Hyun Joo hastily hailed a taxi.
At past two in the morning, a taxi was the only way to get to Seoul.
“Driver, please go as fast as you can. It’s urgent!”
Unable to properly answer the driver’s inquiry about what was going on, Hyun Joo focused on Ju Won’s panting voice over the phone.
“Brother, are you okay?”
Ju Won gave a brief response, as if he had finally calmed down.
[Dash]…Yeah.She felt that he was far from fine. Ju Won exhaled a ragged breath.
[Dash]Sorry. You were the only one I could think of.Hyun Joo’s heart tightened. She felt guilty for having enjoyed herself, oblivious to his struggle.
Hyun Joo did her best to reassure Ju Won.
“I’m on my way now.”
[Dash]I’m fine now.“What’s fine about your voice that sounds like you’re dying? I’ll see you in about an hour and a half, I’m in a taxi.”
Ordinarily, Ju Won would have told her to turn back, citing the danger of the night. But he said nothing.
That alone satisfied Hyun Joo. She was glad there was something she could do for him.
“Shall we talk on the phone?”
Hyun Joo chatted about the day’s events.
How Su Cheol ate half of the cake, how she had a drink with her future son-in-law, how Philip stole a wallet, and so on.
Despite knowing that such chatter wouldn’t reach Ju Won at the moment, she kept talking. If it would calm him down, she was willing to exhaust her voice.
“…..Thank you.”
Listening as if tuned to the radio, Ju Won’s breathing gradually steadied.
Meanwhile, the taxi was nearing Seoul.
[Star Icon]“Stay with me, Ju Won…”
Her voice, devoid of all emotion, sounded eerily mechanical.
As he was about to drift into deep sleep, Ju Won’s limbs stiffened at the sound of Hyerim’s voice.
‘……Ah.’
Ju Won hadn’t slept well for days, and his entire body was drained. He had thought that if he passed out, perhaps today would be peacefully skipped.
However, the voice he heard less than two hours into his light sleep filled him with despair beyond fear.
‘……Why.’
He had done everything he could.
He had brought red beans, garlic, a crucifix, and even opened a Bible beside him. He had gone home to burn any items containing traces of Hyerim and had diligently tried not to think about Hyun Joo in his daily life, so as not to provoke Hyerim.
Only the last attempt had failed.
Thus, up until the last moment, Ju Won harbored a glimmer of hope. Perhaps today he would be freed from this tiresome nightmare.
Nothing had changed.
Swish[Dash]
The shadow standing by the door began to move. It slid towards him and slowly climbed onto the bed. Slowly but tirelessly, like a snake spiraling up a tree trunk.
The movement of the shadow that he keenly sensed made Ju Won’s heart freeze.
Swoosh[Dash]
A colorless hand climbed up his thigh. Ju Won clenched his eyes shut against the chill he felt from the formless shadow.
‘You can’t open your eyes. It’s just a dream that will soon disappear.’
His eyelashes shivered.
Ju Won clenched his fists, trying to ignore the dream. His limbs felt as if they were pinned down, but the sensation climbing his skin was vivid.
‘It will end soon. Just hang in there a little longer, Kang Ju Won.’
Every day was a cycle of terror, yet I never grew accustomed to it. I felt as if I were tied in the center of a room slithering with dozens of snakes.
The sticky sensation touching my skin, the weight slowly moving towards the edge of my neck…
Even the air filling the room felt heavier. Unable to even breathe under this oppressive atmosphere, Juwon silently screamed.
‘Please go away!’
It seemed like it wouldn’t be long before they succeeded in tormenting me to death. Whether I died from lack of sleep, a heart attack, or biting my own tongue, the end would soon be determined.
‘Is this what you want?’
Juwon clenched his teeth. A metallic taste of blood spread from his tightly closed mouth.
‘Do you want me to die? To join you in death?’
Thinking about it, Hyerim had always said the same thing in the nightmare. Stay with me, don’t leave me alone.
Yes, perhaps what she wanted was Juwon’s death. It was a conclusion he had reluctantly reached after being tormented by nightmares for the past ten years.
Once a month, once a week, and then once every three days…
He had steadfastly endured the progressively shortening cycle of nightmares. He had struggled to avoid being submerged in them even when their blurry forms began to clarify, and they seemed within arm’s reach.
When death covered him like a blanket, and when Hyerim’s body loomed over him, he endured. He kept himself from despairing by chanting that it would all end someday.
But now, he had reached his limit. There was no turning back.
The smell.
It was because of the smell.
“Stay with me, Juwon…”
A shadow darker than ink whispered in his ear. A terrible smell, one he had never sensed before, lingered around his open lips.
It was the smell of death.
A wave of fear incomparable to anything he’d seen or heard washed over him. Though Juwon had always endured even when icy hands first touched his body, this time he couldn’t help but scream.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
