🅱🅴🅾🅼🅹🆄🅽
🔞¹⁸⁺ | ᴺᵉʷ ᴬᵈᵘˡᵗ | ᴿᵒᵐᵃⁿᶜᵉ | ᴰʳᵃᵐᵃ
In the dark world of virtual horror, Choi Beomgyu, a well-known Twitch streamer, has his own battle to fight. But it's not a world of pixels and codes that haunt his nights - it's the real shadows t...
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The moment I took my eyes off the stream, my heart froze.
The virtual world seemed to become real as a nightmarish image unfolded before my eyes.
Shock coursed through my entire body and my breath hitched. Panic gripped me and a feeling of helplessness settled over me. I hadn't been able to do anything during the entire stream, just watch. The power this transmission had had over me for that moment was overwhelming. I slumped to the floor, my breathing irregular and heavy. The pain in my chest became overwhelming and tears welled up in my eyes. The reality and cruelty of this act hit me.
The realization that I had witnessed not just anyone but my ex-girlfriend taking her own life through this livestream hit me with unimaginable force.
My mind was paralyzed and the image of Soojin in the flames was indelibly burned into my memory. I sat there, leaning against Beomgyu's couch, barely able to move. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and my hands were shaking so badly that I couldn't manage to use my smartphone.
Beomgyu carefully slid to my side and put his hand on my shoulder. He had been silent the whole time, turned off his smartphone at some point and let me cry. I didn't know how much time had passed before I felt his hand. After a short pause, he placed it on the back of my head and hugged me. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly.
He radiated a slight warmth, but my trembling body was frozen. I couldn't move my hands or my feet as millions of questions raced through my head. I had no strength to sort them out or to know what to do. "What-" I stammered, my tongue not quick enough, "is she really ... dead?"
The last word had been barely audible, but I was sure Beomgyu had understood me. His hair tickled my face as I lost the ground beneath my feet.
While I forgot how to breathe.
He wrapped his arms tightly around my body, held me in them and stroked my head comfortingly. And even though he had certainly heard my question, he didn't make a sound.
What could he say?
The girl who had tormented him all these years had taken her own life. She had burst into flames as if she represented hell. She had simply done it, without hesitation. Had I really driven her to her death by breaking up with her? Had Soojin had suicidal thoughts before that and I had never realized it?
