How about Cosmic Horror?

“I’m worried about how much the hospital bill will be.”

“Why are you worrying about that?”

“Because I have to pay for it…”

Just as Irae was about to complain, a sudden possibility crossed her mind, and her eyes widened.

“Is the person who caused the accident paying for this?”

The doctor had said she fell from a height. Was the person who accidentally pushed her rich? Like, almost a chaebol level? And that’s why they put her in this VIP hospital room?

“You’re definitely not paying for it.”

He assured her as if telling her not to worry. She clenched her fists.

“Are you that happy?”

“I’m so happy I could breakdance.”

“I’d love to see that.”

Now? Wasn’t it a bit too much to show her breakdance after only seeing him twice?… She decided to save it for later to preserve her dignity.

“You’ll be seeing it plenty in the future anyway.”

Things were awkward now because she had lost her memories, but as time passed, she believed she’d become more comfortable with him, and then she could show him her heartfelt breakdancing.

“That’s right. We’re married.”

His voice of agreement was so warm and heartrending. For some reason, the planet, which had been covered in pitch black, now turned into a shimmering pink sphere.

On the way back home after being discharged, Irae was surprised several times.

First, her husband paid for the hospital bill. He took out a black card from his wallet and paid it all in one go.

Second, when they went to the parking lot, a man who introduced himself as her husband’s personal secretary appeared with an impressive-looking car and drove them home.

Third, their house was even more luxurious than the VIP hospital room, which would put most five-star hotel rooms to shame.

“This is really our house?”

“Yes. The house where you and I will live a lovey-dovey life from now on.”

He confirmed as he took off his wristwatch. Large hands with prominent veins, a suit, and a wristwatch – definitely a winning combination for a man. She couldn’t help but stare, even though it wasn’t anything special.

Perhaps it was because his face was missing that she was even more drawn to his perfect body. There wasn’t a single flaw from the neck down. Thick where it should be thick, lean, and toned where it should be lean and toned. Such an ideal physique.

“Don’t stare so intently, honey.”

“Y-Yes? Why?

Gulped, she protested. He was her husband, so he belonged to her, right? So that body was also hers to enjoy, wasn’t it?

“You don’t want to do it with a planet, do you?”

She quickly averted her gaze and didn’t ask what “it” was. Despite her head injury, she had enough common sense left.

No matter how much he was her husband, doing ‘it’ with a man she’d only met twice was beyond the realm of possibility, especially after growing up in a country steeped in Confucian values.

No, even if Confucianism allowed it, ‘it’ with a planet was just… out of the question. It was better than tentacles, though.

Suddenly, she felt embarrassed. Come to think of it, they must’ve done ‘it’ already since they were married. It was only natural, but the thought of it made her dizzy and nauseous.

She didn’t have any memories of that sort of thing. So although she had a husband, she was mentally pure.

She’d heard they hadn’t been married for long. Newlyweds usually did it three or four times a week, right? Five times? Judging by his physique, he must have a lot of stamina… Every day?

Glancing at his body, she shook her head. No, every day was impossible. It was basically hard labor. Maybe he could handle it, but she definitely couldn’t.

At that moment, a shadow fell over her, and a blue planet filled her vision.

“What kind of impure thoughts are you having?”

“W-What are you talking about? I was thinking nothing of the sort!”

Flustered and startled by his unexpected accusation and bizarre appearance, she denied it in one breath. 

The rings surrounding the planet transformed into a cluster of question marks.

“Are you planning to do a rap competition show? I’ll support you no matter what, honey, but I don’t think rapping is your thing. Especially with your poor lung capacity.”

His casual remark, as if he knew everything about her, annoyed her. Poor lung capacity? That was slander. She hadn’t gotten it checked or anything, but she didn’t smoke, so there was no reason for it to be bad.

“How do you know I have poor lung capacity?”

“I tried putting it in deep, but you couldn’t handle it for long, saying you were suffocating.”

Her eyes widened. What did he mean by ‘putting it in deep’, and where? Could it be… what she was thinking?

Her gaze fluttered downward, following his well-defined body line, all the way down to his belt.

“Where are you looking, honey? I’m talking about when we kissed.”

“You said you put it in deep, to the point where I was suffocating.”

“Yes. My tongue.”

The back of her head throbbed at his shameless response. He had to be setting her up on purpose, didn’t he? It was him who was the pervert, not her!

“You don’t even have a tongue right now, let alone eyes, a nose, or a mouth.”

At her annoyance mumble, he brushed his face with his hand. His long, bony fingers slowly grazed the lower part of the planet. She figured he was touching his lips.

“Want me to prove they’re all there?”

“How?”

“If you can’t see them, you have to feel them.”

He approached her. She instinctively backed away. As he closed the distance, she continued to retreat until she felt a cold wall against her back. Trapped with nowhere left to go, she pressed herself against the wall. 

As he leaned down, the planet’s rings drew closer, almost touching her face.

Her first kiss… with a planet. It was better than tentacles, but she still didn’t want it. She’d much rather do it with something that resembled a human.

“Wait. This doesn’t feel right.”

“What doesn’t?”

“I mean, we might be married, but I don’t have my memories, and I’m not ready for this kind of contact yet. Your appearance is also a bit… of a barrier, so to speak.”

He fell silent. The planet, too, stopped its rotation and stood motionless. 

Seeing that, she felt suffocated as if time and space itself had stopped. For some reason, it reminded her of the apocalypse.

“What if, honey.”

His finger slowly traced the line between her forehead and her hairline. Her nerves tingled in the direction he was tracing.

“What if, even after we’ve become close and I still don’t look human to you, what will you do?”

Honestly, it was a scenario she didn’t want to think about. To have her husband, the person she was supposed to spend her entire life with, be perceived as a creature straight out of cosmic horror… But it wasn’t entirely impossible, it was something she had to seriously consider at some point.

“I guess I’ll just… live with it…?”

“Avoiding me, like you are now?”

“Well… humans are adaptable creatures, so I’ll probably… figure something out.”

She mumbled, averting her eyes. It was hard to imagine now, but she figured she’d eventually get used to the planet. Though, physical intimacy with a tentacled monster, on the other hand… would require a lot of time.

“If nothing else works, maybe we could do it blindfolded. My sense of touch is working just fine.”

That was her last resort. She would only do that if there was no other choice. 

Suddenly, a red light flashed on the dimly lit planet. It was a color that seemed dangerous at a glance.

“That’s a very tempting idea.”

A wave of foreboding washed over her. Hesitantly, she spoke.

“Can I take back what I just said?”

“You know we don’t have a ‘take-backsies’ option in our dictionary, right? Don’t you remember?”

Since when did dictionaries lack such a crucial word? She couldn’t argue because she had no recollection of it.

He gently brushed his fingers across her eyelids and backed away. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, she took a step back from the wall and looked around. She was startled to see a pitch-black mass on the bookshelf. It definitely hadn’t been there before.

“That’s…”

“What does it look like to you?”

He asked curiously. Her gaze shot up to him. Did he really think her eyesight was messed up? Everything else looked normal except for him.

“Isn’t that a black cat?”

“Ah, a cat.”

He repeated her words in an ambiguous tone, neither confirming nor denying it.

Then, suddenly, he spoke to the cat.

“Did you hear that? She said you’re a black cat.”

To her surprise, the cat bobbed its head vigorously.

“It understands human language?”

“It’s pretty smart.”

“Are we raising it?”

“Well, it’s kind of like a pet.”

Why say “kind of like”? It was a pet, wasn’t it?

“What’s its name?”

“Shan.”

It was an unusual name. Not only was it just one syllable, but the pronunciation was also strange.

“Don’t be surprised if Shan suddenly disappears. He likes to hide in places where you can’t see him. He especially hates sunlight so you won’t see him during the day. He’ll probably be curled up somewhere, sleeping, so you don’t have to waste your time looking for him.”

He explained in a gentle tone. The longer he spoke, the more noticeable his pleasant voice became.

“You don’t have to worry about feeding him either. I’ll take care of it at night. You don’t have to do anything.”

His voice was as smooth as velvet and as sweet as chocolate, so captivating that it almost felt like she was being brainwashed. It took her a moment to process what he had just said.

She had a feeling that if the cat were determined to hide, she wouldn’t be able to find him in this big house. Her husband didn’t want her to worry about anything else either… It was nice not to have to do anything, but… wasn’t it a bit cold? Was it normal to have this kind of distance with a cat? She didn’t know because she wasn’t a cat owner. It seemed like her husband was Shan’s primary caregiver. He must have raised Shan since before they were married.

“Okay.”

When she looked away for a moment, the cat had disappeared.

“Ah, Shan’s gone somewhere. I wanted to take a closer look at him.”

“He’s always like that. You won’t see him much in the future either.”

At that rate, wasn’t it basically a stray cat?

She had questions but decided to put them aside for now. She had a mountain of other things she wanted to know.

“Um…”

She hesitated, about to address him again.

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

He replied kindly, hanging his jacket in the closet.

There happened to be a mirror nearby, and she was curious what it would reflect.

Would he be human, like in the photos? Or a creature with a planet for a head?

However, the answer was neither. The mirror reflected nothing as if it couldn’t even perceive his existence.

As she stood frozen in shock, the planet above his dress shirt collar tilted to the side.

“What’s wrong?”

Her instincts screamed at her.

“It’s nothing.”

She felt confused. Was this also an aftereffect of the accident? Or…

A shiver ran down her spine. She shook her head. 

It must be the aftereffects. It was her brain malfunctioning, acting up only with her husband. It had to be.

There was no way he wasn’t human…