The Weight of Silent Screams
The steady drip of IV fluid echoed above her head.
Plink. Plink.
Groans of pain rose from every direction. Every so often, someone would let out a scream that sounded as if they were on the verge of death, and each time it happened, Han Yeo-won’s headache grew sharper.
When they finally reached the emergency room, doctors and nurses swarmed in, running several tests before approaching with grave expressions. They explained that her condition was serious and that they needed to perform a gastric lavage immediately.
Yeo-won signed the consent forms in a rush. Only after another hour or two had passed did Yoo Jae-young finally emerge from the treatment room.
Sitting on a simple folding chair beside the bed, Yeo-won lowered her gaze.
Jae-young lay on the hospital bed, still deathly pale, like a corpse. The faint rise and fall of his chest was the only proof that he was still alive.
“Haa…”
Yeo-won bowed her head and buried her face in both hands. A sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over her entire body. She couldn’t tell if it was from everything that had just happened or simply from being in a hospital at all.
One thing was certain: every time the sharp smell of disinfectant stung her nose, she wanted to bolt from her seat and run.
She had no good memories associated with emergency rooms. Coming here had always been a harbinger of losing someone precious to her.
Her mother and father, her grandfather—they had all passed away in places like this. It was only natural that such thoughts would surface.
She squeezed her dry eyes shut and rubbed her face roughly when the curtain was suddenly yanked open. Turning her head, she saw a doctor with heavy dark circles standing there. He gave her a light nod, then flipped through the chart in his hands. Scratching his head with the end of his pen, he let out a long sigh.
“What is your relationship to the patient? Are you his girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Then what is your relationship?”
At the doctor’s question, Yeo-won hesitated for a moment before answering.
“We’re friends.”
It was too complicated to explain that they had been senior and junior colleagues at her previous job, so she kept it simple.
The doctor nodded vaguely and continued.
“As I mentioned earlier, it appears he lost consciousness due to an overdose of sleeping pills. We performed the gastric lavage, but if you had been even a little later, it could have been truly dangerous. Has something like this happened before?”
“…I’m not sure.”
She hadn’t known Jae-young for very long, so she had no way of knowing if this had happened in his past.
Sleeping pills, of all things. He had always seemed so cheerful, the last person one would associate with something like that.
When Yeo-won’s face darkened, the doctor hurriedly corrected himself, looking flustered.
“Ah, I’m not trying to interrogate you. Given that there’s no prior history, it’s likely this was an impulsive act. In any case, please keep a close eye on your friend. Once he wakes up, I strongly recommend a psychiatric consultation.”
“Yes, thank you.”
When Yeo-won bowed her head, the doctor returned a light bow and disappeared behind the curtain.
Yeo-won took out her phone and sent a text to Manager Kim Young-ju. Since she couldn’t explain the details, she simply typed, Jae-young collapsed and is hospitalized. As she was typing, she noticed someone lingering outside the curtain. Thinking it might be the doctor again, she pulled the curtain aside—only to find the paramedic who had brought Jae-young in earlier.
“Ah, this is the right place. This seems to have fallen when we were moving the patient.”
What the paramedic handed her was a black smartphone. Since she had her own phone, it had to be Jae-young’s. The paramedic, clearly in a hurry, handed it over and quickly left.
Returning to her seat, Yeo-won sent the message to Kim Young-ju and began fiddling with Jae-young’s phone.
She figured she should contact his family, so she turned it on. There was no password, and the home screen opened immediately.
But something felt off. The phone was strangely empty.
The wallpaper being the default is one thing, but there isn’t even a single messaging app. Everyone has those.
The home screen held only the default camera app and gallery. When she tapped the phone icon and opened the contacts, the shock was even greater. There was only one saved number—and it was hers.
Leaving family aside, it’s strange that there isn’t a single coworker saved.
A chill ran down her spine. She looked away from the phone for a moment and glanced at Jae-young.
It felt as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
She wondered if she should look further, then pressed the call log button to check recent activity.
Although the numbers weren’t saved, there were dozens of missed calls. They were probably from people at the company.
And at the very top was Han Yeo-won sunbae.
Returning to the home screen, Yeo-won tapped the display lightly with her fingernail.
Should I open the gallery?
Even so, a photo album felt far too personal. She hesitated. If only there had been an SNS app, she could have checked his following list.
She rested her chin on her hand, agonized for a long time, and had just resolved to open the gallery when—
“…Sunbae.”
The hoarse, strained voice from below made Yeo-won flinch. She looked down. Jae-young’s eyes were only half-open, as if even that small effort was difficult. He blinked a few times, then turned his gaze toward her.
“Is this… a hospital?”
“Yes, the emergency room. How do you feel? I’ll call the doctor—wait just a moment.”
Yeo-won was already half-rising from her chair, as if ready to dash out at any second.
Jae-young stared blankly into space for a moment, then suddenly sat up.
“No, there’s no need to call anyone. Let’s go outside and talk first.”
While Yeo-won stood there stunned, Jae-young pulled back the curtain and stepped out. Coming to her senses a beat too late, she hurried after him and blocked his path.
“Wait, is it really okay for you to get up already? Shouldn’t you at least hear what the doctor has to say?”
“I’m fine.”
“But… you still have the IV…”
Yeo-won desperately searched for reasons to hold him back. This wasn’t born from simple pity or a sense of duty.
Jae-young’s eyes were utterly lifeless, like those of a dead fish. Hollowed out by emptiness and despair, they did not look like the eyes of someone ready to be discharged.
As Yeo-won opened and closed her mouth, trying to find something to say, Jae-young let out a low sigh.
“Ah…”
Even though his voice was barely a whisper, goosebumps rose across her skin.
He moved his head with agonizing slowness, like a scene in slow motion.
His eyes swept left and right, as if checking the emergency room, before his head suddenly dropped forward.
“It’s… too loud in here, isn’t it? It’s so, so loud… I feel like I’m going to throw up…”
Jae-young shook his head as if he couldn’t bear it and covered his ears. His trembling shoulders revealed just how much pain he was in.
The nurses exchanged glances and stole looks at him. With no other choice, Yeo-won pulled him by the arm and led him out of the emergency room.
She sat him down on a bench outside, then went back in to finish the paperwork.
When she came out again, Jae-young was still sitting exactly where she had left him. She approached cautiously.
“Are you feeling any better now?”
“…Better than before.”
His reply was weak. She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but the state he had been in moments ago had looked far too dangerous. Spotting a vending machine nearby, Yeo-won took out her wallet.
“You should drink something. Is water okay?”
When he didn’t respond, she simply bought a bottle of water and an electrolyte drink, setting them down beside him.
Drink if you want. Leave it if you don’t.
She couldn’t see anything on his back or around him.
But just because it wasn’t visible now didn’t mean the root problem had been solved.
Should she tell him now? But she had no idea how to bring it up to someone who had just come out of the hospital.
While she was still debating what to say, Jae-young spoke first, unexpectedly.
“…Thank you for helping me, sunbae. You must have been very startled…”
He dragged a hand down his face as he spoke in a small voice. Even in this situation, the way he worried about others first was so frustrating that irritation surged up and she snapped at him more sharply than she intended.
“Worry about yourself before you worry about other people.”
“…”
Instead of answering, he simply let out a hollow laugh.
Seeing him like this, she knew he wouldn’t be able to talk properly today. For now, Yeo-won decided to return home and pester Cheong-sil until she could contact Shin-wol.
Even if Cheong-sil couldn’t help, Shin-wol might be able to. With luck, he might even be able to get rid of the spirit that had attached itself to Jae-young.
I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.
She had already made a deal with Shin-wol. She would give him all the spiritual energy stored in the marble, as well as her own, in exchange for saving her grandmother.
She didn’t want to ask anything more of him when their interests already aligned so neatly.
She had no idea what else he might demand in return.
After all, Shin-wol was far more strict about give-and-take than he appeared.
I have nothing left to give.
Deciding to think about her headache later, Yeo-won took out her phone.
“We can’t stay here forever. Let’s go back to my place. I’ll call a taxi.”
“…Your place?”
The way he echoed her words carried a faint tremor. She didn’t need to look to know. The emotion he was feeling right now was fear.
Jae-young anxiously picked at the hangnails on his fingers.
“I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but… could you stay with me just a little longer? Going home is… a bit…”
He scratched so hard that the hangnail didn’t just tear—it looked as if he had gouged the skin until it bled.
“Ah… I guess not. I’m sorry…”
When Yeo-won remained silent, Jae-young muttered to himself. She narrowed her eyes and looked down at his hands.
Upon closer inspection, his nails were in terrible condition. She hadn’t noticed it last time, but they were bitten down so far that there was no white left, and the edges were jagged and torn.
It seemed he didn’t just pick at them—he bit them as a habit too.
“Stop that. You’re bleeding.”
Jae-young looked up at her with a startled expression.
“Ah… thank you…”
His eyes glistened with tears, and he sniffled as if overwhelmed with emotion. The pitiful sight weakened her resolve.
When she looked up at the sky, the sun was already beginning to set. It was only around six o’clock.
“Let’s go to a café until you feel calmer. Is that okay?”
“Sniff… yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
Jae-young nodded vigorously and stood up.
Yeo-won glanced back at him following a couple of steps behind her. She rubbed her strangely tingling shoulder and continued walking.