I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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Si-Hoo is coming.

I’m not a monster.

I asked for forgiveness, so why is he coming here?

I need to run away.

I haven’t received proper treatment yet.

Given my strange condition, I don’t want to meet Si-Hoo right now.

Although I asked the Saintess to come, I never told Si-Hoo.

Is that really Si-Hoo?

He looks like he’s been hurt badly.

“Seo-Ah?”

Seo-Ah?

If you tear off all the petals of a flower, is it still a flower?

After peeling away my self, my personality, my humanity, and reason, what remains is something barely human.

“I’m not Seo-Ah.”

Seo-Ah is cuter, kinder, and purer than me.

“Everything will be fine, so… Seo-Ah…”

Who is Seo-Ah?

I’m telling you, it’s not me.

I’m not that kind of person.

“No, I’m… a tuna can!”

That much makes sense.

There’s no place where it says I’m Yoo Seo-Ah.

But it does say tuna can on me.

“Huh…?”

“Ah, hello! I’m Tuna Can. It’s a pretty name, right? You gave it to me, so now I have to protect it. Isn’t that right? We’ll take it to Seo-Ah together.”

“What… are you talking about…”

You don’t get it?

That’s understandable.

But it doesn’t matter.

“You just came back from the Academy, right? Seo-Ah was at home. She was, wasn’t she?”

She should be there if you go home.

“I’m just a tuna can, so I wouldn’t know. But Seo-Ah must have really wanted to play with you.”

I talk about what’s been going on.

What happened.

It’s been a while since we last met.

“When you didn’t come, I looked at your house through the window, but you weren’t there. Oh, do you know? Your room curtain waved at me. It told me to wait. So, I waited. All day.”

All day long.

One day, two days, three days, four days passed.

But Si-Hoo showed no intention of coming.

“You didn’t come to Seo-Ah after all, did you? Of course, why would you? You have other friends besides Seo-Ah. But isn’t it funny? Seo-Ah was waiting for you, but I saw you walking and laughing with someone else. I definitely saw it. You were talking to them, laughing with them. But it’s okay. Really, it’s okay. You should do what makes you happy. I’ll just sit here. I’ve always been that kind of person. I understand if you hate me. Someone like me could never be a friend. Nobody likes someone like me.”

What nonsense am I spouting?

“But why are you just standing there? If you stand still like that… you know… it’s like you’re hiding something. Are you trying to reassure me while planning to attack? You’re hiding something too, aren’t you? Aren’t you? You’re not telling me something you’re supposed to, right? Why aren’t you answering?!”

“……”

Han Si-Hoo opens his mouth like he’s about to say something but hesitates for a moment.

Our eyes meet.

Si-Hoo, looking startled, speaks.

“Seo-Ah, your eyes…”

Eyes?

It seems I accidentally removed the hand covering my eyes.

Did he see?

I covered them again.

“E-eyes? No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired, that’s all. Yeah, I’m tired. I’m definitely not a monster.”

“No one thinks you’re a monster.”

“Well, I’m just a tuna can. Or maybe cabbage or lettuce or something—wait… Did you come here with someone else? They’re all hiding, aren’t they?”

For some reason, I notice a half-destroyed vehicle in the distance.

It looks like it was attacked by a monster.

Judging by the smoke, it just arrived.

Si-Hoo doesn’t know how to drive.

“I-I’m going home. Alone. So just stay there. Got it? Go play with your friend!”

I take a step back.

“And you wouldn’t know this, but I have friends too. I can play with them when I get home… Friends don’t threaten each other with knives… Ahaha…”

I have to go home.

I don’t have anywhere else to go anyway.

“I only came here to talk alone. No one else will interfere. They’re just over there dealing with monsters, so don’t worry.”

He approaches.

“Don’t come any closer.”

Crunch.

An attack.

Black tree roots extend, aiming to strike Han Si-Hoo.

The roots of the tree.

-You’re a rotten root under the tree. A root that’s fine even if no one notices.

A strange voice echoes.

“Shut up.”

[5%]

I repay the debt as much as the pain I pass on.

They’re kind people.

To repay my debt on my behalf.

But all I can offer in return is pain.

Slice.

With a flash of light, the black roots are severed.

The attack fails.

This time, I stab sharper and thinner.

But again, it’s blocked with a single slash.

-You shouldn’t have existed from the beginning. Who created you? It must’ve been a mistake. If the word ‘mistake’ had a form, it would be you. The world would be better without you.

“Please, just shut up…”

I wish everything would just die.

Crack!

Black thorns burst through the ground.

Han Si-Hoo steps back to avoid them.

With one attack, the entire surface is torn up.

-Why are you standing there? Even the ground hates that you’re stepping on it. The ground is collapsing because it wants to get rid of you. Stay there until the ground crumbles, and let people step on you to death. That’s the ending you deserve.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for hurting the ground.

But I didn’t mean to.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Black branches and thorns.

No matter how much I attack, I can’t surpass Han Si-Hoo.

Because he’s the protagonist.

Even covered in blood, he blocks all of my attacks.

“I told you not to come here. You’re not the only one with friends.”

My friends will come and help me too.

That must be true.

“He’s a really close friend who even gave me a gift.”

A gift.

It was a ribbon.

Black.

A ribbon?

Where did it go?

I’m not the type to wear things like ribbons.

“A gift… a ribbon… a friend’s gift… I had it… but I lost it. Wait a moment. I think I dropped it on the ground.”

I searched the ground but only found stones.

-Make your words fit the context. But honestly, your words are all trash. They’re meaningless, and I don’t want to hear them. Just stay silent. Your voice dirties the world. A stone is better—because stones are silent.

What are you saying? Shut up.

The ribbon is right here.

“Oh, here it is. Ahaha.”

With trembling hands, I picked up the ribbon from the ground.

There’s no way I would lose a gift my friend gave me.

***

Seo-Ah, who had stopped attacking, picked something up from the ground.

“Look, it’s a ribbon.”

But it wasn’t a ribbon—it was a piece of wire.

She held the discarded wire and smiled.

“My friend gave it to me. I have a friend too.”

It was Han Si-Hoo who had given her the ribbon.

But that was a piece of wire.

Seo-Ah tied the wire around her side hair.

However, the wire was too loose to hold her hair.

It slipped and fell to the ground with a plop.

“……”

Silence.

That can never be a ribbon.

A wire is just a wire.

“…Tuna cans don’t wear ribbons.”

Seo-Ah said this as she stomped on the wire.

Han Si-Hoo had finally reunited with Seo-Ah, whom he had longed to see.

But he couldn’t understand anything.

Tuna can? It didn’t make sense.

His head hurt.

The situation was strange.

“I’m sorry, Seo-Ah.”

He apologized.

He didn’t even know what he should say.

But he didn’t intend to give up on Seo-Ah.

“Tuna can, huh? It’s tasty, you know.”

Seo-Ah tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“No, you’re…”

“Don’t come closer.”

Even so, he stepped closer.

“You’re not a tuna can. You’re Seo-Ah.”

“I told you not to come closer…”

Another step closer.

Standing still wouldn’t solve anything.

There was no other way.

“I’ll save you. I promise.”

Somehow.

Honestly, it was a relief that Seo-Ah was even alive.

Be grateful for that fact and find hope in it.

“Ha… ahhh… I know who you are.”

Seo-Ah said, stepping back.

“You’re a researcher. You came to take me back, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Shut up. The fact that you have a mouth is the problem. You shouldn’t even be breathing. Something like you being alive makes the air filthy. Got it? Just speaking is a crime. If you disappear, the world will be cleaner.”

She erupted in overwhelming anger.

It was the first time Seo-Ah had been this furious.

“It’s all because of you. It’s not me. The monster is you, not me—”

Crash.

Seo-Ah stumbled backward and tripped over something.

She tried to get up but failed.

Her clothes seemed to have caught on something.

She couldn’t run away.

With a frightened expression, Seo-Ah slowly lifted her head.

As expected, she couldn’t escape.

“Ahhhhh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was wrong. It’s my fault.”

“No.”

No, it’s not.

Don’t apologize.

“I-it’s my fault for cursing and attacking you. You’re trying to fix me, aren’t you? It’s because I’m a bad person and need fixing, right? I’m so sorry.”

“No…”

Hearing this, Han Si-Hoo felt like he wanted to die.

What had happened to Seo-Ah?

Who did this to her?

No matter how many times he asked, there was no one to answer.

“Tell me what you want me to do… Since it’s my fault, I’ll do anything… Should I cut off my fingers? Should I close my eyes? What should I do? Haha…”

“……”

“Ahhh, are you mad because I moved? I won’t do it again… No, I won’t move at all… I can stop breathing too, if breathing is the problem… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

But now, Seo-Ah didn’t get angry at Han Si-Hoo’s approach.

Han Si-Hoo moved closer.

Close enough to reach her with an outstretched hand.

It felt strange to see his childhood friend act so submissive toward him.

To see her so drugged up that she couldn’t even recognize him.

To see her try to hold her breath but fail.

To see her crawl backward to escape, only to get her clothes caught on something and fail to move.

There were no words to say.

The realization that he was hurting her instead of helping was clear.

But still, he reached out again.

His bloodied hand.

Both Han Si-Hoo and Yoo Seo-Ah were covered in wounds.

“Let’s go home.”

They had come too far.

It was time to go home.