I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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I know one thing.

I have an extremely strong resistance to drugs.

That, at least, I know very well.

I decided not to leave the house.

Si-Hoo might try to erase my memory with drugs again.

How did things between us end up like this?

Memory-erasing drugs.

Drugs.

Drugs.

Drugs.

Since when did Si-Hoo start using drugs like this?

I don’t know.

My drug resistance rejected even the memory-erasing drug.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many times Si-Hoo had used that drug.

Would once have been enough for me to develop resistance to it?

Or is it that I don’t know how many times…

How many times did he erase my memories?

Did I do something wrong?

That’s the problem—I can’t remember.

What I remember now can’t possibly be everything.

Anyway, Si-Hoo tried to erase my memories.

Did half of my memories disappear?

How would I even know that?

Si-Hoo must have had his reasons.

But if he’s going to erase my memories again, I’d suggest he double the dose next time.

My memories are a tangled mess, but one thing I do know.

I need drugs.

Not the memory-erasing kind, but something else.

Something that doesn’t make me feel bad.

And for that drug, I’ll do anything.

Si-Hoo gives me the drugs.

So, I’ll stay as he wants me to.

What Si-Hoo wants is for me to live quietly, as if I’m dead.

But no matter how much I comply, it’s strange.

Why is Si-Hoo doing such bizarre things?

“Someone was definitely with him…”

Si-Hoo was with someone.

I need to remember.

A faint image surfaces.

“Ah, white hair…”

I feel like I could remember more, but I can’t.

Even though I’ve developed resistance to the drug, it didn’t block the effects entirely.

Yes, white hair.

It feels familiar somehow.

“White…”

Past scenes flash through my mind.

It’s someone I know.

I’m sure of it.

“Uh… a lab…?”

The word “lab” comes to mind.

Did I go to a lab?

Why?

What kind of lab was it?

No, that’s not it.

I met the person with white hair before that.

It seems like something shocking happened.

Unpleasant emotions resurface.

“White… hair… hmm…”

It was a woman.

She looked about my age.

So, is she a friend of Si-Hoo’s?

No, that can’t be.

“Ah, ah, ah. A doctor? No…”

It’s related to treatment.

Yes, she didn’t give me drugs, but it’s definitely connected to treatment.

“She definitely said she’d treat me… Right, that girl. She said if I went there instead of her—”

Ugh.

I feel like vomiting.

Horribly disgusting memories come back to life.

My breathing becomes labored.

It feels like my chest is tightening.

My heart starts pounding like crazy.

“Ugh…”

This is hell.

Now I understand why my memory was erased.

Just recalling it makes my head hurt.

Sweat trickles down my forehead.

I can’t breathe properly.

“Si… Si-Hoo.”

Si-Hoo isn’t here.

Where is he?

Is he with that girl with the white hair?

“No, no way. Ha, ha, ha…”

Darkness fills my vision.

When I open my eyes again, I see light.

It’s the light of the lab.

That can’t be.

I was definitely at home.

I was sitting at home, I swear.

I know better than anyone that this is just a hallucination.

So, it’ll disappear soon.

This is happening because I remembered something bad.

If I close my eyes and open them again, it’ll all go away.

I close my eyes and open them.

I’m strapped to an operating table.

The metallic smell of blood fills the air.

The smell of chemicals is everywhere.

No.

This can’t be happening.

I was definitely at home.

Don’t joke with me.

I’m back here again?

It can’t be the lab.

It just can’t.

Beeeep—

A ringing sound fills my ears.

“No, no. This isn’t real.”

It’s impossible.

There’s no way this is the lab.

Think.

Think.

Even when I was in the lab, Si-Hoo came to save me, didn’t he?

Wait, I don’t remember that.

Was it erased?

“Shut up. No, no, no, no, no!”

Run.

But my body is frozen, unable to move.

Even though I try to move while restrained.

No, I couldn’t have been restrained.

I was definitely at home just moments ago.

That’s a fact everyone knows.

So, calm down.

Something that looks like a drill approaches.

“Ahhh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

It’s about to pierce my eye.

A syringe?

It’s just a hallucination.

It’s only a hallucination.

But the problem is that my body is trembling in terror on its own.

“I’m sorry… hick… I’m sorry… ugh…”

What did I do wrong?

But I have to apologize.

If I apologize, maybe this will end sooner.

Please, please.

This is so scary, just do something, anything, please.

As I tremble, I snap back to reality.

“…Home…”

I’m home.

But I can’t feel relieved.

It’s all because of that girl with the white hair.

She’s trying to torment me.

Pretending to be Si-Hoo, using drugs, and leaving.

It’s a fake Han Si-Hoo.

The real Si-Hoo wouldn’t do this.

As I look around, something feels off.

I thought it looked like home, but this isn’t home.

This isn’t home.

Differences from the real home start becoming noticeable one by one.

“This… isn’t home…”

What is this place, then?

For some reason, even the view outside the house felt unfamiliar.

I’m scared.

I hate this.

Kidnapping?

Was I kidnapped?

That might be it.

It’s that woman with the white hair.

She lied about treating me and did something terrifying.

I need to escape.

But outside the house is dangerous too.

I need to hide.

Hide inside the house.

Under the dining table.

***

Han Si-Hoo returned home, but Seo-Ah was nowhere to be seen.

If Seo-Ah had gone outside, he would know.

There weren’t just one or two surveillance devices set up in the house.

He had even installed a system to immediately transfer himself back home in case of an emergency.

So, Seo-Ah was definitely inside the house.

“Seo-Ah?”

There was no response.

However, Han Si-Hoo already knew where Seo-Ah was.

She was under the dining table.

Holding her breath, as if hiding from Han Si-Hoo.

Why does she feel the need to hide?

“Seo-Ah, what’s wrong?”

There was no answer.

From under the table, the sound of shallow, hurried breathing could be heard.

Han Si-Hoo hesitated for a moment before bending down.

Under the table was Seo-Ah.

She was clutching a kitchen knife with both hands, wary of the direction where Han Si-Hoo had appeared.

“Se-Seo-Ah?”

“Don’t come closer.”

Her gaze was not directed at Han Si-Hoo but at someone else entirely.

Still crouched, Han Si-Hoo stepped back a few paces.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

But she didn’t relax.

“Stop.”

“Seo-Ah, can you recognize me? It’s me, Si-Hoo.”

Her grip on the knife tightened.

“I said stop.”

“What?”

“Stop pretending to be Si-Hoo.”

Her voice was firm, filled with conviction.

As if Han Si-Hoo wasn’t Han Si-Hoo.

“What… do you mean?”

“Do you think I’d fall for this? This isn’t even our house, and the real Si-Hoo is at the Academy.”

It seemed to be a side effect of the memory-erasing drug.

“No, you’re mistaken.”

“Let me go. Why did you kidnap me?”

Kidnapping.

From her perspective, with her memories lost, it might seem that way.

Convincing her would be difficult.

Because Han Si-Hoo had used drugs to cover Seo-Ah’s memories, he couldn’t reveal the truth.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what do you want?”

This is all for you.

-But she doesn’t understand at all.

-Just kill her already.

-Why waste time here like this?

A monster lived inside Han Si-Hoo’s mind.

A monster called the Purification Penalty.

It existed because of the purification skill he used to remove the effects of drugs.

“This isn’t our house. And you’re not Si-Hoo.”

-She’s not worth saving.

-She’s saying you’re not even Si-Hoo.

-Why are you trying to save someone who doesn’t even know who you are?

Han Si-Hoo didn’t let himself be swept away by the penalty.

He could endure this much.

He was nearly done with his work.

If he pushed just a little further, he thought he could find a way to cure Seo-Ah.

-Beat her until she listens.

-Just tie her up.

So he made a rational decision.

The most reasonable and safest decision.

He needed to use the memory-erasing drug again.

“You’ll be okay.”

-Kill her, I’m telling you.

That wasn’t an option.

So he’d just use the drug.

He had kept it on him, just in case something like this happened.

Before making the wrong choice, he quickly prepared the drug.

Using the drug was simple.

But he needed to restrain the target.

First, remove any threatening weapons.

Then, grab the patient’s arm.

Hold her still.

Make her lose strength.

And inject the syringe.

The drug would then enter her system.

And the patient would lose her memory.

“…Seo-Ah?”

“Ah…”

Seo-Ah’s voice came out faintly.

What had he just done?

He had forcibly subdued Seo-Ah and administered the drug.

That was all.

***

I know one thing.

I have an extremely strong resistance to drugs.

So strong that it’s a problem.

That, at least, I know very well.

That’s why I know Si-Hoo erased my memory.

It was a monster in Si-Hoo’s guise that did it.

Or was it?

Maybe it really was Si-Hoo.

After all, the memory of the lab was something worth erasing.

Was it really the real Si-Hoo?

If that’s the case, I need to think about why Si-Hoo has become like this.

Why is Si-Hoo doing this to me?

There must be a reason.

There’s no need to think hard—it’s because of that woman with the white hair.

I’ve seen him with her before.

Si-Hoo.

Remember.

Si-Hoo had collapsed.

Si-Hoo was…

Si-Hoo?

It’s because of that woman.

That woman with the white hair.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be trembling under the blanket like this.

If it weren’t for her.

It was that woman with the white hair.

She ruined Si-Hoo.

It wasn’t enough for her to throw me into the lab.

There’s no other explanation.

Si-Hoo wouldn’t do something like this of his own will.

What was her name again?

The Saintess.

She was called the Saintess.

I agonized over what to do.

And came to a conclusion.

I have to kill her.

That’s the only way Si-Hoo will return to normal.

I must kill the Saintess.