Chapter 147: 6.30: What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?

Junho's car stopped in front of Kibum's house. He told his chauffeur to wait outside because he sensed that something was not right. Junho pressed on the bell as always, and the automatic gate was opened. 

Kibum smiled gently at him. He still had the same shirt and jogger pants that Taewoo wore yesterday, meaning that he hadn't taken a bath at all.

"You haven't take a bath? This is summer," Junho commented. 

In a mere second, he realized that he fucked up. Kibum didn't know about Junho coming to his house yesterday because Taewoo controlled the body.

"A-Ah, I mean, you look a bit messy, so I assume that you haven't take a bath," Junho tried to clear up Kibum's suspicion. But to his surprise, Kibum didn't seem to react much. He just continued smiling and pulled Junho inside. 

"I have something very important to tell you," Kibum said as he guided Junho to the living room. He sat Junho on the same reclining chair that Junho sat on yesterday, then went to the kitchen. 

Junho was growing uneasy as time passed by. He felt that Kibum was not right in the head, but he couldn't wrap his head around it.

[System, Kibum feels… off…]

[Pupa: What do you mean?]

[He feels… I don't know, a bit creepy? He is like that psychopath who would lure his victim with his gentle smile and then killed them cold-bloodedly, sparing no mercy to them. The world background said that Kibum is the serial killer, right?]

[Pupa: Correct, but do not take this in the literal sense. It might be the real Kim Kibum or Kim Taewoo who used Kibum's body to kill people.]

Kibum returned to the living room with two glasses of wine. He slowly put one glass of wine on Junho's side and took the other to his side of the table, "Junho, let's toast."

Kibum excitedly held his glass, but Junho stayed silent and stared at Kibum, "What is happening here? Kibum, are you alright?" 

"I am perfectly alright," Kibum lowered his head, he stared at the wine that had been strangely diluted, "I was just missing you, maybe because I've been falling in love with you." 

"You see, I'm someone that is deprived of love. My father never cares for me. My mother abused me and didn't even want to feed me if Taewoo didn't take control over my body. I have been alone my whole life… well, Taewoo is always by my side, at least."

Kibum raised his head, his eyes were full of love, but Junho could also see the bitterness in Kibum's smile.

"Junho, do you really love me?" Kibum asked. 

"I do. I do love you, Kim Kibum," Junho replied firmly. True, maybe he only felt pity for Kibum right now, but he truly admired Kibum's perseverance and self-control to isolate himself rather than hurt people. 

Kibum was not perfect, but he was indeed a man worth loving. 

"If you truly love me, let's have a toast and drink the wine," Kibum said. 

Junho held the wine glass. He stared at the wine who also had been diluted strangely. He glanced at Kibum, who was ready for a toast.

[Pupa, has the wine been poisoned or something?]

[Pupa: I cannot determine.]

[… can you be a bit more useful? Really, other people have amazing systems with system shop that can turn their hosts into living god. And all I have here is a system that barely does anything except making my life harder.]

[Pupa: I am a top ranking system. I have a five-star rating, my host is very satisfied to be paired with me.]

[How many hosts you have before me?]

[Pupa: One.]

[…]

[Pupa:…]

[I rest my case.]

Although Yunyu was unsure, this might be the test given by Kibum about his loyalty. If he refused, that meant he didn't trust Kibum enough. Thus, he raised the glass and toasted it with Kibum's glass. 

Clink. 

Junho and Kibum drank the entire wine in one go. Junho put down the glass and waited until he might felt something in his stomach. He was convinced that Kibum had poisoned the wine, but he felt nothing at all. 

"I did not poison your wine, my love," Kibum said, "But I don't want you to run away, at least not before I close my eyes."

Junho's muscles suddenly contracted all over. His eyes widened as he slumped on the reclining chair. He couldn't move his finger, and he couldn't speak at all. The only thing he could move was his eyes. 

Junho stared at Kibum. His eyes told Kibum that he wanted an explanation. 

Kibum smiled, and he slowly sat on Junho's lap. He kissed Junho's lips and rested his head on Junho's shoulder. 

"Don't worry, my love. I just gave you a paralyzing drug I had in case if Taewoo hurt other people again. Truly, you are such a heartbreaker. You played with my fragile heart, even though you know well that I'm just a simple man."

Kibum stared at Junho with a bitter smile on his face, "I know that you lied when you said you love me. I also know that you are cheating with Taewoo because Regina showed me a video of you and him having fun in the cinema. Don't worry about her, though. I've slit her throat. She is just a corpse in the kitchen now." 

[Oh shit! System, if Kibum already found out about everything, how could his Fatemeter and Breakmeter stayed the same?]

[Pupa: Once a Fatemeter or Breakmeter reached 100%, it will stay 100% even after their deaths. But for Kibum/Taewoo's Breakmeter… don't you remember that the cause of the world being destroyed is when Kibum become a serial killer?]

[I know! But he has killed Regina! Doesn't that count as one!?]

[Pupa: He killed Regina, but Regina might be his first and last kill. So technically, he is not a serial killer.]

[What do you mean?]

[Pupa: Look at him.]

Yunyu gazed at Kibum who snuggled comfortably on his chest. Kibum's lips had turned blue, and he started sweating horribly. As if he was holding a tremendous pain inside. 

"Ki… bum?" Junho tried his best to open his mouth, and he could only mutter Kibum's name. 

"Ah? Do you notice it? I'm sorry, I don't want to look ugly in front of you, but I have no way to kill myself cleanly other than drinking pesticide," Kibum giggled.

"Junho, I am really angry at you. I really want to hurt you for breaking my heart. But at the same time, I don't want you to be in pain. I don't even want you to get a scratch."

"I am not wanted by anyone in this world. After I killed Regina, I know that I want to hurt more people to vent my frustration, anger, and heartbreak."

"Junho, Taewoo said that you don't want us to hurt someone else. So, to fulfill your wish, I will end my life. No one will get hurt if the danger has been erased from existence, right?" 

[… I can't do this… I'm sorry, Kibum. Once the world restart, I will try to redeem myself and chase both you and Taewoo properly. I've been evil for playing with your heart.]

[Pupa: Well, I will prepare for restart, it will take an hour to complete.]

[… I'm sorry, Kibum, Taewoo.]

Kibum's face started getting pale and bluish. He closed his eyes and rested on Junho's chest. Then, he coughed many times before his mouth started fuming. Kibum used up the last strength he had to confess his love:

"I… love… Jun…ho…"

[Pupa: Ding! Breakmeter increases to 100%!]

[Pupa: Error! Error! A glitch has occurred! Please select an option immediately,

A. Leave the world.

B. Enter the back-up world.]

[Eh? What?! What happened?!]

For the first time, pupa got nervous and reported to Yunyu:

[Pupa: This is a very rare, almost impossible situation. This can happen when master of the world died the moment he reached 100% Breakmeter and has 100% Fatemeter. This creates an error in the system, preventing us from restarting the world.]

[Then what would happen with Kibum and Taewoo?!]

[Pupa: A glitch like this is extremely rare, and our father system would just delete the world completely. So, Kibum and Taewoo would disappear from existence. But do not worry, it will count as a completed world for your record.]

[NO! I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY RECORD! I DON'T WANT THEM TO DISAPPEAR! THEY DESERVE A GOOD LIFE!]

Yunyu panicked as he remembered how hard Kibum and Taewoo's life was. 

[Do something! Pupa, I beg you to do something! I want to save them!]

[Pupa: There is an option to go to the back-up world and fix the glitch. But I don't know what precisely that world is. Because I've never been into one myself.]

[I don't care! I want to save them. Let's jump to the back-up world!]

[Pupa: Host's wish has been confirmed, we shall enter the back-up world in 3…2…1.]