Daydream

“Huh?”

In an unusually dark space.

Ga-yeon, blinking her eyes there, turned her head.

“..Big brother? Big sister? Irene? Flat chest?”

They were nowhere to be found no matter how much she looked around.

The people who had been with her until just a moment ago couldn’t have disappeared leaving only her behind..

As she was thinking that, the black space distorted and transformed into a new location.

“..This is.”

From the floor to the walls and ceiling of the room, it was all white space.

A narrow room with only a single light bulb as the source of light came into view.

“Test subject Lee Ga-yeon, get up and prepare yourself.”

It was a familiar place that made her frown involuntarily.

“..Ha.”

A cold and insensitive voice.

It was a voice colder and more frightening than an icy needle, clearly coming from someone who thought of her as something rather than a person.

Thump thump thump-

Her heartbeat grew louder.

Her hands and feet began to tremble on their own, and cold sweat ran down her back.

Slap!!

“Get a grip. This is a dream.”

Slap!!

“It’s the past, don’t get buried in it.”

Ga-yeon was barely able to come to her senses by slapping her own cheeks hard.

It was different from back then.

Her body wasn’t young at all, and her hands and feet were free.

And the young ‘Lee Ga-yeon’ of that time clearly visible in front of her.

She was watching the situation from a third-person perspective.

It definitely wasn’t that she had returned to the past, or that the memories until now had been a dream.

Absolutely not.

“Haah..”

Realizing this fact, Ga-yeon was gradually able to stabilize her mind and body.

That’s when it happened.

“What? You’re not breaking down as much as I expected?”

“Huh?”

The ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ who was tied to a chair spoke to Ga-yeon.

Ga-yeon glared at her warily.

“Who are you?”

“Me? That’s disappointing, why are you like this? Can’t you tell just by looking?”

Pfft.

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ burst into laughter towards her, finding something amusing.

During this time, the researcher sticks dozens of syringes into her.

“I am you, Lee Ga-yeon. The Lee Ga-yeon who was abandoned by her mother and used as a lab rat by unidentified researchers.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ glanced at the man who was sticking syringes into her side.

“Endure it.”

“It really hurt. I just wanted to rest. I didn’t even know why I had to endure such pain.”

“..You.”

An appearance that conveyed genuine hatred.

While Ga-yeon was confused, ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ untied her bound hands and feet and jumped up from her seat.

Thud!!

“Endure it, en- gurk..!! En..gurk! Dure it..”

Then she pulled out the syringes stuck in her and simultaneously stabbed them into the man’s neck.

“Sometimes I begged for my life, sometimes I begged without even knowing what I had done wrong, and some days I just cried endlessly.”

Right?

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ sought agreement from her.

But when Ga-yeon stayed still without any reaction, she shrugged and turned away.

With one step from ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’, the surrounding background suddenly changed to a slum.

“Our escape was truly a miracle. Among all the things they injected, coincidentally the spatial movement type ability emerged, and with a quality close to a successful product.”

“……”

“The vast sky I saw after so long is still an unforgettable sight.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ moved her feet.

Many slum dwellers existed on the streets.

While some people looked sly, some had quite kind impressions, and others looked intimidating just by their presence.

“Hahahat~!”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ skipped among these people.

With each step she took, people fell.

Some trembled and coughed up blood,

Some had their heads fall off.

And some collapsed with their limbs torn apart.

Splash! Splash!

The girl walked through the slum streets now filled with blood, smiling.

“But even when I got outside, it wasn’t as pretty a place as I thought.”

The streets of the slum.

The lawless zone separated from the normal city was dangerous for the young girl.

But she couldn’t easily venture into the light for fear of researchers who might be tracking her.

“This place was another hell.”

The girl was still smiling.

She appeared to be smiling.

“I ran away. From dirty men targeting my body. From people trying to kidnap me.”

Splash. Splash.

Covered in filthy waste, eating food that was not just spoiled but rotting.

Ga-yeon continued to run away.

She couldn’t even sleep properly.

Because she never knew what scene would unfold before her eyes if she let her guard down for even a moment.

She ran with all her might, and finally, she was caught by someone.

“I, I al,also wa,wanted to to,touch! Me too me too me too!!! Meee tooo!!!”

It certainly wasn’t light.

Rather, it was something filled with malice.

It rushed at her to pounce on her.

“Me too! I’m going to touch too! Me toooo!!”

Despair seeped into her heart.

The young girl couldn’t do anything about a situation that even an adult woman would find difficult to escape from.

After resignation and despair, at the moment she was about to be violated by the man.

“What are you doing to a child who hasn’t even properly grown up yet?”

Bang!!

“Ah..”

“..Your light appeared.”

He wasn’t a hero.

He was someone who would kill people without hesitation for his purpose, a lawbreaker who disregarded the law.

But at least to Lee Ga-yeon, that man was the brilliantly shining light of salvation.

And it was a natural result for a tender heart to fall completely for such a man.

Snap!!

As ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ snapped her fingers, the surrounding scenery transformed back into the black space as if it had never existed.

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ looked at Lee Ga-yeon.

“I… envy you.”

“Envy?”

The unexpected words from ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ raised questions.

She was Ga-yeon.

She would have suffered the same pain and grown the same way as Ga-yeon.

Ga-yeon couldn’t understand what she meant by saying she envied herself.

That’s when it happened.

When ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ walked towards Ga-yeon.

And with each step, ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ gradually grew up.

Her dry hair grew long.

Her skinny arms and legs grew pitifully longer, and her body was filled with all kinds of scars.

And in contrast, the curves of an attractive woman also appeared.

“You..”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ grew bit by bit.

Perhaps even more adult-like than the current Ga-yeon.

“Originally, that’s not how it is.”

At those words, Ga-yeon understood.

The woman in front of her would be herself if she had never met Kang Yi-an, her light.

“..You’re not me.”

“I am you. I’m just you who didn’t receive help.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’, now grown into an adult, was smiling.

No, she looked like she was crying.

“He was impressive. Your tall mister.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ walked in heels that didn’t suit her, making clicking sounds.

Matching her movements, memories of times with Kang Yi-an bloomed freshly in Ga-yeon’s mind.

And ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ exclaimed as if she had seen inside Ga-yeon’s mind.

“Thanks to ‘big brother’, you’re living a happy life. I’m envious after all.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ touched the scars on her body, then looked at Ga-yeon again.

“I envy you, whose body, heart, and thoughts haven’t been defiled.”

The person in front of Ga-yeon was clearly an adult.

But she also looked like a child who couldn’t become an adult because she was broken too early.

“So.”

The child wearing clothes that didn’t fit her body spoke to the child who had what she couldn’t have.

So.

“Can you give it to me?”

“..What?”

There was a glimpse of desperation in her words, which were uttered with madness and as if she couldn’t bear it.

Ga-yeon’s eyes captured the image of ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ soaked in deep fatigue.

“You’ve already enjoyed many things.”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’, who approached with large strides, grabbed Ga-yeon’s shoulders strongly.

She shouted right there.

“I want to be happy too..! I wish these dirty feelings would all disappear..!!”

Tears were dripping from her eyes like a broken person.

But her mouth remained unchanged, as if a smile was fixed.

“You could share a little of your happiness..!!”

“……”

“Please.. pleease..”

‘Young Lee Ga-yeon’ begged the still-growing Ga-yeon.

“I am you.. isn’t it my turn now..?”

“……”

Ga-yeon looked at her young self who had grown up too quickly.

A moment of contemplation.

Compassion towards her.

And the face of Kang Yi-an flashed by.

Ga-yeon looked at the sobbing ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’.

Whack.

And she mercilessly removed her arms.

“No.”

Ga-yeon’s face was resolute.

At that, ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’s face contorted severely.

“Why? I am you..! Don’t you pity me?! Are you trying to monopolize happiness for yourself?!”

“Does that mean I, who’ve done nothing wrong, have to just surrender everything to you?”

Even to Ga-yeon, ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ was pitiful.

But that wasn’t a reason to give up what she had.

“My body is mine. That’s the end of it.”

Ga-yeon stretched out her hand.

And ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ also stretched out her hand.

Woooong-!!

Both of their abilities activated.

Behind Ga-yeon, the ground rose up, creating giant fists and dozens of fire-filled swords.

Beside ‘young Lee Ga-yeon’ was an imperfect snake created by mixing various abilities.

“Eek..!”

“So, don’t try to take it, chicken coop.”

“You..! I’ll kill you!!”

“Big brother is mine.”

Rumble-!!

Crash-!!!

The two people’s attacks collided.