Dizziness (3)
Gong Na-rin holds the music box with care, smiling gently at us. It was still deep in our childhood years, back when someone had given her that music box as a gift… Her small white hand turns the crank, and a clear, tinkling melody begins to play.
Ga-rang and Sang-hui tell her the sound is beautiful, their voices bright as they wish her a happy birthday. Na-rin blushes shyly and thanks them all with that kind, gentle tone of hers… That’s how the scene should have unfolded.
Huh?
Before I realize it, gray clumps of ash begin drifting down from the sky, carrying the stench of something burnt. As if generously bestowing some vast mercy… It’s dangerous. I reach out to lead my three friends to safety, but the look in the children’s—no, the girls’—eyes as they stare at me is nothing but contempt.
At some point they had grown into teenagers while I remained a mere child, forced to look up at them. Even though no one was turning the crank anymore, the music box continued spilling its clear notes. Yet the voices they hurled at me were nothing but vicious curses.
Ash clung everywhere, sticky and foul. I wanted to close my eyes but couldn’t. Even as everything around us burned… I cried like the child I still was.
The girls who had been spitting venom now wrap their arms around my sobbing form. They’re crying too, yet they smile at me… Why smile while crying?
At some point the flames shift from red to something strange… a pale, almost white glow. Ah… I just feel dizzy.
I opened my eyes.
When I did, I could tell the dizziness had eased somewhat. The school nurse approached me, offering various words of advice along with warnings about the sleeping pills she had given me. But my mind was still caught in that strange dream, so I simply nodded along, pretending to listen carefully.
Before long it was time for everyone to leave. I kept pretending to focus on the nurse’s concerned instructions as I stepped out of the infirmary.
That childhood memory of celebrating Gong Na-rin’s birthday…
“Hae-in, you really are a terrible kid, aren’t you?”
Eun Na-rin approached, carrying my bag for me. She acted like nothing was wrong, but the deep worry on her face was obvious. I regretted taking those sleeping pills last night… I’d throw them away once I got home.
“Sorry. It hasn’t been that long since I transferred, and I’ve already caused you trouble.”
“Sorry? What for? I was honestly scared you’d taken drugs or something.”
“Drugs? That’s crossing the line, don’t you think?”
“You just look like the type who might~ You’re the decadent transfer student, after all!”
“What are you even saying?”
She kept up the playful banter, trying to lighten the mood. Maybe that’s why the dizziness in my head slowly began to sink beneath the surface.
I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked down the hallway with Eun Na-rin. Just the two of us.
“Thanks for helping me. And could you tell the seniors who supported me that I said thank you?”
“You should go tell them yourself, you rude little thing, to those heavenly seniors~”
“I’m a problem student. They probably won’t welcome me.”
“Hmm~ I wonder about that?”
Eun Na-rin simply giggled as if it were all a joke. Everyone else saw me as a criminal who had gone far beyond simple school violence, but she… she was a very strange person.
“By the way, sis, is Kim Do-hun doing weird stuff to you?”
The memory of Do-hun pestering her came to mind, so I asked carefully. Her expression soured at the mention of his name.
“That bastard keeps trying to slither back no matter how much I ignore him. It gives me the creeps… ugh.”
“So there really is a problem. Can I ask why he’s doing it?”
“There’s no special story. He’s just obsessed with my looks.”
I had assumed Kim Do-hun had some deeper history with Eun Na-rin, but it turned out the grandson of DM Industrial Development’s founder was nothing more than a potential stalker.
“Want me to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office?”
“A complaint? No way~ There’s only a year left anyway, and he’s just annoying at this point. I’ll be fine.”
Eun Na-rin brushed it off, saying it wasn’t that serious. Kim Do-hun was clearly toeing the line of what would cause real trouble while still harassing her. She was a third-year now—she had to prepare for the college entrance exam… yet he was forcing her to waste energy on him. How selfish.
We had reached the school gate. Eun Na-rin waved at me in farewell.
“Stop by the hospital on your way! Take care of yourself. This body is heading back in to study for the exam~”
“Got it. I won’t make you worry again. You study hard too, sis.”
“You’re calling me sis now instead of senior? I like it! Next week you have to come to my friend’s birthday party. No excuses!”
“What a weird invitation. I doubt a school violence perpetrator would be very welcome.”
Eun Na-rin simply covered her mischievous mouth with both hands and gave me a warm look. I waved back and left the school grounds.
For some reason, the dizziness receded like the tide. I didn’t know why, but I was grateful.
I headed to the bus stop, boarded the one going toward home, and took a window seat. While staring out at the passing scenery, I mulled over my plan to confront Classmate A at his house.
Huh?
The bus stopped at a red light, and outside the window… Cha Sang-hui stood at the corner like a delinquent, cigarette between her lips.
She had once been the model student, the top of the entire school… everyone’s classroom angel… She exhaled a plume of smoke, head lowered. When she lifted it, our eyes met. Even from a distance, we both recognized each other instantly.
Her platinum blonde hair, catching the light of the setting sun, looked strangely dull. Her once elegant red eyes seemed terribly clouded.
Cha Sang-hui reflexively raised a hand to wave at me with a pretty smile—almost—before she flinched, glared at me, and flipped me off. In one hand she held her cigarette; with the other she gave me a clear ‘fuck you.’
She hadn’t been this kind of girl… My lonely gaze must have bothered her, because she flicked the cigarette to the ground and disappeared into a crowd of people heading out to enjoy their Friday night.
The red light felt unbearably long. Eventually the bus pulled away, leaving Cha Sang-hui far behind.
Had she given up on studying? She shouldn’t have…
The dizziness was gone now, but running into those complicated, once-cherished memories left my chest heavy.
Before I knew it, the bus had stopped at my destination. I got off and headed home.
There was no one at home… except the fish. Those plecos… Unfortunately, the ones I kept in my tank looked far too vicious among their kind. I doubted any customers would beg me to sell them.
After tending to the plecos in the tank for a while, I got ready to head out. Before that, I threw the sleeping pills in the trash. Useless garbage.
I changed clothes and left for Classmate A’s house. My newly assigned high school was unfortunately in an inconvenient spot for the subway, so I always took the bus. But Classmate A’s place was only about twenty minutes away by train.
While waiting at the station after paying, as the train heading toward his neighborhood pulled in, my phone rang. It was Classmate A.
“Hae-in, are you on your way?”
“I’m waiting for the train. Should be there in about fifty minutes.”
“I see… You’ll find out when you get here, but… our family didn’t actually go on a trip…”
“If it wasn’t a trip… then where did they go?”
“They’re… missing.”
The word made me freeze. His family had disappeared? Then shouldn’t he have reported it to the police…? Yet here he was, asking me for help. This was…
“From the way you’re talking… it doesn’t sound like a lie. But why haven’t you told the police?”
“I can’t… tell the police… I’m sorry. Just come to my house first…”
I sighed. I had only wanted to squeeze information out of one of the people who had framed me as a school bully… but now it looked like I’d have to play detective.
“You really…”
“I’m truly sorry… It’s a long story. Just come to my house, please…”
I hung up without another word. The train doors opened and I stepped inside. They closed, and the train began moving toward Classmate A’s neighborhood.
Classmate A’s family’s disappearance, DM Industrial Development, that bizarre dream… None of it seemed connected at first glance, yet something inside me whispered that there was a link between them all. Maybe I was just tired and overthinking. But the Baekhyeom Sect incident that my grandfather had resolved… kept rising strangely in my mind.
The Baekhyeom Sect had been wiped out long ago. There couldn’t possibly be any believers left. It was just gossip now—a crazy cult that once tried to burn the entire country down, reduced to nothing more than a spooky story people consumed for thrills.
— Shhhk.
The doors opened. The path to Classmate A’s house lay before me. I stopped thinking for a moment and prepared myself to interrogate him properly.
I touched the collapsible baton hidden inside my outer jacket. Even though Classmate A seemed sincere this time… I couldn’t trust him completely.
The villa where Classmate A lived drew closer. I was exhausted, but some things still had to be done. I pressed the call button.
— “Hae-in… You’re here…”
Classmate A’s voice came through, and I was allowed inside. I took the elevator, pressed the button for his floor, and rode up. When the doors opened, he was already waiting.
“…Come in.”
I nodded silently and stepped into his house, aware that the dizziness had completely vanished. Now it was time to confirm what had really happened back then.