The moment I discovered her, I almost fell backward even though I knew I was in a dream. To finally meet the person I’d been longing to see all this time…
Whenever I struggled because of the brothers, I prayed repeatedly. Please let me meet the author who wrote this damn novel. I had so much to say to her…
But now, facing Kim Hyunju, my mind went completely blank, and I had no idea how to begin or what to say.
“Have you been having fun?”
“Fuck.”
In the end, the first word from my mouth was a curse. After putting me through all this suffering, she had the nerve to ask if I was having fun? I couldn’t believe she would say this to me.
“Why are you cursing? You were the one who said not to write content that could cause disgust in popular novels. I completely changed the characters and even turned the basement into a movie theater. How was it? Did you like it?”
After saying this, Hyunju looked me up and down as if she didn’t really expect an answer to her question.
“I see you’re alive… Hahaha.”
Then she started laughing like a pervert. Even in a dream, I felt incredibly irritated.
“Our Sojin, have you been receiving a lot of love from the boys?”
“Shut up!”
I glared at Hyunju, unable to contain my rising anger. If she wasn’t a woman, I might have punched her.
“Why are you being so sensitive about something that’s already in the past? Shouldn’t you be grateful that I’ve appeared now?”
“Showing up now and saying I should be grateful? You should have stayed out of my sight forever.”
“That’s impossible.”
I was so dumbfounded and angry that I just stood there for a while. While I was fuming, Hyunju didn’t bother to say anything more. As time passed and I began to calm down, I gradually became curious.
About why I had to come here and why Kim Hyunju had only appeared now… And whether I could continue to stay with the brothers…
Since she created this world, perhaps she knew the ending of this world.
“Kim Hyunju, if you feel even a little sorry for me…”
Hyunju snorted before I could finish.
“Sorry? Why should I feel sorry for you?”
“Because you sent me here!”
“That’s not something to be sorry about; rather, you should be grateful to me. You were already dead…”
The moment I faced this uncomfortable truth, darkness fell before my eyes as if I’d received a death sentence. It was strange. It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected the fact that I was dead, I already knew, so why…
It was hard to forget about that wretched past life, even though I could just forget it and be done with it. I might have been holding onto the hope that I was still alive. Actually, it might not be hope but anxiety. Because when the real owner of this body, Yoon Juwon, returned, I might wander in a strange world without anywhere to go. I was anxious about not having a body to return to then.
“Why so serious? Don’t tell me you didn’t know you were dead?”
“…No, I knew.”
“Then there’s nothing to be serious about, is there?”
I was about to hold back, but then I got tired of arguing with Hyunju and spoke with resignation.
“If my body is gone, then when the real Yoon Juwon returns, I have to die, right?”
“You, a writer, really lack imagination.”
Hyunju burst into laughter. It was a laugh full of mockery.
“Think about it, is the Seo Hahyun you’ve met the same as Hahyun in my novel?”
Come to think of it, the personality of Seo Hahyun in the original work was completely different from the current Hahyun. The original Hahyun had a kind but chillingly cold personality and was a rational person who wasn’t swayed by emotions.
“The original Seo Hahyun and Yoon Juwon no longer exist. The current Seo Hahyun is the crybaby you’ve met, and Yoon Juwon is you, Kim Sojin. Because that’s how I designed the characters.”
Hyunju said this and giggled. But despite hearing what I wanted to hear, I couldn’t laugh along with her. Hyunju’s words were too shocking.
The Yoon Juwon in the novel was really me… Me? Is it really me?
I tilted my head and looked directly at Kim Hyunju.
“You’re lying even in a dream. How can Yoon Juwon be me? The past you set up…”
“What? Was that past the same as the Yoon Juwon you saw in the novel? The original Yoon Juwon wasn’t from an orphanage. Idiot.”
The past narrative of Yoon Juwon that I read in the novel, his ferocious temperament, and his character that would stop at nothing for ambition were certainly different from the Yoon Juwon I had possessed.
“So you set up different personalities for Yoon Juwon before and after his memory loss?”
Hyunju burst into laughter again.
“Memory loss… Memory loss? Puhahaha… That’s really funny. Well, you had to do whatever it took to survive.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? I created the character settings, wrote up to their past, and didn’t write anything after that.”
“S-so in your eyes, I’m like Yoon Juwon, someone blinded by ambition? Someone who doesn’t hesitate to do illegal things?”
Once I knew the reality, I was more shocked by the fact that Hyunju thought of me as that kind of person than by the fact that I had died in my previous life.
“I exaggerated a bit, but you also didn’t care about the means for success, just like him, right?”
Since I had to struggle with private loans and somehow make money, it might have looked that way to Hyunju. The light visible in the distance was gradually dimming. Hyunju’s figure also seemed faint compared to earlier. Afraid she would disappear soon, I quickly continued.
“Then why did you reappear… No, that’s not important, what happens from now on?”
“I told you earlier. I created the character settings and wrote up to their past. That world has long since lost its connection to my novel, hasn’t it? Time continues to flow there even though I haven’t written it. And the reason I appeared in your dream is…”
After that, Hyunju continued talking, but I couldn’t hear anything.
I was overwhelmed just trying to process in my mind that I had been reborn as Yoon Juwon in another world, and that what happens from now on depends on what I do.
“Yoon Juwon, snap out of it.”
At those words, I listened to Hyunju’s gradually fading voice. Her voice, already more than half gone, came from the empty space.
“What happens from now on depends on how you act. This is a new opportunity, so treasure it. And don’t casually criticize the author. It would be troublesome if something like this happened again, wouldn’t it? Heehee!”
“Hey, Hyunju, Kim Hyunju!”
I reached out toward her as she disappeared with a mischievous smile. I called her name loudly, but she didn’t stop.
And I woke up from my sleep. I was sweating so much that my pajamas were soaked.
I couldn’t tell if the Kim Hyunju I saw in my dream was the real Kim Hyunju. Since she was an ordinary person, she wouldn’t have the ability to send people into the world of a novel, so this too was an inexplicable event.
My mind was confused by how vivid it felt, as if it wasn’t a dream. I looked around like when I first came here. Sunlight was seeping through the gaps in the window of my now-familiar room.
A new morning had come. In the dream I had last night, I learned the shocking fact that I was the created Yoon Juwon. And I was still alive.
* * *
For a week, Hahyun cried whenever he saw me. I felt guilty every time I saw his face, but it wasn’t easy to avoid Hahyun in such a small house. Still, I didn’t give in to Hahyun and completed the full week.
“Amazing, Yoon Juwon. The attacks must have been intense.”
Hajin came out of the dressing room, dusting off his clothes. As always, he looked good in his suit. I needlessly brushed his flawless shoulder with my hand and said:
“It’s an example.”
Hajin smirked.
“That’s a threat.”
“Yes, so don’t think about deceiving me. It’s about time we trusted each other, isn’t it?”
Hajin pulled my wrist. As soon as the soft feel of his quality clothes touched my cheek, Hajin rested his chin on my shoulder. Staying like that with his mouth closed, a strange atmosphere flowed between us.
“Can I trust that?”
Even though I knew what he was trying to say, I pretended not to understand.
“Of course. Can’t you tell I’m still here when I could leave?”
“You know what I’m talking about, right?”
It seemed he was asking who I would choose. Unable to decide yet, I lowered my head at his low voice.
“…Yes. I know. I’m thinking about it.”
A hot sigh poured over my head.
“Alright, you’ll figure it out.”
Hajin grabbed my shoulder, let go, and then tried to go downstairs. I quickly grabbed his wrist.
“Are you going to work even though it’s Sunday?”
“Yeah. I’m a bit busy.”
That’s when it happened. There was a clattering noise from somewhere, and Hahyun came out of his room.
