Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 96

The next day, despite promising to return, Sejin couldn’t keep his word.

It wasn’t because he woke up from a dream, but because the school had called his mother, reporting that he hadn’t come to class.

When Sejin arrived home with his saved bus fare, police officers were pacing back and forth in front of the gate. The neighborhood residents huddled together, whispering, and in the middle of the crowd, Kim Hyun Kyung, teary-eyed, was pleading with the police to help find her son.

When she saw Sejin, she rushed over and hugged him tightly.

“Where have you been?!”

Her voice was full of anger, but also soaked with tears. Sejin hadn’t expected things to turn out this way and was utterly flustered. He knew how worried his mother had been but couldn’t think of any excuse. He could only vaguely say:

“I just rode the subway around a few places…”

Because of what happened, the next day Kim Hyun Kyung postponed her work hours and personally took Sejin to school. Although his body was that of a ten-year-old child, his mind was almost thirty. Sejin stood at the school gate, his face full of contemplation, then slowly walked in.

But instead of going to his classroom, he turned towards the teachers’ office.

“Teacher.”

“Sejin! Oh my goodness, where did you disappear to?!”

He had wondered if he would recognize his homeroom teacher, but as soon as their eyes met, he immediately knew it was her. Perhaps it was because her face looked strangely familiar.

Sejin secretly admired his memory while pretending to listen to his teacher’s nagging with one ear, then asked if he could borrow the phone for a call. And of course, the person Sejin wanted to call from the landline in the teachers’ office was Cheon Sejoo.

— Yes.

It wasn’t “Hello” but “Yes,” that leisurely voice somehow annoyed Sejin. He frowned and said to the person on the other end.

“It’s me.”

—… Who is this?

“It’s me! Your lover…”

Sejin whispered, keeping an eye on his teacher. The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

— I think you’ve dialed the wrong number.

“It’s me! It’s Sejin!”

Seeing him snap, the other person finally realized. An “Ah” accompanied by a dry laugh rang out. Hearing that familiar voice, Sejin subtly exhaled in relief and explained.

“I can’t come today. I’ll come next week when I’m free, so don’t change your number, okay? Got it?”

—Mm… yes, got it.

His voice replied reluctantly. Not a word of love, not even a “I miss you.” Sejin pouted and hung up. Immediately, he felt a burning gaze. His homeroom teacher was staring at Sejin with a suspicious look.

“Sejin, you’re not calling to tease someone, are you?”

“No. It’s my mom.”

“Is that so…?”

The teacher felt it was strange but couldn’t find anything more to say, only lightly pushed Sejin’s shoulder. It seemed he really would have to attend third-grade elementary school classes. While he himself needed to go hand out flyers to earn money right now… Sejin sighed deeply and let the teacher lead him by the hand to his classroom.

“Alright, everyone, take your seats! Sejin, you too!”

Sejin’s seat was the first desk. Sitting next to him was a girl who looked a head taller and probably ten kilograms heavier than him, Kim Joohyung. It seemed seating wasn’t arranged by height.

“…”

Joohyung glanced at Sejin, probably thinking Sejin didn’t bring his book, so she automatically opened her math textbook and placed it in the middle of the desk. Although Joohyung had helped when the boys bullied Sejin, the two of them weren’t close enough to chat happily. Joohyung started talking to Sejin after the sports festival in May ended.

“If you add 1/4 and 3/4, what do you get?”

The class was truly incredibly boring. For someone who had graduated from nursing like Sejin, learning to add fractions was truly nonsense. He couldn’t concentrate, sleepiness kept creeping in, and eventually, he nodded off.

“Sejin, come up to the board and try to solve it?”

Yesterday he suddenly disappeared, causing worry, and today he wasn’t listening to the lecture and even fell asleep. No wonder the teacher wasn’t annoyed. Her voice rang out clearly, and Sejin immediately opened his eyes wide and stood up.

At that moment, Kwon Sejin’s mind began to spin rapidly.

For Cheon Sejoo, all of this was reality. So Sejin couldn’t help but wonder: If he was only temporarily inhabiting the body of 10-year-old Kwon Sejin in this parallel world, what would happen to the real Kwon Sejin after he left?

If this was reality for Cheon Sejoo, then it was also reality for Sejin in this world. Every action he took in this body would be irreversible. That’s why Sejin planned to buy Bitcoin for himself and his mother in that dream. Real estate didn’t matter, Bitcoin was the best investment. Even if he didn’t understand why it made money, that wasn’t important.

Anyway, in the current situation, encountering such trouble was truly annoying. If a 10-year-old child could solve difficult math problems, wouldn’t he be sent to a genius academy? He didn’t even have money to buy Bitcoin, let alone tuition for that.

“Oh dear…”

But should he get this ridiculous addition problem wrong because of that? He still had the pride of a nurse. Sejin took the liquid chalk with an indifferent expression, then wrote the answer on the board.

The teacher, who had been sure Sejin would write 4/8, was utterly astonished.

“What’s wrong with our Sejin today?”

“…Who doesn’t know this addition?”

The indifferent answer surprised and amused the teacher, who then quickly gave another problem. 4/12 plus 9/12. Her face seemed to say she was sure Sejin couldn’t do it. Honestly, he didn’t want to draw attention, but the feeling of being underestimated made Sejin unable to sit still. Once again, he casually wrote the answer: 1 and 1/12.

“Wow, it looks like Sejin has studied ahead!”

“Ooooooh~”

Not only the teacher but all the children were surprised and praised Sejin. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips. He tried to suppress it and returned to his seat. To him, this was nothing. Sejin could even solve high school math. After all, he used to be bad at high school math and entered university with a math score in the 5th percentile.

“Hey, Sejin! Did you cheat and hack the answers?”

After math class, the boys who used to bully Sejin swarmed him and started causing trouble. They didn’t say he copied, but that he hacked. Sejin found it amusing, originally intending to ignore it, but then an idea suddenly struck him.

When school ended, the teacher would assign homework. Those idiots had nothing in their heads. Suddenly, she thought, what if I do their homework for money? This method was much more effective than handing out flyers, and those kids surely had enough money to pay for homework services.

Currently, a single coin wasn’t even 500 won. Sejin recalled wondering why Bitcoin’s price exceeded 100 million won and how chaotic it was, and when he researched it, he learned about Bitcoin’s history. Even now, he didn’t understand what “mining” was, but it didn’t matter.

The important thing was: if he bought coins now and held onto them, Sejin in this world would become a tycoon in ten years. He could cure his mother, buy a house for Cheon Sejoo, and even open a hospital for him. The initial investment would come from here. Sejin admired his planning skills and then spoke.

“You guys don’t know how to multiply fractions, do you?”

“What?! I know how to do that!”

He scoffed at the hot-headed kid, then began to speak in the tone of an adult nearing thirty. He took out his notebook and taught the show-off kid who knew nothing about multiplying fractions. After embarrassing him, things progressed quickly.

After just two days, Sejin’s change left the children agape but also began to earn their respect. He soon attracted a number of “clients” willing to hand over their homework for him to do.

In the afternoon, rumors of Sejin’s math talent spread to the next class, and some lazy kids there started asking if they could subscribe to a weekly “homework service” for a thousand won.

Sejin thought it wasn’t a bad deal because it took him less than a minute to finish. So he signed the contract. The initial deposit collected was a whopping 20,000 won. He never expected himself to have such business acumen, and this business was extremely prosperous.

However, unlike the smoothly progressing plan to become a crypto millionaire, there was no opportunity to meet Cheon Sejoo until the end of the week. Perhaps because she was so shocked by Sejin’s disappearance, Kim Hyun Kyung continued to take Sejin with her to work until Sunday.

Sejin began to feel anxious. He didn’t know if this was a dream, a parallel world, or something happening in his own subconscious, but since his “true self” was still asleep, he thought he would wake up sooner or later. And before that happened, he absolutely had to make Cheon Sejoo step into the house where Hyein lived.

Sejin left a message for Cheon Sejoo that he would come to see him next week, then let the time pass throughout the weekend. In his free time, he didn’t forget to call him, trying to emphasize that he truly came from the future. Since Cheon Sejoo was a science major, it was difficult to gain his trust with only emotional words without solid evidence.

However, during those few days with his mother, Sejin didn’t always think only of Cheon Sejoo. On the weekend, he followed his mother to work, helped out, and had a peaceful time together. Before that, during lunch breaks at school, he secretly went in and out of the nearby library and bank to buy Bitcoin. Unlike now, the procedures at that time were much simpler, which allowed him to do it.

Additionally, Sejin wrote a letter to the intelligent and resourceful 10-year-old Kwon Sejin and hid it. He hid it in the secret spot where he often hesitated whether to use money to buy snacks or not, a place where he kept his “emergency fund.” The letter warned about the future and explained Bitcoin.

In this way, Sejin arranged a future for the real Sejin and Kim Hyun Kyung after he left this place. He believed that his younger self was already intelligent and resourceful, so he would surely follow the plan in the letter without any problems.

And indeed, until then, everything was no different from reality. It gave one the feeling of living in someone else’s alternate reality. But then Sejin suddenly noticed something unusual—it happened on the following Monday.

It took a week since Sejin’s disappearance for Kim Hyun Kyung to feel somewhat at ease. Today, she said she couldn’t pick him up after school. Sejin replied that she didn’t need to worry, then immediately after school, he got on the subway, heading straight for Korea University.

“Oh my, why are you traveling alone like this? Isn’t it kindergarten time?”

On the subway, a familiar-faced woman struck up a conversation with Sejin. At first, he ignored her scrutinizing gaze, but then he recognized the middle-aged face and the gold necklace, and his eyes blinked in confusion.

It was the same woman who had asked him where he was going alone when he went to see Cheon Sejoo a few days ago. What was this? She said the exact same thing then, too… A strange feeling arose, and Sejin replied:

“I’m not in kindergarten, I’m in third grade elementary school.”

“Is that so? Can you travel alone?”

Her answer made the previous conversation appear clearly in Sejin’s mind as if it had just happened yesterday.

‘Oh my, why are you traveling alone? Isn’t it kindergarten time?’

‘I’m not in kindergarten. I’m ten years old, in third grade at Gangdong Elementary School.’

‘Is that so? Can you travel alone?’

‘Yes. I know the way.’

‘Alright, but if anything happens along the way, just ask the adults passing by for help, okay? Remember?’

Not enough time had passed to forget such a long conversation. It wasn’t common for an adult to strike up a conversation with a child traveling alone, yet the woman’s face was as if she had just met Sejin for the first time.

…That’s not right. Sejin bit his lip, thought, then replied slowly:

“I’m very good at finding my way.”

“Alright, but if anything happens along the way, just ask the adults passing by for help, okay? Remember?”

“…Yes.”

The woman smiled at Sejin, then pulled a 5,000 won bill from her pocket and gave it to him. The situation was exactly the same as last time. Sejin trembled as he took it and walked to the corner of the train car.

Sejin’s left hand went into the pocket of the black shorts he had worn last time. Since there were no cleaner clothes, he had to wear them again, and in that pocket was still the exact same bill the woman had given him last time.

His heart thumped. Sejin took a deep breath, placing the two bills in his hand to examine them. But… The serial numbers of the two 5,000 won bills were identical. The creases in the paper, the dirt, everything was exactly the same. That couldn’t happen.

“Ah…”

The moment he realized that, a huge crack in this world ran through Sejin’s heart. He realized that deep down, he had hoped this world was a fragment of some truth—a parallel world, for instance.

But it turned out it wasn’t.

The familiar faces at Cheon Sejoo’s school, the fact that he could immediately recognize his homeroom teacher’s face, all were because this place was something created within Sejin’s consciousness.

Just a dream, an imaginary world built by Sejin.

Whatever he did here, it couldn’t affect the real Cheon Sejoo or Kwon Sejin. Once he woke up, the Cheon Sejoo who had never experienced loss would also vanish. And he would never see him again.

In the end, it was all just a daydream. A world created from the burning desire to see the radiant Cheon Sejoo of the past again.

Sejin pressed his lips together sadly.

He wanted to help the angel Cheon Hyein, but… It hurt to realize that he couldn’t change anything. A terrible disappointment welled up, making his eyes sting, tears threatening to fall.

When would he wake up?

If he couldn’t change anything, it was better to wake up now. But conversely, he also wanted to linger in this world a little longer for the people he loved.

Sejin wiped his tears with the back of his hand, then looked at the subway map. Anyway, every time he said goodbye to his mother, he always said it as if it were the last time, so he had no regrets. It was just… 22-year-old Cheon Sejoo, he wanted to see him one more time before waking up. Because there was still something he hadn’t had a chance to say.

Following the same route as last time, Sejin arrived at Korea University, his sadness impossible to hide. When he got on the bus, his last ray of hope shattered.

“…Elementary school?”

“Good heavens? You look like you’re in kindergarten. Come on, kid.”

“…”

Even the bus driver was exactly the same as last time. They treated Sejin like programmed robots. When he arrived at the school, disappointment turned into a chilling sensation.

Last time, he was so preoccupied with Cheon Sejoo that he didn’t notice, but now he clearly saw that all the students here had faces familiar to Sejin.

From the person he met on a trip to Gangneung, to the adult Kim Joohyung, and even the barbecue restaurant owner, they were all carrying the same backpacks and walking around the campus. This meant that at Korea University, there were hundreds of Kim Joohyungs and barbecue restaurant owners.

Why didn’t I notice last time? Sejin realized that he truly didn’t care much about other people, but fortunately, he only realized it now. If he had realized this last week, he might have been too scared to leave the house.

The familiar feeling when entering the campus, the feeling that the medical building was so modern, all had a reason. That Medical building looked exactly like the Humanities building at Sejin’s old school. Only when he realized this was a dream did he understand.

No wonder finding his way was so easy. Sejin mumbled in frustration, then suddenly heard a call from ahead.

“Sejin.”

He immediately looked up; Cheon Sejoo was standing in front of him. He was wearing a white lab coat with a name tag, and a lab access card around his neck, seemingly just returned from practical training.

At that moment, behind him, two middle-aged men with identical faces walked past, they were the campsite managers.

Terrified by the bizarre sight, Sejin immediately ran and hugged Cheon Sejoo. He buried his face in his chest, which smelled of alcohol, and Cheon Sejoo laughed as if he didn’t understand what was happening, then gently hugged him back.

“Will I get arrested for this?”

A playful remark, hidden deep within it was the self-awareness that he was in an inappropriate relationship with Sejin, a child twelve years younger than him. But Sejin felt strangely happy; he wrapped his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“Cheon Sejoo…”

Hearing that whining voice, Cheon Sejoo merely chuckled and walked on. Sejin knew he was taking him somewhere but didn’t bother to speak. Even if it was an illusion created by himself, he wanted to clearly remember every moment with the current Cheon Sejoo. So he swallowed back meaningless words like static.

“Anyway, Hyein has the day off today for the school’s anniversary, so I called her to school.”

However, when Cheon Sejoo entered the building and uttered those words, Sejin immediately panicked.

“…What?”

“I can’t believe everything you said yet, but I still want to hear the rest.”

“Hyein is here?”

“Yes. She’s waiting in an empty classroom. She said she doesn’t like the department lounge because she’s a bit shy around strangers.”

Sejin’s face darkened. This world only existed based on Sejin’s memories. Of course, 22-year-old Cheon Sejoo was full of vitality that Sejin had never seen, but that was only possible because Sejin had imagined countless times what an undamaged Cheon Sejoo would be like. In this world, everything except himself could not escape the limits of Sejin’s memories.

The surrounding scenery, the people walking around, the space created… all were based on recent experiences Sejin had. Thinking back, he realized the woman he thought was his homeroom teacher was actually a teaching assistant who used to be in charge of his class. Perhaps the children in the class were also the children Sejin frequently met in the pediatrics department where he worked.

Celebrities, faces only seen in photos or videos, like actors or singers, did not appear here because they had never existed directly in Sejin’s world. He had never met them in real life.

Therefore, the conclusion was that in this world, Cheon Hyein could not exist.

“She’s in here.”

Cheon Sejoo put Sejin down. The classroom door was tightly closed with no windows, so he couldn’t see inside. Nevertheless, Sejin felt a strange emptiness behind the door, making him quickly speak up:

“Cheon Sejoo…!”

But Cheon Sejoo’s action of opening the door was faster than his words. Click – the doorknob turned, and at the same time, a sound like something shattering began to echo. The collapse came sooner than expected.

Sejin looked up at Cheon Sejoo in a daze. He was smiling, a gentle smile as if he already knew it was all a dream.

Beautiful one.

From somewhere, Cheon Sejoo’s voice echoed. It was an intimate address that a 22-year-old Cheon Sejoo shouldn’t know, and couldn’t possibly know.

It’s time to say goodbye.

A premonition rose in Sejin’s throat, choking him. He looked at Cheon Sejoo’s youthful face, then at the slowly widening gap in the door, alternating between the two images.

Clearly, this was a dream. And now it was time to return to reality.

But Sejin… He couldn’t let such a young, vibrant Cheon Sejoo disappear like this. Even if this was just a dream, even if it was just a fleeting illusion in the endless flow of time… Sejin still wanted to tell him.

“Cheon Sejoo….”

A small hand reached out to him. As the distance between them narrowed, Sejin’s hand began to grow. His perspective, which once had to crane his neck to look up, gradually lowered until Sejin’s large hand gently touched Cheon Sejoo’s cheek. He could now look down at his much younger lover.

“You are a very strong person.”

Sejin’s tearful voice echoed towards him. Cheon Sejoo said nothing, only widened his eyes as if surprised by the sudden growth. Sejin gently kissed his cheek, his warm lips conveying his passionate love, whispering:

“But Hyein isn’t like that… Cheon Sejoo, don’t leave the important person in your life alone. Always be by her side. Talk to her every day, whisper that you love her. Just that much… Then your world will always be complete, without any collapse…”

Even after waking from the dream, Sejin still hoped that the current Cheon Sejoo could continue to live. He hoped his words could change him, change that cruel fate. So that a Cheon Sejoo who had never known loss could forever be happy with Cheon Hyein.

“You are a happy person. And you will always be happy. No matter what happens, you will be happy.”

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and his consciousness seemed to float in mid-air. Sejin felt the warmth at his fingertips and lips gradually fade away.

“I love you.”

The burning confession that once made Sejin blaze was the last thing uttered in the world that was drifting away. At the same time as a cold sensation in his chest, Sejin woke up.

Before his eyes was darkness. Through the car window, the scenery was rushing past.

“Ha…”

A faint breath, like a sigh, escaped, making Cheon Sejoo, who was driving, turn to look at him. A slight smile appeared on his elegant lips. He reached out and stroked Sejin’s hair, asking:

“Are you awake?”

It wasn’t until he heard that voice that Sejin fully woke up. His limbs felt numb as if cramped, and his stomach was cold. Sejin opened and closed his right hand, which had been numb, several times.

Erasing the fading face of his young lover from his memory, he turned his head. In the driver’s seat was an incredibly handsome man, no longer a young boy, but a true man who was always by his side. That face was as familiar as if he had just seen it. As Sejin blinked a few times, he realized that radiant face was his reality.

An unnamed emotion welled up in his chest, making Sejin sigh softly again. Cheon Sejoo looked at him with a suspicious expression, then slowly lowered the hand that was stroking his head, gently stroking Sejin’s forehead, temples, and cheeks. Then he tilted his head and softly said:

“You seem to have a fever.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. Did you not sleep well? You looked like you were sleeping very deeply. It must be the fever. Could it be that your fever yesterday was due to a cold, not fatigue?”

Hearing that explanation, Sejin put his hand to his forehead but felt nothing unusual. Nevertheless, Cheon Sejoo subtly clicked his tongue as if he was sure he had a cold.

“It must be because you slept last night without closing the tent.”

It was then that Sejin realized they were on their way back home after their trip to Gangneung. He closed his eyes, remembering that they had made love early Saturday morning and then fallen asleep with the tent open. Cheon Sejoo also had a fever on Saturday morning.

“Is that so…”

Thinking that made him feel even more like he really had caught a cold. In the chaotic stream of thoughts that kept rushing, Sejin reached out for familiar warmth. He took the fingers that were caressing his cheek and pressed them tightly to his chest as if cherishing them immensely. Cheon Sejoo looked at him and chuckled as if he didn’t understand why.

“You pig, did you have a nightmare?”

“…I don’t know either.”

“You were groaning softly just now.”

“Did you call me? Called me ‘beautiful one’?”

“Yes. Were you having sleep paralysis? Could I have been the one who freed you?”

One could say so. After all, it was Cheon Sejoo who called Hyein and almost pulled Sejin out of that dream. Whether it was Cheon Sejoo in the dream or the real Cheon Sejoo…

Sejin was lost in thought when he suddenly felt hot, so he put his hand to his forehead again. Unlike when he first woke up, this time he truly felt a slight fever. After confirming that, Sejin suddenly whispered in a somewhat whiny tone:

“If I have a high fever, will you take time off work next week to take care of me?”

The question made Cheon Sejoo burst into laughter as if he couldn’t believe it. He slowed the car down, gently stroked Sejin’s cheek, and asked again in a “what did you just say?” tone.

“What kind of question is that? Would I leave you alone?”

“…You don’t have to go to work?”

“If a family member is sick, how can you leave them alone? You have to be by their side…”

That answer made Sejin’s eyes suddenly sting. He bit his lip tightly to hold back the rising tears. If in the dream Cheon Sejoo had Hyein as family, then in this reality, his family was him.

Though once broken, Cheon Sejoo was now a complete person. His empty spaces were all filled by Sejin. An indescribable emotion suddenly welled up, a mix of happiness, sadness, guilt, and gratitude.

“Cheon Sejoo, are you happy?”

A random question that Sejin blurted out like sleep-talking after waking up made Cheon Sejoo frown slightly and turn to look at him. Why suddenly like this? He looked at him for a long time with a suspicious gaze, then chuckled softly. He seemed to think Sejin wasn’t fully awake, and as if there was only one thing to say, Cheon Sejoo replied in a deep, warm voice:

“You are the one who makes me happy.”

That was the answer that made Sejin, who had just experienced a slight loss in his dream, feel more complete.

“I am happy. So happy that I want to be with you forever.”

Cheon Sejoo said with a firm voice as if no more questions or answers were needed.

A warmth like sunlight spread from deep within his chest. Sejin silently recalled Cheon Sejoo and Kwon Sejin in the dream as he listened to that gentle confession. He hoped that world hadn’t disappeared. He hoped that somewhere far beyond consciousness, their lives continued.

Even if the words he left behind had no effect on 22-year-old Cheon Sejoo, it didn’t matter. Even if 10-year-old Sejin tore up the letter he left behind because he didn’t understand, it didn’t matter.

“…I want that too.”

Cheon Sejoo and Sejin in that world, those two people had met. Just that alone was enough to reassure him.

Crossing countless times and spaces, perhaps just by turning a small corner in consciousness, that world would open up—a dream where Cheon Sejoo and Sejin would continue to explore and understand each other. It was fate. They were always ready to reach out to each other. So even with inevitable loss, neither of them would fall.

Because they would love each other like that. Cheon Sejoo and Kwon Sejin would support each other and give each other complete love. Forget it, and I will continue to do what needs to be done.

“I will love you forever too.”

Sejin softly whispered the vow from the bottom of his heart. Even though they understood each other without needing to say it now, this time, he still wanted to voice it to show him his feelings clearly once more.

“No matter the circumstances, no matter the world… I will only love you.”

Cheon Sejoo smiled brightly at that confession. It wasn’t a radiant, fresh smile, but the smile of a strong person deeply rooted in his own life, a smile full of happiness.

<Epilogue – Overlapping Dreams, The End>