The Friend Who Wasn't
Re-heeek felt an uneasy sensation creep through him. Yeong-hun answered calmly, as if casually discussing someone else’s problem.
The more Yeong-hun stayed so perfectly composed, the stranger Re-heeek felt. How could he not feel shaken? The police were searching for him. He had even been in that motel that might be the scene of a murder. And Heejin had stopped answering his calls as well. In the end, the entire situation was driving him straight toward one inescapable conclusion: that Yeong-hun must be the prime suspect.
Re-heeek’s expression twisted with disbelief. Not even a single laugh escaped him now. Between the two of them, an awkward silence stretched out like a heavy rope. The room suddenly fell so still that the silence itself sent a strange chill racing down Re-heeek’s spine. He looked at Yeong-hun. A question rose sharply in his mind. Was the friend he was staring at right now really the Yeong-hun he knew?
“Why aren’t you drinking? You’re not drinking?”
“Ah… no. It’s just… you don’t seem like your usual self… you’re way too calm. I would’ve lost my mind if you were actually you and the police were looking for you… and on top of that…”
“And on top of that?”
“You still haven’t heard from Heejin, right? Doesn’t that worry you at all?”
Yeong-hun gave a small, dry laugh and took another long sip from the glass he was holding.
“She must be busy. She’ll be fine. Maybe she drank too much last night and is suffering from a hangover.”
“Haha… yeah, that makes sense,” Yeong-hun replied, shrugging his shoulders again before refilling his glass.
Re-heeek felt an inexplicable unease watching him. He held up his own glass as if in a toast and the two glasses met with a bright, cheerful clink. A few drops of soju splashed over the rims and dripped onto the floor. Re-heeek downed his glass in one go, the strange unease burning in his chest.
////// The awkward silence kept hovering between them like a ghost. Was the alcohol not taking effect at all? The longer time passed, the more he poured, the colder his body felt, as if the liquor was freezing him from the inside. Re-heeek had to fight the rising tension. Should he call the police right now?
The alcohol bottle had already emptied without him noticing. Yeong-hun opened a fresh one and poured Re-heeek another glass.
“Speaking of which… what about our trip next week?”
Yeong-hun was pouring his own glass when he glanced at Re-heeek.
“Trip?” he asked, surprised.
Re-heeek smiled awkwardly and nodded. He lifted his glass in return. Their glasses clinked again, the sound clear and light.
“You didn’t forget, did you? We were going to Japan together, right?”
“Japan? Ah, yeah! That’s right. I completely forgot! Of course we’re going! Is there anything special we have to prepare? All we need is our bodies, right?”
“Ah… yeah… But with everything going on right now… I’m not sure we’ll even be able to go. Haha… Hold on a second, I need the bathroom.”
“Sure! Go ahead.”
Re-heeek rose from his seat. His head spun the moment he stood. Had the empty stomach made him dizzy? If he had known, he would have cooked ramen or made some snack to eat with the drinks. He muttered a playful line at Yeong-hun, then headed straight for the bathroom.
The door clicked shut behind him. He turned the lock, walked to the sink, and stared at his flushed face in the mirror. The face staring back was one of pure horror. His hands, gripping the edge of the sink, trembled uncontrollably. Now he was certain. The Yeong-hun waiting in the other room might not be the friend he knew. Whatever had happened to him, he might even be dreaming. But he knew, with absolute certainty, that the calm man out there was not the Yeong-hun he remembered.
Ah! His hands were shaking badly. He pulled out his phone from his pocket. The screen lit up. The wallpaper was the photo he had taken with his friends last month in Japan. Yeong-hun was in the picture too. They had already gone on that trip. Yet Yeong-hun had no memory of it.
He had suspected something was off even before he stepped into the house. Aside from his appearance, almost everything else felt wrong. His speech, his unnaturally calm demeanor. If it really had been the Yeong-hun he knew, he would never have stayed so composed. He would have been frantic, insisting they go to the police station together. And he would have called Heejin right away to check on her. This cold, peaceful mask did not belong to the friend he knew.
But what else could it be? If the man in the living room was not the real Yeong-hun, then who was he? Could it be someone who looked exactly like him? Why would anyone bother imitating him? That kind of situation belonged in movies or novels. His head was spinning too wildly. It felt like a nightmare he couldn’t wake from.
He slumped onto the toilet and squeezed his eyes shut. Should he call the police? He hesitated, finger hovering over 112 on his phone. He ruffled his hair, then stopped. The thought crossed his mind: instead of calling 112 first… he would call Yeong-hun. Yeong-hun had said his phone was lost, after all. Still, the idea was hard to accept.
But worry won out. What if the phone rang? Re-heeek finally dialed Yeong-hun’s number, his heart pounding between fear and curiosity. A moment later, the signal connected. The familiar ringtone suddenly began to play from the living room.
Re-heeek felt goosebumps all over his body. The sound seemed to be coming from right outside the bathroom door. His eyes, wide with terror, turned toward the door. His face, already flushed from drinking, grew paler. His heart hammered so hard he felt it might burst. The inside of his mouth went dry. The signal kept ringing. At the same time, the phone ringtone continued to echo from just outside the door. Right in front of him.
Re-heeek stared at the firmly closed door for a long time without a word. Slowly, his trembling legs carried him forward. He pressed his ear to the door. The ringtone became clearer, vibrating through his whole body.
Then, with a sharp thud, the ringtone cut off. At the exact same instant, the mechanical voice from his phone announced that the other line was not answering.
Re-heeek looked down at his own phone. Both hands were shaking like aspen leaves. He hesitated, then dialed Heejin’s number. The signal rang… and once again, the same ringtone sounded from right outside the bathroom door.
Re-heeek gulped in a sharp breath. His legs gave out. He collapsed to the floor. The ringtone coming from right in front of him… it was definitely Heejin’s ringtone. He had already accepted that Yeong-hun’s phone was lost, but why was Heejin’s ringing as well?
At that moment, the signal cut off. The ringtone stopped too. Thinking the call had disconnected, he looked at his phone. It was still connected. The other side had answered.
With trembling hands, he carefully brought the phone to his ear. But no voice came through. Only a terrified whimper escaped him.
“H-hello?” he asked carefully, lips parting.
There was a brief pause, then the voice spoke.
“Why aren’t you coming out?”
Re-heeek’s entire body went numb. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a scream.
“Re-heeek… why aren’t you coming out?”
The voice came from his phone. But it was also coming from right in front of the bathroom door, identical. The doorknob began to turn. Click… click… The locked door rattled, trying to open and failing.
Re-heeek could not answer. He only stared at the locked door, frozen with terror. His body had turned to ice.
“Re-heeek… Re-heeek… Re-heeek…”
The voice from the phone kept calling his name. Sometimes it sounded exactly like Yeong-hun. Other times it was a familiar female voice. Finally, bang bang bang—the door was being pounded on hard. Re-heeek dropped the phone in shock.
“Re-heeek… come out. Let’s drink. Re-heeek.”
The voice carried no emotion at all. It was not even human. The voice kept pounding the door, demanding he come out.
Click click click. The doorknob continued to turn.
Ah! The doorknob was going to break any second.