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Chapter 05
“Yeah.”
“You know I don’t like you, right?”
“I didn’t know….”
“Ah, don’t lie. I’m not joking right now.”
Even though I was speaking seriously, Seo Jinhyung opened his eyes wide in a fake, innocent way, pretending he really didn’t know. I ignored him and continued.
“Do you know why I don’t like you?”
“Not sure.”
All treatment starts with awareness.
It was scary to say it out loud, but if he didn’t recognize the cause, treatment couldn’t even begin.
I let out a shallow sigh and carefully opened my mouth.
“It’s because you’re a crazy psychopath. No… you’re closer to a sociopath.”
“……”
Seo Jinhyung just looked at me and smiled. He didn’t say a word.
That made it even scarier.
‘Damn it, at least react.’
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Ignoring the loud pounding of my heart in my ears, I hurriedly added,
“I-I’m not criticizing you. I’m just interested in psychology… I’m not joking. You really show those symptoms.”
“Saeyeon.”
“At first I hated you because you seemed insane, but now I want us to get along for this year. So….”
“…?”
I suddenly stopped talking when I felt something unfamiliar wrap around my ankle. I looked down.
Seo Jinhyung’s large hand was gripping my ankle in one hand.
‘What is he—’
“I know.”
At the unfamiliar cold tone of his voice, I quickly looked up. His face was still smiling, just like always.
“You think I don’t know? I’m not an idiot.”
“Wait, ugh—”
Last time it was my shoulder. This time it was my ankle. And this felt even more dangerous. For a moment, I seriously thought my bones might actually crack.
“But you know… it doesn’t interfere with my life at all. So what’s the problem?”
“You…!”
Smack!
I quickly grabbed the pillow next to me and hit him in the face. It probably didn’t hurt much, but he loosened his grip on my ankle.
‘This freaking….’
My teeth trembled.
For the past few days, I had endured and endured again—to avoid another disaster like the first day when my shoulder almost got dislocated.
But if I was going to be treated like a punching bag just for saying one sentence, then I didn’t need to hold back anymore.
“Haah… Don’t do stuff like this. This is what makes you look like a damn psycho, you bastard!”
It had been a while since I cursed at Seo Jinhyung without filtering myself. Strangely, it felt refreshing.
I threw the pillow onto the floor.
“So what if you’re a sociopath?! That has nothing to do with me! We’re basically strangers—fix yourself or don’t, I don’t care. But if the guy I live with is a sociopath?”
“……”
“That has everything to do with me! Stuff like just now is going to keep happening. I might lose a few bones at this rate!”
Even I thought my logic was flawless.
“Get it together. This is domestic violence.”
“…Haha.”
His low laugh sounded ominous.
“You’re right. I didn’t think it through.”
“Damn right.”
He turned his head and looked at me.
“So, Saeyeon, you want me to get treatment?”
“Yeah. That’d be nice. And it’d be even better if you stop doing crazy stuff like just now.”
It was unexpected that he brought up treatment first.
I swallowed nervously and watched him closely.
But what came back was despair instead of hope.
“Hmm… I think both are difficult.”
“!”
“How about you just endure it and live with it, Saeyeon?”
This crazy bastard…
“Even if it sucks.”
With only that comment left behind, Seo Jinhyung stood up and left the room.
And just like that, my first attempt at treatment ended in complete failure.
* * *
Since I had already messed it up so thoroughly, I actually felt a bit relieved.
Sure, I was angry—but it also ignited my competitive spirit. One of my many strengths was resilience.
Waiting for another chance to treat him, I went downstairs to the first-floor study where Seo Jinhyung was one late weekday evening.
The workers had all gone home. The middle-aged couple was out. It was just the two of us—perfect timing.
“Hey. Let’s watch The Gift of Room 6 together.”
“Saeyeon wants to watch a movie?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t really want to. This was purely for Seo Jinhyung’s treatment.
Fortunately, unaware of my hidden motives, he agreed easily. I turned on the TV in the living room and started the movie.
For reference, I had already watched it in middle school at school—and cried enough tears for a lifetime.
‘I’ll revive your sense of guilt. A human life is precious!!’
The production logo ended and the movie began. But instead of focusing on the screen, I watched Seo Jinhyung carefully.
For the past few days, I had researched sociopathy through the internet and books for my unofficial therapy attempt.
Based on that, I had formed my own “professional” medical opinion.
‘Seo Jinhyung is definitely an acquired sociopath caused by childhood deprivation.’
According to what I found, sociopaths aren’t emotionless.
They’re just so good at controlling their emotions that they seem emotionless.
In that sense, Seo Jinhyung controlled his emotions well and understood right and wrong. He just lacked guilt and had his humanity completely shattered.
That was closer to sociopathy than psychopathy.
Whatever. It could be fixed.
Especially if it was caused by trauma from losing family.
‘He already refused treatment once. If he finds out I’m secretly trying again, he’ll resent it. So I’ll work naturally and carefully behind the scenes. Before you even realize it, I’ll turn you into a normal person.’
Even I thought I was pretty clever. Maybe it was the experience of living a second life—even if I didn’t clearly remember my past one.
I almost laughed at how proud I felt of myself.
* * *
The quietly starting movie had reached its climax.
The daughter was crying out as she saw her father, who had been falsely accused.
“Dad…? Why are you there? Dad!!!”
“Sniff….”
I quickly covered my mouth.
‘Even though I’ve already seen this, it’s still this sad…!’
Memories of my own dead father overlapped, and the tears wouldn’t stop.
As the protagonist was dragged away, his daughter wrote him a letter, remembering the promise they once made.
…I wrote a letter after my dad died too.
“Sniff… sob….”
At some point, I forgot to even hold back and burst into loud sobbing.
My vision blurred with tears—I could barely see the screen—but everything felt unbearably sad.
“…Huh?”
At the dry touch against my cheek, I turned my head.
Seo Jinhyung was wiping my tears with a tissue.
‘When did he get this close…?’
He had been sitting far away.
But before I could think about it more, I realized something important.
‘This bastard… isn’t crying?’
I snatched the tissue from his hand and cleared my throat. My breathing was a mess.
“Ahem… You… you’re not sad?”
“I already know what happens. I watched it at school before.”
‘Damn it, me too?’
A strange sense of defeat washed over me. I felt like some pathetic girl who cried twice over the same movie.
“R-Really? I’ve never seen it before. You cried the first time, right?”
“Yeah. Not as much as you, but I cried too.”
That expression, that tone, that atmosphere. It was obviously a lie. And though subtle, he was definitely mocking me.
My face burned.
“Damn psychopath….”
“Didn’t you call me a sociopath last time?”
“I was just swearing. Get lost.”
While we were having that pointless conversation, the movie ended.
As the ending credits rolled, I mentally drew a thick red line through my first treatment method: “Sad movie.”
It clearly had no effect.
‘Next method is…’
Tap.
“!”
My vision suddenly went dark. I felt a man’s firm arms and large hands around my back.
It didn’t take long to understand.
Seo Jinhyung had suddenly hugged me again.
Trapped in his wide embrace, I ground my teeth.
“Hey… let go.”
“Why? You kept crying. I’m comforting you.”
“I’m not crying anymore!”
I struggled to push him away, but his solid body didn’t budge. Instead, his arms tightened.
My face was pressed into his chest.
‘Ugh, why do I have to know what Seo Jinhyung’s chest feels like?’
Honestly, it wasn’t bad. But it felt strange. Like I was doing something I shouldn’t. My heart pounded unpleasantly.
I wanted to stop this weird trembling immediately, so instead of snapping at him, I softened my tone.
“Hey… I can’t breathe. Just… wait.”
“I can breathe fine.”
Is that supposed to be an answer…?
‘Forget it.’
Instead of useless protests, I silently prayed for the uncle working late and my mom who was out to come back quickly.
Putting the mask of a normal person back on this lunatic—that would be the fastest way.
‘…No.’
Inside Seo Jinhyung’s suffocating and uncomfortable embrace, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Isn’t this… his own way of showing affection?’
Seo Jinhyung looked perfect to anyone.
With a face that won favor even if he just stood still, and a gentle smile, it was natural that people liked him.
But sometimes, he showed me the complete opposite side. Like with my shoulder. My ankle. And now.
‘Maybe he feels some kind of bond or closeness toward me….’
He said he hugged me to comfort me because I was crying.
Though forceful, hugging was the most common way to comfort someone.
Would someone like him—who usually showed no interest in others—really choose physical touch just to comfort someone?
Maybe this wasn’t something to view only negatively. It was worth testing.
‘Hmm.’
Reluctantly, I awkwardly lifted my arms and wrapped them around his back.
“……”
Seo Jinhyung didn’t react or say anything.
I wondered what his expression looked like—and at the same time felt relieved I couldn’t see it.
In an awkward voice, I said,
“Th-Thanks… for comforting me.”
