
Click. The light goes out, and Song A-rin was looking at me, naked.
"...Wh-what? You undress too."
"..."
A sigh escapes me.
"When did you switch?"
"What?"
"I said, when did you switch?"
"..."
At my words, Song A-rin made a flustered expression.
"What are you talking about?"
"No, I'm asking when you switched."
"What nonsense. Look with your own eyes."
I look above Song A-rin's head.
[Name: Song A-rin]
[Age: 21]
[Specialty: Hypnosis]
[Talent: Domination]
[Background: It's a thrilling night.]
[Weakness: The usual human weaknesses.]
Looking at that semi-transparent window, I opened my mouth.
"I don't know how you fooled my eyes, but you couldn't fool everything else."
"Wh-what?"
"A-rin's chest is smaller than that."
"..."
Hearing my words, Song A-rin let out a long sigh.
"I didn't think it would grow."
"Let me say it again, a 21-year-old can still grow."
"Is there a big difference?"
"No."
"Then how did you know?"
"I'll take the fifth."
"Pervert."
"You're the one who brought her here."
They both need a scolding.