I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Sui**de

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The person who saved me wasn’t Kim Shinwoo.

Why?

Why are you here?

In the eyes behind the glasses, Yu Hana was crying.

Was it from pain?

Or sadness?

I couldn’t tell at all.

“Cough···! Cough!”

I tried to speak, straining my throat, but only a cough came out.

My neck, tightened by the rope, hurt.

I should have just died.

“Let go···. Let go!”

No matter how much I shouted, my raspy voice only came out as a whisper.

I pushed my hand against my chest.

It didn’t budge.

It was right in front of me.

I could have died.

I even lied to Kim Shinwoo.

I tarnished our memories.

Just to get this far.

“Are you okay?”

Am I okay···?

Is that really what you want to ask right now?

Blood rushed to my head.

I felt dizzy.

It was like someone was playing with my brain.

“It was really dangerous. You were on the brink of death.”

He’s not joking around, is he?

It was so absurd that I couldn’t even get mad.

“Put me down···. Please.”

He stared at me intensely before gently laying me down on the bed.

It was soft.

I wanted to fall asleep just like this.

But that wasn’t an option.

As I tried to lift my head, he stopped me.

“Please lie down. You must be feeling quite dizzy right now.”

“…How did you get in?”

“Somehow, the lock on the door was melted. Did you use a laser or something?”

A laser?

Is that his excuse for just barging in?

Who does he expect me to believe that ridiculous excuse from?

“How did you get into the dorm?”

“It’s not wrong for a teacher to come check on a student, is it?”

That doesn’t make sense either.

The girls’ dormitory is a forbidden area.

That goes for anyone, including teachers.

No matter what trick he pulled, there’s no doubt he snuck in.

My eyelids were getting heavier.

If I just closed my eyes once, I might just pass out.

So I forced myself to keep them wide open.

“…How did you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“You knew I was trying to die and stopped me, right?”

There’s no way that was a coincidence.

To save me at such a precise timing.

He didn’t seem surprised at all by my state.

“Hmm. I found out by chance. That you attempted suicide.”

I can’t believe “by chance” means anything.

Someone had to have told him.

Who could it be?

The names that came to mind were limited to four.

The class president.

The health teacher.

The hardware store owner.

And… the protagonist.

But the last one was definitely not the case.

Not at all.

Among the three, who is it?

In any case, it’s going to be hard to trust anyone now.

The fact that this man was informed means he’s the same type of person.

A demon.

The main villain group from the original work.

Some demons had infiltrated the academy as well.

Among them, there were some I knew thanks to the original, and others I didn’t.

That guy, who introduced himself as the science teacher, was definitely one of them.

There was no way he’d give me that suspicious drug otherwise.

I wanted to ask who told him, but I decided to stop.

He probably wouldn’t tell me anyway.

What should I do now?

I absolutely cannot get involved with a demon.

For it was a demon that corrupted Yu Hana.

“Did you come here to kill me?”

At my question, the demon frowned.

“What are you talking about? I rushed over because I was worried that Hana would make an extreme choice.”

“Ha. Of course, you would.”

It would be better if you just killed me quickly.

Yu Hana’s awakening condition is death.

In other words, it doesn’t necessarily have to be suicide.

But it seems the demon has no intention of killing me.

Is he trying to use me?

That’s for sure.

That drug is probably for that purpose.

To drag me into pleasure and make me obey his orders.

Why am I the chosen one?

It’s simple.

Yu Hana is Kim Shinwoo’s only childhood friend.

As time passes, her significance gradually diminishes.

But at the current early stage of the story, Yu Hana is still his closest friend.

In other words, this demon is plotting to use me to capture the protagonist.

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised. When I saw Hana yesterday, I thought she was bright and innocent, but I didn’t know she was hurting so badly that she’d want to die.”

He lies with a straight face, not even blinking.

Thinking about the intentions hidden behind that mask is utterly disgusting.

“Didn’t you take the drug I gave you? If you had, you wouldn’t even think about suicide.”

His true colors are showing.

Yeah. He probably wants me to be addicted to it and wandering.

Do you think I’d just roll over and let it happen? Absolutely not.

Even if I’m going to die, I’m not going to make it easy for you.

Besides, I have to die anyway.

“I- I don’t like strawberry flavors.”

“So you’ve tried it. Should I call that foolishness or greatness?”

“I won’t take any suspicious vitamin supplements!”

Despair washes over me.

From the start, I couldn’t sleep all night due to self-harming while being toyed with by that pill.

An ordinary body with no special abilities couldn’t shake off its effects.

Get a grip.

If I fall asleep here, it’ll truly be the end.

I might get brainwashed or hypnotized, unable to kill myself and instead become a slave.

I pinched my thigh as hard as I could.

Hard enough to bruise.

It hurt enough to curse.

Even if I got my mind together, my body was already addicted to pleasure.

When pain washed over me instead of pleasure, my brain fiercely resisted.

I feel like I’m going crazy.

I really wish someone would just kill me.

Oh, how nice would it be if Hong Yeonhwa suddenly appeared and burned me to a crisp.

I might just fall in love for real.

“You’ve figured it out. The drug I gave you isn’t a vitamin.”

Wow. You really are annoying.

How can you say something so infuriatingly?

“My drug brings happiness. It helps you completely forget all the pain that tormented you, Hana.”

“…Get lost.”

This is my limit.

Ultimately, I couldn’t withstand the fatigue and closed my eyes.

Exactly two seconds later.

I opened my eyes again.

I opened my mouth, but no scream came out.

Why?

Why?

Why so soon?

Why is the attack coming this fast?

Another wave of pain began.

This time, I knew I couldn’t withstand it.

Both my body and mind had turned to rags, and this pain was far beyond what I could bear.

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.

Gradually, my mind went blank.

Pain was etched into the white canvas like ink spilled over a blank sheet of paper.

It hurts.

It really hurts.

Why do I have to endure such suffering?

It’s too much.

Why is it so painful? Can’t you just kill me? What did I do wrong for this? Please save me. No, I just wish I’d die quickly. I should have definitely died when I hung myself with that rope, but suddenly a demon came by and this happened. Would it have been different if it was Kim Shinwoo instead of a demon?

I want to die quickly, whatever it takes.

“Looks like you’re in a lot of pain.”

It hurts.

It hurts.

“Don’t you already know the way to relieve that pain?”

A way to eliminate the pain.

A way to bring happiness.

Strawberry.

“If you take this, you can be happy. Of course.”

The devil tempts me.

“The choice is entirely up to you, Hana.”

In his hand was a gleaming red pill.

I stared at it in a daze.

Then, slowly, I opened my mouth.

*

After Hana left.

Shinwoo stood for a while in a daze.

Something felt off.

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but it was certain that something had changed.

There were a few ideas that came to mind.

The bandage on my wrist.

The rope.

The awkward smile.

Yu Hana.

After pondering for a while, Shinwoo took out his phone and made a call.

“Kyung Ah, can we meet for a moment?”

“Where at?”

“Come to the café.”

Kyung Ah arrived very early.

She was out of breath, as if she had run, and was different than usual.

The two sat facing each other, lapsed into silence for a moment.

Neither knew how to broach the subject.

Eventually, Shinwoo spoke first.

“…Do you know if Hana has seemed different than usual?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I can’t explain it, but something feels off. Hana seems a bit different.”

Kyung Ah wore a complicated expression.

“Ha. Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“What?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know, or are you pretending not to know because you do?”

“…”

“Do you seriously believe that ridiculous excuse? That the injury was just a paper cut and she skipped class because she was reading a book?”

Of course, I don’t believe it.

The hardware store owner, who saw Hana for the first time, noticed right away.

The fact that her childhood friend of 18 years didn’t catch even a whiff of that is absurd.

Especially because of the closeness of their friendship.

Shinwoo repeatedly denied and denied it again.

There’s no way Hana would do that.

…She wouldn’t attempt suicide.

But pretending it doesn’t exist won’t make it untrue.

In the end, the truth must be faced to resolve the issue.

“Please. If you know anything, please tell me. Anything, please···.”

At Shinwoo’s desperate eyes, Kyung Ah finally confessed everything she had seen.

“Hana has been self-harming… Why?”

“How would I know the exact reason? But it’s clear she’s been looking really unwell.”

“…Hana.”

I’m confused.

And my irritation skyrockets.

I feel frustrated about not noticing my best friend’s struggles.

“I need to go see her.”

“…You’re going? You could just call her.”

“No. Something feels ominous.”

The rope keeps lingering in my mind.

I had a gut feeling that if I called her now, she wouldn’t answer.

“How do you plan to go? I’ll go check on her.”

The girls’ dormitory is off-limits.

Shinwoo had originally planned to ask Kyung Ah once more.

But that can’t happen.

He must check it for himself.

He felt that this suffocating feeling might ease a bit if he does.

“It’s okay. I’m confident I won’t be caught.”

Using his abilities, it’s not a difficult task.

“You…”

“I’ll go. Thanks for telling me.”

Shinwoo dashed out of the café.

He ran with all his might.

“What is this…?”

Having successfully entered the dorm, Shinwoo stood in front of Hana’s door, mumbling seriously.

The door was broken.

It had clearly been smashed intentionally.

Not through force but through heat.

Pushing aside his ominous feelings, he opened the door.

Upon seeing the living room scene, he nearly crumbled.

A rope that began at the ceiling snaked downwards.

The shape of the knot would remind anyone of only one person.

Suicide.

“Huhh… Huhh…”

The silver lining was that no one was tied up in that knot.

Hana’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

His head, which had been searching for his childhood friend, froze in a single direction.

In the corner of the room, someone was quietly sitting in a chair without making a sound.

“Who are you?”

Just from the silhouette, it was clear that it wasn’t Hana.

It was a man. There was no reason for a man to be there.

“It’s Kim Shinwoo, isn’t it?”

“Who are you?!”

Shinwoo approached him.

Then he had to stop in his tracks.

He hadn’t been able to see the bed behind the man.

On it lay Hana, sleeping peacefully.

The man sat beside the slumbering Hana.

He gently stroked her hair.

The moment Shinwoo saw that, his mind snapped.

He grabbed the man by the collar and unleashed his powers.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Is that what you mean? I’m the science teacher.”