I think I died that night at the lake

So this happened like 7 years ago when I was in college. I went to this massive university in Gyeonggi-do with a huge campus, a lake in the middle, mountains everywhere. Insane place.

I used to fish at the lake sometimes, catch crucian carp and whatever. Anyway this one night my friends came up from out of town and we got HAMMERED. Like genuinely obliterated. There were like 7 of us total in my roommate's place (we lived in a tiny one-room), drinking soju, eating feet, chicken, the works. At some point around 1am my roommate's girlfriend basically told us to bounce, so me and like 5 others head up to campus.

We were drunk as hell so naturally we decided to play tag. Except the "it" person was the campus security guard. Yeah. We threw rocks at his office and ran. Absolutely unhinged.

So I'm hauling ass and I just... tumble down a slope straight into the lake. My ankle gets JACKED. So now I'm sitting alone by the water, starting to get genuinely spooked, and I call my girlfriend.

I'm telling her what happened and she's like "put the phone down, I see something" and describes this girl in a red mini skirt climbing up the opposite hill. I'm like girl you're drunk lmao. But then her voice goes ice cold. She asks if my pants are wet. Why is she asking that? She asks if my feet are in the water. I'm like... no? But the way she's talking is making me actually SCARED.

We're chatting and joking trying to calm down when I see my friends coming back. I yell into the phone at the TOP OF MY LUNGS (still holding it) screaming their names. Like desperately loud.

My friends stop and just... stare at me. Dead silent. Then they walk past like I'm not even there. The way they looked at me. Cold doesn't even describe it.

My girlfriend loses it. She's like "are you SURE you didn't fall in the water? Are you sure your friends didn't?" She tries calling them. ALL SIX don't pick up.

Then I hear them calling from above the hill: "Yubin... Yubin..."

My girlfriend immediately goes "DON'T ANSWER. Something's wrong. Don't answer."

So I just sit there and my friends come back down looking FURIOUS. Cursing me out. Saying they've been searching the entire campus for me, where was I, why didn't I answer.

I'm like... you just walked past me?

They're confused. They say they DID call. Then the security guard's flashlight suddenly hits us (we BOLT), and my ankle is so swollen I can't walk. Biggest friend carries me to the PC bang.

Few minutes pass. My girlfriend calls. It's 5:30am and she's SCREAMING. Asking where I am, why I haven't been answering since she called the friend.

Wait.

I've been answering the whole time.

Since when did I stop picking up?

The door to the PC bang explodes open and my friends are LIVID, cursing, yelling my name. The big one grabs me. I'm telling him my ankle hurts. He's like "when did I carry you? We've been awake all night looking for you. Cops, everything."

Wait what.

I ask the part-time worker. Did he sell my friends cigarettes? He's like "yeah you came up and bought them."

My friends go pale.

We go back upstairs around 6am and compare notes. I was running FROM them. They were searching FOR me. I saw them and bolted. But also... I spent an hour on the phone with my girlfriend. And apparently I bought cigarettes I don't remember buying.

My friend calls his mom. Asks her to come up. She's 4 hours away by car.

Without asking why. Just says she's coming.

And I knew. I KNEW something was genuinely wrong.