From the Faded Borderland, Episode 1 - The Disturbed Weekend

There were two skies. A blue firmament, covered in green plains. A black darkness where nothing existed. Between them, I was standing in the faded borderland. The Disturbed Weekend I let out a heavy breath of white vapor and quickened my steps. It was Sunday evening, with the weekdays just around the corner. Even with the freezing wind that the December cold snap had brought, the neon signs of the downtown area showed no sign of going out, flashing in every color. Beneath them, crowds of people were enjoying their weekend night, unbothered by the cold. I was among that crowd too, but my reason for being here was completely different from theirs. If only my homeroom teacher hadn't called me yesterday. I would have been enjoying the day off with my friends, just like them. 'There's a student in our class who needs a home visit, but something urgent came up for me this weekend.' She asked me to take care of it for her. I was speechless. What kind of teacher hands a home visit over to another student? Of course, it wasn't complicated. I just had to go to the house of a student who skipped class without permission as if it were a habit, and check a few things. It just annoyed me that I had to give up my weekend time for it. On top of that, I was the class president, so refusing felt awkward too. So I put it off from yesterday, and in the end I only got moving when Sunday was about to end. The truant's name was Lee Jun. He had transferred in around the start of the second semester. He was memorable for his rare white hair, which was natural rather than dyed. Unlike his somewhat gloomy and intimidating looks, he'd been really shy when he introduced himself. That was the first and last time I saw him. From the very next day, he stopped coming to school. Past the downtown area and into a quiet residential neighborhood. Following the address my homeroom teacher had sent me, I arrived at a one-story detached house set a little apart from the other houses. Ding-dong The doorbell sounded cheerful. It was quiet inside. In fact, the windows were dark, so I'd guessed nobody was home. Just as I was about to check once more and head back, I took my finger off the bell. Looking closer, the door hadn't been locked and was slightly ajar. Light from the streetlamp seeped through the gap and faintly lit the inside of the house. I changed my mind. I deliberately pushed the door the rest of the way open. It was clearly trespassing, but it was necessary. I stepped into the entryway and flipped a switch I found by feel. White fluorescent light swept away the darkness of the house in an instant. And only then did I confirm that what I'd seen was no illusion. A wreck. That one word was enough to sum up the state of the house. All around were floors split like tree branches and wallpaper torn to shreds. The few pieces of furniture looked like they'd topple at a mere touch. Nothing was intact. Having unintentionally ended up on an abandoned-house tour, I carefully went further in and turned on the living room light. The fluorescent light seemed to have been replaced recently, since it shone cleanly. Bags of instant food were scattered all over the living room. Here and there were traces of daily life. He did seem to live here. Thud. At the sound of a door suddenly shutting, I turned my head toward the entryway. His roughly cut, messy short white hair shone even brighter in the light. His upper body, in a gray hoodie one size too big, looked a little broad, but his thin legs were plainly visible below his jeans. Beneath his half-lidded black eyes, as if he hadn't slept, the dark circles were heavy. Lee Jun met my eyes without a word. 'Ah.' Only then did I realize the situation I was in. He'd gone out and come back to a house in shambles as if a burglar had ransacked it, and in the middle of it stood a girl he'd never seen before. "Um, well, you see..." In a situation anyone would misunderstand, I was struck dumb. But his reaction was even more surprising. "...Who are you?" He was strangely indifferent. As if he didn't care who had barged into his home. He walked past the entryway to the kitchen connected to the living room. Infected by the odd atmosphere, I calmed down too and explained the whole situation to him. Who I was and why I had come. He leaned back against the sink and silently looked at me. "...So if you're absent about two more weeks, you won't have enough attendance days, you'll be held back, and you'll have to repeat the first year." He made no reply and asked no questions. It felt like talking to myself against a wall. He'd come this far on purpose anyway, so maybe my warning didn't matter to him. If so, I planned to wrap this up without dragging it out. But in the middle of it, something unexpected happened. "Wah!?" I never expected him to suddenly lunge at me. Startled, I stumbled backward, lost my balance and fell. He followed, dropping to the floor with one arm wrapped around me. "Ow... that hurts..." "Ugh... are you okay?" If he had done that for no reason, I'd have answered his question with a punch instead of words. Why he did it. The answer was right behind me. An old wooden wardrobe lay sprawled, split in two. The moment it fell, he had pushed me out of the way and saved me. "Are you hurt anywhere?" "Oh, no." I got up and answered, brushing the dust off my clothes. Thank you. Before I could say it, Lee Jun grabbed one of my hands and pulled. Then he headed straight for the entryway, saying urgently: "I'm sorry, but please leave now." "What?" He gave a meaningful reason for his sudden behavior. "It's dangerous to stay here any longer." "Wait, what's dangerous about..." "I'm sorry." Then he cut me off and led me outside. "Please tell the teacher that I'll go see her myself later. I'm really sorry!" Bang! The sound of the door slamming shut rang in my ears. Honestly, I'd been pushed out of the house without a moment to catch my breath. Speechless, I stared at the firmly closed door. What was suddenly so dangerous? Anger I hadn't felt before at being turned away started to rise. Still, there was nothing I could do by staying. Suppressing the urge to kick the door, I left his house behind. And so the fruitless home visit came to an end. If I had to say something, at least I'd confirmed he was alive. Anyway, I'd finished the job as told. As soon as I got home, I'd wash up and go to sleep. That was the plan, but it didn't work out. My daily life was thrown completely off course. ◇ It was hot. As if I were swimming in a pit of fire. My whole body blazed fiercely. It was agony. I thrashed about in every way. I retched out screams. But the pain didn't fade at all. If anything, it seemed to grow even deeper. In my brain, memories poured out ceaselessly like a projector with a broken controller. People coming and going in the downtown area. Past the night streets thick with a deep blue sky. When I met him. The past filled my vision. Where was this place? Why was I here? Why was I suffering so much? Every thought turned to ash like burning paper before the spreading pain and vanished from my mind. I couldn't endure it or escape it. I could only accept it. After suffering like that for a long while, "...!" I woke up. I tried taking a long, deep breath. I was alive. Really. It had been a long dream. My vision was blurry. The corners of my eyes were damp. My whole body was drenched in sweat. I swept my wet bangs back. I propped up only my upper body and rolled my still-sleepy eyes around. A small room wrapped in neat beige wallpaper. Around the white bed I lay on were rows of antique wooden furniture. It was an unfamiliar place, reminiscent of a pricey single hotel room. "Ugh." When I tried to get out of bed, my back went numb. I lifted the T-shirt I was wearing and found a thick bandage wrapped around my abdomen. Fortunately, it only ached a little. When had I gotten hurt? I couldn't remember. "You're awake?" The door opened, and a voice came from beyond it. Contrary to her fluent Korean, she was a Westerner, well suited to her wavy long blonde hair falling to her shoulders and her large, clear blue eyes. Wearing a white knit top and a thick khaki trench coat, she leaned against the threshold, crossing her slender legs in skinny blue jeans, and