Chapter 114: The Echo That Won’t Fade

“Hah… hah….”

Back in his room, Hyunwoo gasped for breath.

His startled heart refused to calm down.

Wondering if he was still dreaming, Hyunwoo lifted his hand and pinched his cheek.

A hot sting shot across his skin.

Feeling the pain, he quickly dropped his hand.

There was none of that floating, unreal feeling that came with dreams.

And the pain was real.

This was definitely reality.

Which meant the voice he’d just heard wasn’t a hallucination either.

“Ha… damn.”

Hyunwoo muttered a quiet curse and bit his lip.

A nightmare—and then overhearing Seunghyuk’s phone call.

His mind was a complete mess.

No way…

He didn’t want to doubt Seunghyuk over a few overheard words.

But with things like this happening again and again, it was getting hard to ignore.

Do you trust Lee Seunghyuk?

Cha Kwon-oh’s gloomy, low voice clung to Hyunwoo’s ear.

He didn’t want to listen to that unsettling voice—

but the anxiety inside him only grew.

And so, Hyunwoo greeted the morning with his eyes wide open, having never slept again.

“…Hyung.”

“…….”

“Hyung!”

“……!”

Startled by the loud voice, Hyunwoo snapped his eyes open.

Across from him sat Hyunjin, lips jutting out in annoyance.

“Hyung, are you even listening to me?”

“Oh… yeah. Of course.”

“Tch.”

“…….”

The weekdays had passed in a daze, and before he knew it, the weekend arrived.

Now Hyunwoo was having breakfast with Hyunjin.

Hyunjin stared at him with clear dissatisfaction.

Hyunwoo had been mentally checked out since earlier, unable to focus on anything Hyunjin said.

Meanwhile, Hyunjin was actually happy—they were finally spending time alone together.

Yet Hyunwoo wasn’t even listening properly.

“So anyway, um… you’re going on a trip with your friends soon?”

“Yeah.”

Hyunwoo forced himself to recall what Hyunjin said and smiled awkwardly.

Thankfully, that seemed to be the right answer—Hyunjin brightened and nodded.

While Seunghyuk worked as an intern at Munseong during vacation,

Hyunjin had been taking summer classes to make up lacking credits.

Those classes were almost over now.

So his friends were planning a celebratory trip.

“I said I wasn’t going because of my café job… but since it’s a club trip this time, skipping felt wrong.”

“You’re graduating soon.

You should make memories with your friends while you can.

Good choice.”

Hyunwoo suddenly remembered when Hyunjin claimed he had no friends and dragged him to an amusement park.

That must have been a joke.

There was no way someone as kind and cute as Hyunjin had no friends.

Hyunwoo nodded to himself, indulging in his doting thoughts.

“Where are you going? Want me to give you some money?”

“Just somewhere close outside the city.

I’ve got money, so I’m fine.”

“Hm….”

Probably a popular pension area near Korea University.

Before possessing this body, Hyunwoo had often gone drinking at pensions with classmates during vacation.

He couldn’t let any scumbags get Hyunjin drunk and try anything.

Even if Hyunjin had grown unusually sturdy for an omega, Hyunwoo couldn’t relax.

He grit his teeth anxiously.

Maybe he should figure out exactly where the pension was and send someone to keep watch.

He seriously considered it.

“…Hyung!”

“Hm?”

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Haha….”

Chided by Hyunjin, Hyunwoo only laughed awkwardly.

He had promised himself not to be like this anymore…

but maybe old habits really died hard.

“It’s nothing.

Work’s just been stressful lately.”

“Oh… really?”

Thankfully, Hyunjin believed him easily and nodded.

And it wasn’t even a lie.

This project had required a lot of effort from the start.

Before Seunghyuk’s breakthrough at L&S in the previous timeline, Munseong had been ahead in nearly every field.

The project Hyunwoo and his team were working on now was what secured that lead.

So everyone was on edge, pulling all-nighters nonstop.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Lee Seunghyuk around lately.

Is he busy too?”

“Uh….”

Hyunjin said it casually, but Hyunwoo flinched.

After overhearing Seunghyuk’s suspicious phone call at dawn,

Hyunwoo had been avoiding him as much as possible—

both at home and at work.

Even though he knew Seunghyuk was being isolated in the office again, he ignored it.

Being busy made for the perfect excuse.

“Well, I haven’t heard anything either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Oddly enough, Hyunjin looked pleased by Hyunwoo’s evasive answer.

Hyunwoo tilted his head in confusion.

“Hyung, if you have time today, want to stop by the café?”

“The café?”

“Yeah! A new dessert came out.”

“Oh… really?”

Hyunjin launched into an excited explanation about the café’s new summer drinks and desserts—

especially bragging that he helped develop the menu.

Hyunwoo chuckled and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Yes!”

Watching Hyunjin cheer like a child, Hyunwoo let out a soft laugh.

Maybe he really needed this kind of distraction today.

After finishing their meal, he followed the excited Hyunjin out.

“Hyung, sorry…

There are a lot of customers today.”

Hyunjin pouted apologetically.

Hyunwoo glanced around.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Ugh… I’ll give you freebies, so eat these.”

“Okay.”

Hyunwoo accepted the macarons and nodded.

Hyunjin hurried back to the counter to take more orders.

The café, usually quiet except on weekday afternoons, was strangely crowded today.

Even stranger—whenever Hyunjin worked, there were always fewer customers.

Probably an effect from the original story.

But today seemed different.

Maybe the entire plot was starting to shift.

Since the protagonist Seunghyuk and the original love interest Hyunjin had no interest in each other,

the original settings were beginning to crumble.

Hyunwoo laughed bitterly and sipped his iced tea.

The cold sweetness slid down his throat.

“Long time no see, Hyunwoo-ssi.”

“Oh….”

Someone spoke to him.

Turning, Hyunwoo found Do-kyung looking at him.

This is uncomfortable…

What Seunghyuk had told him earlier lingered in his mind,

making conversation with Do-kyung awkward.

But since he was a professor at Hyunjin’s university,

Hyunwoo couldn’t be rude.

He forced a polite smile.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

“I didn’t think you came here on weekends.”

“Well… today I had a few reasons.

Hyunjin tempted me with the new menu.”

“Ah, the summer menu here is pretty good.”

“Is that so…?”

Despite saying that, Do-kyung held only his usual iced americano.

Noticing Hyunwoo’s glance, he gave an embarrassed explanation.

“I always have to drink at least one americano a day.”

“I see.”

“Haha… I thought you were the same type as me.”

“Ah….”

This time, Hyunwoo felt embarrassed.

He, too, used to rely on coffee like a stimulant during heavy workloads.

He smiled bitterly.

“I’m trying to take better care of my health now.”

“Your health?”

“Yes.

I collapsed once before because I wasn’t taking care of myself.”

It happened before regression, but it wasn’t exactly a lie.

If he had kept living the same way, he would have collapsed again.

“I see…

Are you okay now?”

“Yes, perfectly fine.”

Hyunwoo lifted his iced tea slightly.

Do-kyung looked relieved.

Was he truly concerned?

Or just pretending to be kind?

His gentle appearance and soft atmosphere made his real intentions unclear.

Hyunwoo forced himself to stay cautious.

“Huh…?”

Glancing at Do-kyung’s arm, Hyunwoo noticed something.

Because of the heat, his sleeves were shorter, exposing his forearm.

“Did you get hurt?”

“Ah.”

Do-kyung looked at the spot Hyunwoo pointed at, eyes widening.

Then he replied awkwardly:

“No, don’t worry about it.

It’s just an old scar.”

“A scar?”

“Yes.

I asked someone I know to help cover it up…

but they stopped halfway.”

“…….”

Cover it up…?

Then that meant—

A tattoo.

Startled, Hyunwoo stared at the dark mark on Do-kyung’s arm.