"Have you been waiting, Hyung?"
A languid and calm voice. It was Lee Sa-young.
Cha Eui-jae froze where he stood next to the bed. The dark shadow, standing with the light behind it, rustled as it took off its coat. The coat was hung on a hanger, and the way the shirt sleeves were rolled up looked all too familiar.
"There wasn’t much to do today... so I ca early."
Cha Eui-jae carefully observed his hand. The glove...
He was only wearing it on one side.
Good. At least I found the right one. He let out a small sigh of relief. anwhile, Lee Sa-young walked over to the bed and looked down at the bulging blanket. The crimson bedroom light cast gloomy shadows on his dazzling face. Suddenly, Cha Eui-jae thought, co to think of it...
’I thought Sa-young was the one lying down.’
If Lee Sa-young was standing here now...
’...then who’s under the blanket?’
The mystery didn’t last long. The gloved hand gently pulled back the blanket. Cha Eui-jae gasped softly.
It was "Cha Eui-jae."
"...What the hell is this?"
Unable to hold back, Cha Eui-jae blurted out the question. The "Cha Eui-jae" on the bed was lying with both hands folded over his chest, like a corpse in a coffin. His head and left eye were tightly wrapped in white bandages, and white hair spread naturally across the pillow.
That was himself. The shell left behind when the conscious Cha Eui-jae escaped the morial Dungeon.
To view oneself from a third-person perspective was, more than expected...
’...such a weird feeling.’
Cha Eui-jae rubbed his chin. Was it because he was seeing himself asleep? The more he looked, the stranger it felt. Maybe it was only natural, people don’t normally see themselves sleeping.
But still,
’...there’s basically a corpse lying on the bed.’
That shell was a corpse.
"Hmm, you’ve been doing well."
Cha Eui-jae abruptly looked up at the voice, overly gentle in tone. Through the flickering light, he could see the faint upward curve of Lee Sa-young’s lips. Lee Sa-young was smiling at the shell. A chill crept down Cha Eui-jae’s neck.
’Is he insane?’
He’s talking to a corpse? Smiling at it? Cha Eui-jae circled around the bed and approached Lee Sa-young. Lee Sa-young stood with one ungloved hand in his pocket, leaning slightly to one side, speaking softly to the corpse, or rather, to the shell.
"Nothing much happened today... and nothing much will happen."
"..."
"That’s good. I only need to wait."
"..."
"It’s okay. I’m good at waiting."
"Good? What are you talking about?!"
Unable to hold back his anger, Cha Eui-jae swung at Lee Sa-young’s back. His translucent hand passed right through Lee Sa-young’s back and out his chest. Nothing goes the way I want!
Regardless of Cha Eui-jae’s frustration, Lee Sa-young remained focused on the shell lying on the bed.
"Let’s see..."
The gloved hand gently brushed the white hair scattered over the pillow and touched the cheek. A cautious touch, as if handling sothing precious. Lee Sa-young straightened his back with a small sigh.
"Tsk. I guess it’s ti to replace them..."
Lee Sa-young opened the drawer next to the bed. A clattering sound ca as sothing heavy shifted inside. Cha Eui-jae leaned forward to check the contents. The drawer was full of preservation stones. Cha Eui-jae stared at Lee Sa-young’s back as he carefully sorted through them and muttered,
"...Freak."
This wasn’t just about the will to preserve. Calling it "will" didn’t feel right...
’...this is frightening.’
But only for a mont. Cha Eui-jae crouched down beside Lee Sa-young, who was kneeling and rummaging through the drawer. Lee Sa-young was carefully picking out broken preservation stones with a serious expression. Cha Eui-jae rested his chin on his hand.
The Cha Eui-jae of the first world had asked Hong Ye-seong to create multiple morial Dungeons. Stuffed full of precious mories.
To endure.
This must be Lee Sa-young’s own way. His thod of surviving a long ti. No, "struggling to survive" would be a more accurate description.
Cha Eui-jae looked at Lee Sa-young. His chest ached. His nose began to sting for no reason. He grumbled pointlessly.
"Hey... you’re clinging to this kind of crap to survive?"
His mouth tasted bitter. This sight was far from normal. Lee Sa-young’s words about being fine were all lies. Cha Eui-jae was sure of it now, without Cha Eui-jae by his side, Lee Sa-young would fall apart. Whether soone else broke him or he did it to himself.
"Saying you’re good at waiting... what kind of nonsense is that..."
And once broken, he could never be fully fixed again. Even if all the cracked pieces were glued back together, the marks would remain. Just like Cha Eui-jae.
After sorting the preservation stones for a while, Lee Sa-young let out a small sigh. Then, pressing the good stone to his forehead, he closed his eyes. It looked like a prayer, or maybe he was just resting his eyes from exhaustion. His full lips trembled slightly as a soft breath escaped.
"...It’s okay."
Cha Eui-jae took in every part of the scene.
He recalled the image of Lee Sa-young thrashing inside a test tube filled with unknown liquid. His vision blurred. He pulled off his black mask and roughly rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
Then, he felt a sensation, like he was being sucked away from his toes. Alard, Cha Eui-jae quickly looked down.
His feet and ankles, already semi-transparent, were beginning to vanish completely.
"...J! I can’t... maintain... any longer... sorry..."
From a distance, Yoon Ga-eul’s voice could be heard faintly. Already? Cha Eui-jae’s darting gaze stopped at Lee Sa-young, who still had his eyes closed. Eui-jae took a deep breath and spread his arms. Then he embraced him from behind— well, he positioned himself just close enough that he would be hugging him, without actually making contact. He had to keep his body from passing through Lee Sa-young’s, maintaining an awkward posture with no sensation of touch, which made his muscles ache.
’Nothing’s ever easy, damn it.’
Cha Eui-jae glanced down. He had already beco transparent up to his waist. Clearing his throat, he leaned closer to Lee Sa-young’s ear and whispered.
"This ti, really... just wait a little."
"..."
"If you push my hand away again... then it’s you who dies and who lives, got it?"
Lee Sa-young suddenly lifted his head. His dazed violet gaze locked directly onto Cha Eui-jae’s face. Seizing the mont, Cha Eui-jae raised his fist and swung it quickly. Whoosh! The punch sliced through the air. Lee Sa-young instinctively shut his eyes.
But instead—
Smooch.
"...Huh?"
Lee Sa-young’s eyes popped wide open. Cha Eui-jae, looking quite satisfied, lowered his now-transparent fist. Of course, that dopey, bewildered look was when Lee Sa-young was at his cutest.
Cha Eui-jae smirked.
"Are you stupid? You should be waiting for your hyung, not that empty shell."
"..."
"I’ll co back."
With that final line, the world blurred into swirling colors. Did he hear it? Cha Eui-jae wasn’t sure. Kaleidoscopic patterns twisted and shifted without pause. He surrendered his body to the vivid current and closed his eyes.
"...J! Wake up!"
...Yoon Ga-eul’s voice rang out clearly. Slowly, Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes. A white ceiling ca into view. He sat up, looking around. Yoon Ga-eul, pale-faced, examined him anxiously and then sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness... I’m sorry, I wanted to hold it longer... but this was my limit..."
Her right hand was trembling so badly it looked painful. When she noticed Cha Eui-jae’s gaze, she quickly hid her hand behind her back. Her forehead and neck were drenched with cold sweat. She must have used up a lot more energy than expected. Cha Eui-jae asked urgently.
"Are you okay? Should we call the doctor?"
"Ah, no! I’m fine! It was just... my first ti doing this, so I used a bit more strength than I thought... I’ll be okay after so rest. Really."
Yoon Ga-eul waved her hands dismissively. As she wiped sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she asked.
"So, um... did you see Lee Sa-young-ssi properly?"
"Ah... yeah, I saw him properly."
"Really? You didn’t end up sowhere strange, right?"
"No, it was the Lee Sa-young we know. Thanks to you, Student Ga-eul. Thank you."
"Hehe... I’m so relieved."
Yoon Ga-eul grinned bashfully, then asked again.
"Um... was he... okay?"
The question was vague, but Cha Eui-jae understood what she ant. Yoon Ga-eul and Honeybee must’ve witnessed Lee Sa-young’s unhinged state. He scratched his head.
"...Has he been like that the whole ti?"
Yoon Ga-eul looked troubled as she shifted her gaze.
"Um, yeah... While Honeybee was around, she sort of... kept him in check. But now that both of us are gone... We’ve been worried."
"...He’ll probably be okay."
Cha Eui-jae rested his chin on his hand, recalling those wide, violet eyes. His teeth clenched with a faint snap.
"But we can’t leave him like that for too long."
"I agree. Um, would you like to go again? I an, once I’m feeling a bit better."
"You looked like it really drained you. Don’t push yourself. There are other ways."
"No, this much is manageable..."
Cha Eui-jae was shaking his head firmly when sothing at the window caught his eye. Sothing small, round, and white was curled up near the curtain, which swayed gently in the breeze. With a smooth, glossy body and beady black eyes...
"Kkokko!"
It was Kkokko.
Kkokko toddled over and tapped Cha Eui-jae’s arm with its beak. Around its neck was sothing like a scarf made of paper. Cha Eui-jae untied and unfolded it. The ssage was scrawled in a hasty handwriting.
[Nam Woo-jin-ie wants to et! Sounds like there’s a big ss, but I didn’t really understand it, so I forgot! He seed in a hurry, so you should probably get going soon!
—From the Great Hong Ye-seong, your humble ssenger.
P.S. Bring so fried chicken and visit my place too! I’m bored.]
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