"Now what?"

Looking down at his dainty hands, a low whisper echoed out into the empty room. His body had vanished, and the last hope he had was extinguished into thin air. Based on what he remembered, his hand had been consumed by the youth's mouth, and by the time he had woken up, it was too late for him to stop it.

He had come into possession of the young noble's body.

"I hope I'm just seeing things."

A sigh escaped from the man's lips as he walked towards the mirror he had found during his search for a way out. A part of him still wanted to believe that he was still in his own body, and that everything he had experienced was all part of an elaborate illusion. However, after he looked inside, he knew that he had to come to terms with reality.

Reflected on the other side of the glass was a short young man with dark bags under his eyes. He had long red hair that flowed down to the clavicles of his chest, and the clothes he wore were a pristine shade of white.

"Fuck."

The man cursed when he saw what was reflected on the mirror's surface. Although he understood that this was supposed to happen to him, it didn't mean that he wanted it to. He couldn't act. Hell. He couldn't do anything right. So what made them think he was capable of doing this?

His knees buckled and his shoulders trembled as he fell onto the cold hard floor. With the situation that he found himself in, he knew it'd only be a matter of time before he'd die a cruel and unjust death. A pity, since all he needed were a few more minutes for his grand plan to succeed.

"He never would've even known that I was going to feed him dirty plant water."

But as soon as the man said that, a sudden thwack hit him in the back of his head.

"You were going to do what?"

Turning around, the man saw a young boy with red hair staring at him with an odd look in his eye. The boy looked like an exact carbon copy of the reflection he had just seen in the mirror, except he had an eerie blue glow outlining the edges of his body.

The man paused, then, with clarity in his eyes, he pointed his finger at the boy and screamed.

"Ah, a ghost!"

"You're the ghost!"

Hastily retorting the man's words, a migraine began to form in Julius' head. All he wanted was nothing more than a single sip of water. Yet, in the span of a single day, his butler had betrayed him, and his body had been stolen by a low intellect mongrel. Worst of all was the fact that he couldn't even do anything about it. Their souls were now bound together, and anything he did to the man would also be reflected onto him.

Why does this keep happening to me?

However, while Julius continued to spiral deeper into despair, the man jumped as a sudden knock echoed at the door.

"Big bro, is everything alright? I heard a lot of yelling in there."

The man just froze when he heard this. Hesitation latched onto his voice as nothing but air escaped from his lips. It wasn't that he didn't want to say anything. It was more like he just couldn't. He didn't understand what the girl was saying.

Tears spilled out of the man's eyes when he came to understand this. Unfortunately for him, it had only taken twenty minutes before his fate was sealed in another world. Even though he had already died once at the ripe age of 21, with the thought of it happening again, a unique sense of dread began to overwhelm him. The least they could've done for him was put his death date on a different day. Dying twice within the same hour felt a little embarrassing.

At least let me experience the life of another world.

"If you're not going to say anything, then I'm gonna bust my way in!"

Startled by the loud banging outside, the man quickly snapped out of his thoughts. After walking over to the young noble, he hesitantly reached out before gently tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I know we started off on the wrong foot, but could you help me out?"

Yet what the man received wasn't a nod, or a reply. Rather, a sharp kick to his crotch.

"Ack. My balls."

Looking down at the curled up shrimp in front of him, Julius facepalmed before regaining control of his body. Although he also felt the pain in his crotch, it was within a tolerable enough range for him to focus on what he had to do next, preventing his sister from entering his room.

Eight years and she still has no sense of personal space.

And as if the world agreed with him, a small strand of hair peeked out from the side of the door.

Speak of the devil.

Now that he had access to his own body, he first answered the question his sister had posed him from before.

"I'm fine. I just stepped on a bug."

Then, with less than a second remaining, he savagely launched himself at the door before slamming it shut.

…

Wow... I'm not even allowed in now.

The girl just stared at the door that had been slammed in her face. Her nose hurt, and to be honest, her feelings did too. Never in her life did she expect her brother to do something like this. Especially to a girl as cute as her.

...Also, what kind of excuse was that? She couldn't even remember the last time a bug had managed to infiltrate the estate.

Oh, right. That's cause it never did.

The girl just sighed. It seemed her brother hated her enough to not even come up with a good excuse.

Though, I can't really blame him for doing so. I guess I do kind of deserve it.

Hearing the deafening silence from the other side of the door, sweat started to drip from Julius' face. He understood that what he did was wrong, but with everything that had happened in this room… he knew. Nothing in this room could ever be exposed.

So, with the gentlest voice he could muster, he tried his best to calm his sister down.

"You know I wouldn't lie to you."

The girl looked up at the door. Hope returned in her red eyes, and with the widest grin on her face, she excitedly asked the question she'd been wanting to say for eight years.

"Really, then can you open the door? I haven't seen you in so long."

"No, you can just stay out there."

Julius just heard crying on the other side. His hand gravitated toward the door handle but stopped midway. After remembering her stubborn yet annoying personality, he knew she'd be just fine. With that said, he quickly changed the subject before things could get worse.

"Oh right, was there something you needed to tell me?"

.

..

...

Are you fucking with me?

A dull, longing pain tore the girl's heart when she heard those words come from her brother's mouth. It seemed that the eight long years of separation had truly turned him into a heartless monster.

Big bro, you've really changed. I remember the days when I had unrestricted access to your room, but now... now...

Wait a moment.

She then paused as a light bulb flashed above her head. After remembering her brother's weird behavior and her maids' strange testimonies, she might've unraveled the mystery as to why her brother had become... strange.

Haaa... If it's really like that, then I don't know what to say.

Kicking out your little sister just to play with an imaginary friend.

Are you not ashamed?

But in order to not embarrass her brother, she knew that she'd have to act fast. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to find out and get depressed after realizing his secret had been exposed.

Oh, the things I do for you.

The girl then cleared her throat and said.

"Yeah. Dad hopes you could join us for dinner."

.

..

...

"I-I'll go now."

Crap, I messed up.

The girl grit her teeth as a bright flush appeared on her cheeks.

Don't say that I don't love you. I really did try my best, but an imaginary friend at your age is really just too embarrassing.

With that thought, she bolted down the hall as fast as she could.

…

A long pause settled in the room before Julius summarized what he had heard.

"So you're telling me that after you got hit by this thing called a truck, some otherworldly phenomenon sent your soul into my body."

The man shuddered. Even he knew how stupid his words sounded.

"I know it's hard to believe… But you've got to believe in me."

Julius looked at him for a few moments. After thinking for a bit, he said.

"I believe you."

The just man froze in response. His eyes focused as he asked.

"Why?"

Julius just tilted his head, not expecting to hear those words. Then, with a smile on his face, he said.

"Would you prefer for me to not believe in your story?"

The man blinked a couple of times before vigorously shaking his head.

"No-no-no, it's just, I'm surprised. The books usually describe you as the equivalent of human trash. I never expected you to be so... reasonable."

Silence lingered in the room…

I already regret my decision. Also, whoever wrote that about me is dead.

After calming himself down, Julius asked the question he had in his mind.

"What's your name?"

"Excuse me…?"

Exasperated by the nuisance in front of him, Julius repeated his question at a slower pace.

"I said. What. Is. Your. Name?"

A bit of time passed before the man answered.

"It's Min-Hyun... Kim Min-Hyun."

Although Julius heard the hesitation in the man's answer, he couldn't care less to call him out on it. All he wanted to do right now was move on and return to his daily life.

"It's nice to meet you, Minhyun. My name is Julius."

Then, remembering his sister's words, he said.

"From what you've heard from my sister, you should be aware that we have been invited to my family's dinner."

Minhyun blankly stared.

"Oh, we have?"

Julius' eyes twitched, but with dinner right around the corner, he knew that he didn't have time for this. So, with an arrogant voice, he commanded.

"Dress up for me."

Minhyun paused. After catching his words, he said.

"Huh... Wait, me?"

Then he continued.

"Aren't you supposed to be a noble? If you don't like dressing up, then why don't you let your maids do it for you."

Julius just shook his head. Then he stared at him with squinted eyes.

"You think I like having people touch my body. I'm already making a concession by letting you use it."

When he heard that, Minhyun felt something was off about the order of operations. But not wanting to think too much about it, he just chalked it up to his new roommate having some issues with his brain.

I'll never understand the rich.

Then, with time slowly running out, Julius looked at Minhyun's face and beckoned.

"Hurry up, or else we'll be late."