Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
reality
/rɪˈalɪti/
noun.
i, son hyejoo, am a killer. nothing changes that. but at least i'm still alive.
---
the last thing hyejoo feels is the pain of her body getting eaten by the undead before everything goes dark.
the next moment, she's grumbling in pain as she wakes up on a hospital gurney.
she sees yerim, in a doctor's coat, startled to see she was woken up.
and from behind the curtain, familiar faces emerge one by one.
jungeun, in dark clothes and scars on her arms. she smiles. hyejoo hasn't seen her sister smile genuinely in a long time.
her mother, still as small as she's seen in her dreams. this time hyejoo doesn't try and run away, and not because she was lying injured in a hospital unit.
chaewon, in the black sweater she borrowed months before they were both put through dalburne's test. i can't believe i didn't ask her to return it, hyejoo thought. she must've forgotten about it.
"wait, am i alive yet?"
yerim shook her head smiling. "no, this is your final dream in the realm of the dead. the boundary between near-death and resurrection. when you wake up in real life, the memories of your test will stay with you." "i'm sure you'll know exactly what i mean."
"you kept your promise," chaewon grinned. "you came back."
"but you should prepare for the reality you've been avoiding in your past life." jungeun spoke next. "you know what i mean, olivia."
"i'm disappointed in you," her mother said. "very disappointed. but you came back and met us again. that's what matters the most."
"you know i can't be with a killer, right?" chaewon finally said, a sad smile visible on her face. "maybe you can live with that, but i can't."
no, stop, hyejoo tried to lift her hands and cover her ears from the truth, but her limbs felt frozen, and tied onto the hospital mattress. please stop talking.
"you're a murderer, olivia."
↼×❂×⇀
and then the dream ended in a abrupt stop.
hyejoo was truly awake now.
she was awake with the distress that would torment her for the rest of her life.
she was crying against her pillow, not wanting to believe the person she was. the murderer who shot innocent people dead without consideration of the consequences.
hyejoo wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but the waterfall of angry tears came pouring endlessly.
