The Reason for a Five-Year Long Vigil

Being violently cast into an entirely inexplicable circumstance was a dynamic to which my consciousness was well accustomed. Following the exact moment I transformed into ‘Kaian,’ reality had consistently structured itself in that specific manner. The immediate conditions thrust upon my existence lacked a logical justification. They simply crashed against me like an inevitable natural disaster. The single option available to my form was to endure stubbornly, ensuring I wouldn’t lose my core identity while being tossed about by the raging currents. Consequently, I frequently drifted into a state of profound misery and depression.

There were moments when I desired to execute absolutely nothing. This stemmed from a grim, unwavering certainty that regardless of what actions I performed, the baseline outcome would refuse to shift.

Yet, remaining in a state of absolute stagnation was structurally impossible. An individual must actively step outside into the world to be struck by a reincarnation truck, or plunge into a manhole acting as a conduit to an alternative reality. If one remains entirely motionless, catching a single shred of opportunity becomes an absolute impossibility. Absolutely nothing alters under those conditions.

Vigorously rubbing my face with my bare hand, I bolted straight up from the sofa. Emerging from the kitchen while carrying a low dining table, Eun-ho observed my sudden movement with a trace of bewilderment. Offering a soft laugh in his direction, I scanned the contents decorating the table. The spread consisted entirely of a dish of kimchi and a few basic side dishes. Good grief, for an individual who had operated as the Supreme Emperor of a grand empire, this dining spread felt remarkably humble. Though within this specific domain, he was simply playing the role of ‘Jung Eun-chan’s younger brother.’

“Hold on a single moment.”

“Huh? For what reason?”

Utilizing my smartphone to initiate a search query for a ‘microwave steamed egg’ recipe, I marched straight into the kitchen. While the fellow uttered a quiet, “It’s perfectly fine,” to decline the gesture, he refrained from executing any physical action to check my progress. Informing him, “Do you possess the capability to prepare this item? The structural process is remarkably simple,” I began instructing him utilizing the plagiarized digital recipe. Eun-ho stood obediently right beside my flank, absorbing the explanation with absolute quietness. Finding his current behavior immensely endearing, I reached out with a hand that still carried the raw scent of chopped green onions to aggressively ruffle his hair.

The microwave let out a sharp ping to signal completion. The exact moment I extended my fingers to pull open the door and extract the ceramic bowl, Eun-ho intervened, murmuring, “It is intensely hot, brother,” while utilizing a hand clad in a teddy bear oven mitt to gently displace my arm. Witnessing an individual who stood an entire head taller than me sporting such a thoroughly miniature, dainty mitt on his massive hand provoked a burst of spontaneous laughter from my throat.

“Alright. You handle the transit process.”

Leaving the execution of the steamed egg to Eun-ho’s care, I returned to the living room to seat myself right before the low table. Bearing the steaming ceramic bowl, Eun-ho emerged a moment later to settle himself directly across from my coordinate.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Go ahead.”

Despite the reality that he was wielding a standard metal spoon and chopsticks rather than a formal fork and knife, every single movement the fellow executed remained profoundly elegant. Resting my elbows squarely against my crossed knees to cradle my chin between my palms, I quietly observed his dining performance before breaking the silence.

“By the way.”

Eun-ho, who had just scooped a generous portion of the steamed egg and deposited it into his mouth, lifted his eyes to lock his gaze with mine.

“Why do you consistently bypass the alternative dishes to focus entirely on that specific item?”

Refraining from offering a verbal response, Eun-ho simply continued to chew the incredibly soft steamed egg, which required absolutely zero structural mastication. Wielding my own chopsticks, I plucked a portion of the side dishes and deposited the food directly over the surface of his rice bowl.

“An individual must consume a balanced variety of nutrients to achieve proper physical growth.”

Even though his physical frame had already achieved absolute maturity. My absurd declaration provoked a quiet, fleeting chuckle from the fellow.

Ultimately, he concluded his meal without utilizing his chopsticks even once. Because I had found the act of depositing side dishes into his bowl immensely endearing, I had continuously supplied his plate, resulting in him simply popping each item straight into his mouth. Having completely cleared both his rice bowl and the steamed egg container, the fellow rose from the floor to clear the table. A sudden torrent of rushing water resonated from the kitchen basin, indicating he had commenced the dishwashing process immediately. Listening to the rhythmic sound, I dropped my body completely flat against the floor.

“Eun-ho-yaaaa.”

“Yes, brother.”

Perhaps due to the reality that we had utilized a remarkably minimal volume of dinnerware, the sounds of the dishwashing process concluded with immense speed. The distinct audio of approaching footsteps resonated across the floor. Staring blankly up at the weathered, yellowing wallpaper decorating the ceiling and the dust-coated fluorescent light fixtures, I waited for his arrival. The fellow seated himself directly beside the crown of my head.

Right at that moment, an intense vibration shattered the quiet. Since my own device was resting peacefully inside my pocket, the noise originated from his form. Extracting the buzzing smartphone from his pocket to inspect the digital interface, the fellow refrained from answering, choosing instead to deposit the device face down onto the floorboards.

Watching him navigate the operational mechanics of a smartphone with such natural familiarity evoked a deep sense of wonder.

Did he possess an inherent archive of memories belonging to ‘Jung Eun-ho,’ mirroring the exact mechanism through which my own consciousness absorbed ‘Emperor Kaian’s’ history during my dream states?

Or did he exist as an entirely independent entity who simply shared a physical form with Kallios, entirely separate from the individual I historically knew?

“Am I permitted to inspect your smartphone?”

“Yes.”

The fellow handed the device over to my fingers without a single moment of hesitation. Depressing the home button to illuminate the screen, a soft chuckle escaped my lips. The digital lock screen was completely decorated by a photographic image of myself. It depicted Jung Eun-chan wearing a casual tracksuit, perched loosely atop a metallic pull-up bar while flashing a broad smile.

“This looks remarkably unsightly.”

“It does not.”

“The reality that my eyes are completely closed makes me look like an absolute fool.”

“That is simply because you were laughing.”

Bypassing the defensive justification he offered on my behalf, I swiped across the unsecured lock screen to access the interface. Excluding the baseline system applications, the digital landscape contained a mere pair of downloaded programs: a messaging platform and a camera application. Despite the reality that these were incredibly standard tools utilized by the general populace, discovering them inside his personal device felt distinctly amusing. Right at that moment, the fellow articulated a statement.

“You always close your eyes completely whenever you laugh, brother.”

Staring at the startup interface of the camera application, I lifted my gaze. He was observing my form with an immensely gentle expression anchored within his eyes.

The habit of closing one’s eyes completely while laughing belonged exclusively to Jung Eun-chan, not Kaian.

Evading his intense gaze, I returned my focus to the smartphone screen. Located at the absolute bottom of the display, the miniature preview icon for the image gallery revealed another picture of myself. It featured Jung Eun-chan seated inside a local café, cradling his chin between his palms while staring wistfully out the glass window.

I opened the digital gallery. Selecting the most recent photograph, I began slowly sliding my thumb across the glass to review the historical archive.

Jung Eun-chan brandishing a metal spoon and chopsticks simultaneously in each hand while sporting a thoroughly mischievous expression; Jung Eun-chan attempting to block the camera lens with a highly dissatisfied countenance while his eyelids were intensely swollen from sleep; Jung Eun-chan slumbering in an incredibly bizarre posture with a duvet twisted solely around his midsection; Jung Eun-chan flashing a broad, closed-eyed smile while cradling an immense bundle of floral bouquets close to his chest…

The individual in the photographs appeared profoundly happy.

A remarkably surreal sensation coiled within my chest. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, yet it failed to evoke a sense of absolute joy either.

“Eun-ho-ya.”

“Yes.”

Driven by a sudden, involuntary impulse, I uttered his alternative title.

“Kallios.”

The fellow, who had responded instantly whenever I utilized the name Eun-ho, maintained absolute verbal silence this time, simply staring down at my form. I waited with quiet patience for his response. His right hand naturally descended to rest over the surface of my head. His fingers executed a soft, stroking motion through my hair, and then…

“Yes.”

As if providing absolute proof that the initial anomaly I witnessed was not a mere trick of the light, a distinct crimson crimson flash gleamed momentarily within his deep brown irises.

Reaching out with my arm, I grasped his hand tightly within my palm.

“Kallios.”

“Yes, Kaian.”

The fellow gently swept aside the stray strands of hair that had tumbled over my forehead.

Staring quietly into his facial features, I lifted my hand. Kallios leaned his upper body forward, resting his cheek squarely against the palm of my hand. He slowly closed his docile brown eyes before opening them once more. A deliberate, cat-like eye kiss.

“Are you not going to address me as your older brother?”

“Is that a structural necessity?”

“I am explicitly your older brother in this space.”

Confirming that his historical habit of remaining stubbornly silent whenever he lacked the desire to speak was perfectly intact, the fellow firmly clamped his lips together. I gave his lean, fleshless cheek a light squeeze before releasing my grip and letting my hand drop back to the floor.

“Well, whatever, let’s bypass that issue. Kallios. Exactly how did this structural reality manifest?”

“…”

“For what purpose am I deposited within this domain? And for what reason are you present here as well?”

“Kaian.”

Uttering my title, the fellow tilted his head slightly to the side. I lacked the certainty regarding whose younger brother he was supposed to be, but his facial structure was undeniably magnificent. His jawline was sharp enough to slice a raw potato. Should I perhaps prepare a batch of curry tomorrow?

“Is this specific coordinate truly your ‘original’ universe?”

“Huh?”

“Eun-chan-ah.”

The immense tenderness laced within his pronunciation of my name caused my form to freeze.

“Am I permitted to address you by that nomenclature?”

Reaching out to grasp his jawline, I forcefully rotated his head back toward my direction. The fellow yielded to the physical guidance with absolute compliance, letting out a low, resonant laugh.

“I explicitly told you to address me as your older brother.”

“Eun-chan-ah.”

“Older brother.”

“Eun-chan-ah.”

The fellow caught hold of my hand. Sliding his long fingers between mine, our hands became tightly intertwined.

“Please communicate your narrative first.”

“…”

“I genuinely desire to listen to your history.”

The fleeting amusement vanished from his countenance, replaced instantly by an expression of absolute seriousness. I surreptitiously averted my gaze, staring at the expansive pattern of purple floral wallpaper decorating a far wall before offering a firm nod.

“What specific details do you desire to hear?”

“Should we perhaps commence from the absolute beginning?”

“The absolute beginning? Tracking back to the exact moment I concluded you resembled a literal porcelain doll?”

My casual jest coaxed another soft laugh from his lips. Historically, Kallios was absolutely not an individual who displayed amusement with such frequency. However, since watching him smile was a million times superior to witnessing him weep or rage, I refrained from making a verbal critique.

At any rate… from what exact historical point should I commence the narration? Lightly scratching my covered forehead with a free finger as I engaged in a brief moment of internal deliberation, I let out a heavy sigh before opening my mouth.

“I… the individual known as Jung Eun-chan, perished after being forcefully struck by a commercial truck.”

Once the initial sentence was articulated, the subsequent narrative flowed with immense ease. A stream of historical details that I would have ordinarily guarded within my soul for the rest of my existence materialized effortlessly. While I harbored a slight hesitation regarding whether I should explicitly communicate the reality that their world—which had now transformed into our shared universe—was originally a fantasy text titled ‘The Dragon’s Empire’ that I had personally read, I concluded that encountering a scenario later where I would be forced to announce, ‘The truth is…’, would be immensely troublesome, prompting me to lay bare every single detail.

I explained that within the pages of that original manuscript, he was destined to operate as an antagonist, Lamierre Weaver was framed as the central protagonist, and Kaian was structurally mandated to perish prior to the arrival of his twentieth spring…

An intense curiosity surfaced regarding exactly what facial expression the fellow was sporting as he absorbed my words. Yet, I found myself entirely incapable of checking. It was an incredibly bizarre psychological barrier, considering his face was perfectly positioned to be visible with a simple tilt of my chin.

The narrative, which was neither exceptionally long nor remarkably brief, finally concluded around the exact moment our intertwined palms became thoroughly damp with accumulated sweat.

“The end.”

Announcing the conclusion with an intentionally light tone, I attempted to uncoil my fingers from his grip. Yielding to the physical cue, the fellow relaxed the tension within his hand, only to immediately reposition his palm to cover my clenched fist entirely.

“My hand is sweating.”

The moment the playful complaint left my lips, the fellow dragged my wrist downward, casually wiping my damp palm against the fabric of his trousers before locking his fingers between mine once more. Sliding a surreptitious glance toward his face to verify his current expression, he appeared entirely serene. Falling prey to a sudden wave of petty irritation, I aggressively shook his hand away to break the contact before forcing myself into a sitting position.

“Alright, since I have concluded my narration, it is explicitly your turn to speak.”

“What specific information do you desire to extract?”

“Huh?”

The volume of details I desired to know was immense. For what reason was I present within this domain, and for what purpose was he… wait a single moment.

“Should we perhaps commence from the absolute beginning?”

The fellow echoed the exact question I had posed a moment prior, and when I mirrored his guidance to return the prompt, he delivered an immediate response.

“The absolute beginning… tracking back to the exact moment I witnessed your form rushing through the doors clad in a military uniform?”

“What?”

What on earth was he talking about?

“Five years ago, within the interior of a funeral hall, was the single, solitary moment I witnessed your form for the first time.”

Five years ago, inside a funeral hall.

My mother.

I aggressively rubbed the back of my neck with my bare hand. Considering his seamless adaptation to the lifestyle of the Republic of Korea, I had operating under the absolute assumption that his consciousness had simply absorbed the localized memories of ‘Eun-ho’ within this dream state, mirroring the exact mechanism through which I had received ‘Emperor Kaian’s’ history.

“Though the individual I observed back then was structurally not the version of you I historically knew.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

“Exactly when did the realization strike you?”

Concluding that the structure of the question was far too ambiguous, I hastily appended an explicit clarification.

“The realization that I was the exact version of the individual you knew.”

“I possessed that absolute knowledge from the very beginning.”

“By what structural mechanism?”

Refraining from offering a direct verbal answer to the question, the fellow simply allowed a soft smile to decorate his magnificent features.

“Well… forget it. Simply continue the narration.”

“Yes.”

Offering an obedient response, the fellow rose completely to his feet.

“Where are you heading?”

“I shall prepare a pair of coffees.”

Staring blankly at his retreating back with a thoroughly dazed expression, a delayed burst of spontaneous laughter finally escaped my throat.

Kallios Capre Arnebs, the supreme Ruling Emperor of the grand Capreseja Empire, returned to the living room carrying a pair of instant mix coffees. The absolute absurdity of the situation coaxed another continuous stream of giggles from my lips as I took an experimental sip of the beverage. The water-to-powder ratio he had executed was a work of absolute art.

“This is spectacular.”

The fellow simply shrugged his shoulders at the compliment. Taking an additional sip of the warm liquid, I deposited the ceramic mug onto the table.

“Kallios.”

“Yes.”

“Does this imply you have spent a grand total of five years surviving as Eun-ho within this space?”

The fellow offered a firm nod of affirmation.

“For what purpose?”

In place of a verbal response, a remarkably calm, steady gaze settled over my form. The expression seemed to suggest whether I was genuinely questioning the underlying motive because I lacked the knowledge, or if the structure of my query was far too brief to decipher my exact intention. It was highly probable to be the former. After all, we were two entities who had exchanged an intensely sparse, unfriendly dialogue for a duration of ten years.

“Why did you execute that action?”

While I fully comprehended the underlying meaning behind his gaze, I remained entirely incapable of understanding why an individual would abandon his imperial throne to survive inside a dilapidated semi-basement villa for a duration of five years, prompting me to repeat the question. As if articulating the single most obvious truth in existence, the fellow delivered an immediate response.

“I was waiting for you.”

“For what reason?”

Kallios let out a soft laugh. Finding the entire scenario profoundly absurd, I naturally followed his lead and laughed right along with him.