His heartbeat, which had finally begun to calm down...
...started racing once again.
"What the hell...? No... no... this can't be."
"Wait... calm down."
"He's probably a doctor."
"Yeah... that's it."
"Then why is he here...?"
For a moment, countless thoughts raced through his mind before he suddenly forced out an awkward laugh.
"Haha... I got it."
"That guy must be the director of this hospital."
"Yeah... yeah... that makes sense."
"Calm down, Heesung. Stop thinking negatively."
"I just woke up from a coma. They're obviously here to check on me. That's all."
He forced a smile onto his face before taking several deep breaths, trying his best to calm the storm inside his chest.
"In..."
"Out..."
"In..."
"Out..."
After a few moments, his breathing finally became steady again.
Just then, both Hyunseok and Jeewon slowly walked toward his bed.
Jeewon was the first to speak.
"How are you feeling now?"
Heesung immediately smiled, pretending nothing had happened.
"I'm completely fine."
He looked around the room before asking,
"By the way... when can I be discharged?"
"I need to go home."
"I'm sure my mom, dad, and my younger brother are worried about me."
He let out a small laugh before continuing.
"And I have college tomorrow. If I don't attend class, my attendance is going to drop."
The moment those words left his mouth...
The atmosphere inside the room completely changed.
Neither Hyunseok nor Jeewon spoke.
Instead, both of them slowly turned to look at each other.
The relaxed expressions they had been wearing only a few seconds ago disappeared without a trace.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
And uneasiness slowly filled their eyes.
Hyunseok felt his heartbeat skip.
He stared at Yihan's face, hoping he had simply misheard him.
Mom...? Dad...? Younger brother...?
College...?
Every single word sounded completely impossible.
His brows slowly drew together while countless thoughts rushed through his mind.
What is he talking about...?
Why is he saying those things...?
Did he lose his memories...?
Or...
Did something happen to his mind?
Unable to stay silent any longer, Hyunseok slowly stepped forward.
"Yihan..."
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't have a mother..."
"You don't have a father..."
"And you don't have a younger brother."
His voice became even quieter.
"You haven't been to college in years."
"So..."
"What exactly are you talking about?"
Heesung's smile slowly disappeared.
He blinked several times before staring blankly at Hyunseok.
"What...?"
"What did you just say?"
He gave a nervous laugh, convinced he had heard wrong.
"Haha..."
"Say that again."
"You're telling me..."
"...that I don't have a family?"
"And that I don't even go to college?"
For several long seconds...
No one said a single word.
The room fell into complete silence.
Even the sound of the heart monitor suddenly felt unusually loud.
Jeewon quietly pulled a chair closer to the bed before sitting down in front of Yihan.
Hyunseok did the same, his eyes never leaving Yihan's face for even a second.
Trying to comfort him, Jeewon gently reached out and placed his hand over Yihan's.
The moment he did...
Hyunseok shot him a cold side glance.
The look in his eyes clearly said,
"Take your hand off my husband."
Jeewon immediately understood.
Without saying a word, he awkwardly coughed and slowly pulled his hand back.
"Sorry..."
After clearing his throat, Jeewon looked back at Yihan with a calm expression.
"Yihan..."
"Can you tell me something?"
"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
The question made Heesung freeze.
For a brief moment, everything that had happened flashed through his mind.
The unfamiliar mansion...
The wedding photograph...
The maid calling someone his husband...
The strange city...
He had been convincing himself that all of it was just a dream.
But now...
Seeing the same two men standing in front of him...
That confidence slowly began to crumble. After a few seconds, he forced himself to shake his head.
"No..."
"I don't remember anything."
He paused before looking directly at both of them.
"But there's something I want to ask first."
"Ever since you came into this room..."
"You've both been calling me 'Yihan.'"
"That's been bothering me this whole time."
He took a deep breath before speaking firmly.
"So let me make one thing clear."
"My name isn't Yihan."
He looked straight into Hyunseok's eyes.
"My name..."
"...is Kim Heesung."
Hyunseok and Jeewon exchanged stunned glances.
Neither of them could understand what was happening.
Just yesterday, Heesung had tried to run away, collapsed in the middle of the road, and now...
He was saying he couldn't remember any of it.
Jeewon turned toward Hyunseok.
"Let's go outside and talk."
Hyunseok nodded immediately.
"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing."
Jeewon looked back at the young man lying on the hospital bed.
"Yihan... Oh, sorry." He forced an awkward smile. "Your name is Kim Heesung, right?"
Heesung gave a small nod.
"Kim Heesung, can you wait here for a few minutes? We'll be back soon, okay?"
"Okay..." Heesung replied quietly.
Heesung didn't understand anything. A few minutes ago they had called him Yihan, and now they were telling him to wait here. He couldn't understand what they were doing.
Suddenly, something popped into his mind.
Back in college, after class had ended, one of his friends came over and sat in front of him.
"Bro, listen! Yesterday I read a book. It's fucking awesome! You should give it a try. You'll definitely love it."
Heesung laughed a little.
"Haha, really?"
He rested his hand on the desk.
"Tell me about the story."
"So listen. There's a boy who gets bullied at school. One day, he commits suicide, but he doesn't die. Instead, his soul swaps with a mafia guy. Then that mafia guy takes revenge on all the bullies. After getting revenge, his soul returns to his original body. It's fucking amazing, right? He took revenge on those bullies brutally. When I read that, I got goosebumps. It's truly worth it. Try it, man."
"Haha... fine. I'll try reading it. Okay, now go to your seat. The class is about to start."
"You're fucking boring."
"Yeah, I know that I'm boring. Now leave."
He smiled a little.
After remembering what his friend had told him, Heesung thought,
"Yes... I think my soul is swapped with his. If my soul is swapped with him, then this guy's soul would be in my body."
"But why did our souls swap? Kang told me that in the book, the soul swapped because the boy who was bullied took his own life. So... does that mean this Yihan guy also did the same? Then our souls swapped."
"So what now? Do I need to take revenge on the people who bullied him?"
"I don't think I can do that..."
"Hmm..."
"If I remember correctly, this Yihan guy looked like he was married. That picture on the wall looked like a wedding photo."
"But how can the same gender get married?"
"But when I ran away from that mansion, it didn't look like Korea."
"So I think this is abroad."
"Only in America are same-gender marriages legal."
"So my soul traveled overseas."
"Haha..."
He laughed out loud.
"I always wanted to go to America."
"Now my dream came true like this."
"And let's finish this work as soon as possible and return to my home."
He appreciated himself and said,
"I never used my brain for anything apart from studies."
"Haha... I'm proud of myself."
"I think I'm a God-gifted child."
Outside Yihan's room, Jeewon and Hyunseok stood in the hallway, talking quietly.
Hyunseok ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm not understanding what he's talking about. It makes no sense. He's saying his name is Kim Heesung. Did you listen to him?"
"Yeah."
"And the way he's talking has also changed. His body language... everything has changed. I told you that I had a dream where he kicked me on my butt. Right now, when I think about it... it somehow makes sense. But I still don't understand why he's behaving like this."
His face became filled with worry.
"It's all my fault. I should have taken better care of him. He told me to leave him ... but I couldn't."
Jeewon looked at him for a moment.
"I've never seen you this worried. A Crown Alpha who doesn't know what fear or worry is... is now worrying, fearing, and blaming himself."
He placed a hand on Hyunseok's shoulder.
"Don't be like that. Let's do everything we can to make him normal again."
Hyunseok lowered his head.
"I don't want that."
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