Chapter 1 Part 6

“No way, is this your doing?” 

“…..” 

“…Why did you lock the back door as soon as you came in? What’s the reason for dragging the bookshelf and blocking the entrance?” 

“…..” 

Yoo Min-ho grabbed my collar and spoke with a menacing expression. The fake smile he had been maintaining seemed to disappear. I felt strange, as if I was being looked at with a hateful gaze, as if he was looking at a disgusting bug. Even though I knew it was not directed at me, but rather the enemy’s feelings towards Lee Chae-eun, my heart trembled with overt animosity. 

“…Please calm down. Are you normally this violent?” 

“Damn it. Do Ji-hyuk may seem like such a gentleman that he might even be lenient towards a stalker. But I have a shitty personality, so don’t expect me to be like that.” 

“…Wait, wait a minute, right now… This isn’t paint. This… it’s real… blood?” 

Do Ji-hyuk, who had dipped his hand in the blood that stained my chest and showed it to me, whispered. At that moment, the air in the real estate office became chilling. The entrance was closed due to the shutter, and the back door was inexplicably blocked by the stalker who had blood all over him and used the bookshelf as a barricade. Their confusion was only natural. 

As Do Ji-hyuk stepped back in surprise, Yoo Min-ho asked in a trembling voice, still holding onto my collar. 

“…You, where… are you hurt?” 

“…..” 

“…Or… damn it, whose blood is this? Did you kill someone?”

The confusion-filled dark brown eyes trembled uncontrollably. Yoo Min-ho, who was tall, had to look up to meet his gaze due to the difference in height. As if searching for an answer, he stubbornly stared into my eyes, but of course, there was no answer within me. Without even considering answering his question, I threw another question. 

“…Do you see me as a man? Or as a woman?” 

“…What?” 

The atmosphere quickly became frozen. The three people inside the real estate office were now looking at me as if I were completely insane. And rightfully so, because the question that came out of my mouth was not only inappropriate for the situation, but the content itself was absurd. However, it was also the most important question to me right now. 

“Answer me. And then… I’ll tell you whose blood this is.” 

“What the… Did you go crazy and bring this shit up? Are you asking if you had a sex change surgery or something?” 

“I don’t have any memories of surgery or anything like that. I’m perfectly intact.” 

“…Then why the hell are you asking such a fucked up question? Did you take some kind of drug or something?” 

“Stop with the bullshit and just answer…” 

“Ugh, damn it. I see you as a man, okay? Now, quickly tell me whose blood this is. Instead of just standing there, you two should report it to the police or something.” 

Yoo Min-ho’s grip on my collar tightened. As his hand exerted more force, I instinctively tried to remove his hand and directed a question towards Yoo Min-ho, who was the only one who knew the real Lee Chae-eun. Even though the setting of ‘me’ and the woman named Lee Chae-eun seemed like a discordant harmony, it was strange that he didn’t notice.

“…Just one more question.” 

“You bastard, are you messing with me?” 

“Well then… Lee Chae-eun… The Lee Chae-eun in your mind, is she a woman or a man?” 

“Of course…” 

At that moment, I noticed the real estate agent clearing the bookshelf blocking the back door. She seemed terrified by the current situation of exchanging bizarre questions with an intruder who had spilled blood in the confined space. She even took out her phone to call the police, but when she realized that there was no signal, she hurriedly opened the back door to escape. I snapped back to reality at the sight. 

“…Quickly, close the door!” 

But before I could grab her arm, the door opened without resistance. And in that moment, as if waiting, a blood-stained zombie pounced on me. The calm atmosphere inside the real estate office was instantly filled with the stench of blood, and the nightmare began once again.

***

Once again, I was back to square one. 

As I regained my senses, the faint aroma of coffee stimulated my sense of smell. Just the sound of music flowing from the cafe speakers was enough to stir up my emotions. On the table near the back door, a woman had completely collapsed, lying motionless in a fetal position. People were enjoying their tea time, unaware of what would happen in a few minutes, creating a fleeting moment of peace. 

Out of habit, I took out my phone to check the time. 19:21. I absentmindedly watched as the woman’s back began to twitch, taking a sip of the latte placed in front of me. The warmth of the hot coffee felt incredibly unfamiliar. Come to think of it, it was the first food that entered my mouth since I died. 

I desperately tried to recall information about the movie, while tasting the bitter taste that filled my mouth. But apart from the three main characters, I couldn’t remember any other details. I couldn’t even recall if it had a happy ending or a sad ending. It was a frustrating and hopeless situation. In that moment, the woman who had been vomiting blood lunged at the part-time worker and tore into his neck, causing blood to splatter in all directions. Damn it, if only I had some time to think! 

Already confused and overwhelmed with thoughts swirling in my head, the screams from all around made it impossible for me to think clearly. I quietly clenched the coffee in my hand and locked myself in the bathroom. Under normal circumstances, it would be unimaginable to drink a beverage in a smelly restroom, but given the situation, I had no choice. Wasn’t it ironic to drink coffee in a place reeking of blood alongside zombies? I needed time to think, at least for now.

I let the familiar sound of screams flow through one ear as I turned on my phone screen. My intention was to gather information about the protagonist, hoping that it would naturally bring back other memories. As I checked the background wallpaper again, I suddenly froze. It was because the man I had thought was an unknown celebrity in the previous rounds turned out to be Yoo Min-ho. It made sense, considering that Lee Chae-eun was a stalker of Yoo Min-ho. 

…Ah, so that’s why his face looked familiar. Because of the photo set as the background wallpaper? It was a plausible deduction. With that thought in mind, I started to carefully check the messages on Lee Chae-eun’s phone. However, despite spending most of my given time examining the phone, I couldn’t find any significant information. I read through all the mundane messages and checked every photo and video in the gallery, but no memories came to mind. 

The gallery was filled with countless photos of Yoo Min-ho. There were even pictures of him sleeping in bed, which gave me a slightly eerie feeling. It seemed that Lee Chae-eun was quite a capable stalker. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Yoo Min-ho, who had a giant conglomerate CEO’s only daughter as a stalker. He may have been a despicable guy, but he was just a twenty-year-old. It was still too early for him to handle someone’s obsessive devotion.