The Sleepwalker’s Mansion Chapter 2

“That’s because I applied for a personal care assistant at the community service center.”

He was able to apply for a personal care assistant after happening to see a poster on the bulletin board at the community service center. Although he had to pay a hefty co-payment of 500,000 won out of the 1.5 million won he received from the reverse mortgage.

Thanks to that, Doeon, who was not skilled in cooking, was learning how to make food and could leave his mother with Mister Seonhee for a short while to go for a walk with a peaceful mind. Above all, he liked that he could, even for a moment, smell, see, and talk to someone other than his mother.

However, his mother suspected Mister Seonhee of being a spy sent from his paternal family. Her judgment wasn’t this clouded before, but as her illness deepened, his mother’s paranoia was also worsening. The yellowed whites of his mother’s eyes glinted wildly, and her capillaries became visible.

“Seo Doeon! In this house, it has to be just you and me! The two of us have to protect this house! Do you understand? This is the house my father built. We have to protect it!”

He knew that once she got worked up like this, she would hound him until he agreed. Doeon hurriedly brought the spoon to his mother’s mouth and pleaded.

“I understand, Mom. I was wrong. Please eat. You have to eat to take your medicine.”

His mother, who had been shouting in an angry tone, immediately let out a phlegmy cough.

“Cough, cough, Doeon, stop. I’m done eating. Cough, cough….”

“Mom, are you okay? Why did you get so worked up?”

He had to withdraw the spoon that had been going back and forth a few times at the sound of his mother’s coughing. Had it even gone into her mouth ten times? Lately, his mother was eating even less than before. The soggy noodles remained, filling the bowl. Swallowing down the unabating cough, his mother buried her pale face in the pillow.

“Cough, cough. I’ll be fine after I take my medicine. Hurry up and give me my medicine.”

“Okay.”

With a deep sigh, Doeon opened his mother’s medicine box. Various painkillers and drugs to slow the progression of her illness. Among them, the most potent ones were likely the nervous system-related sleeping pills. His mother spent most of her day in a drowsy, half-asleep state. He shook the pills into his mother’s hand and poured her a glass of water.

His mother ate her food like bitter medicine and swallowed her medicine like a meal. After drinking water for a good while, his mother asked as if letting out a sigh.

“Haa, you’re taking your medicine properly too, right?”

“Yes. I’m taking it.”

“If anything feels wrong, you must go see Dr. Kang. How are your symptoms? Do you still just collapse these days?”

Dr. Kang was Doeon’s primary physician. The reason why Doeon had to stay only inside the house, why he didn’t have a social life. The reason lay in Doeon’s chronic illness.

“No, I’m fine when I take the medicine.”

A secret Doeon wanted to hide along with his secondary gender. Doeon had narcolepsy. Narcolepsy was a sleep disorder characterized by sleep attacks, a condition where an irresistible urge to sleep comes on at any time. In other words, he would fall asleep as if fainting, regardless of his own will.

“It’s a relief as long as you’re not collapsing. You talk in your sleep too, you know.”

Doeon’s narcolepsy was also a little different from typical narcolepsy, in that it was accompanied by sleepwalking. It wasn’t always the case, but sometimes he would say incomprehensible or meaningless things and walk around the mansion while asleep.

All these symptoms began after Doeon presented as a Recessive Omega when he was fifteen. Doeon’s primary physician had informed him that it was a type of side effect that occurred as he presented as a Recessive Omega.

“It’s unfair enough that I presented as a Recessive, but to get a wretched disease on top of it. How can I be so unlucky.”

His mother muttered to herself. A sharp pain pricked his heart. Not only was it unfair to have presented as a Recessive Omega, but he had also acquired a secondary illness.

“I don’t do that anymore since I take my medicine….”

Doeon answered without confidence. Just a little while ago, an indistinct ringing had hovered in his ears and he had felt dizzy for a moment. The anxiety about narcolepsy, which could make him faint at any time, lurked everywhere, at all times. And the anxiety about sleepwalking, about how he might wake up in the garden after wandering the mansion in the middle of the night. Doeon thought it was like an illness that came from the humiliation of being a Recessive Omega, an inferior gender. Perhaps he was fated to live trapped in this mansion for his entire life.

Doeon pulled the blanket up to his mother’s chest. His mother squeezed her weary eyelids shut and chanted as if casting a spell.

“You must not forget to take your suppressants either. If an Omega goes into heat just anywhere, they become a plaything for Alphas. You must not let anyone into the house when your heat cycle comes. Absolutely not, Doeon… in this house, there must only be you and me. Only us two….”

“I understand, Mom. Please go to sleep now.”

Just then, beep, beep, his phone alarm went off. It was the alarm to take his suppressant. Taking suppressants at a set time ensures the regular cycle and frequency of the heat cycle. Otherwise, his pheromone system would collapse, and he would experience a heat period that felt like his lower body was on fire.

Doeon let out a small sigh, took out a medicine packet from his pants pocket, and tore it open. He swallowed the medicine along with bitter saliva instead of water. His mother soon fell into a deep sleep, breathing softly like a baby, hush, hush. Doeon carefully closed the bedroom door and came out.

The days continued, no different from any other. It was the beginning of May, with the warm spring breeze blowing gently. A unique damp smell spread through the mansion after the spring rain had passed. The smell of water-soaked wood and soil that had not yet dried.

Doeon had just finished giving his mother her lunch and was coming down to the first floor. Mister Seonhee, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen, spotted Doeon and called out to him.

“Are you going for a walk now?”

“I’m thinking of going for a swim.”

“A swim?”

“Yes. The weather is nice.”

Doeon had already finished preparing to go swimming. He was in a short pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He had already put on his swimsuit under the shorts. Mister Seonhee, who was scanning Doeon’s attire up and down, spoke in an envious tone.

“It must be nice to have a private pool so you can go swimming whenever you want.”

“Ah… I do it in the stream.”

There was no way they could afford to fill the swimming pool on their tight budget.

“Is there a river here too?”

“It’s too grand to call it a river, but a small stream flows through the garden.”

“I see. Can you see it from the second-floor terrace too?”

“Yes. You should be able to.”

“Then since the sun is nice, shall I take your mother out to the terrace too?”

“That would be nice.”

“Where was the wheelchair.”

“By the entrance. I’ll bring it for you.”

Mister Seonhee would occasionally put his mother in the wheelchair and stroll around inside the mansion. His mother, who had been glaring at him with sidelong glances, thinking he was a spy sent from her paternal family, seemed to be getting more comfortable entrusting her body to his meticulous care rather than her own son’s clumsy touch. He thought it was a relief.

“Madam, shall we get some sun on the terrace?”

“…Yes. Let’s do that.”

Doeon brought the wheelchair from the entrance, moved it to the second floor, and prepared to move his mother. As he put his hands under his mother’s shoulders, her eyes scanned Doeon’s clothes. Her gaze lingered on the shorts that went above his knees and the short-sleeved shirt that exposed his elbows.

“Doeon, you’re not wearing long clothes.”

His mother was sensitive about Doeon’s attire. She hated it when he wore clothes that exposed a lot of skin. Mister Seonhee, who didn’t know this, grabbed his mother’s two legs and pulled them toward the wheelchair, adding a word.

“He said he’s going for a swim.”

“A swim?”

“Yes. In the stream.”

“The stream? Seo Doeon. Are you in your right mind?”

The sparks flew instantly. Doeon, without answering, lifted his mother’s upper body and leaned her back against the wheelchair. He knew his mother didn’t approve of him swimming because of his narcolepsy. But having her interfere with his only hobby was suffocating.

Mister Seonhee, who didn’t know about Doeon’s narcolepsy, mindlessly took Doeon’s side as he placed his mother’s feet on the wheelchair pedals.

“The weather is nice, Madam. On a day like this, taking a cool dip in the water relieves stress and is so good for you.”

“Mister, don’t talk about things you don’t know!”

“Oh my, I can’t seem to say anything right….”

The atmosphere instantly turned cold at his mother’s shrill voice. It was best to leave before his mother said anything more. Doeon avoided his mother’s gaze and turned his back.

“I’m leaving now.”

“Seo Doeon—!”

“I’ll be back!”

He ignored the voice calling from behind him and left the bedroom. Doeon headed for the stream under the garden bridge. A small stream ran across the garden of the mansion. It was a humble scale, even to be called a stream, but it was perfect for dipping his feet or peacefully soaking his body.

Here, Doeon enjoyed swimming. He liked that while he swam, parting the glittering water surface where the sunlight shattered, no distracting thoughts came to him.

Yellow irises were in full bloom by the stream. He sat on a rock, smelling the fragrance of the irises and listening to the gentle sound of the water. The sound of the waves was like a lullaby. His only sanctuary. Finally, I feel alive. Doeon slowly closed his eyes.

“Seo Doeon—!”

Just then, he heard a voice calling him from far away. He lifted his head and saw his mother sitting in a wheelchair on the mansion’s second-floor terrace. Behind her, Mister Seonhee stood holding the wheelchair. He was probably watching over him out of worry.

Doeon waved to them. Then he took off his t-shirt and shorts and stood straight on the rock. His pale skin shone transparently under the May sun. Doeon put his palms together and prepared to dive into the water.

“Doeon, be careful—!”

His mother’s voice echoed. He raised his hand and waved once more to signal that he was okay, and then plunged into the water. The way his slender arms pushed through the current was like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.

Doeon moved forward without hesitation. After going for a good while, he turned around and looked at the mansion. The once magnificent mansion had become small enough to be held in his hand. When he blinked his large, light brown eyes, his mother, far away, became a small dot reflected on his retina.

Splash, he lay on top of the water and looked up at the sky. The sky was a vivid blue. A line of brown-headed shrikes flew by in a single file. He envied the free birds. He wanted to fly away like that too.

Then what about Mom?

Ah, I don’t know.

A wave of languor washed over him. He wanted to take a nap just like this.

In that moment, beeeep—a ringing sound rushed in. No, I don’t mean I’m actually going to sleep. It was a sign of narcolepsy again. But I took my medicine. It would be a huge problem if narcolepsy hit in the water. He could suffocate and die in the water.

Doeon thrashed and flailed his limbs with all his might. Splash, splash. White foam churned violently next to Doeon’s body. Water droplets splattered mercilessly and went into his nose. He couldn’t breathe.

“Doeon—!”

A single shriek came from afar. It was his mother’s voice. Mom, I’m okay. Let’s take a slow, deep breath. Doeon tried to regain his breathing. He turned his head out of the water, opened his mouth, and secured his breath.

He paddled with both arms, slowly parting the water and moving in the opposite direction. Then, the ringing in his ears gradually subsided. At that moment, within his wavering vision in the water’s current, a small dot suddenly fell, thud, from outside the terrace. And it rolled over and over.

What was that?

Doeon paused for a moment and stared blankly at the scene. Until that small dot rolled and rolled and came to a stop at a certain point.

Anxiety crept up his spine. This is strange. With his face half-submerged in the water, he slowly blinked his large eyes.

“Aaaaaah—!”

At the scream that shook his brain, Doeon snapped back to his senses. The main gate of the mansion burst open, and wasn’t someone running out? His mother couldn’t walk, so the person running out must be Mister Seonhee. And the small dot.

The small dot.

“……!”

Doeon, with a pale face, paddled his arms and scrambled out of the water. With a complexion so white it was bluish, he dashed across the garden.