The Stabbing Incident
Only after the police arrived could the situation finally come to an end.
Leaning quietly against the wall, I looked down at my bleeding hand. It was the first time I’d seen that much blood, so I just stared blankly.
“Do Won-woo! Aaaah, let go!”
While pressing the wound area with tissue to stop the bleeding, the sound of a woman screaming and being dragged came from right in front of me.
“Do Won-woo, you trash! You think you can debut with this to me?”
Due to the commotion in the middle of the night, neighbors were out in the hallway, peeking around our house.
The neighborhood residents had gathered in front of the villa at the sound of the sirens.
'Ha….'
The opposite hand that was pressing the wound area to stop the bleeding was trembling.
The returning police reassured me that an ambulance would come soon, but my mind was only complicated.
'This, probably won't quietly pass.'
In that short moment, many thoughts flashed through my mind.
It seemed deeply cut. Not a problem with the finger, right? Maybe it would interfere with dancing or living in the future or something...
'Why did this damn misfortune saga return to me.'
When I came to my senses, the paramedics had already arrived at the house.
***
Upon arriving at the hospital, I underwent surgery to suture the finger wound.
Fortunately, the surgery went smoothly, and I heard that important areas like nerves or tendons were avoided, so there would be no hindrance in living in the future.
'Was it a cheap meal for a misfortune saga.'
I didn't know, but it was fortunate that it didn't go to the worst situation.
Is it appropriate to call this good? An internal laugh came out.
'By the way, the internet must have gone crazy again.'
As expected, as soon as I turned on my phone, numerous missed calls appeared.
And on the internet, an article with my name had already appeared. It wasn't particularly surprising. I had heard there were many reporters connected to the police side.
But the infuriating part was that speculative articles were pouring out before I even gave my statement at the police station.
Stimulating headline.
The article content was written to provoke the imagination without any regard for the facts of the incident.
Thanks to that, wild speculations about the woman were unfolding in the comment section.
I read the comments and set my phone down.
'Ha… already ridiculous stories spreading everywhere.'
I wasn't mentally weak enough to break from something like this, but I was still irritated.
I already knew there would be people with bad feelings toward me because of the survival aspect, but I hadn't expected them to rush in like that. Especially when a person was injured.
'Do I think there's a reason for being stabbed by a knife?'
I didn't know what that reason was myself. A woman I’d never seen before had stabbed me.
The reason was simple. Only this. The system in this world had activated. The misfortune saga had returned to me.
Maybe the public's bizarre reaction, which wasn't normal, was also due to the influence of the misfortune saga.
'Reporters contacted me a lot.'
When I opened my message inbox, messages from reporters flooded in.
Since they were independent and had no agency, they were contacting me desperately to hear my story.
Still, it was infuriating. They were contacting my number without permission. I knew it was their job, but it still boiled up my irritation.
My hand was injured, so using the phone right now was difficult.
'First, contact the production team and tell them the situation. They'll probably report it or something.'
When I swallowed and drank cold water to calm down, I heard the sound of someone running.
“Do Won-woo!”
This voice.
Hyeon Si-woo.
“Ya! You….”
Hyeon Si-woo, whose breathing reached his throat, looked at me and slowly slowed his steps.
Hyeon Si-woo stared at me without saying a word for a long time. Soon, Hyeon Si-woo's eyes reddened as if they would tear up at any moment.
'Why crying?'
I didn't understand well. I was the one injured, so why was he crying.
Was he thinking it was his fault? Was he thinking that if I hadn't gone out for his sake today, this wouldn't have happened?
'Anyway, even if not today, the sasaeng would have done crazy things on another day.'
If he knew the house password, it meant he had been tailing me for quite some time.
Still, I couldn't say I didn't understand. Hyeon Si-woo might have thought it was related to him.
“Sorry.”
“What? What is it.”
“Just sorry.”
While exchanging those words, footsteps sounded again.
“Wonwoo!”
It was Won Ji-an.
I was a little surprised. Hyeon Si-woo had been expected, but I hadn't anticipated Won Ji-an arriving.
“Why here….”
“Why? Of course I was worried, so I came. You got hurt, right.”
“But I didn't say anything, so how did you know….”
Won Ji-an held back his words. But I could roughly guess how he knew.
Was that rumor already spreading too? After all, there seemed to be a few people in the ER who recognized me.
“…Are you okay?”
While Won Ji-an was worried, I casually extended my injured hand.
“Just my finger got hurt.”
“Finger?”
While the article only mentioned being stabbed by a knife, rumors about being stabbed in the abdomen or face were spreading without any basis.
“It was cut pretty deep, so I had surgery, but it seems there's no problem.”
At that, Won Ji-an sat down on the spot with a relieved expression.
“Why?”
“My legs went weak.”
“That much?”
“After seeing the article, I thought you were seriously hurt and almost fainted.”
It felt weird. That someone would come running when I got hurt.
“Where is the Do Won-woo patient?”
At that moment, a familiar voice came from far away. Turning around, I saw Han I-jae wandering around the ER.
'…Meeting everyone today.'
Han I-jae, who saw me at the right time, walked over.
“Do Won-woo!”
Han I-jae approached me right in front and asked with a worried face.
“Are you okay?”
“…As you can see.”
When I extended my injured finger, Han I-jae let out a big sigh.
It was a bit surprising. I hadn't expected Hyeon Si-woo, Won Ji-an, and then Han I-jae to show up.
“Thanks.”
“…What?”
“For coming all this way.”
At that, Han I-jae frowned with an incredulous expression.
“Thanks is thanks. Are you in a position to thank me like this? Take care of your body first.”
Behind Han I-jae, who was scolding in a worried tone, Won Ji-an was staring at me with a complex expression.
***
The next day, I went straight to the police station to give my victim statement.
The investigation wasn't long. After I simply relayed the exact facts of what happened, I was able to leave the police station.
On the way home, I checked the internet and saw that a correction report had already been issued. It seemed the production team had handled it in my place after contacting me that morning.
(link)
It was said that she also did a crazy act of ordering worms from a shopping mall and releasing them at home.
On the way home in a taxi, I checked the internet reactions.
Fortunately, the ridiculous rumors had been suppressed with the correction report.
'Good.'
It was a moment when I understood how Hyeon Si-woo's heart must have felt.
So I got out of the taxi and headed home. My steps were heavier than usual. There had been too many things.
'How to deal with the misfortune saga….'
I could help others overcome their misfortune saga from the side, but I was at a loss for how to overcome my own.
'If I can't debut because of this.'
I was anxious.
Even first place wasn't safe.
This time it hadn't gone to the worst, but I didn't know what would happen next.
If these sudden situations continued and something went wrong somewhere…
'Like the rumor, real face injury or seriously injuring somewhere so I can't dance….'
Then debut would be out of the question. In that case, I would end up as a failed life again this time.
'Ha….'
While sighing like that and passing through the alley, I arrived in front of my house.
Far away, Won Ji-an was squatting at the door waiting for me.
“Won Ji-an?”
At my voice, Won Ji-an turned his head.
“…Why here?”
“Waiting to talk to you.”
“When?”
It was embarrassing.
I hadn't known Won Ji-an would be waiting in front of my house at this time.
“Originally I was just going to clean the house, but since there was an urgent thing to say, I thought it would be better to say it today.”
Won Ji-an stood up and said.
“Time okay?”
Internally perplexed, but I nodded while hiding the emotion.
***
“Really cleaned well.”
When I looked around the house, the interior was spotless. The bloodstains on the floor had all been wiped away.
Especially the worms in the sink lower cabinet were completely gone, not a single one left.
“Really you cleaned them by hand?”
Won Ji-an answered with a proud face next to me.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks…”
“If thanks, just say thanks.”
I had no choice but to speak.
“Thanks.”
Honestly, I had no intention of asking Won Ji-an to clean.
However, when I heard that a crazy woman had released worms at home, Won Ji-an said he would clean instead and insisted on doing the task without being asked.
I was grateful, but it seemed like something I couldn't ask him to do because he would freak out at the sight of worms.
But Won Ji-an insisted he would do it, so I had no choice but to tell him the house password.
“Really amazing.”
“Y, yeah?”
“Yeah. It seems really amazing. Even I, who don't fear worms much, would shrink if there were dozens of them.”
Won Ji-an's face turned slightly pale as he listened to me.
He was rubbing his arms, as if imagining it gave him goosebumps.
'Even if I think about it, he seems to be very afraid of worms. It's respectable that he cleaned them all up.'
As I kept saying thanks repeatedly, Won Ji-an's face, which had been pale, turned red.
The rapid change in his face color was somewhat amusing.
“So, what did you want to say?”
Anyway, I was going to hear why Won Ji-an had been waiting till now.
To avoid wasting time, we should get straight to the point.
“Um…”
Won Ji-an trailed off at the end of his sentence.
“Wonwoo. That…”
Won Ji-an seemed to hesitate before saying what he wanted to say.
After the silence, Won Ji-an spoke.
“The one that returned to you? The misfortune saga.”