On the Seventh Day
My breathing had been off since morning. Not that I’d had any particularly weird dreams, but the moment my eyes opened, my chest felt crushed under some heavy weight. The blanket on the floor, the old memo stuck to the wall, the fluorescent light dangling from the ceiling—everything was exactly the same as usual. Yet that was exactly why it felt even stranger. “……Day seven.” I muttered, staring at the ceiling. I turned my head sideways and looked at the paper on the wall. [7-Day Limit Plan] The records from Day 1 through Day 6 were packed tight. [Day 1 – Succubus Contract. Subin appears.] [Day 2 – Light test, reality avoidance acknowledged.] [Day 3 – Checking the Succubus Company structure.] [Day 4 – Running away and being seduced toward the dream.] [Day 5 – Reality intrusion, Minjae appears. This room is declared a ‘dream.’] [Day 6 – Subin chooses Succubus Disqualification. I couldn’t do anything.] And the last line. [Day 7 – ] Nothing had been written yet. Today was the only day that could fill the empty slot. “……Today is the last one.” The words that came out of my mouth echoed hollowly around the room. *** I bathed longer than usual. I bent over the sink, head lowered, splashing cold water on my face over and over again. After wiping it with a towel and lifting my head, the face reflected in the mirror had changed just a little from seven days ago. “Tired. Really tired.” The skin under my eyes was dark, and my jawline looked sharper. Still, my eyes were strangely sharp. I’d thought that being tied to the succubus would make reality even hazier, but instead it felt like every time I breathed, I was forcibly injected with the feeling that ‘I’m still alive right now.’ “Still alive. At least until today.” I forced a smile at the corner of my mouth, then immediately let it drop. Even to myself it wasn’t funny. *** When I went to the living room, Mom was sitting blankly in front of the TV with it left on. Not a drama, not the news—nothing interesting. Just a home shopping screen. “Did you wake up?” “Yeah.” The table was already set, so I knelt and sat down. Before I picked up the spoon, Mom glanced at my face. “You stayed up late again last night.” “Just… tossing and turning.” “You don’t mumble in your sleep like you used to lately.” Her words made my chest tighten for a second. “Did I mumble?” “You were muttering something when you closed your eyes. Saying someone’s name.” Mom said it casually. “At first I thought a girlfriend, but when it didn’t sound right I didn’t say anything.” “…What name was it?” “Su-bin? Su-jin? Kids’ names all sound alike these days.” The spoon nearly slipped from my hand at that moment. “Eat your rice and go. You going to the cafe again today?” “No, I was just… gonna stay home.” “If you stay home you’ll think too much.” Mom scooped up some rice and muttered. “Staring blankly outside is better.” That sentence lodged itself in my chest for no reason. Staring blankly outside. My usual self had grown too comfortable with ‘staring blankly inside.’ *** After eating, I went back to my room and sat in the desk chair. I turned on the laptop and immediately shut it off. Just looking at the name of the self-introduction file made my stomach turn. Instead, I stared at the memo on the wall again. The last box was still empty. “……If today ends, nothing will be left.” The succubus. The company test. The label ‘High-Risk Customer.’ And the ‘Subin’ who was at the center of all of it. “Really… nothing is left.” My hand scratched the armrest of the chair for no reason. My head was telling me it was right. Cutting the connection to that dangerous and strange world would be good for a normal human. But my heart wasn’t buying it at all. Because I knew deep down that the thing that had kept me holding on for the past week wasn’t reality—it had been that hollow connection. *** Time flowed with brutal honesty. Lunch. The afternoon when the sun was setting. The sky turning red. At none of those moments did the usual pull toward the dream world appear. My body didn’t feel heavy, and my head didn’t feel foggy. “……This is scarier.” Normally by now I’d already be twisting in some ‘connected’ state, but today I didn’t feel even a single ‘M’ shape from the succubus all day. It was one of two things. — It really ended. — Or they were deliberately lulling me into a false sense of security. Both options sucked. *** As darkness began to fall, the phone started vibrating. [Unknown Number] My heart reacted first. Feeling my hand shake like crazy, I pressed the screen. [Ji-tae.] Three letters. [Me: …Subin?] [Unknown: Yeah.] That single reply drained every ounce of strength from my body and then brought it right back. [Unknown: Because it’s the last day.] [Unknown: I think I have to go in person.] “In person…?” [Me: Where?] [Me: Company? Or…] There was no reply right away. Only after a while did a short two-line message arrive. [Unknown: The place you should be.] [Unknown: The spot where you kept holding on.] “The place you should be.” The moment I read those words, I knew exactly where I had to go. My room. The space where the succubus contract had first been signed. The place where every test had started and ended. And the very spot I was standing in right now. I glanced around the room one more time. This filthy room felt strangely like a final stage today. *** I grabbed the doorknob, then let go. Took a deep breath, turned it again, and opened the door. The room was the same, but the air was completely different. The humid smell was the same. The old desk was the same. The bed was the same. But—the person in the center had changed. Next to the bed, in the narrow space between the wall and the window, Subin stood with her back half to the light. Her hair was messy and falling in a loose ponytail. She wore a plain T-shirt and a thin cardigan over it, and below that, long legs. Barefoot. Not the “costume clothes” she’d worn as a succubus, but ordinary street clothes you could buy anywhere. The very mundanity of it felt unreal. “You’re here.” Subin said. Her tone was completely different from anything I’d heard in the last seven days. No seduction. No teasing. No test. Just a completely human voice. “……It’s really you.” The words that came from my side came out rougher than I expected. “Yeah.” Subin slowly nodded. “Today there’s no succubus, no test, no report.” She tugged at the end of her own hair with her fingers. It was her familiar habit, but without the energy it felt like an entirely different person. “I’m just… breathing right now.” *** I slowly walked closer. Close enough for our breaths to collide. “Yesterday… that… was real?” “Succubus Disqualification?” Subin said, closing and reopening her eyes once. “It’s real. All my powers have been taken back. My connection authority is gone. The name ‘High-Risk Customer Assigned Succubus Subin’ no longer exists.” With every word, her shoulders dropped a little. “And…” Subin let out a long breath. “Whether I can stay beside you now depends only on your choice.” I made a strange sound—neither laughter nor tears—at her words. “That’s funny.” “What is?” “Up until now I was the one testing you.” I swept my knuckles across my eye corners. “Now I’m the one deciding whether to leave you or throw the company away.” “Ji-tae.” Subin’s voice calling my name trembled a little. “Don’t give me such good conditions.” “Why?” “Then I really can’t run away.” *** Because that sentence sounded too human, I couldn’t hold on anymore. My hand moved first. I grabbed Subin’s wrist and pulled her close. Her body slammed into my chest. “……Ugh.” A short gasp escaped. Even as a succubus I’d heard this kind of breath many times, but the feeling was completely different now. No calculation, no performance, no intention—just pure, startled, and tense human sound. It was too vivid, so I swallowed my breath too. “Ji-tae.” “Yeah.” “Do you remember this distance?” “Where?” “A long time ago… the very first time, in that kind of office.” Subin twisted her face a little and looked at my neckline. “Back then I was deliberately pressing against you to make you choke.” Instead of answering, I pulled her in tighter. Subin’s body trembled faintly. “Are you still choking?” The second the question left her mouth, Subin let out a very thin laugh. “Yeah. But now…” A breath hitched, then continued. “I’m choking too.” *** When our lips met, it was clumsier than I expected. Only now did I realize that every kiss the succubus Subin had shown had been nothing but ‘acting.’ The lips pressing against mine right now belonged to a person without calculation. “……Ugh…” At the very first contact we both failed to match rhythm. Teeth clinked slightly, and we both released completely strange breaths. After the awkward first kiss, we both panted a little. Subin lowered her head. “Ah, I really…” “Why?” “This is more embarrassing than when I was a succubus…” “Then…” I brushed the area behind her ear with my knuckles. “Let’s practice once more.” “Don’t say practice…” Before the words were even out, I pressed my lips to hers again. The second kiss was a little better. Focusing on syncing our breaths made it easier to follow the other’s rhythm. “Hah…” Subin let out a moan between my breaths. “Ha…” Our breaths grew longer. Lips parted and pressed again, angles changed and settled, tongues hovered just out of reach. In the middle of it I felt Subin’s hands clutching tightly at my shirt. *** Only after a long while did I pull my lips away and take a deep breath. Subin’s cheeks were flushed red. “……This is much harder than when I was a succubus.” “What is?” “Back then… I could just follow the script. This is… I have to do whatever I want.” “That’s hard?” “Right now, there are too many things I want to do.” The moment the words left her, she laughed at herself. It was the expression of someone who regretted saying something too honest. “Cancel that last sentence.” “I don’t want to.” I said with a laugh. “I already heard it.” *** I stepped back half a pace from the bed without letting go of her hand. “Sit.” Subin hesitated for a moment, then slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Her posture was awkward—both hands placed on her thighs. Even that posture was no longer a ‘succubus pose.’ It was just a stranger in a strange house rolling around, not knowing how far to move. I stood in front of her and made eye contact. “Ji-tae.” “Yeah.” “I’m still a little scared.” “Of what?” “Once I start expecting you…” Subin took a deep breath. “I probably really won’t be able to run away.” I repeated her words exactly. “Good.” “……Hah.” Subin laughed, then bit her lip as if surprised by her own laugh. “If you were a succubus you’d have been promoted.” “But I already got disqualified.” I shrugged my shoulders. “So right now all I have to do is hold onto you.” *** I knelt down to match her eye level and carefully grabbed her wrist again. Her pulse was way too fast. “Your heart’s about to explode.” “Who’s saying?” “Both of us.” The moment the words fell, Subin pulled me toward her. This time she was the one to find my lips first. Our breaths mixed. The inside of my mouth grew warm, and her tongue tip carefully brushed and then darted away like it was running. “Ha…” Short, broken moans poured out one after another. Unlike when she was a succubus, this moan had no embellishment. A completely human sound—emotion, desire, and fear all mixing and exploding. I accepted the sound without hesitation. One hand wrapped around her waist, the other supported her from behind her shoulders. At the closer distance our breaths collided, and our hearts beat to the same rhythm. *** I don’t know how long we stayed like that. Lips parted and met again, breaths laboured and mixed, Subin’s head sometimes dropping with a soft thud onto my shoulder. “Ji-tae… hah…” Every time she said my name the tremor was slightly different. Shyness. Relief. Tension. Then it turned into moans that weren’t even words. I rejected none of it. Until yesterday I’d been the one trying to protect her feelings, but today I felt like I could sink into them together. “Ji-tae…” Subin called my name and buried her forehead against my shoulder. “Yeah.” “I don’t know where I’d go if it wasn’t you right now.” “Then don’t go.” “That… isn’t really that easy…” I slowly stroked her back. “Subin.” “Yeah…” “You’ve already been Succubus Disqualified.” “Yeah.” “So from now on, you should decide who you want to be beside.” Subin slowly raised her head. The corners of her eyes were a little red. “Decide.” I said simply. “Who you want to be beside.” For a long time there was no reply. That silence was heavier than any confession. Finally Subin moved her lips. “……Here.” “Where?” “In this room.” My breath suddenly grew rough. “In this room. Next to you.” The moment she answered, I could no longer hold on. I pulled her into my arms again and tilted my body over the bed. *** Our posture twisted a little, and we both collapsed onto the bed mattress. “Ah…!” Subin let out a startled moan. At that sound we both froze for a second, then burst out laughing together. “We’re not hurt yet.” “My heart’s already been hurt a lot…” “That was your job as a succubus.” “Don’t say that to a former succubus…” Between the grumbling words, breaths that weren’t yet fully settled kept coming out. I brushed her hair up and kissed her forehead. “From today on…” “Yeah.” “No more tests.” “Yeah.” “No more work.” “I know.” “Instead…” I said very quietly. “There’s life.” Subin closed and reopened her eyes, then gave a thin laugh. “That might be the hardest test.” “Still, we can do it together this time.” “……Wow.” She sounded surprisingly sincere. “That’s why she’s a High-Risk Customer. Her words are way too human.” “Because I’m the man who disqualified the succubus.” “Are you bragging?” “Yeah.” Subin laughed, and that laugh slowly turned into a breath. “Ji-tae.” “Yeah.” “Can I really… sleep next to you today?” The question felt heavier than any test question I’d received in the last seven days. I didn’t hesitate. “Yeah.” “You might regret it in the morning tomorrow?” “If I regret it in the morning tomorrow, we can regret it together.” “What if you run away first?” “There’s no reason to run away unless I’m a succubus.” At that Subin’s eyes turned slightly red. “……Then I’ll believe you today.” The moment she said that, I stopped answering and simply held her, closing my eyes. *** That night I didn’t dream for the very first time. No dream world. No Administrator’s gaze. No red warning windows. Instead, a regular breathing sound from beside me filled the entire night. Every time Subin tossed in her sleep, the blanket rustled, and she came a little closer to my chest. “……She’s really a person.” I thought to myself. And that I would now protect that was no longer the succubus’s test—it was mine. *** When morning sunlight slipped through the curtain, I opened my eyes first. For a moment I thought yesterday might have been a dream and glanced sideways. Subin was there. The same clothes as yesterday, a little more messy hair than yesterday, and clearly the face of a living person. I let out a quiet breath. “……Good morning.” The moment I said it, Subin half-opened her eyes and lazily lifted her eyelids. “It’s real.” “What is?” “Even in the morning… you don’t disappear.” Her words made me laugh. “If you were a succubus you’d have flown away at work time.” “I returned my employee ID, so now I don’t have to go.” Subin reached under the blanket and grabbed the hem of my T-shirt. “But if this is my seat, that would be nice.” I nodded. “Then it’s settled.” I looked at the wall. [7-Day Limit Plan] A letter written in pen appeared on the last line. I didn’t remember when it was written, but it was definitely my handwriting. [Day 7 – Test ended. Succubus Disqualification. Human Subin, beside her.] I read the sentence once, turned back, and kissed Subin’s forehead. “From now on…” “Yeah.” “No more tests. Just live.” Subin smiled softly. “What if I die?” “Then we die together.” “The most High-Risk Customer is the human who says ‘even if we die together it’s fine,’ really.” “So you got disqualified too.” We laughed at the same time. Succubus Disqualification. It wasn’t a story of someone falling away—it was the name of the choice two people who couldn’t push each other all the way between dream and reality finally made: to stay on the same side.