For a moment, Hyungoh had a dream. It was a dream of being chased by someone, like a common nightmare. He didn’t know who that someone was. Instinctively, he ran without looking back.
Following the rules of nightmares, his heavy legs moved sluggishly. It was a situation that naturally called for screaming, but his voice remained pooled in his mouth as if he had fallen underwater.
I pity you so much.
It was a voice of a man in despair. I feel like I’m going insane with pity. He grabbed Hyungoh by the hair. Struggling, Hyungoh tilted his head back.
You should have remained beautiful.
Hyungoh stopped moving. And he looked at the man standing before him in disbelief.
He had taken on Hyungoh’s own appearance. With his face half-crushed, he groped for Hyungoh.
In the end, you too, you too……
He smiled widely. Opening his mouth, it grew large enough to swallow Hyungoh’s head.
This is a dream.
Hyungoh barely realized it. This can’t be real. He struggled desperately to wake up from the dream. But it wasn’t easy. Even though he tried to scream, no voice came out, and shaking his head violently to regain consciousness was useless.
He was afraid. It felt as if he would be trapped in this nightmare forever. This is driving me crazy. Just as his fear reached its peak, his vision gradually began to brighten. Suddenly, the ‘other Hyungoh’ disappeared from his sight, and someone walked from the far side of the white background.
Hyungoh focused on the silhouette becoming clearer. He wasn’t sure, but he felt that this approaching someone had subdued the nightmare. Thinking he was saved, Hyungoh moved toward him.
* * *
“……you know.”
“……do you……market?”
The white background instantly changed to a pitch-black one. What? Why can I hear Uncle and Theo’s voices?
The person in front of me? Hyungoh was momentarily dazed in his drowsiness, then guessed. Did I wake up from the dream? Still in a half-asleep state, he tried to look around, but for some reason, he couldn’t open his eyes. Not just his eyes, but his entire body felt stiff and wouldn’t move.
“Who’s the most carefree person here? Look at him, sleeping and even drooling.”
Theo pointed to Hyungoh, who was sitting curled up in the back seat. Hunter glanced at him briefly and then let out a small sigh.
Where is this place? Hyungoh tried his best to come to his senses. A faint cool breeze blew from the wall he was leaning against, and a slight vibration and familiar engine sound softly resonated in his ears.
Inside a car? Hyungoh was puzzled. Why am I here?
Hyungoh thought deeply about what had happened before he fell asleep. So, yesterday I definitely heard about the business trip from Uncle, and this morning I was hurriedly preparing for it when I met Theo in the cafeteria. I was simply eating pancakes when suddenly dozens of people flocked to Theo, and Theo smiled meaningfully and said something about it starting now……
Ah, right. So we were on our way to Caysenderson City together by car. Hyungoh listened to Hunter’s voice, which sounded as if it came from far away despite being right next to him.
“It feels nice to return to my hometown after such a long time.”
“You might end up burying your bones there.”
At Theo’s blunt words, Hunter chuckled.
“You want me to die?”
“……”
“Sorry to disappoint, but my life is particularly tenacious.”
“I know. Even when danger strikes, you’ll slip away like a loach.”
Theo clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“But why there of all places?”
“What?”
“Why do you think the Gostin guys are flocking there?”
Hyungoh perked up. Gostin in Caysenderson City?
Wait, we’re heading there too. If we meet, there will definitely be a clash. Are they deliberately aiming for that?
Talking to me like it’s just a simple business trip. Hyungoh felt anxious. What if that clash becomes the prelude to war? I’m not even mentally prepared yet.
“I have two persistent stalkers in Gostin who monitor my every move. They must have more than noticed that I would be going there.”
“Stalkers?”
Theo turned around and glared at Hunter, then immediately frowned. His expression was ambiguous, as if he was thinking about who these stalkers might be and seemed to have a vague idea.
Listening attentively to their conversation, Hyungoh suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Another unfamiliar voice overlapped with theirs.
Let’s play.
Hyungoh broke into a cold sweat. The goosebumps rising involuntarily finally confirmed that he was experiencing sleep paralysis.
Is it a ghost, or is it an auditory hallucination due to sleep paralysis? No, it’s too vivid to be just a hallucination.
Let’s play, Hyungoh.
Would it resolve if I could move my fingers even a little? Hyungoh tried to ignore the voice whispering in his ear and concentrated all his nerves on his fingertips.
……with your thorns……
His throat choked up. As the dozing Hyungoh suddenly stopped breathing, Hunter looked back at him with puzzled eyes. Hyungoh’s forehead was already drenched in sweat. Hunter, who had been watching quietly, placed his finger near Hyungoh’s nose.
“Huh!”
Instantly, Hyungoh’s eyes snapped open. As he raised his upper body, trembling as if having a seizure, both Hunter and Theo in the front seat were startled.
Looking at Hyungoh, who seemed surprised himself with his eyes wide open, Theo was dumbfounded. What a dramatic way to wake up.
“Had a scary dream?”
Hunter withdrew his hand.
“I, I thought I was going to die.”
I had sleep paralysis. And I even heard strange sounds…… Catching his breath while looking around the car intently, Hyungoh muttered as if talking to himself.
“Strange sounds?”
“Yes. Like someone kept telling me to play with them…… Wow, my head hurts.”
Hunter tilted his head and then seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Telling him to play? With a thought that crossed his mind, a smile slowly appeared on Hunter’s lips.
“Hyungoh, look outside.”
Theo, with his gaze fixed through the window, smiled as if he had discovered something. Wiping the damp sweat with his sleeve, Hyungoh followed his words and turned his head.
It was a familiar street. Still quiet and desolate, just like 11 years ago. No, it seemed to have gotten worse since the past. Despite there being plenty of time left before sunset, not a single person’s shadow was visible.
A ghost town. Hyungoh recalled a scene from a horror movie. It was threatening precisely because of its tranquility. It felt as if a loud explosion and a bomb could go off at any moment.
“It’s a place that makes you feel dirty, right?”
“Yes.”
When Theo grumbled, the man in the driver’s seat flatly agreed.
Hunter kept fidgeting with the fingers resting on his knee. After seemingly casually scanning the surroundings intently, he spotted his old house two blocks away.
“Stop here.”
“Oh, your house is still a mess. How long-lived is that scarecrow stuck in the garden?”
“Only Hyungoh and I will get off here.”
When Theo tried to unfasten his seatbelt, Hunter stopped him.
“What?”
“I have something to check, so go ahead to Michael’s mansion first. We’ll follow soon.”
“I’ll wait, so check quickly and come out.”
“It would be better to enter that mansion before Gostin does. Federico will visit there first.”
“Why?”
“That’s what my gut tells me.”
Ignoring Theo, who was sending him a distrustful look, Hunter closed the car door. Hyungoh, who got out of the car following him, looked alternately at Hunter and his house with suspicion.
“What are you thinking?”
“About what?”
“Why are we getting off separately? It’s dangerous.”
We don’t even have weapons or bulletproof vests. Hyungoh cautiously moved away from the road, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Watching several cars passing in a line with Theo’s car at the front, he became even more vigilant.
“Don’t worry. We’re safe.”
“Is that also a gut feeling?”
I don’t want to entrust my life to Uncle’s feelings, which are neither logical nor verified. The anxious Hyungoh retorted with a sharp tone.
“Human intuition is a kind of big data. It’s created by the experiences that the body remembers rather than the head. It should never be ignored.”
“……So what is Uncle’s intuition telling you now?”
Hyungoh tensed as Hunter approached the front door, minimizing his footsteps. Is someone already here? Hunter put his finger to his lips, signaling to be quiet, and then slowly pulled out a pistol from inside his coat.
Hunter flung the door open and aimed his gun in all directions. Startled by the creaking sound of the old door, Hyungoh stuck closely behind Hunter.
There was no sign of life. No traces of anyone else on the dust-covered floor.
There’s no one here. There couldn’t be. Hyungoh tried hard to hold his breath. And focused on the ambient sounds.
“Hey Uncle, do you have any spare guns or knives I could borrow?”
Selfishly preparing a weapon just for yourself. You could have told me to prepare too. Hyungoh extended his hand to Hunter. Despite his polite tone, his expression was sulky. Hunter, who was staring intently at Hyungoh, spoke.
“Listen carefully.”
The sudden switch to English puzzled Hyungoh. Yet they had been speaking Korean all along when it was just the two of them.
“What’s wrong? We’ve been speaking Korean when it was just the two of us.”
“I’m sorry to say this now, but my original plan was to approach you slowly, build intimacy, and then have many conversations.”
“What?”
Conversations that we both need. Hunter looked at Hyungoh and said meaningfully.
“But now it seems there’s no time for that. Once again, plans have been disrupted because of one capricious individual.”
“……Uncle?”
Hyungoh froze at the cold sensation against his skin. Hunter, exuding a chilling aura, had the muzzle of his gun pointed at Hyungoh’s forehead.
