Ju-eon furrowed his brow, trying to see the person but couldn’t make out their face through the fog swirling in his eyes. The cold wind on his face and asphalt ground beneath his feet made Ju-eon wrinkle his nose in recognition of his location. To recreate the outside world with such vivid detail – Ju-eon clicked his tongue again at the incubus’s capabilities.

Honk!

At the repeated horn blast, the person jaywalking with slow steps came to a halt.

The driver, noticing something strange about the large man who had stopped at a non-existent red light, muttered “Got mixed up with a crazy one” before speaking more calmly than before.

“The apology’s enough, just move along.”

“……”

But the man neither responded nor moved. The driver glanced at his watch. Though he typically arrived at work early, this delay would make him late to the office.

“Are you deaf? Hey!”

“……”

Despite his earlier composure, the driver’s tone grew harsh again, but the other party maintained their silence.

“Looking normal but acting weird. Should I call the police?”

The driver, likely intimidated by the man’s superior physique, remained in his car and pulled out his phone.

“Myung-hwon!”

Before the driver could press the call button, a loud voice rang out from behind.

“Yeo Myung-hwon?”

Ju-eon whispered the name like a sigh.

He had been staring blankly, unable to comprehend why the incubus was showing this scene. Though Ju-eon doubted his ears, someone again called out “Myung-hwon!” from afar. The person who rushed over grabbed Myung-hwon’s arm, having come so urgently they wore no outer clothing and mismatched slippers in the cold weather.

“Oh thank goodness. Here you were.”

Rather than showing anger, Kang No-hun seemed relieved to have found Myung-hwon, sighing as he patted Myung-hwon’s shoulder.

“Hey!”

When the driver shouted, No-hun bowed apologetically in Myung-hwon’s place.

“I’m sorry. He’s not in his right mind right now…”

“Just my luck first thing in the morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you this person’s guardian?”

“Yes, yes. I’m so sorry.”

The driver’s anger subsided upon seeing No-hun’s continuous apologies.

‘Looks normal but isn’t right in the head.’

The guardian’s practiced responses suggested familiarity with such situations.

“Keep better watch over him.”

“Yes…”

Myung-hwon, who had been frozen stiff, moved when No-hun led him. No-hun naturally put his arm around Myung-hwon’s shoulder and guided him onto the sidewalk. Only then did the blocked cars resume moving.

What time could this be? Why show this moment? The winter chill crept up from his toes, leaving Ju-eon frozen in place.

Though his face wasn’t visible, anyone would recognize Myung-hwon. Ju-eon had always spotted Myung-hwon instantly, even from behind. Whether distant or turned away, Ju-eon’s gaze had unfailingly found Myung-hwon. Even during his memory loss. So why hadn’t he recognized Myung-hwon now?

Because he never imagined Myung-hwon behaving so absent-mindedly. Ju-eon had believed that even after his disappearance, Myung-hwon would dutifully carry on. His strong sense of responsibility and near-perfectionist work ethic had assured Ju-eon of this.

He had been certain that while his disappearance would bring pain, it wouldn’t severely impact Myung-hwon’s daily life. Clear nail marks etched into Ju-eon’s palm from his clenched fist.

The thought of Myung-hwon standing there vacantly like a vagrant had never crossed his mind. He had naturally assumed that despite any resemblance, it must be someone else.

“Myung-hwon.”

Ju-eon belatedly started chasing after the two.

“Yeo Myung-hwon!”

He wanted to ask what was wrong, if he had caused this.

Crash!

But his reaching hand met resistance before it could touch Myung-hwon.

A transparent glass wall separated him from the two figures. The moment seemed to reject Ju-eon’s presence. While he stood dumbfounded, they grew more distant. Though he could choose not to follow, that option felt impossible.

Slap.

Ju-eon struck both his cheeks. He couldn’t let this dream entrance him. Like with Ju-eon himself, this dream wasn’t the past but merely the incubus’s fabrication.

‘To escape this dream, Myung-hwon needs to wake up.’

This world was Myung-hwon’s nightmare. Everything was fake. Yet even knowing this, seeing Myung-hwon so broken pierced Ju-eon painfully.

“Mr. Myung-hwon.”

No-hun called out. Myung-hwon remained dazed. Like a machine receiving commands, Myung-hwon started walking again.

“Achoo!”

No-hun sneezed and hugged his arms against the cold. He didn’t forcibly guide Myung-hwon, only preventing sudden dashes into traffic or ignored signals, otherwise letting Myung-hwon choose his path.

Myung-hwon seemed to have a clear destination, something No-hun appeared to understand well.

‘This is…’

Myung-hwon stopped in front of D Department Store, where he and Ju-eon had last been together.

The building had collapsed so thoroughly that its former structure seemed almost unimaginable. Though passersby now regarded the ruins with indifference, Myung-hwon stood apart from their casual acceptance.

“No. Mr. Myung-hwon, you’re not even wearing shoes?”

No-hun tried to stop him after noticing Myung-hwon’s bare feet, but he had already entered the site.

Debris remained scattered about, not yet cleared away. Blood stains marked the broken rubble where Myung-hwon’s bare feet crossed.

Trudge.

Trudge.

Yet Myung-hwon showed no concern for his injured feet, walking without hesitation. Behind him, No-hun sighed while pressing his forehead.

‘This is…’

Though the building had lost its shape and could only be roughly identified, this was where Ju-eon and Myung-hwon had last been together. Myung-hwon stared blankly at the sky.

After a long silence, Myung-hwon spoke for the first time.

“Ju-eon.”

His voice was rough from disuse. Hot tears instantly welled up in Ju-eon’s wide eyes.

“Ju-eon… I’ll… I’ll get hurt instead… I’ll do anything in your place… so…”

His anguished expression cut through Ju-eon’s heart like a sharpened blade. Perhaps this Myung-hwon was also an illusion, like Yun-jae earlier. But Ju-eon couldn’t tear his gaze away.

“You worry about me, why worry about yourself.”

Myung-hwon picked up a piece of debris and hugged it. He closed his eyes tightly while embracing it like something precious. His knees weakened, suggesting he might drive the debris into his own chest.

“Should I… go with you too? You hate being lonely.”

Myung-hwon’s words came out like a plea. Soon he raised his hand holding the debris piece high.

Crash!

The barrier before Ju-eon shattered. He started running toward Myung-hwon.

“Yeo Myung-hwon! Have you lost your mind?”

But the more he ran, the further Myung-hwon seemed to drift away.

Throb.

“Ugh…!”

Pain like shards piercing his brain dropped him to one knee, clutching his head.

‘I don’t want to part.’

‘…Okay.’

This was a memory fragment he hadn’t yet recovered. Ju-eon hoped for other pieces to return.

Swish swish swish.

But the fog began rapidly filling in again. This proved more painful than when he himself had been trapped in illusions.

“Heehee. Should have done this sooner. Painful? Heehee. Painful? Painful? Painful?”

The incubus made no effort to hide its satisfaction watching Ju-eon’s face contort with greater pain than before.

“This is just a dream that will break, just an illusion that doesn’t exist.”

Watching Ju-eon chew his lower lip until it was ragged, the incubus gave a cold sneer.

“Heehee. Heehee. Is that really so? Heehee.”

The incubus threw a small stone at the faith that had kept Ju-eon standing.

When his blocked vision cleared, there stood Yeo Myung-hwon in his familiar form that Ju-eon knew.

Bang, bang.

Brief gunshots left holes in the monster’s head. Clean work. The house-sized monster fell helplessly, overwhelmed by superior skill, without even comprehending what had happened.

Thud.

The clean precision left no traces of battle or bloodshed – without the hole in its head, the monster might have appeared merely asleep.

Myung-hwon, having dispatched the boss monster with overwhelming skill, regarded it with emotionless eyes.

Grrrr!

After quickly handling the remaining monsters, Seo Yun-jin also headed to where everyone gathered to receive guiding.

“Good work.”

Among the team of familiar faces Ju-eon remembered, Myung-hwon seemed out of place.

Though relationships weren’t necessarily poor, Myung-hwon appeared detached from the team. He paid little attention to others, nearly ignoring them, while they focused excessively on him.

“Um… would you like to receive guiding?”

“No need.”

A cold dismissal met Ji-woo’s brave question. Myung-hwon retrieved a medicine bottle from his pocket. Though recently prescribed, the bottle was nearly empty.

Tsk.

Myung-hwon clicked his tongue while grinding the medicine with his molars. His annoyance at being unable to get a larger prescription showed. The violently fluctuating energy gradually settled down before long.