Huk…!
The moment I opened my eyes, what I saw was a dimly glowing blue sky and a vast river. Through my nose, I could smell the bitter cold scent of dawn. Feeling the chilly air against my arms and legs, I looked down below.
“What, what is this…?”
Beneath my pale, bloodless feet, black river water was rippling. Startled, I pulled my body back, but I was even more shocked by the cold steel bars I felt behind me.
Baaang…!
A freight truck speeding down the road on the other side honked its horn. Only then did I feel my heart, which I thought had stopped, beating frantically.
I was standing on a bridge overlooking a deep, dark river.
What’s this? Am I dreaming or something?
First, I tried to calmly understand the current situation. I started by examining what I was wearing. An extremely oversized white dress shirt, shorts, bare feet…
Could it be that I was trying to die just moments ago? The clothes I was wearing were completely unsuitable for the place I found myself in.
Dying? No, why would I do that?
For now, I decided to get out of this dangerous place first. I moved my feet from the precarious railing and struggled to climb up onto the bridge.
“Geez, how did I even get over here…”
It wasn’t easy to climb up. Just as I was using my feet to grip the grooved parts of the railing and trying to climb up, a strong wind suddenly blew. I quickly grabbed onto a pillar that was erected nearby.
“……”
Cold sweat was dripping out. I almost fell from the railing. Just imagining slipping and falling into the river with a splash made my blood run cold.
“What should I do…”
For a while, I couldn’t get over the railing and was stuck, unable to do this or that.
Screech!
Among the cars speeding down the road, some car stopped with the sound of tires screeching. Clunk, the driver who parked on the shoulder immediately opened the car door and walked toward me.
More than anything, I was shocked by the man’s appearance. A suit so well-dressed it seemed like he was going to an award ceremony, tall height, long slender legs, and a small head. It didn’t really match the current situation, but… that guy was really handsome.
The man walked up to me with heavy steps and said with a fierce expression:
“Put your arms around my neck.”
“……”
“Hurry.”
I did as the man instructed, stretching out my arms to wrap around the man’s neck. As soon as I did, the man grabbed my waist with his hands and pulled me up. In just a few seconds, I was able to escape from danger with the man’s help.
“Ah, thank y… Oh!”
I was trying to remove my arms from the man’s neck and say thank you, but in an instant my body was flipped over. He easily hoisted me onto one shoulder.
“Is this your luggage?”
The man pointed to a bag and shoes that had fallen on the ground and asked.
“I… I don’t know, please put me down…”
“Watch your head.”
The man didn’t listen to what I said and approached the car, pushed me into the passenger seat, and fastened my seatbelt. Before I knew it, he had brought the luggage, placed the shoes near my feet, and sat in the driver’s seat. Dazed by the warm air and the warming car seat, I came to my senses.
“Um… where is this place?”
“Mapo Bridge.”
“No… that’s not what I meant…”
I felt like this was different from places I knew. The sensations and smells I was experiencing were familiar, but somehow I felt a sense of alienation. As I hunched my body and looked around, perhaps thinking I was cold, the man took off his jacket and covered me with it.
“What’s your name?”
“Huh? Why do you need my name…”
When I didn’t answer right away, the man took out an ID card from the luggage bag he had brought.
“Chae Seungyeon.”
“Chae Seungyeon…?”
Who’s that…?
I stared blankly at the ID card the man had placed in my hand.
[Chae Seungyeon (Omega)
951216-1xxxxxx]
In the photo on the left, a pretty-looking man was smiling.
Omega…? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere…
“Don’t you have a guardian? Or if not…”
The man who had been looking through the luggage bag kept talking to me but then closed his mouth.
“Why… why?”
Feeling uneasy, I glanced at the man. He showed me a photo he had taken from the bag.
A boy who looked about seven years old was holding someone’s hand and smiling brightly. And clearly written below it:
[I love you, my son. Gwak Hyeol.]
Gwak Hyeol.
Damn, seeing a name that desperately needed to be changed, I finally realized where I was.
Because the name of the obsessive maniac in the tragic BL novel my younger sister wrote was none other than ‘Gwak Hyeol.’
I don’t remember the title clearly. I think it had sadistic and tragic words in it. Also, it was a worldview where men could get pregnant too…
It wasn’t very recent that I read the novel. I had accidentally seen it in a folder my sister had hidden while using the computer before. I had only skimmed through it a little and was going to tease her about it, but the content was more shocking than expected, so I pretended not to know.
Well, from what I vaguely remember, it was probably a mess of a tragic story with otherworldly developments. Anyway, the name of the main character who appeared as the obsessive maniac in the novel was so shocking that I remembered the name exactly.
But how did I end up falling into such a strange place? It’s too vivid to be a dream…
‘Teacher!’
At that moment, along with a voice I could vaguely hear in my head, I remembered a truck that had been rushing toward me.
Huk, could it be… Did I get in a traffic accident on my way to work…?
That’s right, I had definitely passed the teaching certification exam this year and was assigned to a public kindergarten, and I was on my way to my first day of work…
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi?”
“Oh, yes…?”
I was dazed from the shock and was startled when I heard someone calling Chae Seungyeon. The man was staring at my face with a somewhat angry expression.
“This medicine, was it prescribed by a specialist?”
Medicine…
The man showed me a pill bottle he had taken from the bag. Somehow I felt like I knew what kind of medicine it was.
From what I remember in the original work, Chae Seungyeon had suffered from depression for a long time due to the contempt and criticism from his husband’s wealthy family. He was an orphan with nothing but his beautiful appearance and omega traits, and as soon as his husband died in a traffic accident, he took his own life. Leaving behind his only son.
So the reason his son became an obsessive maniac had such heartbreaking circumstances…
“Gwak Hyeol, that’s a wonderful name for your son.”
Huh? Are you serious about that?
At the man’s words as he looked at the child’s photo, I barely held back the words that almost slipped out of my mouth.
“That’s fortunate. There are no parts that need treatment externally, and you have cognitive ability too…”
“Yes… my condition is fine, but…”
“Do you have anyone around who can help you?”
“……”
I couldn’t say anything. There was no way I could call my family looking like this. I wondered if the call would even go through…
“…I could take you home as if nothing happened.”
The man pointed to the address written on Chae Seungyeon’s ID and asked as if he would do whatever I wanted. It seemed like a decision made with full understanding of my situation, and Chae Seungyeon’s situation.
What should I do…
If this place is really inside a novel, and if I’m really Chae Seungyeon… I shouldn’t go back to the house where Chae Seungyeon lived. In the original work, the cause of Chae Seungyeon’s long-standing depression was precisely his in-laws and their family members.
Also, if I really was trying to take my life on that bridge earlier… Those people who know about this situation will never leave me alone. I might end up locked up in a mental hospital. They were that dangerous.
“Then, this might sound strange, but…”
“……”
“Could I stay at your place for a while…?”
At my request, the man raised the corners of his mouth and immediately started the car.
*
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
