That question gave him an odd sense of déjà vu. Seo Jae-ha’s eyebrow arched, then lowered again.
“Weird person?”
When he asked back, suspiciously, Im Su-min stepped even closer. Their bodies were now so close that Jae-ha could feel the faint pressure of Su-min’s presence through the fabric between them.
“There’s something weird clinging to you… and it just won’t go away.”
The mutter started soft but ended with a hint of weight, his tone edged with quiet irritation.
Jae-ha’s thoughts flickered back to Su-min’s strangely persistent clinginess—how he always made sure to sit next to him. Just like how Ju Hae-hyun always insisted on sharing his bed.
Is this guy the same?
“Is it that bad?”
Testing the waters, Jae-ha asked, and Su-min immediately began brushing off different parts of his body. His hands lightly skimmed Jae-ha’s shoulders, stomach, and waist, but quickly dropped, lacking any force.
“This isn’t enough. It’s too strong.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Hae-hyun had said it was almost gone, but Su-min was saying something completely different. …So who was telling the truth? Jae-ha tilted his head, doubt creeping into his eyes.
Now that he thought about it, Hae-hyun had never said exactly when the curse would be lifted. And lately, he hadn’t even brought it up—almost as if it no longer existed. Jae-ha knew he couldn’t keep relying on help forever. He really did need to ask about it properly sometime… but he’d been too busy drinking kimchi broth in advance. (Note: Korean idiom meaning to get ahead of oneself, like “counting your chickens before they hatch.”)
“Well…”
Su-min trailed off, staring at him intently. The unwavering, wide-eyed gaze gave Jae-ha a slight chill. When he instinctively stepped back, Su-min blinked slowly, and his small shoulders seemed to droop.
“The best thing would be to get rid of the source.”
“…But I don’t even know what the source is. Do I have to know?”
Hae-hyun had asked something similar, but honestly, Jae-ha didn’t have a single clue. It’s not like he’d been to a funeral or a wake recently. He hadn’t even gone near a hospital or a columbarium. He hadn’t done a haunted house challenge or anything like that. He’d just been going to school like normal, and somehow ended up cursed. If that wasn’t baffling, what was?
Su-min hummed and glanced up thoughtfully. Then, after a brief pause, he suddenly said:
“There is one way.”
“What is it?”
“……”
Su-min stared straight at him for a moment, then shook his head lightly. The serious mood from earlier was already gone.
“Let’s just leave that one for now. I don’t want you to hate me.”
…Was he talking about killing him or something? Sure, if the cursed person dies, the curse would disappear too. As that extreme thought flashed across his mind, Jae-ha eyed Su-min warily. But Su-min either didn’t notice or pretended not to, walking ahead like nothing happened.
“Come on. We’ll be late for class.”
***
3) Wait
After that, Jae-ha went back to spending time with Hae-hyun like before. They still shared a bed, ate lunch together, stayed in touch. And when that phone call randomly came to mind and made his stomach churn, he just pushed through it.
He only cut out the flirty bits—touching him under the guise of being casual, tossing out little baited questions for fun. All those were gone now. Of course, he also pushed back when Hae-hyun tried anything himself.
“Sunbae, did I do something wrong?”
A few days later, Hae-hyun finally asked, and Jae-ha figured yep, here it is.
Outwardly, things might’ve seemed the same, but the fragile bond between them couldn’t go back to what it was. Especially considering Jae-ha, who used to cling at every opportunity, now had his motivation buried somewhere underground. Naturally, Hae-hyun had started to notice.
“What could you possibly have done wrong? Did you?”
Jae-ha shot the question back with indifference. Hae-hyun glared like he was trying to bore a hole into him, but eventually closed his mouth, unable to say anything. His whole vibe screamed I don’t get it and I hate that I don’t get it.
Jae-ha had no intention of explaining. What was there to like anymore, really? He just wanted the whole thing to drift apart on its own.
“Anyway, Ju Hae-hyun.”
“It’s just Hae-hyun.”
“…Hae-hyun.”
Finally, Hae-hyun’s tightly drawn expression relaxed—just a little. What does it even matter if I call you by your full name? Is your last name a dirty word? Go apologize to your ancestors. Jae-ha pushed the petty thoughts aside and got to the point.
“That curse that’s stuck on me—when’s it going to be gone for good?”
“Stop changing the subject.”
“I’m not.”
“…Why are you suddenly asking this?”
Hae-hyun frowned, sensing something unsettling behind the words.
“I mean, I can’t live with you forever.”
Jae-ha mumbled, glancing away. His gaze landed on the dog and fox plushies sitting side by side on the back of the couch. Snuggled up like one big happy family, they looked blissfully unaware of anything complicated.
“What?”
Hae-hyun seemed oddly caught off guard.
Isn’t that obvious? What did you think we were from the beginning? Jae-ha didn’t say it out loud, but Hae-hyun clearly got the message.
“You said it was almost gone. But it’s been a while.”
And Su-min’s recent comment had been eating at him. Who was telling the truth? Jae-ha looked at Hae-hyun with narrowed eyes, and the younger man reluctantly lowered his gaze.
“…Something’s off.”
Hae-hyun’s voice was subdued and a little gloomy.
At first, things had gone smoothly. Right after they started living together, just having Jae-ha near him was enough for Hae-hyun’s energy to slowly drive the curse away.
But the weirdness started once it felt like the curse was almost gone.
The curse—which they thought had vanished—suddenly flared back up.
Hae-hyun had been rattled, but composed himself quickly. His energy still worked—it just wasn’t finishing the job. Fine, he thought. I’ll just pour in more of it until the curse is completely crushed.
“So I started spending a lot more time with you. To keep the curse from growing back.”
“…Really?”
At least, that’s what he’d believed.
But that belief didn’t last long. The curse refused to die.
Whenever they were together, it shrank almost to nothing. But the second they were apart—when Jae-ha left for school and came back—it would creep back, swelling again.
And it wasn’t even consistent. Some days, Jae-ha could sit through four hours of class, and the curse barely grew. But other days, he’d come back after just one class and it would’ve ballooned to five times the size.
There was no clear pattern. Hae-hyun was at a loss.
The biggest problem was that he had no idea what the curse actually was.
Know your enemy, win every battle—but he couldn’t even get a lead. All he could sense was the energy, and that wasn’t enough. Even with all the ghosts he’d dealt with, this was a first.
It was just weird. It felt pure, but also murky. Sinister, but somehow also clean. The more he looked into it, the deeper the rabbit hole went.
“Are we sure it’s even a curse?”
Jae-ha asked tentatively. Hae-hyun shook his head, firm.
“You almost drowned in the lake, remember? That thing was trying to lure you in. It’s not some benevolent spirit.”
If the person who cast it realized it wasn’t working, they might try to hurt Jae-ha directly. He couldn’t let that happen.
“We’ll have to find the source and eliminate it.”
The same thing Su-min had said. Jae-ha’s face immediately turned serious.
“But seriously…”
He had to ask.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Huh?”
Hae-hyun flinched like a kid caught doing something wrong.
“You said the curse came back. So why did you act like it was basically gone and then never updated me?”
Jae-ha was the one cursed. He had a right to know what was happening with his own body.
Judging by what Hae-hyun was saying now, this hadn’t just started. He’d been trying different methods, going through trial and error—and yet Jae-ha had been completely in the dark. It had to be intentional.
“Why’d you hide it?”
“…I didn’t mean to hide it, I just…”
Hae-hyun looked exactly like someone who’d been hiding it. He fidgeted, glancing around nervously, clearly trying to weasel out. But when it became obvious that wouldn’t work, he finally confessed.
“I was afraid you’d be disappointed… I told you it was almost gone, and if I turned out to be wrong…”
“……”
“You didn’t trust me at first—you kicked me out, remember? Please don’t be disappointed. I can do this. I really can.”
I’m disappointed as hell right now, actually.
Jae-ha stared at him, completely deadpan.
