I've Been Possessed, But What If I Get Pregnant First? - C92
#92
At that moment, the elevator shook greatly with a thud, and I hit my head hard against one wall.
“Hic, ah, what’s going on… ugh.”
Holding my head that hit hard, I hurriedly lowered my body as I had seen somewhere. As I half hung onto the elevator handle and straightened my waist to press the emergency bell, the elevator made another loud thud sound.
Just moving my body a little felt like it would plummet down right away. To make matters worse, the emergency bell I pressed at great risk showed no reaction as if it was broken.
On a day like today when no one was around, how many people could discover me passing by? Even if there was a security guard or someone on duty at the school, the probability of them finding me wasn’t very high.
Why do I always get into accidents like this?
I held my swollen belly, soothing my heart pounding from anxious feelings.
“I’m scared…”
Even though I thought I should stay calm for Ho-ppang’s sake, I couldn’t help but be terrified. I called 119 while curling up my body, but the cell phone signal didn’t connect. I also called Kwon Taebeom with trembling hands, but it was the same. Would a message go through? I sent him an urgent text, but undelivered messages just piled up in the blue window.
“Is anyone there? There’s someone here!”
Although I tried to be as careful as possible, I had no choice but to inevitably move my body. Then the elevator made a screeching sound, making my heart uneasy.
“Gasp, wh- what do I do…”
I was trapped in a cold, empty school.
***
I minimized the phone brightness to save as much battery as possible. As time passed, the narrow elevator felt like it was suffocating my body.
Cold sweat flowed down my spine. It felt like time was passing much slower inside the elevator than outside. Although it had only been a little over an hour, it felt like I was trapped for a whole day.
The signal that didn’t even fill one bar was still the same no matter how much I reached out. My arms were so numb and a notification popped up on my phone saying there wasn’t much battery usage left.
With an anxious heart, I grabbed the elevator handle and even stood on tiptoe. Even with small movements, the elevator made a screeching sound. Just as tears were about to pour out from the tension, the signal finally connected. I immediately called Kwon Taebeom, and he answered before even a second passed.
“Taebeom, hic.”
-Cha Yuwon, where are you!
Kwon Taebeom’s voice, firmly angry, was heard from the receiver. That voice felt both disappointing and welcoming. I hurriedly opened my mouth before the signal cut off.
-Why did you turn off your phone again-
“Hic, Taebeom, I’m at, at school-”
Screech- thud.
“Aah!”
The elevator shook greatly with a thud as if the cord had snapped. My heart flinched as if it would shatter and my vision went dizzy. Too startled, I dropped my phone that I was clinging to the handle, and it tumbled far away.
-Yuwon? Cha Yuwon! What’s going on!
Kwon Taebeom’s urgent voice echoed in the elevator. I also heard him shouting something at someone.
“Taebeom…”
-Yuwon, where are you now?
“Hic… I’m at school, but the elevator right now… sob, I- I’m scared…”
-School? Why are you at school… No, I’ll go right now so wait just a little. Nothing will happen so don’t worry.
“Okay… sob, but the elevator is strange. It’s sh- shaking… I think it’s going to, hic, fall…”
Plop.
The call disconnected before I could fully explain the situation. The phone screen, as if completely dead, lost all its light. The inside of the elevator, with even the small light all gone, became pitch black.
Not being able to see ahead and not knowing when it would fall was only terrifying. I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing or not, unable to judge the situation.
“Ho-ppang, sob, Ho-ppang…”
It felt like Ho-ppang and I were left alone in this world. But I had faith that Kwon Taebeom would come save me. Because he’s the person who always saved me and protected me, surely this time too…
“Ah… sob.”
At that moment, my vision shook and the strength left my hand gripping the handle. The memories that were scattered in the pitch-black void started entering me one by one, finding their place.
“Aah…! Sob, don’t, don’t…! Stop… huaa-“
The memories that were hazily obscured drew a vivid picture, and all the memories piled up in layers. Along with the memories I glimpsed in Hong Kong, all the memories of Cha Yuwon, no ‘my’ memories from when I was very young that I couldn’t even remember started to come to mind.
“Huu, haah… ugh…”
It felt like even the memories I couldn’t handle were all unfolding clearly before my eyes. Even if I scratched the floor with my nails and screamed to stop, I couldn’t block the memories coming back. As I panted and curled up my body to avoid the illusion unfolding in the air, the tightly closed elevator door opened and Kwon Taebeom appeared.
“Cha Yuwon!!”
“No, it’s dangerous for everyone like this. Step back!”
The firefighter who stopped Kwon Taebeom inserted something into the elevator door to secure it. Kwon Taebeom, who couldn’t rashly move, desperately called out to me as I trembled, curled up.
“Yuwon! Get a hold of yourself, just a little. Endure just a little!”
“……”
“Yuwon!”
The firefighter, who installed a support on the door hanger lock to prevent falling, finally carefully boarded the elevator.
“Mr. Cha Yuwon, are you alright? Are you conscious?”
The firefighter first checked my consciousness and pulled me out. Because I couldn’t breathe well, I used a respirator, but fortunately I wasn’t injured anywhere, so Kwon Taebeom personally carried me and moved.
I could fully feel his sweat-soaked hand gently caressing me. As his pheromones slowly seeped into my lungs, it felt like my roughly beating heart was also stabilizing bit by bit.
“It’s okay, Yuwon. Everything is okay now. You must have been so scared.”
“……”
But I regained all my memories. I came to recall all of our past, his and mine. Seeing him, the tears welled up in my eyes flowed down.
How could I have forgotten this person? How could I alone forget all of this and live comfortably? This person must still be living in hell, so how… could I alone…
Looking down, seeing the vivid scar on his neck, my heart tingled. How… how did I forget that I was Cha Yuwon? Why am I so selfish till the end, Cha Yuwon?
Maybe interpreting my trembling gaze differently, Kwon Taebeom constantly hugged my hand tightly and whispered quietly.
“Yuwon, let’s go home now, go home with me and-“
“…Taebeom… hyung.”
“……”
In an instant, Kwon Taebeom’s eyes trembled finely and his hand gripping mine loosened. Kwon Taebeom’s pupils, looking at me with a face not wanting to believe it, trembled finely like a lost child. Seeing him like that, my heart felt like it would tear. With a powerless hand, I forcibly removed the respirator and opened my mouth.
“Why are we… together?”
“…Yuwon.”
But his eyes soon hardened as if asking when it was like that. Strength entered his hand gripping me again. His gaze clinging to me as if he couldn’t let me go was directed only at me, holding nothing else.
The more he did that, the more I had to confess with a boiling heart.
“We, sob. We shouldn’t be together. Hic… Why, why did you find me again?”
“……”
“After what I did to you… sob, because of me, you…”
Plop-
I have to say more. I shouldn’t be in his arms but I have to leave right away, but my body that was already exhausted didn’t listen. With my fading consciousness, I earnestly prayed that he wouldn’t be by my side the next time I opened my eyes.
We were still two people who shouldn’t meet.
***
The first time I met Kwon Taebeom was in a very cold winter. That day, I went to the store early in the morning, worried the water pipes might freeze in the unusually cold weather. Maybe because the weather got colder, Grandma’s health had been poor lately.
Grandma, who coughed late into the dawn and couldn’t sleep, couldn’t get up until I finished preparing. Before leaving the house, I checked Grandma’s bedding one more time and quietly closed the door to go outside.
“Haa- it’s cold.”
The cold wind crept into my clothes and the chill seeped into my bones. The skin that turned red from the cold air stung. I crouched my body as much as possible and hurriedly walked to the restaurant a little away from home.
Before long, Grandma’s store with an old sign came into view. As I was opening the lock with my frozen hands and stamping my feet from the cold, it happened.
Suddenly, a large shadow approached over my head from behind. Thinking it might be those guys, I put strength in both hands.
Tak-
“Aah!”
Feeling an unfamiliar touch on my shoulder, I turned my body and thrust my fist at the man. However, the man easily dodged my fist without any sign of surprise. The face looking down at me with curious eyes, a cigarette in his mouth, wasn’t the person I thought.
Only then did I realize I swung my fist at a stranger. Too startled by the unexpected situation, I froze on the spot and pressed my lips tight, and the man spoke to me first.
“You okay?”
A faint scent of cologne was felt from the man who slightly lowered his head to meet my gaze.
“Ah, yes, I’m fine!”
“I heard she had a grandson, so it’s you.”
I nodded slightly at the man’s words, and he mumbled, ‘Doesn’t resemble her at all’. A small smile brushed past his muttering lips. I blankly stared at his mouth with a faint smile remaining and asked him.
“Are you a customer?”
“Yeah.”
It was someone I was seeing for the first time. There was still a long time before business started. Did he come at the wrong time?
“There’s still a long time before business starts… Will you come back later?”
“I’m not here to eat. I left something here yesterday.”
“Something?”
“Can you open the door, kiddo?”