READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 77
Si-Hoo has been acting weird lately.
Like, really weird.
When he’s not off somewhere, he just vanishes.
And he keeps giving me pills.
Pills I have no clue where they come from.
Something feels off, but Si-Hoo insists everything’s fine.
Every time he grins brightly, there’s this twinge in his expression.
I can’t figure out why he’s lost that smile.
Time for bed.
I’ve been sleeping a lot these days.
It’s strange.
But Si-Hoo said he’s not weird at all.
“Si-Hoo?”
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“Oh, uhh…”
Maybe I’ve gotten a bit too big to sleep together.
I don’t even know how that happened.
But I’ve definitely grown taller.
Such a bizarre phenomenon.
I just can’t wrap my head around it.
“Why?”
“I have something to do. Sleep tight.”
“Okay.”
Si-Hoo turns off the light and heads out.
Off he goes again.
What’s he up to?
Should I follow him?
“…Don’t follow me.”
“Okay…”
I really should listen to Si-Hoo.
I have to.
Otherwise, I feel like he’ll get sad.
I pull the blanket over and snuggle in tightly.
There used to be bandages covering my scars and wounds.
But at some point, they vanished.
I don’t understand.
Did the medicine I took cure everything?
Since Si-Hoo said nothing was wrong, that must be it.
“…Weird.”
I feel like leftover cake.
Ah, I want cake.
I had it once.
They gave me a slice on my birthday at the shelter.
It was so good that I told them it was my birthday again the next day, but they said I couldn’t lie.
Why not?
Someone else must have had a birthday that day.
I don’t even know when my own birthday is.
Is there a rule against treating every day like your birthday?
I don’t even know how old I am.
I never did, but now I’m even more clueless.
I can’t remember.
I drift off halfway through.
How many hours did I sleep?
“…Cold…”
Something’s definitely gone wrong.
There’s a problem for sure.
My body feels strange.
Wham.
I kick the blanket off and sit up.
“Why’s this happening…”
I feel this shiver running through me.
Even with the blanket, I’m cold.
“Si, Si-Hoo?”
Where are you?
Haven’t you come back yet?
Creek.
I open the door and peek outside.
The cold wind hits me.
It’s dark.
This place isn’t familiar.
I want to find the shelter, but I don’t know the way.
I need medicine.
So that’s why Si-Hoo gave me those pills.
I didn’t want to take them, so I just pretended.
Something went wrong.
“Ah, medicine. Where did I put it…”
Si-Hoo brought me medicine from somewhere.
But I don’t know where that is.
I sift through the shelves one by one.
It’s strange.
This is my home, but it feels foreign.
“Where could it be~…?”
I thought about singing a fun song, but it didn’t work out.
“This is totally not fun.”
Usually, I wouldn’t wake up like this.
Yet here I am, wide awake.
Why is this happening to me?
Aah.
No thanks.
“Eek.”
I feel the sensation of bugs crawling on me.
My body feels strange.
I crawl back under the covers.
“Si-Hoo, Si-Hoo, Si-Hoo? Si-Hoo? Si-Hoo.”
He said I’d be fine.
He assured me there are no problems at all.
Why is this happening?
I just don’t get it.
Not at all.
“-Seo-Ah?”
It’s Si-Hoo.
He runs in, panting like he just dashed over.
I thought he’d come when I called.
“Give me the medicine. I’m hurt. Am I sick?”
“Ah, uhh… Yeah, it seems like it.”
“Sorry. I didn’t take it because I didn’t want to, but I’ll do better next time.”
“Ah… That’s okay. I’ll give it to you. The medicine.”
Si-Hoo searches through his pocket.
“Where have you been?”
“…Just taking a walk at night.”
“You didn’t sleep at this hour?”
Valid question.
It’s a question one should ask.
“I have my reasons.”
He won’t tell me.
Why not?
I don’t understand.
I didn’t ask anything unreasonable.
Si-Hoo pulls out the medicine.
I swallow the pill without water.
Pouting about how hard it was to swallow was pretty dumb.
As time passes, it settles down.
Sleepiness returns.
Si-Hoo looks somewhat uncomfortable.
“Sleep.”
He seems to be urging me to get back under the covers.
“…What about you?”
“I… still have things to do.”
“Around here?”
“Yeah. I need to go soon.”
“Why?”
“It’s important.”
“Can’t you tell me? Stay with me.”
“…You’re noisy…”
Huh?
What did he just say?
Si-Hoo looks like he just realized the words he said.
“Si, s-sorry… right.”
Well, it was actually me calling him multiple times at night.
I was the one whining instead of taking my medicine.
I was the one throwing out questions like a machine gun.
Si-Hoo must be exhausted too; I was selfish.
“Ah—no, that’s not what I meant…”
“I’m going to sleep now. You do your best. Finish what you need to.”
I crawl back under the covers.
Si-Hoo hesitates for a moment, then rushes out of the house again.
Seems like he’s got something really important to do.
He must be busy.
What on earth is he doing to be in such a hurry?
I have no clue.
***
The next morning.
The moment I wake up, I search for Si-Hoo.
I find him quickly.
Si-Hoo is collapsed in the hallway, sleeping.
“Huh…? You’ll catch a cold sleeping here.”
I poke him and he doesn’t wake up.
“Si-Hoo?”
What on earth did he do last night?
This is definitely odd.
Is he wandering off and doing things alone?
I want to have a serious talk when he wakes up.
I drag Si-Hoo to a spot with blankets.
How tired must he be to sleep like this?
I guess he should stay like this.
His clothes are soaked.
“…Blood?”
I lift his shirt but don’t see any wounds.
I roll up his sleeves but there’s no place for blood to come from.
“Huh…”
There’s definitely something I’m missing.
I take a closer look at Si-Hoo’s arm.
A strangely familiar mark appears.
Injection mark.
“Huh…?”
Several of them.
Why did Si-Hoo get a shot?
Perhaps it was just a routine vaccination, but that seems odd.
Then what? Just needle marks, like he got poked somewhere?
That feels weird too.
So strange.
I can’t make any sense of this.
Can I?
I want to understand.
I really do.
But I can’t grasp it at all.
“Si-Hoo?”
He’s breathing.
He seems really exhausted.
He carries a vibe like he just got back from a fight.
Looks like he barely made it home.
“…Si-Hoo?”
The world feels upside down.
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
He looks like he is.
Cold sweat runs down him.
He looks dangerous.
“Hey, I’m going to get the medicine.”
I rummage through Si-Hoo’s clothes, but no medicine comes out.
I’ve checked all the storage spaces in our house.
But no medicine appears.
Except for one place.
The spot Si-Hoo told me not to open.
The bottom drawer.
I’m not supposed to open it.
He told me not to.
Is that a good enough reason to not look?
I ask myself, but I can’t find the answer.
My mind feels twisted.
This is for Si-Hoo!
Clunk.
It’s locked.
Hmm, so Si-Hoo didn’t trust me.
Shake, shake, shake.
Nope, it won’t budge.
There’s something important in there.
It has to be.
It better be.
Si-Hoo says he’s not feeling well.
I need a tool; you need a tool to get a tool.
Soon enough, I find a suitable tool.
A kitchen knife.
Stab, stab.
I poke and prod the drawer until the blade dulls, and I turn it in the keyhole.
And then suddenly—bam!—it opens.
“It’s opened.”
But inside, there’s only a strange scrap of paper.
Did Si-Hoo organize everything?
Well, at least I’ll read the scrap of paper.
“…Antipsychotic medication? Uh… delusions, hallucinations, cognitive disabilities… dosage…”
Looks like a medicine guide.
It’s definitely not cold medicine.
I wanted to read more, but maybe because it was wet, the letters are all smudged.
“Hmm…”
I toss the paper aside, thinking about searching for the medicine elsewhere, but then I reconsider.
The fact that there’s a guide means he must have used this medicine at some point, right?
What kind of medicine is it?
Antipsychotic medication?
Just hearing “mental illness” makes me uneasy.
Was there a mental issue?
Who had it?
Me?
No way.
This has to be about Si-Hoo.
No.
That’s weird too.
“On the back… about memory loss—”
This is important.
I snatch the paper back.
“-Where did you get this?”
Si-Hoo asks me with sleepy eyes.
Looks like he’s finally awake.
“Good! I was looking for medicine just in case. You’re okay, right?”
“Where did you get this?”
“Uh, um…”
“I told you not to open it.”
He seems angry.
“I thought you needed medicine…”
“Sigh.”
He sighs as he looks at the broken drawer and the detached knife.
“I’m sorry…?”
That’s not such a massive blunder, right?
“Ah, my head is throbbing.”
“Uhh, are you okay?”
Si-Hoo hardly ever says he’s hurting.
If he’s saying it, then he really must be in pain.
He definitely needs medicine.
“Aaargh… damn. The penalty…”
He’s talking tough.
What’s this about a penalty?
What on earth did he get into?
Did he catch a terrible cold on his adventures outside?
“That shot hurt, too.”
That’s a weird assumption to make.
“…What?”
“It’s that injection mark, right?”
I point to Si-Hoo’s arm.
“Huh? Oh.”
Only then does he notice his sleeve is rolled up.
He looks flustered.
“Oh, right. That’s kind of the deal.”
“Right? Where did you get it?”
“At a familiar hospital.”
“A hospital…?”
There’s no hospital around here.
We’d have to travel deep into the city to find one.
Is it just me, or does Si-Hoo’s tone feel unusually tense?
Something’s off with Si-Hoo.
“So… is it hurting a lot?”
“Don’t worry about it. Don’t concern yourself. Sorry. I’m just a bit under the weather. I’ll be fine soon.”
“Okay…”
The atmosphere has grown quite dark.
I only wanted to help Si-Hoo.
Did I end up doing nothing to assist him?
This is an entirely new experience for me.
This is the first I’ve seen him in such a weird state.
If he’s in pain, where does it hurt?
Is it because of the medicine?
It doesn’t seem to be related to an injection from a hospital.
Suddenly, the image of drug addicts seen on the street comes to mind.
Drug addiction?
Could it be Si-Hoo?
No way.
That can’t be true.
Si-Hoo is too smart for that.
But just to be safe, I’ll have to secretly follow him next time he goes out.
I’m so curious about what he’s been up to.