Chapter 8: Confused day.
2173 Words
Luna stared at her phone like it had just insulted her entire bloodline. For a few seconds she couldn’t even speak. Her chest was rising too fast, her fingers trembling around the device while Jihoon’s voice still echoed in her ears.
“We had s*x last night.”
The sentence sounded so absurd that her brain almost rejected it immediately, like when somebody tells you rain fell upward instead of down. It just didn’t fit into reality. Then the anger came. Fast.
“The most stupid thing,” she snapped, her voice cracking from disbelief, “the absolute most stupid thing you have ever said to me.”
Jihoon went silent on the other end. Luna sat upright on the bed so quickly the blanket slipped from her legs. Her hair was messy, her eyes already wet with frustration.
“What do you mean I came to your place and we had s*x? Jihoon, are you actually hearing yourself right now?” Still silence. “No seriously, answer me. Are you trying to tell me you cheated on me and now you’re inventing one nonsense supernatural story because you think I’m dumb?”
“Luna—”
“No. Don’t Luna me.” Her voice became smaller after that, which somehow sounded worse than the shouting. “Even if you cheated on me, don’t say something like that to me. It hurts.”
That part landed harder than she expected. Because the truth was, Luna would have preferred normal cheating over this insanity. A random girl? Fine. Painful, yes. Humiliating, definitely. But at least it would make sense. This? This sounded like the beginning of a cursed movie where people die one after another.
Jihoon exhaled heavily through the phone. She could hear the confusion in him too, which only made her more emotional. Then suddenly—the call ended.
Luna blinked. For one second she thought the network failed. Then she realized Jihoon had hung up on her. “Oh my God.”
The tears came immediately after that. Not graceful tears either. The ugly kind. The kind where your breathing starts breaking apart and your throat hurts like somebody shoved stones inside it. Her fingers moved before her emotions could calm down. She blocked his number instantly. Blocked his messages. Blocked everything.
“i***t,” she whispered shakily. Then she crawled back under the blanket like she was trying to disappear from the world itself. The room felt too quiet now. That was the dangerous thing about heartbreak. It made silence loud.
Luna buried her face into the pillow and cried harder. “Can this guy ever understand the level of pain he just brought to my heart?” she muttered between tears.
And right beside her, curled calmly near the pillow, was the tiny black kitten. Sleeping peacefully. Completely innocent-looking. Which honestly made everything more disturbing. Because every time Luna looked at the kitten now, one terrible thought kept punching through her mind: What if Jihoon wasn’t lying?
“No,” she whispered immediately, shaking her head against the pillow. “No. Impossible.” Still… her stomach twisted.
The bedroom door suddenly opened. Noa walked in casually, holding a bottle of water, but the moment she saw Luna crying, she froze. Actually froze. Because this was not normal. Luna was the emotionally strong one between them. She was the type to insult you while heartbroken and still maintain eye contact like a war general. Seeing her under a blanket crying over a man? That was apocalypse-level shocking.
Noa slowly closed the door behind her. “…Whoa.”
Luna didn’t answer. Noa moved closer carefully. “Are you actually crying?”
“Get out.”
“No seriously, are those real tears?”
Luna pulled the blanket tighter over herself. “I said get out.”
Instead, Noa sat on the edge of the bed. Then she noticed the kitten beside Luna. The exact same kitten that had somehow become strangely attached to her sister recently. Its bright eyes stared directly at Noa before it lazily stretched itself and returned to resting.
Noa frowned slightly. Something about this entire situation felt weird. “Wait,” she said slowly. “This is because of Jihoon?”
That name immediately made Luna cry harder. Noa’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.” For the first time in history, a man had successfully damaged her sister emotionally. This was serious. Noa immediately reached for her phone. “I’m calling Mom.”
Luna groaned from under the blanket. “Don’t.”
Too late. Noa had already started the video call. A few seconds later, Mrs. Janny’s face appeared on the screen, with Joy squeezing into the frame beside her almost immediately.
“What happened?” Mrs. Janny asked.
Noa flipped the camera dramatically toward the bed. “Emergency.”
Joy gasped loudly. “LUNA IS CRYING?”
Mrs. Janny blinked twice in disbelief. “No no no,” she said immediately. “Show me properly. I don’t believe this.”
Noa zoomed closer. Luna looked absolutely miserable beneath the blanket, her eyes swollen already. Mrs. Janny suddenly burst into laughter. Not wicked laughter. The shocked kind.
“Heartbreak?” she asked, trying not to laugh again. “This strong-headed girl?”
“Mom!” Luna cried.
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Janny said, still smiling. “I’m trying to comfort you but this is shocking news.”
Even Joy was struggling not to laugh. “This is historic,” Joy said. “Someone finally defeated Luna emotionally.”
“You people are evil,” Luna muttered.
Mrs. Janny softened her expression after that. “Okay okay. Tell us what happened.”
“You won’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Luna hesitated. Because saying it out loud would make it sound even crazier. But all three of them kept staring at her expectantly. Finally she sat up slowly, wiping her eyes. Then she pointed angrily at the kitten.
“That thing.”
The room went quiet. Noa looked at the kitten. Joy looked confused through the phone. Mrs. Janny adjusted her glasses dramatically. “The cat?”
“Yes, the cat!”
The kitten blinked innocently. Luna inhaled deeply. “Jihoon called me this morning claiming I came to his house last night.”
Noa frowned. “Okay…”
“And apparently…” Luna swallowed hard, “…apparently something that looks exactly like me slept with him.”
Silence. Then Joy laughed. Hard. Mrs. Janny nearly dropped the phone. Noa looked between Luna and the kitten like her brain had stopped functioning.
“Wait wait wait,” Joy said breathlessly. “You mean somebody copied your face?”
Luna pointed at the kitten again. “I think it’s this stupid thing.”
Another silence. Then all three voices shouted together. “How?!” Exactly like that. Same tone. Same confusion. Because honestly, what kind of explanation even existed for this?
Luna rubbed her forehead tiredly. “I know how insane it sounds. But Jihoon sounded serious. Like… genuinely serious.”
Noa looked uncomfortable now. Mrs. Janny stopped smiling completely. Even Joy’s amusement faded little by little. Because Luna wasn’t joking. And that part made everything worse.
Meanwhile Jihoon was having the worst basketball session of his life. The court was loud with sneakers screeching against polished ground, teammates shouting directions, the sharp bounce of basketballs echoing everywhere. Usually this was where Jihoon escaped mentally. Not today.
Today he missed easy passes. Missed open shots. At one point he literally stood still while the ball rolled past him.
“BRO!” His teammate snatched the ball before the opposing team could steal it. “What are you doing?”
Jihoon blinked slowly like he had just returned from another dimension. Honestly, maybe he had. Because how exactly was he supposed to focus on basketball after spending the morning questioning whether he slept with a ghost version of his girlfriend? Even saying it internally sounded ridiculous.
By the third mistake, his teammates gave up. “Nah,” one of them said, pointing toward the bench. “Sub him out. Something is wrong with this guy today.”
Jihoon didn’t even argue. That was how bad it was. He sat on the bench afterward, elbows on knees, staring blankly at the floor while sweat rolled down his neck. His mind kept replaying everything from last night. The touch. The voice. The scent. It was Luna. Every detail was Luna.
But the real Luna sounded horrified this morning. Which meant either: She was lying. He was losing his mind. Or something deeply unnatural was happening. And honestly? None of the options felt comforting.
After the match ended, one of his closest friends, Kenzy, walked over carrying two cold drinks. Kenzy sat beside him and handed him one. “Bro,” he said casually, “you messed up badly today.”
Jihoon sighed. “I know.”
Kenzy leaned back. “So what’s going on?”
Jihoon hesitated. Because this story sounded dangerous outside his own head. But keeping it inside was making him feel worse. Finally he spoke. “I think…” he paused, rubbing his face tiredly, “I think I slept with a ghost.”
Kenzy stared at him. Then burst out laughing immediately.
Jihoon looked annoyed already. “This is why I hate talking to you.”
“No wait,” Kenzy laughed harder, nearly choking. “Explain properly.”
Jihoon reluctantly told him everything. The midnight visit. How identical she looked to Luna. How real everything felt. Then Luna denying everything completely. By the time he finished, Kenzy was wheezing with laughter.
“Guy,” he said finally, wiping tears from his eyes, “you have upgraded.”
Jihoon frowned. “What?”
“You have passed normal beautiful ladies.” Kenzy pointed dramatically at him. “Now you have entered beautiful ghost level.”
Jihoon stared at him in disbelief. “That’s your advice?”
“No seriously,” Kenzy continued, laughing again, “other men are battling heartbreak. Meanwhile you are out here attracting supernatural girlfriends.”
Jihoon shoved him lightly. “Kenzy, why are you like this? I’m telling you a serious problem and you’re behaving like it’s an achievement.”
“It IS an achievement!”
Jihoon groaned loudly. “I didn’t know you were this evil.”
Kenzy kept laughing until Jihoon finally started laughing too despite himself. Not because the situation was funny. Actually it was terrifying. But sometimes when life becomes too absurd, laughter is the only thing stopping your brain from collapsing completely.
Back at home, Luna remained in bed almost the entire day. She ignored food. Ignored messages. Ignored reality honestly. Every time her stomach growled, she stubbornly drank water instead. Heartbreak had this strange ability to make food feel offensive. Like eating meant accepting life was continuing normally when your emotions clearly weren’t.
The kitten stayed close to her the whole time. Watching. Quiet. Almost human-like sometimes. That part unsettled her most.
Evening slowly arrived. Then night. And eventually Luna’s stomach finally rebelled properly. A long painful growl escaped her body. She opened one eye beneath the blanket.
“…Fantastic.”
Because apparently heartbreak could destroy emotions but not appetite. Her stomach clearly did not care about romance. Luna sat up slowly and glanced toward the door carefully. The house was quiet. Good. She slipped from the bed and tiptoed toward the kitchen like a criminal.
The cold floor beneath her feet made her shiver slightly. She opened the fridge carefully. Light spilled across her face. Immediately she started grabbing random food without dignity anymore. Rice. Chicken. Juice. At this point emotional suffering had officially lost against hunger.
Then—
“You finally remembered food exists?”
Luna nearly screamed. She spun around dramatically. Mrs. Janny stood near the kitchen entrance with folded arms and an amused smile. Luna clutched her chest. “Mom!”
Mrs. Janny laughed softly. “You were starving yourself because of a man?”
Luna looked away immediately. “It wasn’t intentional.”
“Mhm.” Mrs. Janny walked closer and touched her daughter’s hair gently. The teasing expression disappeared after that. Because no matter how funny heartbreak looked from the outside sometimes, seeing your child genuinely hurting still pinched something inside your chest.
“You really like him, huh?” she asked quietly.
Luna’s eyes watered again instantly. And honestly? That answered the question better than words ever could.
- Writer
