The dream that kept continuing every time I slept at my uncle's house

Okay this is long but I wasn't going to post it for years. bear with me.

So this happened when I was in middle school. I barely dream (like 3-4 times a YEAR max) so when I do, it sticks.

I was in 1st year of middle school when my uncle's family moved into this nice new apartment down in Mokpo. We live in Seoul, so that winter break the whole family went down for a housewarming. My uncle made good money so the place was huge and fancy, and little me was SO jealous walking around it. His kids were still in kindergarten btw, I was the oldest cousin.

That night the dads all went out night fishing. Then the moms were like "we'll just be gone a sec" and dumped all the little kids on me to go to a bar nearby. Cool. Great. I remember falling asleep watching the kids.

That's when the dream started.

In the dream I was standing alone in an alley in my aunt's neighborhood in Seoul (my mom's older sister, I'll just call her Big Aunt¹). Random people walking by suddenly turn and start STARING at me. And then they start walking toward me. Not running. Just... walking. Slowly. But somehow I knew in my bones that if they caught me I was done.

So I bolt.

I'm running through alleys and eventually remember Big Aunt lives right there, so I sprint to her house and start POUNDING on the gate. The people are getting closer. I'm about to give up and run somewhere else when the gate opens. SAVED. I throw myself inside, slam the gate shut, and look up like "auntie!! help me!!"

And Big Aunt is standing right there. Staring at me. Same look as the people outside.

I woke up basically having a seizure. The adults still weren't back. My little cousin was SCREAMING crying. And honestly? I was grateful. The crying broke the silence. I was rocking the baby like please don't stop, please keep crying. When the adults got back I was so mad at them lol.

We went back to Seoul. That Saturday, Big Aunt's younger son was playing and fell from somewhere high. Messed up his spine badly. Had to wear a huge back brace for YEARS. And that was just the start. Their second floor literally collapsed. Their architecture firm tanked. The whole family's finances fell apart within like six months.

Two years later we go back to Mokpo uncle's place for one night. I'd basically forgotten the dream until I walked in and it all came flooding back. I tried to stay awake. Didn't work.

I fall asleep and I'm BACK. Big Aunt is right in front of me, staring. I look around. I'm inside her gate. The exact spot the last dream ended. That green gate. I will never forget that green gate.

She reaches for me. I shove her and run into the house.

Except when I run in, I'm not in Big Aunt's house anymore. I'm inside my uncle's apartment in Mokpo. Dream logic, didn't even register as weird.

Inside are my aunt (uncle's wife) and Big Aunt's two kids, all playing together. The second they see me their faces go BLANK. They stand up in sync and start walking toward me. Big Aunt is quietly coming in through the front door behind me.

These are people I KNOW. That's what made it unbearable.

I run through the house like a maniac and end up in the living room bathroom. I'm trying to push the little lock button on the door handle and the handle starts turning on its own. Too late to lock it. So I just grab the handle with both hands trying to keep it shut. 1 vs 4. Through the crack I can see four blank family faces pressed against the door. I was PUTTING MY LIFE INTO holding that door. It was slowly opening anyway.

Right as the door opened about a hand's width, right as I was about to let go, I woke up. Heart going insane. I ran to my mom in the living room and just sobbed.

We go home. The next week, my uncle suddenly has a mental breakdown. Like clinical. Had to quit work and go into care. He was the only earner. Three kids. My aunt tried starting little businesses to bring in money and every single one failed. They burned through their savings.

And all I could think about was the dream. And worse, the fact that I KNEW if I slept there again I'd pick up where it left off. In that bathroom. With the door already open. And that bathroom window was WAY too small for a person to fit through. There was no way out.

The next winter break my family said we were going back to Mokpo. I LOST it. I was literally jumping up and down begging not to go. Got in huge trouble for it. In the end they let me stay one night at another aunt's house nearby while they went down.

That night I dreamed. I was standing alone in the alley outside the bathroom. Broad daylight. Dead silent. No strangers. No family. Just... empty. I thought okay, I'll walk home. I started walking, and halfway down a tree-lined street my chest got heavy and I just sat down in the middle of the road. Started crying. Woke up crying.

That spring, my uncle's family had to leave the nice apartment and moved into a tiny semi-basement room². After that I could sleep in Mokpo no problem. Dreams stopped.

Fast forward. Sophomore year of college, my mom takes me to see a fortune teller. Not a flashy one, one of those word-of-mouth grandma ones people whisper is the real deal. She takes my wrist, reads my palm, and goes "your life line is short. you've almost died three times already."

And I'm like. ma'am. I have never been in a single accident. Never.

I ask when. She taps my palm and says the ages. I'm not religious, I love horror movies but I'm super chill about ghost stuff and fortune telling, so I was just like 'ㅅ' okay sure. Didn't think much of it.

At the end my mom goes to pay and the grandma just stares at me and says no, keep your money, you must be proud to have such a smart daughter. Then she writes a talisman on this weird stick thing, hands it to mom, and tells her to hide it somewhere I'd never find it.

Walking home I'm replaying the three ages she said. 1st year middle school. 3rd year middle school. 1st year high school.

Those were the three years I had the dream.

I stopped walking. Just froze on the sidewalk. My mom's still walking and I'm standing there like...

I wanted to go back and ask her what the dream was. What it had to do with my relatives. What she meant by three times. But apparently she never sees the same person twice.

I'm still pretty chill about this stuff in general. But this one. This is going to haunt me forever.

Sorry this got long.