# Chapter 118
Fortunately, since my body was only weakened without any major issues, I requested to be discharged on the day I woke up.
It seemed that Yoon Taeho, who had been living in my body while I was living in his, had done something, as the doctor was not readily willing to grant permission. Though I received instructions to stay a few more days to monitor my progress, I firmly refused, fearing the hospital bill would only increase.
Seeing that I appeared clearly different from before, the doctor seemed to understand and soon agreed.
The manager, who heard the news through a text message, called me right away. Because he kept asking about my well-being with concern, I had to reassure him several times that I was fine.
And the first thing I did when I returned home was neither taking a shower nor lying down, but turning on my laptop. I had already washed up at the hospital, and having been lying down all day, I wasn’t sleepy.
Above all, there was something I needed to check, so I entered the OTT platform I had last visited.
As was my habit, I clicked on the recent viewing history, and at the top of the list that appeared, I saw the video title and the date watched.
“It was a few days ago……”
It seems Yoon Taeho had watched “Class.” For a moment, I felt cold sweat and wiped the back of my neck. What did that guy think after watching this?
The introduction text beneath the title written in bold font. And the poster filled with colorful characters.
[Class]
I looked back and forth between the title and the characters appearing on the screen. I stared at the white text for a long time, almost as if I might burn a hole through the screen.
“This is definitely it.”
My eyebrows furrowed at the strange sense of disconnection. The poster depicting Moon Seoheon and The Four guys seemed incredibly unfamiliar. Was it because they were drawn as simple anime characters?
Though it wasn’t a long time, it wasn’t exactly short either—the thought that the people I had spent time with and observed were merely characters in an anime made me feel empty.
No, are those guys really just fictional characters in an anime? In that world, they moved, ate, and spoke like real people, but to think they were just fictional characters…
My emotions, which had been uncomplicated until I watched the animation, had become complex. I don’t know if it’s hard for me to accept or if it’s just unfamiliar and confusing—I don’t understand my own feelings.
After hesitating for a while holding the mouse, I clicked on the final episode. The screen went black for a moment before the video appeared and began playing.
For some reason, I found it difficult to watch, and my brow furrowed involuntarily. I watched the screen through narrowed eyes, as if I were watching a horror movie.
The scene of students in uniforms pouring out of school on their way home at sunset passed, and then Moon Seoheon appeared, surrounded by sparkling light particles.
“Ugh……”
What are those sparkles? Wondering if they had been there before, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again, but it seemed they had just put extra effort into the entrance scene, as normal scenes soon followed, and I felt relieved.
Still, it was hard to watch, and I kept letting out nervous laughs. It had been difficult to watch before because of the cringeworthy story and anime-specific direction. Now it was painful, like watching someone I knew performing exaggerated acting.
“Why am I feeling embarrassed for them?”
Since I roughly knew the content and only wanted to check, not watch it again, I skipped ahead quickly. I completely closed my eyes during the kiss scenes and the flesh-colored scenes that appeared intermittently, as I just couldn’t bear to watch them.
As I kept rapidly skipping through scenes, the video was almost at its end. Perhaps because it was the finale, the characters that had appeared throughout were making appearances one by one.
When a boy who resembled Yoon Taeho but seemed completely different appeared on screen, I unconsciously felt somewhat glad.
It was a strangely ambiguous feeling. Had I grown attached in that time? I had only paid attention to Moon Seoheon and the main male leads among the anime characters. Wondering if characters I knew had appeared in scenes I hadn’t watched, I rewound the video and examined it carefully, like searching for hidden pictures.
What was interesting was that the classmates I had met at school were different from the characters in the anime. The students who had been quite distinctive in reality had their presence faded as if roughly drawn in the anime. The supporting characters who had appeared had some distinctive features, but even they had minor roles, which left me feeling a bit disappointed.
Surprised by my own feelings, I came to my senses and returned to the scene just before I had rewound the video.
“So where are you going?”
“Well, I haven’t really thought about it yet, so I’m not sure.”
Moon Seoheon shrugged lightly at Yoon Taean’s question. Their conversation was about going on a trip for the school break.
It was just a simple conversation, but for some reason, my chest felt tight.
Yoon Taean nodded as if he understood, turned his gaze away from Moon Seoheon, and looked straight ahead just like him. The two sitting on a small bench looked quite peaceful.
Soon, the main male leads would appear to find Moon Seoheon.
“Moon Seoheon!”
As expected, Byeon Seungha, who called Moon Seoheon’s name loudly, appeared first. Behind him, the other main male leads who predictably popped up each took up a scene, as if taking solo shots, and delivered their lines. All of their words were like serenades directed at Moon Seoheon.
I couldn’t help but snicker at the voices flowing in sync with the moving lips. The jarring dialogue that sounded like a stage play was strange not because it was odd, but because the voices were completely different.
Perhaps it was only natural. Those were lines recorded by voice actors, so it would have been stranger if they were identical. Although they momentarily felt similar in tone and accent, the more I listened, the more different they sounded.
I smiled bitterly at some inexplicable emptiness.
I had played the video to check if the characters appearing in the animation were the same as the guys from that place where I had been, but now they were all being compared.
As a result, the anime characters, who looked so identical that anyone would recognize them as the same individuals, increasingly didn’t feel like the same people as those guys.
Yes, they felt more like characters created based on real existing people.
Then what was that anime? If it was simply a creative work, then everything was just an illusion.
Was the place I stayed real, or fake? If that world was real, why did I end up living there as Yoon Taeho, and how was I able to return to the original world? Simply because we had some similarities?
And what are those guys doing now?
The situation felt unsettling because of how abruptly I had returned. It wasn’t like we had exchanged proper goodbyes and parted ways cleanly. Thinking about it that way, I kept thinking of unfinished business.
Like the competition we were going to enter with the club, and the presentation that was coming right after the sports day. Plus…
“I won’t be able to go to the store we had planned to visit together.”
Remembering the promise I had made with Moon Seoheon, an awkward smile escaped my lips. After collapsing from drinking bad water, I wondered if he was okay now. And what happened to Yoon Taeho?
I shook my head at the dizzying sensation as I recalled the last situation of falling from the railing.
No matter how many questions I raised or how much I kept thinking about it, nothing would change now that I had returned to the original world, and it was beyond my control.
The video, which had continued playing, ended with Moon Seoheon surrounded by the main male leads as they boarded a train.
I confirmed the laptop screen turning black and shut it down. With my mood in disarray, I considered taking a trip somewhere nearby.
* * *
“So are you completely okay now?”
“Yes. Honestly, I thought I didn’t need to take all the medicine… but after taking it regularly, I definitely felt better.”
At my words, the manager yelled as if scolding me.
“See! I told you that you need to eat well and rest well. I was relieved when I saw you dipping kimbap in milk the other day. I thought you had definitely recovered.”
“Yes. Then I’ll come to work starting tomorrow.”
“Alright. Don’t worry since it’s not a busy period right now.”
After ending the call with an acknowledgement, I ran my hand through the back of my hair, which felt empty due to the very short cut.
Though it wasn’t messy, I had cut my considerably grown hair even shorter than usual. Enjoying the light feeling as much as my lightened head, I decided to go to bed early for tomorrow.
After returning here, I had spent a few days resting thoroughly and visiting a nearby beach, during which I had trouble sleeping, but now I seemed to have improved and quickly fell asleep.
As morning dawned and I naturally opened my eyes, my condition was at its best, perhaps thanks to the good sleep. Plus, since I was on the afternoon shift, I could prepare and leave leisurely. Although it would be late at night by the time I returned home, unlike before when I used to leave the house drooping like a zombie, my steps walking outside were infinitely lighter.
It seems I was somewhat bored, contrary to my feeling that no amount of rest was enough.
The gray hotel building that appears after riding the subway and walking just over ten minutes from the station. It was where I worked. Although it had only been a few months, it felt like returning after several years.
I passed through the large main entrance, through the lounge, took the elevator to the top floor. As I reached the front desk, one of the hoteliers showed a glad expression upon seeing me. I gave a light greeting to the colleague I hadn’t seen in a long time and headed to the uniform room.
In the uniform room, I changed clothes and waited, and as informed, the manager came in.
“Oh, you came early.”
“Yes. Earlier than expected.”
The manager, who smiled proudly at me in uniform, soon checked the time and spoke.
“First, start with the entrance work, and when the sun sets, begin the house duties.”
“Yes.”
“Contact me if there’s any problem.”
“Understood.”
After some more simple conversation to check on my well-being, the manager left after receiving a call, saying “work hard.” I also left after a final uniform check.
I belong to the room service team. Apart from the front desk duties that people usually think of when it comes to hotel work, there are various tasks such as concierge, housekeeping, and more.
The entrance work that the manager mentioned refers to concierge duties, which include providing services to customers at the main entrance, controlling vehicles, or giving directions.
Although it was tiring because I had to stand all day, it wasn’t relatively difficult. The truly difficult work was the house duties, which involved room management. This included cleaning, setting up bedding, replacing amenities, and other tasks that required physical strength.
Despite it being late afternoon, the blazing sun made the day hot. I thought about drinking a cool mint chocolate latte during my break as I waited for the sun to set.
