55 – Haerin Kang (55)
Haerin Kang (55)
Click.
After locking the hospital room door behind Park Se-young’s back, unlike usual, he approached me with a face without a smile.
He sat down in the seat he had just given to Baek Yoo-ram as a ‘preferential treatment for the elderly’ and held my hand.
“Senior, did you understand my question?”
she said softly.
“……”
Well-maintained soft, medium-length hair, white skin, thin double eyelids, and large, soft, curved eyes.
Prominent dimples and a grin that is often seen so often that it is imprinted in memory quite easily.
Park Se-young’s first impression was summarized like that.
She showed a lot of interest in me to the point where it was burdensome, and that interest wasn’t too bad for me either.
She was a curious person and had a smile that made me feel good just by looking at her.
If her curiosity had not been related to Harin, I would have gotten along better with her.
Perhaps she felt the same way.
Of course, it is not a rational interest.
Park Se-young is a person who cannot easily pass by a pitiful and gloomy-looking person like me.
So, the interest she shows me is not rational, but sympathy that comes from innate nature.
It probably won’t be much different from the work she does at the abandoned dog care center she says she works for.
It is nothing more and nothing less than that.
I already let her down by doing the ridiculous thing of killing Baek Yu-ram and Park Se-young in the novel.
Even talking face-to-face with her like this is so embarrassing that I feel guilty.
‘…Did I look like that?’
Park Se-young’s bewildered expression came to mind.
‘You’re flirting with seniors?’
Who can see it, the person who created ‘Park Se-rin’, a variant of Park Se-young, who faces a terrible death to the main character, Kang Hae-rin, in the background of our school, S University’s literary and creative department.
When I found out that it was me.
When he realized that the character who was killed by Lee Dong-min’s older brother and his alter ego, Lee Dong-hyun, was none other than himself.
How stupid could Park Se-young be?
There is a level of pride.
It was done to resolve Harin’s anger peacefully, but it caused a nuisance to the person concerned.
Of course, she was very sorry.
No matter how novel it is, I killed her.
In order to satisfy Haerin, everything except the name had to be described as it is.
My handwriting isn’t great, but at least someone who knows a person named Park Se-young would have noticed that Se-rin Park is Se-young Park after reading my novel.
To portray it, I had to repeat the scene to the point of mental torture.
I had to kill Park Se-young with my own hands.
“… senior.”
And unlike me, who decided to close my eyes from everything because the world was so painful, the sea of pain, that is, the sea of pain, Park Se-young was a person who was interested in all things with vigorous curiosity.
Even to a shady person like me, her affection, sympathy, benevolence, and curiosity shone through.
she was a smart person
That insight asked me.
“I know this is nonsense. I know, but maybe Mr. Kang Hae-rin is a suspicious being.”
Park Se-young’s hand that held my hand was cold.
Maybe it’s because he’s been outside for a long time, but if you see his pale expression, he might be getting chills.
I didn’t want to hear the words coming out of her mouth.
It was scary.
It’s not that I’m scared, it’s that someone new comes to know our relationship better.
It was difficult to endure such a situation.
“… Why is Harin?”
I had to be careful not to tremble in my voice.
… In the end, does Park Se-young notice?
‘What should I say?’
I’m sorry I lied to you all this time.
Can we keep things a secret about Haerin?
At last, the problem is gone, and I can live quietly with her, so will you listen if I ask you not to interfere with our peace and happiness?
If even Park Se-young found out about Hae-rin, would she still be there even after knowing that?
She might not be able to bear it because her ego almost collapsed because she was a character in a novel.
I swallowed anxiously.
Park Se-young looked at me as if she was pitiful.
Finally she opened her mouth.
“… This is a stalking crime, yes. Yes?”
“… uh?”
Park Se-young’s expression was serious as she spoke of a similar but inaccurate guess.
“… So to speak, like Stephen King’s ‘misery’. She is a woman who has gone crazy because she loves her favorite writer so much. Haerin Kang.”
“……”
“Was it hard for you, senior?”
Park Se-young held my hand tightly.
I felt like an old man in a nursing home.
“Just talk to me. It is my negligence for not recognizing the pain of my seniors. sorry.”
Park Se-young said with moistened eyes.
… I don’t know where to start explaining.
No, there is no need to explain?
#
Stephen King’s misery.
It’s a novel so famous that it doesn’t need a summary of the plot, but in fact, I’ve never seen the original.
It’s embarrassing as a writer, but I only read Stephen King’s short stories, and I only met famous feature films through movies.
Misery, too, has only been seen in movies.
Perhaps the plot is like this.
A female nurse picks up and takes care of a popular writer who was injured in an accident.
As it turned out, she was a so-called big fan who loved the novels of the main character.
At first, he was kind and kind, but when the main character said he would no longer write the popular series, he suddenly changed and tortured the author.
‘You dare not write a novel-?’
‘Write more-!’
‘I’m going to kill you, write a new story-‘
I too have had a similar experience.
I received similar comments from readers when 『Journal』 was put on hiatus and recently when it was serialized without permission.
Of course, I’ve never been physically threatened.
Isn’t that what being a reclusive writer is good for?
I dare not compare it to Stephen King, or to Sherlock Holmes, a character who is more famous than the author.
Among the self-proclaimed fans of Harin, ‘Harinion’, the big fans insisted that Harin put it out even if I tried to gossip about it.
[Writer, I don’t know if you get corona or not, so please put out the amount of Harin today.]
[If you obediently hand over the yeoncham, I will spare your life because Haerin will have to keep watching]
[Go to work, writer-]
I’ve never felt so bad about it.
It’s distorted, but isn’t it love?
Harin was a person I was thankful for, and loving her wasn’t that different from loving me.
Harin is me, and I am Harin.
So I gladly accepted that too.
“Misery, right?”
But I never expected to hear such a parable.
Park Se-young associated with it at once, probably because he was quick and interested in genre literature.
“Now all the puzzles have been put together.”
Park Se-young declares everything.
“The senior’s anxiety that I felt every time I saw Kang Hae-rin. I knew. Why are you a lover, afraid?”
She said it as if it were a play.
“-Were you being threatened?”
Park Se-young, possessed by Conan, began walking around the hospital room and telling her own reasoning.
“… Kang Hae-rin’s appearance description is too similar to that in the novel. To borrow the expression in the novel, ‘the color of crow’s feathers wet in the rain’. And the occasional flashes of red eyes… are they lenses?”
“……..”
“There is no way this is realistically possible. If so, judging by the elimination method, it is ‘realistic’ convincing that someone who liked 『Kang Hae-rin’s Murder Diary』 followed the contents of the novel.”
I know that Park Se-young has a lot of interest in genres, but I didn’t know that she also likes detective stories.
After all, Edgar Allan Poe was the originator of horror novels and the father of mystery novels.
Fear, reasoning, and mystery may touch.
As if somewhat intoxicated by her reasoning, she spoke with her eyes shining.
“If you look at overseas topics, there are stories about people who like pop stars or idols so much that they got plastic surgery just like that person. Yes, Mr. Haerin Kang, had plastic surgery. To become Kang Haerin in the novel!”
After listening to Park Se-young for a while, I could guess what context she was talking about.
‘It has nothing to do with Misery…’
Except for the motif of the relationship between the artist and the big fan.
In short, Park Se-young meant that Kang Hae-rin was a huge fan of my novels, so she had plastic surgery just like the character and appeared in front of me to intimidate and threaten me.
“… If my prediction is correct, Kang Hae-rin’s original name would not have been Kang Hae-rin. He would have changed his name, and he would have changed everything about himself. What a creepy thing. Senpai, were you scared?”
Park Se-young shoots those eyes and makes me feel pitiful for my whole existence.
Maybe it’s her ability.
It’s no wonder that he has the ability to make people feel sorry for people who don’t think much of themselves, seeing as fantasy-like things happen where novels become reality.
Feeling like the poorest person in the world, I listened to her mystery show.
“You must be mentally… sick, right? He is also a sad person. And a good senior wants to finish the job well, so he didn’t even report it to the police. But you can’t.”
“Now, wait a minute, Seyoung-ah.”
I tried to stop her.
At first glance, what she said made sense.
If it weren’t for the ‘phenomenon’ that is bizarrely synchronized with the world, I would have believed that too.
Kang Hwan-gu, no, Kang Hwan-jae. And it would be if the characters in my novels, including Ban Yi-jae and even Park Seong-gang, had not appeared before my eyes.
As Park Se-young said, this has ‘reality’.
“no. Please listen to me first.”
Park Se-young said in an unusually strong tone.
“I’ve already talked with Yoo-ram unnie. My reasoning began with what happened at the senior’s house as to why the senior was so upset with Kang Hae-rin.”
The stir-fried chicken incident?
At that time, Harin must have looked anxious.
Baek Yoo-ram told me to do this and that, and on the other hand, seeing me not being able to resist properly, he said to Haerin, ‘Are you doing it that way?’
That day, the two of them came to cook at best, but ended up leaving as if they were kicked out without being able to eat.
It was a measure to prevent Haerin from running out of control.
At that time, I was also quite concerned.
“… It must not be a coincidence that Kang Hae-rin’s car is a red Mercedes. However, it would have been difficult to have the financial power of Kang Hae-rin in the novel. This is just my guess, but probably those vehicles are leased or heavily loaned. According to common sense, a college student can’t pull a car like that. senior.”
Park Se-young grabbed my hand again.
“… Well, I know how these stories end. All in all, it’s so tragic that it’s hard to even talk about it. The pain that comes from the gap between dreams and reality! People whose souls and minds are separated end up doing extreme things. By committing a crime or committing suicide. I’m scared, really. Novels like The Talented Ripley were probably of that type, too, right?”
“Seyoung-ah, wait a minute…”
“No, senpai, I will help you! are you okay. I will ask my parents for help. You know the law well. I’m going to report it too.”
“No, wait a minute, listen, Seyoung-ah, please!”
I raised my voice.
It was an interesting idea, but I was relieved that I didn’t seem to have noticed the ‘truth’.
I couldn’t let it run wild like that.
I felt mixed emotions.
Park Se-young felt relieved that he had not yet reached a fantasy conclusion that the novel had materialized.
However, the unexploded possibility rather reminded and nurtured the fear of new possibilities.
What should she do if she finds out that Kang Hae-rin is a character in a novel?
I realized and had to admit that I had never thought about it this way.
“… Harin is real.”
“… senior. Fans to that extent…”
For some reason, Park Se-young’s eyes are moistened.
“No, don’t look at me with such pity!”
I said a little annoyed.
“… sympathy, I didn’t. You are a wonderful person.”
“I’m sorry if it’s not… but Seyoung, you look at me with sympathetic eyes for some reason…”
“I am only telling the truth. And, the senior’s unhappiness still continues, right?”
“… what do you mean by that?”
“Ban Lee Jae.”
“……”
You’re here.
I felt my heart skip a beat.
It wouldn’t be bad to let Kang Hae-rin be mistaken like that, but Ban Lee-jae is clearly a character in the novel.
Even the aspect of the case is the same.
Can this really be a coincidence?
Do characters with the same name as the characters in the novel appear in real life and cause trouble?
How can I excuse this?
It’s too much to say it’s a coincidence, but how did Park Se-young, who is smart, seal it up?
“I also think there are too many coincidences.”
Park Se-young readily acknowledged it.
“But seeing that Mr. Ban Yi-jae committed the crime of copying ‘Ban Lee-hyeon’ in the novel, the senior must be having a hard time too.”
“…Ban Lee Hyun?”
“… Yes, it appears in 『Kang Hae-rin’s Murder Diary』. The episode was so early that the writer probably forgot it too?”
“……”
“In the club, until recently, I studied with senior works. Yu-Ram unnie hated it because it seemed soggy, but it was a long film, and it was a big hit. It’s because Jiyoung and Yoona are big fans of the sunbaenim.”
I’m at a loss for words.
‘Ban Lee Hyun?’
For a moment I was also confused.
However, he soon shook his head.
No matter how much a writer is, he doesn’t remember all the details, but he remembers the names of the characters.
Moreover, it is a name that is hard to forget because it is the first villain to open 『Journal』.
‘Ban Lee Jae.’
Apparently, his name was Ban Lee Jae.
Perhaps this should be considered fortunate, the smart Park Se-young remembered his name as ‘Ban Yi-hyeon’.
No, is this a mistake?
I suddenly remembered that my older sister, another reader of 『Ilji』, vaguely remembered Haerin’s grandfather, ‘Kang Hwan-gu’ as ‘Kang Hwan-jae’.
‘Distortion of memory.’
When I put the cases together, I could see that something universal and mysterious power was being applied.
However, Kang Hae-rin is well remembered.
Is it just because it’s the main character?
“… I understand. Senior, the anguish of having to take down a work that contains affection. There were copycat crimes and even stalkers, so you had no choice but to get off. I won’t blame the senior for describing the criminal trick in too much detail. It is the fault of the person who followed it.”
“……”
“That is why I am here today. I decided with Yuram unnie. I won’t tell Jiyoung or Yoona right away, and I won’t ask seniors to decide now. However, if you have any trouble, please rely on us. I will be your strength.”
After saying that, Park Se-young put on a tearful expression, then closed the door and disappeared from the hospital room.
“……”
It felt like a storm had swept through me.
#
My sister opened the door and came in.
“… What’s wrong with your expression?”
She asked, taking out a banana from the fruit basket that the club members had bought.
“Your face is grim. Four pretty girlfriends came, but is my younger sister the only older sister? It’s not like I really want to hear that.”
“……”
“I’m really happy that Dongmin has many friends, but why are they all girls?”
“……..”
“I think it was the best record since my sister watched Dongmin. Do you want to?”
“… no. sister. however…”
It seemed like it would continue if left alone, so I hung up on my sister and checked my phone.
“Anyway, Haerin keeps worrying about me.”
“…what can I do?”
An older sister chewing on a banana with a serious expression.
“I told you. Harin also needs time to calm down. Originally, I was going to visit you tomorrow, but since Dong-min is so anxious about you, noona will go right away. to your house.”
‘Is it your house?’
Haerin and my house.
In fact, I’m just living on top of it, and the house itself is in Haerin’s name.
Of course, Haerin would say that this was given to her by ‘me’, but it’s a complicated issue.
To say that I gave her that huge mansion just because I scribbled it in sentences.
“I will go with you.”
“Where are you going in your current state!”
“Your sister is right. I don’t think it’s something I can just pass over that Haerin hasn’t come to see me for three days.”
I said as I got up from the bed.
The rain showed no sign of stopping.
Harin wasn’t a stray dog, and he wouldn’t be in the rain like that, but for some reason, I felt anxious.
My sister’s words may have had a big impact.
‘Kang Hae-rin alone in that big mansion.’
Originally, the Kang Haerin I know has an excellent ability to get along with people in moderation ‘as needed’.
But she didn’t kill, so she didn’t have to socialize, and I was the only one around her.
But it doesn’t even come to me.
Park Se-young’s words had an impact.
Even though she pointed out a mistake, it would be better for me to speak up on my own and find a solution together than to upset Haerin.
I think the problem will be solved neatly by living with Haerin, but-
‘What the hell are you thinking?’
I missed the red wine-colored laptop where I could know Kang Hae-rin’s every move in real time.
I put up with my anxiety and asked my sister.
“I will be at home. take me away Just for a moment.”
“… no.”
No matter how many times I ejaculated, my sister was adamant.
“Where is the sick person going even when it rains?”
My sister said sternly.
“Okay, I was the one who encouraged you, so I’ll take responsibility.”
She immediately gathered up her coat and put it on.
“As an older sister who knows you better than anyone else, and as a woman to woman, I will speak well and come, so Dongmin, don’t worry about you and focus on your recovery. Understand? Harin will definitely be brought by her sister.”
My sister winked and stroked my hair.
“Leave it to your sister.”
“……”
However, contrary to her cheerful and confident attitude, there was no news from her until the next day.
And the next day too.
Then the next day too.
A painful time has begun.