I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

It was consumed.

The red number [0] appeared in my vision.

One more beside it.

Another one.

The speed increased, and soon my vision was filled with [0].

Not zeros, but red blood cells.

Why was I so afraid of losing time?

The sound of my heart pounding grew louder.

I was just about to fall asleep.

I could hear a ringing in my ears.

[-1 minute]

The calm before the storm is always the most quiet.

Maybe I had misunderstood, reacting too sensitively to the numbers in front of me.

I had similar thoughts before.

[-1 minute]

Rain started falling from the sky.

Time wasn’t passing.

[-1 minute]

It wasn’t zeros, but raindrops.

The drops filled up and touched my lips.

A taste so sweet, it made me feel like vomiting.

The doctor once gave Yoo Seo-Ah a syrup full of sugar because she couldn’t take medicine.

It was too sweet, it made me want to puke.

[-1 minute]

If you don’t want to drown in this sticky liquid, you have to hold your breath.

How long can you hold your breath?

What was the world record again, 20 minutes?

No, that was wrong.

It was 36 hours.

If you want to break the record, there’s a way.

[-1 minute]

You tie someone so they can’t come up from the water.

What did I use?

Chains?

Rope?

It was both.

I tried hard.

It was exactly [-36 hours 7 minutes] or something like that.

Back then, I really, really wanted to breathe.

All I could think about was breathing, no matter what.

It wasn’t even a thought, more like an instinct.

At this point, I was just dehydrated from too much exercise.

I wanted to drink water badly.

[-1 minute]

I drank water, but it was dirt.

I breathed, but it was water.

Time wasn’t moving.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1.

Each and every one was a thorn.

It felt like thorns were digging into me.

The tingling sensation in my nervous system wouldn’t stop.

[-2 minutes]

And then, what happened?

And then, and then.

And then, and then.

And then.

An endlessly repeating scene.

Han Si-Hoo once got hurt protecting Yoo Seo-Ah.

Seo-Ah had made a mistake.

She had gone on an errand, fallen, and lost something.

Because of that, Han Si-Hoo had been beaten badly.

Even though she found the item and apologized afterward.

When Seo-Ah got lost and ended up in danger while playing.

When Seo-Ah met bad people.

Somehow, Han Si-Hoo was always there.

A hero.

There were quite a few hands that had reached out to target Seo-Ah.

Han Si-Hoo trained in swordsmanship for Seo-Ah.

Like the protagonist, he awakened something.

There was a shining light.

Because he was the protagonist.

Even a useless, powerless child was protected.

Just because they were friends.

And, and, and.

He promised to protect her for life.

His childhood friend.

[-15 minutes]

Seo-Ah stood in front of a broken mirror.

Each shard of the mirror was stained with blood.

Empty tuna cans were piled up in the corner of the bathroom.

Tuna was actually quite expensive.

But there was nothing else to eat, so she had pulled out what she had been saving.

She had to use the money Han Si-Hoo gave her to buy drugs.

She stood there in shabby clothes.

Someone behind the mirror was trying to stab me.

A shattered face reflected in each shard, smiling as if saying, “We’re friends, right?”

[-30 minutes]

And at this point, the plot goes, Seo-Ah dies.

She would’ve died a long time ago.

By the time Yoo Seo-Ah met Han Si-Hoo, she was already nearing the end of her life from overdosing.

So, all that’s left is the funeral.

I should’ve written a will.

Though there’s not much to leave behind.

Stab.

[1 minute]

Stab.

[1 hour 19 minutes]

Stab.

[2 hours 43 minutes]

“Ah.”

I opened my eyes.

I felt awful.

I wondered why I felt so bad.

My head felt like it was splitting open.

Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.

“Ah?”

I had been stabbed.

I dreamed of the effects of the drug reaching zero.

I lifted myself up to check if my stomach was okay.

My clothes weren’t torn, and there was just a bruise on my stomach.

It was a gray outfit I had never seen before.

The bed and the blanket were unfamiliar.

This was a space I had never seen before.

“You’re awake?”

It was a woman I had never seen before.

She was wearing a white coat.

The sharp scent of medicine hit my nose, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

The air felt unfamiliar.

“Ah, lie down, lie down. You’re in the treatment room.”

“Uh.”

I tried to speak but failed.

Something was stuck in my throat.

I coughed and spat it into my hand, and something black came out.

“Here, wipe it.”

She handed me a white handkerchief.

Is she a healer?

The name tag on her coat said “Lee Yu-Ram.”

“It’s a miracle you survived.”

“Ugh…”

“39 degrees. Still high, though it’s come down a bit.”

She pressed a thermometer to my forehead as she spoke.

39 degrees was pretty high.

It was, right?

“Ugh, ugh.”

I spat out something again.

It was hard to speak.

“Here, water.”

“Ugh…”

Words wouldn’t come out.

I drank the cup of water Lee Yu-Ram handed me.

It was hard to swallow.

Wasn’t I stabbed in the stomach?

I had forgotten because my clothes were new.

I put the cup down and checked my stomach again to see if it was fine.

Aside from the bruise, it seemed okay.

I think I checked it earlier.

“Don’t worry, the treatment was clean. I couldn’t do anything about the old wounds, though.”

Old wounds were hard to fix.

I knew that.

Was the fever because of the old wounds?

Why did my head feel like it was going to explode?

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head.

I wasn’t okay.

“We still have more medicine, so don’t worry.”

That was reassuring.

Medicine.

Well, doctors sold medicine whenever you needed it.

Seems like they had plenty of it even in a place like this.

I had never heard the name of the drug before.

“This is the Academy’s medical room.”

It was inside the Academy.

Inside?

“Eek.”

I was stabbed, so why was I in the Academy?

I lifted my shirt to check the wound again.

There was a bruise, but no sign of the stab wound.

“You’ve been treated… It’s fine.”

I checked it earlier.

My hands were trembling.

Or maybe I was never stabbed in the first place?

I had no idea.

“Medicine.”

[2 hours 40 minutes]

Who cares about the reason?

My mind was too sticky to think straight.

She was a healer, so of course she’d have medicine.

“Give me the medicine…”

“You don’t mean a fever reducer, do you?”

“Medicine…”

I was in worse shape than usual.

It was like before I went to the doctor.

Cough medicine didn’t help back then.

It got worse and worse, hmm.

My memory was foggy.

Anyway, after going to the doctor, I had no fever, no headaches.

Because I got the medicine.

“Hey, medicine. I have money…”

In the end, it was all about money.

No one would just give medicine for free.

As long as I could buy it.

“Huh?”

“How much, will…”

I had the money Han Si-Hoo gave me.

I could think about paying him back later.

Maybe I didn’t need to repay him since he just gave it to me.

“You’ve been buying this? How much did the doctor charge?”

“Five million won…”

“Ah, that much… I didn’t know, since the school provided it… But you have that kind of money? You?”

“Si-Hoo gave it to me.”

He’s my only friend, after all.

Is he really my friend?

We had cut ties.

It felt worse than just cutting ties, though.

Didn’t we fight?

“…Han Si-Hoo gave you money for drugs?”

“Yes…”

He gave it to me because I needed it.

He told me never to come to him again, but at least he gave me money.

“Han Si-Hoo gave you money?”

“Yes.”

“To buy drugs?”

I nodded.

My head felt heavy.

I didn’t know why she kept asking.

“What the…”

Lee Yu-Ram put her hand to her head.

Then she closed her eyes and seemed to think about something.

She looked like she didn’t understand.

She seemed very confused.

“So, Si-Hoo really told you to use the money for drugs?”

“He gave it to me… because I asked for drug money.”

I kept coughing.

It hurt.

“Okay, don’t overdo it answering.”

Tears welled up every time I coughed.

Something was really wrong.

Was it just a severe cold?

“Well, it’s the slums… But, what? Why would Si-Hoo…”

She mumbled quietly to herself.

Something about the slums.

Was she looking down on me because I lived in the slums?

I couldn’t follow the conversation.

“So, what exactly is your relationship with Si-Hoo?”

We were friends, but…

I tried to recall.

What had happened before time hit zero?

“Friends?”

Before I came to the Academy.

Before I came to the medical room.

But why was I here?

Because of the Academy?

– We have to congratulate him on his graduation.

The doctor had been with me.

– Please lift your neck slightly.

And stab.

103 hours 2 minutes.

Oh.

Overflowing happiness.

Where in those 103 hours and 2 minutes was happiness?

What had I done?

I had gone to congratulate Si-Hoo on his graduation.

I was mad at Si-Hoo, probably because he hadn’t invited me.

– Are you really going to get drugs?

– Will you give me a place to live and food?

– Really?

The questions I asked in the past swirled in my head.

I didn’t even know what I was asking.

I was told to trust him.

Si-Hoo stood there as if he had everything under control.

I was swept up in the atmosphere, trusting him.

– We’re friends, right?

What was my answer?

He had that protagonist-like confidence.

Han Si-Hoo would never lie.

Especially not to Yoo Seo-Ah, never.

– No.

And then I was stabbed.

Yeah, I was stabbed, and stabbed again.

100 hours evaporated.

I had to stop time from disappearing.

I was the one stabbing myself.

Yoo Seo-Ah should have died long ago.

Where did those 100 hours go?

It wasn’t fair.

I wanted to cry.

Normally, I’d still have about 90 hours left.

I wouldn’t be in this much pain.

[1 hour 45 minutes]

I didn’t have much time left.

I could feel my heart beating.

My head was hot, but I felt cold.

My vision darkened.

Fever medicine.

The doctor had given Seo-Ah syrup.

There had been too much sugar in it.

This time it was too sweet to eat.

But the pills were too hard to swallow.

Back then, the doctor had been kind.

– Seo-Ah…ya.

Someone called me.

It was Si-Hoo.

Sorry. I’m sorry for attacking you.

It was my fault.

Why had I attacked the protagonist?

Yeah, it was because of the medicine the doctor gave me.

It was too sweet, and it messed up my head.

Stab.

That sound was either from a needle or a sword stabbing me.

[5 hours 8 minutes]

And I’d get stabbed again.

Again.

“Seo-Ah?”

I didn’t even notice, but the door had opened.

Someone had come in.

“Are you okay?”

Si-Hoo spoke to me.