LMO 122

“Excuse me.”

At the sound of someone calling me, I slowly raised my head.

The sunlight shining from behind the person’s head was too strong to see their face. It was blinding. I squinted. Within the shadowed silhouette, only the person’s reddish hair was etched into my vision.

The moment I was about to answer, “Yes?”, my throat closed up. The person let out a soft sigh.

“Haa….”

As my eyes adjusted to the light, the person’s face, previously covered by shadow, gradually became clearer. I tried to steady my trembling gaze. My heart pounded.

“I finally found you….”

The person murmured softly.

“I wasn’t crazy after all.”

The person who had murmured softly suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. I stood stiff as a board, unable to push them away or embrace them back. The expression “frozen, unable to think anything” was accurate. A familiar voice tickled my ears.

A familiar scent brushed against my nose….

Now I remembered. Who it was that tied their shoelaces in such a peculiar way. I had thought his shoelace knot was unique when we went to the library together before.

With a trembling voice, I called out his name.

“Do… Yun-hyeok.”

Once I said his name, it felt undeniably real. The arms holding me tightened their grip. The sound of a beating heart was clear through my thin clothes. I dazedly clutched his solid back. A tangible presence in my hands. It was really Do Yun-hyeok.

Emotions surged in my chest. But I couldn’t tell what kind of emotions they were. I couldn’t define my own feelings. All I knew was that my nose stung as if I were about to cry.

‘How does Do Yun-hyeok know me?’

Just as a sliver of reason posed the question, a man in a crowded marketplace called out to him in a gruff voice. He seemed to be with a group.

“Hey! Do Yun-hyeok! What are you doing!”

Do Yun-hyeok, who had been holding me desperately, slowly loosened his grip. Then, without even turning his head towards his companions, he waved his arm dismissively and replied.

“Don’t look for me.”

His gaze remained fixed on me. His companions, angered by Do Yun-hyeok’s eccentric behavior, approached, huffing.

“What are you doing! You’ve been in a bad mood, so I brought you out to cheer you up… Huh? If you were with someone, you should have said so! Hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

The companion, who had approached with a loud shout, suddenly calmed down upon spotting me. Then he politely greeted me. I wondered if this person might also be a character from the novel that I knew, and stared intently, but it was a face I had never seen before. Realizing I had unconsciously acted rudely, I quickly returned the greeting.

The man looked up at Do Yun-hyeok and asked.

“Do you know them?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know them?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really crazy?”

Do Yun-hyeok continued to answer perfunctorily. He nodded so carelessly that I felt awkward. Do Yun-hyeok waved his hand.

“I’m busy. I’m leaving now.”

“Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“I have to kidnap this person.”

“What?”

And then Do Yun-hyeok grabbed my wrist and pulled me away. I was dragged along helplessly. Just like when he first dragged me away from the meeting place in the novel.

“Hey! That crazy bastard!”

Do Yun-hyeok’s companion yelled from behind, but they didn’t try to stop us. Unlike Min Si-hu or Seong Hae-min, who had felt quite distant from the novel, I thought Do Yun-hyeok seemed unchanged, whether in the novel or in reality, as I looked up at him in bewilderment.

Do Yun-hyeok, his lips pressed shut, had tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. I doubted my eyes.

‘…Crying?’

As if not wanting his tears to be seen, he turned his head when he felt my gaze.

Suddenly, I realized that the hand holding my wrist had no strength in it at all. I looked back and forth between my wrist, held so gently that it didn’t hurt at all, and his face.

‘So, Do Yun-hyeok….’

He knew me.

—I finally found you….

—I wasn’t crazy after all.

Recalling Do Yun-hyeok’s murmured words, I tried to calmly sort out the situation, but a surge of emotion welled up in me too, and tears began to form. I didn’t know if it was relief, gratitude, or comfort, but my lips trembled.

‘Maybe I wasn’t crazy either.’

The overwhelming emotion felt like it was rising to my throat, like boiling water.

After waking up in reality, I couldn’t gauge whether the events I experienced in the novel were real, or just mere delusion or a dream. So, I tried my best to forget them. Just when I thought I had managed to forget and return to my daily life, I ran into Min Si-hu and Seong Hae-min, and seeing them not recognize me, I was honestly devastated.

It was humiliating. I was undeniably a mad person. In front of them, who didn’t know me, all the memories only I knew faded and lost their meaning. Why did such a thing happen to me, and why did others not know? Nothing was explained, and it was unbearably painful.

But that damn novel wasn’t my delusion, fantasy, dream, or hallucination. Do Yun-hyeok was letting me know.

I realized that his brief words carried the same pain as mine. I also bit my lip to keep from crying. My nose stung as if I’d been hit ten times. Gritting my teeth to hold back tears, I silently followed him.

❖ ❖ ❖

Do Yun-hyeok brought me to a cafe on campus. It was a seating area divided by partitions, which I had used a few times with my group members for project assignments.

Do Yun-hyeok, who had brought our drinks, and I sat facing each other. Silence ensued as neither of us spoke first. Do Yun-hyeok, who had hugged me tightly and grabbed my wrist earlier, was now just fiddling with his cup with his eyes cast down, as if his earlier boldness had been an act.

I, too, was lost in the surreal situation, but the clinking sounds around me brought me back to my senses, and I fumbled to greet him.

“Oh, it’s been a while.”

“……”

“……”

Do Yun-hyeok didn’t reply. I glanced at Do Yun-hyeok, rolling my eyes awkwardly. Was that not a suitable opening line?

And then, a moment later, I witnessed tears, like bird droppings, falling from his eyes. My heart lurched as if I had hit a speed bump. Do Yun-hyeok quickly wiped his tears, but I had already seen them all. Do Yun-hyeok slowly caught his breath.

“……It’s really a relief.”

His first words were an incomprehensible murmur of relief. I held my breath. I had seen his eyes welling up with tears earlier, but I hadn’t expected them to pour out like a leaky faucet. My surprised heart couldn’t calm down easily. Not knowing how to react, I just fidgeted with my hands and watched him. I was terrible at comforting people.

“Ah, I’m embarrassed.”

As if sensing my awkwardness, Do Yun-hyeok wiped his cheeks with a pout. His intention to erase the awkwardness was evident.

“But hearing your voice makes me feel relieved.”

Do Yun-hyeok, muttering an excuse, fell silent again. Actually, he wasn’t the only one who felt relieved upon hearing a voice, but I swallowed my words.

I had been so shocked by the fact that Min Si-hu and Seong Hae-min didn’t recognize me that I had overlooked the possibility that other characters might be different. My heart pounded with anticipation. With a mixture of doubt and hope, I cautiously asked.

“Do Yun-hyeok, do you… remember everything?”

After asking, I realized the question was vague. Do Yun-hyeok, who had been watching me silently, slowly nodded. Then he offered a new greeting.

“Yes.”

“……”

“It’s been a while, Hae-jun.”

Truly… Do Yun-hyeok knew me and remembered the time in the novel. I wasn’t crazy, nor was I dreaming. Overwhelmed with emotion, I clenched both my fists.

‘Then, did Seong Hae-min… successfully complete his surgery?’

Following the joy and relief, a confused question arose.

“I have no idea… what happened.”

I looked at Do Yun-hyeok, hoping he might know something. The silence that had briefly lifted from the table settled again. In the space separated by partitions, only the sound of Do Yun-hyeok nervously tapping the table was clear.

Was it a signal that he wanted a cigarette? In the novel, Do Yun-hyeok was a heavy smoker, so it was understandable that he would want to smoke when faced with a complex problem. I tried to be considerate and said.

“You can go smoke for a bit.”

“……”

However, upon hearing my words, Do Yun-hyeok looked bewildered. Wondering if there was another issue, I just watched him quietly, and he immediately offered an explanation.

“I don’t smoke.”

“Huh?”

“I’m just tapping because I’m anxious. Really. I hate smoking.”

“Huh?”

“So, I understand why you said that….”

Do Yun-hyeok rubbed his chin, contemplating his words. Meanwhile, the previous incident automatically came to my mind.

The incident where he picked up a cigarette, suddenly looked startled, and then asked me why he was holding it, giving me an unpleasant sense of déjà vu.

—I hate smoking.

—…What did I just say?

The hypothesis I had considered with Min Si-hu, thinking ‘Could it be?’, was gaining strength. My mouth slowly opened. It felt like a puzzle piece clicking into place.