Substitute-Chapter 23

“The school contacted me. They said they sent Jisoo an email and a text asking if he was going to re-enroll or take another leave of absence. Since they didn’t get a response by the deadline, they called.”

Jiwon’s mother, who hadn’t been able to reach Jisoo much after his initial leave of absence, had brushed it off, thinking he was just busy with work. But when the school called, she rushed up to Seoul to find him.

Except, Jisoo wasn’t living in the one-room apartment they had set up for him. According to the landlord, he’d moved out over a year ago. His mother was stunned. Every month she sent his rent and allowance, and he always texted back polite thanks. If he’d moved, there was no reason he wouldn’t have told them.

When she finally got Jisoo on the phone and asked him what was going on, he sounded unfazed.

— "I’m living at a friend’s place now. Their parents immigrated overseas."

Still, why wouldn’t you have said something?

— "I’ve been busy working. And just when I was about to tell you, Dad collapsed... so I missed the timing."

She had a lot she wanted to say, but he sounded so casual about it that she let it go.

There were more important things to worry about.

But why didn’t you re-enroll? You’re not finished working yet? fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

— "Ah, right. I forgot."

He genuinely sounded surprised.

How the hell do you forget something like that?

— "I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll apply for re-enrollment right away."

You’re not usually like this. You're making me worry.

— "Oh, come on, Mom. You know me. I’m your son, Yoon Jisoo."

He teased with a light, playful tone.

His mother calmed her nerves.

Give me the address of your new place. I’ll come see how you’re living.

But Jisoo flatly refused. He said he didn’t want to cause any trouble for the family he was staying with. He was so insistent that she had no choice but to meet him outside.

It was then she noticed — something about her youngest son felt... off.

“I should’ve done something then... I was too careless.”

Jiwon couldn’t follow what his mother was saying.

“Mom, what are you talking about? Jisoo took a leave, worked for a bit, and then went back to school, right? How does a kid like that turn into a wreck? None of this makes sense to me.”

His mother had always been the type to overreact when it came to Jisoo. Even a scratch would have her rushing him to the emergency room.

Back then, she truly hadn’t grasped the seriousness of it all.

“Jisoo didn’t re-enroll a year ago. He dropped out.”

“What? Jisoo?”

Jiwon couldn’t believe his ears.

If he had re-enrolled last year, he’d be a senior now, just one year away from graduating.

And this was Jisoo — not just a good student, but the model student.

The idea that he would drop out without saying a word to the family was absurd.

“Mom, are we still talking about my Jisoo?”

He laughed in disbelief.

“Come on, Mom. That doesn’t even make sense. Was Jisoo drinking too much or something? He said he was dropping out? That little shit, I’m gonna beat some sense into him.”

“Jiwon.”

His mother looked at him quietly.

Her eyes grew red, and then the tears spilled out.

“Our Jisoo... he’s not okay.”

She sobbed.

“What are we going to do with our Jisoo...?”

Only then did Jiwon realize — this wasn’t just about school.

He couldn’t sit still anymore.

He needed to see it for himself.

He needed to know what the hell had happened to his brother.

He shot up from his seat and strode straight toward Jisoo’s room.

His mother hurried after him, trying to stop him.

“He’s sleeping. Let him be. We’ll talk once he wakes up.”

“I’m going to hear it from him directly.”

Jiwon shook off her hand and yanked the door open.

“Hey, Yoon Jisoo! Get your ass up, you little shit!”

The smell of alcohol hit him like a wall.

And not just alcohol — something far worse.

It was the same stench he’d smelled when he helped with homeless sweeps near Seoul Station.

He told himself there was no way — no fucking way — that smell was coming from his brother.

He rushed to the window and flung it open.

A cold gust of wind howled into the room.

“You’re not getting up?”

He kicked at Jisoo’s body.

“You think you can just sleep through this? Get up!”

He ripped back the blanket — and froze, sucking in a sharp breath.

The source of that disgusting smell... was his brother.

His clothes were filthy.

His body reeked.

His hair, matted and greasy, looked like it hadn’t been washed in days — maybe weeks.

There was even chewing gum stuck in it.

Jiwon stood there, paralyzed.

This wasn’t his brother.

This wasn’t Yoon Jisoo.

“Jiwon, stop. He can’t get up anyway.”

His mother grabbed his arm.

“What... what do you mean, he can’t get up?”

“He took sleeping pills.

Please, just come out.”

His mother closed the window and dragged Jiwon out of the room.

He resisted for a moment but eventually stepped out.

"Sleeping pills?"

He turned to look at her.

"They said he hadn’t slept for three days."

"Who said that?"

"He went to the hospital himself. Said he couldn’t sleep and asked for something to help. They called me from there."

Tears spilled from his mother's eyes again.

"What are we going to do, our Jisoo..."

She buried her face in her hands.

"Come on, Mom. Why are you crying? You know Jisoo. Maybe school was too much for him. Maybe it’s just a late case of growing pains."

Jiwon hugged her gently to calm her down.

He told her they had raised Jisoo too comfortably, and maybe now he was just acting his age. He even tried to defend his brother.

But deep down, he still couldn’t accept what he had seen.

Jisoo wasn’t the kind of kid who would let himself go until he stank like that.

His Jisoo, his little brother, had been the type to keep himself spotless to the point of obsession.

Even the faintest smell would make him wrinkle his nose in disgust.

When Jiwon came home sweaty after playing with his friends, Jisoo used to clamp his nose shut and glare.

And now there was a homeless man wearing his brother’s face, lying in that bed.

It felt like being haunted.

Was there a history of schizophrenia in their family?

Most cases developed in the twenties or early thirties.

Jiwon remembered a classmate from middle school who had it.

There had been a few cases in his old neighborhood too.

And when he worked at the precinct, he’d run into people like that all the time.

He carefully asked, but his mother shook her head.

"It’s not that."

She looked like she knew something more but refused to say.

"For now, can you clean him up? Change his clothes too? No matter how much I love him, I can't exactly wash a grown man myself."

It was the real reason she had called him.

He was the only man she could trust with her youngest son.

Their father wasn’t the type to accept what had happened to Jisoo.

He had never understood his delicate, pretty son who was too quiet and too clean for his taste.

And there was no way he would tolerate the stench of a homeless man coming off him now.

"Alright, Mom. I’ll take care of it."

"Want me to grab you a towel?"

"Come on, Mom. I grew up in this house. Just go lie down and get some rest. You’re only getting in the way."

Jiwon gently pushed her into the bedroom and closed the door.

He stood in the hallway for a moment, catching his breath.

Nothing about this felt real.

His head was spinning.

But first, like his mother said, he needed to clean him up.

He wouldn’t get any answers until Jisoo woke up anyway.

Worrying alone wasn’t going to help.

He wasn’t the type to brood.

Jiwon grabbed the plastic water bucket his mother used for watering plants, some old towels he could throw away, and fresh underwear and pajamas.

He went back into the room and opened the window again.

It would be cold, but the smell needed to go first.

They were only cleaning his body — a little cold wouldn’t kill him.

He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and started stripping Jisoo’s filthy clothes, gagging several times.

Jisoo had soiled himself.

He couldn't be in his right mind.

Jiwon was convinced it had to be early signs of schizophrenia.

His body, once strong and athletic at 178 centimeters, had withered down to skin and bones.

There was no way he would have let himself go like this unless he was seriously unwell.

Not Jisoo, who used to be so proud of his body, always working out, always staying in shape.

Jiwon hated himself for not noticing sooner.

It took nearly two hours to clean him up properly.

After scrubbing his body, Jiwon dressed him in clean underwear and pajamas, changed the sheets, and replaced the blankets with fresh ones.

Then he gathered all the soiled clothes and trash into a garbage bag and took it down to the apartment’s recycling area.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

His chest felt tight.

He wandered around the apartment complex in the cold, then ended up buying a pack of cigarettes from the convenience store.

It was the first time in years.

He had picked up smoking once for the sake of looking cool, then quit.

Now, the first few drags made him cough violently, but he adjusted quickly.

He smoked two cigarettes back-to-back before heading home.

No matter how much he washed, the smell wouldn’t leave him.

It felt like it had soaked into his skin.

He scrubbed himself until his skin turned red and raw, then finally dragged himself back to his room and lay down.

He realized he wouldn’t be able to go to work tomorrow.

Even though it was late, he called his team leader.

He said his brother was sick and that he might need to take a few days off.

He was exhausted, but sleep refused to come.

If Jisoo really had schizophrenia, then maybe one day he would too.

He would never be able to get married.

How would he even begin to tell his girlfriend?

Selfishly, he kept thinking only about himself.

He worried about his own future until he finally fell asleep.

He wished it was all just a bad dream.

He hoped it would end as nothing more than a misunderstanding.

And for a while, he truly believed it would.

No one knew back then — not even Jisoo — that this was only the beginning.