Chapter Text
"The park is the best place to relax."
Someone had told him that before, but he couldn’t recall who. Maybe if he tried harder, the memory would return - but he didn’t want to. Because right now, he was relaxing.
He felt calm. The calmest he had been in a long time. Lazing around was a rare luxury for a high schooler, constantly buried under something or the other just to graduate in peace.
So it had taken him by surprise when he found himself sitting alone on a bench in a serene park. A lake shimmered in the distance, and though he couldn’t see anyone nearby, he sensed some life out there. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the fresh air fill his lungs.
Suddenly, the calm was disturbed.
A rustling sound echoed from his right. He wanted to check it out, but even turning his head felt like a chore. So he ignored it.
Then came another sound - metal creaking.
Followed by a human noise.
Like someone was... heaving themselves up.
An eerie feeling crept in, replacing the peace he had felt moments ago.
Footsteps followed.
Now, he couldn’t ignore it. He had to look. There was an urgency in his chest, yet strangely, it wasn’t fear telling him to run. It was a pull, like someone was calling him. Desperately.
He turned.
And -
Wee-oww-Wee-oww. Wee-oww-Wee-oww.
The alarm blared.
He cursed himself for setting that obnoxious siren tone, but being a heavy sleeper, he didn’t have much choice.
He fumbled around for his phone but couldn’t find it. It kept ringing. He could almost hear his mother storming in to yell at him for letting it go off endlessly.
Still half-asleep, he groaned and tried again... But something was wrong.
His body felt... light. Too light.
Was his bed always this soft? Like clouds?
Suddenly, the alarm stopped on its own.
"Thank God," he muttered. The last thing he needed was a morning scolding.
But then came his mother’s voice anyway:
"Dear son, get up. I know you always turn that thing off and go back to sleep. Don’t do it again. You’ll end up late... again."
Ugh. Even if he was sleeping on clouds, reality still demanded suffering through school.
Eyes still closed, he got up and tried to walk to the bathroom. Muscle memory guided him. He stretched out his hand toward the door,
But his hand passed through thin air.
Weird. I always feel the handle by now. Did I leave the door open last night?
He walked forward. The air turned damp -
Maybe I really did leave it open.
He reached out again for the bathroom pipe. But his hand went right through it.
His eyes shot open.
The pipe was there. Perfectly in place. But he couldn’t touch it.
"What the hell...?"
Panic crept in. He looked up toward the mirror.
And froze.
There was no reflection.
Only the bathroom door, shut tight.
He screamed.
He screamed again.
"What is happening?! Why can’t I see myself?! Why can’t I touch anything?!"
A chilling thought struck him:
The door was open when I came in. I didn’t close it. So how is it shut now?
With shaking hands, he reached out to turn the knob, but he fell straight through the door.
He landed back in his bedroom.
"...Did I just go through it?"
To confirm, he reached for the door again. His hand passed right through it.
Another scream.
He looked around frantically and saw the most terrifying thing yet.
His body.
Lying in bed.
"...Am I dead?"
"No. No. I can’t be."
He tried calling out, but no one responded. Not his parents, not even his own reflection.
He slapped himself. Pinched. Screamed.
Nothing.
Finally, he gave up and sat in the corner of his room, hugging his knees.
I’m dead. I really... I really died.
Then came a knock on the door.
His mother’s voice again:
"Son, if you don’t get up now, I’m pouring water over your head!"
He sobbed. That sweet voice - so ordinary, so everyday. She didn’t know.
She entered, shook the body gently.
Don’t touch me, Mom... I’m not there anymore.
She leaned down and kissed the body’s forehead.
It’ll be cold, Jin thought, she’ll realize now...
But then, his body stirred.
Eyes opened. A smile.
"...No way."
"Finally you woke up," his mother said, laughing. "I was really going to pour water this time."
"Eomma, you love me too much to do that," the body replied in his voice.
Jin stood frozen.
How is my body moving?! How is it talking?! I’m right here!!
The imposter got up and walked to the bathroom, the same door Jin couldn’t touch earlier. He opened it with ease.
"Jin, you should get ready soon!" his mom called as she left.
"Yes, Eomma!"
The body replied.
And Jin, the real Jin, stood there - watching someone else live his life.