Chapter 3 Part 5

“Since you even saved my life, fine… I’ll grant you one wish, anything you want.”

“It’s okay.”

“This is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I feel sh*tty owing you, so just say anything.”

“I said it’s okay. I didn’t do it expecting anything in return. Forget it.”

“Are you serious? Even the thing you begged for so desperately for years, throwing away your pride… I’m willing to grant it to you now?”

…I became curious for a moment. What the hell did Lee Chae-eun want from Yoo Min-ho so much that she was willing to throw away her pride and beg? I hadn’t set the details that specifically, so I didn’t know. Since she was a stalker, maybe it was clothes he wore or photos… something like that? I inadvertently looked up at Yoo Min-ho’s face and our gazes met. He was quietly staring at me without even blinking. It was a persistent gaze that made me feel uneasy.

“What is it? What did I beg for so desperately for years, throwing away my pride?”

“…Why are you asking me that?”

“…..”

“Do you really not know? You were so confidently demanding it through your agency just the other day. As if I owed it to you.”

“…I don’t know what it is, but it’s okay. I’m not interested anymore.”

For some reason, an ominous feeling began to spread. It was because I had a rational thought that what Lee Chae-eun wanted from Cha Min-jae couldn’t have been just clothes he wore or photos. After all, even just my cell phone was full of Yoo Min-ho’s photos, so it couldn’t have been just photos. As I got up to avoid the conversation, saying I wasn’t interested, Yoo Min-ho blocked my way and said.

“If we get out of here, I’ll sleep with you once. That’s what you wanted most, right?”

“…..”

For a moment, I couldn’t control my expression. Come to think of it, sex with Cha Min-jae was what Lee Chae-eun would have wanted most. If it were Lee Chae-eun and not me, it was something she might actually demand. But wasn’t this guy twenty-one years old? He was so young and already so loose.

“Are you that easy with your lower body? You’ll give it to anyone who saves your life? How much more trouble are you going to get into by giving a stalker this kind of opening?”

“…..”

“Besides… are you gay? I’m a man, ah… Never mind. Let’s stop.”

But despite my barrage of criticism, Yoo Min-ho didn’t respond. He just stared at me with an unreadable expression. Maybe he was feeling some kind of discrepancy between the original Lee Chae-eun and me. The moment I tried to get up from the sofa because I didn’t want to deal with him anymore, he grabbed my wrist. Yoo Min-ho’s eyes were filled with familiar confusion.

“Who are you? You’re not Lee Chae-eun, are you?”

“…..”

Only after hearing his voice full of conviction did I finally realize. Yoo Min-ho’s offer to grant my wish was a bait to test me. Even if it wasn’t in this way, he would have answered if I had asked him directly. I had no intention of hiding my identity from him. The guy who wouldn’t believe me even if I told him the truth was always perceptive. I quickly regained my composure, pulled his hand away from my wrist, and continued.

“…If I’m not Lee Chae-eun, then who am I?”

“…..”

“You don’t know. Then just think of me as Lee Chae-eun. Don’t dig too deep. Anyway, even if you do…”

Because it will be back to square one at 19:21. I swallowed the rest of the words.

What was important now was not to reveal who I was or who Yoo Min-ho was. It was to get out of this damn situation first. For now, I didn’t have the luxury to think about anything else. To do that, I had to survive above all else, and I had to find a way to deal with the zombies that filled this building. But Yoo Min-ho didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go of his doubts. He kept doubting, wondering, and feeling confused.

“…It’s really strange. When I was with you… I used to get goosebumps. Because you always looked at me with dirty eyes. But now, there’s none of that. Rather…”

“…..”

“…Anyway, no matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense. You’re the one who drugged a water bottle to sleep with me. But you’re refusing even when I’m offering it to you?”

“As you said… then, maybe I’m not Lee Chae-eun. Or maybe, I’m just not into you anymore. Isn’t that a good thing for you?”

I pretended to be nonchalant, but I was inwardly startled. Crazy, she drugged a water bottle? That one sentence made me realize the extent of Lee Chae-eun’s craziness. It seemed like he already had a feeling that I wasn’t Lee Chae-eun.

Yoo Min-ho didn’t answer and just stared at me silently. His gaze made my palms sweat for some unknown reason. What kind of relationship did we have in my real life that I erased from my memory when I committed suicide? I didn’t know. Honestly, I didn’t even want to dig up the memories of a life so terrible that I chose to kill myself. If I had deleted it from my own memory, there must have been a good reason for it. I tried to ignore the sharp pain poking the inside of my heart.

“No, it’s not good at all. I’m just starting to become interested in you.”

“…Crazy.”

Feeling that the conversation was becoming too much, I turned and headed towards Hyeon-ho. In other words, I was avoiding the conversation. Hyeon-ho was drinking water from the refrigerator inside the management office.

“Hey, let’s talk for a minute.”

“What again?”

“…Yoo Min-ho. I get that I was brought here because I wrote the scenario. But why was he brought here? What great sin did he commit to think he’s Cha Min-jae and be like this here?”

Fortunately, Yoo Min-ho didn’t follow me and remained alone on the sofa, staring at me. Starting to become interested? What a ridiculous guy. He was just calling me a stalker, but he sure knew how to talk. I glanced at Yoo Min-ho and froze at what Hyeon-ho said next.

“…You seem to be misunderstanding something, but Yoo Min-ho is Cha Min-jae. When you wrote this story, you projected it onto a real person.”

“What?”

When I asked back in surprise, Hyeon-ho replied casually.

“You just named him Cha Min-jae because you couldn’t use the real person’s name exactly.”

“…Then he’s here because of me? What happened to Yoo Min-ho in the original world?”

“…The only thing I can tell you for sure is that Cha Min-jae was Yoo Min-ho from the beginning.”

…I felt complicated. Just how terrible of a relationship was it that I brought him into this never-ending hell? Moreover, Cha Min-jae’s end was utterly gruesome. In the end of the movie, he was destined to be torn apart to the point where he couldn’t even become a zombie. My head was a mess with guilt. It felt even more sinful and sorry to think that Yoo Min-ho was not a fictional character but a real ‘person’. Moreover, for some reason, Yoo Min-ho had already saved my life twice.

As the guilt reached the top of my head, Hyeon-ho whispered as if to comfort me.

“Cha Min-jae is a top star. He’s an ideal figure who has everything: wealth, fame, and the love of the public. If this world returns to normal… wouldn’t that be enough compensation?”

“…Haa.”

I let out a low sigh and checked the time. It was 20:32. It was time to go outside. I decided to put aside complicated thoughts for later and focus on burying all the intentions of the story I wrote. Just that alone was enough to make my head explode.

Right next to the building entrance were an unmanned convenience store and a hair salon. It seemed right to target the unmanned convenience store rather than the hair salon, which might have people or zombies. With that thought, I let out a low sigh and picked up the ax placed at the entrance of the management office again. The ax, with dark, sticky blood stuck to it, had a terrible smell.

“…I need to go outside for a minute.”