“Eunhyeol…?”
Lee Dana, visibly shaken, couldn’t hide her shock as she looked at Ban Eun-hyeol’s wounds.
What on earth were those injuries?
Since possessing this body, she had adapted reasonably well and was living her life, even thinking her feelings for Ban Eun-hyeol were fading, but she had been mistaken.
His familiar face, voice, speech patterns, gait, every single action stirred something inside her, scrambling her mind without mercy.
It was as if someone had forcibly implanted a powerful attraction deep within her.
“You’re not Lee Dana, right? No, you’re not that kid anymore.”
“That kid? What… all of a sudden?”
“Hah, I thought so. I wondered if you had returned to your original body.”
Ban Eun-hyeol roughly swept back his hair, ignoring the surrounding gazes fixed on him, and asked once more.
“Where is Lee Dana?”
The studio was already in chaos, and continuing filming in this state seemed impossible.
Lee Dana stopped a staff member who was about to call 119 and, claiming he was a friend, offered to take him to the hospital herself before quickly leaving with him.
“Those wounds… did you get them from fighting a monster?”
“None of your business.”
At Ban Eun-hyeol’s cold reply, Lee Dana sealed her lips and bowed her head deeply.
Still, she faithfully took steps toward Dana’s house.
Watching his pale face in real-time made her uneasy and restless, and she spoke again.
“Isn’t there some skill or something to reduce wounds or move faster…?”
“Hmph… I said none of your business.”
Receiving that contemptuous gaze, Lee Dana didn’t ask further and stayed silent.
As soon as they arrived at the house, Ban Eun-hyeol dashed inside and searched anxiously for Dana.
Seeing that, Lee Dana’s expression cooled.
“Gyomeng.”
Using what seemed like a pet name reserved between them, Ban Eun-hyeol called Dana “the kid” and, spotting her asleep on the sofa, hurried over to her.
“Huh? W-what? How did you—wait, is this a dream?”
“Let’s go quickly. To the house.”
Startled, Dana blinked wide-eyed but couldn’t believe it.
Ban Eun-hyeol didn’t explain and grabbed her hand, pulling her along.
The house?
The place he wanted to go to was originally Dana’s home, and being completely isolated here with just the two of them gnawed at her.
Ugh… [I want to go back.]
“What?”
“I want to go back. You said if you complete the quest, our dimension stabilizes, right? But if you go, the Gate will keep opening. Can you really go now when Eunhyeol is hurt like this?”
Dana, still holding the power of the awakened one and with a personality totally different from her own, had been afraid at first but no longer showed any fear.
‘That’s my body.’
Her desire to return to the world where she originally lived overwhelmed Dana.
Seeing this, Ban Eun-hyeol furrowed his brows in displeasure and suddenly tore off his school uniform shirt.
Though there was clearly blood on his arms, the wounds were nowhere to be found.
“Look. See if there are any wounds or not.”
This time, he lifted his shirt to show the side of his ribs stained with the most blood.
Sure enough, there were none.
“How… how is this possible…?”
Dana’s eyes widened in disbelief. How could so much blood have come from no wounds?
There were faint scars, but could wounds that had bled that heavily really heal this quickly?
Ignoring Dana’s incredulous gaze, Ban Eun-hyeol grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the sofa.
Clutching his hand, Dana stood.
Clothes, clothes, clothes.
I still hadn’t properly grasped what was happening.
‘Was that really Ban Eun-hyeol holding my hand?’
Then how had he crossed dimensions?
Was it really possible just by eating my spirit?
Was this the infamous “Inso Male Lead’s Buff”?
No matter what, he had declared he would find a way, and he actually came to find me.
Though his entire body was soaked in blood from whatever had happened during his journey.
The wounds had been carefully treated with expensive potions to help them heal faster.
I brushed Ban Eun-hyeol’s arm once more to confirm there were no wounds, then used the tissue Shahin had tactfully brought to wipe his arm.
“I want to go back!”
So that was why Ban Eun-hyeol had looked so contemptuous.
Seeing the memories from an outsider’s perspective gave a very different feeling.
Seeing Lee Dana scream like that, my affection for her seemed to diminish.
Ban Eun-hyeol seemed to feel the same, ignoring her completely since earlier.
“Eunhyeol, if a Gate opens in our dimension, many people will die in the future. Are you okay with that?”
Dana, eyes sparkling wildly with desperation, pleaded with Ban Eun-hyeol.
Then she turned to me.
For a moment, her gaze turned sharp and fierce.
“You, think carefully. There are only two days left.”
Perhaps thinking conversation was impossible since we had been ignoring her all along, Dana stomped to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water with a huff.
“What do you mean by ‘only two days left’?”
“You have to return to your original body within two days for your world to stabilize.”
Ban Eun-hyeol answered, squeezing the blood from his arm.
“That’s the reward? Hah.”
He burst into a bitter smile before staring at me seriously.
“You’re not worried about what she said, are you? You don’t feel guilty for the Gate opening because of you…?”
“Of course not. I don’t care about what she said.”
Cutting Ban Eun-hyeol off on purpose, Dana squeezed his arm tighter.
Seeing the dried blood crust hardened my heart, but I tried not to show it.
“So, as long as we wait these two days, we can go back?”
Ban Eun-hyeol sprawled on the floor and shrugged.
“Yeah, basically. But why did you want to come to me if you plan to go back?”
“I just came here through the main gate, or rather, the stairwell on the roof. I thought maybe if I go there again, I could return.”
“… So you came without any sure plan, just recklessly?”
“You came across dimensions, didn’t you? So you should be able to return, right?”
Ban Eun-hyeol made an unnecessarily cool expression, raising one corner of his mouth.
“Guess I can stay here for now.”
Before Dana or I could say anything, he decided on his own, flopping onto the living room floor and staring out the window.
“Your place is amazing. How many bridges over the Han River can you see from here?”
He got up and moved to the window, repeatedly expressing genuine admiration.
Watching him smile, I turned my head absentmindedly—and our eyes met Dana’s, standing crookedly in the kitchen staring at us.
“Eunhyeol sleeping over is fine.”
Dana said that and looked at me sharply.
‘Guess she doesn’t want me to help her sleep.’
But what could I do? This was originally my home.
No matter what Dana said, I had no intention of leaving.
Besides, this house was one I earned working hard.
If you want to claim ownership, you should work hard and buy a place with a Han River view yourself.
Dana’s face flushed red as if annoyed at being ignored, but she didn’t attack me or try to forcibly throw me out.
So began our uncomfortable coexistence.
Clothes, clothes, clothes.
She screamed that she wanted to go back, clung desperately to Ban Eun-hyeol, while he completely ignored her and waited out the two days.
She tried all sorts of stubborn tactics, but watching them made me feel like vomiting.
Still, Ban Eun-hyeol remained resolute, rejecting every word and action from Dana as if they were nothing new.
[Soul possession time: 4 hours 12 minutes.]
Time was running out.
Perhaps sensing that Ban Eun-hyeol and I would soon cross over to that dimension, Dana’s attitude changed completely from before.
“Don’t you feel uneasy? People get hurt. We’re just going back to our original bodies.”
Dana seemed to have switched tactics to provoke my guilt.
I wanted to have a proper conversation before leaving, so I sat her down on the sofa and stood before her.
“Are you really sure you want to go back?”
She nodded earnestly.
Then she glanced at Ban Eun-hyeol beside me.
“You should leave.”
Without hesitation, I kicked Ban Eun-hyeol out.
She had said before she didn’t want to cross over, but I was certain she had changed her mind after seeing him.
“Call me when you’re done talking.”
Ban Eun-hyeol left without a word.
I gently pressed Dana’s shoulder, calming her down, and sat her back on the sofa.
“Is it because of Ban Eun-hyeol? That’s why you want to go back.”
“… You know how I feel.”
“I’m well aware of how much he despised me.
After possessing you, I was greatly reviled for things I didn’t even do.”
Dana’s expression darkened slightly at my words.
“If we go back, we live the lives we originally had. Is that really what you want? You used to say you liked modeling with my body.”
Dana smirked and looked down at me.
“Think carefully. Of course, I want to return to that dimension too, but staying here isn’t so bad.”
Feigning nonchalance, she made space beside her for me.
I figured she needed time to think.
[Soul possession time: 1 hour 7 minutes.]
Time passed, and soon there was barely any time left to switch souls.
I wandered the house, avoiding Dana, lost in memories.
Then I heard Dana rise from the sofa.
I thought she had finally made a decision, so I headed to the living room.
She silently looked at herself in the full-length mirror by the shoe cabinet, then turned to look at me.
Her pupils trembled with lingering deep thoughts, but it seemed she had made up her mind.
“What about me?”
The moment her lips parted, I braced myself to hear what she would say.