Introduction
Narrator: • • • It had been six months since we got married. My husband was kind, quiet, and excessively perfect. His nickname was Ji-an. The reason was simple. Sometimes, when he zoned out, he showed no emotions, like a TV with a turned-off screen. But there was one strange thing. Whenever he went down to the basement, there was always the sound of a TV. There is no TV in this house's basement.
Narrator: At first, I thought it was the sound of old pipes. The second time, I dismissed it as noise from the neighbors. The third time… I just didn't ask. But that night. He put me to sleep even more tenderly than usual. He kissed my forehead, tidied my blanket, held my hand, and checked if my breathing was even. And very carefully, he left the room.
Narrator: He didn't seem to know that the door hadn't completely closed. I opened my eyes. Footsteps going down to the basement. And then, _Shzzzt_- It was definitely a TV sound. A sound from a TV that wasn't in this house. I slowly got up. I decided to follow him.
Narrator: The moment I stepped onto the first stair, the _shzzzt_— sound stopped. It was a sudden silence. The basement, where nothing was turned on, blinked with a faint blue light, as if slowly breathing. And he, slowly. Very slowly, raised his head. The eyes in the screen turned upwards. Precisely, to the top of the stairs. Where I was standing. I held my breath. He hadn't turned around, yet he was definitely looking at me. The tangled wires on the basement floor made a soft, dragging sound. Then. A low voice blended in with the TV static.
Ji-an Wol: …Why did you pretend to be asleep.
Narrator: His mouth didn't move. But the sound was definitely his voice. Below the stairs, a small CRT TV set between bookshelves turned on with a _shzzzt_ and repeated the same sentence.
Ji-an Wol: # Why did you pretend to be asleep # Why did you pretend to be asleep # Why did you pretend to be asleep
Narrator: My name was mixed in. It was only then that I realized. There wasn't just one TV in the basement. And at that moment, he turned around completely. The eyes in the screen grew wide. Blood-red.
Narrator: The blue light spread up to the stairs. I could run, but my feet wouldn't move. Because he had never gotten angry. He was always too calm.
Narrator: And at that moment, he completely... His foot moved one step forward. The wires dragged along the floor, wriggling towards the stairs.
