Chapter 97

‘Linus!’

‘Hyunji?’

‘Yes, it’s me. I’ve come back, my love…’

Her tearful voice trembled with emotion. In the darkness where nothing could be seen, I heard their voices.

‘I missed you, Linus! I really, really missed you—I cried every day…’

‘I couldn’t sleep without you, Hyunji.’

‘You were always on my mind, I worried so much, sniff…’

‘You must never leave again, my love. Never.’

‘Linus.’

‘Not even the god of death can separate us…’

The god of death never even planned to separate you. Gods don’t have that much free time.

I almost laughed aloud. If it had been Enoch, he would have mocked them, saying believing a god would spend time stopping them was proof of their inflated self-importance. Keith would have just cursed under his breath.

‘Laila must have taken them far away, so they didn’t hear this.’

I hoped so. It was enough for me alone to feel disgusted.

Back then, when I listened to their conversations, what did I feel? I had watched and heard “me” being loved while I—I—was gnawed by loneliness and pain. I had cried out, asking why, when she was so loved, I had never been.

Each time I fell into deep sleep, those voices stabbed me sharper than knives. More than the fear of being dropped into a strange world, more than the pain that struck every night—what hurt most was the loneliness of knowing no one loved me.

Yes, back then… I was a fool.

I hadn’t realized how worthless their love really was. I had allowed myself to be wounded, torn apart. Now, I knew how foolish that was.

No one loved me.
I hadn’t loved them either.
Why don’t you look back at me?
Because no matter how I begged, they’d never return.
Why do you hate me?
For those who hate me without reason—

I’ll just give them a reason to hate me.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The cold air was full of moisture. Turning my head, I saw a machine quietly releasing mist. After blinking a few times, my vision finally cleared.

It was the place I had stayed for five months. A place I never wanted to return to—yet its familiar sight stirred a strange comfort. The steady drip of IV fluid, the cold sting of the needle in my wrist, muffled sounds beyond the tightly shut window, the disinfectant-scented air…

Though I had spent over three months on the other side, here only a few days seemed to have passed. The calendar pages were unchanged. I struggled to sit up. My whole body felt beaten, my head heavy. My eyes ached as if stuffed with grit, and even a slight movement made my joints scream.

“You were determined to die, Jang Hyunji…”

I rubbed my rough face with my palm. Barely a week—if even that—had passed. In that time, Jang Hyunji had hardly been awake. She had screamed that she was in pain, that she felt like dying, demanding sedatives and sleeping pills. Nurses and doctors had rushed to her, but she only screamed louder for drugs until her throat went raw.

Lying in bed endlessly, her dying body had weakened further. Her thin wrists looked as though a light tap would snap them. Even breathing made her tremble.

But she hadn’t wanted to die. She had wanted to see me.

With bloodshot eyes, she had clung to every chance, hoping to reclaim what she had lost. She had drugged herself into unconsciousness again and again, terrified she might miss an opportunity while awake. She knew the doctors of this world wouldn’t let her die so easily.

All she had to do was endure for a few days. Time flowed differently here. A few days here meant months there. Just as my five months had been her five years.

Which meant—time was running out.

I clutched my throat and coughed hard. The obstruction finally slid down, followed by deep hacking coughs.

“Miss Jang Hyunji, you’re awake! How do you feel? Any nausea?”

“Ah… yes…”

“I know you’re in pain, but no more sedatives. You had seizures and foaming episodes—it was too dangerous, we had no choice.”

“…I’m sorry…”

My soft apology made the nurse, who had been scolding, stare in shock. She was a familiar face.

“What happened? It’s like you’re a different person overnight.”

“…”

“The last week must have been really hard. Do you think you can eat lunch today?”

I nodded. Even a bland porridge was better than nothing. The nurse praised me warmly, changed the IV, took my vitals, and left.

It was a single-patient room.

They said it was thanks to insurance.

During those five months, drowning in despair, I had learned little. The medical staff had been the ones feeding me, giving me injections, and dragging me out for walks.

The nurse just now was one of them. She likely thought I was a delirious patient.

When I first woke up in this world, I really knew nothing…

They had diagnosed me vaguely, saying my extreme pain and despair had erased parts of my memory. With terminal cancer and little time left, they couldn’t offer more.

I noticed the book that had been by my pillow was gone. Struggling, I got out of bed and opened the locker. Inside were the crumpled, torn remains of a book, along with several volumes of its series. Someone had picked up what Hyunji had torn apart in her tantrums and neatly arranged it.

Hyunji’s daily life had been built entirely on the kindness of others.

But she hadn’t realized it. Hadn’t cared.

Though maybe, in her condition, she couldn’t have noticed.

A dying body, hopeless days, and no family ever visiting.

I picked up a palm-sized device beside the books.

I already knew this little lifeless hunk of metal wasn’t just an object.

I had learned from someone younger than the nurse who just left—someone unnecessarily kind, who had tried to cheer me up when I did nothing but cry.

“Look at this. Do you know how much you can do with it?”

‘There are so many fun things in the world. Isn’t it a waste to just let time slip away, Hyunji?’

‘…’

‘I know—I should be careful what I say. Who can really understand another’s pain? I’m not arrogant like that.’

‘…’

‘How terrifying must it be, how painful, to want to forget everything…’

‘…’

‘But still, Hyunji—you’re alive. Isn’t it too wasteful to spend time as if you’re already dead?’

‘…’

‘No matter how much time is left—days, hours, minutes—you should enjoy every bit of it. If you start wishing to live longer, maybe even a miracle could happen. Who knows?’

Looking back, that person had been very young. Maybe even a student—since after some time, I never saw her again. She sometimes appeared not in a nurse’s uniform but in casual clothes.

I hadn’t understood half of what she said. Truthfully, I hadn’t really heard it.

But she kept talking to me, even though I never answered.

‘With just this, you can even see and talk to people on the other side of the world…’

‘…’

‘Huh? Not surprised? There’s also something called Youube—ah, this one’s dangerous. It’s so addictive you’ll keep it on all day.’*

‘…’

‘And here—press this, ta-da! You can even open a bank. Hehe, though my account’s pitiful.’

‘…’

‘It’s so convenient it’s a problem. Oh, wait a sec—’

The device buzzed, and the screen showed the word Mom. Another voice came through. She hurried out of the room, saying she’d see me tomorrow.

She had taught me what this little machine could do, and how to use it.

For that, I now felt genuine gratitude. I pressed a protruding button. The black screen lit up.

Beep!

“Bee, hold on, just let me finish this—huh?”

I gasped, eyes widening.

From a towel inside the locker, a small, pebble-like head popped out.

It was Bee.