“Seo-yul hyung!”
I opened my eyes at the sound of a bright voice calling me. Turning my sleep-laden gaze to the side, I saw Vin beaming at me. But it wasn’t the Vin I knew now—it was the Vin from back then.
Before I lost consciousness, I had been in the central greenhouse. But since he had taken me, it was likely I had been brought back to a bedroom. If so, I should have woken up in a stifling room. So why was I not only in District 5, but also seemingly younger?
“…This is strange.”
“What is?”
Young Vin tilted his head in curiosity. I forced my drowsiness away and met his gaze. His clear, red eyes curved with a lovely smile. And that’s when I realized.
Ah, this is a dream.
But for a dream, everything felt far too real. My languid body, still heavy from sleep, Vin’s hand gripping my arm, the soft bedding filled with the scent of sunlight—it was all too vivid. Almost like reality.
“Do you want to sleep a little longer?”
Vin asked as he leaned against the bed. I shook my head. If this was a dream, I wanted to see more of young Vin. After all, ever since his portrait burned away, I had no way of seeing him even if I wanted to.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
“What?”
“I just… wanted to call you.”
Vin tilted his head and nuzzled his cheek against my shoulder. The way he snuck closer, brimming with affection, was too endearing, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter. As I stroked his soft, flame-colored hair, he let out a contented sound and nestled even closer.
“Oh, right! Seo-yul hyung, you have to wake up and eat breakfast.”
“Breakfast?”
“Yes! Mr. Connor told me I have to make sure you eat breakfast today.”
Vin suddenly sprang up and urged me to get out of bed. When I told him I wasn’t hungry, he grabbed my arm and practically dragged me up, insisting that today, I had to eat no matter what.
In the end, I was pulled over to a table set with a full breakfast. As I sat down, Vin, sitting across from me, pushed a steaming bowl of soup in front of me.
“It’s potato soup—your favorite.”
The truth was, I had never particularly liked potato soup. As a child, I had been sick more often than I had been healthy, so I simply ate a lot of soft foods.
Staring at the pale soup, I slowly picked up my spoon. Scooping up a generous amount of the thick liquid, I took a bite. As expected, it had no taste. Just to be sure, I took another spoonful—but it was the same.
‘It really is a dream.’
I had already known, but having it confirmed left me with a strange feeling. I set my spoon down and looked at Vin sitting across from me. Maybe he still wasn’t used to using utensils at this age—he was holding his spoon awkwardly, spilling soup all over. When our eyes met, he gave me an embarrassed smile.
“I used a spoon instead of my hands.”
Vin held up the spoon in his hand as if to prove his point. I should have told him I never doubted him, but my throat tightened with emotion.
“Seo-yul hyung?”
Vin climbed down from his chair and approached me. I shouldn’t cry, but before I could stop myself, tears started falling. I had known it was a dream, yet deep down, I must have wished it wasn’t.
“Is it because I’m bad at eating soup?”
His ridiculous assumption made me laugh. Shaking my head, I met his gaze. His red eyes, filled with concern, were the same then as they were now. So why had we grown so distant?
“I know it’s a little hard right now, but I’ll try harder. You know how fast I learn, Seo-yul hyung. Even Mr. Connor said so—he said I’m smart.”
Vin spoke urgently, as if desperate to reassure me. I pulled him into a tight hug. Even if this was just a dream, young Vin was so heartbreakingly endearing. I should have held him more back then, been better to him.
“I’m sorry, Vin.”
I should have never let you go, no matter what.
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
His whispered words made my eyes widen. His small hand patted my back as if to comfort me. It was just a dream, yet it felt like I could actually feel his warmth against me.
Soft, and filling my arms with warmth.
“No matter what happens, Seo-yul hyung never has to be sorry to me. So—”
His whisper drifted farther and farther away. When I opened my eyes again, the young Vin was gone. Realizing how fleeting the dream had been left me feeling empty.
I wiped the dampness from my eyes, and as my blurred vision cleared, I saw him—no longer the boy from my dream, but the man known here as Vincent Shining.
Carefully, I moved to get up from the bed, but a hand caught mine. When I turned back, the man who had just been asleep was now fully awake, staring at me with sharp clarity.
“Where are you going?”
His voice was lower than usual, rough with sleep. I parted my lips to answer, but in the end, I lay back down. He pulled me closer, resting his hand gently on my shoulder.
“Did you sleep well?”
“…No.”
“Why not?”
His voice was gentle, coaxing, as he held me even tighter. I didn’t want to talk about the dream, so I stayed silent. Sensing my reluctance, he didn’t ask anything else.
The silence stretched between us. I wanted to fall back asleep like this, without saying anything, but my eyes refused to close. When I looked up at him, I found him staring back at me, just as wide awake.
“I don’t like gardens.”
The words slipped out after some hesitation. His flame-colored eyes wavered violently. I wanted to erase the version of me that was frozen in his mind from eight years ago and replace it with the person I was now.
“I don’t really like flowers, and I don’t like taking walks. I only went outside when I felt suffocated—it’s not like I ever liked being in District 5 either.”
As I let out all the words I had been holding back, his expression grew increasingly serious as he listened in silence.
“Then, what do you like?”
“I like smoking.”
“…That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”
“And I like coffee.”
“I already knew that.”
For some reason, he smiled as if he was pleased to have gotten at least one thing right out of everything. As he leaned in, seemingly about to kiss me, I stopped him and continued speaking—I wasn’t done yet.
“I don’t know how you’ve lived here. You never told me.”
“……”
“I believed you were doing well here. Because that’s what you promised me. That’s why I let you go.”
Just as he was stuck in the past version of me, I was also trapped in my own version of him. The clumsy Vin, who had struggled with utensils and spilled soup everywhere, was long gone, and yet, I was still searching for traces of that boy in the man before me.
So much had twisted and changed between us. I didn’t know what kind of ending awaited us, but staying stagnant in ignorance wasn’t an option.
That’s why I had to step forward now—so that we, who had been trapped in the past, could finally see the present.
“…It’s not a pleasant story.”
After a brief hesitation, he finally began a long and painful tale.
***
For days, Yeo-min had searched the underground prison, but as expected, the Apostle was nowhere to be found. Even when he managed to track down one of the few believers still clinging to their sanity and asked about the Apostle’s whereabouts, the only answer he received was, “I don’t know.”
He couldn’t just sit back and wait. With time running out, he began searching the mansion himself. The reclusive estate would soon be opening its doors to guests—he needed to find the Apostle and proceed with the plan before then. There was no time left.
‘Where the hell did they take him?’
But no matter how thoroughly he searched the area surrounding Vincent Shining’s chambers, there was no sign of a hidden cell where the Apostle might be confined. Even after returning to his own quarters, the restless anxiety gnawed at him, making it impossible to sit still.
Everything was falling apart. The Apostle had disappeared, the believers were losing their minds one by one, and if things continued like this, the plan would be dead in the water before it could even begin.
“I’m fine. Just the thought alone means a lot to me.”
If that happened, Seo-yul would be trapped here forever. The moment he became the District Leader’s spouse, they would lock him away in a place from which he could never escape. This was, in truth, their first and last chance.
“Don’t let personal feelings get in the way. Emotions are unnecessary when it comes to the greater cause.”
He hadn’t forgotten those teachings. But still, he convinced himself that this much selfishness was acceptable. Once everything was over, he too would be free. If he took Seo-yul to the farthest edge of the district, no one would ever be able to find them.
They could get a small house and start over, little by little. Seo-yul would finally be free from him, just as he wished. And Yeo-min—what could he gain from that?
“I want to go there too. To the places you’ve been, Choi Yeo-min.”
At first, he had simply been drawn to him because he was Han Se-yul’s older brother. Then, he kept watching because he was so small and fragile. And when he saw Seo-yul writhing in pain, gasping for breath, he was terrified that he might disappear altogether.
This feeling was surely nothing more than pity. Yeo-min forced himself to believe that. If he let himself go any deeper, he knew he would never be able to stop.
“Don’t forget what we’re here to do.”
Because there was still something he had to finish.
