I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

So everyone lived happily ever after.

The end.

...That would be a lie.

I invited Shihu to my home.

He still hadn’t disappeared.

"Welcome."

The house was spotless.

I had cleaned it, convinced by my own delusion that Shihu would come back.
I even had a spare pair of indoor slippers ready for him.

My delusion had become reality.
And yet, it still didn’t feel real.

On the desk—

A bottle of pills.
A syringe.

Prepared and ready to use at any time.

"Seo Ah, this..."

"Hm?"

"What kind of drug is this?"

Shihu asked.

"...Suicide? Euthanasia? Something like that."

I was pretending to live like a normal person.

But I was standing on the edge.

If Shihu had never come back, I would have used it.

I told myself I was quitting, but I knew the truth.

My body was already ruined.

Sooner or later, I would reach my limit.

Rather than suffer a long, painful death—
Wasn’t it better to just take the easy way out?

"Why are you making that face?"

I frowned.

"I haven’t even used it yet... You know that. I don’t even take that much anymore..."

Was he judging me?

Was he disappointed in me?

Did he think I was still just a drug addict?

Softly, he pulled me into an embrace.

"Oahh... H-heh..."

A weird sound escaped my mouth.
I was flustered.
But happy.

"Everything’s going to be okay."

"Mm."

I didn’t believe him.
Not at all.

I wasn’t even sure this was real.

There was always the chance that all of this—
Was just another hallucination.

If you climbed too high,
if you rode hope too far up—
It would hurt more when you fell.

"Shihu?"

"Yeah?"

How could he prove it?
That he was real?
That he existed?

"...You’re really Shihu, right?"

"I am."