Chapter 2. Memories (2)

Translator: Aura / Editor: Vy

Two months ago, a woman wandered in her own dream. The place in her dream was dark and narrow, like a tunnel. Moreover, it was cold enough to make her whole body shiver.

It was not until she was about to freeze to death that she felt a little warmth. What she felt next was a headache so severe that it made her dizzy, and a man beginning to chase her intensely.

The man’s figure was blurred due to the dark surroundings. But every time she looked back as she fled, she could faintly make out his appearance. Tall height, bright hair, and seemingly attractive facial features.

The man never ran. As if he was watching a small child play in the palm of his hand, he always approached quietly like he already knew where she would hide.

The woman who was being pursued every night picked up a business card that appeared to belong to him. On the business card, the name ‘Graham’ was clearly written.

Some days, she was caught and stalked by the man named Graham. Other days, she was given a strange injection while her whole body was bound tightly. And then there were days when she received a desperate confession of love.

It was driving her crazy not knowing the reason. Every day she would run away from the man in the dark, looking for a way out.

She cried all the time, and she sometimes begged him to let her go. Then, a ray of light appeared in the distance.

She felt an air of hope. The woman anxiously ran towards the light, like a person lost in the desert who had found an oasis.

The light became increasingly brighter. A shiver of excitement ran through her whole body.

Although it was unclear whether it was an omen of death or of life, she threw herself into the light without hesitation.

When she opened her eyes, everything was dark again. But something was different from the previous darkness. She was inside a cold, hard piece of metal, like a coffin.

She had a thick, long hose in her mouth. The hose had taken control of her airway.

For a moment she felt nauseous, and tried to pull the hose out of her mouth instinctively.

“Ugh!”

She continued pulling on the hose relentlessly. At this rate, she was afraid she would vomit out her guts.

A burning smell reached her nose, and the air was as searing as boiling water. The piece of metal in which she was encased felt like it was being heated by flames.

“Ugh, ugh!”

She didn’t even know how the hose was removed. All she could think about was getting out of this obnoxious smoke and scorching heat as soon as possible.

“Ah, help, help me, help me.”

She pushed on the metal coffin with all her might. However, the surface was too hot, so she soon began to kick it.

“Help me, help me, help me, help me! Haa.. Haa…”

Her surroundings seemed to be on fire. Through the small glass window of the metal coffin, the air can be seen filled with black smoke.

Every time she took a breath, she felt a terrifying sense of suffocation. She did not want to die, so she fought with all her might.

“Help me, help me! Please! Argh!”

The fire sprinklers appeared to have been activated. Water began to seep into the metal coffin through the small window.

At the same time, tears welled up in her eyes. Why? How could I get stuck in a place like this?

The harder it was for her to breathe, the more her mind went numb, as if she was going to lose consciousness. Things began to become blurry and her vision darkened.

*Cough, cough.*

She coughed so hard that her chest shook. Just then, she heard several explosions.

*Boom, boom!*

It looked like the building was collapsing. It was clear that even if she was lucky enough to escape this metal coffin, she would be engulfed in flames.

“Ah…”

At that moment, the door of the place burst open, and a black shadow entered her blurred vision. The figure was as huge as a beast and held a long staff in his hand.

He began to open the metal coffin with the staff.

She got absorbed in his blue eyes and gray hair in the middle of the collapsing building. Just as her mind wandered, the metal coffin opened.

She saw a man drenched as if he had been swimming. At that moment, as if it wasn’t hard to breathe because of the smoke, the man whispered with a smile,

“Hey.”

Immediately, the man wrapped one arm around the woman’s waist and looped the other under her knees. Her body was lifted high. She felt a little relieved to be carried like a baby by such a strong man.

Then, the man said to her in a firm voice,

“Stick your nose in my shirt and breathe in as deep as you can.”

The woman held the collar of his dress shirt and stuck her nose into it just as the man had instructed. She started to feel better after taking several deep breaths of his damp dress shirt.

The man pushed his way through the flames. The smoke of death that overwhelmed her vision gradually faded. Feeling safe, the woman put her arms around his neck.