Phenomenon Adaptation – 1

I don’t know how it is these days, but when I was in school, there was something called environmental beautification at the beginning of the semester.

It was an activity where the kids gathered in groups of three or five, led by the homeroom teacher, to decorate the classroom, but it wasn’t a very fun time for me, who wasn’t good with my hands, as only the kids who were good at it worked hard.

I often ended up cutting my own hand while trying to cut paper with a utility knife with my tiny hands.

The reason I’m telling this story is that I’m very afraid of sharp objects… you know, sharp things that look like they could draw blood.

The eerie feeling when you get cut is so creepy.

Maybe that’s why I’m so scared of this woman holding a knife in front of me right now.

“Inho, why are you swearing all of a sudden? You don’t believe that woman, do you? Huh? Huh? I told you… everything that woman says is a lie. A blatant lie to ruin us.”

The woman twisted her hair with her fingers and darted her eyes around. She seems emotionally unstable.

“Who are you?”

Oops, that was a stupid question.

The woman tilted her head to one side and looked at me.

Like a chameleon’s eyes locking onto its prey, all at once. She glared at me with a subtle anger.

“What are you talking about?”

Frozen by her force, the words I was about to say stopped, caught on the tip of my tongue.

“What are you talking about? Huh? Huh? Huh? Are you pretending you don’t know me now? I’m Hyejeong, your girlfriend, Lee Hyejeong. Did that bitch tell you to do this? Or do you want to see me go crazy? Answer me, Inho. Huh?”

The woman’s head rattled like a broken toy robot.

And she gradually comes forward. Holding that ominous sharp object.

“That’s not… Ah…”

I was going to say that’s not it. But I couldn’t finish my sentence because of the sudden foreign sensation.

Ah… it hurts…

Am I stabbed now?

Ah… it hurts…

The woman grabbed the knife handle with both hands and began to stir my stomach as if grinding a millstone.

“Ah… it hurts…”

Pain that cannot be connected to any sentence. An expression of emotion from a primal feeling.

But this voice does not reach her.

“It hurts? I hurt more… I feel like my heart is torn when you ignore me. It hurts a hundred, a thousand times more than being stabbed with this knife.”

No… shit… it really hurts…

The foreign sensation gets stronger and stronger, and blood gushes from my mouth.

The pain that rose from my abdomen was a repetition of being cool, then stinging, then burning, then heavy.

My vision suddenly went dark as if my eyes were covered with a dark cloth, and in my fading consciousness, I heard clearly.

“Ah… so this is Inho’s insides. Pretty.”

Crazy bitch.

My consciousness faded quickly, like sinking into water.

“Ugh!”

I was startled and raised myself up, and it was a bed.

Light was shining warmly through the curtains, and an unidentified needle was stuck in my arm. Judging by the shape, it must be an IV drip.

But what is it, am I alive? No, before that, how did I get out of there?

“Huh?”

I groped my body with my hands, but it’s strange. If I had been stabbed that many times with a knife, I should at least have a bandage wrapped around my stomach, but strangely, my stomach is clean. Rather, my legs and head are wrapped in bandages.

What the hell is this…

The door opens with a click.

“In… ho?”

A woman with long brown hair calls my name. Judging by the fact that she’s wearing a school uniform, is she a student?

“You’re Inho, right?”

Her gray eyes were shaking wildly as if she had seen a ghost. She slowly approached and reached out to touch my cheek.

Hmm… her hand is soft.

Starting with my cheek, her hand movements, which continued to my chin, neck, and shoulders, were similar to those of a craftsman handling a luxury watch.

“Inho…”

Tears welled up in her big eyes.

“You’re awake… Inho…”

She smiled brightly and hugged me.

It was awkward to leave my hands still, so I hugged her slightly too. I don’t know what’s going on, but I thought I should adapt to the situation for now.

She buried her face in my chest and cried, as if she was sad about something.

I patted her back without knowing why, and every time I did, she cried even more sadly.

About 30 minutes in real time. She seemed to have calmed down her intense emotions to some extent, and now she pulled away from my arms and looked at me with reddened eyes. But she still hiccuped occasionally, as if she hadn’t completely calmed down.

I smiled softly because her appearance was cute.

Okay, now let’s figure out the situation.

First of all, I need to know how I got here.

What was that crazy bitch’s name again? That’s right, Lee Hyejeong.

I was definitely being held in a basement, so I should ask how I ended up in the hospital.

“Um… I have something to ask.”

“Yeah! What are you curious about?”

“Lee Hyejeong… do you know her?”

I ask as carefully as possible, without being suspected. As if, ‘You and I know her.’

“Lee Hyejeong? Who’s that?”

Ah, she doesn’t know. Then I’ll change the question.

“No, I think I was mistaken.”

I was about to turn to another question, but she grabbed my hand.

“I’m asking you. Who is Lee Hyejeong? Why do you know a woman I don’t know?”