“Ju-eon.”

The name was called again. He hadn’t misheard. As if truly connected by a thread of fate, he was calling his name. Though it must be just a coincidence, even knowing it wasn’t a rare name but not particularly unique either.

“Yes.”

The desperate sincerity he poured out wasn’t meant for him. Still, Ju-eon couldn’t help but answer. Once the floodgates opened, they wouldn’t stop.

“Every day without you is too much to bear. Please… take me with you too.”

He pleaded with his forehead buried in Ju-eon’s collarbone. The house with all its lights off must have been desolate. Ju-eon too had felt suffocated by such desolation before. When Yun-jae was burdensome but he had no one else to wait for. There were times when he felt like he would be devoured by the silence while keeping the house alone.

How did the person who left this man feel? Why did they leave when he yearned so desperately?

‘If it were me…’

I would never have left him lonely.

Though he didn’t even know this man’s name, he resented the person who shared his name. And felt a little envious.

‘I’m crazy.’

Yun-jae should be the one I feel these emotions for, so why.

Ju-eon embraced his head with all his strength. So that the sound of his heartbeat might offer even a small comfort.

“Nngh…ah.”

His face slowly moved downward. His forehead touched Ju-eon’s chest, soon moving down to his stomach. As he went even lower, Ju-eon’s chest rose and fell sharply in repetition.

The pleasure tangled with guilt was endlessly deep.

**

“Ugh.”

Myung-hwon let out a short groan. He blinked his heavy eyes. His vision that had been nothing but darkness, as if covered by a curtain, slowly began to regain color.

“F*ck.”

His brain felt like it was melting. Though they said it was a sedative, it seems it wasn’t just a pure drug.

Thanks to his homing instinct, fortunately he was home. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Myung-hwon pressed his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

In winter, sleep became even more elusive so he got sleeping pills prescribed. Not having slept for days, he had planned to go straight home. However, yesterday they had publicly revealed clearing a dungeon’s interior for the first time, and with the response being better than expected, they had a company dinner.

Since Myung-hwon was the star, naturally he had to attend the dinner too. He was tired and drinking made him unusually a bit drunk.

‘It’s a special sedative. It’s on a different level from what you get prescribed at hospitals.’

‘Get lost.’

‘It’s a new drug from the agency. A stabilizer. It’s not on the market yet but it’s safe.’

‘…’

‘Your condition isn’t good right now.’

Though he firmly refused, Lee Ho-yun grumbled that a congressman told him to give it to him, since it wasn’t commercialized yet. He thought that was the end of it, but it seems they had spiked his drink while he briefly left his seat. The problem was that momentary lapse in attention.

It was a shallow trick he would never have fallen for normally, but the winter wind that felt like it would freeze made Ju-eon’s shadow even darker.

“Hah…”

Deep sighs came out one after another. His longing for Ju-eon still made him helplessly disheveled.

He even had a shitty dream. A dream where Woo Ju-eon was living well without him, not knowing him. Though last night was hazy, that fact alone he remembered clearly.

His mouth tasted bitter. On days when he saw Ju-eon even in dreams, his mood would hit rock bottom all day. But today, strangely his whole body felt uncomfortable. Like the discomfort after sweating heavily.

“Ngh.”

Scenes he didn’t remember flashed through his mind.

“…What is this?”

As if he had spent the night with someone.

That couldn’t be. He quickly erased the thoughts in his head. Even if he had been drugged, Myung-hwon had strong faith that he wouldn’t have done anything reckless.

Shhhhhh.

Until he heard the water sound from outside.

He stopped tracing yesterday’s events at the sound of running water from outside. It wasn’t a sound from outside. Someone had invaded our space where time had stopped. He jumped up from his seat with an indescribable displeasure.

That couldn’t be.

Click. When he opened the door, he saw a familiar back. The figure he had drawn every day for years trying not to forget.

‘Am I still under the influence of the drug?’

Otherwise how could the daily life he had lost suddenly return? Did he bring someone who coincidentally looked similar? Was he seeing an illusion? If not that, was he overlapping someone who looked similar to Ju-eon?

He had stopped strangers on the street like this before. He had seen illusions before. Maybe he had gone crazy from missing Ju-eon. It had never felt this vivid before. The drug’s effects not having fully worn off was most likely.

If it wasn’t an illusion.

He felt like throwing up at his own trashy behavior. Not only allowing someone else to intrude in their paradise, but bringing them himself.

Myung-hwon rubbed his eyes. Unlike usual, they felt dry. He sighed while pressing his palm against his eyes. When he approached closer, the other person seemed to sense his presence and turned around sharply.

“I’m sorry for wandering around as I pleased…”

“Please leave now.”

Like a radio with mismatched frequencies, it kept ringing noisily in his head, constantly touching his nerves.

Myung-hwon cut off his words. There was no way it could be the real Ju-eon. He believed Ju-eon would return. He held onto that faded belief with obsessive persistence. Yet on one side, there was despair that grew as tenacious as weeds.

“Alright.”

His mind cleared as if it had been doused with cold water. Not because the other person agreed more easily than expected.

“…Wait…”

“Let go.”

His arm was roughly shaken off. Myung-hwon froze, not even thinking to grab him.

Someone else?

While Myung-hwon stood dumbfounded, the other person grabbed his outer clothes that had been draped over the dining chair and fled the space like he was escaping. Myung-hwon closed his dry eyes tightly then opened them.

“This makes no sense.”

That you don’t recognize me.

Bang. The door closed violently.

But he was confused because it couldn’t be anyone but Ju-eon. He would have been less shocked if he had been possessed by a ghost. Unlike his confused mind, his body moved reflexively.

Tak! Myung-hwon quickly opened the closed door and chased after the person who had just left.

What makes even less sense is me bringing someone other than you to this house.

“Ju-eon…”

All his nerves were focused in one direction. People got in the way with each step. To the point where he felt like using his ability on them.

“Woo Ju-eon!”

His heart felt like it would burst. The black and white world instantly regained its colors. He ran, forgetting even to breathe.

“Hey!”

Perhaps because it was rush hour, there were too many people. Someone Myung-hwon bumped shoulders with while passing called out irritably, but Myung-hwon threw himself in one direction more blindly than a mayfly diving into fire.

He needed to confirm once more with his now clear vision. If you’ve returned… if the reason you didn’t return was because you were disappointed in me.

“Ju-eon.”

His voice that whispered like a plea was deeply sunken. Before long, the neat nape he had been desperately searching for came into view. The round back of his head and thin but soft-looking hair.

It was Ju-eon. It couldn’t be anyone else.

Myung-hwon reached out his hand. It felt like he could grab him if he went just a little further.

Kuwoong. And the world shook.

“Kyaaak!”

A sandstorm came from not far away. People screamed in unison and covered their faces. Before the sandstorm cleared and people could show any reaction, an ominous sound was heard from the sky.

Whoosh!

Insects were gathering like clouds above the sky. Though far away, their distinct forms were visible. They were overwhelmingly larger than normal insects.

And some insects had shapes that didn’t exist in reality. For instance, animals that had fur and horns, 10 legs, and could fly.

“Kyaaak!”

It was a dungeon break. A dungeon break meant that monsters spilled out of the dungeon when its power overheated beyond capacity because it hadn’t been cleared for a long time, and they couldn’t even weaken it, let alone clear it.

He looked toward where the monsters were pouring out. He had certainly heard reports that Attack Team 2 would go to handle the dungeon that appeared in Earth 1 over the weekend. The direction matched what he had heard too.

‘It should have been a B-class dungeon.’

It wasn’t his first time handling a B-class dungeon, and it wasn’t that difficult. For areas with high floating population, they input more personnel than necessary for the dungeon’s grade to ensure clearing it.

It was like a living hell. People who had been moving busily but orderly all started pushing and falling over each other as they ran to survive.

Myung-hwon went against the flow of people. Though the distance had increased due to the sudden monster appearance, he could catch up if he followed again. But before Myung-hwon could take a few steps, someone grabbed his clothes.

Grab.

“Y-you’re Yeo Myung-hwon… right? The one who often appeared on TV…?”

One of the fleeing citizens recognized Myung-hwon and shouted loudly in a voice full of joy. People around who heard those words stopped to look at Myung-hwon.

“It’s the S-class esper!”

When Myung-hwon didn’t answer, their doubt turned to certainty.