Chapter 1
Seven years. That was how long he had suddenly lived in another world, in another person’s body.
The night before his first debut stage as an idol, Yoon Jin couldn’t sleep properly, excited at the thought of finally achieving his dream. Then suddenly, he was possessed into another world, another person’s body. And so, Yoon Jin, who had done nothing but dance and sing since he was young, became “William Grace Bolton” and lived his life. Out of those seven years, he had to survive rolling through battlefields for three.
The time spent trying to get used to being William Grace Bolton, the time spent traversing battlefields, the time spent stabilizing the empire—when he had endured all that time. When he had finally accepted this life and was about to enjoy some leisure time.
“I even bought more vacation homes after carefully choosing them… I was even thinking of dating…”
That was certainly the case. But just as his life had suddenly changed before, once again without any warning, he switched from William Grace Bolton back to Yoon Jin.
This comfortable feeling, different from the luxurious bed he was used to, was definitely a bed made by modern science. Yoon Jin pulled back the blanket and looked blankly around, letting out an absurd exclamation.
Although it was clearly a room he was seeing for the first time, it definitely wasn’t in the style he had become accustomed to over the past seven years. No excessive lace, no brilliant jewels or carved decorations. No bell that would summon a servant when rung, and the clothes he was wearing weren’t the soft silk pajamas he was used to either.
After briefly surveying his surroundings, Yoon Jin rushed to the full-length mirror on the opposite side to examine his body.
“What the hell is this…?”
His light brown hair, which had a perm, stuck out in all directions, probably due to tossing in his sleep, and his dazed expression made him look somewhat foolish. Moreover, the clothes he was wearing—a simple t-shirt and cute teddy bear sleep pants—were the perfect outfit for anyone to mistake him for an unemployed bum.
“Is this… is this me…?”
His face, matured with the passage of time, felt unfamiliar. Long eyelashes, thin double eyelids, slightly upturned eye corners. All of these moved in sync whenever Yoon Jin changed his expression. Considering his age, his face was quite youthful, but to Yoon Jin right now, it only felt awkward.
After first becoming William Grace Bolton, Yoon Jin had imagined many times what might have happened to his original body.
Would he have been in a coma like in dramas, or would the original ‘William’ have entered his body, or perhaps he had already died? Looking at the current situation, it seemed that ‘William’ had been living as ‘Yoon Jin,’ but Yoon Jin couldn’t imagine at all how he had lived in his body for seven years.
Moreover, the day Yoon Jin was possessed was the night before his first debut stage. It was literally the starting point of whether he would achieve his dream or not. Those trainee days were now such distant memories that they felt like someone else’s life to Yoon Jin.
Lost in these thoughts while standing blankly in front of the mirror, Yoon Jin flinched at the sudden ringing of a phone.
[Manager Sanggu]
Yoon Jin blinked at the text appearing on the phone screen on the bed. After a moment of blank staring, the unfamiliar ringtone stopped, and a missed call notification briefly appeared before the screen went black again.
As Yoon Jin stood frozen again, his hearing picked up footsteps approaching from outside the door. Out of habit, he reached for his waist to draw his sword, but exhaled a short sigh at the empty air.
“Jin hyung, are you awake? The manager hyung is worried because you’re not answering your phone…”
“Ah…”
The man who called Yoon Jin familiarly opened the door without knocking. Tall, with a small face and distinct features. His short black hair, though he seemed to have just woken up, was neatly arranged and looked somehow familiar.
“…Choi, Choi Minhun…?”
“What, you were already awake. How are you feeling?”
With his long legs, Minhun approached Yoon Jin with large strides, naturally grabbed his nape and pressed his forehead against Yoon Jin’s. Yoon Jin’s body stiffened with tension. Regardless, Minhun casually mumbled that it seemed like Yoon Jin still had some fever. Pushing Minhun away, Yoon Jin called his name again in a surprised voice.
“Are you really… Choi Minhun?”
“Huh? Of course, I’m Choi Minhun, who else would I be?”
His colleague who had practiced with him for their debut, and who had come to him the night before their first stage saying he couldn’t sleep alone because he was too nervous. That kid, who was just in the second year of high school then, now stood before him giving off the aura of a proper adult man.
Yoon Jin slowly looked Minhun over. His face, which had been sharp even before losing his baby fat, had now perfectly settled into place, making the word ‘sculptured’ a perfect fit. Not only that, but his lowered voice, matching his face, gave off quite a sexy feeling. It was rather amazing how traces of his former self were still visible despite how much he had changed.
An insanely awkward yet unexpectedly nostalgic feeling rose from the tips of his toes to his chest. He thought he had forgotten everything while fighting desperately to survive in another world, and that he wouldn’t feel any emotion now.
“Huk… hueng…”
Before he was even aware, tears overflowed first. Suddenly becoming someone else, living a different life, staining his hands with others’ blood to survive, and thinking he would never return to his original body, he had dedicated everything to his new life.
“Hyung?! What’s wrong?! Are you still in a lot of pain? Is that why?”
As Yoon Jin started crying, Minhun, who was standing in front of him, looked at his face in confusion. But instead of answering his worried questions, what came back was an unintelligible resentment.
“Fuck… hueng… what… huk… the hell am I supposed to do…”
Whether he was upset about returning like this just when he was finally about to live a peaceful life after struggling so hard, or whether he was moved to see a familiar face after returning to his original body. Yoon Jin couldn’t sort out his feelings, which even he didn’t quite understand, and just cried like a child for a long time.
* * *
“Hyung, have you calmed down a bit now?”
“You’ve really grown up well… Are you still an idol?”
Laid back down on the bed by Minhun’s gentle hands, Yoon Jin muttered the words that came out without thinking. For him, who hadn’t relaxed for a single moment in seven years, it was a foreign action, only possible because the current situation felt like a dream.
“Of course, of course. I’m still an idol. You’re in Sparkle too, hyung. Wait just a moment. I’ll tell the manager hyung that we need to go to the hospital and come back.”
After checking his temperature by placing a hand on his forehead once more and tucking the blanket up to his neck, Minhun hurriedly left the room. In the suddenly quiet room, only the sound of sniffling could be heard.
“Wow, shit…”
After sniffling a few more times, Yoon Jin began to sort out the current situation with his head still fuzzy from crying too much. He had truly returned to his original body, and surprisingly, it seemed he was still living as an idol.
“Me, an idol…”
The first thing Yoon Jin did when he entered William’s body was to find out what kind of person ‘William Grace Bolton’ originally was and how he had been treated by those around him. From what he learned, the original William was like a human embodiment of weakness, frailty, quietness, and timidity.
Having thought that far, Yoon Jin quickly raised his upper body and grabbed the phone he had noticed earlier. It’s good that his original body achieved its dream. But he was suddenly afraid of exactly how he had become an idol. Was he popular? Had he caused any problems before that?
Hurriedly turning on the screen, Yoon Jin was soon confronted with a lock pattern and lowered his head with a hollow laugh.
“Fuuuck… how am I supposed to know this…”
At that moment, a sudden pain struck Yoon Jin’s head. A very painful but somehow familiar feeling. The pain he had suffered for a while after first being possessed into ‘William’s’ body.
‘I have to go through this again…?’
Even as his vision blurred and his body tilted, Yoon Jin swallowed his curses inside. This was the headache that came when the memories remaining in the body started to enter.
* * *
“Yes, manager hyung. Jin hyung is awake, but… he seems strange somehow. I think we need to go to the hospital.”
-Is his fever still high?
“It’s not because of the fever, he just seems off somehow. He suddenly started crying too…”
-Yoon Jin? Crying suddenly?
“Yes, I’m not sure why either. And he’s saying some strange things too.”
Having left Yoon Jin’s room, Minhun paced the living room while explaining Yoon Jin’s condition to the manager on the phone.
The one who discovered Yoon Jin suddenly collapsed was the cleaning lady who visited the dorm twice a week to take care of it. Fortunately, after being diagnosed with an out-of-season flu, Yoon Jin was moved back to the dorm, and Minhun was the one who stayed by his side. Unlike the other members, Yoon Jin was still living alone in the dorm, and Minhun had voluntarily stepped up because he was worried.
“I think it would be better if he gets a thorough examination.”
How many times had he circled the living room? It was surprising how Minhun’s body couldn’t stay still at all, considering how he had maintained his composure in front of Yoon Jin. The confusion and tears that filled Yoon Jin’s eyes were enough to take away his calmness. Minhun ruffled his neatly arranged hair.
He had never seen Yoon Jin, who had always maturely led them, cry like a child like that. Minhun’s heart continued to beat heavily.
“Anyway, can you come quickly?”
-I’ll leave right now…
Crash. A small noise came from Yoon Jin’s bedroom. Without waiting to hear the rest of what the manager was saying, Minhun urgently opened the door and had a shocked expression.
“Hyung…!”
Yoon Jin was precariously collapsed at the edge of the bed, and his phone had rolled onto the floor. Supporting Yoon Jin’s limp body, Minhun called out his name loudly.
“Jin hyung!”
Minhun’s shout was clearly heard by the manager through the speaker. But the person whose name was called made no response, quietly breathing irregularly in Minhun’s arms.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
