Sanitization

Once again, it was morning—a new morning.

The sun cast its familiar, gentle rays throughout the house. Its warmth was just as pleasant as yesterday.

But that didn’t matter.

Who exactly was the boy sleeping on the bed… who would wake up in that human body?

…

In his slumber, his breathing seemed fast and unsteady, as if he was trapped in a nightmare.

His unconscious body twitched repeatedly, his breathing growing more agitated with each desperate movement.

Until…

“Aghh!” he cried out loud, abruptly rising from the bed as if waking up from a terrifying nightmare.

He shook his head around in a panic, his drowsy eyes desperately squinting, trying to make sense of the alarm and dread coiled inside him.

When he felt relieved that nothing was there. His panic subsided, and his breathing stabilized.

“What the hell…” he mumbled, likely confused at the feeling of panic he had felt for no apparent reason.

Then, as he soon dismissed the thought of it, along with the fact that his room was drastically different—tidy and clean. He stood up from the bed and walked towards his desk. Each step seemed driven purely by his longing for his beloved computer.

He reached for the power button on his computer to press it…

But his finger passed through the aluminum surface.

Then, a surge of memories briefly overwhelmed his mind like a flood of broken fragments.

“Wha…!” he uttered in confusion, but surprisingly, not so much in pain.

Memories of him helping his mother with a smile on his face.

Memories of him cooking for his mother with a joyful heart.

Memories of him weeping for his mother in sorrow.

The feelings and emotions he felt, the thoughts he had, they were all there in his mind.

But again, he dismissed it. Not an ounce of regret, not a hint of guilt. He had fallen down that far.

Frustrated at everything that was happening, he clicked his tongue loudly and aggressively reached for the button again.

This time, it worked, and a glowing rainbow filled the inside of the computer.

He sat down on the office chair with a loud thump, and just as he did, the door opened itself—it was his mother.

She had a soft smile on her face while opening that door, which was something quite rare for obvious reasons. But now, things had changed, at least her expression seemed to carry that thought.

“Son, let’s eat breakfast,” she said with a gentle voice and a warm smile, gazing at him with lively eyes.

A feeling of rage instantly overwhelmed him. He was already frustrated, but the sight—the very voice of his mother further angered him.

He violently turned to her in his chair. A wave of pure rage formed in his throat, ready to burst out, he shouted.

“So what! Fuck off!!”

Silence remained in the room. The mother’s smile was still there—unfaltering.

“Do-Hyun? Are you busy? Mom will be waiting, so come out when you’re done,” she said with a slightly confused voice, as she closed the door with a gentle smile.

An intense feeling of dread overcame his anger.

His body began shaking violently, his trembling hands flew to his mouth. Why is my voice not coming out…? he thought to himself in fear.

When he reached for his mouth, desperately trying to touch it with his fingers…

His fingers phased through his lips in an uncanny, sinister manner.

He screamed his lungs out. But nothing escaped his lips. There was only a painful silence.

As his cries of sheer horror did not stop, he ran out his room to the living room.

“M-Mom…! Mom!! Help me!!!” he called out to the mother who was sitting at the dining table, humming a beautiful melody with a smile.

The mother continued, without signs of stopping.

He desperately reached for his mother’s touch—he needed to feel something.

His hands went right through her, as if he was a living ghost.

Tears ran down his face as he stared into his mother’s eyes in distress.

Mmm, hmm, mmm... She hummed softly, lost in bliss—unaware, untouched, and unreachable by her son’s cries.

She slowly stood up from the chair and walked towards his bedroom. Do-Hyun quickly rushed in front of her, desperately crying, “I’m right here!!”

The mother walked through his now, nearly transparent body.

Frightened and scared for his life, he ran towards the entrance as a faint voice ringed behind him, “Do-Hyun? Did… he… somewhere…?”

When he tried to open the door, his body phased right through the wooden door. And as he left the house, the family photo of him and his mother seemed to have changed… “Do-Hyun” had completely disappeared.

He was now outside, screaming on top of his lungs for help. He tried to touch the passersby, but nothing, no one—returned his touch.

…

When everyone had passed him by, he was left all alone on the asphalt sidewalk.

His screams stopped, along with his tears that ran down uncontrollably.

And as he took a slow, deep breath, a filthy smile slowly crept its way onto his face.

“I don’t care anymore,” he murmured quietly, his wide grin still clinging to his face.

He wandered towards the first beautiful woman he saw, his eyes gleaming with a twisted—animalistic lust.

Then, he slowly reached for her cleavage, trying to feel it with both hands as he laughed maniacally.

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Well, well, what do we have here? A human who has lost his marbles. Nothing new, is it not? Humans are all like that, after all, pathetic, and miserable.

The black figure grins at you. Though you felt you were used to it, it sends a shiver down your spine.

But worry not, my dear reader. For the world is forgiving, and even for such humans, there is a beautiful… beautiful hope.

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After that, he hastily ran towards the opposite direction, shortly arriving at his high school that he had skipped for months by then.

When a teenager girl of around his age—likely a fellow student of his school was chatting with her friends at the wide entrance gate, he grinned.

And when he stepped forward to carry out his twisted desires once more, his heart racing quicker, and quicker…

His legs abruptly stopped—along with his entire body.

No matter how hard he tried to move his legs or arms, nothing moved.

Feeling an odd sensation in his hands, he tried to bring them closer to his face to check it. His hands were gone—they had disappeared entirely.

When he turned his eyes below in horror, his legs had disappeared into nothingness. And when he looked up to his chest, his body had vanished.

Soon, like an invisible soul floating in the physical world, only his thoughts of desperation, panic and urgency remained. And though he tried to speak, to cry out and scream, nothing came out.

…

“Scary, isn’t it?”

Just then, a gentle voice of mockery ringed from behind Do-Hyun.

He turned his eyes—the only sensation that was still present, and looked at the source of the sound.

It was Do-Hyun—it was himself.

“Hey there. First time meeting, huh?” he said with a sarcastic smile.

“Sorry—no, not really sorry… but I’ll be taking your place away.”

It pondered to itself as a real human would.

“Hmm… I suppose the next thing I should say is ‘Farewell’, then?”

…

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” he said with an evil smirk.

“Hey, hey! That’s a pretty nasty look you’ve got there!” it said, even though Do-Hyun’s eyes, along with his body were long gone and only his sensation remained.

It approached him with slow steps as its uncanny smirk remained. When it reached him, it whispered.

“Don’t think of me as a monster… because in reality—” he paused, before speaking again in a low voice.

“You are that monster.”

…

By then, Do-Hyun had nearly ceased to exist, even his soul seemed to have shattered into invisible, non-existing fragments. But he said, for the last time.

“Good bye.”

Do-Hyun’s existence vanished. His last remaining sensation was gone, along with his very soul—and at the same time, he was reborn.

Just as Do-Hyun ceased to exist, Do-Hyun stood alone. Its smirk of cruelty faded… replaced by a calm, tender and gentle smile. The sharp gleam in its eyes softened, and its posture relaxed. He seemed different.

And as Do-Hyun began desperately running to the far distance, he said with a voice of worry and guilt.

“Mom…”

He reached his home and quickly entered through the door, flinging it open.

He quickly darted his eyes across the living room as if to search for something.

…

“Do-Hyun? Where have you been?” a gentle voice ringed at the corner of his eyes.

“Mom!” he said, surprised at her sudden calling out. “Ah… I—I just went outside for a quick breather.”

He turned his eyes to the dining table with two white plates filled with tasty meal that had gone cold by then.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I should’ve—” he said, before the mother interrupted him as she sat down on a chair.

“—Come here, son,” she said with a soft smile, gesturing with her delicate hand for him to sit too.

Do-Hyun smiled with an energetic nod, and headed towards the chair beside his mother’s.

“Let’s eat, Mom!”

…

And they lived happily ever after.

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As it reads the last sentence, the figure closes the book and says to you with a satisfied smile.

Ah, peace at last, do you not think so?

Smiles all around, healed hearts and a happy ending.

It pauses for a brief moment with an indifferent expression.

Oh, except for the tiny inconvenient matter of the original, who now resides in a quiet corner of non-existence. But who cares...

When everything is flawless, right?

You feel something… an inexplicable feeling crawling through your shoulders. You think to yourself… Is this really okay?

The figure, as if noticing your hesitation, speaks directly to you.

Nonono, you don’t have to feel guilt or bitterness. After all, you felt satisfied as well, did you not?

All you’ve got to do is smile, and embrace that pleasant feeling of yours, and clap for this beautiful ending.

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