Not That House
It wasn’t that house.
“Please, Dohyun, save me!! What am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do…!!”
Noah collapsed right there on the ground and began to wail.
“Why is she suddenly…”
Dohyun was momentarily flustered, but—
“Dohyun… Dohyun…!”
The sight of her crying so desperately left him speechless.
Yes. Sometimes it was like that.
There were times when you just needed to cry.
In those moments,
“It’s okay, Noah. I’m right here… Yeah. Cry it all out and let it go. Good girl. That’s it…”
The best thing to do was simply stay by her side.
“I’m not going anywhere…”
He remained with her, keeping watch,
“It hurts so much… people keep tormenting me, doing terrible things, and I can’t even say anything back… and that bastard Lim Suhwan… hic… sob…”
Noah kept rambling incoherently between sobs. Her breath would catch, emotions overwhelming her, and her words would fracture into hiccups, stopping and starting over and over.
“…”
Dohyun had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn’t try to stop her or add anything of his own. He simply stroked her back and stayed beside her.
Perhaps because her voice was so loud, her wails echoed throughout the entire park. Passersby kept glancing over, but so what?
Have you never seen someone cry before?
What could he do about it?
Dohyun wasn’t the kind of rotten person who would scold a friend for crying.
Even when she said,
“Hic… I don’t know anymore… hic… what I should do… what… I don’t know anything now…”
“It’s okay if you don’t know. I’ll think about it with you.”
“So… so… the only way left is to die… that’s why… that’s why, one last time, I wanted to see you, Dohyun… hic.”
“Why would you die, Noah? I’m going to stay with you. Why would you die?”
“So… sooo… I… ugh…”
Her breathing grew ragged as violent emotions twisted and tore at her lungs.
Her stomach, unable to endure it any longer, helplessly emptied its contents. Sour vomit soaked into Dohyun’s back and clothes, but—
“Don’t worry about it. People throw up when they’re hurting. You must’ve been in so much pain, huh? It’s okay. I’m fine…”
Dohyun showed no sign of discomfort. He simply patted her back and tried to calm her down.
A little while later,
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah… no. Yeah. Actually… no, it’s just…”
“It’s alright. Want to rest for a bit?”
“No… hic… I just… I…”
“I’ll do whatever you want, Noah.”
“I want to go home…”
Noah hung her head and answered weakly.
“Okay. Then I’ll take you home.”
Even though he was still covered in her vomit, Dohyun didn’t show the slightest hint of displeasure.
“Not that house. Not that one. Hic. Not that house…!”
Noah’s breath hitched again, her back jerking with spasms.
“What house? Our house?”
“Yeah… I want to go to our house. I want to go to the house where you and I live. Our house…”
Noah mumbled in a childish, whining tone.
Normally, Dohyun would have shot back with something like, Why is it suddenly ‘our’ house?
But instead—
“Alright. Let’s go to our house.”
He accepted it without any change in expression.
“Can you walk? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m… not okay, but… I’m okay. I can walk…”
Dohyun stayed right beside her, and Noah stayed right beside him.
They walked with only a small gap between them, just like always.
“You’re going to fall, Noah.”
Maybe because she had poured out so many emotions at once, walking was difficult for her. She tried to put strength in her legs and walk straight, but her knees kept buckling and her body swayed unsteadily.
“Want me to support you?”
“No… that’s…”
Noah hesitated.
In truth, it was physically impossible. Dohyun wasn’t exactly short, but Noah was literally an eight-foot-tall giant. Trying to support her would only end with both of them toppling over.
“Okay. Then I’ll at least hold your hand. Is that alright?”
“…”
Dohyun reached out with one hand.
But he didn’t grab hers.
The choice was entirely up to her.
“…”
Suhwan and his group had simply taken what they wanted—her breasts, her pussy—without hesitation, without permission, without restraint.
Noah’s hand hovered hesitantly in the air for a moment before—
“…”
She took Dohyun’s hand.
“Hey, Dohyun.”
Noah spoke in a frail voice.
“In the end… you’re the most comfortable person for me, aren’t you?”
“Same here.”
Dohyun answered casually, as if it were nothing.
The two of them walked on.
The distance between them was the same as before, but now Dohyun walked a little ahead.
It was slightly different from before.
“…”
Noah’s vomit clung to the back of Dohyun’s shirt, giving off a foul stench.
Feeling unbearably guilty, Noah tried to apologize.
“Dohyun, earlier, that mi—”
“Noah.”
But Dohyun cut her off.
“…?”
“Do you remember something from the past?”
“When?”
“Middle school.”
“Yeah. Back when that bitch Chae Sumin kept tormenting me so badly… you helped me, didn’t you?”
“Ah… that…”
“It was really awful. She made me eat bugs, forced me to eat garbage, cursed at me when my dad died… that little shit even burned my arm with a cigarette…”
“…”
“She had a filthy personality and she was strong. No one could stop her. But you still tried to cover for me no matter what.”
“…”
“So don’t wor— never mind. Yeah.”
Dohyun started to say something, then stopped.
It wouldn’t be very considerate to drag it out any further here.
He simply said,
“It was just like that. For both of us.”
It was nothing more than an ordinary old story.
Then—
“Wait… hold on. Something feels off. Did that bastard even smoke?”
Dohyun suddenly looked puzzled.
“She didn’t smoke, so how could she have burned me with a cigarette…? Why is my memory so fuzzy?”
He frowned deeply, tilting his head as if struggling to recall.
“Hey, Dohyun…!”
Noah quickly tried to interrupt,
“Yeah? What is it?”
“No… never mind. It’s nothing…”
She trailed off and swallowed her words.
“Sorry. I said something weird for no reason.”
“…”
Noah lowered her head,
“Why bring up something from years ago?”
Dohyun laughed lightly as if it were no big deal and let it slide.
After all, human memory was always a little ambiguous.
And so the two of them returned home.
To their home.
“Ugh, fuck. I left the air conditioner on when I went out.”
Dohyun grumbled, while Noah—
“I’m ba—”
She started to greet the house out of habit but swallowed it.
“…”
Noah stood there awkwardly, unable to take off her shoes.
“…”
Dohyun took his shoes off first and stood inside the entrance, watching her quietly for a moment before saying,
“Welcome home to our house.”
He greeted her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Yeah… I’m back… sob… I’m home…”
Noah collapsed on the spot and began to sob again.
Even as she kept sniffling and wiping her eyes, the corners of her mouth were—
“I’m home…!”
curving into a faint, trembling smile.
A little later, the two of them changed clothes and sat down at the table.
It was really just a foldable low table, but it still felt comfortable here.
They leaned back against the sofa side by side with the table in front of them and rested for a while.
Dohyun idly flipped through TV channels and fiddled with his phone, while Noah—
“…”
sat curled up, nervously watching his every move.
“Why are you sitting like that? Make yourself comfortable.”
“I, uh… well…”
Noah mumbled incoherently for a moment, then—
“Yeah…”
She weakly stretched her legs out.
Now that she thought about it, this place really was more comfortable than her own house.
Their real home.
Noah stood up, stretched her back, and reached her arms high in a big stretch.
“…”
Her hands didn’t touch the ceiling.
Her back didn’t hurt either.
It was too comfortable, and at the same time, far too unfamiliar.
Even though it had only been a few months, it already felt like something from the distant past.
“…”
Tears threatened to fall again.
Noah started to sink back down—
“Want something to drink?”
—but Dohyun’s voice pulled her back.
“Yeah, I… um…”
“Why are you being so hesitant? Just open the fridge and take whatever you want. It’s our house.”
“Okay…”
In the end, Noah started crying again.
As expected,
“Dohyun really is the most comfortable person in the world to me…”
Noah found Dohyun the most comforting of all.
And a little while later, the doorbell rang.
“Hic?! Hic!?”
Noah let out a high-pitched hiccup and began to tremble violently.
“What’s wrong?”
“The… the doorbell… I don’t know who it is… I’m scared… it’s too scary.”
Noah pointed at the door with short, jerky motions, her chest heaving.
When she had been staying at Suhwan’s place, the doorbell had always meant that the “Master” had arrived.
Every single time, she had been forced to offer her body.
“It’s okay. It’s not a bad person. It’s just the pizza delivery guy.”
Dohyun tried his best to calm her down, but—
Noah curled up like a wounded animal, shaking even harder.
“Hic… delivery… delivery… ugh…”
Because back when she had been held captive by Suhwan’s group, there had been times when she had to spread her legs in exchange for the price of food.
Worse still,
“…”
Her terror was so extreme that her bladder gave out, leaving a small puddle between her legs. But Dohyun didn’t show any reaction.
He didn’t know the reason, but—
“It’s okay. It’s not a bad person. There are no scary people here. If anyone bad comes, I’ll protect you. It’s alright, Noah. I’m right here.”
Dohyun simply comforted her.
Even though her pants were soaked with urine, Dohyun comforted her.
A little later,
“See? No one’s there, right?”
“Yeah…”
Only after Dohyun opened the door and showed her did Noah finally relax.
Good thing I chose contactless delivery.
Dohyun thought to himself.
The two of them began eating with the pizza in front of them.
“Ugh, damn it. Why do they keep recommending weird stuff? And what’s wrong with this channel? Tsk. It’s all because of those comfort women warriors throwing a fit. Seriously, there are so many weird bastards in the world…”
Dohyun grumbled while flipping through channels with the remote.
He didn’t ask her anything first.
He simply waited for her to open up.
Until Noah was ready.
By the time about two-thirds of the pizza was gone and the cheese had started to harden,
“Hey, Dohyun… I…”
Noah finally spoke, carefully watching his reaction.
It started from the time she had been victimized by Lim Suhwan.
