Because of that strange feeling, he suddenly realized. He was experiencing sleep paralysis. It was the first time since childhood. Once Seonwoo realized he was experiencing sleep paralysis, he relaxed his body.
It would release on its own over time. Seonwoo didn’t try to force his way out and just lay still. His eyelids were still heavy and his whole body droopy. Whether his mind was following his body, he gradually became hazy. It felt like he’d fall asleep if he stayed a little longer.
Suddenly he felt a sense of wrongness. He smelled an unfamiliar scent from somewhere. He instinctively felt unpleasant. This was the smell of alcohol. This is a hospital room, so why would there be such a smell? Even when he tried to open his eyes to check, his body wouldn’t listen.
That’s when it happened. At the same time as a cramping sensation at the crown of his head, all his senses focused on one place. Someone was close to the sofa, no, right in front of it. Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly feel their presence.
His instincts felt that way. The presence gradually drew closer. He could tell they had come within arm’s reach. For even a ghost to appear, it seemed he was properly experiencing sleep paralysis.
Something touched the crown of his head. It was fingers. Gently sweeping along the grain of his hair, they gradually began to stroke his head with the entire palm. It was a delicate and gentle touch.
Because of that touch, his consciousness became hazy and he couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality. Following his limp body, it felt like even his mind was sinking into deep water. It was the moment just before falling asleep like that.
*Why didn’t you resemble Seonmin a little?*
The ghost that had been stroking Seonwoo’s hair spoke in the Vice Director’s voice. In an instant his mind jolted awake. However, both eyes still remained closed without budging.
When he struggled with all his might to open his eyes, the hand stroking his head disappeared. Some time later, Seonwoo jerked his body up as if having a seizure. And he looked at the place where someone had been standing.
No one was there. In the hospital room, there were only his mother and himself.
He headed straight to the station. No one was at the desk. Only traces of someone having sat there until just before remained. Checking the clock hanging in the hallway, it was late at night. Seonwoo leaned against the station and peeked his head inside.
“What’s the matter?”
He turned his head toward where the voice came from. He saw a nurse approaching with quick steps from the hallway. She was holding oral care items in one hand. Seonwoo asked point-blank if the Vice Director had come.
“Uh…… He didn’t come while I was at the desk. There’s no separate record kept, so I’m not really sure.”
“Can’t you check the CCTV? That one there.”
Seonwoo pointed at the camera right above. Following his gesture, the nurse turned around once to look, then explained with a troubled face.
“That can only be viewed for security or incident response purposes, so it’s difficult in cases like this.”
It was a clear explanation with nothing to add. But Seonwoo wasn’t convinced and stubbornly repeated the same request. The more he did so, the more troubled the nurse’s expression became.
“What’s going on?”
Just then, another nurse who had finished checking on patients approached. When the junior nurse dealing with Seonwoo explained in a small voice, she quickly grasped the situation and spoke carefully.
“Um…… Your mother’s condition has improved a lot, so how about going home and resting for a day? It seems like you haven’t been eating properly either……”
It would be the third day once midnight passed. Since Seonwoo had stayed in the hospital room the whole time without properly eating or sleeping, it was natural for the nurses to worry.
“Did someone tell you to say that?”
“What? What do you……”
However, Seonwoo’s expression hardened and he spoke in a sharp voice. The flustered nurses exchanged glances with each other silently. Their attitude hesitating without carelessly continuing to speak. Eyes looking at him as if he were a strange person.
“If you’re uncomfortable somewhere……”
The nurse’s voice gradually grew distant as if submerged in water. On the other hand, his consciousness became clear. Seonwoo realized it himself. He could know this without searching the internet. Just as Taejeong had said, he had really become a psychotic.
**4. Accomplice**
Seonwoo stubbornly endured two more days.
On the fifth day, a nurse who couldn’t stand watching him wear the same clothes told him to at least go change. Hearing those words, Seonwoo smelled his clothes.
It doesn’t smell though. While stupidly burying his nose in his clothes, he realized. Since his mother was currently an unconscious patient, he needed to maintain cleanliness to be by her side.
After being scolded, Seonwoo not only showered but also went to the bathroom to wash his hands at all hours. When he suddenly looked in the mirror, he understood why the nurse had said that.
His pale face had no vitality at all. His jawline was so prominent that his cheeks were sunken, and under his eyes were darkly stained.
The impression that had given everyone a favorable feeling was completely gone, leaving only a chilly atmosphere. Just looking at his appearance, it was impossible to tell whether he was a patient or a guardian.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. Had he drunk water? He didn’t know. He couldn’t even tell whether his gums bleeding while brushing his teeth was today’s or yesterday’s incident.
Leaving the ward for the first time in five days, Seonwoo was in the same clothes but with only his face haggard. The rest area outside the ward had quite a few people since it was the weekend. But Seonwoo didn’t know not only what day of the week it was, but even the date.
Two young children were playing, chasing each other. Even when the guardian following them gave a warning and led them toward an empty hallway, their delighted giggling laughter continued.
It was an everyday scene that could be seen anywhere. But to Seonwoo it seemed like a completely different world, as if an invisible line had been drawn. Like blankly staring at a scene appearing on a TV screen, it didn’t feel real.
He walked with a dazed mind. Even after arriving in front of the elevator, he forgot to press the button and stood still for a few minutes. Belatedly pressing the button and waiting, he heard the sound of wheels rolling from far away.
Several medical staff were carefully pulling a bed from both sides. They were moving to the adjacent building through the skyway. Without any voices, only the sound of wheels rolling continued to be heard. The bed they were moving was covered with a white cloth.
“……”
Seonwoo was captivated by that sight. He had even forgotten the common sense that he shouldn’t stare carelessly. Before he knew it, the elevator had arrived and was waiting for Seonwoo with its doors open, but he didn’t budge. Even when the announcement voice saying the doors were closing could be heard, it was the same.
He remained like that until it turned the corner of the adjacent building and could no longer be seen. When Seonwoo turned his head, the elevator was already going down to another floor.
The bed being moved while covered with a white cloth kept coming to mind. Seonwoo vaguely knew the reason that scene remained so intensely in his memory.
But the moment he acknowledged it, it felt like whatever he imagined would all become reality, so he kept turning away from it. He struggled to erase the images that kept surfacing.
Lost in that, other things didn’t enter his eyes.
How many people were in the hospital’s first-floor lobby, whether the outside air he breathed for the first time in five days was cool, how he crossed the traffic lights—nothing remained in his memory.
Even after arriving home, his state was the same. Seonwoo’s mind was out of it, in a state no different from an empty shell, with only his body moving mechanically.
He didn’t even think to take off his shoes. He entered the house dirtying the floor just like that. Traces remained exactly along the direction Seonwoo had passed.
Even unconsciously trying to head to the second floor, he went straight up the stairs. Mechanically climbing the stairs, he failed to perceive the flat landing and his feet got tangled.
In an instant his body tilted forward. There wasn’t even time to stretch out his arms to block it. A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the entire house.
Thanks to the gradually surging pain, he came to his senses. His knees and chin were throbbing. Examining his body, Seonwoo only then realized he hadn’t even taken off his shoes.
