Thump….
It felt like he’d just heard something that wasn’t there.
His pupils, their borders blurring into the irises, tightened for an instant like a snake’s. His wide eyes flicked left and then, with unnatural speed, the pupils blew wide. A distant, aching pressure spread through his chest, as if his heart had skipped a beat.
Thump….
“…The ring is so… pretty, …it’s totally my style… When did you even buy….”
Tears shimmering, Se-min smiled in bliss and looked down at the fourth finger of his left hand. But Cha-hyeon’s strangely dilated black pupils were fixed on an opaque blue window that had appeared out of nowhere.
Thump….
Would you like to confirm?
Thump….
His eyes squeezed shut. Fevered lids twitched, irritable. Maybe it was a kind of avoidance that didn’t suit him.
Yet when Cha-hyeon opened his eyes again, the status window’s soft, opaque blue glow was still there in the same place.
Thump….
“…Hyung?”
The pair guide’s puzzled voice barely reached him. While his heart pounded painfully hard, a prickling numbness—like all the blood draining to his fingers and toes—brought a cold sweat to his skin.
Would you like to confirm?
Cha-hyeon’s prominent Adam’s apple bobbed, trembling up and down.
A status window only fully activates inside a dungeon. That was as obvious as the sun rising in the east and seawater being salty.
But he’d already experienced a notification popping up on a status window even outside a dungeon, hadn’t he?
Thump, thump, thump, thump…. His heartbeat hammered so hard it hurt his ears.
…I failed?
Why? How? He hadn’t cleared a dungeon—hadn’t even entered one. In this place where there was supposedly no risk at all, why, suddenly?
A question close to nameless terror swept over him. A lethal threat erupting in a situation he couldn’t control—this was a kind of fear he’d never faced in his life.
If Sung Cha-hyeon comes back like this….
“Hyung!”
The pitch-black pupil locked to the left trembled in tiny movements. As if he found him strange—no, as if he were worried—no, no….
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Hyung, your face right now is really….”
He could see his pair guide looking at him. From between Cha-hyeon’s slightly parted lips, ragged breaths leaked out. Somewhere, a menacing alarm tone blared.
Sung Cha-hyeon is coming back. The numbers are filling. If the numbers that seemed like they’d never, ever fill finally do, he’ll disappear. He’ll lose his pair guide.
What did I do wrong? Where did it start to go wrong? What mistake did I make? How do I fix it?
…What about killing? Kill him? His fingertips twitched as his gaze locked on Se-min. A simple, easy solution from before flashed through his mind.
But he decided killing Se-min wasn’t what he wanted—and it was inefficient besides.
Then what about dying while I’m still me? Profit or loss? Letting Sung Cha-hyeon and Ji Se-min meet versus splitting them with death so they can never meet, ever again….
“Hyung! What the hell is going on! Cha-hyeon hyung!”
At some point, black mist had begun to condense in his grip in the shape of an arrow. Soon, a leaden arrow fully took form in his fist, clenched so hard veins stood out over his knuckles.
“What the…!”
Even unable to make sense of the sudden move, Se-min screamed and grabbed his arm to stop him.
He didn’t know why, but instinct told him he had to intervene. And… a déjà vu, as if he’d felt this somewhere before, pushed him to act.
Pale as a sheet, Cha-hyeon looked at Se-min. Just seconds ago they’d been whispering words of love, and now all that remained between them was bewilderment, shock, and raw, vivid fear.
“……”
Mind bleached white, Cha-hyeon asked himself one last question. How am I supposed to handle this?
But no answer came. When the correct answer doesn’t exist among the choices, there’s no way to know it.
Automatically receiving the reward.
.
.
.
~Unclaimed Rewards List~
♦ …Clear Reward… (2/3)
“…Ah, fuck….”
An Esper who had never once failed a gate spat a curse. His abnormally widened pupils slid back beneath his lids. Covering his eyes with a bloodless hand, Cha-hyeon tipped his head back in aggravation.
…Silence settled. In the hotel room, where an uneasy stillness drifted, even making the slightest sound felt hard.
Se-min, who’d been clutching at him in a panic, watched with mounting worry as he suddenly went motionless. He had no idea why Cha-hyeon would pull something so out of the blue. He’d gone white as chalk and frozen up, then even used an ability—what for?
“…Hyung? You okay?”
Se-min tried again, cautiously calling to him. The lack of any response, the way his head remained tipped back, made anxiety spike. His hand clenched before he knew it. Between his fingers, a foreign chill of metal pressed against his skin.
“…Haa….”
As Cha-hyeon lazily let out the breath he’d been holding, the arm that had been taut with tension loosened. Se-min slowly let go of the forearm he’d been gripping. Still looking worried, he watched as Cha-hyeon gradually lowered the hand that had covered his eyes.
Clatter— The arrow he’d been holding tight dropped to the floor. The sharp clink of silvered metal rang through the now-quiet hotel room.
Cha-hyeon straightened the head he’d thrown back. Watching him with bated breath, Se-min reflexively gulped a thin, sharp breath. Somehow, Hyung was… off.
“……”
Lightless, his pitch-black eyes—drained of any spark—swept the hotel room, indifferent. Balloons glinting translucent under bright sunlight; flowers still fresh and lush; flower dust and glitter scattered here and there. Decorations that hinted at a special event.
Taking it all in with a face that looked bone-tired, Cha-hyeon’s gaze finally settled on Se-min. He stared at the anxious Se-min for a while without a word, then muttered, almost to himself,
“Guess it’s finally time for me to die.”
His tone was limp, emptied of any will to act. A black gap opened between Se-min’s lips.
Something was wrong. Something about the current Cha-hyeon was wrong. He had the same face as moments ago, yet a peculiarly weary expression made him look ten years older.
But Cha-hyeon didn’t seem to feel anything amiss in himself, and he didn’t take his eyes off Se-min for even a second. That murky gaze—mixed with longing and guilt—felt terribly unfamiliar.
“A dream? Or a hallucination…. Well, does it matter….”
Muttering to himself, he lifted a hand. Se-min flinched despite himself, but all Cha-hyeon did was rest his palm gently on Se-min’s head.
With that parched face, he moved his hand slowly. Hair tousled beneath his broad palm. The touch wasn’t unfamiliar. No—so familiar it felt dear.
Se-min stared, dazed, at Cha-hyeon, who ruffled his hair with a faint smile. Gooseflesh rippled over Se-min’s whole body as if drenched in cold water, and he blurted a question, sudden and sharp.
“…Cha-hyeon, Hyung?”
A small pull at the corner of Cha-hyeon’s mouth. But soon, as if even that reflexive, mechanical motion was a burden, the faint curve slackened. In that instant, a bolt of certainty speared from the crown of Se-min’s head down to his toes.
There had been times when Cha-hyeon lost his bearings. He’d carry on disjointed conversations, wear an expression completely unlike the current Cha-hyeon’s, and show Se-min the familiar “Hyung” he knew.
Unclaimed Reward.
The black space between Se-min’s lips widened. Staring at Cha-hyeon in shock, his gaze jerked aside as if burned—to the empty air he’d seen Cha-hyeon staring at, white as a sheet.
Could the Unclaimed Reward have just triggered? But there’d been absolutely no grounds to receive a Clear Reward…?
A swarm of baffling questions rose, but more than that, Se-min decided he first had to confirm whether Cha-hyeon was indeed in a state of having received an Unclaimed Reward. Flustered, he asked,
“Hyung, did you come back just now? No—wait, you remember, right? You haven’t forgotten who I am, not right now?”
Cha-hyeon’s brow lifted faintly. Gazing at him with unfocused eyes, he answered without resistance,
“You’re Se-min. My dongsaeng.”
A familiar answer—one he’d heard before. Se-min’s throat bobbed as he pressed his lips together. He’d already been half convinced; that reply all but sealed it.
But why? Why would a reward be given so suddenly, and why would a Hyung with intact memories return?
And still, the Hyung before his eyes was wrong.
Above all, he just looked… far too tired.
