The next moment, Lee Sa-young stood on a pure white desert where heavy snow was falling. The people who were skillfully dismembering the monster, and J, who had been staggering along dragging a corpse, had vanished.
Lee Sa-young surveyed his surroundings. There were no footprints, and no sign of human presence. Cha Eui-jae must have arrived first, but seeing no trace of him…
'…Did I land somewhere else?'
Tsk, Lee Sa-young clicked his tongue in disapproval. He clutched his throbbing temple. The gruesome scene kept flickering before his eyes. The memory he had just seen was undoubtedly Cha Eui-jae's. It must surely be a memory from inside the West Sea rift.
"…"
But why had he seen Cha Eui-jae's memory instead of his own? Fortunately, he had a hunch. Lee Sa-young removed his black gloves. A golden chain rippled over the long scar remaining on his palm.
The mark of an unbreakable contract. The blood seeping through each other's palms, and the laurel vines entwining their hearts. The sensation of his entire body running cold upon seeing Cha Eui-jae cough up blood during the contract was still vivid.
At that time, Lee Sa-young did not know that Cha Eui-jae was J. He simply thought of him as the perfect human to exploit. Of course, far from exploiting him, he was merely being manipulated at will.
Lee Sa-young took out a gas mask from his inventory for the first time in a while. He put on the gas mask and black leather gloves for the first time in a long while, just as he had when he first met him.
"…Good grief. What on earth am I doing?"
Lee Sa-young chuckled. Without taking off the gas mask, he began to walk slowly across the desert. He felt he was doing all sorts of crazy things because of Cha Eui-jae, but he still did not take it off. He walked slowly, organizing his thoughts.
Lee Sa-young's blood flows in Cha Eui-jae's body, and Cha Eui-jae's blood flows in Lee Sa-young's body. Their hearts were intertwined by vines growing from a single root. Perhaps it was only natural for memories to become entangled. After all, vines that grow along a single wall are bound to eventually touch.
He was not impatient. They would be able to meet. As long as they were connected. However, his body did not move according to the judgment his reason had made.
In the end, Lee Sa-young ran. Pushing off the soft desert.
The hem of his black coat fluttered, leaving a black trail. How long had he run? The landscape changed endlessly, consisting only of the desert. Countless memories flashed past him. Lee S-ayoung took in every fragment of memory with his eyes and engraved them into his mind.
"… It's okay, Aunt."
One Cha Eui-jae smiled as he was stroked by an unknown woman,
"No! That's not it! I told you to get rid of your artist ego! Hey, hey, you punk! Aren't you going to let go of my hand?!"
Another Cha Eui-jae argued with Hong Ye-seong, pointing his finger at him,
"…"
Another Cha Eui-jae sat alone on the stairs smoking a cigarette,
"…I'm sorry."
Another Cha Eui-jae bowed to a bereaved family,
"Move aside."
Another Cha Eui-jae pierced through a monster,
"Good night."
Another Cha Eui-jae held Lee Sa-young in his arms and fell asleep,
"It's okay. Just sleep a little longer."
Another Cha Eui-jae stood before a black coffin, dressed in mourning clothes.
Lee Sa-young stopped in his tracks before that fragment of memory. A lonely-looking back with black hair. Lee Sa-young instinctively knew. This was the Cha Eui-jae of the first world. If so, inside that coffin…
'I must be in there.'
Lee Sa-young began to move his feet again. Countless Cha Eui-jaes flashed past his head once more. However, in most of the memories, his face could not be seen because of the mask. He did not like that. He wanted to see his face behind the mask. Lee Sa-young peered into Cha Eui-jae's memories and questioned.
What kind of expression were you making back then?
How did you feel?
What were you thinking?
He was curious about everything about Cha Eui-jae. He wanted to know everything about him, and he wanted to be with him at every moment. In his joy, in his sorrow.
How far had he run? How many Cha Eui-jae's memories had he passed?
Finally, a different landscape unfolded before Lee Sa-young. A red light spread across the desert where only black, white, and Cha Eui-jae existed. Lee Sa-young stopped once again.
A ruin where pools of blood gathered and corpses piled up. In the midst of it all, a person was crouching. A body hunched with knees together, vacant black eyes and unfocused, hair faded to gray.
It was Cha Eui-jae.
At that moment, a hazy scene flashed through his mind. It was the memory of the warden of a ruined world, another 'Lee Sa-young.'
Wandering through the ruined world, he discovered Cha Eui-jae, left alone in a rift connected to the West Sea rift. Lee Sa-young draped his coat over Cha Eui-jae and whispered.
"When you go back… live quietly."
It was a selfish curse and a shackle. To live quietly, out of sight. To live hiding oneself. To live selfishly.
To survive.
Lee Sa-young stepped into the puddle of blood without hesitation. Splash. Drops of blood splattered. He crossed the blood toward him. As he got closer, the whisper grew louder. His hoarse, cracked voice mumbled mechanically.
"It hurts."
"I'm exhausted."
"I'm so tired."
"I want to go home."
The murmuring did not stop. He was speaking compulsively. Occasionally, he would cough, but the murmuring did not cease. Lee Sa-young stopped in front of the crouching Cha Eui-jae. Suddenly, he recalled the question Cha Eui-jae had asked him with hesitation not long ago.
"Sa-young-ah, by any chance…"
"Have you ever covered me with your coat?"
"No, not then."
Back then, he wondered what he meant. Lee Sa-young trusted logic over intuition, and reason over instinct. However, his intuition was speaking to him.
That it was now, right here.
"In the West Sea… rift."
That this was the moment he had spoken of.
Lee Sa-young took off his coat without hesitation. At the same time, Cha Eui-jae's lips spat out a single word.
"I want to go back…"
Flap—
Cha Eui-jae's crouching body was hidden beneath the black coat. The body beneath the coat twitched and trembled, and the murmuring gradually subsided. Lee Sa-young stroked his head over the coat. It was a touch filled with tenderness. A faint tremor could be felt beneath his hand. Lee Sa-young repeated the words his other self had spoken.
"When you go back… live quietly."
A chuckle escaped his lips. Nonsense. Cha Eui-jae was a man born unable to live quietly. The person who stood out the most, anytime and anywhere. A presence that captivated everyone's gaze and made them trust him. Lee Sa-young knew him. He knew his will, his unwavering resolve. His impulsive nature, his reckless attitude, and even the way he would look around nervously after making a mess. Everything.
Lee Sa-young bent down and gently lifted the coat covering Cha Eui-jae. Cha Eui-jae had his face buried between his knees. His curled-up body trembled. It was pitiful and tender. Lee Sa-young suppressed the urge to hug him right then and there. Instead, he whispered softly.
"…That's what he said."
A low voice was mixed with laughter.
"But there's no way you could live like that, is there?"
The moment he reached out his hand toward Cha Eui-jae, a pure white system window blocked his hand.
[Warning! This action will overwrite previously recorded memories. The consequences are unknown.]
[Do you wish to proceed?]
Lee Sa-young answered without hesitation.
"Proceed."
[Acknowledged. Overwriting memory…]
"Good, it's done…. look at me."
Cha Eui-jae finally managed to lift his head only after Lee Sa-young had coaxed him several times. Beneath his disheveled ash hair, a pale face was revealed. Dried bloodstains remained clearly visible on his cheeks and chin, and his black eyes were empty. The moment he saw his lifeless face, his heart sank. He looked even more frail and wretched than he had imagined.
Lee Sa-young bit his lip, but deliberately spoke more playfully.
"That's a bit cold, don't you think? Just covering you with a coat."
Lee Sa-young carefully stroked his cheek with his thumb, wiping away the dried bloodstains. Cha Eui-jae did not react much to his touch. Lee Sa-young rubbed his cheek and thought. This was probably the worst memory of Cha Eui-jae's life.
Sometime in the past, Lee Sa-young thought. Watching Cha Eui-jae snatch a nap in the hospital room, holding his hand.
'I want to be by your side when you are struggling and in pain.'
He hadn't wanted to fulfill that wish like this. He smiled bitterly, but soon changed his expression to a gentle smile.
"Have you been waiting long?"
Cha Eui-jae parted his lips. No answer was heard. He must have lost his voice from muttering to himself so much. But that was okay. Lee Sa-young cupped Cha Eui-jae's cheek with his hand.
It was something he had wanted to say someday, face to face, by entering the West Sea rift himself. A single word he had kept bottled up for a very long time, uttered for the first time in eight years.
Lee Sa-young whispered affectionately.
"I came to get you."