The Misfortune Narrative Returns
“You worked hard.”
“Yeah. You too, hyung.”
Only after some time had passed were we finally able to relax.
We had been on edge, watching for any more absurd suspicions to surface, but fortunately no such signs appeared. In fact, this level of resolution was enough to declare the matter closed.
Moreover, the existence of the group chat suspected of spreading rumors had been exposed, proving that the initial blackmail had been nothing but that from the start.
The group chat is gone, public opinion has turned, so now I can truly breathe easy.
A sigh of relief. Hyeon Si-woo’s face mirrored the same sentiment.
Still, it couldn’t be helped that he looked exhausted. Having focused on this all day, both of us were drained.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t it about time for the family members to return?”
Hyeon Si-woo shook his head.
“My parents work late, so you can stay a little longer.”
As he spoke, he subtly checked my expression.
“But if you want to head home early, it’s fine.”
It seemed he felt guilty for making me waste the entire day because of him.
“Should I make kimchi jjigae?”
Suddenly?
“Kimchi jjigae? Then doenjang jjigae?”
As I stared, Hyeon Si-woo offered an awkward smile.
“...No, should I order delivery?”
It seemed he felt bad about sending me back on an empty stomach.
“I’m really fine.”
Grateful as it was...
I simply wanted to return home and rest. Facing each other while eating in this situation might make me feel sick.
“We’ll eat next time. Honestly, my appetite isn’t great right now?”
“...Yeah, that’s true.”
Issuing documents, writing entrance letters—it had been an exhausting day.
Still, the silver lining was that we had achieved meaningful results. Correcting the wrong felt refreshing.
“I’ll be going.”
“Alright.”
I headed toward the entrance, and Hyeon Si-woo followed awkwardly behind me.
I was about to put on my shoes when Hyeon Si-woo spoke softly.
“Won-woo.”
“Eh?”
When I turned, I saw Hyeon Si-woo smiling at me.
“Thank you. Really. If it weren’t for you, I would have struggled.”
At that moment, a system window appeared before my eyes.
The supporting character Hyeon Si-woo has overcome the misfortune narrative and changed his own fate.
Good. The misfortune narrative that had transferred from me hadn’t lingered long.
I remained silent for a moment, and Hyeon Si-woo tilted his head.
“Hyung.”
“Eh?”
“Stop saying thank you.”
I spoke while looking at the Hyeon Si-woo before me.
“I’ve heard ‘thank you’ far too many times. It was simply something I wanted to do. It was also true that I was worried about you.”
“...Still.”
“If you’re grateful, treat me to a meal later.”
After saying that, I left the entrance.
“Do Won-woo! Safe travels.”
Hyeon Si-woo’s voice calling “safe travels” followed from behind.
“Yeah, you too. Have a comfortable night.”
I thought it would end there.
Why is he following?
I had assumed the farewell was complete and it was time to part ways, but Hyeon Si-woo saw me off even outside the building.
Hyeon Si-woo stood there waving until I disappeared from view.
***
On the way home by bus, I leaned against the window and closed my eyes.
...What kind of twisted world is this.
It was a night filled with thoughts. Everything had felt like it had been swept away in a storm and then vanished.
Anyway, public opinion toward Hyeon Si-woo had recovered in an instant. The atmosphere was generally friendly toward him everywhere.
That aside...
It turns out the fans of Yoon Hyeon-min were the ones behind spreading that forced rumor.
I never expected that.
I had anticipated some group behind the simultaneous rumor posts, but never that it would be the Yoon Hyeon-min fans.
After all, this was an action that brought no benefit to them.
I had guessed it was trainee fans with a close ranking, but Yoon Hyeon-min wasn’t even a candidate. Why...
Because Yoon Hyeon-min was already finished.
From this point onward, the possibility of Yoon Hyeon-min debuting was practically zero. In such a situation, bringing down Hyeon Si-woo would yield nothing.
But why?
I couldn’t understand it.
How could people be so passionate about an action that brought no benefit.
Perhaps it’s natural that I can’t understand. After all, we are different people. Even among humans, not everyone thinks the same.
It’s difficult.
***
After getting off the bus and on the way home, I met a cat in front of the house.
“Hello.”
The cat indifferently licked its paw, then climbed the high wall and vanished. It was a cat I had seen often lately.
It’s gone.
After saying goodbye to the cat, I entered the house. Only then did I feel I could finally relax.
I was about to change clothes when I felt an inexplicable sense of otherness.
...What is this?
The air in the room felt subtly different from usual. I couldn’t explain it precisely, but something was off.
By the way, did I turn on the light when I left?
I didn’t remember well.
I had hurriedly left, grabbing only my clothes and rushing out.
After wandering the room for a moment, I opened the bathroom door. No one was there. I came out and stood in the middle of the room again, and the unpleasant silence continued.
Something’s strange.
Suddenly, an unpleasant feeling that someone besides me might be in the house gripped me. I didn’t know why.
Since it’s a one-room, the only hiding spots besides the bathroom are the closet...
Could it be.
I looked at the closet.
The door was closed, and only pitch-black darkness peeked through the small gap.
I immediately strode to the closet and opened the door without hesitation.
The first thing that jumped out was a rat.
“...Huh?”
The rat jumped down at my feet, flailed, and hid in the corner.
Was the feeling different from usual because of this?
Once I realized the source of this otherness was the rat, my tension eased.
“Get out.”
I opened the entrance door, and the rat naturally jumped out. Of course, the rat wouldn’t want to live with me.
“I should have asked that cat to catch it.”
Muttering that as a joke, I changed my clothes.
After changing into comfortable clothes and lying under the blanket, sleep came over me. Before bed, I should check my phone for a few minutes and sleep. While thinking that, I was about to yawn.
“?”
I heard another strange sound from somewhere.
What is this?
I went to the direction the sound was coming from, and something was clattering from under the sink cabinet.
...It doesn’t seem like a person.
The moment I slightly opened the door, I knew what the source of the sound was.
Unbelievable, I flung the door open, and dozens of bugs wriggling under the sink cabinet came into view.
After slamming the door shut and turning around, I saw a person’s arm sticking out halfway from behind the closet.
“......”
It was a person hiding in the very narrow space behind the closet.
Ha... Fuck.
The woman who had been hiding behind the closet was struggling to get her body out while pressing it against the wall. I had no idea how she had gotten in there.
Just as I was about to take out my phone to report to the police, the woman completely escaped.
“Hehe.”
As I stared at her silently, the woman smiled with strangely squinted eyes.
“Hah, it was tough.”
“......”
“You don’t seem surprised at all, oppa?”
Her face looked too normal, making it even stranger. If you just looked at her appearance, she was just an ordinary person you might meet once on the street.
“Oppa, why do you live here? Your face is a complete prince, but living is like living in a pigsty. Why don’t you come to our house? I can feed you and put you to bed.”
Is this a crazy person...
I didn’t want to mix words, so I just reported the police dispatch message, but the woman took a step forward.
“Oppa. Did you see that? I put it under the sink.”
As expected. It was that woman’s doing.
“Oppa, the thing you fear most is bugs, so I prepared a surprise as a surprise, but if the reaction is like that, I’m upset.”
...What do I do.
By the way, the person who wrote in the profile document that bugs are the scariest is not me.
At the time of the first document submission, I hadn’t possessed Do Won-woo’s body yet.
But this woman wouldn’t know that.
“Why haven’t you been saying anything since earlier?”
“......”
“I came from far away to see oppa. I understand it’s unpleasant, but isn’t it too harsh on the fans?”
Well, for someone like this, the word ‘fan’ is too much, isn’t it.
I was a bit irritated, but I decided not to answer. If she was recording, I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage later.
As I remained silent without saying anything, the woman’s expression became anxious.
“Oppa? Say something.”
“......”
“Say something, damn it? Are you going to keep doing that? Huh?”
As I kept silent until the end, the woman’s face distorted instantly.
“Do Won-woo, this...”
“......”
“This fucking bitch.”
The smile disappeared from the woman’s face.
“Do you know how hard it was for me to get stuck behind the closet just to see you? Have you ever gotten stuck behind a closet? This is fucking hard! You fucking bitch!”
Even though there was no reaction, the woman took something out of her hoodie pocket.
Suddenly, looking down, I saw a cutter knife with a cute animal character drawn on it.
...Huh?
And then the system window appeared.
The misfortune narrative of the villain Do Won-woo returns to its original owner.
Wait a second. Does that mean the misfortune narrative of Do Won-woo returns to me?
In a short moment, many thoughts flashed through my mind. Indeed, this world offers big shocks in any form to me.
Then that’s it. It’s not strange that such extreme humans exist in this world.
A crazy human who releases bugs into a person’s house and threatens with a cutter knife? But that human appears right in front of me?
It’s impossible unless the world is designed to eat me.
“Come here. That handsome face, I’ll ruin it. I’ll make you ugly so you only see me for the rest of your life!”
Suddenly, laughter burst out.
“...Why is laughter coming out now?”
The woman in front of me looked panicked. It seemed she expected me to get angry, run away, or scream in fear...
The woman, who just laughed even after seeing the knife, had an incomprehensible expression.
“Why are you laughing? Are you crazy?”
At that moment, with the sound of sirens, the outside of the window turned red and blue. It was the flashing lights of the police car.
The woman’s expression crumpled as if it would cry at any moment.
“Oppa called?”
“......”
“You called the police while the fans came to see you right now? I... I voted for you how many times, you ungrateful bitch!”
The woman brandished the cutter knife and rushed at me, and I hurriedly turned my body toward the entrance.
There was a lot of struggle as I tried to shake off the woman grabbing me from behind, and finally, I was able to maintain distance from the woman.
But something was strange.
Why is her expression like that?
The woman who had been rushing aggressively a moment ago was now looking at me with a strangely calm face.
And I felt the woman’s gaze touching my right arm.
...Hmm?
The moment I looked down below my arm, I saw the bitten wound on my finger.
When was it bitten?
I was blankly staring without feeling any sensation, but suddenly the bitten part became hot as if it was burning.
Soon, blood started gushing out from the cracked wound like crazy.