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The Rose on My Porch
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“NOW you know how it feels to be left in the dark.”

Gi’s stoic expression didn’t falter after seeing that note from Seul. She turned the phone screen off and threw it by the cabinet top.

Joy was already sleeping by the bed, she passed out after that very rough one. Gi, on the other hand, was just sitting by the floor while leaning on the bed like she usually does in Irene’s room.

‘You know nothing about being left in the dark, Seul. You know nothing.’

She closed her eyes as she leaned her head by the bed.

‘You know nothing about not being able to fight. You could only close your eyes and wish that it would be over soon. You know nothing about the dark.’

Letting out a deep sigh, Gi stood up to get something to drink but she stopped to take a good look at Joy first. She pulled the blanket that was covering the other girl’s ness and Gi couldn’t help but to clench her fists at what she saw.

‘I should finish it all soon. I keep messing up the people who care for me.’

Gi then abandoned the plan to get a drink, instead she clothed Joy with whatever the other girl was wearing earlier. She also made sure that she’d be sleeping comfortably.

After making sure that Joy would be okay, she was about to shower when she heard something.

“You know well that there’s a faster way to end things.”

Gi froze in her place. It has been a long time since she last heard the voice that clear. She tried to ignore it but no one can avoid what’s inside their head.

“Hey, I know you can hear me. Do you want to hear my suggestions? There’s actually a lot of easier ways to end things.”

Gi then took her phone and started playing music but not loud enough to wake Joy up.

“Oh, you’re countering me with this useless noise again. Classic you~
Let me know when you’re ready to talk. You know which name to call.”

Gi was relieved that the voice already went away. The first time she listened to that voice, she totally ruined her life. She knows that listening to the voice won’t be good but the voice made more sense to her than anyone else.

There went another sigh. Gi went back to where she was sitting earlier and closed her eyes. Irene’s face then flashed in her vision.

“Irene…” she softly called out to the girl as her eyes opened partly. She looked blankly at her hands.

“As much as I wanted to be in a normal relationship with you… I will never be normal…” Gi’s heavy eyes slowly closed. “But why is this thorn yearning for you… What’s with you?”


 

 

 

 

THE headspace was terribly noisy that time. It’s one of the few times some of them are gathered in the same place and the nameless alter couldn’t get a break at all. The other girls are in their girl talk again but this time they were joined by the awfully loud Master Sergeant Yoon.

They were talking about Seul having a crush on their school's soccer team captain.

The nameless alter bowed her head and tried not to listen to their nonsense talk when the voice came and sat by her side.

“They are talking about that thing while you suffer.” The voice said. “Let’s finish this all.”

The nameless alter didn’t answer. She hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees.

“Hey, let’s go! The air on the rooftop would surely feel great. Let’s be one with the wind!”

“Quiet.” The nameless one stoically said.

“Are you fine with them having fun while you’re the only one who suffers? Are you fine taking all the bad stuff?” The voice asked.

The nameless one turned her head to the other side. “Go away.”

“Do you remember the last time you asked for help? It was futile.” The voice chuckled which made the nameless one even more annoyed.

“You don’t have to remind me of her.”

The voice laughed again. “I have a good idea! Why don’t we make her life miserable as well the next time we meet her? Let’s strip all joy from her life!”

“I said go away.”

“It’ll be fun for sure! Let’s make her suffer too!”

“Leave.”

“It’s gonna be fun! Believe me! Listen to me! You’ll have a really good time making her cry~!”

The nameless one tried to cover her ears but the voice enjoyed her struggles even more. She heard a sigh from the voice.

“Look at them, talking like falling in love will actually save this body.” The voice shook its head. “Nonsense, nonsense. Do you think you deserve to be loved?”

“I don’t.” The nameless one groaned. “But let them be. They have every right to be loved and fall in love.”

The voice looked surprised for a moment but it cracked an eerie laughter. “You suffer and they get all the good stuff? They have the right to love? You can’t be serious, right?”

"YA! You're here again!? Go away!"

The nameless one heard the voice of Master Sergeant Yoon but she didn't raise her head up. She felt the swing of his leg while he drove the voice away.

"You good for nothing shadow! Go away and never come back!"

But the voice wasn't fazed by the soldier's hostility. It just laughed before disappearing.

"Let's set this world on fire one time! It will be really fun!"

The voice echoed before it completely disappeared. Even the other alters were terrified of it.

The soldier knelt beside the nameless one. He wanted to reach out to her but he knew his hand would be swatted away so he didn't dare to do so.

"Don't listen to that one. We'll always be here for you."

"I don't need any of you." She answered. "Go away."

"We'll find a way to get out of this." The soldier said. "Hang on there, young one. There will be a way out. Let's go somewhere far once you get into college."

That suggestion felt good in the ears but the nameless one doesn't have any idea if even that would be possible.

The soldier then completely sat on the ground. "Why not become a soldier like me, young one? I will be your strength!"

The girl then slowly lifted her head. "Soldier?"

"Yes!" The Soldier was suddenly in high spirits after seeing that the nameless one was actually listening. "The police might've failed you but the soldiers won't! We will protect and serve our country with everything!"

"Serve and protect?" The nameless one repeated.

"Yes! We soldiers also love passionately! You don't know, you might find someone who would fall in love with you or someone that you would love!" The Soldier energetically encouraged her.

'"Love?"

The nameless one found the idea really absurd. She can’t picture Seul being one. She buried her face on her knees again.

"Let me think about it."

The Soldier's face brightened up even more and gave a thumbs up to the other alters though the other girls didn't like the idea about being a soldier.


 

"Let's set this world on fire one time! It will be really fun!"


 

The nameless one watched how the car she showered with gasoline engulfed into flames within seconds after she threw a lit matchstick on it.

The light of the fire reflected on her marvelled eyes.

"I told you this will be fun!" She heard the voice laugh in her head. "I told you to listen to me! Look at how pretty it is!"

The girl marvelled even more as fire completely consumed the car.

"Hey, you have to hurriedly step back! It will explode! I don't think you want to end things like this, right? We still have to make all of them suffer!"

The nameless one hurriedly ran away from the burning car before a loud explosion momentarily deafened her.

“Oh, how wonderful!” The voice exclaimed in her head. “Let’s see how your customer will find our gift for him!”

Soldiers and trainees came rushing to the scene. The nameless alter’s eyes immediately darted to the owner of the car—a high ranking officer that was a former patron of hers.

“Soldiers serve and protect? Soldiers love passionately? What a joke!”

A sinister smile curved up the nameless one's face and the said patron turned pale in fear the moment he recognised her. This gave even more thrill to her.

Other soldiers tackled and subdued her as she was still holding the empty gasoline container. But she wasn't hurt, she felt ecstatic. She felt high in drawing fear to her patron's face.

It was the very first time she fused with the voice as she took its side. It was the day the psycho was born.

And yes, it wasn't an injury that got her pulled out from the curriculum.


 

 

 


 

GI's eyes shot open as she found herself gasping for air. She looked around and somehow felt home—she's back at Irene's house.

She sat up and wiped the sweat on her forehead. "Did I just dream?"

As expected, she didn't find the phone anywhere near. Instead, she found the notebook.

"I'm sorry..." was the only note left for her, at least for that day.

"What is this rascal being sorry for?" Gi sighed. She then noticed something even weirder.

There were more notes before that. The apology note was just the last one. There was actually a four-day worth of notes on it.

"Why is Joy looking so distressed? Did you guys fight or anything? I know you're at fault here so apologise to Joy the moment you see this! Joy is not Joy without that beautiful smile on her face!"

"I'm sorry about last time. I admit I lied to you. Irene-unnie asked me to clear things out to you. I guess you two are really close, huh? Good for you."

"Hello, are you still there? Something really happened between you and Joy, right? Why don’t you two say anything to me? Do you really like leaving me in the dark?"

"Irene-unnie is already dead-worried about you... At least say something... Are you still there?"

Gi took a deep breath. "For someone who wants me gone, she worries too much."

The girl then went to the restroom to shower. She still couldn't believe that she didn't come out for days after spending a night with Joy.

"I was really angry at Joy that time but why did I get angry again?"

Gi tried to recollect her memory as shower water continually hit her head. "Ah right... that ing name."

Gi hurriedly finished her shower as thoughts of Irene entered her mind. Seul also mentioned how the said girl was worrying about her. She quickly dressed up and dried her hair half heartedly before going out of her room.

She was then surprised to see the TV in the living room on and was in tuned in a replay of a soccer game.

An eyebrow rose up. Irene, if she's going to watch something late at night then she would be watching the TV by her room. Also, Gi knows that Irene isn't into any sport.

"Hey."

Gi felt her skin crawl at the sound of a male voice. She slowly turned around and saw a guy holding a bowl of popcorn in one hand while holding a soda can on the other.

"I thought you were already sleeping, Seul. Wanna join me in watching soccer? You like soccer too, right?"

'Who the hell is this guy and why didn't Seul tell me anything about this worm?'

If the guy didn’t mention Seul’s name then Gi would’ve thought of him as a customer. Gi cleared and talked in a slightly higher tone. "I have something to discuss with Irene-unnie."

"Oh, I see~" The guy then put more popcorn in his mouth. "Go ahead then. I bet Joohyunie is still not asleep as well."

"Okay, I'll go ahead then."

Gi climbed the stairs. She took one glare at the said guy before going straight to Irene's room.

'Who on earth is Joohyunie?' She thought as she stared blankly at Irene's door. ‘Don’t tell me Irene is also into guys?'

After rolling her eyes at the thought, Gi opened the door without knocking and surprisingly it was locked. She remembered she had an agreement with Irene to keep the door open.

She then heard hurrying footsteps coming near and the door flung open in an instant, revealing Irene who was so close to crying.

The two's gaze locked at each other, with Gi's being surprised and Irene's welling with tears.

"Irene…" Gi finally called and tears just started pouring down from the other girl's eyes. The next thing Gi remembers was being pulled inside with Irene welcoming her in a tight embrace and the door slamming shut.

Francis finally was able to breathe well when he heard Irene’s door closed. His head quickly turned towards Irene’s room upstairs before he sank in his seat with relief.

“I thought she was sleepwalking again.” Francis let out another sigh of relief. “I don’t know if my heart races because of her sleepwalking or because of her cuteness!”


 

 

 

 

"IRENE, do you really have to do this?"

Gi asked as she felt her head bei

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Dokusho 0 points #1
Chapter 27: That was really a good read!
Wani-ayeah
#2
Chapter 27: Irene and Seulgi deserved this ending. After Gi's suffering for decades, she deserves someone like Irene that gave her colors to feel alive again. This story will have a special place for me. All of the characters are unforgettable and thank you again Shortcut48-nim for this. You are an amazing writer. <3
Wani-ayeah
#3
Chapter 25: I'm crying my heart out in the previous chapter and now I have to cry all over again with this one! I know I still have two more chapters to read, but first, I would like to thank you author nim for this masterpiece. It was an emotional roller coaster ride for me and I'm so excited to see how this story will end.
daerkxxxxx #4
Chapter 17: Chapter 17: felt an utter disgust on this chapter yet it sad this scenario really happen in this world. Parent shall be the protector of their child, those sickos deserved hell. Pray for all the childs. Thanks authornim for this, reality hits the hardest😭.
Wani-ayeah
#5
Chapter 5: Dang. I was right. It made me sad after knowing Seulgi's trauma. And what Wendy said was also a sad reality about people with this kind of mental illness.
Wani-ayeah
#6
Chapter 3: Since the last chapter, and in this chapter, I could see that Seulgi might have DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) because of how "Seul" explain she's "sleepwalking" and based on her reactions that she feels like she's alseep for the whole time when her other self "the seductive one" is present and I have a hunch that Wendy might be her psychiatrist or someone who knows about Seulgi's history or situation. I'm curious how the story will unfold, especially Seulgi's character.
robogirl98
1687 streak #7
re-read some of the chapters and boy this story hits!!! thanks again for always sharing your creation and stories with us!!
robogirl98
1687 streak #8
Chapter 27: Oh a happy ending!!! So glad they got the ending they both so deserve!!!
robogirl98
1687 streak #9
Chapter 27: oh my goodness, hyunmi brought it up and they're talking about it!!!
robogirl98
1687 streak #10
Chapter 27: lol no shame even when hyunmi is there ^^