CBS Chapter 3

The snake had always granted her wishes. Da-mi felt relieved as she looked at the familiar morning scenery.

 

“Are you not fighting anymore…?”

 

“Hm? When did we fight?”

 

“Yeah. Did you have a dream, Da-mi?”

 

The change was eerily dramatic. It was as if the two of them had forgotten the fight altogether. The reason they had fought, and the emotions from that time, vanished like something thrown into the trash.

 

“You know tomorrow is Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary, right? We’re going to have dinner at a fancy restaurant.”

 

“Da-mi, I’ve lived with your mom for 15 years, but even now, my heart flutters just like when we first met.”

 

“Oh, stop. You say anything in front of the kid.”

 

Da-mi found the change bizarre. The laughing and chatting felt as chilling as the sound of a broken machine. Da-mi began to deeply question the snake’s identity.

 

– “Why are you suffering? I granted everything you wanted.”

 

The snake, who came to her dream, hissed in frustration.

 

– “What do you want? Do you want me to make you feel happy?”

 

“Make me feel…? That’s weird…”

 

– “What’s weird about that?”

 

“It’s fake, that’s why.”

 

Just like her parents’ laughter, she felt that everything the snake had given her was fake. The new house they moved into, the name Jeong Da-mi, even her parents’ love.

 

– “Fake…?”

 

The snake’s voice, mimicking the structure of a human mouth, trembled eerily. It sounded like a ghostly wail brushing past a dark, abandoned house.

 

A massive shadow fell over the top of her head. Da-mi’s heart pounded. She remembered the image of a snake that ate humans. She was confused about what to do.

 

“This kind of thing… it has to stop. You can’t just play with people’s feelings like that…”

 

– “……”

 

“It’s my fault. I made a bad wish. So, so…”

 

Da-mi, panicking, mumbled incoherently.

 

“Hmph. Do you want me to turn back time? To before you made the wish?”

 

Even for a snake, turning back time was not within its ability. Even if it were possible, it would be a desperate last resort.

 

Why go back to the orphanage by turning back time? Would that make Da-mi happy? Just by looking at her face, it was clear. Absolutely not.

 

“To before I was adopted by Mom and Dad…?”

 

Though she had just denied it as fake, Da-mi’s face turned pale. Seeing that face, the snake felt a foreboding sense that this wasn’t right. It was an instinctual, animalistic intuition.

 

The snake, not fundamentally human, found it hard to understand why Da-mi was having such useless thoughts. It had done its best, and now its pride was a bit wounded.

 

How much had it indulged that child’s circumstances all this time? Even after gaining something others desperately wanted, she still had that look on her face.

 

Was it because of her childlike innocence? Even the couple who had been virtuous enough to volunteer at an orphanage for years changed after experiencing the taste of money.

 

The snake, staring intently at young Da-mi while pondering, made a reluctant suggestion.

 

– “You should just forget.”

 

“Forget?”

 

– “You’re too young to handle it right now. Once you grow up, it’ll be fine.”

 

Da-mi’s eyes widened as she asked,

 

“Will you… come back then?”

 

Even after saying it wouldn’t abandon her. At her startled reaction, darkness surged in the snake’s glowing eyes. But what Da-mi was worried about was something else.

 

“When you come back… will you do that?”

 

– “That?”

 

“Your name… I mean.”

 

[T/N : “That” seems to refer to some terrible act or outcome that Da-mi is afraid the snake might carry out — possibly related to the power of its name or an ability tied to that name.]

 

***

 

When she entered elementary school, Da-mi came to understand the meaning of the word the snake had told her was its name.  

 

She didn’t fully understand in what sense the snake had mentioned the word, but she knew it was ominous.  

 

If it was a snake with such an extraordinary ability to grant anything, it seemed like it could even do that.

 

“Can’t you not do it?”

 

The mysterious golden glow in its eyes narrowed faintly. But the snake soon nodded casually as if it were no big deal.

 

“I won’t. As long as you’re alive.”

 

“You—you mean you’ll do it when I die?”

 

Da-mi was even more shocked. To think something like that depended on her life—it was too much for her to bear. It was a catastrophe incomparable to her mom and dad acting a little strange.

 

No. I have to stop it. But how…?

 

Da-mi tried to think of an adult who could help, but the phenomena the snake caused couldn’t be explained with words. No one would believe what Da-mi said. Not even her mom and dad.

 

Da-mi trembled violently and screamed.

 

“No! Don’t do it, even if I die!”

 

– “Is that your wish?”

 

“If I say it’s a wish, will you grant it?”

 

– “Does it matter? You said everything I do is fake anyway.”

 

The snake wiggled its snout indifferently but didn’t say no.

 

“I didn’t say everything was fake…. If that upset you, I’m sorry. It was my fault….”

 

All the innocent eight-year-old could do was cling to the snake’s body.

 

“Please don’t do that… I’m begging you—no, it’s my final wish.”

 

The snake looked down at Da-mi clinging to its body, then paused before hissing playfully—or perhaps threateningly.

 

– “…The price is immense. Even if you offer your flesh, your mind, and your soul, it’s not worth it.  

You’ll end up facing something even an adult couldn’t handle.”

 

Frightened by the terrifying words, Da-mi hesitated for a long while before asking:

 

“Why are you trying to do something like that? What is it you want?”

 

– “What I want?”

 

Da-mi’s question, unexpectedly, made the snake contemplate. That day, the snake and Da-mi talked for a long time.

 

The innocence of a child pierced the snake.

 

As a result, the snake promised to grant Da-mi’s final wish, and left her side—after having not parted from her for a single moment in the past two years.

 

Since then, Da-mi had forgotten everything about the snake. It wasn’t strange for childhood memories to be missing, so no one except the snake knew the truth.

 

—I Promise. When I become an adult, I’ll be your mate.

 

Time passed, and Da-mi became the adult the snake had long awaited.

 

—I’ll never… leave you lonely again.

 

While forgetting the vow she had dared to make again to the snake.