I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER

Chapter 218: Jisoo has figured it out

"Hey, what time is it?"

Jisoo looked at me sideways. "5:31."

"So you’ve got an hour and a half left."

"Yep." She grabbed my shirt without warning, pulled, and leaned forward until her forehead pressed flat against mine, close enough that I had to consciously remember how to breathe normally. "And before that happens— boundaries. Remember. I remember everything the other me does, so I swear, Si Hon—"

"I know," I said. "I know."

She held there for a second longer, like she wanted to make sure the message had physically transferred through the forehead contact, then let go.

We made our way back to the rooftop, and I watched with genuine curiosity as Jisoo crouched over MY mattress she’d somehow stole earlier and activated something— a thin frost spreading from her hands across the surface, stiffening it, and then she was folding it like a piece of paper, compact and neat, and sliding it into the bag like it weighed nothing.

I stared at the bag. Then at where my mattress had been.

So that’s how it fit. ಠ_ಠ That’s how my mattress fit in that bag. Of course.

I picked her up and we went north again, building to building, the city rolling past underneath in the early morning dark while the aurora finished its slow fade above us.

About an hour later, mid-jump between two rooftops, Jisoo’s arms loosened slightly from around my neck. "Ay. 6:59. Seems like it’s my time to spectate."

"Yep."

I landed, set her down, and one minute passed.

Her eyes opened differently. She looked at me, then around at the rooftops in every direction, and went completely still. "Ah... where are we?"

"Going north."

"Oh." A pause. "But weren’t I just sitting in a chair? And you were there too, and—"

I sighed, realized this wouldn’t end, so I sat down on the concrete barrier, and started explaining. All of it, as cleanly as I could manage— the split personality, the timing, the 8PM to 7AM window, the way in the morning she wake up not remembering anything night Jisoo had done.

I tried to not mention the word "real" because... to be honest, both of them are real to me, I left out the part about boundaries too, mostly for my own survival.

It took several minutes, maybe more, both of us sitting in the early morning quiet while the sky finished doing whatever it was doing.

When I finished, she was sitting on the ground looking at her own hands.

I stood up. Walked over. Reached toward her head on instinct and stopped— pulled my hand back before it landed.

Both her arms shot out and grabbed my wrist before I completed the retreat.

She yanked my hand down unto her head and held it there firmly, looking up at me with a pout. "Hon Hon! Are you holding yourself back because of my other self?!"

I nodded, jaw tight, already running my imagination on what was going to happen to me later tonight.

She narrowed her eyes.

Then she stood up, grabbed my collar, and launched herself into a hug— arms around my neck, face pressing into my shoulder. "If my other self is mad at you for being sweet and kind," she said, muffled against my jacket, "I hate her."

She took a breath, held it, and her grip tightened. "Let me guess. She’s the one who talks about making boundaries." A pause. Her voice went somewhere quieter. "And... she’s probably beating you too, isn’t she."

Though, the last part came out with a tone that did something strange to the air between us... actually spook me A bit.

I closed my eyes.

A definitely not dramatic tear, ran down my left cheek. (I’m so, incredibly, completely, specifically, and precisely dead. I tried not to say anything but she worked it out in thirty seconds anyway because of course she did— she still has all of the brain, just none of the experience, and that combination is terrifying.

I reached up and pushed her back gently, one hand on her whole head, pressing until she stepped back and looked at me.

She obeyed, which I appreciated, and then started looking around properly. "We’re still going north, right? Is there a chance the camp is in—" She stopped.

"What?"

She pointed behind me. "Smoke. About two miles that way."

I turned. She was right— a thin column, steady, the kind that came from a controlled fire rather than something burning out of control. "Yeah. The camp’s in the direction we’re already heading."

She lit up.

The kind of fast bright shift that only morning Jisoo could pull off, and launched herself back at me immediately, arms around my neck.

"Let’s go check it!!! It might be so cool!!!" The excitement was so immediate and physical that she was already adjusting position before I’d fully agreed, legs finding my waist, the full koala setup coming back without asking. "Let’s go!"

Rea— I mean Night Jisoo would have called the camp a burden and a waste of time and listed three reasons why before I’d finished the sentence.

I sighed and nodded.

But this Jisoo is different... aha... wouldn’t mind though.

Her arms tightened. "Did the other me say it’s a burden? Is that why you’re sighing?"

"No."

"She did." A pause. "I hate her I fu— ahem." She cleared her throat. "Hon. Let’s. Go~?"

I started running.

Is it bad that I told her about the split personality? I thought, feeling her lock in against me as I hit the edge of the rooftop and pushed off.

She figured out everything the other Jisoo was doing in under a minute. That might’ve been a mistake. That might’ve been a very specific mistake.

Kind of scary... haha.

"Let’s GO!!" she said happily, right next to my ear.

I kept running. And run, run run run run run run run run run... Yk? actually, I don’t even know why I’m repeating this word, probably because I’m out of words to say...