You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 122
Ah.
That space again. The void I always pass through after dreaming of my three days in Atlena. A space so pitch black that nothing can be seen or felt. Am I sleeping, then?
As always, I looked around with wide eyes. Still nothing visible. As I slowly moved my gaze and happened to look down, something different caught my eye.
Where did it go?
My body was invisible. Had it always been invisible? Worry struck me as my memories became as hazy as my body. No time for this. If I’m still asleep, it means I can find the door and return.
I deliberately stomped down the fear flickering at my feet. Slowly, I walked forward. This space without even a breath of wind was truly empty. Because of my stolen senses, it felt like there wasn’t just no wind – there was no air at all.
Though I walked steadily while sighing deeply, nothing came into view. The door must be really far this time. Would I have to walk all day? If I return too late, Karhan will worry.
Anxiety quickened my steps naturally. Clenching my fists, I ran endlessly through this void without a single point of light. Despite running for so long, I didn’t get out of breath, which felt strange. It was closer to feeling like all my internal organs had been removed.
As I ran without knowing my destination, a faint “peep peep” sound tickled my ears. Bird sounds in this emptiness? I stopped my hurrying legs. Standing still and looking around, I noticed a small door that I couldn’t tell how long had been there.
Moving slowly, I pressed my ear against the door and found it was the source of the bird sounds. I naturally reached out to grab the handle but stopped.
This door…
The reason I couldn’t readily grab the handle was because I knew what kind of door this was.
Though anxiety made me look around again, as always, this was the only door. I slightly clenched and unclenched my hesitantly raised hand.
This is the only way. Steeling myself, I pulled the faded handle.
“Gasp!”
I drew in a deep breath. Familiar air and familiar scenery greeted me. Blinking my heavy eyelids slowly once, twice, I stared at the low ceiling and yellowed fluorescent light. My head couldn’t process the sudden change in environment.
Empty breaths circled my outer ear and entered inside. After spacing out for a few minutes like that, I raised and spread my hand wide. I saw a larger, thicker hand than before.
“My studio apartment.”
Though it was my original voice, it felt incredibly awkward, perhaps because I hadn’t heard it in so long. I touched my Adam’s apple and cleared my throat with a couple of coughs.
Bright sunlight streaming through the window announced reality. As I stood there stupidly, a sudden alarm sound made me jump.
“W-what!”
Bolting upright, I looked at my phone to see “30 minutes before exam” written there.
“Exam…?”
What exam? Like a broken robot, my thoughts wouldn’t work properly. After spacing out again, my mouth fell open wide.
“THE EXAM!”
I’d entered the novel the night before an exam. Not even a day has passed? How is that possible? I spent quite a long time in there.
Without time to sort out my complicated thoughts, I hurriedly got up and threw on clothes. Shouldering my light bag with writing materials and putting on sneakers, I ran frantically to the lecture hall. The rough breathing rising to my chin helped restore my sense of reality.
🐤
The three-hour exam went absolutely shit. Of course it would. After spending months in the novel, I couldn’t remember anything I’d studied. Leaving the exam room, I walked like a rocking doll, swaying my upper body side to side. Tightly gripping my bag strap crossing my shoulder with both hands, I headed forward aimlessly.
I’m confused.
Did I really enter the novel? The reality where not even a day had passed turned my head upside down. Did I just dream it because the novel affected me so deeply?Haah, I sighed deeply and ruffled my hair.
“It wasn’t a dream… Karhan was real. We even kissed… and stuff.”
It’s too vivid in my mind to be a dream. Even as I reminded myself of this, my heart churned anxiously, making it impossible to stay clearheaded. The exam’s over anyway. I might as well buy some alcohol and go home. As someone who’d just become an adult, my greatest act of rebellion was showing my ID at the convenience store to buy alcohol.
Dragging my feet listlessly across the bumpy asphalt, I entered the convenience store. As I boldly presented armfuls of soju bottles at the counter, a familiar voice came from beside me.
“Yoo Seol?”
“Huh?”
Turning my head, I found Ha-jin, a classmate, holding soju bottles similar to mine. He slowly looked me up and down before lifting his mouth corners into a bright smile. Then, lightly shaking his two bottles of soju, he said:
“How about at your place?”
Ha-jin was quite popular among our classmates. With looks like a sculpture and an outgoing personality, he easily approached others. Good at both sports and studies, classmates called him “Life: Round 10.”
For such a friend to suggest drinking alone with me at my place during what should be his busiest time after exams – I couldn’t help but nod.
Staring at the clear liquid in the paper cup, I tilted my head back and gulped it down smoothly. Too bitter. How do adults call this sweet?
Maybe because we were drinking from paper cups instead of small soju glasses, the alcohol hit quickly. My face got hot and my gaze started moving sluggishly – signs I’d reached my limit. Sneaking a glance at Ha-jin, I found him staring intently at me.
“Why… why you… starin’?”
My tongue was twisted, making proper speech impossible. As I glared at him through heavy eyelids, he chuckled, his body shaking. What, he’s laughing? Annoyed, I narrowed my eyes further, trying to focus.
“Nothing. Did you mess up the exam today?”
“Mess up… yeah. That’s right…”
Heavy. My head feels like it weighs 20kg.Hanging my head low, I exhaled slowly. With consciousness nearly at the point of drowsiness, I leaned back and flopped onto the floor.
“Are you drinking like this because you messed up the exam?”
“…No. That’s not… not it.”
“Then why?”
“Just… I have a lover—”
Peep!
“…peep.”
Peep? Why am I suddenly making bird sounds? Huh? Come to think of it, why is it so dark? After pondering for a while, I realized my eyelids were closed. Why did I close my eyes in the middle of talking?
While groaning and turning my head this way and that, something cold suddenly touched my cheek. Startled by the wet sensation, I opened my eyes.
“Uwaah!”
“Awake?”
“W-what?”
Ha-jin was holding a cup of cold water against my cheek. I stared up at him above me with a dazed expression. Finding my reaction funny, he chuckled.
“Guess you don’t remember.”
“Huh…?”
“You talked a lot when you got drunk.”
“Uh…?”
Unable to follow the situation, I slowly sat up. Taking the water cup Ha-jin offered, I moistened my parched throat. Just as I swallowed a sip, Ha-jin’s amused voice came from right beside me.
“Karhan.”
“PFFT!”
The water in my mouth sprayed out like a fountain on a Western building. K-Karhan? Looking at Ha-jin while coughing violently from choking, tears welled up in my eyes, making his face blur.
What the hell did I say? What did I say while drunk! What if weird rumors spread around the department! I covered my mouth with trembling hands. Ha-jin looked down at me with an unreadable expression before familiarly taking out a towel to wipe up the water I’d spilled.
The soft wiping sounds rang as loud as a death knell. Though I tried to hide my panic, my trembling hands wouldn’t obey my will. After finishing cleaning the floor, Ha-jin casually sat down across from me. His elegantly curved lips parted slightly.
“Ex-boyfriend?”
“Huh?”
Ex-boyfriend? As I stared at him with round eyes, he was the one making a strange expression.
“You said while drunk that you can’t meet him.”
“…Did I say anything else?”
“Anything else? Hmm… nothing particularly comes to mind.”
Thank goodness. My frozen heart finally started beating leisurely again. Swallowing a sigh, I tried to speak casually.
“We’re still dating.”
“Then why can’t you contact each other?”
“Just… because he’s far away…”
Talking about Karhan suddenly filled me with piercing longing. When I pushed out my lips like a child, Ha-jin beside me burst out laughing.
“Is that your habit?”
He imitated my pout while saying that. Embarrassed for no reason, I pressed my lips together more firmly and turned away. As I grumbled softly while looking elsewhere, he held out his phone to me.
“These days, where could you not contact someone?”
After staring blankly at it, I shook my head. How could I contact someone inside a novel? Thinking about it this way made me feel like an extreme fan of a 2D character. My head so complicated, I raised both hands to grip my hair like I might tear it out and lay down on the floor.
As I glared at the corner of the room, Ha-jin’s kind yet gruff voice came from behind me.
“Once a connection is made, it’s not easily broken. Try doing it exactly like the first time.”
