Chapter 51
“Do you think running here is going to make you get here faster?”
Wow. This jerk. I ran over because I thought he’d be waiting!
I felt a surge of irritation and tried to kick his shin, but Dan Seo‑hyuk stepped back lightly with a smirk.
“Come on. You think I’d fall for that again?”
“And you—why are you acting all pissy the moment you see the person who was worried about you?”
“Says the one who tries to kick the person who was worried!”
His long finger pushed my forehead back. I flailed, stretching out my arms to keep my balance, but that only made Seo‑hyuk laugh harder.
“Short like a peanut, yet so cocky.”
“Ugh—are you gonna keep bringing up my height?! This is basically average!”
“You seriously need to study again. Do you not know what average means?”
“Dan Seo‑hyuuuuuk!”
“At least you remember my name well.”
His finger lifted off my forehead for a brief moment, only to tap it lightly again.
I’m seriously going to explode.
“You walk in front.”
“What?”
“So you don’t suddenly vanish like before.”
He took a step back.
“Stay in my line of sight.”
“How am I supposed to lead when I don’t even know where we’re going?”
“I’ll tell you. First go straight toward Café Piorum.”
“Unbelievable.”
Grumbling, I strode ahead. The street wasn’t narrow, but walking in a single-file line felt weird.
It felt… a bit like being protected… and also like I had become a little dog being taken on a walk by Dan Seo‑hyuk?
‘Well… whatever it is, I don’t like it.’
Annoying as it was, part of me trusted that if I stayed in his line of sight—just as he said—he’d handle things well.
Even if he was probably only staring at the top of my head. Whatever.
“Not much time passed since I disappeared, right? But I’ve basically died dozens of times.”
“Yeah. It hasn’t even been an hour here.”
“Wow. That feels so unfair. It’s like only I lived through a long era! Like I traveled from the future back to the past!”
“That’s what bothers you?”
Seo‑hyuk let out a small laugh.
“There’s a lot that bothers me.”
“Well, it makes sense! No one here knows what I went through. People I met in that dream won’t remember me either.”
Just like when he returned to the past after regressing.
“No one remembered you, but you lived harder than anyone. If even one person acknowledged that, maybe you’d feel less wronged.”
Since I’d already confessed some of my feelings on the phone earlier, I could be honest now, even if it felt a little embarrassing.
Honestly, everything I said was based on the original novel.
I could never fully understand what he went through, but I felt like… maybe I could at least grasp a small piece of it.
I hoped it would comfort him, even just a little.
“I remember.”
“Hm?”
“You took on that dangerous dream because you were trying to help someone else. And even then, you did your best to save the kid you met inside it.”
I stopped walking and turned around. Seo‑hyuk looked down at me with the same expression as always.
Just stating a fact.
“I know.”
“……”
That’s what I wanted to say to you.
Something he had never told me—and never would. His regression was a secret he’d never reveal.
Even in the original, he never confided in his companions. I only read halfway, but… Seo‑hyuk would’ve endured alone to the end.
‘I guess he’d never tell me either.’
And because of that, I couldn’t offer him direct comfort or encouragement.
“…Thanks. I’ll also remember how you always give your best.”
I could only hope that these words would offer even a tiny bit of comfort to a boy who might one day regress again.
“What? Who’d think I’ve gone through something like you?”
“It doesn’t have to be the same. Maybe you overcame things I don’t know about. Maybe you’re still overcoming them.”
“……”
“Even while searching for your parents, you never ignored me when I was in danger. Maybe I picked that up from you.”
“…Unbelievable.”
Seo‑hyuk scoffed. Then he stepped up beside me.
Didn’t he tell me to go ahead earlier? I looked up at him, puzzled, and he said gruffly while staring straight ahead:
“It’s easier to react quickly from the side than from behind.”
I mean… I guess.
It didn’t really matter if he was behind or beside me.
I expected him to act all proud from my compliment so I could tell him not to get cocky, but surprisingly he didn’t react much.
It was a little awkward, but not an uncomfortable silence.
After walking for a while, Café Piorum came into view and Seo‑hyuk pointed me to a side street.
“Yoo Chae‑song figured out the house location from her dream.”
“Didn’t she only see the room?”
“She remembered the scenery outside the window. A red‑brick bathhouse sign.”
“Wow, I never even thought of that.”
My Chae‑song is so smart! Kids with good brains think differently!
I smiled proudly, and Seo‑hyuk shot me a bewildered look.
“That one.”
We turned a corner and saw the bathhouse he mentioned—and the house next to it.
At that moment, my phone rang. Chae‑song.
“Hey, Chae‑song!”
—Cheoyeon, look up! We figured you’d be arriving, so Yeon‑ho and I are waiting upstairs.
So they were waiting on the second floor!
I looked up happily—only for my heart to drop.
“Cheoyeon!”
“Cheoyeon, thank goodness you’re okay!”
Chae‑song and Tak Yeon‑ho waved cheerfully from the window.
And behind them—
“Chae‑song… you two need to get out of that room. Right now.”
—Huh?
“GET OUT OF THAT ROOM! NOW!”
A woman was glaring down at them.
The same woman who kidnapped me into that damned space.
Her face still covered in black writing, horrifying as ever.
Chae‑song turned around. Yeon‑ho instinctively wrapped his arms around her the moment he heard my voice through the phone.
No. It’s too late.
The woman grinned widely, then lunged at them with her mouth stretched open—
And all three vanished.
The second floor window was now empty.
“Chae‑song! Yeon‑ho! Dan Seo‑hyuk, hurry—!”
But when I turned to him, another shock froze my breath.
Standing where Seo‑hyuk had been—
was the woman.
She lifted her head from looking up at the house, and her wild eyes rolled down to meet mine.
“You slipped away nicely, didn’t you?”
My mouth wouldn’t open.
This was nothing like when she kidnapped me before—this pressure was overwhelming.
It felt like when I’d seen the key‑ring ghost directly.
“Remember.”
She grinned. Her red tongue was black too—covered in endless writing.
“Because you lived, other kids die.”
She whispered the curse and stared into me.
Ah.
Because I came back alive?
I blinked—and she was gone.
The woman, Dan Seo‑hyuk, Yoo Chae‑song, Tak Yeon‑ho—everyone vanished.
And I understood instantly.
They were trapped in the dream instead of me.
I dropped my head helplessly. The black writing was spreading across my wrists now, not just my legs.
I escaped the dream…
But I was more entangled than anyone.
[Calm down.]
Mili’s voice echoed as I stared blankly at the writing carved into my skin.
[Nothing has actually happened yet.]
“But the kids… they took my place…”
[You know this already. No one actually dies in there.]
[As long as you don’t drag it out too long, even a normal human can endure it.]
I tried to organize my thoughts, listening to Mili’s calm voice.
Right. Time flows fast in that place, so I need to stay calm… find a method…
But they won’t be able to ease the pain like I could.
Worry overwhelmed me again, jumbling my mind.
[Think calmly.]
I inhaled deeply and nodded.
I at least knew the solution. Even if deciding who to pass the dream to was a problem.
Wait. Pass it to someone?
“Mili.”
[…Yes.]
“Is it possible to pass that nightmare to a ghost instead of a human?”
If we could trap the ghost tormenting us inside that nightmare—
[It is possible.]
[But they wouldn’t try to save people, to begin with.]
“Mili, help me. I’ll figure out the method somehow!”
Even if there wasn’t one—I’d make one.
Using an innocent person to save my friends would only taint everything.
I felt Mili’s stare.
‘The key‑ring ghost won’t disappear unless I deal with it. The writing on my body won’t fade either. And that woman will keep following us—or find new victims.’
That woman wasn’t a human anymore.
Let’s trap her in the nightmare.
I bit my lip.
I refuse to only suffer anymore.
