# Chapter 83
With only two episodes left to film, Jaei became so busy that he could barely sleep three hours a day. Due to the genre’s characteristics, the male and female leads appeared in 90% of the remaining broadcast content.
Conversely, Doha had become less busy. He would share the remaining 10% of screen time with other characters, and there weren’t any scenes left that required intense focus or attention. He could go to work in good spirits with a light heart and wrap up his character’s personal storyline.
While waiting for Jaei, who hadn’t thought about coming home for two days, Doha sat alone in front of the TV learning the basics of baduk. After expanding his brain capacity with all his might, Jaei finally returned home. Doha embraced Jaei’s thin body, who had come just to catch a brief sleep, and put him to bed. As always, he offered his embrace like bedding so Jaei could sleep most comfortably.
Jaei probably didn’t know how much happiness and fulfillment Doha felt when putting him to sleep. Since childhood, while putting the insomniac Jaei to sleep, Doha had felt himself to be tremendously useful. The responses Jaei showed him had played a huge role in forming young Ryu Doha’s sense of self and building his self-esteem. So it was only natural that they felt each other as part of themselves.
As his mind and schedule became more relaxed, his thoughts naturally multiplied. Since he wasn’t originally a deep thinker, he deliberately thought more. It was truly time to use his brain in earnest. This wasn’t something that could be solved with simple and reckless solutions like “kidnap and kill Seo Eunho” or “assign five bodyguards to Jaei.” He was at risk of losing something thousands of times more precious than his own life.
Seo Eunho—what would someone who had lost everything, died unjustly, and returned to life fear? What hesitation would someone who had seen a corpse with a shattered head and crushed face every day have about hurting others? Someone who could completely abandon the temporary self called “Seo Eunho” would not be picky about means and methods to achieve his goal.
He didn’t need to rush. He would quietly wait and aim for the perfect strike at the appropriate time. Therefore, Jaei could become a target anywhere, anytime. After years without incident, when they’d completely let their guard down, Seo Eunho might have already taken possession of Jaei’s body without them knowing. By the time he realized this fact, Jaei’s real soul might have already vanished.
Ryu Doha—simple, insensitive, foolish, and still young Ryu Doha. Could he really protect Jaei? He knew that many things couldn’t be resolved by his desperate love for Jaei alone. He desperately needed faith in himself. He closed his eyes while holding Jaei tightly.
Doha had been having a new nightmare since yesterday.
The location for murdering Lee Jaei wasn’t particularly important. He just needed to perfectly arrange an opportunity to be alone with Jaei in a single space. Seo Eunho would hold his breath and wait for the certain moment to arrive.
Learning that Jaei periodically entered the hospital due to his chronic illness, Seo Eunho visits Jaei, who is hospitalized in a private room after the project ends. The kind Jaei, not knowing what’s happening, welcomes him.
The method of murder isn’t that important either. As long as Jaei’s face isn’t destroyed or his body isn’t disabled. Seo Eunho grips Jaei’s neck tightly with both hands. Just before the unconscious Jaei’s breath stops, Seo Eunho calls a nurse and then drinks poison he had prepared in advance.
From now on, Seo Eunho would be known to the world as an unknown actor who harbored resentment toward his senior Lee Jaei, attacked him, and then committed suicide. It doesn’t matter what evil deed he commits and disappears—it’s just a fake identity with a fake name.
Seo Eunho, who dies before Jaei, skillfully tears away Jaei’s soul struggling not to separate from his body, and simultaneously quickly takes possession of his body. Jaei’s body, which still has a faint breath, will now survive with the doctor’s help.
The real Lee Jaei, who has lost his body in an instant, breaks into pitiful tears. After a while, Ryu Doha, who learns that Jaei has been attacked by Seo Eunho, appears and embraces Jaei’s physical body, sobbing bitterly.
“Doha, Doha! I’m right here! Please recognize me!”
Jaei shouts. But Ryu Doha cannot hear Lee Jaei’s voice.
Seo Eunho, who wakes up in Lee Jaei’s body, speaks with Jaei’s vocal cords saying, “I don’t remember everything clearly.” The awkwardness in his behavior and inability to recall past events can be attributed to the aftereffects of the traumatic incident.
Ryu Doha tenderly embraces his amnesiac lover Lee Jaei and kisses him on the lips.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to try hard to remember.”
The real Lee Jaei cries sadly and screams inaudibly.
“Doha. That’s not me, it’s Seo Eunho. Why can’t you recognize me, Ryu Doha!”
After a while, a suicide note is found stating that Seo Eunho had harbored resentment against Lee Jaei and declared that he would kill Jaei and then himself. Thus, the investigation concludes that Seo Eunho murdered Lee Jaei and then committed suicide. Ryu Doha expresses great anger while calling out Seo Eunho’s name.
Having fully recovered his health, Lee Jaei returns to acting with a warm welcome from the public. Now, Seo Eunho will live as Ryu Doha’s lover and Korea’s most popular actor, Lee Jaei.
The real Lee Jaei’s soul, unable to go to the afterlife, pitifully wanders around them for a while, wailing sorrowfully, and gradually vanishes. Having lost everything in an instant—his body, lover, family, fame, fortune—he spreads like vapor and eventually disappears completely from this world.
No one except Seo Eunho knows about Lee Jaei’s miserable end. Seo Eunho embraces Ryu Doha’s naked body, sleeps with him, and is compensated for the life that was taken from him by Lee Jaei in childhood.
Doha slowly opened his wet eyes. He thought that Seo Eunho must be making such plans right now. The process would be almost identical, only the timing, location, and method of murder would vary depending on the circumstances. He needed to predict Seo Eunho’s future actions and prepare for them. This was the conclusion he reached after countless thoughts.
Due to too many thoughts, he had been having painful dreams since yesterday. However, yesterday he had fallen asleep and woken up alone, but today he woke up with Jaei. Doha, who had fallen asleep holding Jaei in his arms, now found himself in Jaei’s embrace.
Jaei, who had familiarly cradled Doha’s face against his chest, caressed Doha’s cheek with his thumb and kissed his sweaty forehead. After kissing his nose bridge and lips in sequence, he whispered:
“Did you have a sad dream?”
“A sad and scary dream.”
“Will you tell me what it was about?”
Soaked in sweat and looking like a peach that had been rolled in water, Doha innocently shook his head. Enchanted by Doha’s innocence and sensuality, Jaei was drawn in to kiss him again. Feeling sorry for Jaei who had woken up because of him, Doha vaguely explained the content of his dream.
“The afterlife world appeared after a long time. Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t understand.”
He smiled as if it were nothing. Even if he were to discuss it with Jaei, it would be after Jaei’s drama filming was completely finished. He couldn’t burden Jaei, who was already struggling without enough time to sleep, with his worries now. Jaei would have to film almost like a live broadcast until the day the final episode aired.
Jaei, who had erased the warm smile from his face, answered expressionlessly:
“Yeah, I don’t know. Even if you told me, I’ve never seen it directly, so I don’t know. Nothing.”
“…You should never know such things.”
I’ll never let you see such terrible things with your own eyes. Doha murmured quietly while burrowing deeper into Jaei’s embrace.
Jaei used his home as a hotel, slept, and returned to the filming site. While waiting, he looked at the comments that little Lee Doha had left on his video clips with hollow eyes.
[Why hasn’t hyung Lee Jaei done more of these adorable characters until now when he’s so cute?]
Normally, he would have pretended to reach into the air and squish the unreachable baby bear Lee Doha. But right now, Jaei was in a very unpleasant mood, so he was glaring at the comment with cold eyes. Of course, the adorable baby Lee Doha was innocent. But Ryu Doha was guilty. Very guilty.
Earlier, Doha had muttered Seo Eunho’s name in his sleep. He had also muttered Jaei’s name, which was expected, but muttering another man’s name additionally was something that absolutely shouldn’t be done.
He had seen countless cases of being bothered by a lover’s acquaintance, but he never dreamed that acquaintance would be from the afterlife. Truly, he felt so alienated that he couldn’t live. If it had been a prison acquaintance, he could have gone there once and shared common interests, but visiting the afterlife isn’t an easy thing. How can someone who has never died live with such sorrow?
He was about to go gray-haired again when a message arrived from Ryu Doha.
[Actor Lee Jaei, this must be tough for you, but please look at this and cheer up. If you want a specific pose or expression, feel free to request. Videos are also an option. I love you so much, Lee Jaei]
He barely managed to suppress his anger and recover his energy by appreciating the 50 provocative body photos that Doha sent along with the message.
However, while happily proceeding with filming, a casual testimony thrown by a staff member once again destroyed the melanin pigment in Jaei’s hair.
“Seo Eunho seems to be a fan of Jaei and Doha. His phone lock screen is a photo of Jaei, and his background is a photo of Doha.”
At those words, Jaei smiled a smile he had never shown at work before. Originally, even when something was annoying, he always raised both corners of his mouth simultaneously, but at this moment, he could only raise one side while his eyes flashed.
“What the hell, that bastard keeps getting on my nerves.”
Even the gentle Lee Jaei will explode if you keep stepping on his tail. No matter how big and chubby a fox’s tail is.
