The Bond That Became a Shackle

The re-test result was the same.

It confirmed they were Imprinted.

Haejin asked if PTSD could have occurred first, followed by Imprinting due to the trauma’s influence, but the only answer was that no such cases had been reported.

He had requested the re-test to deny reality, thinking it must be a misdiagnosis.

Instead, it only served to hammer in the fact that they were indeed in an Imprinted state.

Because of that, neither could say a word even on the way back to the room.

Imprinting.

It was the most unscientific yet romantic phenomenon in this world, but for some, it could also be a shackle.

As Beomwoo had said before, there were people for whom love had an expiration date.

They burned like a flame, but once they became accustomed to each other and the novelty faded, their hearts could change so drastically that the very reasons they fell in love became reasons for hatred.

Because of this, many couples who initially connected through passionate love and Imprinting later found themselves unable to separate, forced to stay together because of the bond.

The same people who once rejoiced, confirming the depth of their sincere hearts through Imprinting, would later find the Imprint shackling their ankles, preventing separation when love cooled.

Even if they came to hate each other, without the other, they suffered from pheromone imbalances and found it difficult to be with anyone else.

It would be nice if the Imprint severed when feelings cooled, but it didn’t.

Generally, it could only be broken by the death of the other partner.

There was pheromone suppression surgery to forcibly sever an Imprint, but the procedure and cost were no small matters, and it was infamous for side effects, making it something one couldn’t undertake without serious resolve.

There were even cases where people chose to murder their Imprinted partner, making the news, rather than undergo that surgery.

Thus, even if it started with love, Imprinting could become a problem.

Haejin was a case where he had opened his heart, believing Beomwoo didn’t remember their past life, only for Imprinting to occur.

With accumulated resentment and distrust over their past between them, it was even more complicated.

So complicated that he even felt as if he had been scammed.

Moreover, his promise to believe Beomwoo’s sincerity if the diagnosis wasn’t PTSD didn’t mean he would love or accept him.

But if they were Imprinted, regardless of Haejin’s feelings, he couldn’t sever the bond.

It felt as if the curse-like Imprinting people spoke of had already befallen them.

Come to think of it, even when Haejin learned Beomwoo was a regressor and was convinced his feelings were a mistaken obsession due to PTSD, he couldn’t bring himself to cut him off completely.

He had hoped Beomwoo would receive treatment and live a normal life.

Looking back now, perhaps that was also because of the Imprint.

It could just be his indecisive, frustrating nature, but Haejin blamed everything on the Imprint.

* * * *

While Haejin was lost in thought, Beomwoo, who had been silent, seemed to have finished processing and broke the silence.

“The Imprint… I didn’t anticipate it either, but will you believe my feelings now?”

“……”

“You said you’d believe me if it wasn’t PTSD. There’s nothing more definitive than an Imprint, isn’t there?”

Even in this situation, Beomwoo argued that his feelings must be genuine if they led to Imprinting.

He asked if Haejin would believe him now.

When Haejin suggested the psychiatric evaluation, Beomwoo had asked if he would believe him if it wasn’t PTSD, and Haejin had agreed.

He thought Beomwoo wouldn’t get evaluated otherwise, and at the time, he believed that if PTSD was diagnosed, it would give him a reason to cut ties.

He had made that promise, but now the result was Imprinting.

As Beomwoo said, nothing was more definitive than Imprinting.

The proof was as solid as it could be.

So while Haejin could believe Beomwoo’s feelings weren’t due to trauma, perhaps because he felt as if his life had been mortgaged to a scam, his heart twisted again.

The idea that Beomwoo might think Haejin actually liked him deep down because of the Imprint, no matter how much he pushed him away, made the words come out harshly.

“I can believe that you liked me… But I trusted and opened my heart to you, thinking you were a completely different person from your past self. I was the one mistaken. And now… I don’t like you, Beomwoo.”

Haejin acknowledged that Beomwoo’s feelings weren’t a mistaken obsession from trauma, but said the situation had changed.

That he had been the one mistaken.

His words were cold.

He coldly told him not to mistake the Imprint for mutual affection, but the sharp words felt like a boomerang, stinging his own heart.

Perhaps because he wasn’t the type for cruel words, his own eyes grew hot and moist instead.

Though speaking coldly, he was the one crumbling inside.

Beomwoo, perhaps sensing resentment in Haejin’s state, bit the inside of his cheek hard.

So hard the jaw muscle bulged visibly.

As the atmosphere grew tense, Haejin avoided his gaze, unable to speak.

Beomwoo’s already serious face darkened further, and he asked in a low, somber voice.

“Do you hate being Imprinted to me that much?”

“……”

“I didn’t intentionally hide being a regressor, but I know that’s also my fault. I know the thought of being bound to someone like me for life through Imprinting must be horrifying… But I’ll live my whole life atoning.”

Beomwoo apologized sincerely, saying it was his fault for making Haejin, who wasn’t the type for such words, say them.

Haejin, who had pushed him away with harsh words, found his heart in turmoil again seeing Beomwoo apologize.

Just as he had been inwardly concerned seeing Beomwoo look serious about the Imprint result, thinking, ‘Is he horrified to be Imprinted to me?’—now, seeing Beomwoo apologize after his own cruel words, he felt a contradictory ache.

Truthfully… While he was shocked, flustered, and his thoughts raced upon hearing the Imprint result from the doctor, he didn’t feel dislike.

It was just the heavy reality of being unable to escape him, both in his past life and this one, and the bleakness of a future yet to come.

So while his feelings were subtly different from what Beomwoo said, explaining that in this situation felt strange too.

As Haejin bit his lower lip and remained silent, Beomwoo seemed to take the silence as affirmation.

Clenching his fist, his voice slightly trembling, he pleaded desperately.

“So… Couldn’t you keep your promise and believe in me again?”

“……”

“If you just don’t send me away… Wouldn’t that be okay?”

Beomwoo said he would live his whole life atoning, trying to earn Haejin’s forgiveness.

That he wanted to stay by his side somehow.

He was clinging to that hollow promise.

Clearly, Beomwoo hadn’t anticipated the Imprint either and must have been flustered.

Since Imprinting isn’t a one-sided act, he wasn’t solely responsible.

But because he hadn’t disclosed being a regressor, he seemed to feel he had forced this feeling upon Haejin.

Until a moment ago, Haejin felt scammed.

But seeing Beomwoo, whose desire for Haejin’s trust seemed greater than his own anxiety and worry about the Imprint, made his heart even more complicated.

Even though he had spoken that way, he knew Beomwoo hadn’t intended the Imprint.

He also knew Beomwoo hadn’t deliberately hidden the regression with calculated intent, which made it harder.

Just moments ago, Haejin had tried to deny the reality of the Imprint and felt overwhelmed and bleak imagining the future.

Surely Beomwoo must have had similar thoughts.

But seeing him, more than anything, wanting to remain by Haejin’s side made Haejin feel strange.

He had blamed the Imprint for making him pity Beomwoo and want him to get treatment, and tried to be cold-hearted.

Yet, he was still concerned for him.

Seeing Beomwoo like this, Haejin forgot the worst-case Imprint scenarios, the bleak imagination that they would soon meet such destruction since they couldn’t even be sure of their love, and the feelings buried under betrayal.

He shook his head and spoke with difficulty.

“I said I believe you liked me. And as for staying by my side… since we’re Imprinted… there’s no choice.”

Beomwoo kept pleading for belief, and Haejin had already said he believed Beomwoo liked him.

And as for allowing him to stay, this wasn’t a matter of Haejin’s permission.

As he had thought earlier about the problems Imprinting could cause, it was an inescapable bond, a matter of no choice.

Haejin reluctantly permitted Beomwoo to stay, framing it as unavoidable.

But this didn’t seem to be the reaction Beomwoo wanted.

At Haejin’s words, his face colored with hurt.

He looked as if his heart had been brutally torn, then murmured with a devastated expression.

“I thought if I got tested and the results proved it, everything would get better… But it seems to have only gotten worse.”

“……”

It seemed Beomwoo had thought that proving his sincerity would return them to how they were just days ago, when they shared love.

His reaction suggested he hadn’t known Haejin’s promise to believe him meant this.

Seeing Beomwoo murmuring weakly, Haejin felt his heart, which had stung after the harsh words, now ache as if being wrung.

Perhaps he had been too quick and vague in saying he would believe.

But as said, even believing Beomwoo’s sincerity now didn’t change that he was the same person from their past life.

Haejin couldn’t forget those memories and go back to how they were.

That was now a midsummer night’s dream, never to return.

His heart ached, but he couldn’t offer comforting words.

And he knew giving hope would be worse.

As Haejin suppressed and swallowed his words, Beomwoo let out a breath and spoke with a resolve that sounded firmer than before.

“I know the Imprint must be horrifying. You remember all the hurt I caused and can’t forgive me, yet we’re bound for life.”

“……”

“But… it will clearly be different from our past life. Because I will approach you differently, Haejin.”

Beomwoo said he understood if Haejin found being bound to him this way horrifying, but swore he would never repeat the pain of their past life.

Despite the words laden with firm conviction, Haejin couldn’t say anything and tightly closed his mouth.

Right now, it seemed impossible to open his heart to Beomwoo no matter what he did.

So why couldn’t he say, ‘Don’t come near me, I don’t need you’?

They were bound for life by the Imprint, whether he wanted it or not.

And one of them was trying desperately to make amends…

Was it right to refuse to even look back, saying everything was already ruined?

His wounded heart hadn’t healed, and he felt confused about whether he was doing the right thing.

In his past life, watching drama lovers, he had thought Imprinting was romantic.

There were times he had imagined what it would be like to be Imprinted to Beomwoo… Why does this only happen when I don’t want it? Haejin swallowed a sigh.