Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 7

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

7.
“Your ID, please.”
Hee-ju handed over her passport, and Emily produced a visitor credential.
“Just wear it somewhere visible. Return the credential when you leave, and you’ll get your ID back.”
“Thank you.”
“Room 201.”
Hee-ju turned to go, but Emily added one more thing.
“Welcome. It seems Allen doesn’t have much time left. He’s refused life support.”
Hee-ju stopped in her tracks, looking down at her feet. The dry, crumbling sensation in her chest compacted, hardening into a heavy, dense mass.
She hated it—that her father had abandoned her of his own will, and that she was meeting him again of his own will.
The fact that she was being dragged along by a man whose face she’d never seen before utterly disgusted her.
She pushed forward, resuming her steps.
Room 201. Hee-ju stared at the door, took a short breath, and knocked. No answer came.
She turned the handle, and the door opened easily. Uncertain what to do, she pushed it open with gentle pressure.
The room’s interior slowly came into view. Sunlight poured through a large window, bright and warm.
That surprised her. The atmosphere was quite different from what she’d imagined a hospital ward would be.
White curtains, cream-colored walls, a bed and chair by the window. A small refrigerator sat against the wall, and the heater’s warmth filled the room comfortably.
Her gaze moved slowly back toward the bed.
……
More precisely, toward the man lying in it.
The man’s hair was half white, half black, and his frame was skeletal—nothing but bone beneath papery skin.
There was no oxygen mask, no monitor. His face, marked by the first touches of old age, wore an expression peaceful as sleep.
So Hee-ju froze. She didn’t know how to speak to him. One careless shake and he might crumble to dust.
But in that moment, as if defying all logic, the man opened his eyes.
Blink, blink. Still gazing at the ceiling, he opened and closed his eyes slowly, then turned his head toward her. The movement was natural, as if he’d known all along that she was there.
!
A chill ran down her spine. She couldn’t explain why. An indescribable sensation crawled along the length of her back.
And in that same instant, she knew. This was her father. Yes, he was her father. The blood between them could not be denied.
……
Hee-ju bit her lip, trying to hide her confusion. A surge of emotion swept over her—hatred and resentment, longing and pity, all at once.
The calm she’d felt moments before seemed like a lie. She was shaken to the core, barely able to stand.
The man parted his lips with difficulty. A hoarse voice emerged, as dry as sand.
“Hee-ju?”
“……Yes.”
She gave a slight nod, and her father’s lips curved upward—or at least they seemed to. His trembling mouth twisted in what might have been pain, so she couldn’t be certain.
Without thinking, Hee-ju walked to the bed. The man’s expression softened as he looked up at her, studying her intently, comparing her with memories of the past.
But it was futile. The Hee-ju in his memory bore no resemblance to who she was now.
The man’s lips curved again. This time, he managed something like a smile.
“I don’t have much time left, do I?”
His clouded voice crossed the space between them. Hee-ju swallowed silence, uncertain what to say.
“Will you come a bit closer?”
Cough, cough. Her father broke into a fit of coughing. Alarmed, Hee-ju murmured, “Should I call a nurse?” But her father gripped her wrist.
“There’s no need.”
Hee-ju’s gaze faltered. A chill brushed against her skin. Gooseflesh rose as if she’d grasped the hand of death itself.
“I won’t ask for your forgiveness.”
……
“Because that would only ease my conscience, not yours.”
Hee-ju clamped down on her lower lip. Her father let out a soft laugh. “That expression—it’s just like your mother’s.” He spoke the words to himself.
What does my face look like right now?
Hee-ju slowly turned her gaze toward the window. The sunlight was too bright; her reflection didn’t appear.
In that moment, an artificial light glinted from beyond the glass.
What was that?
But her thought couldn’t continue. Her father had gripped her hand.
!
Hee-ju’s eyes widened again. It wasn’t because of his gaunt fingers, thin as twigs. Within his grip, she felt something hard and metallic.
“What is this……”
Just as she was about to speak, her father closed one eye in a wink. He brought his forefinger to his lips and smiled faintly.
“I’m grateful I saw your face before I died.”
Just then, the ward door opened. Her father quickly released her hand.
The nurse glanced at her. Then her eyes scanned Hee-ju’s visitor credential. A faint wariness flickered across the nurse’s expression.
“And you are to Allen……?”
Hee-ju slipped the object from her hand into her pocket naturally and answered with an impassive face.
“I’m his daughter.”
“Oh my. I had no idea Allen had a daughter.”
“Neither did I—that I was his daughter, I mean. He only contacted me after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.”
“I see.”
At Hee-ju’s reply, the nurse’s expression grew flustered. She then walked over to the bedside.
“It’s time for your injection, Allen.”
“What kind of injection?”
“Pain relief. It won’t eliminate the pain entirely, but it’s better than nothing.”
Her father held out an arm covered in bruises and looked at Hee-ju.
“I know it’s a lot to ask so soon after meeting, but please visit my house.”
“Your house?”
“When I die, my lawyer will handle the will. I’ve decided to donate what little property I have to charity. But there’s one thing—a clock in the living room. I want you to have it. It’s the only thing that holds any trace of your mother.”
“……Yes.”
Hee-ju nodded, and her father’s lips curved with relief.
“We’ll meet again in the next world. I’ve kept your mother waiting far too long.”
In the face of parting, even hatred softened. If her father had been well, she wouldn’t have merely nodded. She would have let loose.
She would have poured out layers upon layers of resentment, hurled cruel words that would have wounded him deeply.
But faced with such haggard features, harsh words wouldn’t come.
“Is there anything you need? I’ll bring it when I visit your house.”
“You’ll come again?”
“I’ll be staying here for about ten days.”
“Ten days.”
A sharp needle pierced thin skin. Yet her father’s lips still held a peaceful smile.
“The house key is in the drawer. Ask the nurse for the address.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Thank you for coming all this way, Hee-ju.”
……
“And I’m sorry.”
!
Hee-ju drew a sharp breath. That single word—I’m sorry—struck her like a blow.
She steadied her trembling body, barely holding herself upright on shaking legs. The thought flickered that maybe this was why she’d come all this way.
“You should rest now.”
At the nurse’s words, Hee-ju slowly nodded.
Compared to the long, tedious years of waiting, the meeting had been mercifully brief. She whispered softly toward her already-sleeping father.
“I’ll come again tomorrow. Rest well.”
A faint smile lingered at her father’s lips.
***
The taxi turned into a quiet residential area. After seeing nothing but apartments, the sight of similarly-sized single-family houses made her suddenly aware that she was in unfamiliar territory.
“Here we are.”
The taxi driver stopped the car and looked back at Hee-ju.
“Thank you.”
After paying and stepping out, Hee-ju stood for a moment, gazing at the house before her.
A single-family house with an orange tile roof, a lawn in the yard, and a carport on one side.
It looked like any other neighboring house. Utterly ordinary.
“Is there another family living here?”
Only now did that question occur to her. She’d heard her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her. Had he lived alone all those years? Or had he remarried?
“If he’d remarried, he wouldn’t have given me the key.”
Hee-ju walked slowly forward. The house must have been vacant for a long time, yet the lawn wasn’t overgrown—someone was maintaining it regularly.
The moment she reached into her pocket for the key.
“Huh?”
Her eyes widened slightly. The door was already ajar.
“He said it was empty……”
Tilting her head, Hee-ju slowly pushed the door open. As it swung wider, the interior of the house came into view.
“What in the world……!”
It looked as though a typhoon had torn through. Frowning, she stepped inside. Beyond the cluttered entryway lay the living room.
“Good heavens.”
The chaos was even worse here. An overturned sofa, a table flung against the window, a carpet pushed against the wall, picture frames scattered across the floor, and.
……
Her expression frozen in shock, Hee-ju slowly bent down. Shattered pieces of a clock lay scattered across the floor.
“This isn’t a typhoon—it looks like a robbery……”
At that moment, she heard a sound. As Hee-ju straightened up, two men burst into the living room.
!
Before she could scream, a man clamped his hand over her mouth. There was no mercy in his rough grip.
At the same time, something blunt jabbed against her back—a cold, metallic sensation seeping through her clothes.
Primal fear seized her. Unfamiliar land, unfamiliar faces. The word “death” loomed terrifyingly clear.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————