Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 93

Because if it wasn’t a dream, then he could only have gone to another world, or truly gone back to the past — and something so unscientific couldn’t happen. So, this was a dream. The moment Sejin reached that conclusion…

“Sejin! Sweetheart, where are you?”

His familiar mother’s voice echoed from outside. Sejin stared at the damp, moldy bathroom door with tear-filled eyes. That voice echoed from the living room through the door.

“Sejin, you have to go to school!”

Sejin remembered a YouTube video he had watched with Cheon Sejoo, which said that lucid dreams were often associated with sleep paralysis, and if you heard someone calling your name, you absolutely shouldn’t answer casually. So he didn’t dare to speak, what if what was calling him was… a ghost?

“Sweetieeeee~”

Kim Hyun Kyung had called Sejin “sweetie” until he was in fourth grade. Because Sejin was so small, perhaps his mom couldn’t call him anything else. When he was little, Sejin truly resembled a living doll, incredibly cute and adorable, even when pouting in anger.

“What is my beloved Sejin doing?”

Hearing that affectionate nickname again, which he hadn’t been called since his mind matured, Sejin’s heart tightened. He pursed his lips tightly, looked towards where his mom was standing, didn’t answer, but slowly opened the bathroom door, timidly peeking his head out.

The scene in the dream was the semi-basement room where he and his mom had lived for a very long time. The house was so cramped that they couldn’t even play hide-and-seek, so hiding anything was impossible. Thus, Kim Hyun Kyung knew Sejin was in the bathroom, and while preparing breakfast, she gently turned her head to call her son through the door.

“Sejin… are you out? Did you sleep well, dear? Hmm?”

Kim Hyun Kyung smiled radiantly, asking gently. At that very moment, tears welled up in Sejin’s eyes. He no longer had time to think whether the person in front of him was a ghost or his mother recreated by memory, but rushed forward, throwing himself into his mother’s arms.

His mother, who was much smaller and weaker than him in his memories, was now much taller. From her tight embrace emanated a loving warmth that could never come from anything evil. It couldn’t be a ghost.

Sejin buried his face in his mother’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mom, mom, mom…”

“Oh dear, why are you crying like this? Did my sweetheart have a nightmare? Hmm?”

“I miss you, Mom…”

That stammering voice sounded no different from a whining child. But Sejin didn’t bother to care, just indulged in being as clingy as possible. The arms he had once longed for, the mother he thought he could only meet in dreams, was now right in front of him, and that was enough.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Mom’s here. Everything’s alright, Sejin…”

Just a gentle and warm voice. Sejin suddenly realized how deeply his mother had truly loved him. Because of that, even if he had to live in misfortune, his world didn’t completely collapse until he met Cheon Sejoo.

“Alright, stop crying now. Can you go to school? Mom has to go to work, okay, dear?”

After a while of comforting her crying child, Kim Hyun Kyung served Sejin’s meal. A full bowl of white rice, dried seaweed, a few simple savory dishes, an ordinary meal, yet just looking at it made him feel full. Because Sejin knew how hard his mom had worked to ensure they never ran out of rice.

The 29-year-old Sejin now fully understood the hardships and humiliations his mother had endured in society.

“I’m done eating…”

Sejin ate every last grain of rice, then helped his mom, who was busy getting ready for work, clear the table. The boy climbed onto a hard discarded box and, with his tiny hands, washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

After that, Kim Hyun Kyung put on her shoes, preparing to leave the house. Sejin wiped his hands on his oversized t-shirt, then rushed to his mother’s side.

Eight in the morning was Kim Hyun Kyung’s work time. She worked at a restaurant until four in the afternoon, then worked a part-time job at a pub from five in the evening until one in the morning. These two jobs also had different days off, so except for occasions like Lunar New Year or Chuseok, she never had a proper day off.

The reason his mom lived such a hard life was solely for Sejin. Because of her beloved son, born too young, she had to bear all the responsibilities. She could have sent him to an orphanage like many others, which would have been much easier.

But…

Seeing the youthful face of his mother, who was even younger than himself now, Sejin’s heart tightened. He watched his mother bend down to say goodbye, then suddenly rushed forward and hugged her again.

“Mom.”

“Hmm? Mom’s going to be late~”

“Thank you, Mom… for not abandoning me, for raising me.”

Sejin remembered Cheon Sejoo’s words: she’s a good person.

That’s right. His mom was the best person in this world.

“Thank you for loving me. Mom is the most wonderful person in the world.”

Kim Hyun Kyung froze at Sejin’s unexpected action. She bent down, her face full of worry as if to ask why he was saying that, then shook her head and knelt down, hugging Sejin tightly.

“Me too. Thank you for coming to me, Sejin. Thank you for loving me. You are the most precious thing to me. Always have been since you came to me. You know my heart, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Large, snowflake-like tears rolled down the corners of Sejin’s big, round eyes. Kim Hyun Kyung looked at her son with compassion, bent down and gently kissed his chubby cheek, then stood up. Although she wanted to hug and comfort her son for another hour or two, she couldn’t. Because the burden of responsibility rested on her shoulders.

“Now, stop crying! Don’t cry anymore, go to school and be good. If anything happens, tell your teacher and call Mom, remember?”

“Yes…”

“I love you.”

“…I love you too.”

Sejin also pursed his small lips and kissed his mother’s cheek. Kim Hyun Kyung waved goodbye and walked up the stairs. The sound of the gate closing echoed, and when her footsteps had completely faded, Sejin wiped his tear-soaked cheeks with his hands.

The quiet house left behind was exactly as Sejin remembered it. The traces of mold removal efforts on the walls, the broken cabinet hinges, the furniture destroyed by Kwon Yongbeom’s vandalism…

This was his dream, but why did it have to recreate that name too? Sejin’s mood darkened. He frowned as he walked around the house, then suddenly picked up the clothes his mother had left behind. He gently sniffed them, and like a treasure at the bottom of the sea, though he knew it was always there but could never reach it, the familiar scent once again filled his nostrils.

Since their separation when his mother was taken to Ihwagak, he had never smelled that scent again. Later, even though he was able to meet his mother again thanks to Cheon Sejoo, because the environment and even the type of laundry detergent were different, he never found that scent again.

And so, the moment he inhaled that familiar scent, tears once again streamed down. Even though no one was watching, and it was only in a dream, Sejin burst into tears. He wailed like a child, sobbing for a long time, freely searching for the lingering traces of his mother. The food she made, her handwriting… Sejin continued to engrave everything into his memory with tear-filled eyes so he wouldn’t forget anything.

The moment Sejin, immersed in deep sorrow, thought of someone else was when he discovered a photo in an album hidden in the wardrobe, a picture of his mother holding him when he was just born. When he saw his chubby face in the photo, he suddenly remembered the boy who had smiled so happily looking at his ten-year-old picture, Cheon Sejoo. When the thought “what if 22-year-old Cheon Sejoo really exists in this world” flashed through his mind, Sejin suddenly felt restless.

Sejin quickly calmed down and stood up. He ran straight into the bathroom to wash his face. Even though this was just a dream, if Cheon Sejoo really existed, he definitely wanted to meet him at least once.

Sejin combed his hair neatly, then went into his room to change into the cleanest clothes he had. It was a t-shirt with a robot cartoon character printed on the chest and black shorts.

A little embarrassed by the character… but this was still the best option. After glancing at his handsome face in the mirror, Sejin took out the 2,000 won bill he had hidden in his winter blanket and went to the door.

Even though he had heard his mother climb the stairs and close the gate when she left for work, standing right in front of the door, his heart still trembled, afraid that opening this door would make the dream disappear.

But even if he woke up, Sejin still had Cheon Sejoo in reality. He wouldn’t disappear like a dream. Remembering that, Sejin gathered all his courage and pushed the door open.

In front of him were concrete stairs. Looking up, he saw the old iron gate and the sky stretching behind it. The moment he faced the perfectly recreated past world, the thought “what if Cheon Sejoo doesn’t exist” completely vanished. He definitely existed somewhere in this world. Sejin felt it instinctively.

The place Sejin headed after leaving home was the subway station. Korea University College of Medicine was in Gwanak District. From his house, he only needed to change trains twice at the nearest station to get to Jamsil, then take Line 2 down to Korea University Station and then take a bus.

Only… he didn’t have money to go back.