Summons

Soft lips touched his, and a thick tongue pushed through the parted gap, exploring the inside of his mouth. There was no hesitation in its movements, as if it had done this several times. As though it intended to devour him whole, two large hands cupped his face, rubbing his cheeks and tickling his ears.

Rustle. His grip tightened on the bean bag. His body twisted instinctively.

I can't breathe.

It felt like he was being devoured. A sharp tingle ran down his spine. Cha Eui-jae reached out, fumbling to grab the body on top of him. When he gripped the firm shoulders, the lips parted with a wet sound. A thumb pressed between his lips.

"Breathe."

Ah. A small sound of surprise escaped. He must have been holding his breath without realizing it. As his airway suddenly cleared, a small cough slipped out. His chest heaved up and down with every small cough. Lips brushed his cheek.

"I thought you'd gotten used to it by now…"

A gentle voice asked.

"When will you get used to this?"

His body trembled. As the coughing subsided, the hand that had been caressing his face slid down his neck and rested on his chest.

Thump, thump, thump. His heart pounded faster than ever under the large hand. A lukewarm warmth pressed against his heart. Cha Eui-jae covered his eyes with his arm and tried to steady his breathing. A voice tinged with laughter whispered in his ear.

"You have to breathe through your nose."

"Move your hand…"

"Your heart's beating too fast…"

At that moment, tension shot through his entire body.

Ah, damn it. Cha Eui-jae cursed silently to himself. How could a living person hide the sound of their heartbeat? It's impossible unless you're dead. A low chuckle reached his ears. The hand pressing on his heart felt like a heavy stone. But instead of feeling suffocated, he strangely felt at ease.

'Wait a minute.'

Cha Eui-jae caught his breath, his eyes widening. The faint sound of footsteps he'd heard in the distance was now growing louder. Cha Eui-jae was about to sit up, gripping the hand on his chest when—

Knock, knock. There was a knock at the door.

"Excuse me, hyung-nim? Can I come in?"

The sound of their breathing, heavy in the darkness, came to an abrupt halt. Cha Eui-jae rolled his eyes, searching for the mask. Sensing that Cha Eui-jae's attention had shifted, Lee Sa-young glared at him.

But Cha Eui-jae didn't have the presence of mind to read the expression. There's no way he could let J's fans, the Mackerels, see him like this! He quickly reached out and snatched the mask that was lying on the floor.

Just as he was about to put it on, his chin and wrist were grabbed. Cha Eui-jae whispered urgently.

"What are you doing?"

"I should be asking you. What are you doing right now?"

"I'm trying to cover my face!"

"Tch."

Lee Sa-young scoffed.

"We haven't even started yet."

"What do you mean, 'haven't started'! Get off! Someone's coming in."

"Lock the door, then."

"I saw that guy come through the wall. If you don't let him in, he'll break through the wall."

"Ah… so you saw that too?"

Cha Eui-jae glared at him.

"You saw that too? How dare you speak to me informally— are you insane?"

"Hah…"

Lee Sa-young let go of his wrist with a flick. At the same time, his soft hair brushed against Cha Eui-jae's neck. There was a grinding sound as Cha Eui-jae clenched his teeth.

"Why are there so many people getting in the way…?"

Should he even be upset about this? Cha Eui-jae was bewildered. Wasn't this the Mackerel's space in the first place? It's not even an appropriate place for this kind of thing…

'Damn it, what am I even thinking?'

Cha Eui-jae silently screamed, clutching his head. What's an appropriate place for this anyway? Clearly, he was completely under some sort of spell in this darkness. He hurriedly slapped the mask onto his face. His wildly racing heart began to calm down.

When he pressed the remote to turn on the projector, light flooded the room. Cha Eui-jae looked at Lee Sa-young, who was still on top of him.

Lee Sa-young, who had buried his face in Cha Eui-jae's neck, slowly raised his head.

Anyone could see he was pouting. His displeasure was evident, and even his neck was flushed red with heat. When Cha Eui-jae reached out, pretending to fix Lee Sa-young's messy hair, he pushed it behind his ear. Through the strands of black hair, a hint of a red ear peeked through. A soft chuckle escaped.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Well… you look like you need a gas mask too."

"…"

Knock, knock. Another knock came from the door.

"Excuse me~ Guests? If you don't answer, we're just going to open the door and come in. It's urgent."

Cha Eui-jae raised his voice to reply.

"Just hold on a second!"

"Oh, hyung-nim! We thought you fell asleep. We were about to call a locksmith. Could you please open the door?"

The younger Mackerel spoke in a polite tone. Cha Eui-jae tossed a gas mask to Lee Sa-young and got up. Lee Sa-young's flushed face quickly disappeared behind the mask. Cha Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and was about to grab the doorknob when Lee Sa-young, fiddling with the mask's strap, called out.

"Wait, Hyung…!"

Click.

"…"

"…Huh?"

Cha Eui-jae glanced back into the room, then turned his attention to the Mackerels standing in the now-open doorway. The older Mackerel stammered, "Uh, uh," while the younger one quickly covered his brother's eyes with his hand.

"Hah…"

Lee Sa-young let out a deep sigh, as if it had been building from deep within his chest. He approached and stood firmly behind Cha Eui-jae. A finger poked him painfully in the back.

"Why… oh."

Only then did Cha Eui-jae become aware of his appearance. His hair, tousled from their earlier tussle, and his shirt, half unbuttoned down to his collarbone, thanks to Lee Sa-young's handiwork. His shirt and jacket were wrinkled beyond recognition, and his tie— where did he even throw that? In his mind, a field of flowers bloomed, accompanied by a mysterious voice.

Ah~ I'm so fucked~

Wearing nothing but a combat uniform when he was J, and casually sporting a hoodie and apron as a part-timer— this was the karma catching up to him. He never paid attention to clothes, so! But his survival instincts, which shone brightest in moments of crisis, kicked in. Cha Eui-jae leaned against the door frame, striking a nonchalant pose.

"Sorry. We had a bit of a disagreement."

"Excuse me?"

"A bit of a fight."

"A… a fight?"

The older Mackerel, whose eyes were still covered, stammered. Cha Eui-jae replied casually.

"I showed him a video from when he was a kid, and he suddenly lunged at me, saying not to watch it. So we had a bit of a scuffle."

"…"

The look that burned into the back of his head was intense. It felt like it could scorch a hole through the back of his skull. Well, technically, it wasn't a lie. What they had just done was also a kind of scuffle, wasn't it? Words flowed out as smoothly as if his tongue had been oiled.

"It's my first time fighting in a suit, so I didn't know how to fix it afterward. But nothing in the room's broken."

"F-fighting is n-not allowed."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"No, n-no need to apologize… Could you… m-move your hand?"

"Oh, right~ My bad."

The younger Mackerel smiled and removed his hand from his brother's eyes. The younger Mackerel's gaze, which briefly met Cha Eui-jae's, was rather sly, but Cha Eui-jae quietly suppressed it with a clenched fist. As he buttoned up his shirt, he asked,

"So, what's the urgent news?"

"Oh! The urgent news. Well… ta-da."

The younger Mackerel suddenly thrust a tablet forward. A photo was displayed. Cha Eui-jae squinted his eyes. Lee Sa-young, who was standing behind him, tilted his head to look over Cha Eui-jae's shoulder. In the photo…

"…What is this?"

A stark white surgery room, with a man lying on the table, connected to various machines. His body was covered in knife wounds. And standing in front of the table, holding a scalpel in one hand and a glowing white aura in the other, was a man. The scalpel was about to be plunged into the man on the table.

A white coat and long white hair tied in a single braid. Cha Eui-jae had seen someone dressed like this before.

"…Nam Woo-jin?"

"Bingo!"

"Why a picture of Nam Woo-jin?"

"Take a closer look at who the doctor is dissecting. You may not have met him in person, but you probably saw his face in the video I just showed you."

"…Ah."

"Tsk."

Lee Sa-young clicked his tongue. His arm reached around Cha Eui-jae's chest, zooming in on the picture. Cha Eui-jae also recognized the man with his eyes closed.

"Matthew. Where did you get this photo?"

"There's a website on the dark web. It's for those who support Pro… Prometheus. You can't even sign up without an invitation and a referral."

The younger Mackerel cut in.

"Guild leader Lee Sa-young, who's been holed up for three months, should start from the basics. Well… the site opened up after the Day of Change, but it wasn't really talked about much at first. But then…"

The younger Mackerel took back the tablet and tapped something before handing it over again. A black screen with a burning flame appeared, followed by lines of white text in various languages.

[The apocalypse must be averted by human power.]

The same phrase is repeated in various languages. Cha Eui-jae frowned. The younger Mackerel shrugged his shoulders.

"About two weeks ago, the number of members started to skyrocket."

Two weeks ago. That lined up with the time Lee Sa-young's disappearance began to surface, and J's actions became more expected.

"…"

"This photo also came from that site. Seems like there are supporters even within the Seowon Guild, right?"

"How did you guys join?"

"If we can't join places like this, how can we call ourselves informants? Let's see…"

The younger Mackerel tapped the screen several times, and then a fiery animation flared up. A forum page appeared, showing languages from all over the world. He tapped the Korean flag, and a Korean-language forum appeared.

A moment later, a small pop-up window with long lines of red text appeared in the center of the screen.

[Do not fear if you witness the scenery of the apocalypse that has already arrived.]

[It is proof that you have been chosen by the apocalypse.]

[Do not trust the system that scatters chaos and destruction upon the world.]

[Do not trust the hunters who fight using the power of the system.]

[Trust only in yourself, who has witnessed the apocalypse. Only through human power can we overcome the end.]

"What kind of cult…"

There were always people preaching about the end of the world. After the Day of the Rift, how many doomsayers had sprung up? Of course, none of them were ever right. Cha Eui-jae clicked the 'X' to close the pop-up. Another window soon appeared, with even redder text than before.

[Do not trust the hero J.]

[He is a traitor who abandoned the world and fled.]