NOVEL NEXT WORLD Welcome to Dungeon Hotel
Chapter 190
I had a dream.
Han Woohyun appeared in my dream. ‘Love me, Junghyo.’ He said the same thing again and held my hand. Actually, that night, he quietly let go of my hand and left the house, but this time, he didn’t. I quietly held his hand and faced him. I didn’t miss Han Woo-hyeon’s eyes, whose depth was unknown, and his chin, which looked solid but was trembling very slightly. Then, I felt that it touched my heart more clearly than before that he had the courage to ask me to love him. Actually, I didn’t feel that much at the time. I’m also busy trying to calm my own heart. Just as everyone who was close to you was ruined, everyone who was close to me left me. Because I’m afraid of getting closer to you. Oh, that’s right. It wasn’t you who was really afraid, it was me. So while you were brave enough to say that, I was the one who ran away. I wanted to move my lips and say something, but my voice couldn’t come out. When I could barely move my stiff neck, strangely, Han Woohyun’s hand felt warm. It’s so warm… It feels like it’s not a dream. In the dream, I smelled alcohol, but now it doesn’t. Moreover, unlike in the dream, I looked up at Han Woohyun. He held my hand and brought it to his cheek, as if he couldn’t grip it tightly enough, just holding it gently in place. “Are you awake…?” Han Woohyun asked cautiously. But I quietly looked up at him and touched his cheek. My eyes opened slightly at the sensation of touch that I couldn’t believe was a dream. “…Don’t go.” His eyes widened at my words. He stuttered as if he had something stuck in his throat. “I’m not going. Anywhere.” “Lie.” It’s a lie. You got away from me so quickly. Without ever looking back. I got a little annoyed, so I pressed Han Woohyun’s cheek with my thumb. Is this…not a dream? That was when I frowned slightly at the strangely vivid sensation. A window appeared in front of me. Would you like to use the one-time preview of ‘Skill: Memory Communication (A)’? Y/N Memory communication? Ah, this is one of the quest completion rewards that appear after bringing Sophia to the hotel. So, if you upgrade your mind communication skills, will you be able to achieve memory communication? If it’s a memory… I thought I was being fooled and chose Y. ‘Skill: Memory Communication (A)’ Activating… ‘Skill: Memory Communication (A)’ Shows the memory of the person the caster would most like to see. In an instant, my eyes brightened. * * * My vision gradually opened. I was walking somewhere. In front of me was the hallway of a police station. I was able to quickly realize that I was looking at a hallway that I had only seen in movies, and in the video, I was walking without hesitation. That this is in the ‘other person’s memory’. It was natural since this wasn’t my first experience. I have seen Memories of Merlin Gray. A thick hand opened the door at the end of the hallway. This time I started to see the inside of the room. In the shabby room, which seemed to be used as a storage area, there was only a desk and two chairs placed simply. There was a man sitting in one of the chairs. A face that felt familiar… a déjà vu sensation washed over me. His identity became clear to me in no time. “Hyung…!” Because the man looked straight at me and said this in an earnest voice. This man is Han Woohyun’s cousin. I saw him in the parking lot after the reunion, but I didn’t recognize him because he felt so different from then. Back then, he had a shamelessly provoking expression when facing Han Woohyun, but now, this man had a frightened look, with a noticeably pale face. “Are you here to take me out?” “….” Han Woohyun remained silent, but the man spoke desperately, as if he saw a glimmer of hope. “Please talk to the lawyer for me. I was really just having fun at the club. But some strange guys suddenly took me and made me eat something weird, and that…” “It appears that it happened to be a drug prohibited by law.” A cold voice flowed from Han Woohyun’s lips. Even I, who was listening, was shocked. Han Woohyun put down something that looked like a prosecutor’s paper on his desk. The face of the man who was looking at the prosecutor’s paper was very distorted. “I, I can’t… I can’t be like this. Hyung! I don’t even have enough money to buy drugs.” “I know it well enough to immediately recognize what it is. You didn’t have money to buy it.” “….!” A man’s voice crept into Han Woohyun’s chilly tone. “This is a trap. Because of what happened with the Baekho Guild this time, they’re trying to frame me too. So, in a way… you’re also responsible, Hyung.” Han Woohyun sighed as if tired, then glanced briefly at the glass occupying a corner of the wall. It seemed to be a space used as an interrogation room, and only Han Woohyun’s face was visible through the glass, not the other side. At that moment, I saw Han Woohyun’s tired face. He became so skinny in less than a month. But what was more surprising than that was the strong frustration on Han Woohyun’s face. And then he had an unbelievably cold smile on his face. It was a face that had never been shown to me. “It wasn’t once or twice that you had an incident at the club and reached an agreement. From hitting people to sexual harassment, and now this. With all this, it’ll be hard to get a suspended sentence.” “But still, if Hyung asks, it’ll all work out, right? It’s always been like that until now. Talk to the Association or talk to the Guild!” “I…” Han Woohyun’s fingers tapped nervously on the desk, making a sharp sound as they landed. “Why does it have to be that way?” “…What?” The man’s eyes widened. “Why do you think I would cover up for you?” There was contempt in Han Woohyun’s voice. If it were me, I would have had a hard time moving properly after hearing this. Even without seeing his expression, his voice alone conveyed the sense that he regarded the other person as more insignificant than an insect. But the man seemed quite impatient. “Th, that’s because if a scandal breaks out because of us, it’ll trouble Hyung too, and w, we’re family. My parents took you in when you had nowhere else to go! They didn’t abandon you even when we were poor…” “They beat me, cursed at me, and told me to just die instead.” The man seemed speechless due to his calm voice. “It would’ve been better if I’d been abandoned then. I wouldn’t have hit rock bottom, wasting my life and my money on you like this. That’s something I regret. I even feel a bit sorry about it.” It wasn’t an apologetic voice. The man urgently knelt in front of Han Woohyun, as if he had finally understood the situation. “I, I, I’ll get my act together now. I’m really going to come to my senses and live properly. I’ve even been seeing a psychiatrist lately.” The man began to cry in front of Han Woohyun, who didn’t respond. “They say my inability to control my emotions and my impulsiveness are all because of the abuse I suffered as a child. I was beaten so much when I was young that something inside me broke. Every time my dad got drunk, he’d come home and smash everything in the house, and one day, he shoved my head into the toilet. Maybe that’s when my head got messed up. Something broke… right? It’s all because of my dad… everything… all of it. Don’t you ever feel that way, Hyung? When I get so angry, I feel it’s unfair. Everyone else seems so happy, but why do only I—no, why do only we have to suffer like this…?” The man knelt down and began to sob. Even as a third party, I could clearly see that it was an operation to induce sympathy. It was then. A window appeared before my eyes. While ‘Skill: Memory Communication (A)’ is active, you can freely use Mind Communication. Mind communication in progress… At that moment, Han Woohyun’s thoughts and emotions came into my head at random. His head was buzzing. It feels like someone is whispering in my ear, like when you’re deeply immersed in a novel and the words don’t just pass through your mind but pierce straight into your heart— That moment. As if it were just my feelings. Fear surged in my chest. The reason is that— ‘Do you think I’ve always been like this since I was young? When I was young, I was just as eager as you. Having a good wife and son, living well, that was my goal. I prayed every day. I promised myself I wouldn’t become like my father. But… once life is broken, it never comes back.’ Before me now is a man who has been broken, resembling someone else so closely. That’s creepy and scary. I’m afraid I’ll end up like this too. No, maybe it’s already broken. Sometimes waking abruptly from sleep, realizing there’s no man barging in, tearing the door open and grabbing me by the collar, and then returning to bed only to bury my face in the pillow for no reason and suffocate in my imagination. And above all… ‘Love me, Junghyo.’ When I think I’m in love with someone, I want to own that person. Because I want to act like that person is mine. Just like my uncle who would come in every few days on a whim and touch the money box, when I wake up and suddenly feel like I want to lock you up somewhere out of fear of you disappearing, I’m sure— It’s broken. My life may never go back to normal again. I can only pretend to be a normal person. I feel like I am a person who is completely broken somewhere and cannot be repaired. I also think that thinking like this is proof that you are already broken. Others may not think that their damage will last forever, so why do I obsessively torment myself with the thought that I can’t get better? Isn’t that proof that my damage will never get better? How can I become close to someone with such damage? If that’s you, who is so compassionate that you even let someone like me go. If I were to ask someone like you to endure my disaster with me. Isn’t that an unfair world? It was the moment when the man held Han Woohyun’s hand. A spark flew out of Han Woohyun’s chest. Han Woohyun grabbed the man with his strong hands and dragged him towards the glass. With one hand gripping the man’s back and the other hand holding his chin, Han Woohyun brought the man’s face close to the glass. “The saying that everyone else looks happy. The saying that I seem broken. Who do you think said that the most? Take a look at the mirror. See who you resemble right now.” “…What are you doing! Let go! It hurts! It…hurts!” Han Woohyun didn’t let go of the struggling man’s jaw, holding it tightly. “Look at your face. Who do you resemble? That justification of blaming unfortunate circumstances, claiming the world destroyed me so I can destroy others too, where did that come from? Because you’re right, it’s okay to hit others. Because you’re unhappy, it’s okay to break the law a little. That’s what that b*stard in our house used to say all the time.” “F*ck! Don’t you let this go?! Where’s the police, police…!” “Isn’t it disgusting? That you ended up resembling the man you hated so much. Your future is just ruined like that.” Han Woohyun pushed the struggling man towards the glass. Then, he simply left the whimpering man alone and stared silently out the window. “Why on earth are you? I don’t know why you thought I would save you. Ah, there was a time when I had high hopes for you. At one time. I thought you and your family would all get better. But not anymore.” There was no emotion on his face, but I could see the despair deep in his heart. “Now I know full well that you can never crawl out of that floor again.” What Han Woohyun just said to the man was what he said to himself. Han Woohyun quickly left the room. “F*ck you b*stard! You b*stard. Did you trap me? Now I understand. You intended to do this from the beginning and took advantage of my family.” A man’s voice was heard cursing inside the room, but Han Woohyun just slammed the door and came out. * * * I opened my eyes. As soon as I opened my eyes, I looked for Han Woohyun, but he was nowhere to be seen. ‘The fact that I was able to use the memory communication skill means that Han Woohyun came.’ What I just saw wasn’t a dream. I quickly got up from my seat. My back was a little sore, but it was a lot better than when I briefly opened my eyes a few times. As soon as I opened the door and came out, I got on the elevator. As I went to the lounge, the first person to greet me was Geumdong. “Oh! You’re awake? Bossss! You’ve been lying down for a whole day. Do you knooooow! I hate yooooou! How could you leave us like that! I thought you were hurt!” “…?” A whole day? Then what happened to Han Woohyun? “Did Han Woohyun come to the hotel?” “Hunter Han Woohyun?! Yes! Oh, but he checked in and just left a moment ago. I wonder if there’s something urgent… He hasn’t checked out yet…” After listening to that, I went back to the elevator. I heard Geumdong calling after me to inform Dad, but I ignored it. I had to meet Han Woohyun now. There is something I must say now, a feeling I must convey. When I got off on the first floor, I saw an empty coffee shop. The moment I opened the coffee shop door without delay, something cold landed on the bridge of my nose. Whoosh! Ah. Did they say it was going to rain today? I don’t remember. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Han Woohyun holding an umbrella and opening the car door, so I had no time to think of anything else. I walked towards it. As my body became wet, my back became a little more stiff. My steps slowed slightly. It wasn’t just because of the back pain. The moment I squeezed Han Woohyun’s arm, the emotions I felt earlier came back to me once again. Real feelings that were never someone else’s. Frustration, pain, sadness. “Why are you here? Umbrella…” Han Woohyun’s eyes widened when he saw me. I tightened my grip on Han Woohyun’s arm. I caught a glimpse of all your emotions that I was curious about. So now all that’s left to do is— “…I’m tired of it.” Han Woohyun, who was hastily putting an umbrella over me and about to take off his coat, stopped moving at my words. And after a while, Han Woohyun, who understood what I said, chewed his lips. “I swear I’ll never love anything again, I’m tired of it.” My voice was trembling. It felt like my jumbled emotions were bursting out and turning into words inside me. I think I was always curious about your heart. Why did you run away from me, why do you have to get away from me? But only now that I know the whole reason, I realized. It’s not important to know your heart, but it’s important to convey my heart. And what I wanted to convey most was… ‘Love me, Junghyo.’ The moment I heard those words, this was the emotion that bloomed inside me. “I love you.” The moment I said those words, Han Woohyun’s neck moved. I could see his eyelids trembling slightly. At the same time, a window appeared before my eyes. Congratulations. You have completed the ‘Even if you know my heart’ quest! Would you like to receive a reward? Y/N Yeah. I have to admit this much. The status window was a big help. Hello! You can also buy the advanced chapter in Ko-fi now, just click the ko-fi button and look for the title of the novel in shop. Thank you for your support!
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