Chapter 142.2

Chapter 142.2

He kept going, in and out, relentless, as her whole body shuddered under the force of it.

“Ahhh… ahhh…”

Her vision went white. A face appeared in the blur. Was it Lee Wooshin? Kim Hyun? The image dissolved, fading like a ripple in water.

Seoryeong sobbed, long and quiet. The pleasure had been cruel, like it wanted to shatter her from within. She felt torn open—unmoored. Was she still on the boat?

A wave of nausea swept over her, like motion sickness crashing through her again.

If only…

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

She wished she were still on that freighter.

She wished she could go back—before she ever met Kim Hyun.

“I’ll protect you from now on.”

Soft lips brushed the edge of her shoulder blade, just below the wingbone.

Lee Wooshin… no—

It was Kim Hyun.

*

She ran up and down the stairs and knocked on her neighbor’s door nonstop. It had been about a month since Kim Hyun had disappeared. She banged on the empty house, her hands shaking in disbelief.

It couldn’t be true.There was no response from inside, as if what the police said was true.

How could all those witnesses just disappear in one day? Have I really lost my mind? Seoryeong continued to wander through the darkness, climbing and climbing the stairs in a spiral that seemed to have no end in sight.

“Hyun! Hyun!”

She screamed her husband’s name without realizing it.

She didn’t know how to end this nightmare. Her legs ached like they were going to tear, and her breath filled her lungs to the brim.

‘If only someone would help me…’

“Instructor-!

She called out to him once more. He would surely catch me, and he would accompany me through any hardship or struggle.

At that moment, the stairs shook beneath her feet and collapsed. She flailed his arms as another doorway opened.

A hand yanked her from the endless descent into a black abyss. Warm arms wrapped around her—arms she recognized. It was Lee Wooshin.

But then he began tearing at his own face.

“Stop! Don’t!”

She screamed, but the dream wouldn’t end. His fingers dug deeper. With a sickening rip, he peeled away a chunk of his face—

“—!”

Seoryeong jolted awake, gasping. She scrambled to her feet, heart pounding.

“Heh, heh, heh…”

The nape of her neck, damp with cold sweat, prickled. She looked down at her hands, which were shaking as they heaved against her chest.

The feel of tearing into someone’s flesh was still fresh in her palms.

Half Lee Wooshin, half Kim Hyun. His face was tattered, as if he had torn half a sheet of paper.

Seoryeong silently watched Lee Wooshin as he slept, breathing softly. She gently touched the marks left on his neck. She felt sorry for him, but felt no urge to apply ointment herself.

She climbed down from the bed without a sound, borrowed Lee Wooshin’s patient gown and slippers, and quietly left the hospital room.

His private room was far from the nurses’ station, and the hallway was long and quiet. Like a sleepwalker, she stumbled but never stopped walking straight ahead. The hallway lights flickered faintly.

***

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang—!

Just like in her dream, Seoryeong went back to her apartment building, and pounded on the neighbor’s door. Every time she mechanically climbed and descended the hard cement stairs, the early dawn chill seeped through the thin hospital gown.

“I live upstairs… Is anyone here?”

But when no response came, it felt like she was still trapped in a dream, the déjà vu washing over her.

Bang bang bang—!

She pounded on the door so hard her fists swelled red, but no one came to the door. The hollow noise simply bounced off the walls and came back to her.

“…”

She stepped back outside and stared vacantly up at the ghostly house where no one lived.

Even when Lee Wooshin returned, he had said he hated how quiet it was here.

Aside from the newlywed apartment they lived in now, this place still felt completely empty.

Then, a crooked smile spread across her pale face. In that case, good. That’s just perfect… I didn’t want to see it ever again anyway….

Returning to the house, Seoryeong headed straight for the kitchen. Click—!

She turned on the gas and placed a large frying pan on the stove. Then, without hesitation, she grabbed two bottles of cooking oil, one in each hand, and poured them in, letting the oil gush out.

When she gave the bottles a final shake to get the last drops, the overflowing oil splattered down onto her slippers. But her face remained utterly blank.

The house she had lived in with Kim Hyun.

The house where she had waited without moving a single step.

The house where time had stood completely still….

It was the moment she dropped the burning tissue into the oil.

The flames surged up like an explosion and swallowed the upper cabinets whole.