* * *

As Beomhyeon drove, Jungin gazed numbly out the window, feeling slightly lighter as the open sky replaced the suffocating walls.

The car eventually stopped by a quiet beach.

“I can walk now.”

“Your brothers will be all over me if I let you. Cooperate so I get a lighter sentence, yeah?”

“Whatever. My brothers…”

Biting his lip, he desperately tried to erase the whirlwind of thoughts crowding his mind.

Sure, they were wonderful, but that only made him resent them even more.

Holding Jungin in his arms, Beomhyeon stopped in front of the tall breakwater and gently let him down.

As Jungin lifted his head, the blue ocean unfolded before him.

“Haah…”

The sight of the sea left Jungin feeling inexplicably hollow, as if a hole had formed in his chest.

He felt an emptiness that nothing could fill.

Even as he bit his lips and held his breath, the tears he’d tried to suppress spilled uncontrollably down his cheeks.

‘I’m dead… The real me is truly gone now.’

“Hic… sob…”

As he accepted the reality of his death, sorrow surged into the void in his chest, spilling out as sobs.

His thin shoulders trembled as he buried his face in his palms, finally breaking down into the tears he had held back for so long.

Beomhyeon, who had silently stayed by Jungin’s side for a long while, reached out and gently wiped the tear-streaked mess on Jungin’s face.

Jungin, whose eyes quivered with emotion as he gazed at Beomhyeon, finally released his bitten lip and spoke.

“Ki Beomhyeon… Can’t you just kidnap me?”

Beomhyeon’s brow furrowed deeply at Jungin’s desperate request.

Realizing his words were affecting him, Jungin stepped closer and clasped Beomhyeon’s firm hands, pleading.

“I don’t want to go back to the hospital. If I stay there, I’ll feel so suffocated I might really die. No, I really want to die.”

“Lee Jungin.”

At those words, Beomhyeon’s expression hardened, a pained look in his eyes.

His grip tightened around Jungin’s wrist, as if afraid he might vanish at any moment.

“Ow…”

“Damn it.”

Jungin winced, looking down at his reddened arm, startled by Beomhyeon’s reaction.

Beomhyeon ran his hands through his hair in frustration, visibly struggling to contain his anger.

Then, seeing Jungin still shedding tears, he asked:

“Is it just the hospital you hate?”

When Jungin slowly nodded, Beomhyeon let out a heavy sigh.

Before Beomhyeon could try to persuade him otherwise, Jungin quickly added:

“I don’t want to see my brothers either… I need time to sort out my feelings.”

Jungin felt guilty, but seeing his brothers only reminded him of the real Lee Jungin, tearing at his heart.

He wasn’t the real Lee Jungin.

But from now on, he had to live as Jungin.

He desperately needed time to process and accept this situation on his own.

“You’re the only one I can ask… Please, I’m begging you,” Jungin said, looking up at Beomhyeon with determination.

After a moment, Beomhyeon, phone in hand, dialed someone.

“Mr. Yoon, it’s me. I need a favor urgently.”

Jungin couldn’t quite hear the conversation over the storm of his emotions and the sobs that kept erupting from him.

“Hic.”

He had cried so much that his eyes stung.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to regain his composure, only for Beomhyeon to gently free Jungin’s lips from his teeth and say:

“I’ll kidnap you.”

“…”

“So stop crying.”

The warmth on his cheek was impossibly soothing.

After inhabiting Lee Jungin’s body, he’d tried not to grow attached, knowing he’d have to part and become strangers again one day.

But before he even realized it, he had grown attached to Beomhyeon.

Jungin’s heart twisted strangely as he looked into Beomhyeon’s eyes, the latter still cradling his face.

They drove for a long time, Jungin silently observing the familiar surroundings outside.

“This is…”

Jungin had asked to be kidnapped, but he had never imagined Beomhyeon would take him somewhere like a basement or lock him up.

Yet…

“This is your house.”

Had Beomhyeon deceived him?

Were his brothers here, waiting?

Anxiety flared up, and Jungin’s eyes darted around in panic.

“Don’t worry. No one will take you from me.”

Seeing the guards posted outside reassured him slightly… but still, this wasn’t where he wanted to be.

If his brothers found out he was missing, they’d undoubtedly suspect Beomhyeon and come here soon.

“I-I should just go. It’d be better if I left alone…”

“Lee Jungin.”

When Jungin tried to turn away and leave, Beomhyeon grabbed his arm.

“I’ll go. Sorry for asking you to kidnap me. If it’s not possible, I’ll ask Ji Woohyun instead…”

“Who?”

“Ah, Ji Woohyun, remember? He’s in our class too. Don’t you remember?”

Beomhyeon’s expression turned frighteningly cold as he failed to recall.

Jungin instinctively stepped back, feeling the urge to run, but Beomhyeon approached and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“No one else, not Ji Woohyun or anyone else,” Beomhyeon said.

“L-let go and talk!”

“Lee Jungin. You must’ve forgotten, but you’re already kidnapped.”

“…What?”

A chill ran down Jungin’s spine.

Beomhyeon lifted him effortlessly, and before Jungin could process the sudden closeness, his feet left the ground.

“Ah!”

Fearing he might fall, Jungin clung to Beomhyeon’s neck.

The sight softened Beomhyeon’s expression.

“Is everything ready?” Beomhyeon asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s go.”

“To where?”

“To the place you’ll be kept.”

Jungin tried to break free, even striking him, but Beomhyeon didn’t budge.

Instead, he let out a small laugh, holding Jungin tightly.

“Once you’re kidnapped, you can’t move as you please.”

“…”

“I didn’t want to go this far, but you had to mention another guy.”

Shit, has he lost his mind a little?

Jungin looked at Beomhyeon, overwhelmed with confusion.

Was he really going to be locked up?

When Jungin gazed at him with pleading eyes, Beomhyeon’s face showed satisfaction, and his hand slipped under Jungin’s shirt.

Jungin tensed at the unexpected roughness of his calloused fingers.

Beomhyeon pulled Jungin close and whispered:

“Looking at me like that is dangerous.”

“W-what?”

“Just a little longer, Jungin. We’ve got about half a year left, so let’s be patient.”

What does he mean by that? Jungin was getting more confused.

Maybe he understood why Lee Jungin once called Beomhyeon crazy.

Jungin decided to stay calm until Beomhyeon’s sanity returned.

As Beomhyeon’s laughter echoed, Jungin relaxed in his embrace.

‘Whatever.’

At least Beomhyeon wouldn’t starve him, right?

Reluctantly, he resolved to stay and sort out his thoughts.

Exhausted from crying all day, Jungin found himself growing sleepy.

The surprising comfort of Beomhyeon’s arms made it easier to surrender to the drowsiness.

Finally, Jungin drifted off, cradled securely against Beomhyeon.

---

“Welcome back, my sons.”

Returning from a long journey, Madam Jang spread her arms wide with a bright smile.

“Mother.”

But her face quickly hardened as she noticed the strange expressions of those looking at her.

“Did anything happen while I was away?” she asked.

Sensing the tension, Chairman Lee spoke up.

He knew about Jungin’s accident and had even spoken with her, yet here he was pretending everything was normal, which made Jungin’s brother clench his fists.

“Nothing significant. Oh, by the way, I brought gifts for my sons. Secretary Choi, bring my luggage.”

One person was missing from this house.

His mother and father surely knew that, yet they pretended otherwise.

Jungin’s brother felt a wave of nausea at their facade.

“Jungin is in the hospital.”

“Is that so?”

In the end, Jungjin spoke on behalf of his parents, bringing up Jungin.

“He’s been very ill for a long time. He still needs ongoing treatment.”

“So what?”

* * *