Is he worrying about me a lot?
When Yu Je-hyun rescued him from Black’s grasp, an overwhelming tide of thoughts had surged through him. He had never been so glad to see that infuriatingly handsome face.
It hadn’t even been Yu Je-hyun’s fault that he was kidnapped, yet the man had been uncharacteristically remorseful throughout Haru’s hospital stay.
Worried Haru might tire of bland hospital meals, Yu Je-hyun had brought him takeout every single day. The portions were always excessive, and whenever Haru suggested they eat together, Yu Je-hyun’s face would light up, barely able to conceal his joy. That expression alone made Haru happy too.
Food just hits different when shared with someone else.
A moment ago, the food tasted fine. But the instant he remembered he was utterly alone in this spacious, silent house, his appetite evaporated. The rice turned coarse and dry in his mouth.
He swallowed it down with a gulp of juice. The half-chewed grains slid down his throat without effort. He aimlessly stirred at the rest of his meal with a spoon.
He knew sitting in front of untouched food like this was rude, but his heart felt too heavy to care.
…I miss him.
The thought appeared out of nowhere, and Haru’s eyes widened. There was no one around, yet his face flushed with heat. He fanned his cheeks, trying to cool down, but it was useless.
This is all Haru’s fault.
After Lee Haru said it seemed like the two of them were dating, something inside him had undeniably shifted.
It was baffling. When had they grown so close? He still remembered the way Yu Je-hyun had threatened him the first time he stepped into the mansion—every detail of that face, that cold gaze, burned into his memory.
Now, thinking about Yu Je-hyun only made his current reality feel sharper. Yu Je-hyun probably had no idea that he was in Hong Seong-jun’s hands right now.
If I want to get revenge for Haru, then being locked up here like this is actually perfect.
To make the plan work, Hong Seong-jun had to believe—truly believe—that Haru had fallen for him.
And to do that, being isolated from everyone else was ideal.
There’s a name for it, isn’t there? Stockholm syndrome. Maybe this was intentional. Maybe not. Either way, Hong Seong-jun was never someone who operated with normal logic.
Anyone else, if they liked someone, would do anything not to be hated. They’d practically offer up their organs to stay in that person’s good graces.
But Hong Seong-jun? Just because Haru didn’t give him the attention he wanted, turned into Kang Min and killed him. Remembering that moment still made Haru’s skin crawl.
He ran a hand over the goosebumps on his arm and sank deeper into thought. He couldn’t stay locked up in here forever.
If Yu Je-hyun was searching for him now, maybe he’d find him soon—just like he did when Haru was being held in Black’s base.
The real problem was what would come after. Haru wasn’t sure he could keep up the act—pretending to love Hong Seong-jun—especially with Yu Je-hyun watching.
Do I actually like Yu Je-hyun?
He didn’t even consider Kang Min. It might be a little awkward, but faking affection for Hong Seong-jun in front of Kang Min felt doable.
But imagining Yu Je-hyun standing there? Watching him?
That turned everything into a question mark.
Haru absentmindedly brushed a finger over his lips, then let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
He wasn’t even certain if Yu Je-hyun liked him back. And here he was, drinking imaginary kimchi soup. The thought alone made him cringe at himself.
Besides, I’m not even sure how I feel yet.
Trying to pinpoint when everything began to shift, he figured it must have been the moment Yu Je-hyun saved him.
Since then, Yu Je-hyun had been unusually kind to him—and Haru found himself relying on him more and more.
Or maybe it started with the kimchi stew.
It was definitely after he made that stew that something changed. Yu Je-hyun had softened, and even Kang Min’s attitude had eased, if only slightly.
Ugh, this is so complicated…
Nothing about this was easy. After sitting there long enough for the food to go cold, Haru made up his mind: he needed to prioritize.
While he was trapped here, he would give his all to deceiving Hong Seong-jun. The goal was to succeed—before Yu Je-hyun arrived.
Because if he faced Yu Je-hyun while still feeling this confused, it would all fall apart.
“First… let’s eat.”
All that thinking had made him hungry again. Even though he’d already eaten plenty, his stomach still rumbled strangely.
It must’ve been lingering effects from the starvation. His body was still desperate for food, like it hadn’t caught up yet.
After clearing every bite from the table, he headed to the bathroom and bathed.
Even while soaking in a tub of hot water, his mind wouldn’t slow down. By the time he got out, his fingers were wrinkled and pruney.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but the house was stocked with everything he needed.
One entire room was filled with clothes. All in his exact size. That alone told him how long Hong Seong-jun had been preparing this place.
The sizes were identical, but the styles were varied—there were barely any repeating brands. They clearly hadn’t been bought all at once. Even the underwear came in every imaginable type, which made his skin crawl all over again.
He’d filled his stomach, scrubbed his body clean, and changed into fresh, soft clothes.
Instead of heading into the bedroom, Haru sat down in what looked like the living room. He figured it was better to wait there. Hong Seong-jun could return at any moment.
Still nothing.
Even when he rubbed the ring, there was no answer. Alone in the spacious house, his thoughts kept looping.
But what was that feeling I had inside the dungeon?
At the time, everything had happened so fast he hadn’t even had the space to think. But the sensation he’d felt while dying inside the slime—it was something strange, something deeply unfamiliar.
It felt just as foreign then, too—when he was Guiding.
Considering he’d lived an ordinary life with no abilities before ending up inside a novel and awakening powers, it made sense that it still felt unfamiliar.
He didn’t know exactly how it happened, but there was a good chance the original owner of this body had saved him. The voice he heard just before losing consciousness had definitely been his. And yet, the fact that he woke up in Hong Seong-jun’s hideout left him uncertain.
Thinking on my own won’t get me anywhere.
The original Lee Haru didn’t know everything, but he certainly understood more than he did. If only he could talk to him—only then might he make sense of what had happened. But there was only so much he could work out alone.
“Huaaah…”
He had intended to stay awake until Hong Seong-jun returned. But his body, full and satisfied from the meal, had other plans.
A crushing wave of drowsiness swept over him. Of all things, the sofa he’d chosen was far too comfortable, coaxing his body to relax entirely.
He sank into the backrest, tilted his head until it rested against the top, and found himself staring up at the ceiling. Unlike the cell where Black’s leader had once imprisoned him, this place—at least on the surface—seemed decent enough.
His eyes fixed on the pristine ivory ceiling, not a speck of dust in sight. But the longer he laid there, the stronger the pull of sleep became.
Just one minute. No, five… I’ll just rest my eyes for five.
The thought came even as his eyelids were already closed. That was all it took—lowering his lashes—yet the world instantly darkened.
His body seemed to sink. Not into the sofa, but into something softer—like he was being swallowed by something warmer, gentler.
Why does he keep coming to mind…
It was right on the cusp between waking and sleep when it happened. Yu Je-hyun’s face rose once again in his mind, floating as vividly as ever, and Haru let out a mental groan.
The moment he became aware of it, his emotions spun wildly, like wheels bolted on crooked, rolling wherever they pleased.
He was just beginning to drift into deeper sleep, struggling to erase Yu Je-hyun’s face from his thoughts, when something strange made him stir.
The texture beneath him had changed. It felt firmer, contoured in odd ways, and—peculiarly—warm.
And beneath him, something pressing up from under his hips… was gradually hardening.
“…Lee Haru?”
His eyes flew open.
At first, he thought he was hearing things. He blinked a few times, but the sight that met him only confirmed that something was off.
It wasn’t the ivory ceiling he remembered seeing before falling asleep. Though the room was cloaked in shadows, the color above him was unmistakably different.
“Are you really Lee Haru?”
And then, that voice—the same voice that had been echoing endlessly in his mind before sleep. Yu Je-hyun.
Before he could even begin to make sense of what was happening, his body was abruptly turned.
“…It really is you.”
Only then did he realize: the place he’d been lying moments ago wasn’t a sofa—it had been Yu Je-hyun’s body.
Yu Je-hyun looked just as stunned, his pupils visibly trembling even in the dim light.
Somehow, Haru had ended up straddling Yu Je-hyun’s lap, facing him. Yu Je-hyun slowly raised his hand.
Like someone afraid to shatter an illusion, he reached out and gently cupped Haru’s cheek.
The warmth that spread across his skin grounded him. That warmth was real—tangible.
Not a dream. The face in front of him was paler than he remembered, and seeing it up close stirred something strange in his chest.
EHHH