Hyunjin stays silent. Not a word escapes him. His fingers keep gently stroking Felix’s face, brushing strands of hair away from his forehead. The surprise has faded from his expression, replaced by a focused look, as if he’s weighing his words carefully. Felix searches his gaze, hoping to find some shred of an answer there—even though he knows it’s probably pointless.

But then, Hyunjin parts his lips.

“Of course I saved your life,” he says. Felix’s eyes widen. Hyunjin keeps talking. “I saved your life the day you climbed to the top of that building, convinced that ending it all was the only way out. I saved your life by taking responsibility for you, even when everyone was against me. I saved your life by standing in front of the court and demanding to become your jailer. I saved your life when Ivan beat you so badly you passed out, and he still wouldn’t stop. I saved your life when he tried to smash your head against the bars. I saved your life when I came back early from my business trip to deal with what you did to Kozlov. And I saved your life again, just now. You had a bad seizure. You were choking on your tongue.”

Hyunjin has never spoken this much before, nor with such raw honesty. Felix doesn’t get it. He thought they weren’t allowed to talk like this anymore, that someone was always listening. He thought Hyunjin was an impenetrable fortress, that no confession—no matter how small—would ever slip through. So why is everything different now? What’s changed?

Felix closes his eyes. He doesn’t even know what he’s saying, but he knows he has to say it. He has to ask. Because even if the memory hasn’t fully come back, the feeling is there, burning inside him. “We knew each other, didn’t we? Before this place.”

Hyunjin sighs. Then he nods. “Yeah, sort of. We exchanged a few words. I was watching you.”

Felix lets out a bitter laugh. Fuck.

“To kidnap me?” he asks.

But Hyunjin shakes his head. “No, not for that. I just wanted to understand.”

“Understand what?”

“You.”

Felix rolls his eyes. Unnecessarily cryptic, as always. “Whatever. And did you figure me out?”

“Not really,” Hyunjin admits. “But it doesn’t matter now. How are you feeling?”

Felix shrugs. “Like shit. My mind’s a mess. I can’t stop the memories.”

Hyunjin’s fingers pause against his temple. “I gave you a sedative. Something natural, melatonin. It should keep you calm for a while. A few hours. Enough time for what we need.”

“Enough time for what?”

“To get you out of here.”

Felix can’t believe his ears. If Hyunjin’s behavior had already seemed weird before, with that sudden gentleness, now it feels downright insane. There’s only one explanation: he must be dead. This can’t be real. It just can’t. Either he’s dead, or he’s in a coma, and this is all some elaborate hallucination cooked up by his brain.

“You’re messing with me,” Felix mutters.

Hyunjin shakes his head. “No. I’m not. Get up,” he says, then gently shifts Felix off his lap and stands up first. He holds out his hand, the neon light behind him blinding Felix for a moment. Is this real? Is this actually happening? Is Hyunjin really going to take him out of here?

Felix reaches for his hand. He grabs it, using it to pull himself up. His body feels weak, exhausted, like it might give out at any second. If they’re planning to make a run for it, he’ll have to rely on sheer willpower, because his muscles sure as hell won’t be much help. And yet, Felix still doesn’t believe it. It feels too absurd, too unreal. He half expects Hyunjin to have one of his sudden outbursts, to shove him against a wall and start messing with him just for the hell of it. But instead, Hyunjin opens the cell door, and Felix realizes it’s been unlocked the whole time. “Can you walk? Hold onto me.”

Felix shudders. He clings to Hyunjin’s arm as they step out of the cell. His heart is racing. How is this possible? How is this happening? They walk toward the stairs. Hyunjin doesn’t look like someone who’s escaping. He’s calm, patient, waiting for Felix, almost like he’s afraid Felix might collapse at any moment. But Felix feels a surge of adrenaline, a desperate need to get as far away from this nightmare as possible. When they reach the top of the stairs, Hyunjin opens the heavy iron door. The lock clicks three times. Then it swings open.

In the small room are two men dressed in those pseudo-military black uniforms. Felix clings tighter to Hyunjin’s arm. He’s not sure if they’re the same men who kidnapped him, but the uniforms are definitely the same. The men, though, don’t snap to attention or point guns at them to stop the escape.

“Everything alright, Mr. Hwang?” one of them asks.

Hyunjin flashes a polite smile as they cross the room and step out into the hallway. Felix is hit with a flood of memories from that night. The night he dragged himself down this hallway, slipping on his own blood with every step. It feels like a lifetime ago, and yet he has no idea how much time has actually passed. Time stopped making sense to him a long time ago.

Hyunjin takes off his jacket. A moment later, Felix feels the weight of it on his shoulders. “Button it up,” Hyunjin says, and Felix obeys, wrapping himself in it as they step out of the hallway. He feels confused, partly from the seizures, partly from not understanding what’s happening. Are they escaping? Did Hyunjin trick the guards into letting Felix out of the cage with some excuse? And yet, he seems so calm, so composed. He doesn’t look like someone trying to break a prisoner out.

They turn down another hallway. They walk about ten meters, then Hyunjin stops in front of a door and opens it. “Go in here,” he says. Felix hesitates. He doesn’t know why, but the idea of stepping into a closed space suddenly makes him anxious. Maybe it’s the fear of ending up in another cage? Still, he forces his legs to move. He’s surprised when he realizes the room they’ve entered is a large bathroom. There are four or five showers, urinals, toilet stalls. Sinks, mirrors, soap dispensers. Even towels and bathrobes hanging up, slippers on the floor.

“Take a shower,” Hyunjin says.

Felix feels like the ground has been ripped out from under him. He sinks to his knees and sobs. For a while, he can’t do anything but cry. He presses his hands to his face and lets it all out. A shower. A damn shower. He never thought he’d cry at the thought of being able to take one, of being able to use something other than a filthy bucket or a rag soaked in cold water to clean himself. Hyunjin kneels beside him and wraps his arms around Felix’s shoulders. “Hang in there,” he murmurs. And Felix wants to hit him. Hang in there? It’s partly his fault Felix is in this state. This place has stripped him of everything, even his humanity, to the point where a shower feels like a miracle.

When the warm water hits his skin for the first time, Felix has another small breakdown. Only this time, he laughs. God, this is the best feeling in the world, he thinks. He runs his fingers through his hair, stands still for minutes at a time, savoring the warmth enveloping him, seeping into his skin, thawing his frozen body. He soaps up his body, his hair. He repeats the motions two, three times, and it never feels like enough. He scrubs his skin so hard it turns red. He doesn’t know how long he stays under the water. He only knows that when he steps out, the contrast with the cold air sends shivers across his skin. He wraps himself in a towel and then heads to the mirrors.

His roots have grown out. Inches and inches of dark hair, and then the blond, dry and brittle. His hair is now shoulder-length. Felix notices his face has become gaunt, angular, much like the rest of his body. The little muscle he once had has withered, almost disappearing entirely. He looks years older.

Hyunjin returns to the bathroom, and Felix realizes only then that he’s been alone this whole time. In his hands is a black jumpsuit, which he hands to Felix. “Put this on,” he says. Felix does as he’s told. The jumpsuit is loose but warm. He hugs it to his chest and looks Hyunjin in the eye. “What’s happening? We’re not escaping, are we?”

Hyunjin frowns. “Escaping?” he asks. “No. Of course not.”

Felix feels his heart turn to ice. “Are you taking me back to the cell?” he asks.

“You’ll never go back there,” Hyunjin promises. “Come with me.”

“No,” Felix groans. “No. Let me escape. I know you can do it, I know you can—”

“I can’t,” Hyunjin cuts him off. “And where would you even go? Do you really want to go back to your old life?”

“Do you think it was worse than this?”

“I think you can do better.”

“In here?” Felix snaps back.

Hyunjin presses his lips into a thin line. “Not in here,” he confirms. “Trust me.”

“Why should I?” Felix almost spits. “Every time I let myself believe that you might—in some twisted, messed-up way—actually care about me… Every time, reality hits me like a punch to the gut. You’re one of them. That doesn’t change. That will never change!”

Hyunjin doesn’t seem particularly fazed by Felix’s words. “Are you done?” he asks.

“Screw you,” Felix bursts out, hitting him with his fists against his chest. Hyunjin wraps his hands around Felix’s wrists and pulls him closer. Their eyes lock. “Trust me, Felix.”

What other choice do I have? Felix wonders.

He lowers his gaze.
Hyunjin leads him out of the bathroom.