บท 17: DOPPELGANGER-IN-DISTRESS

YUJIN was confused as to how Wook's wounds suddenly disappeared.

When the doppelganger replaced the real Sun Geun-wook, she thought he had already turned into a human.

[But humans don't heal this fast.]

"Wookie, you said that you've completed transitioning from being a doppelganger to being a full-fledged human, didn't you?"

Wook nodded his head. "That's right."

She wanted to say that 'normal' humans didn't heal that fast.

However, she remembered that her Aunt Hayi said Sun Geun-wook could still return to them as long as his body remained safe and healthy.

[Maybe the doppelganger doesn't know that Sun Geun-wook is still alive.]

Then she must never let Wook realize that the original owner of his body could still return at any time.

[If that happens, he might run away.]

Hence, she must keep the doppelganger by her side until Sun Geun-wook returned. She couldn't afford to get Wook out of her sight.

"Yujinie?" Wook asked curiously, tilting his head to one side. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Ah, the doppelganger was quick to catch on.

[Thank goodness I have a resting pitch face.]

"Nothing is wrong with you," Yujin lied with a straight face, then she turned her back on the doppelganger. After all, Wook had an innocent look. Her heart felt heavy while lying to him. However, she already sold her conscience somewhere. "Follow me, Wookie."

[Sun Geun-wook, I'll protect your body– so hurry up and return to us.]

***

YUJIN gulped after she saw a pile of corpses in front of her house.

Savages.

Several dead ghouls were piled like a mountain in front of the mansion.

And the culprit?

[It's Aunt Hayi, of course.]

To be honest, she was ashamed of herself.

She resented her Aunt Hayi for sending her alone to save Wook earlier.

But now she understood why her aunt asked her to follow the doppelganger instead of letting her stay at home.

[Our house was ambushed by Savages, huh?]

Was it because Wook's 'scent' lingered at their house?

"You kids are late," Aunt Hayi, who was wiping the blood off of her cheek with the back of her hand, said. Her gloved hand held the golf club, which meant she was done working. "Why did it take you this long to get rid of three low-level Savages?"

Yujin was about to respond when she realized that her aunt wasn't looking at her.

Her Aunt Hayi was actually talking to the doppelganger behind Yujin.

"Yujinie saved me," Wook said in an excited voice. It had nothing to do with Aunt Hayi's question, though. "She was cool."

Aunt Hayi tilted her head to one side, confused. "Are you saying you let those weaklings attack you to see Yujin save you?"

What?

The doppelganger acted like a ghost-in-distress on purpose?

[Nah, that can't be the case. Wookie isn't good at expressing himself yet. He probably doesn't know how to answer Aunt Hayi's question, so he just started to talk nonsense.]

"We had a fight earlier, Aunt Hayi," Yujin explained to her confused aunt. "I told him to get out of my life. For some reason, he lost the will to live. Hence, he thought he should just die so he let the Savages maul him to death."

She thought her aunt would be enlightened.

But Aunt Hayi looked confused even more.

[To be fair, even I don't really understand Wookie's logic.]

"Go inside first," Aunt Hayi, who probably gave up on understanding the doppelganger, said while waving her hand. "I need to create a stronger barrier that will repel Savages."

She already expected it, but she was still bummed to know that Wook had to stay with her.

However, she had to suck it up for Sun Geun-wook.

Yujin looked over her shoulder to see Wook looking at her as if she was the only person that he could see. "Again, follow me."

Wook's face beamed. "Okay, Yujinie."

[Aigoo, is he a duckling?]

***

"TAKE A bath for now," Yujin said, then she handed a paper bag to Wook. "Use these clothes. They're all brand new."

Her Aunt Hayi would sometimes let her "students" stay in their house.

Hence, they would often prepare new and brand-new clothes for their guests. Thankfully, she found a pair of pajamas that would fit the tall Wook. Moreover, she also found new underwear for him to use.

[I'm not just sure if it was his size.]

Well, whatever.

[That's not my problem anymore.]

"Okay, Yujinie," Wook said cheerfully, then he hugged the paper bag close to his chest as if he was really happy. "Thank you."

She didn't want to admit this, but her heart melted a bit with his sincere 'thank you.'

[He has the same face as Geun, but their vibes are really different from each other. Geun looks like your typical bad boy, while Wook has the so-called golden retriever energy.]

"Yujinie?"

She cleared her throat in hopes of clearing her mind, too. "You said you have Sun Geun-wook's memories. Does it mean you know how to do basic human stuff like taking a bath?"

The doppelganger nodded eagerly. "I also know how to use the shower."

"Very good," she said, then she waved her hand. "Then go and take a bath. Just leave your dirty clothes in the laundry basket. I'll wash them later."

Wook's face suddenly turned red. "I-I can do the laundry myself!"

After that, he turned his back on her to run to the bathroom she had shown him a few minutes ago.

Yujin blinked, confused by the doppelganger's behavior. "Did he get shy?"

[Interesting.]

***

"IT'S BEAUTIFUL," Yujin said while admiring the new barrier that Aunt Hayi made. "I feel like we're inside a giant soap bubble."

It was true.

The entire mansion was enclosed inside a bubble-like sphere. It was semi-transparent, and it looked like it would burst at any moment.

However, it didn't waver even after several winged ghouls crashed into it on purpose.

"Argh," she complained while rubbing her arms. "There are ghouls with wings, too?"

"They come in different forms," Aunt Hayi said. Instead of going inside the mansion, her aunt sat down on the wooden bench in the garden. "Come here. Let's talk, Yujin-ah."

She nodded, then she sat beside her aunt in silence.

To be honest, she was a little nervous because Aunt Hayi looked serious.

[I hope she doesn't scold me too much.]

"Where's the doppelganger?"

"He's taking a bath, Auntie."

Aunt Hayi let out a deep sigh, then she turned to her with a look of disappointment on her face. "You gave him a name, didn't you?"

She almost burst into tears.

But she wanted to explain herself well, so she held back.

"It was an accident, Auntie," she explained, a lump forming in her throat. "I didn't mean to give him a name. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, you don't have to explain to me."

"Auntie…"

"I'm not mad at you, Yujin-ah," her aunt said softly. "It already happened. So, instead of dwelling on it, let's just think about what we'll do from now on."

Her aunt had a point.

She didn't need to explain how she ended up giving the doppelganger a name because it wouldn't change their situation.

What they needed to talk about was their next course of action.

"Auntie, Wookie said that by giving him a name, he completed his transition to being a full-fledged human," she said carefully. "Is that true?"

"Normally, that would be the case," Aunt Hayi said while nodding. "However, as I said earlier, Sun Geun-wook is still alive. Hence, we can't say for certain that 'Wookie' has become a full-fledged human by now. He's still incomplete, so some of his powers as a doppelganger probably remained intact."

Oh.

That reminded her…

"Wookie has a supernatural strength, Auntie," she said. "Plus, he heals super fast."

Her aunt froze for a moment, then she let out another sigh. "That's a problem."

"What do you mean by that, Auntie?"

"If he had become a full-fledged human, then his scent as a doppelganger would have been erased by now," her aunt explained. "But since Sun Geun-wook is still alive, your Wookie is currently neither a doppelganger nor a human. And he's the type of food that Savages love the most."

She gulped hard. "Does it mean the Savages will continue attacking Wookie?"

That was indeed a problem.

She needed to protect Wook for Sun Geun-wook's sake. However, she wasn't that confident that she could do a good job.

[But he can fight, right?]

"Don't worry, I can make a talisman to temporarily erase his scent," her aunt assured her. "However, I can only protect him from the Savages. I can't protect him from humans."

"Why are you worried about that, Auntie?" she asked, confused. "Wookie and I can fight against humans."

"I'm talking about the Sweepers, Yujin-ah."

Yujin felt a shiver down her spine. "T-The Sweepers?"

"Yes, Yujin-ah," Aunt Hayi confirmed with a grim look on her face. "The Sweepers, aka the modern shamans, will come and exorcise Wook soon– and they'll probably offer you to the Grim Reaper that they serve, too."

***

Please add SPOOKY SOULMATE to your library~