# Chapter 93
No matter how much of a victim he was, having shocking and negative articles widely exposed wouldn’t do any good. This was true both as an actor and as a human being. Jaei desperately blocked news articles not for the perpetrator Seo Eunho, but for Doha’s sake. A news article with only initials was published claiming that a minor actor had attempted to poison a popular actor who appeared in the same drama out of jealousy, but most of the public who read it treated it as tabloid gossip.
The fact that Doha had been sleeping for five days was not disclosed to their parents. He had no intention of telling either his own parents or Doha’s parents. Right now, Doha had simply eaten something he shouldn’t have and fallen into a deeper sleep than usual because his stomach hurt a bit. The fact that this had happened to Doha could be revealed after he woke up. There was no reason to add unnecessary pain that they didn’t have to experience. Ryu Doha would definitely wake up.
The ones who showed up at the police station were his father’s acquaintances, a couple who were Jaei’s parents and Doha’s adoptive parents on paper, who had adopted Doha in exchange for financial compensation. They usually contacted each other about once a year. Sometimes in life, one needed the help of legal parents. Just like this situation.
It wouldn’t matter if his parents and Doha’s parents felt disappointed later. It was right to handle this without them knowing until Doha woke up. This was especially true for Doha’s biological parents. How would they feel learning that the son who had returned to them like a dream was facing death for the second time? That pain would be several times greater than what he was feeling right now.
Jaei maintained a consistently calm and resolute state because he firmly believed Doha would wake up again. Despite being a member of a family of crybabies, he hadn’t shed a single tear in five days. And he calmly handled the tasks Doha had entrusted to him before falling into a deep sleep.
He visited Seo Eunho who was detained for almost killing Ryu Doha while attempting to deliberately poison Lee Jaei. Seo Eunho, who had planned to take Jaei’s life and then build a beautiful future with Ryu Doha, now wore a resigned expression after causing the person he had a one-sided love for to lose consciousness. Jaei spoke calmly.
“Seo Eunho, I’m going to punish you to the fullest. With everything I can do.”
“…”
“So you should do the same. Punish Hong Duyoung who tormented you and caused your death, to the fullest. With everything you can do. To do that, you can use me.”
That Hong Duyoung who played with innocent boys’ dreams and lives under the pretext of art.
Seo Eunho, who had been hanging his head low, looked up at Jaei intently. Jaei, slightly startled by Seo Eunho’s dark circles that had grown deeper and darker than during his ghost days, spoke to him in a strong, resolute tone.
“Hong Duyoung, that murderous bastard who killed our Doha. I’m going to make that bastard receive a greater punishment. Even if it doesn’t work well, I’ll endure until the end, until death, to accomplish it. So if you have any evidence related to Hong Duyoung or if you know anything, tell me everything. If you let me know, I’ll take care of it.”
Seo Eunho remained silent for a long time, lost in thought. Then soon after, he muttered in a timid voice.
“…Let me meet my noona.”
“You finally thought about meeting her?”
“I have evidence I hid before I died. I’ll tell my noona where it is.”
Hong Duyoung was still desperately trying to reduce his sentence by having his lawyer write statements of remorse and file appeals. At this rate, he might be released in 2-3 years. However, if definitive evidence was additionally found that Hong Duyoung had also killed a boy named Seo Eunho 13 years ago, the story would change. Since he had left the killing process as a creative work causing major negative social impact, Hong Duyoung could be sentenced to a much higher penalty for murdering two minors.
The dream of Hong Duyoung receiving a life sentence might never come true. And it was uncertain how he might cowardly escape the law. With a repentant attitude, exemplary prison life, and for ridiculous reasons, he might crawl back into the world again and crush the hearts of several victims’ families.
Nevertheless, punishing Hong Duyoung with the highest possible sentence was Jaei’s desperate wish. This was something Jaei desired much more than Doha did. And Ryu Doha risked his life again to fulfill Lee Jaei’s desperate wish.
Jaei desperately held back tears and said:
“I’ll forgive you when you’ve received the full punishment deserving of your crime. Seo Eunho.”
“…”
“No, Kang Seungyeon. The most handsome and best actor among the older elementary school boys in the child actor class at Future Acting Hagwon, Seungyeon hyung.”
He showered at home and prepared cute pajamas to go to Doha. It was truly laughable that after loudly insisting they should live healthily for a long time and signing up for lots of insurance, the two of them were taking turns being hospitalized. But he thought of this as paying dues in their youth for longevity.
Ryu Doha, who ate well, slept well, cried well, and laughed well, was still sleeping hard like a newborn baby. Jaei laid his own body, dry and withered like a twig without moisture, on the bed. Caressing Doha’s white and pretty cheek with the back of his hand, he mumbled:
“You’re sleeping so well today too, baby. It’s okay. Babies usually sleep a lot.”
He thought that Doha, who couldn’t eat as much or sleep as deeply as before since his acting debut, was catching up on missed sleep. Although the first anniversary of his debut hadn’t arrived yet, it had been over a year since Doha started his first filming for his debut work in summer. Doha had struggled a lot during more than half of that period, enduring on an empty stomach.
Holding Doha’s hand tightly, he drifted off to sleep. It was closer to passing out than sleeping. Even in his childhood, Jaei would fall into such a sleep, indistinguishable from fainting, while waiting for Doha. After spending countless nights like this, he finally was able to meet Doha again.
After sleeping without dreams for a long time, fingertips touched Jaei’s dry, withered cheek. Jaei immediately woke up from the familiar sensation and warmth. Kind, round eyes, pretty eyes with three heart-shaped lights, were in front of him. It was hard to believe that he could see those black eyes again after a whole five days. So it took some time to determine whether this was a dream or not.
Jaei languidly mumbled in a voice not yet fully awake:
“Hello, Doha. Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, I kept playing with you in my dreams. Rolling around on the mats spread out on the elementary school playground.”
Doha answered slowly in a low voice, his throat hoarse. Jaei carefully tapped his moving lips with his thumb and asked:
“If you dreamed of Doha and woke up, is this not a dream?”
Doha tilted his head. He seemed slightly confused too.
“Probably not? Just a little while ago, I was practicing forward rolls with you for PE assessment in my dream, but now I’m just lying still on a hospital bed. Not rolling.”
Jaei, who had been watching Doha with a dubious expression, suggested:
“It could be a dream within a dream, so do you want to bite me once?”
“Sure.”
When Jaei put his hand to Doha’s mouth, Doha opened his mouth wide and bit Jaei’s dry hand. Pain was definitely stimulated, and teeth marks were clearly visible on the skin. Then Doha moved his upper body and bit Jaei’s nose firmly. Jaei’s eyes widened as his nose turned bright red.
This conclusively proved that this was reality, not a dream. Accepting reality without any denial, Jaei nodded calmly. Then he kissed Doha’s eyelid and whispered softly:
“When we’re discharged, let’s go eat something delicious.”
Soon, Doha’s arm without an IV needle slipped under Jaei’s head. After giving Jaei an arm pillow, Doha kissed Jaei’s smooth forehead and began whispering. They talked as if it was their first conversation, even though they both knew the story.
“Jaei, when I was in kindergarten, I ate Marimo food. I thought it was for people.”
At that moment, Jaei’s large eyes filled with tears. Stroking Doha’s hair with his fingers, Jaei also asked as if hearing this story for the first time:
“…Didn’t your stomach hurt?”
“It didn’t hurt. Mom and Dad said I probably wouldn’t feel pain even if I ate poisonous mushrooms.”
“What kind of kid are you? A grown kid just picking up and eating poisonous things.”
The tears that had pooled in his eyes streamed down. Jaei pressed his wet lips against Doha’s dry ones and nibbled at his lips. Soon after, he burst into both mournful crying and cheerful laughter simultaneously.
“Come to think of it, when you were really little, you even ate the silica gel in lunchbox seaweed and didn’t get sick.”
After laughing joyfully reminiscing about the past, he soon moaned and poured out the sorrow he had been suppressing for days. Doha placed Jaei’s body on top of his own like a small doll as Jaei cried loudly like a child, wailing “uwaang.”
The one who had visited the afterlife twice truly had a lot to say. Doha, whose fearlessness went beyond composure to a complete lack of safety awareness due to his confidence that he could always come back to life, patted Jaei’s bottom and said:
“As long as you’re here, I’ll definitely be here too. That’s how we’re connected.”
