**Fictional Obsession**
Cha Na-ra's life is a never-ending nightmare of parental abuse and suffocating loneliness. Trapped in a world where hope is a rare commodity, she finds an unexpected escape in a mysterious book titled "Mystery of the Midnight...
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The ride home was suffocatingly silent. Na-ra sat in the backseat, her eyes trained on the passing scenery, but her mind was lost in a storm of thoughts. The weight of everything pressed down on her-years of sadness, social anxiety, insecurity, and the paralyzing fear of being judged. She knew, deep down, what the reason was, but she had always been too afraid to confront it. Her parents. A single tear slipped down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, refusing to let them see her break.
As they entered the house, Na-ra's father mumbled something under his breath, but the venom in his tone was unmistakable. "Such a disappointment, always causing trouble... What have we done to deserve this?"
Na-ra clenched her jaw, feeling the anger bubbling up inside her. 'Now or never, she thought, her heart pounding in her chest. The anger she had bottled up for years threatened to explode.
"D-Disappointment?" Na-ra's voice trembled as she spoke, barely able to keep it steady. "You... you want to talk about disappointment? You don't... you don't even see what you've done to me, do you? How... how you've broken me down... piece by piece... until there's nothing left but fear... and sadness!"
Her father's eyes narrowed, his face contorted with rage. "Watch your tone, young lady. We've done everything for you! Given you everything! And this is how you repay us?"
"E-Everything?" Na-ra laughed bitterly, her voice breaking with each word. "You... you call this everything? You think... you think providing a roof over my head... excuses the way you've treated me? The way... the way you've ignored my feelings, my pain? You've... you've crushed my spirit... made me feel worthless... and you don't even care!"
Her mother, who had been silent until now, snapped, "We did what we had to! Do you think it was easy raising a child like you? Always so difficult, always so sensitive. We had to toughen you up, Na-ra, because the world isn't kind. You're just weak!"
Na-ra felt the sting of her mother's words like a slap to the face. "W-Weak? You... you think I'm weak because... because I can't handle the constant criticism, the mental and physical abuse? You've... you've never once tried to understand me! You've only ever tried to mold me into someone I'm not... someone who's more like... like him."
The mention of her brother sent a ripple through the room, a ghost that lingered between them all. Her father's face turned red with anger. "Don't you dare bring him into this. You think you can compare yourself to him? He was perfect, everything you could never be!"
Tears welled up in Na-ra's eyes, her voice breaking into sobs as she shouted, "I-I know I'm not him! I-I know I'll never be him! But you... you never gave me a chance to be myself! You never... you never let me grieve for him because... because I had to be strong for you! I had to... I had to carry the burden of being the living child... the one who survived when he didn't!"
Her father's voice was co d sharp. "Enough, Na-ra. You're being dramatic, as always. This conversation is over."
But Na-ra wasn't done. Not by a long shot. "No... it's not over. I'm... I'm done being quiet, done pretending that everything's okay. You... you don't know what it's like... to wake up every day and wish... wish you hadn't. To feel so alone and empty that... that you'd rather be dead than live in this house with people who don't care about me. I've... I've tried to end it, you know? I've thought about dying just so... so I wouldn't have to hear your voices in my head, telling me how worthless I am. I've tried... I've tried to die instead of him, because... because I know that's what you've always wanted!"
