Chapter 20
“Hey.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey.”
“I said shut up!”
So he still had some energy left.
I thought it was honestly embarrassing to say things like this.
It would sound obvious, transparent, cliché.
But I wanted to say it anyway… and in truth, it was the only thing I could say.
A nurse and a long-term hospitalized patient.
That was the extent of our relationship.
Something shallow, predictable, worn-out, nothing special.
“How is Irix?”
Still, there was one other connection between us.
I had read the story he had filled with all his true feelings.
His back trembled slightly, but he didn’t turn around.
“I killed him.”
When did you kill him? Up to what I saw, he was still alive.
“I told you. He’s a bastard. So I killed him. Stop worrying about it.”
“When did you write it?”
“In my head.”
So… you didn’t write it.
If that counts, then I’ve written a hundred novels too—completed them all.
Heavy romance, light romance, absolute trash romance…
“Still, I want to know how he dies properly.”
“Why are you so curious about some bad guy?”
“Because it’s your story.”
“……”
“That’s why I’m curious. So if you wrote it, show me. I’ll read it and curse at it.”
I hoped, somehow, that Irix wouldn’t die.
Right now, he’d become someone who deserved to die…
But if Room 301 could be rewritten from the beginning, maybe things could be different.
A moment later, the blanket shifted, and a thin, dry arm suddenly emerged.
I found the vein and inserted the needle.
I secured it carefully and made sure the IV flowed properly.
“Within an hour, the prepared injection will arrive. When it does, take it quietly.”
No answer.
I unwrapped the syringe, removed the cap, and filled it with medicine.
“Ina.”
“What.”
“Don’t think about Irix. He’s really a terrible guy.”
What a ridiculous person.
He created him, and now he hated him.
As I pushed the medicine into the IV, I said,
“Then punish him properly before killing him. I’m curious.”
“Curious?”
“I’m interested. In that Irix.”
“I told you not to care about him.”
“I care anyway. What am I supposed to do about it?”
There was silence for a moment.
Then, in a sulky voice, he said,
“Liar.”
I am good at lying…
But that wasn’t a lie.
“Ina, you’re interested in something else.”
Room 301 pulled his arm back under the blanket and muttered,
“Ina isn’t interested in me.”
Why suddenly “me”?
“I’m very interested in your numbers.”
I adjusted the drip speed and said,
“When you get better, keep writing. I’ll read it.”
“……”
“I want you to get better.”
I know it can’t happen.
But I still wished for it.
Room 301 stayed still, face buried deep in the blanket.
He didn’t say a word until I left.
After that, Room 301’s condition improved significantly.
His levels recovered—not just recovered, but nearly returned to normal.
The highly toxic emergency medication was stopped.
It was replaced with something more tolerable.
New medicine was added, not for treatment, but for recovery.
Room 301 began moving more.
Sometimes he even went outside.
The number of IV bags on his stand decreased quickly.
The notes entered into the chart became more hopeful.
Then, people began talking about discharge.
He was really getting better.
I couldn’t believe it.
What kind of miracle was this?
And finally, Room 301 stood in front of me and said,
“I’m… being discharged.”
I already knew.
His condition was good enough to return home.
Only one IV bag remained on his stand now.
“My cousin is coming.”
Not a guardian, but a substitute.
I’d seen him before.
He was my high school classmate.
He’d changed so much I was shocked.
If he hadn’t recognized me first, I wouldn’t have known.
“Um… Song Ina.”
So I never got promoted to “noona.”
To the end, it was still just Song Ina.
“That device… can I take it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That thing… you know.”
That old broken spare phone?
I didn’t even know it still worked.
“Take it. If it breaks, throw it away. You can’t fix it.”
“I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t. There are no parts anymore. It’s been discontinued for ages.”
“Still, I’ll fix it. I’ll make the parts myself.”
I laughed.
“To do that, you’ll need to study a lot.”
“I will. I’m going to live a long time from now on.”
For a moment, I had nothing to say.
It was the first time I’d ever heard him say something like that.
“I won’t write anymore… but I’ll finish that story and show you.”
“When?”
“Later.”
He murmured quietly,
“I’ll show you later.”
“Once you’re discharged, you won’t have any reason to see me.”
“I’ll still come as an outpatient. I’ll see you then.”
As if.
The moment he left, he’d forget this place.
“Fine. I’ll wait.”
Room 301’s eyes widened,
as if he’d just heard the most blissful words in the world.
But…
Room 301 never got discharged.
Two days later, sirens rang through the entire hospital.
—Risk of hospital collapse.
—Immediate evacuation.
I thought hospitals and schools were always safe.
But in the end, it came to this.
I didn’t know whether the attackers were the problem…
or the defenders.
After evacuating patients and guardians, we checked one by one.
But Room 301 was missing.
“Where is Room 301?”
A child said,
“I saw him going back inside.”
“Inside?”
“Toward Room 301’s area. I saw him when I was heading there. His brother told him he shouldn’t come here, brought him this far, and then he went back in. He said he had something to take.”
Something flashed in my mind.
That novel.
After Room 301 went to the ICU, the room had been empty.
He must have thought his manuscript was still there.
Idiot.
It’s not there.
Room 301’s belongings had already been cleared out.
I’d taken the novel and locked it in my cabinet.
His guardian had told us to dispose of everything, since Room 301 wouldn’t be using it anymore.
That was when he was still critical.
His guardian had sorted through his belongings before he was even dead.
“Teacher Song!”
Someone shouted behind me, but I ran.
The floor shook.
The ceiling and walls creaked with ominous sounds.
But I kept running.
And luckily, I found him near Room 301.
“Why are you here?!”
I shouted at the horrified Room 301.
“I came to get you! Get out, now!”
“I can handle it my—”
Before he could finish, everything shook violently.
The building was collapsing.
I grabbed his arm immediately.
“Let’s go.”
“Why did you come?! You should’ve just let me die…!”
“Yeah. I’m already regretting coming in for no reason.”
“Then why did you come?!”
“Because if I hadn’t, I would’ve regretted it even more! I hate regretting things, but I hate deeper regret even more!”
“……”
“Save your insults until we get out! You’d better be ready! There’ll be a lot!”
There were already many.
And coming in here made even more.
But it was too late.
A roar exploded.
Dust rose.
Flames and smoke swallowed us.
There was no time.
And the name I’d repeated endlessly while he was in the ICU escaped my lips without thinking.
“Come here!”
His eyes widened…
and then he smiled.
“You… know my name.”
And then—
Rumble—
The sound of everything collapsing.
Even knowing it was useless, I ran and wrapped my arms around his frail body.
I couldn’t stop the concrete from falling.
But I still did it.
Why?
There was no reward.
But what could I do?
Good deeds don’t come with rewards.
You do them simply because you must.
To keep doing good, you have to understand first—
That just as good deeds aren’t always repaid,
evil deeds aren’t always punished.
The world isn’t made of perfect plus and minus.
It’s only chaos piled upon chaos.
So I didn’t go in expecting anything.
I went in because I couldn’t stop caring.
Because if you don’t turn back when something bothers you,
you regret it forever.
And then…
I opened my eyes here.
And I met Irix.
Another Room 301.
A double that existed in this world.
Clank—
The sound of a train running.
When I opened my eyes, I was back inside a train compartment.
I had definitely fallen off a cliff just moments ago…
So why was I here?
Don’t tell me…
Is this a loop?
Every time I die, I return to the starting point.
So I have to do everything again?
But it’s different from the first time.
This isn’t a luxurious compartment.
It’s small.
Now the train is running along the coast.
Beyond the window, cliffs rise.
Thin layers of rock are stacked like a crepe cake.
White seagulls fly between them.
[Hello.]
A soft voice that clung closely to my ear.
What…?
I looked at the seat across from me.
Something blurry began to appear in the empty space.
[It’s me.]
How am I supposed to know who you are from that?
Who… are you?
A map appeared in front of us.
The same map that had been on the table when I first arrived.
Letters were carved onto it.
“At last, we meet.”
It was him.
