By Zephyria Eui-jae, having witnessed a reality he didn’t want to face, tightly shut his eyes. Sharing a bed in the Memorial Dungeon was one thing, but wearing matching pajamas here? This is a disaster, truly!
Fortunately, Lee Sa-young was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, so he didn’t see Eui-jae’s distress. He seemed to be asleep, judging by the way he was touching his temples. Eui-jae quietly and stealthily headed to the living room.
The wallpaper, the structure of the house, the familiar furniture. Except for a few things, most of it was familiar. It was completely different from the house he saw in the Memorial Dungeon, though.
The scenery he saw through the Memorial Dungeon and the watch belonged to the first world. If so….
‘It doesn’t seem to be the first world.’
Did he come to the right place? Eui-jae pulled back the white curtains covering the living room window. And he frowned.
“……”
It was all darkness.
He should be seeing the street scenery. Beyond the large window, there was only perfect darkness. Just like outside the door of the Memorial Dungeon.
‘Are they telling me to see for myself if I’m curious….’
The glass reflected Eui-jae’s appearance like a mirror. Cha Eui-jae with black hair, wearing loose silk pajamas. Eui-jae unnecessarily smoothed his hair. At that moment, a dark figure appeared behind Eui-jae in the glass. Lilac eyes shone brightly in the wavering human-shaped shadow.
Eui-jae turned around abruptly, but there was only the peaceful living room and the sleeping Lee Sa-young. He looked at the glass again. The shadow had already transformed into Lee Sa-young’s appearance. The lilac eyes narrowed slightly.
Eui-jae also narrowed his eyes.
“You…….”
‘Oh, I didn’t expect you to choose this method……. How novel.’
A voice mixed with laughter echoed. Lee Sa-young covered his mouth with his fist and chuckled. It seems he came to the right place. Lee Sa-young muttered after laughing quietly for a while.
‘Still, I’m glad you came to see me…. It’s a shame we didn’t sleep together.’
“Sleep together my ass. Hey, I don’t have time to argue with you. I came to get information.”
‘I suppose so…. So, what do you want to learn here?’
“How Doomsday comes, the cause of Doomsday.”
‘And?’
“A way to stop Doomsday.”
Lee Sa-young tilted his head.
‘Aha…, you’ve already failed twice?’
“Wasn’t it you who turned back time thinking I could stop it?”
‘Me?’
“Yeah. You.”
‘I didn’t?’
Eui-jae’s eyes widened. Lee Sa-young in the glass smiled with his head tilted. The fallen hair vaguely covered his eyes. He had the most emotional expression of all the second world’s Lee Sa-youngs he had met so far. He only moved his lips.
‘Don’t tell me I turned back time for Hyung to stop Doomsday?’
“You didn’t?”
‘Oh, come on…. Think about it a little more.’
Lee Sa-young shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly as if to show off and sighed. This bastard, really. Just as Eui-jae was about to retort, Lee Sa-young spoke first.
‘I turned back time because…. Hyung died.’
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
‘Of course not. Even if Doomsday comes and the world perishes, if you are alive…. The destruction is nothing.’
His face darkened. The corners of his lips, faintly visible through the gap, were raised as much as possible. As if torn.
‘It doesn’t matter at all.’
“……”
‘So don’t even talk about stopping Doomsday. And don’t have weird thoughts.’
The wicked, devilish smile disappeared like snow melting. Lee Sa-young, who had returned to a blank face, shrugged his shoulders.
‘Since you’ve come all the way here, take a look around. You may not be able to get the information you want, though.’
After speaking, Lee Sa-young disappeared into the darkness. Eui-jae stared at himself reflected in the glass for a long time before messing up his hair.
First of all, it’s certain that he came to the world that the pervert showed him. Next, what he needs to check is…. Eui-jae peeked out from behind the curtain. Sa-young, sitting on the sofa, was still asleep.
‘Did Sa-young come over with me?’
It would be certain if he woke him up and asked. Eui-jae quietly tiptoed towards Sa-young. And with his hands behind his back, he bent down and stared intently at Sa-young’s face.
Slightly parted plump lips, long eyelashes, occasionally twitching eyelids, a high nose bridge…. Eui-jae, who was examining every part of his face, was about to call his name to wake him up.
“Umm….”
The thin eyelids twitched, and lilac eyes slowly appeared beneath them. The dazed eyes stared blankly at Eui-jae. Eui-jae waved his hand in front of his face for no reason.
“Are you awake?”
“……”
“I think we need to talk.”
“……”
Sa-young only blinked blankly. He didn’t seem to be fully awake. He couldn’t help it. Eui-jae grabbed Sa-young’s cheeks and pulled them.
“What are you doing.”
Sa-young frowned and slapped his hand away. Good. He was still bad-tempered, so it was the Lee Sa-young he knew. He looked around, then finally looked at Eui-jae.
“…What are those pajamas?”
“I don’t know, I was wearing them when I opened my eyes. You’re wearing them too.”
Sa-young looked down at the clothes he was wearing and sighed.
“Looks like I came to the right place…. Judging by the state of things.”
“Looks like it.”
Sa-young, leaning back on the sofa, asked.
“Okay. Let’s say we’ve solved the first obstacle…. So, what are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to wander around and thoroughly search this bastard’s memories. How Doomsday came, how he solved it. I’ll find even the smallest clue.”
“Well, okay.”
He got up. Eui-jae blankly asked.
“…Aren’t you going to stop me?”
“Why would I stop you?”
Sa-young blinked. Eui-jae blinked along with him. That’s right. Why did he think Sa-young would stop him? Because ‘Lee Sa-young’ threatened him?
Sa-young rubbed the back of his neck and muttered languidly.
“We came all the way here to find that out, didn’t we? By rubbing our bodies together.”
“You’re using weird expressions again?”
“Why, it’s true. Anyway….”
Lilac eyes fiercely glared at the air.
“It’s better to deal with it quickly and leave…. Whatever it is.”
“Why? Is there something strange?”
“Don’t you feel it, Hyung?”
“Huh?”
Eui-jae looked at him with a puzzled expression. Come to think of it, an unpleasant look was on his pretty face. Sa-young clenched and unclenched his hands, turned his neck, and moved his legs. As if checking the range of motion of his body. He grumbled irritably.
“My body feels strangely heavy. Like I’m under some… curse or restriction.”
Eui-jae also moved from his fingertips to his toes to check, but he didn’t feel anything particularly wrong. It was the same state as in his original world. Did ‘Lee Sa-young’ play some trick? He looked at Sa-young with worried eyes.
“Will you be able to fight?”
“I don’t know…. Honestly.”
“Do you want to wait here? I can explore alone.”
“What nonsense are you spouting again….”
Sa-young grabbed Eui-jae’s shoulder tightly. Lilac eyes shone brightly.
“Go change your clothes. Let’s see how great your memories are.”
Fortunately, there were several black clothes that Eui-jae often wore while working as J in the closet, and the mask was neatly placed on one side. Eui-jae put on the mask and went out to the living room. Sa-young, who was wearing a coat, looked back at Eui-jae with a tired face.
“Are you really okay?”
“It’s not like I can’t move…. I’m just a little languid.”
As he said, his eyes were half-closed. Sa-young rubbed his eyes and headed to the front door. Two pairs of Walker and three-striped slippers were neatly placed at the front door. Sa-young opened his mouth as he crammed his feet into the Walker.
“In the memories in the Memorial Dungeon, we lived in a different house than here, right?”
“Yeah. We did.”
“Why do we live in this house in this world? In the house where Hyung lived.”
Eui-jae looked at his rustling back and blurted out the words that came to his mind.
“Maybe…. We moved to a safer house back then?”
“…A safer house?”
Sa-young, who was wearing the Walker, took a few steps forward and turned around. Eui-jae put on the Walker, knelt on one knee, and continued speaking as he tied the laces.
“You weren’t an Awakened in that world. You even had sore eyes because of the Poison, and you were an ordinary person…. I think we moved to a place where safety was more guaranteed or close to a hospital.”
“……”
“…No, well. That’s what I would have done. Because that world’s Cha Eui-jae is also me….”
It felt awkward after finishing speaking. Eui-jae coughed for no reason and got up. At that moment, a rough hand grabbed Eui-jae’s arm. Eui-jae tried to pull his hand away, but he relaxed when he saw Sa-young’s face getting closer. His face got closer and closer, about to touch the mask.
Beep— Beep— Beep—
A loud warning sound rang out. Eui-jae widened his eyes and looked around. A warning sound suddenly? At that moment, Lee Sa-young, who was holding Eui-jae, groaned and curled up. Eui-jae hurriedly grabbed Sa-young’s shoulder and supported him. Small lightning-like sparks flickered around Sa-young.
“Lee Sa-young! What’s wrong, what’s going on?”
“No, what….”
Sa-young’s body twitched and jumped intermittently. It was like someone receiving an electric shock.
Come to think of it, this warning sound that keeps ringing loudly, he’s heard it somewhere before. At that moment, a pure white window suddenly appeared in front of them.
[Warning: Act according to your role.]
[Lee Sa-young’s role is a beloved younger brother.]
“Huh?”
“What, what kind of trick is this….”
Sa-young spat out curses with difficulty. Wait, act according to your role? Then what about me? Eui-jae flipped through the window to check his role. And he was….
[Cha Eui-jae’s role is ( ).]
It was nothing.