* * *
Standing amidst the tall grasses, Remy found himself face-to-face with Ashton.
Ashton reached out, gently cupping Remy’s damp cheek, wiping away his tears.
“See? You really can’t hide anything.”
With just those few words, the sobs Remy had been holding back broke free.
Ashton wasn’t doing anything except wiping his tears, yet his touch was unbearably tender.
So tender, it felt like a cruel curse to know he would never feel it again.
“You idiot. Why do you always let yourself get hurt like this? I told you to come to me when things got tough. Why do you never listen? Huh? You’re making it hard for me.”
Ashton pulled Remy into his arms, holding him close as he shook with uncontrollable sobs.
Pressing his heated face and lips against Ashton’s shoulder, Remy wept without restraint.
Ashton stroked his back in slow, comforting motions before running his fingers through his soft hair.
That touch alone was enough to soothe Remy.
His heart ached beyond words, but strangely, his tears began to slow.
The pain was unbearable, yet Ashton’s touch was even more gentle—so much so that the tears, against all odds, started to subside.
“Remy.”
At the soft brush of fingers sweeping his bangs aside, Remy slowly lifted his head.
The two of them remained wrapped in each other’s embrace, pampas grass swaying around them, the scent of wild greenery lingering in the air.
He didn’t want to wake up from this.
If only he could stay like this, held in Ashton’s arms, forever.
“Let’s go back now.”
But Ashton told him it was time to return.
“We’ve come far enough.”
“Ashton…”
“It’s okay now. You can go back.”
“…But I… I…”
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll be right by your side.”
“…”
“So come with me. Forget all the painful memories. It’s time to go back, Remy.”
At Ashton’s words, Remy’s body felt strangely light.
He buried his face against Ashton’s chest once more.
Though there were no pheromones, Ashton’s embrace was warm and safe.
Slowly, Remy let his eyes drift shut.
Like this, it felt okay.
Like this, he could endure—no matter where they went.
As long as Ashton was by his side.
As long as he could stay with him.
Anywhere…
—
“Remy.”
A familiar voice pulled him from the darkness.
Remy’s eyes fluttered open, the blinding sunlight scattering across his blurred vision.
“Remy?! Are you awake? Remy!”
The sudden noise rang in his ears.
Disoriented, unable to distinguish his surroundings, his mind spiraled into confusion.
“Remy, say something! Are you awake? Huh? Remy?! Remy, please.”
Slowly, Remy blinked.
He struggled to focus, to bring the spinning world into clarity.
His vision, fractured into hazy fragments, gradually came into focus.
The blurred silhouettes of people standing above him sharpened.
He squeezed his eyes shut again.
And when he opened them, he saw three familiar faces staring down at him.
Tears welled in his eyes instantly.
It was strange.
He had wanted nothing more than to escape these three people.
Yet now, seeing them here, their presence filled him with an overwhelming sense of relief.
“Remy…!”
Hayward, overcome with emotion, scooped him up.
Without hesitation, Ashton and Rex joined, wrapping their arms around him.
All four of them held each other close, surrounding Remy completely.
“Remy, are you really okay now?”
“We were so worried. So damn worried.”
“Thank the heavens…”
Voices tumbled over one another, questions and reassurances blending into an incomprehensible rush of words.
Remy could only cry in response.
Enveloped in their warmth, his heart swelled with emotion.
“I thought I lost you. I thought I’d have to let you go forever, and I can’t even begin to describe how much that broke me. Thank you for coming back. Thank you, Remy.”
Listening to their trembling voices, filled with gratitude for his return, Remy found himself thanking the heavens as well.
Thankful that he had woken up here.
Thankful that he could live as Remy once again.
“Thank you, Remy. Truly… thank you.”
The room was filled with the scent of fresh flowers—sweet and intoxicating.
Like a bouquet in full bloom, the air shimmered with their fragrance, radiant and bright.
The autumn sun poured down with a warmth that bordered on scorching.
Draped in a light knit over his shoulders, Remy strolled through the garden.
No matter how many times he saw it, the flower beds, meticulously tended by the master gardener who had worked for the Wesley family for thirty years, were always breathtaking.
In summer, hydrangeas bloomed in full glory, and by late autumn, golden leaves blanketed the ground, dressing the garden in autumn’s colors.
Remy settled onto a bench placed in front of the flower bed.
For a moment, he was lost in thought, reflecting on the past few days that had felt like a dream.
In the end, he had failed to return to his original world.
He had done everything he could, following the plot as closely as possible, even going so far as to attempt getting shot to death—just as he had read in the original novel.
But it had all been in vain.
No, even the person who was supposed to pull the trigger was different from the original story.
The novel had mentioned it would be one of three alphas, though their identity was never explicitly revealed.
But in reality, the gun Remy had encountered was the one Allen had taken out to end his own life.
“Maybe… I was never meant to follow the original story in the first place. The moment I possessed this body, everything had already begun to fall apart.”
Looking back now, it seemed true.
From the moment he had entered this world, the story had deviated from its original course.
No matter how hard he tried, events unfolded differently.
There was never a way for him to turn it all back.
“And maybe… at some point, I stopped wanting to return.”
It was only now that Remy realized a truth even he had not recognized before.
At some point, he could no longer remember why he had wanted to go back.
His memories of his past life had faded entirely, to the point where even his own name was lost to him.
There was nothing left in that world—what reason could he possibly have to return?
And yet, he hadn’t been able to let go of the efforts he had made thus far.
So he had stubbornly continued with his plan, desperately trying to get shot by one of the alphas.
But when he had nearly died and then woken up again, his heart had been filled with gratitude—gratitude simply for being able to live as Remy once more.
“That’s enough. The fact that I was grateful… That means I wanted to stay. I wanted to live as Remy.”
With that realization, his heart felt lighter.
The heavy weight of obligation—the belief that he had to return to the real world—dissipated.
Suddenly, everything around him appeared new, even this beautiful garden.
He wondered why he had never truly taken it in before, why he had always just passed it by.
“Remy.”
And more than anything else, the person who felt the most different to him now—was Ashton.
“Why are you out here instead of resting? You need to take it easy to recover properly.”
Ashton had approached before Remy even noticed.
He looked up at him and, for the first time, smiled brightly.
In the past, Remy had always scowled whenever he saw Ashton.
But now, he was smiling—happily.
“It’s too beautiful here. It felt like a waste to just look at it through the window. And I wanted to get some fresh air.”
Even the way he spoke had changed completely.
* * *
