Bizarre
Ugh!!!! A scream tore out belatedly, and Hyesu’s eyes snapped open again. She bolted upright in bed. It was the same room. Still the same house. Outside the window, the sunset was creeping in bit by bit. Hyesu was drenched in sweat and frantically scanned her surroundings. The room looked exactly as it always had. The strange tentacles that had once toyed with her body like dolls had vanished without a trace. To be sure, she reached down and touched herself. Nothing unusual. Just soaking wet with sweat. But because of the nightmare’s aftereffects, the inside of her thighs felt damp. At that moment Hyesu curled up and finally let the tears she had been holding back pour out. It was definitely strange. Could she really dismiss this as just a nightmare anymore? Would blaming stress be enough? She was terrified. No, beyond fear, the pain was too great. Above all else, she couldn’t tell anyone about this shameful nightmare, which made her heart ache even more. Hyesu lay there for a long time, crying like a frightened child who couldn’t stop.
A cold didn’t want to leave. How many days had she missed class? Up until now she had attended every single day without fail, but showing up late like this now made her worry a little. If her attendance record fell short, graduation would be nothing more than a formality. The cold was worse than ever, though. The coughing fit that refused to quit tormented her, but nothing compared to the nightmares that had grown even more intense since that day. Ever since, the dreams had come crashing down on her without warning. They replayed the same humiliating, disgusting acts over and over. Now she feared falling asleep. She fought to stay awake. She stayed up through the night with her eyes open. She drank energy drinks on purpose to keep herself alert, but it was all pointless. Humans couldn’t survive without sleep. No, not just humans—every creature eventually yielded. No matter what they tried, they always slept. And then the paralysis came. Aaaah! Again and again, icy breaths and the disgusting tentacles that felt like those between her legs violated her. She still couldn’t resist. She still couldn’t even twitch a finger. She could only endure helplessly until the unknown __GWOeYI__ was satisfied. She had no idea how many times her body had been treated like a toy. Sometimes she would finally break free and vomit from the horror.
The pain of that vivid sensation was only one of the torments. There was also the fact that she could never skip class again. She had to go for the sake of attendance records… Her body was really in no shape, but she had to prepare to leave anyway. Just as she was about to step out, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Aaaah… A sigh escaped her. She looked terrible. She looked like she might collapse at any moment. Was it the cold? Or the lack of sleep making it worse? The nightmares? Or just the pile-up of bad luck? Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Her body had become so gaunt it looked like a walking skeleton. And why did her face look so pale…? She felt so ugly. It was embarrassing to step outside like this. She found a scarf and a mask, wrapped them around herself, and finally pulled her cap down low to hide her face completely before stepping out into the cold.
Aaaah! Thank goodness. At least the cold made her appearance look less strange. She hurried her steps toward school. Midterms were getting closer. It was almost over. Once the finals ended, everything would end. So she told herself to just hold on a little longer. She muttered those words as she headed to campus.
She couldn’t concentrate on the next class. The cold was still bad. Her body felt awful… The class mostly consisted of her nodding off. Maybe she had studied hard in the past, but the professor was being kind. She knew exactly how much Hyesu had suffered because of her graduation project, and she looked even more understanding. After all, there were already a few students who had gotten sick from stressing over their final works.
When lunchtime arrived, Hyesu, with no appetite, sat on a campus bench and stared blankly. The fatigue was unbearable. Her whole body felt like it was made of lead. Still, the sunlight felt good after a long time away. How long had she been sitting there? Suddenly her eyes landed on a man. ‘Huh? That guy looks familiar.’ There was a strange familiarity about the short man standing there. Because of his small build, she recognized him immediately, and the odd sense of déjà vu was even stronger. She had been thinking for a while when—
‘Aaaah… That’s right! That guy…’ It was the same man she had seen when she returned home after finishing her graduation project. He was also a student at our school? If he weren’t a student, he wouldn’t have been allowed on campus. And yet here he was. And he was still staring at her. The same gaze as before. Hyesu became flustered and looked around and behind her, but the area was completely silent. No one else was there. The unknown man was definitely staring at her. She didn’t know why. She felt oddly uncomfortable.
Then he approached. Thump-thump-thump… Why was he coming? Dread was rising. Thump-thump-thump… Her heart began to race wildly. Her anxious eyes stayed fixed on the man as he closed in. And finally he stopped right in front of her. Hyesu could only stand frozen. An awkward silence stretched between them. The man standing nearby had a rather appealing face. It wasn’t the type that screamed “handsome” but the kind anyone would find likable. Most of all, he still looked young. If things had been normal—if he hadn’t been staring so strangely—maybe Hyesu would have felt some attraction to the man in front of her. But the situation was wrong. He approached silently. That silence was even stranger.
After a long, awkward pause, Hyesu, unable to stand it any longer, asked in her hoarse voice from the cold, “W-what is it? Do you have something you want to ask me?”
The man hesitated for a moment, then finally moved his tightly shut lips. “Um… I know this is going to sound weird, but… haven’t you been having strange things happen lately? I mean, normal but… impossible to explain to anyone else.”
“What?” Hyesu frowned. Her heart pounded hard all the same. The man seemed more introverted than she expected. He stammered, looking lost. He even seemed troubled about how to explain it. Like a habit, he scratched his cheek and tried to make a strange face. Speaking of which, today he didn’t seem to have his pretty girlfriend. It was a little disappointing. She was so beautiful that even other women would notice.
While showing awkwardness, the man asked another strange question. “Don’t you know? Or don’t you feel it? I mean… things that aren’t normal like usual… strange things happening… things that can’t be explained logically.”
“What are you even talking about?” Her tone rose a little. Do you know what __GWOeYI__ is? Was he trying to say the same thing? No, that didn’t make sense. In school, did other students say these weird cult things? Hyesu let out an involuntary laugh in disbelief. Was that why he had been watching her back then? His gaze sharpened even more. “Aaaah! Forget it. I don’t believe in that kind of religion. I’m leaving.” She stood up abruptly and was about to return to the lecture hall.
Suddenly the man grabbed her hand urgently. Hyesu startled and yanked her hand away, giving him an unpleasant look. He looked quite startled too. He quickly apologized, bowed his head. Seeing this, he seemed like an ordinary guy. It was hard to believe he believed in that weird religion. Not to mention that he had said something even stranger. “Um… If something strange happens… something that can’t be explained logically… would you please tell me? I’ll help. Here’s my phone number.”
Help? How? His face looked bad. Was he trying to lure her into some religion? He even handed her the phone number. Aaaah! Hyesu should have felt more uncomfortable. Was he really not trying to flirt? No one did that. Didn’t he even have a girlfriend? Or maybe he never had one. Maybe that girl had fallen into this weird religion because of him. Aaaah! No matter. It didn’t concern her. It was really the worst. Hyesu had no desire to be around this strange man for even a second. Without a word, she took the paper with the number and strode back to the lecture hall. But she couldn’t help glancing back. The man was still staring at her with complicated expressions.
“Phew… What a weird person.” She entered the building with the lecture hall, tossed the paper with the number into the trash, and hurried inside.