Episode 9
The voice wouldn’t come out.
It felt like somewhere was burning, writhing in agony, but with the red snake coiled around me, I could only squirm on the ground like an insect.
The snake flicked its black tongue towards me.
The horror of it was as dreadful as the pain that the snake was devouring my body, and I could do nothing but writhe in agony, unable to even scream internally.
Then, within the shaky red view, a familiar face appeared.
“Ugh… Baek Ha-won! Baek Ha-won! Help me…!”
I screamed with all my strength, but the tape covering my mouth blocked the sound, and I could only squirm inwardly as if about to burst.
“I didn’t expect the leader of Baekcheon to come personally.”
A languid voice echoed, and within the red flames, brightly shining hair fluttered.
Another face I recognized.
“Your name is,”
“…”
“Yugyeom?”
Twisting the corner of his mouth, Baek Ha-won wiped away the blood on the gun, and his eyes, always vacant, stared sharply at Yugyeom.
It was a moment when his usually empty gaze was filled with Yugyeom.
A cold hand grabbed my collar and lifted me up, and I slumped powerlessly. Yugyeom, who had been alternating between looking at me and Baek Ha-won, chuckled.
“We had a bit of trouble finding you, but luckily, you’ve been found.”
Baek Ha-won’s fingers came down my cheek, and I sagged, powerless. Yugyeom, who had been switching his gaze between me and Baek Ha-won, chuckled.
“He’s been looking for you, but you don’t resemble him at all. The princess is too pretty, don’t you think?”
Yugyeom’s gentle voice and Baek Ha-won’s sweet laughter as he turned his head towards Baek Ha-won felt suffocating.
I need to escape.
But contrary to my thoughts, my body wouldn’t budge.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, there was nothing I could do according to my will.
“Did you come all this way for that one little thing?”
A twisted laugh accompanied the words, and my heart sank.
“Just to show you what happens if you touch anything.”
Desperately.
At the fingertips, stretched out with breathless urgency, a piece of clothing was caught.
As I pulled with all my might, the face that came into view left me momentarily stunned.
What’s going on?
Why are you…
“Chae Yeon-byeol.”
Why are you?
I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak as the face grinned widely.
Bang!!
And then, darkness.
* * *
“Aaah-!”
I screamed, jolting up from the bed.
Breathing heavily, wiping sweaty hair away with cold sweat, I felt a sense of relief that it was just a dream, but simultaneously, a bitter feeling of unease crept in.
The surroundings soon came into view, and before the relief of realizing it was a dream fully set in, a sharp sense of discomfort struck.
“Let’s go together.”
“…”
“To my hell.”
…Insane.
Everything was unfamiliar.
The moderately-sized room was surprisingly empty. Besides the bed I was lying on, a desk, and a bookshelf that filled the entire wall, there was nothing else.
Moreover, except for a small window, everything was tightly sealed, making it hard to breathe.
I gasped for air, swallowing the incoming breath, and got off the bed, heading towards the window.
“This is driving me crazy.”
The tightly packed buildings and sparkling city lights below.
Was he trying to create an opposing view even in this aspect? Utopia’s headquarters was a 66-story building right in the middle of the city.
I recalled my acrophobia, which I had forgotten, and my stomach churned as I stepped back. Because of my acrophobia, I had never even been to the 63 Building in Seoul in the 25 years I lived there.
The room seemed to be the one I used before; the furniture and items were old and worn. Seeing the dust piled up, it seemed like there wasn’t much maintenance or cleaning.
I explored the room more, but what I wanted didn’t seem to be there.
“What’s going on?”
There was no door.
The door was filled with a lock, but there was no door at all.
All around were walls and books. Typically, in such rooms, if you touch the thickest book, there might be a room behind the bookshelf.
Moving my steps while brushing my hand against the books, most of the books on the tall bookshelf that reached the high ceiling were ones I couldn’t read or understand.
After making a full circle, there was still no door magically opening.
“Is a slight touch not enough?”
Thinking that way, I repeated taking out and putting back each book. With a creaking sound, similar to what I expected, a gentle voice came along with the sound behind me.
“What are you doing?”
Turning around, there was Yugyeom, leaning against the wall with a twisted smile.
Yugyeom lazily shifted his gaze to my hand touching the bookshelf, then burst into a laugh as if the wind was escaping.
“A secret door behind the bookshelf is too cliché.”
Looking at the wall that was like a revolving door behind him, I awkwardly withdrew my hand from the books.
He tapped the wall again, laughing as I stared at him with big, round eyes.
“You can’t open it from the inside, this thing.”
Ah.
Right. I’ve been kidnapped.
Suddenly, the reality that had befallen me was really sinking in.
And the vivid dream I had started to come back to me.
Was my subconscious tangled up in the contents of the novel, revealing the original fate of Chae Yeon-byeol, or did it glimpse my future? The thought sent shivers down my spine.
Only now did I notice the white rope in Yugyeom’s hand.
“Tying me up so I can’t escape?!”
With every slight movement of Yugyeom, the shaking of the rope added more ominous images in my mind.
Countless kidnapping and confinement novel scenarios I once immersed myself in flashed through my head.
Moreover, if things continued like this, I would die!
If everything followed the flow like in a novel, on the day when Baek Ha-won came to Utopia to save me, I would die in the hands of that person, beautifully smiling in front of me.
The white rope in that person’s hand.
“You were going to run away if the door opened, weren’t you?”
Many things had already gone off track, but in the end, the key events had occurred, and Yugyeom and Baek Ha-won’s first meeting had already passed.
No matter how harsh they may seem on the surface, who knows?
Without them knowing, they might keep thinking about each other and eventually fall in love.
“Do you have anything you want to say? Anything you’re curious about?”
Yugyeom, sitting on the bed where I had been lying, grimaced as if suppressing a groan.
He leaned towards my side, the side where I had been shot, but sensing my gaze, he deftly pulled the blanket to cover it and continued speaking.
“There must be a lot you’re curious about.”
He laughed so quickly, almost as if questioning if he had seen wrong. But the last time I saw him, his condition was a mess.
“Are you okay where you’re hurt?”
At my question, Yugyeom’s eyes slightly widened. His reaction wasn’t particularly surprising. I knew that he was someone who hadn’t received such concern before, and that’s why I brought up the topic.
‘I liked you.’
‘But this is too much.’
Because the words I spat out already came to mind.
‘You said you liked me.’
‘Even if you kill me as a hostage, I should hear the reason and then die.’
And Yugyeom’s harsh words as well.
If it weren’t for Yugyeom being in front of me, I would want to tear my hair out in frustration.
If I say it’s a lie now, will he really kill me?
Honestly, I didn’t want to get involved with Baek Ha-won or Yugyeom.
I had supported their love, and more than anything, even if I had the appearance of Chae Yeon-byeol, I had no confidence in competing and winning against either of them.
But the issue of liking or disliking was already no longer a concern.
I didn’t want to die like Chae Yeon-byeol in the novel.
“You got hurt a lot.”
I looked at him, squeezing the hand hidden behind my back.
The only way to survive here was to make sure Yugyeom couldn’t kill me.
I hadn’t even tried to gain Baek Ha-won’s favor and had given up, but Yugyeom was now the only path laid out in front of me.
“Did you receive treatment?”
Yeah, just close your eyes.
Let’s annoy him a bit.
Just a little bit. It would be a bit pitiful to kill him, wouldn’t it? I thought so just enough.
Waves rose in his light pupils. After briefly looking at me, Yugyeom chuckled and got up from the bed.
“Are you worrying about me in this situation?”
“I’m not foolish enough to worry about the kidnapper to that extent.”
“If you’re not a fool, then you just have to act like one in these situations.”
Realizing what I said, I bit my lip in regret.
Although I regretted it, I couldn’t take back the words I had already spoken.
So, instead, I decided to brazen it out.
“You said you’re best at lying.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“So, I’m not lying. I don’t want to get caught.”
At my words, Yugyeom grinned like a child who received a new toy.
“Wow, really?”
“…”
“You won’t lie, for real?”
Yugyeom took a step, then another, closing the distance between us.
Each time he approached, the dangling string in his hand felt like an unspoken pressure, causing me to unintentionally step back, avoiding his gaze.
It wasn’t until my back touched the wall that I realized Yugyeom, who had come close enough for our breaths to mingle. He placed his hand on the wall beside me and looked down.
“So, don’t lie and tell me honestly.”
The leaning wall shifted slightly under its weight.
What is he trying to ask?
Even though I promised not to lie, whether I could keep that promise was uncertain. In fact, all the words I was saying might be lies from the start.
As his gaze intensified, a sudden mischievous thought made me more uneasy.
“Why did you like me?”
“No!”
Why is the ominous premonition always accurate? In response to the unexpectedly thrown question I wanted to avoid the most, I screamed like a shriek without thinking and covered my mouth in surprise.
Crazy. I’m crazy, Chae Yeon-byeol.
“Oh… no, no.”
Still covering my mouth, I mumbled as if incoherent. Even though my mouth was covered, Yugyeom tilted his head.
“What’s not?”
Swish—
Feeling the soft touch of fabric brushing against me, I inadvertently glanced toward his hand, which was too close. Without realizing it, I removed both hands from my mouth and hid them behind my back.
At that moment, my gaze, which had been on the floor, rose.
Because his hand gently held my chin.
“It seems to be your preference.”
His eyes, which should have been warm, looked somehow cold and intense with a deep color.
Yugyeom, with the hand holding the string, grabbed my wrist and pulled it forward.
As his eyes relentlessly scrutinized my face, the warm yet teasing voice tickled my ears.
“I…”
Thunk—
The door that wouldn’t open from the inside closed.
