Ch.221IF Side Story: Bad Dream

That wasn’t what Hayun wanted.

To Hayun, Jieun was never someone insignificant.

Not just a simple friend—though people often used that term even for close friendships, that’s what Jieun was to Hayun.

From a very young age, they weren’t just friends; Hayun owed Jieun so much.

Jieun was always there whenever Hayun struggled, approaching with a casual expression whenever Hayun felt even slightly troubled, taking her hand and leading her somewhere far away to help clear her mind.

She had known this all along.

The wind was blowing.

No, it wasn’t just the wind. Everything in the world was being pulled in one direction.

“It’s dangerous! Run away!”

“How are we supposed to run in this situation?!”

Several police officers screamed. Soon, Seo-hee rushed over and dragged them by their necks. She was seen somehow getting them into a building, though it was uncertain whether even that building would remain safe.

“Hayun!”

She heard Yeonwoo shouting.

“We can’t hold out like this…! We’ll all get sucked in for sure!”

Light was flowing across the sky.

Far away, something black and round occupied the space, absorbing even that light.

The light gathering around the black sphere looked like the corona of the sun, making Jieun appear as if she was bearing the weight of all the world’s light.

Her expression was visible.

A face looking down at everything in the world without any emotion.

Why was she looking like that? The smile Jieun used to have whenever she saw Hayun was now gone.

Her clothes seemed to have melted and clung to her body. No, they probably weren’t clothes to begin with. Pure mana. It looked like the mana that magical girls flamboyantly activated during battles had fused with her body.

What had gone wrong?

Was it because Hayun hadn’t properly understood her feelings? It must have been because she had simply left Jieun, who had been driven to the edge, all this time—

…

No, that wasn’t it.

It wasn’t simply neglect.

Hayun had attacked Jieun multiple times. Without knowing her face, she had broken her arms and legs, fractured her ribs, and possibly even cracked her skull or injured her internal organs.

She knew nothing.

Because among those she thought were evil—among those she judged in the name of justice—Jieun had simply been one of them—

“Ugh.”

Would she not have felt her bones breaking? Would she not have felt Hayun piercing her body with that magical girl-like pink sword?

No, she must have felt it. One of those who got hit and groaned and screamed was surely Jieun. Jieun might have even endured those sounds.

So, it couldn’t be undone.

Because it was already in the past. Because saying sorry now wouldn’t turn things back.

Her vision blurred.

Because what Hayun herself had done to Jieun was far worse than what those kids who had hated and discriminated against Jieun had done—

“Lee Hayun!”

She heard Seo-hee shouting.

“Save those thoughts for later.”

As if she knew what Hayun was thinking, Seo-hee said:

“First, let’s calm her down. We have no choice. It’s still okay now. No one has died yet.”

Is that what they had to do again?

To protect some meager sense of justice, did they have to hurt Jieun once more?

She wasn’t sure anymore.

But still, she moved somehow.

Hayun flew. Like she always did. She drew her sword. Like she always did.

Her vision was still blurry, but she had to do something. Even though she didn’t know what exactly she should do—

What if this is the end?

Hayun thought.

What if this is the last moment I can talk to Jieun?

She didn’t want to persuade her of anything. She wanted to fully understand Jieun’s feelings, but it wasn’t even that.

In the final moment, the thought that came to Hayun’s mind was selfish.

In that moment, Hayun just wanted to express her feelings of love.

Because once this moment passed, there would be no hope left.

Giving up on saving people and seeking Jieun’s understanding. She just wanted to selfishly express her feelings.

When she came to her senses, Hayun was flying toward Jieun.

She could barely see what was happening around her now. She heard fighting sounds. She couldn’t tell what they were fighting against.

Her mind was too confused.

This isn’t right.

It definitely wasn’t like this. There had been a chance. She seemed to have taken that chance—

“Jieun!”

Hayun was shouting.

Jieun’s gaze turned toward Hayun.

Jieun reached out her hand to Hayun.

At the tip of her fingers, something like a black liquid droplet formed, and then,

Bang.

An explosion erupted around Hayun. For a moment, everything around her went quiet.

“…Ah.”

Everything around her had vanished. The other beings that should have been beside her were all gone. Hayun, who had been flying while only looking at Jieun in that final moment, hadn’t noticed what had happened.

Her heart was racing madly.

As if the illusion had shattered in an instant, Hayun breathed heavily.

…It was Hayun’s fault. If she had observed her surroundings more carefully, and if she had anticipated what kind of magic might come, this wouldn’t have happened—

The sounds around her stopped.

As if everything had been sucked in. Hayun was terrified of that—

“Hayun.”

But even that fear stopped at the sweet voice she heard next.

“Hayun.”

“…”

With her mouth hanging open blankly, she turned her head toward Jieun.

There was Jieun, wearing almost nothing. Behind her back, that thing—whether a black hole or the sun, it was hard to tell—was shining, and beyond it was the world slowly being buried in darkness.

There was no light left in the sky. No, there was light—but it was all connected to what was behind Jieun’s back.

“Now, it’s okay to stop.”

Jieun whispered sweetly.

“You don’t have to win anymore.”

“Don’t have to…?”

“You don’t have to endure anymore.”

Jieun’s face came closer.

Those half-closed pupils were dazed. Hayun realized that what was in front of her might no longer be Jieun.

Or had Jieun changed like this?

“Because there will be nothing left to protect—we just need to be together, just the two of us.”

“Just the two of us.”

“No one will interfere. No one… will compare us.”

“…Ah.”

How sweet that voice was.

Yes.

Jieun had always said such things.

She hadn’t just told her to give up. The reason she had endured without breaking down was now gone.

“B-but, but, I…”

“It’s okay.”

Jieun said, holding Hayun’s face with both hands.

It was cold.

“Let’s get rid of everything and stop these troublesome thoughts—”

Only in that final moment did Hayun become terrified.

Little by little, something seemed about to come to mind.

Yes.

There had been a moment when things didn’t have to be like this. She could have made such a choice.

Running away together, defeating enemies together, finding a base far away, surely, surely, like that—

“Jieun—”

But Jieun’s face, slowly extending her lips, was too attractive to Hayun.

Behind Jieun’s back, the sun was now shining.

Ah, I see.

Is this how it all begins again?

Ending everything and creating something new afterward,

…A future where all relationships are abandoned, never to form any relationship again—

*

“…!”

Hayun opened her eyes wide.

“Haah.”

And exhaled.

Not just Hayun’s breath, but also the breathing of the person lying right in front of her could be heard. She felt a faint breath on her face.

“…”

In front of her was Jieun.

Not in strange attire. Just the pajamas she usually wore to bed.

Although Jieun had a personality that involved dating many girlfriends in various ways, she didn’t sleep entangled with every girl every day. She usually preferred sleeping alone, and sometimes they would naturally end up sleeping like this after talking.

Now, Jieun was in front of Hayun.

Hayun burrowed into Jieun’s embrace.

It was warm.

Unlike the body of Jieun in her dream.

Soft and—anyway, warm.

“Mmm?”

When Hayun suddenly burrowed into her body, Jieun made such a sound and shifted her body.

Hayun felt a careful hand touch the back of her head. Despite being so passionate when they were intimate, Jieun was gentle with everyone in daily life.

That gap often made her insides tingle.

Of course, she wasn’t thinking about that now.

Hayun was trembling.

“What’s wrong? Are you cold?”

“Yeah…”

Jieun covered her firmly with the blanket again and embraced Hayun’s back.

“Better now?”

“Yeah.”

At Jieun’s words, Hayun nodded. She heard Jieun chuckle, and soon her soft breathing resumed.

“…”

Yes.

Perhaps, if she had made the wrong choice, such a future might have existed. Or if not that, there might have been other choices. Choices that could have led to better results.

But at least, not now. Because now she was living such a happy future.

Hayun was content with that.

This is the future we decided on.

Hayun leaned against Jieun’s soft body and closed her eyes again.

I’ll have a happy dream this time.

That’s what she thought.