I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Suicide

Chapter 7

The person who saved me wasn’t Kim Si woo.

Why?

Why are you here?

Through the glasses, I could see tears in Yoo Hana’s eyes.

Was it because she was in pain?

Or was she sad?

I couldn’t tell at all.

“Urgh… Cough! Cough!”

I tried to speak by forcing strength into my throat, but all that came out was a cough. My throat hurt from the rope’s pressure.

I should have just died.

“Let… let go!”

No matter how much I shouted, my hoarse voice came out faintly, like a whisper.

I pushed him away with my hand on his chest.

He didn’t budge.

I was so close.

I could have died.

I even lied to Kim Si woo.

I tainted our memories.

Just so I could make it.

“Are you all right?”

All right…? Is that really what you’re asking right now?

The blood rushed to my head.

I feel dizzy.

It’s like someone is messing with my brain.

“It was really dangerous. You were on the brink of death.”

It felt like a joke.

I was so dumbfounded that I didn’t even feel angry.

“Put me down… Please.”

He stared at me and then carefully laid me on the bed.

It was soft.

I wanted to fall asleep right there.

But I couldn’t.

When I tried to lift my head, he stopped me.

“Please lie down. You must be feeling very dizzy right now.”

“…How did you get in here?”

“For some reason, the door’s lock was melted. Did someone burn it with a laser?”

Laser?

Is he just making things up?

Who would believe such an absurd excuse?

“How did you get into the dorm?”

“It’s not wrong for a teacher to check on a student, is it?”

That’s not right either.

The girls’ dorm is a restricted area for men, even teachers.

Whatever method he used, he must have sneaked in secretly.

My eyelids grew heavier.

If I closed my eyes for just a second, I’d pass out.

So I forced myself to keep them open.

“…How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That I was going to kill myself, and you stopped me.”

It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Saving me with such precise timing is impossible.

And he didn’t even seem surprised to see my state.

“Hmm. I happened to find out. That you attempted suicide.”

I could never believe it was a coincidence.

Someone must have told him.

Who was it?

Four people came to mind.

The class president.

The school nurse.

The hardware store owner.

And… the protagonist.

Definitely not the last one.

It couldn’t be.

Who was it among the three?

Whoever it was, I wouldn’t be able to trust them again.

If they shared information with this man, that means they’re like-minded.

A demon.

In the original story, they’re part of the main villain group.

Several demons have infiltrated the academy.

Some I know, thanks to the original story, and some I don’t.

The man who introduced himself as a science teacher was certainly one of them.

If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t try to feed me suspicious drugs.

I almost asked who told him but stopped.

He wouldn’t tell me anyway.

What should I do now?

I must never get involved with demons.

It was the demons who corrupted Yoo Hana.

“Did you come to… kill me?”

At my question, the demon furrowed his brow.

“What are you talking about? I rushed here out of worry that you might take an extreme step.”

“Ha. Sure you did.”

I wish he’d just kill me cleanly.

Yoo Hana’s awakening condition is death.

That means it doesn’t necessarily have to be suicide.

But it seems the demon has no intention of killing me.

Is he planning to use me?

It’s clear.

That drug is probably for that purpose.

To corrupt me with pleasure, make me obey his commands.

Why does it have to be me?

The answer is simple.

Yoo Hana is Kim Si woo’s only childhood friend.

As time goes on, her importance decreases, but at this early stage of the story, she’s his closest friend.

This demon is trying to use me to trap the protagonist too.

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised. When I saw you yesterday, I thought you were cheerful and innocent, but to be hurting enough to attempt suicide…”

He lies smoothly without blinking an eye.

Thinking about his intentions behind that mask makes me sick.

“Did you not take the medicine I gave you? If you had taken it, thoughts of suicide wouldn’t even occur to you.”

He’s revealing his true colors.

Yes. He must want me to get addicted, completely under his control.

Does he think I’d go along with that? Not a chance.

I’d rather die.

I have to die anyway.

“I… I don’t like the strawberry flavor.”

“Ah, so you tried it. Should I call it foolish, or admirable?”

“I’ll never eat such suspicious vitamins!”

Fatigue overwhelms me.

I couldn’t even sleep, spending the night self-harming because of that pill.

An ordinary body like mine couldn’t resist its effects.

Focus.

If I fall asleep now, it’s really over.

I might be unable to kill myself, hypnotized into a slave.

I pinched my thigh hard enough to bruise.

It hurt so much I almost cursed.

My body was already addicted to pleasure.

When pain, not pleasure, overwhelmed me, my brain fiercely resisted.

I felt like I was going insane.

If only someone would kill me.

If Hong Yeonhwa suddenly appeared and burned me, I might even fall in love with her.

“You’ve noticed. The medicine I gave isn’t just vitamins.”

Wow. How infuriating.

How does he talk in a way that makes me so mad?

“My medicine brings happiness. It helps you forget the pain that torments you.”

“…Get lost.”

I’ve reached my limit.

I couldn’t hold back the exhaustion and closed my eyes.

Exactly two seconds later.

I opened my eyes again.

I opened my mouth, but no scream came out.

Why?

Why?

Why so soon?

Another wave of pain hit me.

This time, I knew I couldn’t endure.

With both body and mind torn apart, this pain was beyond my capacity to bear.

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.

Gradually, my mind went blank.

As if pouring ink onto a blank canvas, pain etched itself deeply.

It hurts.

It hurts.

Why am I the only one who has to suffer this?

It’s too much.

Why does it hurt so much? Can’t someone just kill me? What did I do wrong to deserve this? Please save me, or just let me die quickly. I should have died when I hung myself with that rope. If only a demon hadn’t shown up, it wouldn’t have come to this. If Kim Si woo had come, would it have been different? I just want my neck to be cut cleanly so I can die.

“You seem to be in great pain.”

It hurts.

It hurts.

“You already know the way to make the pain disappear, don’t you?”

To relieve the pain.

To bring happiness.

Strawberries.

“If you take this, you can be happy. Of course.”

The devil tempts me.

“The choice is yours, Miss Hana.”

In his hand was a gleaming red pill.

I stared blankly at it.

Then slowly opened my mouth.

—

After Hana left.

Si woo stood, dazed, for a long time.

Something was wrong.

He couldn’t pinpoint it, but he was certain something had changed.

He had a few guesses.

Some even filled him with anxiety.

The bandages on her wrist.

The rope.

The awkward smile.

Yoo Hana.

After thinking for a long time, Si woo took out his phone and dialed a number.

– Hello?

“Kyunga. Can we meet for a moment?”

– …Where?

“Please come to the café.”

Kyunga arrived quickly, seeming out of breath as if she had run there, looking different from usual.

The two sat across from each other in silence, unsure of how to start.

Eventually, Si woo spoke first.

“…Do you know if Hana has been acting differently? Anything you know?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. I just feel uneasy. It seems like Hana’s changed.”

Kyunga’s expression grew complicated.

“Ha. Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“What?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know, or are you just denying it on purpose?”

“…”

“Do you really believe that nonsense? That her wounds were just paper cuts and that she missed class because she was reading a book?”

Of course he didn’t believe it.

Even the hardware store owner, who barely knew Hana, noticed it at a glance.

For someone who’s been her friend for 18 years not to notice would be impossible.

But because they were so close, knowing everything about each other…

Si woo denied it even more strongly.

He kept convincing himself that Hana wouldn’t do such a thing.

That she’d never attempt suicide…

But just ignoring it wouldn’t change the facts.

Eventually, facing the truth was the only way to solve it.

“Please. If you know something, tell me. Anything, please…”

Seeing Si woo’s desperate expression, Kyunga finally confessed everything she had seen.

“Hana… she’s been self-harming… Why?”

“How could I know the exact reason? But it’s certain she didn’t seem well.”

“…Hana.”

Confusion.

And a surge of frustration.

With himself for not noticing how much his closest friend was suffering.

“I have to go.”

“…Go? Can’t you just call her?”

“No. I have a bad feeling.”

He couldn’t shake the image of the rope from his mind. Somehow, he felt sure she wouldn’t answer if he called.

“And how do you plan to go? I’ll go and check instead.”

The girls’ dormitory is off-limits to men. Si woo originally intended to ask Kyunga to check one more time.

But that won’t work.

He had to confirm it himself.

Only then might this uneasy feeling ease up, even just a bit.

“It’s fine. I’m confident I won’t get caught.”

With his abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult.

“You…”

“I’m going. Thanks for telling me.”

Si woo rushed out of the cafe, running with all his might.

When Si woo finally reached the dormitory, he muttered in serious tones outside Hana’s door.

The door was broken. Someone had forced it open, not by strength, but by using heat.

Ignoring the ominous feeling, he opened the door.

He nearly collapsed at the sight in the living room.

A rope hung down from the ceiling, tied in a way that could mean only one thing.

Suicide.

“Huff… huff…”

The only relief was that no one was hanging from the noose.

There was no sign of Hana.

Scanning the room to find his childhood friend, Si woo’s gaze fixed on a corner of the room. Someone sat silently on a chair, without making a sound.

“Who are you?”

Even just by the silhouette, it was clear it wasn’t Hana. It was a man, and there was no reason for a man to be here.

“You’re Kim Si woo, aren’t you?”

“I asked, who are you!”

Si woo moved toward him, but then had to stop.

Behind the man, previously out of sight, was the bed.

Hana was lying there, asleep with a peaceful expression.

The man sat beside the sleeping Hana, gently stroking her hair.

At that moment, Si woo’s rationality snapped. He grabbed the man by the collar and activated his powers.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Me? I’m her science teacher.”