Ch.50Dream Interpretation (3)

“I… I haven’t seen it myself either. I’ve only heard about it from people around me…”

Choi Serim collapses against the bookshelf wall.

“Dabin.”

She starts speaking haltingly, then hesitantly looks up at me.

“Can’t you just forget everything? Just, let’s be comfortable for a bit. Comfortable. Close your eyes. If you do that, I’ll make you forget everything. Okay?”

“Noona.”

“Please.”

A pair of tear-filled eyes stare at me.

Choi Serim couldn’t even think about getting up from where she lay on the floor.

“…”

I silently looked at her.

My heart aches.

She always quietly watched over me. Even in the worst situations, she never lost that faint smile. Noona.

Though it never happened now, she was the one who chose to be swallowed by the hair in my place.

Someone who should never be in this state is now sitting helplessly, hoping for mercy.

I squeezed my eyes shut and quietly said:

“I’m sorry, noona. I can’t do that.”

We need to get out of here.

I promised Daju that we would all leave together.

“I need to know what’s outside. What it is that’s keeping us from leaving. You know, don’t you?”

“No. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s outside either.”

As Choi Serim shook her head vigorously, I firmly grabbed her shoulders and asked:

“Then tell me what you do know.”

I stare into Choi Serim’s eyes as I speak.

“What happened in the future? Who are you really?”

“…I’ll tell you.”

Choi Serim answers with a sob.

“I’ll tell you, so please, stop looking at me like that…”

“Okay. I’m sorry, noona.”

I waited until noona calmed down.

She leaned heavily against the bookshelf, panting for a while, then began speaking in a choked voice.

One day, a completely unexpected disaster struck.

An unidentified group declared war on humanity, and simultaneously, all computer networks were neutralized.

Important figures around the world were assassinated in order of their rank.

Kings. Presidents. Or prime ministers. Below them, cabinet ministers and vice ministers. At the same time, defense ministers and staff lost their lives.

The military couldn’t restore their broken systems and fell into chaos.

The media unanimously reported the disaster, but that didn’t last long either.

Something unknown began slaughtering humans.

Strange metallic sounds were broadcast. People who heard these sounds couldn’t resist the urge to commit suicide. Bodies piled up in buildings, apartments, and along riverbanks.

Claws emerged from shadows, dragging people into darkness. Those who were dragged away were later found as chunks of meat.

Living statues broke people’s necks with their stone hands. These statues couldn’t move while being watched, but this fact became known only after tens of thousands had already lost their lives.

An old apartment under a bruised sky. Refugees gathered in the corridor.

Injured people, and those trying to help them.

Male voices and female voices. The voices of children whose gender couldn’t be determined before puberty. And voices in various languages echoed in the narrow space.

Then.

People parted to both sides, and a woman in a suit stepped to the front of the group.

“I am Sim Ji-hee, an executive of KOO, an organization under the Korean Alliance.”

“So, mom ended up leading the survivors. She was fighting to protect people outside when orders came from the association above to take shelter in the apartment. Then she met dad and had me. That’s why I’ve never seen the outside world directly. Because I was born in here.”

Choi Serim finishes bitterly.

She dropped her head to the floor again, but I still had questions.

“What kind of organization is KOO?”

“Korea Occult Organization. A subsidiary of the Global Occult Association.”

Global Occult Association. A name I’ve seen somewhere before.

So it wasn’t difficult to guess what it was.

“Is it like a gathering of people with supernatural powers? Exorcists, shamans, wizards. Are you saying these people really exist?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Choi Serim nods weakly.

In the past, I would have dismissed this as nonsense, but now many things have changed.

“So if your mom was a KOO executive… you must have supernatural powers too.”

“Yes.”

“And I’m guessing it’s the ability to read or control thoughts.”

When I reached this conclusion, I heard small sobbing sounds.

Choi Serim, collapsed on the floor, was trembling slightly.

“Originally I could only read thoughts. *hiccup* But with practice… I became able to change them too.”

Now the important pieces seem to fit together.

Separately, seeing Choi Serim cry like this breaks my heart.

It’s not because I’m influenced by her thought-controlling ability.

It’s just how I feel.

“Noona.”

Under the steadily burning candle. Tears drop to the floor.

Choi Serim looks up at me, panting.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, Dabin.”

She grabs my legs and begs for forgiveness repeatedly, like someone whose mind has completely broken down.

“I tried to make you like a doll.”

And she says incomprehensible things sporadically.

“Because that way. In the library. We could get information.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Toward Choi Serim, who was sobbing weakly, I bent down and reached out my hand.

All this time, Choi Serim had been crouching on the cold library floor.

“Let’s get up first. We can talk about the details when we get back. It’s dangerous here.”

“…”

“And you don’t need to control my thoughts.”

Holding noona’s hand firmly, I spoke in a clear tone.

“I’ll help you anyway. You don’t need to do that.”

I started hearing other people’s voices again.

I turned in that direction, pulling Choi Serim’s arm behind me.

“Let’s go.”

“…”

Through the vast library. Past the old wooden bookshelves, to where the stairs were visible.

“And noona.”

I turned my head back.

“I’ll try to say this in the least cringeworthy way possible, so listen.”

“Okay.”

Choi Serim has a blank look in her eyes.

Hiccupping occasionally, tear stains still remain on her cheeks.

“It really, really doesn’t suit you, so please.”

“…”

“Please stop crying.”

I heard a snickering sound, so I stopped walking and turned around.

“Ah. Really.”

And I bit my lip, pretending to be annoyed.

Choi Serim was quietly smiling.

Above her tear-soaked eyelashes, her usual smile appeared.

“Just follow me.”

“Sorry. This is your original personality, Dabin… but I…”

It looks like she might cry again if I leave it at this.

I quickly changed the subject.

“But why did your ability suddenly stop working? Your power.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? It’s your own ability.”

“I don’t know. Now I can’t even read thoughts at all.”

Come to think of it, this body. They say it has high anomaly resistance. Is that why?

Hmm.

Maybe it doesn’t just have short-term resistance ability, but also the ability to adapt over the long term.

So I gradually adapted to Choi Serim’s ability until I became completely immune at some point.

It’s just a hypothesis.

“Right. I have another question.”

“What is it?”

“The dreams. Were those from you too?”

“No. I only found out after meeting you, Dabin.”

Choi Serim says, removing a strand of hair stuck to her lips.

“I think it’s just something happening in the apartment.”

“Even with the Reality Anchor, things like this happen?”

“It doesn’t block everything completely. So, something must have come through in dreams.”

“I see…”

I decided to stop asking questions here. My head was already hurting, and I didn’t want to think about more things.

For now, let’s just focus on getting out of here.

I pulled the blank-faced Choi Serim along as I climbed the spiral staircase one step at a time.

Thinking about it, this scene feels awkward. It was always Choi Serim who led, and I was the one being pulled along.

As we climbed the stairs, the first person I saw was Yoon Daju.

“Oppa!”

Daju, who had been standing in front of the stairs, rushed over in one breath.

And she poured out all the words she hadn’t been able to say.

“What were you two doing with Serim unni! Are you hurt anywhere? What about Serim unni? Unni, were you crying?”

Toward Daju, who was speaking frantically, I waved my hands dismissively.

“Be quiet for a bit. I’m dying of exhaustion.”

It didn’t seem to have much effect.

Now Daju was shouting loudly toward the elevator.

“Unni! I found oppa and Serim unni! They’re here in front of the stairs!”

Soon Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin appeared from between the bookshelves.

“What? You found Serim?”

“Where is she?”

“Over here!”

I just want to rest quietly now.

Even after calling the others, Daju didn’t stop talking.

“Why were you crying, unni? And why did you suddenly come to the library? With Dabin oppa now. Do you know how worried everyone was? Why were you wandering around outside alone in the middle of the night anyway?!”

I quietly gestured to Choi Serim.

“Noona.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever used your ability to shut Yoon Daju up?”

“…”

When I asked in a lowered voice, Choi Serim hesitated to answer.

“…Yes.”

“Could you do it one more time?”

“I only use this when absolutely necessary.”

“Still,”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

My head was spinning.

Yoon Daju was grabbing my shoulders and shaking them vigorously.

“Say something!!!”

The lights on the library ceiling leave long streaks of afterimages as they whip past my vision.

As I barely manage to focus my gaze, I see Choi Serim subtly reaching her hand in this direction.

A moment later. Daju, who had been talking non-stop, let out a deep sigh.

“Hah… Fine. Let’s talk when we get back since we’re all tired.”

Next was Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin’s turn.

The two approached from the side and surrounded us.

“Hey. Choi Serim.”

Heo Yoon approached with a face half angry, half relieved.

“Come here.”

And rushing in roughly, she forcibly linked arms with Choi Serim.

Until we got on the elevator and got off at the 7th floor. Heo Yoon didn’t let go of her arm.

Back to the dawn of the 7th floor.

The sun wasn’t visible, but the air around was gradually brightening.

It was much later when I could hear about Choi Serim’s purpose.

It wasn’t until the evening of the next day.