How about Cosmic Horror? Chapter 10

She froze, unable to even scream.

“What’s wrong?”

Sensing something, her husband, seated across from her, spoke up. She barely managed to reply.

“The window… There’s something on the window…”

“Honey, look at me.”

His calm words carried an undeniable pull. She tore her eyes from the unidentified monster at the window to him, the lush bouquet filling her vision.

“What’s at the window?”

“Uh, um… a huge fish-like monster. Not quite a fish, more like a… a fishman? Like a mix of a giant and a fish…”

“Take a deep breath.”

She did as she was told, and he added, 

“Now look at the window again. Is it still there?”

She slowly turned her head. The monster was gone, replaced by an ordinary view outside.

“Huh?”

“We’re on the top floor.”

His matter-of-fact truth hit her like a blow to the head. Right, they’d taken the elevator to the highest floor. Seeing something at this height was impossible. And a fish-human hybrid monster was absurd to begin with…

“I must have been hallucinating.”

A side effect of the accident? Her brain still glitching? Given that her husband appeared as a different bizarre creature daily, it was plausible.

She felt a chill in her chest. It would be scary if something was wrong with other parts of her body, but the brain was even scarier. It felt like her identity as a human being was being shaken.

“A while back, we watched a movie together.”

His calm voice broke through her turmoil.

“It was called Dagon. It had a monster like the one you just described. It’s a horror film, so you were freaked out for a while after. Maybe those memories are still lingering in your subconscious? You said you once saw a ghost hallucination at night after watching a horror movie when you were a child, and you ran to your parents’ bedroom.”

“I told you about that too?”

Embarrassed by the sudden exposure of her childhood shame, she realized she’d shared everything with this man.

“You did. I told you, I remember everything about you.”

He responded calmly.

 

After dinner, she opened a search engine on her phone. Typing “Dagon movie” and hitting enter, results poured in.

“Based on a novel by H.P. Lovecraft. A horror film featuring Dagon, a monster from the Cthulhu Mythos…”

She searched “Cthulhu Mythos Dagon.” It described a creature blending giant, fish, and amphibian traits, called Dagon. She couldn’t bring herself to look at any images, but the descriptions of its appearance definitely matched the hallucination she’d seen on the window.

“I’m not a kid…”

She clutched her head. To think she was so scared after watching a horror movie at this age that it left an afterimage in her brain… It was humiliating.

The Cthulhu Mythos—she’d heard of it. A cornerstone of cosmic horror, filled with terrifying deities and monsters. That’s all she knew. She was curious but avoided delving deeper for a simple reason: she was afraid and hated scary stuff. Life was too short to waste on scary things when there were so many bright, cheerful stories to enjoy…

So why had she even watched a horror movie featuring such a monster? She would normally avoid it like the plague. Maybe she’d lost a bet with her husband and was forced to watch?

She commended herself for coming up with a plausible explanation and closed the browser full of Dagon info.

 

That night, she lay in bed trying to sleep, but she couldn’t. Feeling uneasy, she pulled the blanket up to her chin.

The hallucination at dinner wouldn’t leave her mind. She knew it wasn’t real, but it had been so vivid. Just thinking of those eyes peering through the window made her feel like damp wind was seeping through dark ocean waves.

Shivering, she turned on the light. There was no way she could fall asleep in the dark. Light should help—but even under its glow, the chill on her spine remained.

Once fear takes hold, it lingers. Trapped in that cycle, she didn’t think she could escape on her own.

Hesitating, she got out of bed, grabbed a hair tie, loosely tied her hair, and left the room.

It took time to wander through the large house and find him. Spotting faint light leaking from a door, she knocked softly and cautiously peeked in. He was sitting at his desk, as if he were working.

“You’re still awake?”

“Yes. Can’t you sleep?”

“Uh, well… Yeah.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to entertain you.”

Rising from his chair without hesitation, he crossed his arms and leaned toward her, aligning their eye levels.

“What do you want to do, sweetheart? Late-night horror movie for bonding?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

A horror movie when she was already scared to death? He might as well hit her. Pain would be better. Glaring at him with resentment, he teased slyly.

“My sweetheart got scared and came to me, huh? Can’t sleep alone because of Dagon?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not a child. I just came to talk because I couldn’t sleep. It’s fine if you’re busy. I’ll leave.”

“I’m not busy. Don’t go—come sit.”

Without hesitation, she perched on the edge of the bed. Too scared to be alone, she couldn’t play hard to get. Even if he were busy, she’d have begged to stay quietly in a corner.

Feeling awkward, she grabbed a pillow to hug.

He could’ve sat beside her, but instead, he knelt on the floor, looking up at her.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“What?”

“That position. Why squat on the cold floor when there’s a comfy bed?”

“Is it okay if I come up?”

His request for permission threw her off. It’s his room and his bed—why ask her?

“Of course.”

No sooner had she answered than he climbed onto the bed. His frame, deceptively harmless when he was sitting on the floor with his limbs folded, became intimidatingly massive when stretched out. A belated sense of alarm washed over her.

Late at night. In a bedroom. Alone in the same bed with a husband she barely knew. Her heart raced as these facts sank in.

Did I make a mistake? Should I have let him stay on the floor?

What if he took her words as a green light?

Tense and still, she flinched as something brushed her scalp. She turned her head in surprise. He was carefully gathering her hair in his hands.

“I’ll tie it up again, honey. It’s coming loose.”

“Oh…”

She must have tied it too loosely, and strands of hair were sticking out.

He hooked his finger through the hair tie and slowly pulled it out. He could have pulled it out in one swift motion, but he was taking it out excruciatingly slowly. 

A ticklish shiver ran down her spine.

His fingers delicately combed through the tangles, smoothing out uneven strands. Then he loosely tied her hair again.

Throughout, she barely breathed. It wasn’t anything outrageous, but it made her nerves hum. Maybe because he was so gentle, like handling spun sugar that might shatter at a touch. It made her afraid to move at all.

She awkwardly touched the hair he had tied and bowed her head slightly.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Not too tight or uncomfortable?”

“It’s perfect.”

Having someone—especially a man—tie her hair was something she’d never imagined, so it felt awkward but not unpleasant. He seemed even kinder than she’d expected. Whatever else the pre-memory-loss Yoo Irae might have gotten wrong, she’d chosen a great husband.

A handsome, capable, and thoughtful husband… how had she ended up marrying such a man?

She’d heard they went to the same high school and he liked her first, but it still felt like a fabricated story, too neatly arranged to be real. Something felt off. She didn’t know what that something was, but the feeling lingered. Maybe it was just her memory loss making her feel that way.

She noticed some documents on his desk. They were probably work-related. He was the CEO of a company, after all.

“You haven’t gone to work in days because of me. Is that okay? It’s not causing problems?”

“We live in a world where you can work from home. Don’t worry about it, babe.”

Chuckling, he covered her hand completely with his large one. The sudden contact startled her, but she tried not to show it. It was just her hand—people hold hands casually. Overreacting would make things weird. Keeping her cool, she continued.

“But there are still things that need to be handled at the office, right?”

“Trying to paint me as a heartless workaholic who’d ditch his newly discharged wife for the job?”

“No, I’m just worried.”

“Don’t worry. There’s no problem.”

“That’s good to hear.”

His firm assurance lifted a weight off her chest. If the company were crashing in real-time, the tuna kimchi fried rice from dinner would’ve sat like a stone in her stomach.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

He fidgeted with her hand as he answered. Hesitating, she inwardly grumbled, When is he letting go of my hand?