Jang Hee-gang had kept his promise.
He hadn’t locked him up in the mirror room during the remaining time they had together. Cha Eun-soo had been allowed to roam the first floor—though it only included the living room, bedroom, and bathroom at best.
“Ugh…”
He let out a groan as he opened his eyes.
Even at the dining table, it had seemed like Jang Hee-gang was out to break him. And yet, yesterday, too, he had been pushed past his limit, left barely conscious.
…It had been nothing but pure sex.
The act itself was no different from what someone might do to receive a guiding.
He looked down at his own body—cleanly washed and even dressed in fresh clothes.
Even if Jang Hee-gang took him like he’d abandoned his humanity, the man always handled the aftermath with such spotless precision that it almost deserved applause.
Every time he woke up, he felt refreshed. That, at least, he appreciated.
He glanced around at the still, quiet surroundings.
Alone again.
With his sore body, he sluggishly crawled out of bed. He shuffled into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face on autopilot, then wandered out into the living room.
It seemed Jang Hee-gang had left the house entirely.
Cha Eun-soo crouched down in front of the large, open living room window, staring blankly outside. Honestly, there was nothing to do.
No TV, no stimulation. The place was barren. Enough to make someone wonder if Jang Hee-gang had ever really considered it a home.
Leaves swaying in the wind.
A gray stone pavement.
A wall stretching endlessly across the property.
Nothing remarkable.
He stared at the mundane scene until the drowsiness crept in, and he lowered his head. With his face buried deep between his knees and eyes closed, that’s when it happened.
Cha Eun-soo.
It felt like someone was calling his name.
A faint voice…
He lifted his head.
“……!”
There was a man standing outside the window.
His face looked even more gaunt and sharp than before.
Cha Eun-soo’s eyes widened.
Hyung?
Was it him next?
“Hyung?”
He stared at him, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Cha Eun-hyuk took in the change in Eun-soo’s expression, then lowered himself onto one knee. Their eyes aligned.
Cha Eun-soo, completely stunned, couldn’t say a word. His hand, trembling violently, reached out toward him.
But all it touched was the cold, hard glass.
On the other side, Eun-hyuk matched his hand to the spot where Eun-soo’s palm pressed.
Slowly, tears welled up.
“…Hyung.”
A choked sob slipped out.
His expression twisted with relief and sorrow. Every time a tear rolled down his cheek, his vision cleared for a fleeting moment, only to blur again as more tears welled up.
He looked at his brother, eyes full of things left unsaid.
Did you come to save me?
I’m sorry I abandoned you and ran.
Are you okay?
And yet, alongside that flood of emotions, a flicker of doubt crept in—was he seeing things? Was this nothing more than a mirage conjured by a desperate mind refusing to accept reality?
But then, as if to deny that possibility, his brother spoke.
“Eun-soo.”
The voice came faintly from outside, barely audible, but clearer than before. It carried the tenderness he remembered so well.
That long-missed way of calling his name made something inside him swell.
He genuinely choked up.
Suddenly, he shot to his feet.
For that brief moment, it was as if all fear of Jang Hee-gang’s control had vanished. With nothing on his mind but reaching the brother right in front of him, he bolted for the front door—and then burst outside.
He didn’t even question why there were no locks in place.
Rounding the corner, he saw his brother standing there, not far away.
“……!”
Cha Eun-soo ran with all his strength and threw himself into Cha Eun-hyuk’s waiting arms.
Those strong arms embraced him like they’d been waiting for this moment all along.
The instant their bodies touched, Eun-soo felt the pull of the guiding—like he was being drawn to his brother like a magnet. He’d expected it, of course, but this only confirmed just how bad his condition had gotten.
“Hnn… Hyung… Is it really you? Are you really here?”
“It’s me.”
A warm hand gently stroked his back. Eun-soo buried his face in his brother’s chest and sobbed like a child, as if he’d traveled back in time.
He hadn’t cried much even back then… but he had cried when necessary.
“I missed you, Eun-soo.”
That comforting baritone echoed in his ears.
Face flushed from crying, Eun-soo nodded vigorously. Me too. He’d missed him so much it hurt.
The hand that had been soothing him paused.
“You ran out without shoes on and hurt your foot.”
One hand slid behind his waist, the other behind his knees, and in one smooth motion, Eun-hyuk lifted him up.
Then, his lips pressed firmly to Eun-soo’s forehead.
He didn’t seem enraged at all—in fact, his demeanor was calm and affectionate.
The tenderness was surprising, almost disappointing. He’d expected anger, even hoped for it.
Eun-soo let out a soft hiccup, pretending to try and stop crying.
Eun-hyuk looked quietly down at him.
“Did you enjoy it?”
…What?
With tear-streaked cheeks, Eun-soo blinked.
His mind reeled, trying to make sense of the question—his voice caught in his throat. Then, all of a sudden, he realized—his brother’s black eyes weren’t looking at his face. They were fixed on the marks Jang Hee-gang had left on his neck. His heart plummeted. For a split second, it felt like his innermost thoughts had been exposed.
No way he noticed I enjoyed it… right? Fuck.
“T-That’s not…”
“A body so sensitive, it feels pleasure even when being forced.”
The hand that had been cradling beneath his legs slowly slid down—gripping his ass, hard.
Cha Eun-soo sucked in a breath.
“Can’t even begin to imagine how satisfied that bastard must’ve been.”
The voice that had feigned calm began to shed its mask, layer by layer.
“I was losing my fucking mind the whole time.”
When his brother reopened his eyes, there was a dead blackness inside—like the charred remains of countless emotions.
The tension in the air was suffocating, and Eun-soo shrank back under the weight of it.
“Tell me—why did you leave like that?”
“…!”
“Was it because you thought it was all just another game world the second time, too? Or was it…”
The fact that Eun-soo and the S-Ranks had first met through a game was something only the system and Jang Hee-gang knew. But now that the four had joined forces, it made sense the information had been shared.
“…because no one meant anything to you.”
Right now, his brother was asking him—Was I truly so meaningless to you, that you could leave without a word and never look back?
It didn’t matter how he’d crossed between worlds, or what his true identity was. None of that mattered. The only thing that did was whether Eun-soo had ever given a damn. The priority of what he needed to know… was painfully honest.
“I…”
His lips parted, voice shaking, as his face turned pale—so different from the smile he was trying to force.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead beneath the oppressive pressure.
“…I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, Hyung.”
In the end, all he could offer was an apology.
“I swore I’d help you… so you wouldn’t have to live in pain anymore…”
I’m sorry I didn’t keep that promise. I disappeared without a trace. It’s all my fault.
Ashamed, he hung his head, tears spilling freely again.
His brother remained expressionless and silent.
The air turned icy—like the confirmation of guilt had darkened everything. Because Eun-soo hadn’t denied a single thing.
“…Ah…!”
The hands holding him turned rapidly cold.
Fuck, it tingles.
At this rate, he’s gonna freeze me solid.
“Hyung…?”
He looked up at his brother, his face pale and slowly overtaken by fear.
That gaze—burning with pitch-black impulse—pressed down on him like a weight.
***
For Cha Eun-hyuk, that day was one he would never forget.
“It’s just… none of it meant anything anymore.”
That deflated voice of his enemy would sometimes echo in his mind.
One such day, before the morning had even arrived, Cha Eun-hyuk woke from a dream. His heart thundered in his chest, pounding out of control, and rough, ragged breaths escaped his lungs.
Even the corners of his eyes had grown damp.
Though the content of the dream dispersed like smoke in his mind, leaving nothing behind… one thing was certain: it hadn’t been a nightmare.
It had been a happy dream.
And the very fact that he’d woken up from it was excruciating.
The horrific aftershock left his already wrecked condition in complete disarray. There was no hope of going back to sleep.
Cradling his forehead, he tried to even out his breath. He sat on the bed for a long time, wrestling down the emotions rampaging through him.
Then, the morning sun that had slowly begun to peek through the window… vanished.
As if signaling the end of the world, the sky darkened in an instant.
It cracked apart, unleashing a torrential downpour.
Before he even had time to be puzzled by it—he suddenly lost consciousness.
“Guh…!”
When he opened his eyes again, every memory had been synchronized.
A changed world. A changed past. A changed present.
An onslaught of unfamiliar knowledge—And the return of memories he had once lost.
…Among them was the very source of the hollowness that had haunted him for so long.
Cha Eun-hyuk, breath caught in his throat, remembered Cha Eun-soo.
How could I have forgotten you…?
How could I…
In that moment, he wanted to tear himself apart. Because what his overloaded brain revealed to him in its desperate search… was utter despair.
Cha Eun-soo was no longer his family. His mother and sister no longer had any memory of a blood relative named Eun-soo. In this current world—Eun-soo didn’t exist. But still, Cha Eun-hyuk moved without hesitation to find him.
Because somehow, it felt like a voice had whispered directly into his mind… telling him that Cha Eun-soo did exist—somewhere.
Even if it was just self-inflicted delusion born from desperate longing, he didn’t care.
…And then, miraculously, he found Cha Eun-soo.
Or more precisely—he found Jang Hee-gang, who had found him first.
“This is getting absurd.”
Then Joo Cheong-gyeong and Shim Tae-seong appeared in turn.
The four of them gathered in the garden of Jang Hee-gang’s estate, each radiating deadly hostility toward the others.
None of them dared to make the first move—afraid that any stray blow might reach Cha Eun-soo, who was somewhere inside the nearby building.
The Espers who once fought each other without a second thought, throwing themselves into brutal battles with no regard for consequence—they were gone.
Now, with the very person they had longed for standing just within reach, they had become unnervingly rational.
