Prologue
More Than Coincidence, Fate (1)
The boy opened his eyes.
And in that moment, he understood everything.
Cracks slowly spread across his face, like a shattered glass.
No.
No.
It’s a lie.
Like a broken machine, the boy repeated those words over and over again before rising from his place. The cold chill of the marble floor seeped into his bare feet and crawled up through his body.
The pain that had always tormented him was gone.
“…That can’t be.”
His lukewarm, uneasy voice scattered quietly into the air.
When the boy slowly opened the hospital room door, people with urgent expressions were rushing somewhere.
Thump. Thump.
Was something being struck?
It was too loud.
His pale feet stepped into the corridor.
His mind was clearer than it had ever been, yet it felt as if he were walking inside a dream.
Like a fish swimming with the current, he followed after the people.
When his steps finally stopped, the boy stood still and stared blankly at the nameplate on the hospital room door.
Room 714.
Then, his gaze moved toward the brightly opened hospital room.
People in white gowns were staring desperately at someone.
“3, 2, 1!”
Thump.
“Again! 3, 2, 1!”
Thump.
At that moment, one person turned their body.
Only then was the boy able to see the face of the one who had been surrounded by people.
Thump.
The bluish body of a young man rose and fell helplessly with the movement of the machine.
Thump.
The dull noise rang through his head, but he could no longer tell where it was coming from.
The man’s face looked peaceful, as if he had simply fallen into a deep sleep.
Following the slow movement of his eyelids, drops of water fell down.
The boy raised his hand and wiped his face.
The moment his fingers touched the wetness there, he collapsed completely.
“Liar.”
He barely forced out a single word, as if vomiting it from his throat.
It was so cold that the tips of his hands and feet went numb.
A nurse who belatedly noticed the boy hurried toward him, but then stopped without realizing it.
There stood a boy like a stone statue.
And with an expression as if he wanted to die, he was crying silently.
