40th Death - I mean...

Eunhee leaned against Daniel's door, sliding down to a sitting position shortly after Jiho walked her home.

'…Why couldn't I say anything?' she thought, lowering her head. 'Jiho… he believes in something so horrible now.'

Her chin tucked into her chest.

'…But is he wrong?' She folded her arms, cuddling herself.

'I couldn't deny it. I couldn't say a single word.' She buried her head within her arms, her ginger hair sliding off the edges.

'He stayed the same…' Her eyes drifted toward the door to Daniel's room. 'I'm the one who changed. Because of him.'

'…But I don't love Daniel, Jiho. I can feel it. I don't love him…' Her heart twisted. 'I feel… insulted. Humiliated…'

She bit her lower lip, clutching her chest.

'And the more I stay with him, the angrier I get.'

But then the anger slipped from her face again, replaced by something smaller. Quieter.

'Still… he knows me. And I'm scared of… being alone.'

THUD.

She leaned her back to the door and looked up at the ceiling.

'…I wish you'd taken me to your place instead,' she thought, biting her lip. 'I would've come. Jiho… I wanted to.'

Her shoulders slumped as a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

'Something tells me… you would've liked that, too.'

She turned again to Daniel's door.

'If it were him, he would've just done it. No hesitation. Dragged me home.'

Her expression softened.

'But you're too honest for that, Jiho. Really... Like a child.'

She closed her eyes and let out a tired, playful scoff.

'Even when you say you believe in lying… you do it so earnestly. So honestly.'

She pulled her knees in and leaned her forehead to them.

'That's why I…' She took a deep breath.

'…Fell for you, you know?'

Her cheeks flushed, the first warmth she'd felt in weeks. His image came to her—kneeling, hand extended. That calm, that gaze.

'It's coming back to me now… why I felt that way.'

Her lips curled.

'Why I still feel that way.'

A small tear slipped down her cheek.

'Thank God… I thought I'd lost it.'

She closed her eyes.

'Don't worry, Jiho.'

Then, with a deep breath, she pulled out her phone. Her thumb hovered a moment—then tapped.

Calling: Misaki

'I'm not giving up. Not on you… and not on myself.'

The call connected.

"Hey… Sis?" Eunhee's voice was small, breathless. She rose to her feet, stepping away from Daniel's door. "Sorry for the time. A-about your offer, you know to move in with you. Can… can I come over? Right now?"

--------- NEXT MORNING -----

'...I couldn't sleep,' Jiho thought, staring up at the ceiling. 'Not that it'd be a problem. The real problem is...'

[PLEASE CHOOSE A SUBCLASS!]

'I still haven't decided...' He facepalmed, then glanced at the watch beside his bed.

[7:56 AM]

'...Not on how to lie. Not on a subclass.'

He took a deep breath and stared at the subclass window again.

'Click it. This is a good thing. Seeing people's emotional state… I'll be able to lie better than anyone..!'

His thumb hovered over the accept button—trembling.

But his body refused to move.

'Why!?' He slammed his palm into the mattress. 'I could've had it all if I just...!'

He sighed.

'If I just stopped being such a—'

"JIHO! Are you awake?" his mother's voice cut through the silence.

"A-ah... Yeah," he snapped out of his thoughts, glancing up at the message prompt. His thumb still hovered over it.

'...I'll accept it after breakfast.' He sighed, rising from the bed and stepping out of his room to get ready. Grabbing some clothes out of the closet and walking to the bathroom with them—

—only to notice how tightly his shirt clung to his body.

'This is...' he paused, catching his reflection in the mirror.

The first thing he noticed was how the small collar coiled snugly around his now more rigid neck muscles.

'Embarrassing.'

His eight-pack abs pressed clearly against the thin fabric. His taller frame made the shirt ride up slightly, exposing a strip of smooth stomach and his belly button. His chest—square and iron-like—pushed out from the front, while the short sleeves clamped down around his biceps and thickened shoulders.

'They grew bigger… Was it because of last night? Because of how I boosted my Strength stat?'

He tilted his head and flexed slightly—only to hear a rip tear through the back of his shirt.

'Thank God I grew taller too… Otherwise I'd look like a smurfy lump of muscles…'

He looked down. His thighs—wider, denser—pressed tightly against his pants.They were moments away from bursting, too.

'...No, I can't go to school like this..!'

"M… Mom!?" Jiho called out. "C-can you come in, please? I… uh… need some help."

'She already saw me. I hope she won't be freaked out that I got a little bigger again… I think I'm almost as tall as Daniel now…'

He pressed his lips, anxiety growing in his chest.

'M-maybe she shouldn't see me…'

"M-MOM, ACTUALLY I'M FINE—"

But the door opened. Ji-yeon walked into the bathroom, and her eyes widened slightly as she saw her newly muscled son.

She pressed a palm to her lips, holding back a laugh.

"Oh my," she said with a smirk.

Jiho scrambled for a towel, wrapping it around his torso as he looked away, flushed.

"Y-yeah… You got some clothes maybe…?" he muttered, red-faced.

'I did it now… She'll freak out…'

"Oh, I have just the thing!" she chimed. "Wait here."

Jiho blinked. His head snapped up.

'Huh…'He watched her walk off cheerfully.

---- A FEW MINUTES LATER ----

Jiho stood fully dressed.

"To think you still kept Dad's clothes..." he muttered, adjusting the collar of an old-school button-up with no crest. It hugged his frame snugly. The jeans were looser… but he couldn't shake how strange they felt.

"Your father was a jock at your age," Ji-yeon said, folding his old clothes back into the wardrobe. "I figured you'd fit into them someday—so why not keep them?"

"He was almost as muscular as you are now. Really a beacon of envy, that one," she added warmly.

"Huh..." Jiho murmured, slipping into his father's old shoes. "Dad was a… player?"

"Oh, was he..." Ji-yeon chuckled. Then her eyes dropped. "But really, that's all he was." She sighed.

"If anything, he fits Daniel more than he fits you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you weren't his son at all."

Jiho blinked. "Uh… I *am* his son though… right?" He gave her a wary glance.

"Oh, you moron!" she laughed, swatting the air. "I was faithful, thank you very much."

She smiled at him—softly, warmly.

"That's why it's so magical… that I was blessed with a son like you." Her lips then pursed. "And that this... this son is actually alive..." She clutched the folded clothes, tears climbing up her throat.

Jiho rose and slowly walked toward her, wrapping his arms around her as she wept, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Oh... my baby is alive… he's really alive... Even now... I still think I'm dreaming… They all said you died… Ahh~..." She sobbed into his shoulder.

'....'

"...Mom," Jiho asked, a minute later, once she'd calmed a little. "Should I… start lying from now on?"

She pulled back slightly, concern etching into her features.

"Jiho...? Why would you say that?"

"Because... uh..." He lowered his gaze. "If I could lie better… maybe I could keep Eunhee. I can see she's being taken away from me—"

"Your father was a great liar," she interrupted. "But I didn't love him."

"...Because you found out," Jiho said. "What if you never found out? You would've loved him all the same!"

"Jiho," she said, taking his hands, "no one alive can lie forever. And even if you could—you'd ruin yourself. Because no one would love you. Not really. Not who you are. Just… the mask."

She squeezed his palms tighter.

"And when they find out the truth, Jiho; when you'll break down like every person breaks down and needs someone to lean on… they'll be scared. Because they'll realize there's a stranger in front of them. And they'll leave." She looked at his palms, caressing them.

"...But Eunhee… she..." He looked down. "She knows Daniel lied. And she's still with him..."

"Then she's miserable, Jiho," she said firmly. "Even before you came back, she cried every time she talked about you."

Jiho's eyes widened at Ji-yeon's words.

"People lie. And yes—sometimes it works. That's why they do it."

"But people like that only see what's right in front of them." Her voice softened. "They don't see twenty years down the line… how alone they'll be. Or how happy they could've been—if they'd just been honest."

"In a relationship," she continued, "both people need support. If only one side gives it, it falls apart. You can't build a palace on a single pillar."

"...But..." Jiho narrowed his eyes, his thoughts drifting to the subclass window. "I could... do it." His voice trembled, uncertain.

"Don't, Jiho." She stepped closer, voice gentle but firm. "Stay the way you are. If Eunhee's with Daniel, it just means... she's not ready yet—for someone like you."

"Then what's the point of being someone like me," Jiho argued, "if the person I want isn't even there to see it?!"

"I know it doesn't feel like it now, baby..."

"But one day, you'll meet someone who just can't get enough of you." Her smile returned—warm, steady, certain.

"How can you even say that, Mom?" Jiho's gaze lowered, eyes dark with doubt. "The only one you ever had was Dad. I know I'm reaching, but... there's just no proof it'll ever happen."

"Of course there is," she said softly. "I exist, don't I?"

She hugged him tighter.

"And you are that person for me."

Jiho's breath caught.

"So I know you'll find someone," she whispered. "Whether it's Eunhee… or someone else."

His mind drifted—

Back to Amelie.

Back to the moment she asked him out...

After he'd been honest with her.

"Your mom isn't just pulling this stuff out of her ass, alright?"

"...Okay. Now it's getting weird," Jiho muttered, pulling away as Ji-yeon burst into laughter.

'But... she's right.'

He sighed, stepping out of her room and heading downstairs.

'If she wasn't here to hear my nonsense... I'd have lost my mind.'

He smiled faintly.

'I'll pick some other subclass later. That secret one doesn't fit me, after all.'

The message prompt lingered just above Jiho, quietly watching.

[...Two pillars to build a palace, huh?]

[What a weird zomboy you are, boyo.]

[Though, I don't dislike it. I'll admit that.]