Her gaze that t mine bore down on .
It wasn't a feeling of being overwheld by fear like before.
It was a different, authoritarian gaze from a superior looking down on .
Tired, deeply sunken eyes were staring at .
As Dokyun blankly stared at those eyes, once again her mouth opened.
"You."
I shiver.
His body trembled involuntarily at the low voice.
Dokyun answered slowly, swallowing dry saliva down his throat as tension slowly built up.
"Yes"
"I asked what you were looking at."
The gaze, the tone, pressed down on him.
The still trembling heart and the fear that had not yet washed away completely made his gaze drop down.
His gaze fell all the way to her waist.
Imdiately after, a sound of a tongue clicking above his head was heard.
"Tsk, ugly bastard."
A slight surge of emotion ca with the muttering, but he didn't have the strength to expel it.
His mind was in a state of confusion, unable to understand the situation in front of him, unable to understand her.
The trembling that had taken over his body remained, shaking his fingertips. The sll of blood filling the room stuck stubbornly to his nostrils, tornting him.
As silence continued, she exhaled a sigh and began to move.
From Dokyun's gaze, a small key stuck from her waist belt, and she slowly began to release the restraints that bound Dokyun's body.
Click!
A faint sense of liberation swept over his body.
When Dokyun raised his head to look at her, she glanced at him briefly, then got up as if she had no interest in him and left the room.
Creak
The sound of the bolt moving and creaking echoed, followed by a brief silence.
Afterwards, alone in the room, Dokyun finally realized that he was alone, relaxed his body, and stretched out.
"Ugh"
A moan that was close to a sob ca out. His heart had not cald down. His hands were still trembling, and his eyes were hot.
'What'
Too much had happened in the blink of an eye. He covered his eyes with his trembling hands to calm himself.
He controlled his emotions. He needed to understand the situation.
Starting from the beginning, he carefully examined each detail to co to a conclusion about the situation.
He awakened his mind that had been overwheld by the chaotic accident and reviewed the events of the past day.
'For now'
The study room.
I entered that place, and she noticed it. She probably sensed it while she was out and hurried back.
Later, when she entered the house, she must have noticed looking at the diary, hit on the back of the head, knocked out, and then tied up here.
'Next'
The eyes I faced after regaining consciousness.
Chilling.
Once again, shivers ran down my spine. It was a gaze that suffocated just by thinking about it, even with my eyes tightly closed.
The expression on the face pushing against my neck. Mouth wide open, drooling saliva dripping from the grip of her wrist. The short laughter lingering in my ears.
I closed my eyes tightly, but the sensation seed to sharpen, so I took a long breath, trying to calm myself.
'Get a grip'
I had to pull myself together. It wasn't the ti to be trembling.
I erased the chilling mont and recalled what happened imdiately after.
The change in atmosphere right after she cut my wrist again.
Damn it.
The gaze I had seen just before, cursing and filled with frustration, resurfaced in my mind.
The worn-out expression tainted with annoyance and weariness.
'Another person'
The expression that seed completely different was engraved in my mind, and the continuous train of thought raised a possibility.
'Multiple personalities.'
The exact term.
'Dissociative Identity Disorder.'
A condition where multiple personalities inhabit one body.
"Ha"
Suddenly, a hollow laugh escaped.
Only then did the explanation of the sense of alienation that had been circling around beco clear.
Oh, I see!
The reason for preparing the confinent so ticulously and yet acting so carelessly. The strange gaze that appeared from ti to ti.
She must be filthy rich.
The reason for having so many clothes in the closet but hardly wearing any.
[Die.]
The words in a different handwriting on the last page of the diary.
Everything made sense.
Pieces that I never thought would fit together perfectly aligned on one possibility, revealing my true self.
'That ans'
The woman who just left outside.
'is her sister.'
Originally, it was the sa person. There was no sisterly bond with her.
And I dare to assu that the personality of 'sister' was involved in decorating this space where I was imprisoned or in the process of finding and kidnapping .
'If that's the case.'
She is not an ally.
The only thing I could think of right now was that.
I continued to think, but not all the questions were answered yet.
'Those eyes?'
The chilling eyes I saw. What were they?
'No, before that.'
Why did she refer to Eunah as a separate person?
When I first found out about the existence of Eunah, I rembered what I said back then.
'Then, when you co next ti, I'll greet you together.'
Clearly, the answer that ca back to that statent was positive. The answer that ca back to the word 'together' was positive.
The only thing I could think of was.
'She thinks of 'Eunah' as a separate person.'
Her ntal illness that she is suffering from might not be multiple personalities.
'or maybe.'
'The 'Eunah' side could be real.'
"Damn it"
My head beca more complicated. I solved one puzzle, but what was handed to was not a sweet reward but a more complicated new puzzle.
With the current clues, I couldn't solve a new puzzle. There were too few things I could infer.
Dokyun kept his head down and looked at the door.
To find out, he had to go outside the room.
When I finished thinking and tried to get up, my body twisted and staggered due to the sudden headache.
"Ugh!"
Pain spread from the back of my head.
It felt like I had been hit hard enough to make my bones ring.
It wasn't easy to stand up properly. There was still trembling in my fingertips, and I could feel my legs stumbling little by little.
I clenched my fist and bit it, trying to stand him up, but it wasn't easy.
Dokyun knew why he was swallowing his fear like this.
'Outside the door'
There was 'Eunah'. Most likely, she was not his ally.
"Whew"
He exhaled deeply and cald himself down.
The other person wouldn't be soone who couldn't communicate. It was a pretty oppressive and dark atmosphere, but at least conversation was possible.
He recalled the attitude she showed him.
'Probably indifference.'
An attitude that doesn't seem to an much to himself. If he did well, if he did really well, he could bring her in as his ally.
Through that 'Eunah', he could fill in the gaps that remained unknown.
Dokyun, who had gathered his thoughts, pinched his thigh to regain his composure and stepped out of the room.
Unlike the dark room, the living room was brightly lit, and in the middle of it, sitting on the sofa and reading a book, was 'Eunah'.
He hesitated.
Dokyun's footsteps, who had spotted Eunah, ca to a halt.
It wasn't a pause caused by fear.
What made Dokyun's footsteps stop was her outfit.
'Soone else?'
It was an outfit that felt so different.
Hair tied neatly in the back, stylish black-frad glasses, a knit sweater that went up to the neck, and black slacks.
She was wearing a neat outfit that was close to a suit, rather than the white dress I had seen so far.
Her facial features and body shape were the sa.
However, the expression drawn on her face and the outfit made her look like a completely different person.
As Dokyun stared blankly at that sight, her gaze, which had been lowered onto the book, turned towards Dokyun.
Afterwards, as Dokyun, who was shivering for a mont as his eyes t the eyes that had lost their vitality, was about to speak with his fists clenched, her mouth opened first.
"20061024"
An 8-digit number.
As Dokyun remained dumbfounded at the words delivered without context, the woman who was watching him spoke again.
"It's the entrance passcode."
"Ah."
Panic set in.
'Suddenly?'
As he stared at her with wide eyes full of surprise, she exhaled and spoke again.
"Get out."
It felt like all the hypotheses he had just built up had turned into blank pages.
He thought she wouldn't be an ally. It was obvious. No matter how much he thought about it, 'Go Eunah' did not have the ticulousness to confine him.
She was like a woman with a missing screw, with flaws in every action she took.
That's why he thought she had trapped him here.
'But'
And now she's suddenly letting go?
His lips trembled. He needed to say sothing, but the words wouldn't co out.
As he stood still for a mont, she, with a frown on her face, opened her mouth again.
"Aren't you leaving?"
A prompting remark. Feeling bewildered by her words, Dokyun voiced his rising doubts.
"Why are you letting go?"
He didn't know what kind of person she was, but from her visible attitude, he could tell that he needed to maintain a courteous deanor.
As Dokyun spoke and looked at her, she slightly frowned and responded to his question.
"Is that important?"
"What?"
"Don't you want to leave?"
After saying that and looking at him for a mont without a response, she deepened the frown on her face and spoke again.
"Are you going to stay here forever?"
It felt like a blow to the head.
The mont he heard those words, Dokyun forgot all the words he had prepared.
In his empty mind, the realities he had been avoiding all ca rushing in at once.
Her words continued in his ears.
"You probably have a family."
A family, with a mom and dad. And a cat. Even though they didn't communicate often, if he were to disappear, there would be a family who would worry more than anyone.
"You probably have a job too."
He did. He had a job that he had persistently clung to, possibly being cut off for over two weeks due to unauthorized absence.
"You probably have a life too."
He had a studio apartnt. His life was there. He had hobbies, friends to et, a convenience store he frequented, a park he went for walks on weekends, and neighbors he greeted when they crossed paths.
"I should go out, right?"
His mouth shut involuntarily. He turned his head in the direction of the front door.
Once he crossed that door, he could leave this place.
He could see the end of this suffocating confinent.
As he looked at her again, a smiling face with one corner of his mouth raised appeared.
"No need to worry about being kidnapped again. That girl can't do anything on her own."
A piercing remark was heard.
'I can leave.'
As that thought ca to him, his chest tightened. There was a suffocating emotion welling up inside him.
Then, as he took a step towards the front door.
A small figure that had been clinging to him stubbornly ca to mind.
The face that had stuck to him all day without a mont's rest, like a leech, ca to mind.
It shouldn't have co to mind, but once he left through that door, it would be over.
That smile ca to mind and tornted him.
His steps did not falter.
Just monts ago, he had witnessed such a terrible sight, yet foolishly, he rembered that smile.
Pausing for a mont, Dokyun opened his mouth, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor, and spoke.
"If I leave"
"Hmm?"
"What will happen to Eunah?"
Snicker.
A small laughter was heard, followed by her words.
"Is it important?"
After a brief silence, she spoke again.
"You seem to have caught on by calling her 'Eunah'"
The deep tone continued with a hint of doubt.
"I don't know why you're doing that."
It's the sa feeling. She didn't know why she was asking such a question either.
"Can you handle it if you find out?"
The words that ca were like a stab to the heart.
"Get a grip. She's a woman you've only known for two weeks. Isn't she a stranger?"
A stranger.
The word felt like a stab in the gut. She didn't know why. It just felt that way.
Unnie continued her reasoning.
"Once you cross the front door, it will be over, so why bother asking that?"
Imdiately after, she spoke with a tone tinged with amusent.
"So, are you a love at first sight? Those who start having feelings as soon as they see soone. Are you one of those?"
Shiver.
His body trembled.
Love at first sight, is it right to see this as love at first sight? Speaking frankly, the only thing they did together was mix bodies.
Thinking rationally, it was just a fling.
Yet, that smile directed at him ca to mind. The warmth that embraced him as if he were the whole world, the warmth that seed to say the world would end if he disappeared, ca to mind.
"Get a grip. Next ti, it could be your wrist."
The chilling pupils that erged and the wrist that was drawn straight brought forth fear once again.
"If you leave, it's over. Now it's goodbye forever with this crazy bastard."
That's right. It's really the right thing to say
"It's fucked up."
It was fucked up. That expression was just right.
I raised my head and turned around. I saw a face that was smiling slyly, as if mocking .
The reason it was fucked up was probably because that woman seed to be mocking herself, making angry, that must be it.
I shifted my steps towards the entrance and approached her.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"I'll take care of it myself."
After taking a deep breath for a mont, I spoke again.
"I think I need to know because if I keep going like this, I might not be able to sleep properly."
Yes, that reason seems good.
As a victim of injustice, I need to know the progress of the incident.
I need to know what the perpetrator will go through.
Not because of the smile that tornts , the body temperature that seems to be dropping, or the hesitant laughter, but as a victim.
"Please tell ."
I would feel more at ease if I knew a little more.
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