One day, when Juwon was in his third year of high school, Hyelim took her own life.
“Why are you persistently accusing me of doing something with my sister? What did I do?”
“We… kissed.”
“Yeah, just a kiss. It was a playful kiss, like a joke.”
“Was it nothing to you?”
“It takes skill to attach great meaning to a single kiss. It’s a mental illness to obsess over it like this after dating for only a month. You understand?”
That Wednesday, when he poured out harsh words and turned away, the wind was strangely damp.
It was the day he ruined his mock exam because he couldn’t sleep due to Hyelim stalking him.
On that day too, Hyelim was waiting for Juwon in front of his house. It wasn’t a cold day, but she was wearing a black coat and holding a red umbrella.
Since he broke up with her, the stalking that started right after the breakup had driven Juwon almost insane. He shouted, called the police, and even pleaded with her not to do this anymore.
He even wrote a written statement promising not to do it again, but Juwon couldn’t understand why she was still there in front of his house the next day.
If it had just ended as a youthful first love, it would have been a nice connection. However, Hyelim, who had almost gone crazy for Juwon, was not in her right mind.
For a month, two months, she poured all her time into it until Juwon’s heart reached the point of no return. She didn’t even know how terrifying it was for Juwon.
“I love you, Juwon.”
Her gaze, looking up at the room on this floor, drove Juwon mad.
“Please come back. Just look at me once.”
Her pleading eyes devoured Juwon moment by moment.
As the college entrance exam approached, Juwon became so sharp that he was prone to nervous breakdowns.
“No matter how much my sister waits for me, I will never go back. Just seeing her face is horrifying! If I could, I would cut out the time we spent together. Why does a person drive someone so crazy?”
Unable to bear it, on the day he lashed out at Hyelim, she died.
Her studio apartment, where she hanged herself, was neatly arranged, as if nothing strange had happened.
There were only a few clothes neatly tied with strings, textbooks from her major neatly stacked, and instant noodles and groceries piled up in one corner.
The only things not organized were the traces of Juwon.
Under her feet, scattered notes and photos exchanged secretly during class were strewn about. Among them were photos taken secretly of Juwon on his way home. There were also photos of the curtaincovered window on this floor and photos of Juwon’s shadow cast by the latenight window.
“Even if I die, our relationship won’t be resolved.”
It seemed as if it was warning like that.
The nightmare began a month and a half after her funeral.
The dream was always the same. When he opened his eyes, he saw Hyelim in the state of her death. Sometimes it was the standing clothes rack, sometimes the coat hanging on the doorknob, and sometimes the picture frame hanging on the wall that transformed into Hyelim and swayed before his eyes.
It seemed to sway as if the wind was blowing. At a glance, it even looked like it was dancing.
When he woke up screaming, his whole body was damp with sweat.
The silhouette that was vague at first gradually took shape in Juwon’s dreams. Her eyes, nose, and mouth became clear, and the string wrapped around her neck was visible.
And finally, when she opened her closed eyes, Juwon went to see a psychiatrist.
“It’s a sleep disorder caused by mental stress and trauma.”
That’s how the psychiatrist diagnosed it.
“Damn quack.”
Juwon didn’t believe the doctor’s diagnosis.
The medication prescribed by the doctor only helped alleviate the anxiety after having nightmares but didn’t fundamentally get rid of the nightmares.
Almost every day, plagued by nightmares, Juwon realized that he could never escape from Hyelim until he died.
Nightmares filled like shackles after Hyelim’s death.
It was a wretched life, almost a miracle that he had lived by pretending to be a person. Since occasionally there were days when he couldn’t wake up from sleep despite physical exhaustion, he developed a habit of exercising forcefully and immersed himself in work to avoid sinking into pessimism.
That’s what made Kang Juwon who he is now. It was a tower of gold letters piled up on unhappiness.
“If it were the same nightmare every day, would it have gotten better? Yeah, maybe.”
Unfortunately, Hyelim became more and more vivid. Unnoticed, she gradually came closer. The one who used to dance near the wardrobe came into the room the following year. And finally, today, right in front of his nose.
The coldness felt within arm’s reach was chillingly vivid. It felt like touching it would drain all the energy from his body and turn him into a mirage.
“Hah, hah…”
Juwon gasped for breath, clutching his chest. Breathing was difficult.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
