CALL ME • MYUNG JAEHYUN - Chapter 17: Chapter 17
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JAEHYUN
My phone rang a little past midnight.
I almost didn’t pick up—thinking it was some spam number, or a missed call waiting to be ignored. But something made my chest twist, and before I could think, I pressed the green button and brought it to my ear.
“…Jaehyun?”
Her voice was small. Smaller than usual. Not broken—but unraveling.
“Yeah,” I said, sitting up on my bed. “What’s wrong?”
There was a pause. A deep breath. A sound like the world cracking beneath it.
“Do you ever feel like… dying wouldn’t be that big of a deal?”
The question hit me like ice water. I sat there, stunned, heart crawling up my throat.
“I mean,” she continued, “not in a dramatic way. Just… like maybe I wasn’t meant to last long anyway. Everyone else in my family is already gone.”
She let out a short, bitter laugh.
“My parents, my brother… they all died when I was younger. Car accident. I was the only one who survived. And for a while, people kept saying, ‘You were spared for a reason.’”
She paused.
“But what if they were wrong? What if I was the mistake?”
“Eunhye…” I whispered, but she kept going.
“I used to think there was something wrong with me. That I made people disappear. Like I was cursed, or something. And now, with this—”
Her breath hitched.
“This thing in my head… maybe it’s the universe finally collecting its debt.”
“Stop,” I said, but it came out too quietly. Too helpless.
“I’m so tired, Jaehyun.”
Her voice was crumbling.
“I’m tired of being the one who stays behind. Of pretending I’m okay when everything hurts. Even dreaming hurts now. I close my eyes and I see people who aren’t here anymore. I wake up and I’m still blind. I’m still alone.”
“You’re not alone,” I said quickly. “You’re not.”
I pressed the phone tighter to my ear, swallowing the ache in my throat.
“You’re not a mistake,” I said, louder now. “You hear me? You were never a mistake.”
But she didn’t respond right away. I imagined her curled up in the hospital bed, phone pressed to her cheek, eyes closed to a world she couldn’t see anymore.
“I used to think that if I disappeared,” she whispered, “no one would really notice. Just a blip. Just someone people would forget.”
“I’d notice,” I said, fiercely now. “I’d know. And I’d never stop knowing.”
The line went quiet for a moment, save for the soft hum of hospital air behind her breathing.
“…I’m sorry I called.”
“Don’t be,” I said instantly. “Call me whenever. Even if you’re not saying anything.”
EUNHYE
I don’t remember how long it was before the phone call ended.
I just sat there, holding the phone against my chest like it was some kind of lifeline. A part of me told myself I should be grateful, that Jaehyun had answered. That I’d finally reached him. But the other part, the one that was far too tired to keep fighting, just wanted to slip into silence and let everything fall away. I couldn’t even feel the weight of my own body anymore, numb to the bed beneath me, numb to the empty room that stretched into eternity.
I couldn’t see anything anymore. The darkness was permanent, a thick, suffocating blanket that pressed against my skin. I used to think I could pretend the blindness was just a bad dream. That it would go away, and the world would unfold before me like a promise I had yet to keep. But every day was a reminder of the truth. Every day was another bruise on my soul.
I leaned back against the pillow, letting my head rest against the cool surface. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from spinning. They always did this when the night came. When the lights were out and it was just me and the ghosts of my past. My parents, my brother... they felt so far away now. Almost as if I had never known them, as if they never really existed, but the ache in my chest kept reminding me that they had been real once. That the pieces of me that had died with them still lingered in every broken part of my heart.
"Please don't let me be a mistake," I whispered aloud to the empty room, to no one in particular. "Please don't let me fade away like the rest of them."
But as soon as the words left my mouth, something inside me shifted. A sharp, sudden pain bloomed in my chest, searing and hot, spreading quickly like wildfire. I gasped, my breath catching in my throat as I tried to force the air into my lungs. It felt like I couldn’t breathe, like my body had forgotten how to function.
I tried to sit up, but the world tilted, spinning out of control, and then everything went black.
My phone rang a little past midnight.
I almost didn’t pick up—thinking it was some spam number, or a missed call waiting to be ignored. But something made my chest twist, and before I could think, I pressed the green button and brought it to my ear.
“…Jaehyun?”
Her voice was small. Smaller than usual. Not broken—but unraveling.
“Yeah,” I said, sitting up on my bed. “What’s wrong?”
There was a pause. A deep breath. A sound like the world cracking beneath it.
“Do you ever feel like… dying wouldn’t be that big of a deal?”
The question hit me like ice water. I sat there, stunned, heart crawling up my throat.
“I mean,” she continued, “not in a dramatic way. Just… like maybe I wasn’t meant to last long anyway. Everyone else in my family is already gone.”
She let out a short, bitter laugh.
“My parents, my brother… they all died when I was younger. Car accident. I was the only one who survived. And for a while, people kept saying, ‘You were spared for a reason.’”
She paused.
“But what if they were wrong? What if I was the mistake?”
“Eunhye…” I whispered, but she kept going.
“I used to think there was something wrong with me. That I made people disappear. Like I was cursed, or something. And now, with this—”
Her breath hitched.
“This thing in my head… maybe it’s the universe finally collecting its debt.”
“Stop,” I said, but it came out too quietly. Too helpless.
“I’m so tired, Jaehyun.”
Her voice was crumbling.
“I’m tired of being the one who stays behind. Of pretending I’m okay when everything hurts. Even dreaming hurts now. I close my eyes and I see people who aren’t here anymore. I wake up and I’m still blind. I’m still alone.”
“You’re not alone,” I said quickly. “You’re not.”
I pressed the phone tighter to my ear, swallowing the ache in my throat.
“You’re not a mistake,” I said, louder now. “You hear me? You were never a mistake.”
But she didn’t respond right away. I imagined her curled up in the hospital bed, phone pressed to her cheek, eyes closed to a world she couldn’t see anymore.
“I used to think that if I disappeared,” she whispered, “no one would really notice. Just a blip. Just someone people would forget.”
“I’d notice,” I said, fiercely now. “I’d know. And I’d never stop knowing.”
The line went quiet for a moment, save for the soft hum of hospital air behind her breathing.
“…I’m sorry I called.”
“Don’t be,” I said instantly. “Call me whenever. Even if you’re not saying anything.”
EUNHYE
I don’t remember how long it was before the phone call ended.
I just sat there, holding the phone against my chest like it was some kind of lifeline. A part of me told myself I should be grateful, that Jaehyun had answered. That I’d finally reached him. But the other part, the one that was far too tired to keep fighting, just wanted to slip into silence and let everything fall away. I couldn’t even feel the weight of my own body anymore, numb to the bed beneath me, numb to the empty room that stretched into eternity.
I couldn’t see anything anymore. The darkness was permanent, a thick, suffocating blanket that pressed against my skin. I used to think I could pretend the blindness was just a bad dream. That it would go away, and the world would unfold before me like a promise I had yet to keep. But every day was a reminder of the truth. Every day was another bruise on my soul.
I leaned back against the pillow, letting my head rest against the cool surface. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from spinning. They always did this when the night came. When the lights were out and it was just me and the ghosts of my past. My parents, my brother... they felt so far away now. Almost as if I had never known them, as if they never really existed, but the ache in my chest kept reminding me that they had been real once. That the pieces of me that had died with them still lingered in every broken part of my heart.
"Please don't let me be a mistake," I whispered aloud to the empty room, to no one in particular. "Please don't let me fade away like the rest of them."
But as soon as the words left my mouth, something inside me shifted. A sharp, sudden pain bloomed in my chest, searing and hot, spreading quickly like wildfire. I gasped, my breath catching in my throat as I tried to force the air into my lungs. It felt like I couldn’t breathe, like my body had forgotten how to function.
I tried to sit up, but the world tilted, spinning out of control, and then everything went black.
End of CALL ME • MYUNG JAEHYUN Chapter 17. Continue reading Chapter 18 or return to CALL ME • MYUNG JAEHYUN book page.