(Truth pt.2)

For a moment, he couldn’t understand what he’d just heard. It was too sudden and strange.

Friend’s lover? How could Kim In-woo be connected to Ezel in such a way?

Ezel brightly smiled at In-woo’s confused face.

“I hear you’ve been dating Radel for 5 years now. And you even had a wedding ceremony recently? It’s lasting longer than expected. I thought it would end quickly.”

It was nonsense from start to finish. Unable to listen anymore to words spoken with a smile, In-woo tried to kick Ezel. Or rather, he attempted to.

But his body wouldn’t move, as if it had turned to stone. He couldn’t even wiggle a finger, but soon realized that wasn’t the main problem. Even proper breathing was difficult, like someone who had forgotten how to breathe.

Ezel buried their nose in In-woo’s frozen nape and took a deep breath. They frowned as they sniffed.

“Why are you playing at romance with a human when they weren’t even made into an omega? You probably couldn’t even feel properly.”

“…”

“Or perhaps you satisfy yourself with androids? You’ve always done strange things, after all.”

Unlike the composed Ezel, In-woo’s mind grew increasingly chaotic. His heart raced with anger and confusion at the incomprehensible words while simultaneously struggling to breathe. Ezel observed In-woo’s changes through narrowed eyes. Then they raised their hand to caress In-woo’s cheek.

“As much as they’re a vermin species, I feel a bit sorry for you. Of all people, to end up with Radel…”

“…”

“Poor thing.”

Whispering softly, Ezel lightly flicked their thumb and index finger. With a crisp snap, the focus disappeared from In-woo’s eyes.

Ezel raised their hand to grab In-woo’s head. Suddenly growing much taller, Ezel carefully traced In-woo’s skull with their fingertips. Under Ezel’s white fingers, a light beautiful as crushed stars sparkled.

However, contrary to the beautiful light, In-woo’s skin where it touched Ezel writhed grotesquely. It discolored strangely, like black ink flowing along the paths of blood vessels. When the blackness reached In-woo’s eyes, Ezel observed the changes and pulled their lips up in a smile.

“Don’t resist the impulse.”

“…”

“You’re going to honestly express your anger. Without hesitation, find the nearest weapon… Understood?”

The moment that low, measured voice burrowed in like poison, the blackened areas faded like water had been added. Simultaneously, something changed within In-woo.

With a satisfied expression, Ezel removed their hand. In-woo’s skin returned to its original color, and his eyes regained their focus. However, he remained unaware of the brief moment of lost memory.

In-woo blinked dazedly before noticing Ezel and startling backward.

He had clearly been talking just moments ago, but suddenly his mind went blank. His head was throbbing painfully. He felt like he might be sick. Though he thought he should run away, In-woo stood there dazedly. Everything felt strangely unreal.

“Kim In-woo.”

Ezel called out to him. In-woo’s gaze turned to Ezel’s face. And in that moment, an unbelievable change occurred. Ezel’s face, which had been incredibly beautiful until just moments ago, had instantly changed to a face commonly seen anywhere.

“Curious how my appearance changed?”

“…”

“I used a perception conversion device. It changes appearances. While we can increase or decrease our physical size, precise form transformation is impossible.”

Though he thought he should ignore the whispering voice, he found himself completely focused on it without realizing. Ezel grinned at In-woo who was acting as if enchanted, and placed a small device in his empty hand. In-woo looked down at the pitch-black device. It was a switch that looked like a toy with a small round button.

“That’s a device that nullifies various other devices… hmm, would you understand if I said it emits something like waves?”

“…”

“Press it. The effect will appear immediately.”

Bullshit… Words not worth listening to.

Even while thinking this, Kim In-woo pressed the switch Ezel had given him.

Click.

With the crisp sound, the disguise overlaying Ezel melted away. What had formed the fake face washed away like water, revealing their original appearance.

The switch fell from In-woo’s hand to the ground. Ezel bent down to pick it up themselves and placed it back in In-woo’s hand.

“Fun, isn’t it? Being able to change faces at will.”

“…”

“This is actually expensive, you know. It’s been modified so that even someone primitive like you can use it easily. Well, since you’re my old friend’s lover, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

Ezel spoke in an exaggerated tone, as if doing him a favor. Their gaze swept over In-woo with cold contempt.

“See you next time then. If there is one.”

Leaving behind those unpleasant parting words, Ezel vanished in the blink of an eye. Before In-woo could do anything more, leaving behind only the unpleasant switch.

“…”

Everything felt unreal, so In-woo looked around dazedly. The lengthening sun, the deep blue sky and the darkly flowing river, the tall buildings packed densely beyond… Amidst such familiar scenery, an alien sensation filled In-woo’s hand.

Standing in place and trembling, In-woo threw away the switch. Then he turned and ran to the bathroom, immediately grabbing the toilet and starting to vomit. He threw up everything he’d eaten today, and even when nothing more would come up, he stayed hunched over the toilet for a long while.

In-woo left the bathroom with a pale face. Walking unsteadily and weakly, he bit his lip and looked around. His gaze, which at first held just a slight anxiety, gradually took on an almost manic intensity. And after looking around for a while, In-woo finally found what he wanted.

The switch he had thrown away earlier.

The discarded object lay alone on the grass. The thing Ezel had placed in his hand. With trembling hands, In-woo picked up the object that clearly held malicious intent. He carefully put the switch, still cold despite the hot sun, into his pocket.

“Ugh…”

He wanted to just collapse and cry. He wanted to run away. He just wanted to stop thinking altogether. But he had nowhere to go and didn’t know how to stop the thoughts. Like a lost child, In-woo spun in circles for a long while before returning to his car.

“…”

Though he grabbed the steering wheel, his hands were shaking too badly to drive. He wasn’t in any state to call someone either. Since this place was relatively close to home anyway, In-woo left the car behind and staggered forward.

It’s a path he sometimes walks for exercise. Familiar scenery passed by but still nothing felt real.

After 5 years, Ezel, who was practically the source of his nightmares, had appeared and spouted terrible nonsense, then left without doing anything else.

It feels like having a dream in broad daylight. This sense of unreality is just like when he first returned to Earth 5 years ago. A feeling of fear and misery as strong as then, perhaps even stronger, gripped In-woo.

If only this were all a dream, but the sensation of the switch in his pocket was too cold and hard, holding back In-woo as he tried to escape.

Fortunately, since it wasn’t a busy time, In-woo was able to reach home without much difficulty. After taking off his shoes at the entrance, In-woo first faced the large photo hanging in the hallway leading to the living room.

It was a photo taken when he traveled with Sun-ho. In the photo, the two of them were smiling without a care in the world, holding hands tightly. In-woo couldn’t look directly at the photo and squeezed his eyes shut.

Loving Lee Sun-ho.

Gentle Lee Sun-ho.

That Lee Sun-ho…

There’s no way Lee Sun-ho could be Radel, right?