Taming the Obsessive Attachment

‘Ah, how foolish.’

Regret filled him.

He had been so deeply immersed…

He shouldn’t have given away his memories, his eyes, or anything—he shouldn’t have given away everything that made up Kwon Jae-jin.

He should have refused everything, should have just let it be…

Hatred and resentment toward Seo Eui-woo twisted his heart. The pain was unbearable, as deep as the place he had unwillingly let Seo Eui-woo into. No, it was thousands of times worse. Even more excruciating than when he had been torn apart in a gate, his limbs ripped in different directions.

If he were to cry now, his tears would be blood. If he were to wail, he would cough up clots of red.

Even if every bone in his body shattered into dust, even if swarms of centipedes and maggots devoured his flesh, even if his flayed body were seared over an open flame—it would all be better than this.

“Jae-jin, aren’t you getting hungry? Should I make you something?”

A soft whisper came from beside him, where he lay holed up in the bedroom.

Kwon Jae-jin lay motionless beneath the white blanket, pulled up to his head, as if he heard nothing.

Seo Eui-woo narrowed his long eyes slightly and reached out, gently lifting the edge of the blanket.

“You should eat. You like eating, don’t you?”

Seo Eui-woo handled Kwon Jae-jin as if tending to a wounded wild animal that had taken refuge in a cave. Carefully, so as not to startle him, he pulled the blanket down a little further—only to be met with Jae-jin’s piercing gaze.

His bloodshot eyes were wide open, veins bulging red with anger, his emotions laid bare.

“I don’t want anything. I’m not eating.”

His refusal was immediate as he turned his head away, clearly unwilling to meet Seo Eui-woo’s eyes. He seemed repulsed by the very act of sharing the same air with him.

“Then how about some water? Should I bring you some?”

Seo Eui-woo summoned a glass with his ability. Clear, cool water rippled within it.

“You look thirsty. Your voice is completely hoarse.”

“……”

“Even water? You don’t need it?”

Kwon Jae-jin remained silent, and Seo Eui-woo placed the glass of water on the bedside table. He pressed the switch on the lamp, casting a warmer, brighter glow over the room.

“Mm… Are you really going to sleep like this? It’s only five in the afternoon.”

“……”

“Hey, do you want to go see the ocean with me?”

“……”

“I can take you there right now. Let’s go, just like before, hand in hand. The sea is so blue.”

“……”

“Or there’s a canyon in the mountains nearby. It’s private property, so no one else can come. Want to go there with me?”

“……”

“Jae-jin.”

“……”

“……Jae-jin.”

“……”

“Come on, stop this and look at me, okay?”

Seo Eui-woo slid his hand under the blanket. His gaze had long since darkened, sinking into something deep and unreadable. A thick, unrelenting desire twisted unnaturally within him, casting an eerie, dangerous glint in his eyes.

He forced himself to suppress the cold distortion at the corners of his eyes, then curved them into a gentle smile. Reaching out, he lightly touched the nape of Kwon Jae-jin’s curled-up form.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

His fingertips traced along the back of Jae-jin’s neck, tender yet chilling.

“You asked me to trust you. That’s why I told you.”

“……Don’t.”

“I could’ve kept it a secret. No matter how many holes were drilled into your head, I could’ve pretended not to know. But I didn’t.”

“……Seo Eui-woo. Move your hand.”

“I didn’t hide anything. I told you everything honestly because I wanted to believe in you, too. Because I thought you were being honest with me, so I wanted to do the same. I thought it would make things better between us…”

“……”

“I’m still like that now. I’m not doing anything to you, am I? So why are you avoiding me like this? Do you hate me now?”

Seo Eui-woo calmly ran his fingers over Jae-jin’s nape.

His touch lingered, moving slowly down the curve of his neck, trailing over his skin, until he reached the rapid pulse at his carotid artery. He felt the quickened beat of Kwon Jae-jin’s heart.

“Jae-jin, why are you doing this to me?”

“I told you to stop….”

“Why do you keep doing this to me?”

“Ha… Just, please. Just leave me alone. Or do you really need me to spell it out for you?”

Kwon Jae-jin abruptly threw off the blanket and sat up. He recoiled from the hand clinging to his nape, sharply swatting it away in disgust.

“Get out. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t show up in front of me for a while.”

Seo Eui-woo’s expression momentarily darkened at the sheer decisiveness of the rejection.

“You want me to leave?”

“Yes.”

“For a while? How long is ‘a while’?”

“I don’t know. Just leave.”

“Jae-jin.”

“Ah, fuck off. I said fuck off!”

Seo Eui-woo’s carefully restrained smile shattered. His lips twisted, thick brows furrowing into a severe scowl. A wild, stormy light flickered in his eyes.

Grinding his teeth mercilessly, he let out a low growl.

“Should I… beg for your forgiveness?”

His deep gray eyes churned violently, dangerously.

“It’s true that I once tried to erase your memories. I can’t deny that I felt that impulse.”

“Seo Eui-woo…”

“At the time, that was how I wanted you. And I didn’t even think it was wrong. Every awakened being erases memories—it’s how we survive, how we fight, how we protect ourselves, our comrades, and humanity.”

His words spilled out with raw, unchecked emotion, no longer restrained.

No longer pretending. No longer suppressing.

Exposing everything as it was.

“I just wanted you to be like me—to forget the past and stay by my side. But in the end, I didn’t do it.”

“……”

“I didn’t lay a single finger on your memories!”

“……”

“I understand now. If I had the ability to regress like you, if I could go back to the past… I wouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t drill holes in your head. If it were yours—your memories, your past—I’d want to know everything. Now… now, I truly mean that. I didn’t scramble your brain. I didn’t rip those memories from you. So if you keep treating me like this… isn’t it just a little unfair to me?”

Seo Eui-woo reached out. His movements were slow, unforced—giving Jae-jin the chance to push him away if he wanted.

But just as he always had, he pulled Jae-jin into his arms, wrapping around his waist. His handsome face pressed into the curve of Jae-jin’s nape, the sharp bridge of his nose rubbing against his skin.

“We were good together. You and me… we were really, really good together. I’m sorry. I’ll apologize. For trying to erase your memories. Back then, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“……”

“I never once considered how you felt. I only thought about myself. I won’t do that again, okay?”

Seo Eui-woo pressed his lips deeply against the hollow of Jae-jin’s collarbone. The warmth of his body felt natural, familiar—like it had always belonged there. He kissed his jaw, then his cheek, and finally his lips.

Clinging to him with desperate, aching affection, he pleaded for something.

Kwon Jae-jin received it all with a sense of stunned disbelief, hollow and exhausted.

Seo Eui-woo…

This Seo Eui-woo was just so…

Ha… So fucking laughable.

“Then.”

The word scraped out of his throat like a burning coal, his voice brittle, fractured, as unyielding as iron.

“Give me my memories back.”

For all his apologies, for all his promises never to do it again, Seo Eui-woo never once said he’d return what had been lost. It was just like him. This son of a bitch… Even to the very end.

“My family—who they are, what their faces look like, what their names are. My childhood! All of it! Restore it to its original state with that oh-so-great ability of yours.”

Jae-jin’s voice cracked into a vicious, agonized scream.

“Yeah, fine, I admit it. We were good together, Seo Eui-woo. It was fun! We couldn’t keep our hands off each other, fucking every chance we got, licking and sucking until we melted into a mess, acting like goddamn idiots! If you want that to continue, then give me my fucking memories back!”

Rage seared through him, boiling up from the pit of his stomach.

Seo Eui-woo of the second timeline—just as he said, this Seo Eui-woo hadn’t erased his memories. The real culprit was the Seo Eui-woo from the first timeline, the one he would never be able to face again.

But that didn’t mean the second-timeline Seo Eui-woo was innocent.

Because he was still the same bastard at the core.

He had no qualms about erasing Jae-jin’s memories, but the thought of restoring them never even occurred to him. That fact alone made both versions of Seo Eui-woo equally fucking detestable.

Was it because Jae-jin would become harder to control if he remembered his past?

Because he wouldn’t be so easy to lock away and suppress anymore?

Because he might want to return to the Sixth Residential District?

“Seo Eui-woo, you can do anything, can’t you? If you used your ability to interfere with my brainwaves and suppress my memories, then you can just as easily interfere again and bring them back. Go on. Do it. Now!”

Jae-jin grabbed Seo Eui-woo’s wrist and yanked it forward, forcing his hand against his forehead. He banged his head against it, again and again.

Seo Eui-woo’s eyelids lowered, his expression growing troubled.

“Jae-jin. That’s not possible.”