Unknown Number
“Noeul-nim, it’s your next-door sister. Ah, um. Nothing bad will happen that you’re worried about. She’s a good person. A trustworthy person. If she had intended to do something dangerous from the beginning, she would have had plenty of opportunities, right? But nothing happened, right?”
In the end, Noeul had no choice but to say that to his viewers.
He couldn’t say anything to Noeul right away, and there was no way he could tell the viewers in any form.
If he did that, Noeul would immediately come rushing over, and he knew what would happen.
And he wondered if he even needed to tell Noeul that.
Noeul seemed to accept the existence of the next-door sister quite positively.
To someone like Noeul who had just met him, saying “You’re seeing hallucinations” would be like telling a person with mental illness that they’re crazy.
Would Noeul believe that?
Even if he did, the bond between Noeul and the hallucination seemed quite deep.
Thinking about how much Noeul would be hurt, Noeul thought that for now, it might be better to leave it as is.
However, that was just a temporary measure.
Noeul wouldn’t be doing drugs or anything like that, and if she was seeing hallucinations while sober, it would only get worse if her condition deteriorated, but it wouldn’t get better on its own.
Noeul was worried about that point.
After all, it wasn’t Noeul’s business.
It wasn’t Noeul’s fault that he became like that.
It was something he could just ignore.
But Noeul didn’t want to do that.
Only Noeul knew this fact.
Since there was no one else to tell, the only one who could help Noeul was himself.
So, after ending the broadcast, Noeul started searching the internet.
Hallucinations seen by mentally ill people, symptoms, treatments...
First, he looked up what kind of case Noeul was, and planned to inquire at the hospital alone in the near future.
He needed to know how to treat Noeul.
“If someone who knows tells me about the symptoms, it would help with the diagnosis a bit...”
He briefly felt uneasy that if he said something like that, he might be hospitalized.
But if he received a promise to keep the secret and watched Noeul’s broadcast, the doctors would understand.
The night was deepening, and search records were piling up on Noeul’s phone.
Noeul had come and gone, and the hearing had ended.
I don’t know if internet broadcasting is like that.
There were people who heard the arrest warrant and kept repeating what I said earlier, making them angry at each other to stop asking.
They were probably getting tired of talking about who the next-door woman was.
So, before the fight broke out, I stepped in to mediate.
“Now, let’s stop talking about the next-door sister. This is about personal information, right? I won’t talk about my own personal info either, and if we keep talking about the next-door sister, it’s brain-cutting, so let’s talk about games instead.”
The viewers who liked that kind of thing immediately changed the conversation topic to my liking.
It was a bit late, but thanks to them, I could return to the original broadcast atmosphere.
I play games, and viewers watch it.
In the past, I thought why watch someone else’s game when I can play myself, it’s not a pro tournament or anything.
But after doing the broadcast myself, I think I understand why viewers watch.
There aren’t always pro games, and even if pro gamers broadcast, they might not play what they want.
So, there must be demand for my own game play.
However, despite all this effort from me and the viewers.
The sky didn’t help us.
The phone we fixed was interfering with us.
Since it was an unknown number, I wanted to ignore it, but instead, the viewers who heard the ringtone showed concern.
“Don’t you need to answer the phone?”
“It’s an unknown number. Could it be an ad or something?”
I was about to let the phone ring, but listening to the viewers, it made sense.
After 9 PM, unless it’s close friends, they don’t call.
But if they’re calling now, it must be urgent.
So, I answered the call.
It started with 02, not 010, so it was a call from somewhere.
[Hello, is this Yoon Noeul’s phone?]
“Ah, yes. It is. Who is this...?”
A man’s voice I didn’t know.
But the moment I heard that voice, the thing I had been trying to cover came to mind.
Seoul area code. But a stranger.
For this type of call, I thought it might be news about my mother in prison.
Since becoming a woman, my mother hadn’t said a word to me.
She just ate meals out of obligation, and when my father hit me, she covered her face with both hands.
Then one day, she suddenly stabbed my father to death and went to prison.
If I had just kept being beaten, I could have lived a full life with my father.
Even if I went to prison, if I did something wrong, my father who hit me would have gone, you wouldn’t have served time.
I couldn’t understand my mother who had been silent until then, suddenly stabbed my father to death, and kept her mouth shut in the police investigation.
The police at least saw the signs of abuse I suffered and gave my mother a break for holding a knife to protect me from my father.
But if that was really the case, why didn’t she say anything to me?
Why didn’t she even look me in the eye, and just got taken away by police without a word?
So, I didn’t feel like asking my mother even through a visit.
After all, I would die when money ran out, and that point would be before my mother got out of prison.
It was said that this was considered extenuating circumstance and I got a 2-year sentence.
But the money I saved wouldn’t even last a year even if I ate only ramyeon every day.
But if I had to do such an awkward face-to-face, it would be by phone.
The moment I received the call, I couldn’t ignore it.
Yeah, I knew I could just hang up.
But the hand that came in too strongly couldn’t let go of the phone from my ear.
[Ah, hello. This is the Seoul Dongbu District Prosecutor's Office. We are contacting you regarding the assault incident and stalking crime that occurred a while ago. Sorry for the late night call, but the suspects want to reach an agreement with the victim.]
“Ah.”
That was fortunate.
It wasn’t a call from prison.
For me, who didn’t want to face my mother and didn’t even want to hear the news, it was a small relief.
But the call asking for an agreement wasn’t particularly welcome either.
Even though I didn’t know the law well, I knew that if they make an agreement, their sentence would be reduced.
“There’s a call asking for an agreement. Ah, it wasn’t a direct call, the prosecutor’s office contacted instead.”
To the viewers waiting anxiously for what kind of call it was, I simply explained.
Then, a voice from beyond the phone showed even more joy.
[Ah, are you not alone? Is there someone to share your opinion with?]
“Ah, yes.”
[Good. It would be helpful to ask around adults how to proceed.]
Surprisingly, the person who called this evening and said they’d wait.
Thanks to that, I could discuss with the viewers comfortably.
The opinions were varied.
Some said not to make agreement to get stronger punishment, others said to make agreement because of my situation.
But in fact, I had already decided on the conclusion.
I had asked their opinions only because if the opposite of my thought was overwhelmingly dominant, I would follow it.
If the opinions are split like this, I can just listen as reference and move on.
After all, my decision is important.
“There was a person using the ID ‘Gathering in the Internet’. That person alone will make the agreement, and the others won’t make agreements.”
[Ah. Is there a reason?]
“The others keep cursing even when sued, and seeing them come to hit me, they don’t seem to reflect at all. Only the person I mentioned went to my parents and read aloud the posts they wrote on the internet.”
[Pu-heup, ah, sorry for laughing. I wonder what kind of reaction came out. Anyway, I got it. The other suspects have no room for reflection…… Then I’ll give you the contact of the suspect who will make the agreement, so please call me with the result of the agreement and I’ll be grateful.]
“Yes, I will.”
Money or revenge, obviously revenge.
After all, I didn’t plan to live long.
I thought I’d die before my mother got out, so I wouldn’t have to face her again.
So, except for one, the others, let them figure out their own sentence and come out.
Ah, of course, I have a promise with one, so I’ll keep that.
Everyone keeps their promises, so I should keep this much too.