The Collision of Souls

Setting aside the fact that it had allowed my synchronization rate to drop, the system had ultimately proved its utility. Then again, if it was the original “Baek Seohan,” it made perfect sense that he wouldn’t bother saving his own cousin’s number. A strange wave of understanding washed over me.

“So, why did you call?”

–That’s…….

The voice that had been entirely confident just a moment ago gradually grew quieter. Hearing him hesitate like this, it seemed he wasn’t usually on close enough terms to casually exchange calls with “Baek Seohan.”

While waiting for his response, one specific thought stubbornly refused to leave my mind.

‘A cousin should technically be considered someone close, shouldn’t they?’

They were blood relatives, after all. I had fully intended to probe him with questions the moment he finished speaking, but the piece of information he belatedly added was so remarkably unexpected that it threw our progressing conversation completely off-course.

–My friend has completely lost his mind…….

……And what do you expect me to do about it?

Unable to bring myself to voice that retort, I kept my mouth tightly shut. After pausing for a brief moment, he nervously continued the story.

–He keeps begging me to let him meet you, hyung……. He repeats the exact same words over and over to a truly terrifying degree. It feels like it wouldn’t even be surprising if he suddenly died at any moment if left alone. Could you please, just this once, meet him?

Perhaps anxious because of my heavy silence, his pleading voice aggressively pressed on. The sheer terror melting transparently into his tone as he emphasized that his friend had truly gone crazy was palpable. Whatever embarrassment he felt from begging someone he barely kept in contact with had already vanished far into the distance.

Meanwhile, as for me…….

‘Jackpot.’

……That was exactly what I was thinking.

“Just this once.”

–R-Really?! Thank you so much!

Contradicting the flat tone I used to make it sound as though I were graciously granting a massive favor, my heart was racing frantically inside my chest. My instincts were screaming at me. The ‘friend’ this guy was talking about might very well be…… ‘Extra 328,’ the very culprit I had been searching so desperately to find.

A highly ecstatic voice precisely recited an address over the speaker. I hastily jotted it down on a nearby piece of paper and abruptly hung up. I did it because I was thoroughly repulsed by his relentless badgering as he repeatedly attached remarks to ensure I would absolutely keep my promise to go.

“It’s not actually that far away…….”

About twenty minutes by car.

Since it barely took any time at all, it didn’t really matter if I went over there this very day. I immediately stood up from my seat to prepare to head out. However, a sudden question that entered my mind locked my body in place before I could take a step.

‘……Why on earth does he want to see me?’

My eyes, which had been staring fearlessly at the digital map, trembled faintly for a brief second.

–He keeps begging me to let him meet you, hyung…….

–He repeats the exact same words over and over to a truly terrifying degree.

Because it was a story I had listened to only a short moment ago, the words that remained vividly etched into my brain began to echo in my ears once more. Was it just my imagination that the surrounding air suddenly felt bone-chillingly cold?

Silently swallowing my dry saliva, I quietly rummaged through the bottom shelf of the drawer cabinet in the corner of my room, packing various self-defense items.

“Ah…….”

While driving toward the address provided by my cousin, I had imagined several times over what kind of situation would unfold if I truly came face-to-face with the bastard who cut in line. The absolute worst-case scenario would involve me having to deploy the self-defense gear I had packed.

However, a situation like this was something I had most definitely never anticipated.

My original plan was to look him dead in the eye, and if he truly proved to be the culprit who snatched my spot, I would unleash a torrent of curses upon him. The resentment built up inside me had been continuously whispering in my ear that hitting him once or twice should be perfectly acceptable.

Nevertheless, the moment I knocked on the front door and the person inside finally revealed himself, I couldn’t utter a single syllable.

Inside the apartment, which was pitch-black because he hadn’t turned on a single light or drawn open the curtains, the only things gleaming were his eyes…… and they were, in the most literal sense, completely unhinged. Possessing a gleaming, wild glare that could by no means be considered normal, he even let out a gasp from his mouth as if experiencing pure ecstasy. Goosebumps erupted wildly across my skin.

“Finally…….”

I heard a voice murmuring something, but I couldn’t process the words properly. This was because the traumatic memories of being thoroughly battered by Jin Yeon-oh and Lee Dohun in the past were actively triggering emergency alarms within my survival instincts.

The exact instant the lunatic who was muttering unreadable words took a single step closer.

Crackle-snap!

“……Ah.”

My body had moved entirely on reflex, and immediately following, the stun gun unleashed a sharp, violent noise along with a burst of blue electric current. It was the precise moment the item that had been resting peacefully inside my pocket fulfilled its duty beautifully.

‘……Now what?’

The glaring issue was that this was an action I had taken impulsively without formulating a single backup plan for the aftermath. Staring down at the large body that had collapsed flat onto the floor, my eyes were heavily painted with sheer panic and profound awkwardness.

Looking at his bizarre reaction from a moment ago, there was undoubtedly something highly suspicious about this guy. I still had unfinished business with this man.

Therefore, my current action was merely a necessary deed to protect my own physical well-being. Having thoroughly rationalized my behavior in that manner, I stepped closer to bind the man’s hands and feet using a leather belt I had discovered inside his closet.

“Ugh!”

However, even that endeavor was instantly rendered completely futile the absolute moment my hand brushed against the man’s body.

Accompanied by a splitting headache that felt as if my skull were cracking wide open, my vision distorted violently on the spot. A blue system window—which I hadn’t even called for—abruptly surged into view, and bursts of multicolored static noise began to erupt across it. Every single time my vision shattered into a kaleidoscope of colors, it felt exactly as though someone were brutally stomping on my brain.

By the time the inexplicable, bizarre phenomenon finally ground to a halt and the headache subsided, I was huddled on the floor right next to the unconscious man, belatedly gasping for breath.

“……System?”

I called out in a low voice, but absolutely nothing surfaced. Even when I cleared my throat and called for it several times over, the result remained identical.

Faced with this sudden situation, my thoughts became tangled and refused to flow properly. Why? Why all of a sudden? The system had never behaved like this even once before; though it had capriciously hidden itself out of sight, it had always faithfully manifested before my eyes whenever a truly critical situation demanded its presence.

But it wasn’t happening now. It was as if such a thing had never even existed from the very beginning.

Standing completely frozen in place for a long while, utterly unable to find my bearings, I quickly moved my body the moment the fallen man began to show signs of regaining consciousness. Restraining him was a task entirely separate from the system’s inexplicable malfunction.

“Ugh…….”

The absolute instant I finished binding his hands and feet, the man opened his eyes by a hair’s breadth. Blinking sluggishly as if carefully retracing the situation piece by piece, he seemed to belatedly register the abnormality of his immobile body. Having roughly propped his torso against the side of the bed, I dragged a chair over to sit directly across from him, quietly observing his pathetic state.

The gaze he directed toward his bound hands and feet was entirely devoid of emotion. Just as I was about to subtly knit my brows at the total absence of even a shred of panic.

“Baek…… Seohan?”

The man finally noticed my presence.

Immediately following, an anomaly occurred. Emotions gradually began to flood his empty eyes, and before I knew it, a profound happiness was not only rippling through his pupils but practically dripping from them.

I utterly failed to conceal my absolute dumbfoundment. No matter how one looked at the situation, I was clearly the one holding him captive. Even though he had to be fully aware of that fact, I couldn’t comprehend why the corners of his eyes were curving into a beautiful arc as if he were framing a joyful smile.

Groping along the wall, I flipped the switch to illuminate the apartment that had been cloaked in darkness, and my eyes automatically narrowed at the sudden brightness. Perhaps also struggling to adapt to the abrupt influx of light, the man tightly closed and opened his eyes—which were a brownish hue tinted with a peculiar red gleam—several times in a row.

Staring at him intently, I bit my lip before throwing out a question.

“What is your name?”

“Ji Eunhyuk…….”

“Right, Eunhyuk-ah.”

Did you cut in line to steal my spot?

Following the subsequent question, a heavy silence descended upon the room. The man, who had been blinking blankly without uttering a single word, gradually began to trace a radiant smile across his face.

“Ha…… Haha.”

A pure, clear laughter that completely clashed with the gravity of the current situation broke out of his mouth. It was a picture-perfect smile, beautiful enough to momentarily leave even me—who hadn’t broken eye contact with him for a single second—staring blankly, completely stripped of thought.

Seeing how he didn’t attempt to deny it, this guy was undoubtedly the correct culprit. Yet under these completely incomprehensible circumstances, a specific thought couldn’t help but anchor itself in my mind.

This guy isn’t normal either.

“Seohan-ssi…… is it alright if I call you that?”

What followed was a timid voice that sounded entirely out of place given the current dynamic. Not only did he softly cast his gaze downward, but a faint flush of pink actively crept across both of his cheeks. He gave off a distinct impression that he didn’t harbor a single care regarding the fact that he was currently tied up.

Now that the lights were brightly turned on, every single micro-expression on the face of the man who claimed to be Ji Eunhyuk became strikingly visible. He was the possessor of a visual masterpiece that could single-handedly shatter my internal hypothesis that ‘only the main leads of a novel radiate a literal glow from their faces.’

However, since he was the fundamental root cause of this entire grueling predicament where I had to struggle desperately just to survive, there was no way he could look beautiful to me. My brow crumpled harshly at his utterly deplorable attitude.

“I am truly, so very happy right now…….”

“What kind of absolute nonsense have you been spouting since earlier? I asked you a question; are you the bastard who cut in line or not.”

My tightly balled fists trembled violently. My rampant emotions continuously urged my body to move, whispering that hitting him just once should be perfectly fine. Just as Ji Eunhyuk, who was alternating his gaze between my face that was struggling to suppress rage and my lightly vibrating fists, maintained a pristine smile.

In a flash, the face of Ji Eunhyuk—who had been smiling up until a literal second ago—twisted rapidly into a grimace. Because it was an incredibly blatant transformation, even I, who had been staring directly at him the entire time, flinched back in surprise.

“Uh, uh…….”

His eyes widened drastically, and his voice leaked out with sheer panic.

Conspicuously whipping his head around to scan the surroundings, the guy checked his own body before beginning to shudder and tremble violently on the spot. I had no choice but to simply stand there, watching his entire display in absolute, stunned silence.