Hyungoh Choi.
He killed his father, and his mother too. Then he erased those memories.
Hunter brought Hyungoh, the only survivor, after hearing the news that Maria had died in a joint suicide with her husband. He wanted to know at least the details of the incident. He felt that would help him accept her death.
But it was a foolish decision.
First, he had to arrange for Michael and Hyungoh to become close. He needed Michael’s ability to get Hyungoh, who was wary of him, to open up about his innermost feelings, and he needed to give him a toy to vent on to suppress Hyungoh’s increasingly violent behavior.
However, the two of them would always manipulate Hunter, moving within expected boundaries but then breaking out of the framework.
As if anticipating that Michael would build a wall that no one could cross after his death and thoroughly push others away, Maria appeared again in his dreams, despite being dead.
Hunter… no, Michael.
Raindrops pooled on her hand that stretched beyond the window. Suddenly turning around, she called him cheerfully while slowly caressing her swollen belly.
This child is like me.
So it’s like you too. Her lips curled up meaningfully before forming a gentle arc.
Don’t be too sad, my little angel.
With those words, she vanished like smoke.
Although she came to his dreams to comfort him, unfortunately his mood didn’t particularly improve. No matter how much he struggled, the fact that he was alone remained unchanged.
After all, she had left this world leaving him behind, and he would never be able to escape this hateful world. The person who could understand all this no longer existed.
Or so he thought.
You’re not alone anymore.
A few words that Hyungoh had blurted out, not wanting to upset the violent Michael, had an unexpectedly large impact.
He had already noticed that Hyungoh was acting. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but be moved. They were the words he had most wanted to hear, words no one else had said to him.
* * *
Though he tried to deny it to the end, he finally decided to believe Maria’s words that this child was like her.
Contrary to expectations, Hyungoh denied Herick’s fanatic-like opinions and disliked Hunter, who tried to use him. Above all, he wanted to get to know “Michael” as a being, not just his “ability.” That made him all the more interesting.
But Hyungoh was pitifully stupid. After sealing his own memories, he was now trying his hardest to recover them once they were forgotten.
Maria occasionally called him a coward. He agreed with her words. It seemed almost ridiculous, stubbornly persisting out of curiosity without having the courage to face the truth.
He would run away after knowing all the truth. Feeling inexplicably regretful, he deliberately withheld his words. Because of this, even when he was misunderstood as a despicable person who sexually abused a child, he didn’t try to explain.
It felt incredibly good to have someone genuinely worry about him. Perhaps he wanted to cherish that feeling, which he might be experiencing for the first time, a little longer.
* * *
Around the time his fondness for Hyungoh was growing, Michael had a dream that was far from welcome.
I don’t like you, Michael. I really don’t like you.
Hyungoh said, cupping Michael’s cheeks.
It wasn’t a lie or empty words. Having confronted the ugly truth, he genuinely hated Michael.
Unfortunately, such dreams didn’t stop at one. As if this were just the beginning, dozens of dreams containing various situations were revealed in succession.
Although the situations were all different, they had commonalities. First, they were all premised on Hyungoh knowing the whole truth; second, he resented Michael; and third and last…
He would inevitably die.
