I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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Si-Hoo has been acting strange lately.

Very strange.

Unless he’s playing with me, he always disappears somewhere.

And then, the drugs.

He gives me drugs of unknown origin.

It feels like something’s wrong, but Si-Hoo insists there’s nothing wrong.

Every time he smiles brightly, he has this expression like he’s guilty of something.

I don’t know why he’s lost his smile like that.

It’s bedtime.

I’ve been sleeping a lot lately.

It’s strange.

But Si-Hoo says there’s nothing strange at all.

“Si-Hoo?”

“Yeah?”

“Won’t you sleep with me?”

“Ah, yeah…”

I wonder if we’re too big to sleep together now.

I don’t even know why I’ve gotten like this.

But I’ve grown taller.

It’s a phenomenon I don’t understand at all.

I really don’t get it.

“Why?”

“I have something to do. Good night.”

“Okay.”

Si-Hoo turns off the light and leaves.

He’s going out again.

What’s he trying to do?

Should I follow him?

“…Don’t follow me.”

“Okay…”

I have to listen to Si-Hoo.

I must.

Otherwise, I think Si-Hoo will be sad.

I pull the blanket up and cover myself tightly.

There were definitely bandages wrapping his scars and wounds.

At some point, they disappeared.

I don’t understand.

Did the drugs heal everything?

Si-Hoo says there’s no problem, so it must be fine.

“…It’s strange.”

I feel like leftover cake.

Ah, I want cake.

I had it once.

It was my birthday at the shelter, and they gave me a slice of cake.

It was delicious, so I said it was my birthday again the next day, but they told me I couldn’t lie.

Why?

Surely it was someone’s birthday that day, too.

I don’t know my birthday.

Well, is there a rule against treating every day as your birthday?

I don’t even know how old I am.

I never knew, but now I feel even more clueless.

I can’t remember.

Half-asleep, I drift off again.

How long did I sleep?

“…Cold…”

Something’s wrong.

Something’s definitely wrong.

My body feels strange.

Wham.

I kicked off the blanket and got up.

“What’s happening…”

I feel chills.

Even with the blanket on, I’m cold.

“Si, Si-Hoo?”

Where are you?

Are you still not back?

Creak.

I open the door and look outside.

It’s dark.

This isn’t a path I recognize.

I’d like to go to the shelter, but I don’t know the way.

I need the drugs.

So this is why Si-Hoo gave them to me.

I didn’t want to take them, so I only pretended to swallow the pills.

Something’s wrong.

“Ah, drugs. Where did I put them…”

Si-Hoo took out the drugs from somewhere.

But I don’t know where.

I search through the shelves one by one.

It’s strange.

This is our home, but it feels unfamiliar.

“Where could~ they be…”

I tried singing to make it fun, but it didn’t work.

“This isn’t fun at all.”

I usually don’t wake up from sleep.

But I woke up this time.

Why is this happening to me?

Ah.

I hate this.

“Hik.”

I feel like bugs are crawling on me.

My body is strange.

I crawl back under the blanket.

“Si-Hoo, Si-Hoo, Si-Hoo? Si-Hoo? Si-Hoo.”

He said it was fine.

He said there was nothing wrong.

Why?

I don’t understand.

Not at all.

“-Seo-Ah?”

It’s Si-Hoo.

He sounds out of breath, like he ran all the way here.

I thought he’d come if I called.

“Give me the drugs. It hurts. Is this a cold?”

“Ah, ah… Yeah, probably.”

“Sorry. I didn’t want to take them, so I didn’t, but I’ll take them properly from now on.”

“Ah… It’s okay. I’ll give you the drugs.”

Si-Hoo rummages through his pockets.

“Where were you?”

“…Night walk.”

“At this hour? Without sleeping?”

It’s a reasonable question.

A natural one to have.

“It’s nothing.”

He won’t tell me.

Why not?

I don’t understand.

It’s not like I’m asking something I shouldn’t.

Si-Hoo takes out the drugs.

I swallow the pill immediately without water.

Complaining about how hard it was to swallow before feels like a dumb move now.

As time passes, the pain subsides.

Drowsiness returns.

Si-Hoo looks uncomfortable.

“Sleep.”

He gestures for me to get under the blanket.

“…What about you?”

“I… still have something to do.”

“Nearby?”

“Yeah. I need to go quickly.”

“Why?”

“It’s important.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s important.”

“Can’t you tell me? Stay with me.”

“…Noisy…”

Huh?

What did he say?

Even Si-Hoo looks like he didn’t realize what he just said.

“Noi… Oh, uh, I’m sorry.”

Well, I did call him multiple times in the middle of the night.

And I whined about not taking the drugs.

And bombarded him with questions.

Si-Hoo must be tired too. I was selfish.

“Ah—no, that’s not what I meant…”

“I-I’ll go to sleep. Good luck with your work.”

I crawled back under the blanket.

Si-Hoo hesitated for a moment, then quickly ran out of the house again.

It seems like he really has something important to do.

He must be busy.

What is he doing to be like this?

I have no idea.

***

The next morning.

As soon as I woke up, I looked for Si-Hoo.

I found him quickly.

Si-Hoo was sleeping sprawled out at the entrance.

“Huh…? If you sleep here, you’ll catch a cold.”

I nudged him, but he didn’t wake up.

“Si-Hoo?”

What was he doing last night?

He’s definitely acting strange.

What is he doing all by himself?

Once he wakes up, I want to have a serious talk with him.

I dragged Si-Hoo to where the blankets were.

How tired must he have been to end up like this?

I should let him sleep.

His clothes are wet.

“…Blood?”

I lifted his clothes, but there were no visible wounds.

I rolled up his sleeves, but there were no spots bleeding.

“Huh…”

I must have missed something.

I examined Si-Hoo’s arm carefully.

There were marks that seemed strangely familiar.

Injection marks.

“Huh…?”

There were several of them.

Why would Si-Hoo have injection marks?

At first, I thought it might be from vaccines, but that didn’t make sense.

Then maybe just needle marks, or places he accidentally pricked himself?

That doesn’t make sense either.

It’s all very strange.

I don’t understand it at all.

Not at all.

Not at all.

Not at all.

I held Si-Hoo’s hand, hoping he’d be okay.

Si-Hoo said everything was fine, so it must be fine.

I’m okay with it.

But what if Si-Hoo isn’t?

I’m scared.

The way Si-Hoo called me noisy was scary.

It feels like more than half of my memories have evaporated, and that’s terrifying.

“Si-Hoo?”

He’s still breathing.

He looks so tired.

It’s like he just returned from a fight.

Like he barely made it back home.

“…Si-Hoo?”

The world feels twisted.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

It looks like it.

Cold sweat is pouring from his face.

He looks dangerous.

“Wait, I’ll bring the drugs.”

I rummaged through Si-Hoo’s clothes, but I couldn’t find the drugs.

I searched all the storage spaces in the house.

But there was nothing.

Except for one place.

The bottom drawer Si-Hoo told me not to open.

I can’t open it.

He told me not to.

Is that reason enough to leave it be?

I ask myself but can’t find the answer.

My head feels strange.

This is for Si-Hoo!

Clatter.

It’s locked.

Hmm, does this mean Si-Hoo doesn’t trust me?

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

I shook it, but it wouldn’t open.

There must be something important inside.

There must be.

It has to be.

Si-Hoo is in pain.

Tools. Humans need tools.

I quickly found an appropriate tool.

A kitchen knife.

Scrrrrch.

I jabbed and twisted the knife in the drawer’s lock until the blade dulled.

And then, with a thud! it opened.

“It’s open.”

But inside, there were only strange scraps of paper.

Did Si-Hoo already clean out everything?

I decided to take out the scraps of paper anyway.

“…Antipsychotics? Uh… Delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders… Dosage…”

It looked like a drug instruction leaflet.

At least it definitely wasn’t cold medicine.

I tried to read more, but the letters were blurred, as if the paper had been soaked in water.

“Hmm…”

I left the paper and thought about searching elsewhere for the drugs.

But I changed my mind.

Still, if there’s an instruction leaflet, that means the drugs were used at some point, right?

What drugs?

Antipsychotics?

The word “psychosis” gave me chills.

Was there a mental issue?

With who?

Me?

That can’t be.

Then Si-Hoo?

No.

That doesn’t make sense either.

“The back says… related to memory loss—”

Whoosh.

The paper was snatched away.

“—Where did you get this?”

Si-Hoo, still groggy, asked me.

It seems he woke up.

“Thank goodness. I was looking for the drugs in case you needed them. You’re okay, right?”

“Where did you get this?”

“Uh, um…”

“I told you not to open it.”

He looked angry.

“I-I thought you needed the drugs…”

“Haa…”

Si-Hoo sighed, glancing at the broken drawer and the discarded knife.

“Uh, sorry…?”

It wasn’t that big of a mistake, was it?

“Ah, my head hurts.”

“Oh, uh? Are you okay?”

Si-Hoo rarely complains about pain.

If he’s saying it hurts, he must really be in pain.

He really must need the drugs.

“Ugh… Damn it. The penalty…”

His words were harsh.

What does “penalty” mean?

What did he do to end up like this?

Could he have caught a severe cold from being outside?

“Oh, the injection must hurt too.”

Even as I said it, I knew it was a strange assumption.

“…What?”

“The injection marks, right? Those.”

I pointed to Si-Hoo’s arm.

“Huh? Oh.”

That’s when he noticed his sleeve was rolled up.

He looked flustered.

“Oh, yeah, something like that.”

“Really? Where did you get them?”

“At a hospital I know.”

“A hospital…?”

There aren’t any hospitals nearby.

You have to go far into the city to find one.

Is it just my imagination, or does Si-Hoo’s tone sound oddly irritable?

Si-Hoo is acting strange.

“Uh… does it hurt a lot?”

“Don’t worry about it. Don’t even think about it. Sorry. I’m just not in good shape right now. I’ll be fine soon.”

“Okay…”

The atmosphere grew heavy.

I only wanted to help Si-Hoo.

But did I end up doing nothing?

This is the first time I’ve experienced something like this.

The first time Si-Hoo has acted so strange.

If he’s in pain, what’s hurting him?

Could it be because of the drugs?

It doesn’t seem like it’s from a hospital-administered injection.

I suddenly recall the image of drug addicts wandering the streets.

Drug addiction?

Could Si-Hoo possibly…?

No way.

Si-Hoo is too smart to do something like that.

Still, just in case, next time Si-Hoo goes out, I’ll secretly follow him.

I’m too curious about what he’s doing.