I Can't Leave
I can't leave. An unfamiliar voice drifted from inside, steady and close. My heart thumped wildly... faster than it should for any other reason. Aah! My lips felt parched. I carefully turned the doorknob and stepped inside. The room was just like any hospital ward—sterile and dim. Four beds. Four. I saw four identical patients in their gowns, all laughing and chattering away. "A... aah..." A soft groan slipped from Soo-min's lips. The moment I saw them, a sharp pain stabbed into my chest like a dagger. "Guys..." I barely managed to speak. At that instant, their laughter died. They stopped what they were doing and slowly turned their heads toward Soo-min. Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling over. "Soo-min!" Yeon-ji called out, her face lighting up with joy. She threw her arms wide open. Aah! Soo-min ran to her without hesitation and collapsed into her arms—the arms that hadn't changed at all. Still warm. Still comforting. "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. I ran away that time... I'm sorry." Soo-min had no choice but to apologize to them. Then she looked up at Yeon-ji again. "Why are you here? Why... let's just go home already." But Yeon-ji's expression was blank. Even Yong-ha and Jin-su looked the same. Why? Shadows lay heavy across all their faces. ////// Why? The word "let's go home" hung in the air, and silence stretched on. No answer came. Soo-min couldn't understand why they reacted like this. "Why? I said let's go home!" She grabbed Yeon-ji's hand and shook it firmly, but they didn't move an inch. In the end, Soo-min took Yeon-ji's hand herself and forced them to stand, like they had no choice. Just then, Yeon-ji broke the heavy silence. "Soo-min, we can't leave here." Her voice sounded strangely cold. Soo-min stared at her, stunned. Soon she could see Yong-ha and Jin-su again. They looked the same too. Eyes filled with sorrow, as if they meant they couldn't leave. And in that sorrow, something like fear lingered. "Why... what are you saying? We can't leave here?" "There is no exit." "What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind? No exit? That's impossible! Yong-ha? Jin-su? What the hell are you saying?" "And..." At that moment, Jin-su's thin frame trembled as he added, "They will never let us go." "What do you mean 'they'? Who are you talking about?" Jin-su shook his head. Even Yong-ha and Yeon-ji... Their faces were drenched in a thick layer of fear. They were shaking. Soo-min couldn't make sense of their reactions. "W-what are you..." "Once you're admitted here, you can never leave." Yeon-ji repeated. Then she shook off Soo-min's hand. "Soo-min, you'll find out soon enough." Yong-ha said. "In the end, we'll all be just like you." Jin-su continued, and finally Yeon-ji looked at Soo-min with eyes brimming with sorrow. "You'll wander this place forever." At those words, Soo-min shivered as if a cold wind had swept over her. Goosebumps crawled across her skin. "You can't leave either." "N-no, that's not true. I can leave... I, I will leave! I will!" "No... that's impossible." These people were acting strangely. No matter how hard she thought, something was wrong with her friends. Soo-min shook her head and took a step back. "I don't want to be here." Soo-min said that. "Please, let's just go! Let's leave together! I'm sure if I look harder, I'll find a way!" She shouted desperately, but her friends remained unmoved. Feeling a surge of anger at their defeated faces, Soo-min yelled, "Then wait! I'll... yes! I'll bring other people! I'll go outside myself and find someone to help! No... I'll call my parents! Wait!" "You're wasting your time, Soo-min... just accept it." "I won't! Why are you doing this, Yeon-ji?! We have to go home! You don't even know how hard your families are struggling? Jin-su! Yong-ha! You too! Your parents are suffering so much... They're crying every single day! And you're acting like this! Please... please, let's go home!" "We want to go home too. We want to see our parents. But we can't." Yong-ha shook his head. The fear in his eyes looked overwhelming. Every friend looked exactly the same. Soo-min couldn't accept it. She was stubborn. She refused to give up until she found a way out. Yeah, somehow... "Fine! I understand! If you won't come, I'll go alone! I'll go out and bring my parents! Got it?" "Soo-min..." "Wait! Wait! I'll definitely come back! I'll definitely come back!!!" Soo-min shouted again and again. And then she burst out of the room. Too shocked, she sucked in a sharp breath. All the people in the building had stopped moving and were staring straight at her. Their eyes sent chills down her spine. Soo-min was so startled her hair stood on end. "W-what is this?!" She forced herself to yell, but no one answered. Her gaze swept back to the room. Her friends were still looking at her with those sad eyes. "W-wait! I'll definitely come back for you!" Soo-min shouted as best she could and kept walking down the hallway, ignoring the people staring at her like zombies. They didn't move or react. They just stared with dead eyes. How weird and creepy their gazes were... Soo-min tried to ignore them and hurried on, but her legs shook violently. She walked for a long time and found herself back at the stairs. There was a way up and a way down. Of course she had to go down to the first floor! She hurried down the stairs to the long corridor again. "Eh..." But something felt off. The corridor on this floor felt strangely familiar. The same hallway she'd walked with her friends earlier. Even the people standing there staring at her were the same. What had happened? Had she gone crazy? Soo-min bit her lip and headed back down the stairs. But it was the same. Only a long empty corridor stretched ahead. Naturally, no exit to the outside. "No. This can't be happening." Yeah, this couldn't be. Something was definitely wrong. Soo-min thought that and went back down the stairs again. But it was the same corridor. "Aah..." She almost lost her balance and grabbed the railing on the stairs just in time. But the shock and horror didn't fade. The corridor was still filled with people in gowns staring at her without making a sound. Those creepy eyes. /////// She went down the stairs again and again. But... no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find a way out. It was always the same floor. How many floors had she passed? She was completely exhausted. She could barely control her heavy breathing. Sweat beads formed on her forehead, her legs trembled, and muscle pain crept in. Still, she somehow made it back to the lowest floor... Aah... despair pressed down on her like a lead weight in the exact same corridor. "Aah... this can't happen... this can't... this is a dream. It has to be! It must be a nightmare! Please... please wake up! Wake up, I said!" Soo-min finally slumped and squeezed her eyes shut. Soon she was tearing her hair out, muttering over and over, "This is a dream... it has to be a dream. I have to wake up." Soo-min kept muttering the same words like a mantra, hoping she would wake up from this hellish place. If she opened her eyes, everything would be normal again. She believed it. But then... "Once you enter here, you can't leave." A sudden voice made her jump. She looked up. There stood the old woman from earlier, smiling with a creepy smile. Soon the old woman reached out her wrinkled hand and gently placed it on Soo-min's shoulder as she continued. "You can't leave here. And if you refuse to stay... if you try to run away from here... that person will come and punish you." "W-what person?" "The owner of this place... that person has no forgiveness."