"Been waiting, hyung?"

A languid and calm voice. It was Lee Sa-young.

Uijae froze next to the bed. The dark figure standing against the light rustled as he took off his coat. The way he hung it on a hook and rolled up his shirt sleeves looked terribly familiar.

"I came early today… didn’t have much to do."

Uijae watched his hands closely. The gloves…

Only one was on.

Good, at least he found the right place. He let out a small sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Sa-young stepped toward the bed and looked down at the lump beneath the blanket. The crimson lighting cast a dark shadow across his striking face. Suddenly, a thought crossed Uijae’s mind. Come to think of it—

'Wasn’t Sa-young supposed to be the one lying down?'

If Sa-young was here...

'…Then who’s under the blanket?'

The question didn’t last long. The hand with the glove gently lifted the blanket. Uijae sucked in a breath.

It was Cha Uijae.

“…What the hell?”

He couldn’t stop himself from blurting it out. The figure on the bed lay with both hands folded over the chest—like a corpse in a coffin. From the left side of the head to the left eye, white bandages were tightly wrapped. White hair spilled naturally across the pillow.

It was him. The shell left behind when Cha Uijae escaped the Memorial Dungeon, his consciousness gone.

Seeing yourself from a third-person perspective was…

‘This feels… really weird.’

Uijae rubbed his chin. Maybe it was because it was his sleeping face? The more he looked, the stranger it felt. Maybe that disconnect was inevitable. After all, most people never get to see themselves asleep.

But still—

'…That’s basically a corpse lying in the bed.'

That shell was a corpse.

"Mm, you’ve been doing well."

At the strangely affectionate voice, Uijae snapped his head up. Just visible through the flickering light was the faint curve of a smile. Sa-young was smiling at the shell. A chill ran down Uijae’s spine.

'Is this guy out of his mind?'

Talking to a corpse? Smiling at it? Uijae circled around the bed and «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» stood beside Sa-young. Sa-young had one hand—his ungloved one—stuffed in his pants pocket. He was speaking softly. To the corpse. No—the shell.

"Nothing much happened today. …Nothing will happen tomorrow either."

"……."

"That’s good. All I have to do is wait."

"……."

"It’s okay. I’m good at waiting."

"Like hell that’s a good thing!"

Uijae couldn’t hold it in anymore and slapped Sa-young’s back. His semi-transparent hand passed right through and out Sa-young’s chest. Of course—nothing ever worked.

Whether Uijae fumed or not, Sa-young remained focused on the shell lying in bed.

"Let’s see…"

The gloved hand gently brushed the white hair scattered over the pillow, then caressed the cheek. It was a careful, delicate touch—like handling something precious. Sa-young let out a soft sigh and straightened up.

"Click. Time to change it out again…"

He opened the bedside drawer. There was the dull clatter of hard objects bumping together. Uijae leaned over to check the contents. The drawer was filled with preservation stones. He watched Sa-young, who was carefully sorting through them, and muttered under his breath.

"…Fucking psycho."

Even calling it an act of will to preserve something seemed generous. To call this “will” was…

'…It’s straight-up terrifying.'

But that didn’t last long. Uijae crouched beside Sa-young, who was kneeling at the drawer. Sa-young was seriously examining and removing damaged stones. Uijae rested his chin on his hand.

The Cha Uijae of the first world had asked Hong Ye-seong to create multiple Memorial Dungeons. Each one packed with cherished memories.

To endure.

This was Sa-young’s version of that. His own way of surviving the long stretch of time. Or maybe “struggle” was the better word.

Uijae looked at him. His chest ached. The tip of his nose stung. He grumbled, for no good reason.

"Hey, you… This is how you’ve been holding on?"

The words tasted bitter. Nothing about this was normal. All that “I’m fine” talk—none of it was true. Uijae knew it now for sure. Without Cha Uijae by his side, Lee Sa-young would fall apart. Whether at someone else’s hands, or by his own.

"Good at waiting, my ass… what kind of nonsense…"

And broken things—truly broken things—can never be completely fixed. Even if you patch the cracks, the marks remain. Just like Cha Uijae.

As he sorted through the preservation stones, Sa-young let out a quiet sigh. Then, he pressed one of the intact stones to his forehead and closed his eyes. It looked like a prayer. Or maybe just a brief rest from exhaustion. A shaky breath slipped from his lips.

"…It’s okay."

Uijae took in every detail of that scene.

He remembered the image of Sa-young thrashing inside a test chamber filled with unknown fluid. His vision blurred. He pulled off his black mask and roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

That’s when he felt it—starting at his toes, the sensation of being pulled somewhere. He quickly looked down. His already semi-transparent feet and ankles were vanishing completely.

"…J! Can’t hold it… much longer… I’m sorry…"

Gaeul’s voice echoed distantly. Already? Uijae’s eyes darted around and landed again on Sa-young, still with his eyes closed. Uijae took a deep breath, spread his arms, and leaned forward to embrace him from behind—just enough that his body lined up without passing through. It took effort to stay in place without phasing through him. His muscles ached.

'Nothing’s ever easy, damn it.'

He glanced down. He was already transparent up to his waist. Uijae cleared his throat and whispered into Sa-young’s ear.

"This time, really… just wait a little."

"……."

"If you shake off my hand again… then it’s your life or mine, got it?"

Sa-young jerked his head up. Confused violet eyes locked directly onto Uijae’s face. Uijae didn’t miss the moment—he raised a fist high. Then hurled it down fast. Whoosh! The punch sliced the air. Sa-young flinched and closed his eyes.

But—

Smooch.

"…Huh?"

Sa-young’s eyes went wide. Good. Uijae withdrew his now half-transparent fist, satisfied. Yep. Sa-young looked best when his face was all stupid and dazed like that.

Uijae gave a lopsided grin.

"You idiot. Don’t wait for some stupid shell—wait for me."

"……."

"I’ll come back."

As soon as he finished speaking, his vision flooded with colors. Did he hear that? Who knew. The kaleidoscope of patterns spun endlessly, shifting and shifting. Uijae gave himself over to the dazzling colors and closed his eyes.

"…J! Wake up!"

…Gaeul’s voice rang clear. Slowly, Uijae opened his eyes. A white ceiling came into view. As he sat up and looked around, he saw Gaeul, pale as a sheet, frantically checking him over before finally letting out a breath of relief.

"Thank goodness… I’m sorry, I wanted to keep it going longer… but this was the best I could do…"

Her right hand was shaking badly. When Uijae’s gaze landed on it, she quickly hid it behind her back. Her forehead and neck were drenched in cold sweat. She must’ve used up more energy than expected. Uijae hurriedly asked,

"Are you okay? Shouldn’t you go see the doctor?"

"Ah, no! I’m okay. It’s just my first time doing this, and I guess I used more energy than I thought… I just need a little rest, really."

Gaeul waved her hands. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve and asked,

"Um, did you see Lee Sa-young properly?"

"Ah… yeah, I saw him properly."

"Really? You didn’t end up somewhere weird or anything?"

"No, it was definitely the Sa-young we know. Thanks to you, student Gaeul. Thank you."

"Hehe… I’m glad."

Gaeul giggled, then asked again.

"Um… was Lee Sa-young… doing okay?"

It was a vague question, but Uijae understood what she meant. She and Honeybee had probably seen all kinds of unhinged behavior from Sa-young. Uijae scratched his head.

"…Was he like that the whole time?"

Gaeul looked awkwardly away.

"Um, yeah… While Honeybee unnie was there, she kind of… kept him in check. But now that both of us are out here… we’ve been really worried."

"…He’ll probably be okay."

Uijae rested his chin on his hand, recalling those wide violet eyes. His teeth clenched.

"But we can’t leave him alone for long."

"I agree. Um, do you want to go back in again? I mean, once I recover a bit."

"You used up a lot of strength, didn’t you? Don’t push yourself. There are other ways too."

"No, really, this much is manageable…"

Uijae firmly shook his head—then suddenly turned to the window, as if drawn by something. There, perched on the edge by the fluttering curtain, was something white and round. Smooth, shiny body, black bean-like eyes…

"Ko-ok!"

It was Kokko.

Kokko waddled over and pecked Uijae’s arm with her beak. Around her neck was a piece of paper, tied like a scarf. Uijae untied and unfolded it. The note was scribbled in a hasty scrawl.

Nam Woo-jin wants to meet you! Apparently there’s some crazy emergency but I wasn’t paying attention so I don’t really remember what it was! Seemed urgent though so you’d better hurry!

– From the one and only glorious Hong Ye-seong, your messenger

P.S.! Bring chicken and come hang out at my place too! I’m bored.