《Dear, Another Me》

Part 1 Han Seo-ah - Episode 2. While You're Away

Morning.


Han Noa opened his eyes.


"……Huh?"


He had clearly been sitting at his desk last night.


But now he was lying in bed.


Noa stared at the ceiling for a moment.


"When did I…… come to bed?"


He had no memory of it.


Then a familiar voice sounded in his head.


『I brought you here.』


"Seoa?"


『Yeah.』


Noa sat up in bed.


"What did I do yesterday?"


『Nothing much.』


"Really?"


『Yeah.』


Seoa answered as if it were nothing.


Noa felt strangely off, but he didn't ask any more.


From that day on, strange things slowly started to increase.


There were times Noa couldn't remember.


Things that definitely hadn't been on the desk in the morning were neatly put away by afternoon,


and notes that hadn't been there last night were sometimes written in the corner of his notebook.


At first, Noa thought he had just forgotten.

---

But then, one day.


Noa was checking his phone when he found a strange message.


'I took care of it today.'


There was no sender.


The message was timestamped 2:00 AM.


Noa had definitely been asleep at that time.


"……Seoa."


『Hm?』


"Did you write this?"


Silence for a moment.


『Yeah.』


"Why?"


『Because you looked tired.』


Noa set his phone down.


"Don't do that anymore."


『Why?』


"I should be the one handling my own things."


『……Okay.』


Seoa's voice grew a little smaller.


After that day, Noa tried not to rely on Seoa.


He tried to do everything by himself.


But the more he did, the more complicated things in his head became.


And then, at some point.


『Is it hard?』


"……."


『I could do it.』


"No."


『Why?』


"I'll do it myself."


Seoa didn't answer for a while.


Then he said quietly,


『Okay.』


『If that's what you want.』


---


That night.


Noa had another strange dream.


It was a dark space.


Nothing could be seen.


Someone called Noa's name there.


"Han Noa."


Noa turned his head.


A woman was standing in the darkness.


Long hair.


A face that looked like his own.


And a calm smile.


"……Seoa?"


The woman nodded.


"Yeah."


Noa stepped back.


"Where is this?"


Seoa slowly walked closer.


"Inside you."


"……What?"


"The place where I was born."


Noa couldn't say anything.


Seoa smiled.


"So this is home for me too."


At that moment, Noa opened his eyes.


He drew in a sharp breath.


It was a dream.


Noa calmed his chest and looked around.


Then he looked at the mirror beside the bed.


His reflection was there.


But—


the Noa in the mirror was smiling.


Noa wasn't smiling.


"……."


Noa slowly approached the mirror.


The figure in the mirror opened its mouth.


『Don't worry too much.』


Noa's face stiffened.


『I'm on your side.』


And before Noa could even move, the reflection raised a hand and brought a finger to its lips.


Shh.


『Not yet.』