* * *
“I knew those stalker bastards would cause trouble eventually. Fuck, just let them get caught by me.”
At the savage cursing, Seunghyun’s toes curled instinctively.
Chiyoon grabbed his ankle and rubbed it gently, as if to soothe him.
Feeling the tension bleed away, Seunghyun spoke up softly.
“I’m okay.”
“What do you mean, ‘okay’? It’s fine to not be okay for a change,” Chiyoon grumbled. “Why is it always ‘okay’? Do you really find me—no, find us—that unreliable?”
What would the real Joo Seunghyun have said?
Before he could even deliberate, his mouth was already mimicking the original owner’s speech habits.
“You guys are always reliable. It’s just that I’m truly fine.”
Chiyoon let out a hollow, huffing sound and arched an eyebrow.
His expression was one of pure disbelief.
He opened his mouth and began to fire off words so rapidly they felt sharp.
“Let’s just lay it all out while we’re at it. In times like this, you’re supposed to feel a little sorry, or say thank you, and stuff like that. You lean on people, you act a bit spoiled.”
“I’m already doing plenty of that.”
“Liars, liars, pants on fire.”
Seunghyun protested on behalf of ‘Joo Seunghyun.’
Yet, even as he said it, he knew it was a lie.
Even now, he was worrying that Chiyoon might just leave, yet he was putting up a front of being perfectly fine.
“You only live once—how great are you trying to be all by yourself that you have to live so lonely?”
Ignoring Seunghyun’s words entirely, Chiyoon continued to speak while applying strong pressure to the soles of his feet.
“It’s not like you’ll die if you show a little weakness. That’s why the kids are so walking on eggshells that they can’t even approach you.”
Listening quietly to the pouring words, Seunghyun could instantly feel just how thick a wall the original Joo Seunghyun had built against the members.
Joo Seunghyun was the type of person who would rather die than show a flaw or a moment of frailty.
He must have been so busy hiding his wounds that he kept everyone at arm’s length, leaving the members without a single chance to have a candid conversation on the subject.
Seunghyun turned his gaze toward the window.
Even late at night, the heart of Seoul was brilliant and twinkling.
And yet, the sky remained pitch black.
“…….”
Perhaps that was why.
The deep of night possesses a mysterious power.
With his eyes still fixed on the window, he slowly began to speak.
“When my parents passed away…”
“Yeah.”
Borrowing Joo Seunghyun’s voice, Seunghyun carefully confessed the inner thoughts he had kept suppressed.
It was strange… how many similarities there were.
Everything from start to finish was so different, yet why did this man’s wounds feel as painful as his own?
Chiyoon listened with a characteristically calm expression.
His quiet consideration gave Seunghyun a creeping sense of courage.
“To be precise, after I became alone…”
Seunghyun took a long breath.
He thought of his late grandmother.
After she left, too, he couldn’t see anything ahead of him.
No—perhaps it had actually been like that even before then.
“There was no one to lean on.”
A soft voice that didn’t feel like his own drifted into the air.
For some reason, it felt easier to be honest.
Chiyoon simply listened in silence.
“I couldn’t see a thing in front of me. The only thing I could trust was myself. You’re right. I grew used to thinking I was alone.”
“…….”
“And yet… why is it so desperately lonely and empty? Like there’s a hole right through my chest.”
Han Kangwoo, Han Kangwoo, Han Kangwoo.
The one person who stayed by Seunghyun’s side until the very end.
He had made Seunghyun’s loneliness even more agonizing.
Seunghyun squeezed his eyes shut, trying to erase the name that had suddenly surfaced.
“Everyone around me eventually left.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Always.”
“We haven’t left, though.”
Only then did Seunghyun look directly at Chiyoon.
It was a dull gaze, as if he had let go of all expectations.
Seunghyun whispered softly.
“I guess I just thought you would.”
At the tone that sounded like he was talking about someone else’s story, Chiyoon’s face hardened slightly.
The Seunghyun who spoke those words looked so precarious, as if he might vanish at any moment.
“Why the past tense?”
“Huh?”
Chiyoon, who had tucked the blanket tightly around Seunghyun’s feet, sat perched on the edge of the bed.
“I asked why you used the past tense. Does that mean you don’t think that way anymore?”
Seunghyun blinked.
Right. Seunghyun knew the ending to this story.
In the end, the members of Halo would slowly sink along with Joo Seunghyun.
They would stay by his side until the very end, and go down with him.
“Yeah. I know you won’t leave.”
A faint smile played on Seunghyun’s lips.
What did it matter if he knew one tragic ending when he had ended up in someone else’s body?
The unknown whereabouts of his original body and the three missing years were enough to confuse even the battle-hardened Seunghyun.
There hadn’t been a single moment since entering Joo Seunghyun’s body that he hadn’t felt anxious.
But right now, the fact that he knew the future felt real.
He felt a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
The feeling of standing on solid ground.
The feeling of belonging somewhere.
“Come here.”
Chiyoon lay down beside him, pulled him close, and opened his arms.
“…….”
After a moment’s hesitation, Seunghyun burrowed into the embrace.
Arms just as solid as Han Kangwoo’s wrapped around him.
Chiyoon buried his face in Seunghyun’s hair and murmured.
“Show some weakness. Lean on us. So what if it’s a bit embarrassing? It actually makes us happier.”
His pleasant voice had dropped to a low hum.
His chest was broad, and no matter how much of a stranger he was to Seunghyun, it was a familiar embrace as long as he inherited Joo Seunghyun’s memories.
Chiyoon patted his back with a clumsy touch.
“……Okay.”
The walls of his heart were still firm. Chiyoon likely knew that as well.
This wall belonged to Seunghyun—born of the slight guilt and dissonance of having taken over someone else’s place.
Still, they could build a new relationship and become good colleagues, good friends.
It was a hopeful thought.
Seunghyun’s heart fluttered.
Unlike his past life where he lived as a permanent outsider, he felt a faint expectation that he could melt into this group, even if he was wearing someone else’s skin.
Chiyoon stopped patting his back and held him tight.
A voice thick with sleepiness mumbled lowly.
“Tomorrow… let’s go back. Your room is exactly as it was…”
He was likely talking about the dorms.
Seunghyun replied with an “Okay,” but he couldn’t tell if the already sleeping Chiyoon had heard him.
Seunghyun followed suit, closing his eyes and breathing slowly.
It was warm.
It seemed he had missed human warmth more than he thought.
Even though he had fallen into an unfamiliar world, the fact that he had a place to return to and that he wasn’t alone was a great comfort.
His phone had broken during last night’s chaos.
“Did you pack everything?”
Even though he repeatedly said they didn’t need to come, the members, who had heard the news of last night, had all gathered in the room and were busily packing bags since morning.
They were Seunghyun’s bags, but they wouldn’t let him lift a finger.
While packing, the members kept stealing glances at Seunghyun. He swallowed a sigh.
He had wanted to be discharged, but he hadn’t expected it to happen like this.
Seunghyun thought of the doctor, who had looked quite uncomfortable.
‘I really shouldn’t allow this. Sigh… Patient, please keep this in mind. Never be alone, avoid crowded places, and you must come in for your check-ups and rehab.’
Furthermore, he realized through this incident that being discharged didn’t guarantee freedom of movement.
With Joo Seunghyun’s famous body, nothing really changed just because he left the hospital.
He sat blankly, fiddling with his phone which had a dead screen, turning it on and off.
There was no problem checking the display, but rainbow-colored noise spread along the cracks.
Because photos of him being carried on Manager Kim’s back had spread across the internet, and because of yesterday’s incident, he could no longer stay at this hospital.
Eventually, after a discussion between the company and the members, they decided to discharge him and move him to the dorms.
Seunghyun had his own house, but it was too far from both the hospital and the company, and a patient with a medical code for delayed manifestation required a guardian.
‘Living with the members in the dorm is better than living with a guardian from a facility.’
No, in truth, it was more than that…
He didn’t want to admit it, but the relief of having a ‘place to return to’ was greater.
“Hyung, let’s get ready. We’re leaving right now.”
When he pulled on the ball cap Eunwoo handed him, his vision was half-obscured.
In the reflection of the glass, nothing was visible except his jawline.
Not just Seunghyun, but all the other members were bundled up as well.
Manager Kim, having finished the payment, came in and took the bags.
“Let’s move fast. We need to be down there in three minutes. Since it’s a hospital, we can’t keep things blocked off for long.”
To get to the underground parking lot, they had to go through the hallway and take the elevator.
It was a relief that there were almost no people here, as it was a restricted pheromone ward.
Even though there were security guards surrounding them, the members huddled around Seunghyun as if to protect him.
Fortunately, nothing happened on the way down, but in the parking lot, there were a few reporters who had somehow managed to bypass the tight security.
‘……!’
The guards sprang into action quickly, but the reporters were faster with their cameras.
Click!
The sound of shutters pierced through the layers of hats he wore to hide his face.
And then, with a start, Seunghyun’s body stiffened unnaturally.
* * *
