- The author wrote it while he was a little out of his mind.
- Even the author doesn't know what he's writing.
- The author doesn't even know why he wrote it.
- It's a bunch of clichés.
- Please read it lightly... It's a mess of a piece of writing with little to no plausibility...
- I intentionally left the part where the heroine's original name appears blank. Readers can just insert their own names and read on...
-TRIGGER WARNING! This story is based on an internet novel popular in the early 2010s, so it may contain scenes reminiscent of school violence.
How to Survive as an Extra
: One day, I became an extra in a novel.
W. Gpeum
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
It had been several months since I'd entered the novel. Having woken up every day in a room that felt no different from my real room, I could tell that the ceiling I was looking at was different from the one I'd seen before. Had I returned to reality? I forced my heavy, sleep-clogged eyelids open and sat up. A neatly organized room came into view. Slowly, I looked around and realized something.
“…That’s not reality.”
There was still a high probability that it was a novel. Well, it wasn't entirely impossible, but somehow, the feeling persisted that it wasn't. I looked around the room, which still had a sense of life, and then turned my gaze to the mirror.
It was a familiar face. When I first became Kim Yeon-ju from OOO, there hadn't been much of a difference in appearance. Except for a slight youthful appearance. This time, it was the opposite. I gingerly ran my fingertips over my face. My skin wasn't a mess or anything, but it definitely wasn't the skin of a teenager. It's sad how I can judge my age by this. With these pointless thoughts, I slowly examined my face. It certainly looked more mature than my real self. Perhaps it was the future appearance of "Kim Yeon-ju." Maybe in her late twenties? No, maybe early thirties. Maybe she looked younger.
"What the hell is going on-,"
I opened the bedroom door and stepped out. I saw a living room with a small kitchen. The sunlight streaming in through the bright windows gave me a vague sense of late afternoon. I wandered through the unfamiliar public space. The house was very tidy. Judging by the two-room layout—one bedroom and one closet—it seemed like I lived alone. Everything I had was for my own use, save for a few items that seemed to belong to a man. "Is that Kim Seokjin?" I thought, looking at the loose shirt strewn across the living room floor.
As I was looking around the unfamiliar living room, something quite interesting caught my eye. "The 82nd Galaxy High School Graduation Album." As expected, it was still a novel. Judging by the album, I must have graduated somehow. I opened the album and searched for familiar faces. The numerous photos facing me, all of which had familiar faces, felt strangely out of place.
I wondered what had happened to the other kids. I put the yearbook back in its original place. An uneasy thought crossed my mind: I couldn't have fallen here alone. I reached for my phone, which had been tossed onto the bed, and pressed the lock button. An unfamiliar wallpaper appeared.
seokjin kim
010-XXXX_XXXX
Still there. Everyone's numbers, including Kim Seokjin's. Confirming that it wasn't a particularly bad time to make a call, I paused as I tried to press the call icon next to Kim Seokjin's number.
…What if it’s not Kim Seokjin?
What if OOO wasn't the Kim Seokjin I knew? What if I was the only one left here? I suddenly felt scared. The simple name caught my eye, too simple for a lover. Once I started to hesitate, I couldn't even reach for the call icon. What should I do? I was chewing my lip when my phone's alarm rang with a loud noise.
“…Class reunion?”
"Getting ready for the reunion." That was the note on the alarm. Was today the reunion? I wondered if she'd made a note in her diary or desk calendar, so I approached the bare desk. Perhaps I'd never used a desk before, since at this age, it was empty, save for a few books and notebooks. A gray diary with the year 20XX written on it caught my eye. Bingo.
I turned on my phone and checked the date. Beneath today's date on my diary calendar, I saw the familiar handwriting that read, "Galaxy High School Reunion." XX Company, 6 o'clock. My eyes widened as I saw the note, which kindly included the location and time. I glanced at my watch and then my diary, then closed the diary, put it back where it belonged, and hurried to the bathroom. No, it's already 5 o'clock...!
📘 📗 📕
“Phew….”
I caught my trembling breath. Somehow, I felt several times more nervous than I had during my college interview. XX Company, the restaurant I'd mentioned in my diary, opened the door, my hands shaking slightly as I stepped inside.
As soon as the word "reunion" came out, the staff member who had guided me to the reserved seat told me to come this way. Apparently, quite a few people had already arrived, and the bustle of the place peeped through the crack in the door. I nodded briefly in gratitude to the staff member who had shown me the way, then flung open the door to the room. "Oh, Kim Yeon-joo!" Voices of joy erupted from all around. My stiff expression relaxed. The corners of my lips naturally lifted.
"Long time no see-,"
"Why are you late? Well, there are still more kids who haven't arrived yet."
Even as I gave a vague nod to the nameless girl, my gaze quickly scanned the room. No familiar faces. Had she not arrived yet? I bit my lip in anxiety and turned my head, when my eyes met Kwon Yeon-hee's. She was fiddling with her glass, her expression visibly uneasy. Seeing her expression, all the worries that had plagued me right up until my arrival felt like pointless worries. I naturally took a seat next to Kwon Yeon-hee, who had taken the corner seat. I asked her, pretending not to know, as she set down the soju glass and spoon. I needed reassurance.
"What day was it yesterday?"
Kwon Yeon-hee blinked as if she had said something out of the blue, but soon understood the question's intent and smiled.
"March 28th."
I smiled along with him. A classmate sitting nearby tilted her head in bewilderment and said, "Wasn't it April 3rd yesterday?" Kwon Yeon-hee shamelessly replied, "Oh, right, right? I was confused. How could you jump around so quickly?" She burst into laughter, but we didn't say anything. Yesterday, March 28th, was the historic first day that Kim Tae-hyung and Kim Yeo-joo decided to date.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I woke up and it was today. I didn't know I'd skip 15 years at once."
"15 years?!"
"Lower your voices…! Yes, 15 years. We're 34 now."
I thought, "Crazy, that's a face that looks quite old." Even though I was gaping at the shocking truth, Kwon Yeon-hee didn't care and just filled my empty glass with soju, gulping it down. "Here, soju," she said, handing it over, which seemed a bit exciting. Well, after all, Park Jimin and I had been making such a fuss about needing alcohol yesterday.
"This is crazy, but why is Gajagi thirty-four? Is the novel really finished? Didn't it end with Kim Tae-hyung and Kim Yeo-joo dating? ... Did they break up?"
"No, I asked and they said they're still dating. They're getting married this year."
“…I wonder if the wedding is really the ending.”
“…I have a feeling something is wrong….”
"What? What is it?" Kwon Yeon-hee couldn't even give a proper answer to my question, and the atmosphere instantly became chaotic. Curious, I turned my head to see two familiar faces opening the door and entering. As they say, even tigers come when called, and Kim Yeo-ju and Kim Tae-hyung, who looked much more mature than yesterday, entered the room. So...
"Oh, Yeonju!"
It was Kim Yeo-ju, thirty-four. Her bright smile and approaching expression were no different from yesterday. I felt a little reassured by that. Yesterday, when asked if she was happy, she had answered yes, so if she was smiling similarly to yesterday, it must mean she was happy today, too. The feeling was extraordinary. When did you grow up so much…? As I was about to gasp in excitement, Kwon Yeon-hee poked my ribs. "Don't be ridiculous…," she whispered, not forgetting to do so.
“It’s been a really long time!! You’ve been really busy lately-,”
“Huh? Huh. What, really?”
“Still, it’s nice to see your face after so long, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I think I saw it yesterday too….”
“What? Did you miss me that much-?”
Kim Yeo-ju burst out laughing, and I simply gave her a small smile and brushed it off. "Well, we actually met yesterday, too... Of course, you don't remember that, do you?" "I thought I'd probably hear you complain if I said it out loud."
Thanks to Kim Yeo-joo and Kim Tae-hyung naturally taking their places at our table, the conversation with Kwon Yeon-hee naturally ended. There was no way I could talk about the novel in front of the main characters. This guy was seriously getting his life spoiled. Familiar faces arrived one after another. Lee Yoo-jin, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jung-kook, albeit late, arrived safely. Park Jimin and Jeon Jung-kook stared at me and Kwon Yeon-hee as soon as they arrived, suggesting they, like us, had safely remained in this world. I wondered if "safely" was the right word, though. Everyone was gathered, except for Kim Seok-jin.
“…Hey, where’s Kim Seokjin?”
I couldn't answer Kwon Yeon-hee's whispered questions. If I said I was too scared to contact her, she'd laugh, right? Of course, I was still scared, too. As I held onto my phone without answering, Kwon Yeon-hee looked at me with a knowing expression.
"Hey, what are you worried about? They're all here. How could he be any different?"
“But… why are you so anxious?”
I roughly wiped the faint sweat on my hands onto my pants. As time passed, my anxiety only grew. Because, unlike the others, Kim Seokjin didn't bother showing his face. Even as I chimed in with the conversations Kim Yeo-ju led, I couldn't help but find myself looking toward the exit.
“Hey, Kim Seokjin! You’re here now!”
It was about an hour later that I was finally able to tear my gaze away from the doorway. Kim Seokjin, his hair tangled in the wind despite his neat attire, opened the door. Feeling all eyes on me, I felt a brief moment of relief. He briefly accepted the warm greetings of his classmates and strode over to me.
“…OOO.”
“Why? But why are you so late, ugh, hey, hey, what are you doing…!”
"under……."
I was startled by Kim Seokjin suddenly embracing me, so I patted his back, but he didn't budge. With so many people watching, what on earth could I possibly be doing?! My face flushed with embarrassment and I felt a surge of irritation, but the moment I looked directly at Kim Seokjin, all those emotions vanished. His face was filled with worry. He made the exact same face he had the day he first told me he liked me.
"thank god…,"
- Even the muttering was the same as that day.
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Seokjin's eyes snapped open. He sighed softly at the sight of me waking up in a familiar room. "Not yet?" Aside from the fact that my school uniform, now replaced with a winter uniform, was hanging on the closet door, it was just another day, no different from any other. Seokjin checked the date on his phone, accustomed to it. It was a new habit, having developed from the habit of skipping weeks overnight. After checking the date, Seokjin abruptly sat up. It was February. Time hadn't gone back yet, so if my guess was correct, today would be graduation day. The image of OO grumbling about having to go through a graduation ceremony after all made Seokjin laugh.
“Son, are you awake? Is it graduation day today?”
“Yes, are you coming?”
"You said you were spending today with friends? I'll just stop by and be back soon."
“Yeah, that’s right. I understand.”
It was an ordinary day, from eating breakfast and chatting with his parents to putting on his school uniform and heading out the door. The wind blew so hard that Seokjin buried his face in his scarf as he stepped out the front door. It was cold. His pace quickened. Ultimately, returning to reality was a failure once again. Seokjin sighed softly at the unchanged day.
But something had changed. Quite a bit, actually. But it wasn't a welcome change. The one Seokjin found strange was none other than OO. His girlfriend. Aside from a simple morning greeting, she rarely spoke to him, which felt strange. Was she perhaps a bit nervous because it was graduation day? If so, it would be understandable, but that wasn't the only strange thing.
After the graduation ceremony, it wasn't unusual for the seven of them to eat together, but it was strange that among all the conversations, not a single word about yesterday was mentioned. Amidst the conversations, which were all about what to do after graduation, Seokjin felt confused. At the same time, he felt anxious. The worst-case scenario, "Could it be?", took hold of Seokjin's mind. He felt the color drain from his face. Seokjin grabbed Yeonju's hand, who was sitting next to him. "Why?" he asked, a faint hint of embarrassment crossing her face as she returned his. Whenever Yeonju held Seokjin's hand, she always smiled slightly and held on tighter.
“OOO,”
“…?
“OO,”
“Seokjin…? Why are you suddenly like that?”
“…….”
“Who is OOO?”
My heart pounded. The strength left Seokjin's hand. Yeonju, seeing Seokjin's face pale, fidgeted and examined him. "What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Seokjin abruptly sat up at the sound of someone shouting. "Hey, Kim Seokjin!" Seokjin ignored someone's shout and stepped out of the restaurant, wiping his face. "Ah, lie. This isn't right." And yet, it was vividly pictured before his eyes.
‘Who is OOO?’
There was none. He was no longer in this world. I was alone. I walked blindly. My pace gradually quickened, eventually turning into a run. But there was no destination. After running for a while, Seokjin sat down on a bench, panting. There was nowhere else to go. That was how it was in a world where I was left alone. "No," Seokjin muttered.
“…I will always be by your side.”
I promised… A circular mark appeared at Seokjin's feet. Without even bothering to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks, Seokjin buried his face in his hands. He promised just yesterday, but he couldn't keep it. Left alone, I feel so helpless.
I miss OO, Seokjin thought.
Time flew by. Seokjin's time flew by even faster. Even when he opened his eyes the day after graduation, he still woke up in a familiar room. His mother asked, "Didn't you have class this morning?" and he groaned as he got up. This time, he was a college student. He checked the date on his phone. His brow furrowed involuntarily at the thought of another month's delay. He was sick of it.
The misfortune didn't end there. As the novel's protagonist, it was nearly impossible to separate himself from Kim Yeo-ju and her group. That's why Seok-jin wasn't particularly surprised to find his friends gathered in the lecture room after wandering for a while. With a sense of hope, he approached them. Holding Yeon-ju, Seok-jin spoke the name he longed for.
“OOO”
“…Huh? Who is OOO, Seokjin?”
It was despair again. Seokjin shook his head, saying it was nothing. It had been a terrible day.
It was a recurring pattern. The irregularly shifting dates sometimes lasted only two days, and sometimes they even leaped three years in a single breath. Every time he opened his eyes, Seokjin observed his own subtle shifts. On those days, he would always meet Yeonju. They'd have lunch together, clink glasses, or impulsively go see the ocean. Every time, Seokjin would look at Yeonju and call her name. "OOO."
“Who is OOO, anyway?”
One day, Yeonju asked first. Of course, that day, Seokjin immediately mentioned OO's name as soon as he met Yeonju. Hearing the familiar answer of "Who is that?", Seokjin shook his head, dismissing it as nothing. He thought she'd just let it slide, but this time, Yeonju was the first to mention the name. Seokjin, who was nibbling on his rice, flinched.
“That’s right, sometimes when I see you playing, I say OOO. Who is that?”
“Even if you ask, they just say, ‘Did I do that?’ and move on.”
“So who are you? The person you like??”
Seokjin bit his lip as he watched them chattering amongst themselves. He'd long since realized they weren't the people he knew, but having to face that truth so openly made his stomach churn. Seokjin put down his chopsticks. He knew if he tried any more, he'd just throw it all up.
“Just someone I know.”
“But why do you keep calling Kim Yeon-ju OOO? Yeon-ju keeps feeling uncomfortable.”
“No! I’m fine!”
“Well, that’s good, but I’m still curious. Who are you?”
Even if I told them, they wouldn't know. Seokjin felt a sudden urge to spill everything he'd experienced. But he couldn't. He had a feeling it wouldn't work. Maybe the novel would end with Kim Taehyung and Kim Yeoju going on a honeymoon, just like Kwon Yeonhee had said. He had to hold on until then. Seokjin answered with an excuse they could reasonably accept.
"Just a lookalike. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable."
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
He never said he'd quit. The only way Seokjin could distinguish Kim Yeon-joo from OOO in this world was by their names.
When he opened his eyes the next day, half a year had passed. Seokjin called OOO's name again, and upon seeing Yeonju's embarrassed expression, he turned his head. Then he opened his eyes again, and again, and again, and again, and again, he met Kim Yeonju. Fifteen years had passed in the novel's world. For Seokjin, it was only two weeks. But to him, it was a terrifying 14 days.
Seokjin gave up hope. Finding OOO in a place that wasn't even real felt impossible. Perhaps OO and the others had already returned to reality. Wiping his face from exhaustion, Seokjin turned on his phone. A memo notification was floating below the date.
“Class reunion….”
XX Company, 6 o'clock. Seokjin quickly checked the note with the location and time and stood up. Thirty-four—there really isn't much left. The news that Kim Taehyung and Kim Yeoju would marry had been circulating for years. Even if it didn't work out, they should do it within a year or two. Then, wouldn't they be able to return to reality?
I wonder if I'll ever meet OO again.
Even Seokjin himself didn't know why he'd been so unresponsive. "I really don't want to go today," he muttered, lying listlessly on the bed. His already-changed clothes were wrinkled, but he didn't seem to mind. He ran a few strokes through his still-dry hair and forced himself to sit up. "Still, I have to go, just in case. It's highly unlikely, but just in case. Who knows, maybe a miracle will happen."
“…OOO.”
“Why? But why are you so late, ugh, hey, hey, what are you doing…!”
But then, a miracle happened. Something was different. She was completely different from the Kim Yeon-ju I'd met yesterday. I suppressed my anxiety and called her name, OOO, and she answered as if it were a natural thing. Something inside me felt overwhelming. "There's nothing I can do," Seok-jin said, hugging OO tightly. "Thank goodness," he muttered. He felt like tears were about to well up.
I'm glad you didn't have to wander alone for so long.
📘 📗 📕
After finally getting the real Kim Seokjin to sit next to me, the only problem was the countless eyes staring at us strangely. I couldn't figure out what was going on, and Kim Seokjin seemed unwilling to open his mouth. I had to sweat profusely and try to explain myself. I told him it had been so long since we'd seen each other, and that he was overly concerned because of a recent mishap.
“I knew you guys were close, but I didn’t know you were still so open, so I’m a little taken aback.”
“Hey, are you only friends with Kim Seokjin? We’ve been like this since high school, so there’s a bit of a line between us! Right, guys?!”
“Oh, yeah, big, right?”
I glared at Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook, who were pinching each other's thighs and trying to hold back laughter. The sight of them barely holding back laughter as they answered seemed to have somehow brought an end to the Kim Seokjin and I hugging incident. "Well, you guys were really close," someone said.
“We’ve been close since freshman year, haven’t we? We were in the same class all along.”
“That’s right, you guys were really famous. You were hanging out together for three years.”
“It was famous from the beginning, Galaxy High School B4!”
“Oh, that’s right, that’s right! That’s right!”
Crazy, who would have thought I'd hear that tacky nickname again? Kwon Yeon-hee's face crumpled at the mention of a nickname that was no different from her dark past. Why don't you name it better? What's B4, B4? It's not even a flower boy or a man... The people involved also had bad expressions, perhaps because the nightmare from the past was coming back to them. Except for Kim Seok-jin, who was still out of his mind.
“I guess it must be a different feeling since we’ve known each other for so long.”
“Oh, I see! You’re getting married soon!”
Marriage? Perhaps it's about Kim Taehyung and Kim Yeojoo? I awkwardly nodded in agreement, glancing sideways at them. Sure enough, the wedding news was true. I saw Kim Taehyung, bashful as hell, and Kim Yeojoo, beaming with happiness. Oh my, they're finally getting married!
“If we’ve been together for 15 years, it’s time to get married, right?”
"I knew it would turn out like this. Kim Yeo-ju ends up going first!"
The woman chattering beside Kwon Yeon-hee tilted her head at her words. "Aren't you supposed to be the first to go?" Her remark, in turn, raised a question in us. ... Is any of us married? We looked at each other with wavering eyes. And then,
“You mean Yeonju~, Yeonju said September and Yeoju said October?”
“…Huh? What?”
“What, a wedding!”
"Why is the kid so out of it?! " said the woman, who was giggling and tapping my shoulder. "Oh, so the first one to get married here is... me? Marriage?
…Me?!
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Episode 20 is complete :D