“Don’t go outside today, no matter what.”
Just before leaving the house, Choi Yeo-min stopped me and said those words. I glanced at the window—dawn had barely broken. There were still hours before nightfall, and the thought of staying indoors until then was unbearable.
“Seo-yul?”
“…….”
“Han Seo-yul.”
“Fine. I won’t go out. Happy now?”
I answered reluctantly, but Choi Yeo-min didn’t seem convinced. He kept pressing me, making me promise multiple times before he finally left for the village to look for work.
‘I’m exhausted.’
Left alone, I went back to bed, hoping to catch up on some much-needed sleep. But now that he was gone, I couldn’t doze off. No, it wasn’t just that—I couldn’t relax knowing he was out there, working while I did nothing.
In this town, which was particularly unwelcoming to outsiders, you had to be up and moving at the crack of dawn if you wanted to find work. Whether or not you got a job that day depended entirely on luck.
Sometimes, an easy task with good pay would come along, but more often than not, the work was grueling, and the wages were meager. Supporting two people with that kind of income was nearly impossible, which meant Choi Yeo-min had to spend almost every waking hour working.
And yet, even now, I could do nothing but rely on him. It was pathetic how powerless I was.
‘I can’t sleep.’
Wandering aimlessly through the darkened house, I eventually gave in to temptation and stepped outside, completely disregarding Choi Yeo-min’s request. Staying cooped up inside was suffocating.
At least I had enough sense to compromise—I settled for crouching by the front door. Of course, even this much would be enough to irritate him.
“The sun’s coming up.”
In the distance, dawn broke, painting the once-cold sky in warm hues. As I stared blankly at the fading moon, I felt it again—the fever creeping back.
I’d been fine for the past few days, but if I started getting sick again, it would only worry Choi Yeo-min. As if I weren’t already enough of a burden, now I was just another weight around his ankle. It was almost laughable.
‘Can I really keep staying here?’
Choi Yeo-min believed that, just as the darkest place is under the lamp, the people of District 1 wouldn’t easily find us here. But I thought differently.
In this village, we were complete outsiders—outsiders who stood out far too much. If he really wanted to, he could figure out our whereabouts in no time.
‘No… If it’s been a whole month without any sign of him, maybe Yeo-min is right.’
If he were the man I knew, he would have scoured every district to find me. But over a month had passed in silence. That could only mean one thing—he had given up searching for me.
It was what I had wanted all along. And yet, now that I faced the reality of it, my chest felt heavy. I refused to dwell on why. It was an emotion I no longer needed.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Se-yul and Han Jae-hoon.’
The thought of Han Jae-hoon lingered especially. It felt like all I had left him with was pain. If I could, I would have liked to tell him that I had wanted to take his hand when he asked me to leave with him.
‘But what’s the point now?’
Han Seo-yul was always meant to disappear. In the original story, I was nothing more than an extra—an unnamed mention, “Han Se-yul’s older brother died long ago.”
A lot had changed after I ended up in this body, but I had at least prevented the fall of District 5. My role was completely over. Which meant I no longer belonged by their side.
Rustle.
Just as I was drowning in my thoughts, I heard something shift in the grass.
I turned around, wondering if it was just the wind, but there was nothing.
‘Nothing’s there.’
I stared at the spot where the sound had come from for a long time, but nothing emerged. It made sense—there was no one else around. Nothing living except for me.
Still, the unease wouldn’t go away. Quietly, I got up and returned inside. I secured the door as best as I could, locking it despite its flimsy construction, and held my breath for a long time.
Thankfully, nothing happened.
***
For over a month, he had let himself fall apart. But even now, his presence remained. He had no idea why the master of the district, who had always discarded defective children without hesitation, had left him alone—but thanks to that, moving was easier.
After emerging from the underground, the first thing he did was clean himself up. Ever since Seo-yul had died, he hadn’t eaten properly and had spent his days lashing out in a frenzied attempt to die. He had lost a significant amount of weight, and his face looked even sharper for it.
‘Uncannily similar.’
The man in the mirror was unmistakably the spitting image of the district’s master. He had noticed the resemblance before, but now, with his weight loss, it was even more pronounced.
Dressed in a crisp suit and with his once-disheveled hair neatly slicked back, he had returned to the man he was before he lost himself. Staring into his own reflection, he let out a long breath.
If the rumors Ina had mentioned turned out to be false—if this journey only confirmed, yet again, that Seo-yul was truly dead—what then? The uncertainty gnawed at him.
‘Will I be able to hold myself together?’
Truthfully, he was terrified. He was grasping at straws, clinging to the smallest hope. But deep down, he feared this would only lead to yet another moment of despair.
If—just if—he became certain that Seo-yul was truly dead, he would leave this world without hesitation. No second thoughts, no wavering. He would press the gun to his head and pull the trigger.
The only reason he had kept on living was because of Seo-yul. Even during the long years they had been separated, he had barely managed to endure, clinging to the hope that one day, he would see Seo-yul again.
But a world without Seo-yul? That wasn’t worth living in. It would be better to die as soon as possible, to follow him wherever he had gone. Even if it meant chasing him to the depths of hell.
“…Seo-yul hyung.”
Murmuring the name of the one he longed for, he turned and headed toward the place where the district’s master resided. The moment he reappeared after so long, the entire estate was thrown into an uproar.
Vincent Shining, the man everyone thought had lost his mind, had finally come to his senses.
The news spread quickly, even reaching the ears of those who had been plotting to overthrow him. But none of that mattered to him. Right now, the only thing on his mind was securing permission to leave the mansion as soon as possible.
“Young master Vincent.”
The aide standing guard in front of the office nearly teared up upon seeing him. Even at this so-called touching reunion, Vincent only gave him a cold, expectant look, silently demanding that he open the door.
Quickly wiping away his tears, the aide knocked on the office door. The moment permission was granted, Vincent strode inside without hesitation.
Crash—!
The second he stepped into the room, something came flying toward him. A porcelain vase whizzed past, barely missing him, before shattering against the wall.
Quite the warm welcome.
“Welcome back.”
“I greet the master of the district.”
They exchanged pleasantries as if nothing had happened. Only after the aide quietly closed the door behind them did Vincent finally step closer.
“I apologize for causing you concern.”
He bowed deeply in apology. The district’s master raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing him, as if trying to determine whether the words were sincere.
“So, why have you come?”
The apology didn’t seem to matter much. The master got straight to the point. Straightening his back, Vincent met his gaze head-on.
“I will eliminate the remaining ‘Night’ in the district.”
“…All of a sudden?”
“There’s no one else but me to handle it.”
He wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately, among all the Shining bloodline, he was the only one capable of handling matters related to ‘Night.’
To think that out of all the Shining family members, only one was actually useful. And even that one came with a severe defect.
After he had been thrown into the underground prison for his rampage, the elders wasted no time in pushing for Joshua, the second in line, to be recognized as the next district master.
On the surface, Joshua appeared to be a fitting heir—his blood was thick with the Shining lineage, his coloring bold and pronounced. But the district’s master had refused to acknowledge him.
That idiot was nothing more than a puppet, easily swayed by the elders, incapable of completing a single task properly. Putting him in charge would only drive the district into ruin.
‘It’s a relief if he’s truly regained his senses.’
But the master wasn’t entirely convinced. Was Vincent really in his right mind?
Even Han Jae-hoon, who had once been so unshakable, had long since lost himself after that incident.
And yet, here was Vincent—the same man who had caused a spectacle, losing all reason in front of everyone—suddenly standing before him, composed and clean-cut, declaring that he would take care of ‘Night.’
“This will be your last chance.”
The district’s master decided to give him one final opportunity.
If Vincent handled this properly, his position would solidify once more. And if that happened, then the derailed plans could finally be set back on track.
“Don’t disappoint me.”
