On the 5th Day, Reality Begins to Shatter
When I opened my eyes, the first emotion that hit me was exhaustion. It wasn’t just my body feeling heavy—my mind had already worn out long before. “…Day 5, huh.” Still four whole days left on the test, but it already felt like a month had passed. I stared at the wall memo. [7-Day Limit Plan] [Day 1 – Passed] [Day 2 – Temptation Difficulty Increased / Still Passed] [Day 3 – Afternoon Nap Forbidden Success / Server Room Tour / Future Home Concept / Still Didn’t Flip the Board] [Day 4 – Substitute Succubus Guide. Refused. Kept Soobin. Kept the Risk Group.] I took a deep breath and left a blank line underneath. I still hadn’t written the Day 5 entry. “Today… what should I do.” Day 4 had been about “substitutes.” Day 5 was probably going to hit even harder on the “reality” side. It had to, if it was going to shake me. *** I stepped out to grab breakfast and my mom immediately turned off the TV and looked at me. “You’re not leaving today?” “I think I have to.” “Where?” “I don’t know.” I told her straight. “If I stay home, I’ll feel even worse.” My mom just stared at me for a second, then nodded. “Yeah. Lately it’s better if you get out a bit.” “Why?” “If you stay inside too long, you start hearing your own thoughts way too loudly.” The words were too exact. I had nothing to say. I threw my jacket on and left. *** Weekday afternoons were quiet on the streets. A few cafés, a convenience store, a supermarket, and a handful of people rushing by. I wandered without a destination until I suddenly found myself near the old school I used to go to. The iron gate was locked and the playground empty. “…I never meant to come here.” I sat on the bench in front of the wall. I hadn’t come for any reason. It just felt like one of those points in my life where the reality choices I’d made could never be undone. From here on, I was who I was now. And strangely, sitting here felt more unsettling than the test I was supposed to be taking at the Succubus Company. “…Is this the dangerous side?” I lowered my head and stared at the ground. Then someone stopped right beside the bench. “…Jitae?” I looked up and there was the familiar face. Minjae. The guy I used to work part-time with, drink with, talk about job hunting with—back when life was simple. “Dude, long time no see.” “…Yeah.” My throat felt tight. Minjae sat down next to me. “What’ve you been doing lately? You barely answer texts.” “Just… taking a break.” “Not a break. Like you disappeared.” Minjae gave a casual laugh, but the words stung more than they should have. “Everyone thinks that.” “They would. No SNS, no texts.” The line felt wrong. In my dreams I’d been choosing things. In real life I was slowly turning into nothing. “You’re still unemployed, huh?” “…Yeah.” “Wow. With that kind of mindset, you’re still breathing.” It was supposed to be a joke, but I couldn’t laugh. Minjae sighed and said, “I just got a mid-sized company job.” “Congrats.” “I don’t think it’s anything to celebrate. Just the only option I had left.” “Still, you chose something.” “That’s something you’d say to me.” Minjae looked at me. “You still haven’t picked anything.” I had no answer. Instead, yesterday’s substitute succubus test flashed through my mind. ‘Still haven’t picked anything.’ Maybe both my real-world me and my dream me were standing in front of the same question all along. ― To choose or not to choose. Minjae opened his mouth again. “But you’ve changed a lot lately.” “Where?” “Before, you had this blank, ‘no thought’ face. Now you’ve got this look like you’re always thinking. Good or bad, I don’t know.” “I don’t know either.” I said it honestly. Minjae hesitated for a second. “You seeing anyone lately?” “…What?” “Honestly, that’s a dating face.” My heart dropped. ‘Dating.’ A word that didn’t exist in reality but came out so easily in dreams. “No.” I cut it off right away. “Nothing like that.” “Then you’re in even worse shape.” Minjae tilted his head. “If an unmarried guy looks like that, it usually means he’s in real trouble.” “Real trouble?” “Yeah. Making someone up inside your head and living with them.” I couldn’t answer. Because he was exactly right. *** After Minjae left, I stayed on that bench for a long time. The person I’d been talking to just now was a real-life friend. The one calling me every night was the succubus assigned to my dreams. The two worlds were getting closer and closer. “…I’m gonna end up confused.” The smell of the Day 5 test was already leaking out from reality. *** I got home late in the afternoon. My body felt heavier than it should have. Not because I was tired, but because I’d thought too much all day. I walked into my room and stared at the memo. [Today – Day 5] A blank space with nothing written. “I’ll have to finish it before night.” I flopped onto the bed. My eyes were open but my consciousness was slipping. “Today… I hoped I wouldn’t see anything.” Soobin’s silhouette had disappeared, but Minjae’s words kept circling. ― The face of someone living with someone inside their head. “…If that’s the problem, I’ve been the problem since the start.” I muttered, then slipped into sleep. *** When I opened my eyes, I thought I was still in reality at first. The room layout was too familiar—desk, window, curtains, bag. “…Eh?” The lights were off but the room glowed soft orange, like twilight. And on the desk sat a small frame that didn’t exist in reality. Inside it was the back view of someone. Pink hair. I froze. “No way.” From behind came that familiar voice. “Welcome back, Jitae.” I turned and there was Soobin standing right in the middle of the room. Today’s Soobin looked strangely close to reality. Not overly seductive, not a company suit—just a simple T-shirt and shorts. Like someone who really lived here. “Is this the stage today?” “Yeah.” Soobin looked around. “We used your house as the base. Lightened it up a bit.” “Calling this ‘lightening’…?” I swallowed. “This is way too similar to real life.” “That’s the point of today’s test.” Soobin stepped closer. “Day 5 test.” She said. “It’s time to stop making excuses that ‘it’s just a dream, it’s fine.’” I swallowed hard. “…Reality infiltration test.” “Yeah.” Soobin nodded. “Today I’ll bring every person you met in reality and every feeling you had there right here.” “Minjae too?” Soobin’s eyes flickered for a second. “You met him already.” Just that line sealed it. This test was properly rigged. “Today you have to figure out for yourself whether the feelings you’re having in this room are real or dream feelings.” “What if I get it wrong?” Soobin hesitated for just a moment. “If you do, your emotion record gets classified as ‘contamination.’” “Contamination?” “Yeah. Real emotions or succubus emotions, but you don’t belong on either side properly.” “That’s dangerous.” “Very.” Soobin was honest. “If it lasts too long, you won’t be completely on either side.” I exhaled. “The company and reality are both just leaving me hanging in the middle.” “Exactly.” Soobin said. “And the company already knows you hate that ambiguous feeling.” I looked at her. “So what’s the test?” Soobin went quiet for a second, then spoke softly. “Whether you can feel like being here with me in this room is still okay even if it’s real.” The moment those words fell, the air in the room shifted. Too familiar space. Too natural light. Too human Soobin. “Today, if you don’t push me away—” Soobin took one step closer. “The company and reality will both just leave you here.” I couldn’t speak. Because— Minjae’s words were repeating exactly as he’d said them. ― The face of someone living with someone inside their head. “This is an insanely dangerous test.” I muttered. Soobin didn’t answer. She just nodded quietly. And at that moment the door to my room started to open slowly. Someone was coming in. The core of the Day 5 test. “Jitae.” The voice I heard in reality. Minjae. The real-life friend, recreated in dream fashion. Soobin was here. Minjae was here. In the same space. “Now you choose.” Soobin said softly. “Whether to accept this room as ‘real’ or push it away as ‘still a dream.’” I looked back and forth between them. And I realized— This wasn’t a Succubus Company test anymore. This was my life question. Day 5 had just become the longest, most dangerous day of all.