NOVEL ONLINE FREE 22
Kwon Jae-jin lifted himself off Seo Eui-woo, straightening his posture. He shifted to the edge of the sofa, putting a small distance between them.
“Jae-jin?”
“My posture was uncomfortable, that’s all.”
“Was it?”
Seo Eui-woo moved closer to Jae-jin again. Ignoring his complaint, he wrapped his arms around him and buried his face against the nape of his neck, rubbing his cheek against him like a cat seeking affection. It was an amusing sight—two grown men, both broad-shouldered, squeezed together at the corner of a wide sofa.
Kwon Jae-jin let out a soft sigh and pushed against Seo Eui-woo’s head with his palm.
“……There’s no need for you to cling to me all the time. You’re getting guided every day without fail, so you shouldn’t feel lacking.”
“Aw, but still.”
“‘But still’ what?”
Seo Eui-woo stuck out his tongue and licked the palm of Jae-jin’s hand that was pushing against his face. With a small, wet sound, he kissed it before playfully nibbling his fingers. He murmured softly.
“You know, don’t you? I like being close to you. Am I annoying you?”
“Yes, right now, you are.”
“Hmm… Jae-jin, you’re acting differently all of a sudden. Like you’re drawing a line.”
Seo Eui-woo brushed his lips affectionately against Jae-jin’s knuckles, his gaze lingering as if trying to read his mind.
Through the gaps between Jae-jin’s spread fingers, glimpses of Seo Eui-woo’s face peeked through.
His cheeks, flushed pink as if he were a boy experiencing his first love, contrasted sharply with his lowered gray eyes, cold and razor-sharp.
His gleaming, feral gaze was the kind only possessed by those who had witnessed countless deaths—or had caused them. It was a look brimming with lethal intent. Calculated and icy. A mind that assessed quickly and drew the correct conclusion with instinctive precision.
“Hey, Jae-jin. Are you… thinking about that person?”
“…….”
“That supposed lover of yours?”
Kwon Jae-jin didn’t respond, but Seo Eui-woo was already certain of the answer. He let out a quiet chuckle and tugged at Jae-jin’s elbow.
Even as Jae-jin pushed him away again, Seo Eui-woo forcefully pulled him back, trapping him in his embrace.
“What, are you suddenly comparing me to them? The way I touch you so freely, cling to you like this—was that person just as close to you in the past?”
“……What are you trying to do? Let go of me, Seo Eui-woo.”
Kwon Jae-jin spat out his words with clear displeasure. He had no time to refine his tone.
“It’s nothing. Just forget it.”
Seo Eui-woo tightened his embrace around Jae-jin and began counting to five.
“One. Two. Three…….”
“Seo Eui-woo, what the hell is this? I said, let go.”
“Four, five…….”
“Why are you—are you messing with me?”
“Haha, yeah. It’s a joke. You said I was annoying, so I thought I’d really test your patience.”
Seo Eui-woo loosened his hold. Kwon Jae-jin pried his arms off and pulled himself free, standing up from the sofa and putting some distance between them.
“That kind of joke isn’t funny.”
He picked up his tablet and started toward his bedroom, but after a moment’s hesitation, he changed direction and headed for the elevator leading to the second floor. Counting Saturn’s moons wasn’t going to be enough for escapism—he might as well rummage through the pile of things stored in his room instead.
“Jae-jin, where are you going?”
“To my room.”
“You’re not watching TV anymore?”
“No. If you’re not watching either, just turn it off.”
“But I want to watch with you… I won’t mess around anymore, so stay and watch with me?”
“No. It wasn’t even a show I really wanted to watch. I’d rather go unpack some packages in my room.”
“Then should I help? I’m good at opening boxes—it’ll be done in no time.”
“No need. I’ll do it myself.”
“Jae-jin.”
“What now, huh?”
Annoyed by Seo Eui-woo’s persistence, Kwon Jae-jin turned back with a growl.
Seo Eui-woo was staring at him with a blank expression, his usual smile gone.
For a brief moment, his cold, darkened pupils gave off an unsettling chill—but in the next instant, they softened, making Jae-jin wonder if he had imagined it.
“Jae-jin, you’re my Guide. Right?”
“……What? Yeah, I am.”
“Mm. That makes me happy.”
“…….”
“Really happy.”
Seo Eui-woo ended the conversation in a flat tone, picked up the remote, and started flipping through channels. Kwon Jae-jin had expected him to cling persistently and follow him up to the second floor, but it seemed Eui-woo intended to stay in the living room alone, watching TV. Jae-jin shot an unimpressed glance at Eui-woo’s back before turning away and stepping into the elevator.
In the end, it all came down to one thing.
A Guide.
That was all Seo Eui-woo wanted him to be.
He didn’t expect anything beyond that. His intent was so transparent that it left Jae-jin feeling hollow.
When he arrived on the second floor, Jae-jin stepped out of the elevator but lingered in the hallway for a while, waiting to see if Seo Eui-woo would chase after him. But he never did.
***
In his dream, a vast universe unfolded before him.
A transcendent stage encompassing space and time, planets, stars, galaxies, all matter and energy. A primordial world, starkly divided into light and darkness.
Among them, Saturn stood out, its massive rings stretching wide. Eighty-two moons traced their intricate orbits around it. As Jae-jin silently observed them, someone appeared beside him.
Seo Eui-woo.
His hair parted to the left. Seo Eui-woo at twenty-four. Seo Eui-woo who had once confessed to Kwon Jae-jin.
Now standing well over 190 centimeters tall, he smiled warmly and called out to him.
“Jae-jin, you were here? I’ve been looking for you for so long….”
As soon as his voice reached him, the vast universe collapsed, leaving only the two of them behind.
That voice was still the same.
Strong and warm, like sunlight shining down, overflowing with emotion directed solely at Jae-jin.
“Why did you leave without saying goodbye? No matter how rushed you were, you should’ve at least said farewell. Hm?”
The twenty-four-year-old Seo Eui-woo—his Seo Eui-woo—reached out his hand toward Jae-jin.
Jae-jin wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved to see him, even if only in a dream, or if it was more painful because it was a dream. Swallowing the conflicting emotions, he reached out to take Eui-woo’s hand.
But before he could grasp it, Eui-woo’s hand turned translucent and vanished.
Seo Eui-woo curved his signature sleek gray eyes into a gentle smile.
“Ah, look at this… Jae-jin, you were too impatient, and now I’ve ended up like this.”
Because he was impatient?
What was that supposed to mean?
Jae-jin lifted his lost, empty gaze to meet Eui-woo’s. Eui-woo raised his missing hand, as if to show it off, shaking his head in resignation. He murmured as though it couldn’t be helped.
“Why don’t you realize it yet…? You still don’t understand?”
“Understand what?” Jae-jin muttered blankly.
This time, without Jae-jin even touching him, Seo Eui-woo’s body began to fade.
Like a ghost, his form became semi-transparent, gradually dissolving into nothing.
“Kwon Jae-jin, you traded your life to kill me.”
Seo Eui-woo’s form, along with his voice, grew fainter. His words sounded distant, as if submerged underwater.
“You changed the future with your own hands. You actively interfered and shook up the 20-year-old Seo Eui-woo however you pleased.”
“…….”
“A person who was supposed to die is now alive—so do you think everything else would stay the same? What about me? Do you think I’d remain the same as before?”
“…….”
“With the future thrown into disarray like this, do you still believe that Seo Eui-woo would fall for Kwon Jae-jin? That I would confess my feelings to you? Well, I don’t know. I really don’t….”
“Seo Eui-woo. Eui-woo-ya.”
“You killed me, Jae-jin. The emotions I once had for you, that tiny spark that could have ignited—you crushed it before it had the chance to grow. I can never appear before you again.”
The Seo Eui-woo who was 24 years old. Jae-jin’s lover, his partner, his precious—whatever he was…
“But even so, I understand. Your life is more important than mine.”
Jae-jin’s past and future vanished before his eyes.
“Take care.”
Radiant and full of life, the 24-year-old Seo Eui-woo faded away completely, leaving not a single trace behind.
Kwon Jae-jin turned again and again, searching the vast emptiness where he had disappeared.
Saturn was gone. Its moons were gone.
And Seo Eui-woo was gone.
His Seo Eui-woo was gone.
Only an endless void remained.
***
A chilling wind slipped past his sleeve.
Jolted awake from the nightmare, Kwon Jae-jin shoved off the blanket and gasped for air.
“Haa—!”
Cold sweat drenched his back.
Beads of moisture clung to his forehead, dampening his hair. Jae-jin curled into himself, shoulders trembling. Seo Eui-woo’s house was meticulously designed, with no way for the cold to seep in—yet his entire body felt unbearably frigid, haunted by an eerie chill.
“Ugh… kuh—.”
Grinding his teeth, Jae-jin let out a strangled groan.
Hearing it, Seo Eui-woo immediately sat up.
His insomnia was severe enough that he never truly slept deeply, so it was as if he had been awake the entire time, ready to react.
“Jae-jin! Jae-jin, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
Seo Eui-woo pulled him into an embrace, gently rubbing his shoulder in a soothing motion.
Jae-jin clung to him, clawing at his arm.
“No, don’t go….”
“It’s okay. It was just a dream. Look at me.”
“Seo Eui… Seo Eui-woo? No… no, that’s not….”
“Mm. I’m right here. It’s me, Eui-woo-ya.”
Jae-jin lifted his dazed eyes to meet Seo Eui-woo’s gaze.
And there, looking back at him, was the youthful, 20-year-old Seo Eui-woo.
Jae-jin’s expression wavered, his carefully guarded composure collapsing before he could stop it.