At night,
when nothing could be heard in the place except the sound of the wind moving some of the vine leaves in front of his window.
He was sleeping with a relaxed expression, and in front of him was the rabbit's cage—the one Seongjin had given him as a gift.
But the rabbit suddenly began moving erratically, making annoying noises for the one sleeping beside it.
He opened his eyes sluggishly and looked around.
He partially sat up and looked at the rabbit, which was still moving restlessly.
"Damn it, calm down."
He said it and rested his head back on the pillow, yet the rabbit kept moving and whimpering, as if frightened or startled by something.
Annoyed, he threw the blanket off and moved toward it.
He tried to touch it through the bars, but it retreated, staring at him fearfully.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? It's the middle of the night, for heaven's sake. I thought you liked me."
He opened the cage gently and took it out, holding it while frowning.
"I gave you water and food, and you've already done your business. Why are you still like this?"
He stared at it in confusion.
Then he felt chaos beneath him
He straightened up in panic, but nothing was moving except what lay beneath his feet.
The ground suddenly split open, and he sank into it while still holding the rabbit—
or rather, crushing it out of fear.
Beneath him was something soft, almost like water, but not wet.
Instead, the fall wasn't painful.
It felt like falling onto cotton.
He stood up, noticing that every step caused his feet to sink downward, making walking difficult.
The place he stood in was dark yet luminous at the same time.
The colors absorbed the light but left a sense of comfort—
like an aurora in the South Pole.
A pale green hue mixed with blue shimmered, dotted with glowing white crystals.
He looked beneath him; the sight was similar.
He felt lost, yet not truly afraid.
He sat on the ground, gently stroking the rabbit,
as if waiting for someone.
A kind of anticipatory curiosity filled him—
whatever it was, it didn't feel like fear.
Everything was illogical; this wasn't a moment to panic.
Minutes passed, boredom creeping in. He stood again and began to walk, when the rabbit slipped from his hands and ran away.
"Don't go far, Rodo."
He called the rabbit by a name he had chosen only seconds ago.
The rabbit stopped in front of a mirror.
He looked at himself.
He wasn't Jinho—
he wasn't in Jinho's body.
He was in his original body.
Seongmin.
Black hair, silver eyes, wheat-colored skin, and the earring in his ear.
Shocked, he stepped back.
"What nonsense is this?"
He ran, trying to escape, yet moving away felt like something was pulling him back.
"Who's messing with me? Who are you? Show yourself!"
He felt water creeping up beneath his feet, sending chills through him—
yet his mind barely registered it.
What truly froze him was the appearance of another figure.
At first, he couldn't see him clearly, but as he approached—
He blinked several times, trying to comprehend the strangeness before him.
Jinho stood in front of him, holding the rabbit, his pale face wearing a calm, satisfied expression.
"I'm starting to think this is a dream…
What is all this madness in the middle of the night?"
He whispered.
Jinho looked at him with sharp green eyes—
like a cat lurking in the dark.
Songmin swallowed nervously.
"Jinho… it's you then. Can you explain what's happening around me—or to me?"
Jinho moved his lips to speak, but Songmin couldn't hear him at first.
It was like a broken video—image before sound.
He tried to focus.
"You are inside my mind… or what remains of it.
Your unconscious wanted me, so I came."
Jinho walked away, his steps steady—as if he were used to the unstable ground beneath him.
Songmin interrupted in disbelief,
"Are you dead?"
Jinho smiled and gently stroked the rabbit resting in his palm.
"Dead? I don't know. But I'm sure I'm alive inside you."
He suddenly stepped forward at an insane speed Songmin couldn't process.
He tapped his head—then his chest—precisely over his heart, and whispered:
"I'm alive here… for you."
The surroundings shifted, displaying fragments of Seongmin's memories—
now embodied in Jinho's form.
"Are you upset with my actions… or something?"
Songmin asked in confusion.
Jinho shook his head calmly.
"No. I'm happy everyone here treats me kindly—
I mean, they treat my body kindly, unlike before."
"Do you know why I entered your body?"
"The story is long and unclear even to me.
But what matters is that I believed a book I read the night before my execution."
"Rora brought it to me.
It spoke of this world as part of a play watched by people in other worlds."
"At that moment, I truly wished that whoever was watching my story would help me—
or at least avoid what I went through."
A green light shone from Jinho's forehead.
Warm wind swept through the space.
The scene shifted again—
to the prison described in the novel Seongmin had read before.
Rusty smells.
The sound of dripping water.
Cold iron bars.
Jinho's frail body trembled, his eyes fixed on the book—
just before Seongjin came to drag him away for the execution.
His reaction had been disturbingly calm for someone about to die unjustly.
That's what made Songmin cry out in anguish:
"Why were you smiling?
Why didn't you scream and tell them you weren't like that?"
A relieved sigh answered him.
"My hands were shaking. I was whispering that I didn't want this…
yet it made me feel wanted, even in my final moments."
"Everything was beyond our capacity.
We knew that no matter what we did, death wouldn't change—
and that Silvester would take my soul to extinguish his own."
"But—"
Songmin tried to speak, but the black water beneath him had risen to his waist.
He looked down.
The water was pitch-black—deeply unsettling.
"There's no more time.
You must survive.
Get past the execution day a month from now."
"I placed my hope and soul within you."
"I accept everything you do—
except breaking those you loved."
"Wait—I still don't understand. Where is my body?"
"We'll meet again."
He said it as he stepped closer, tapping Seongmin's head once more.
His legs finally gave in.
He fell into the black water.
Everything was unclear.
His words were riddles without answers.
"I just want some honest words…
and some peace. I'm starting to feel insane."
He whispered to himself, suffocating.
He jolted awake in his bed, gasping violently—
breathing as if he had truly drowned.
He covered his face with his hands, trying to steady his shaking breath and racing heart— convinced they might stop from the sheer speed.
"What happened?"
He was angry in his confusion.
He remembered only blurry fragments of the dream—
and that alone was driving him mad.
"What kind of dream put me in this state?"
He said it and lay back down, spreading his arms and legs across the bed completely.
The morning dawned, and everything had been arranged for the arrival of the two brothers accompanying Rafael.
They boarded the carriages, and the two boys took a carriage from their palace.
The wheels turned, the horses galloped, and with them came the cold breezes brushing against those inside
Rora glanced out the window, her brown hair cascading over her shoulders, dancing in the wind.
It was truly a beautiful sight.
But Jinho wasn't focused on her.
He sat with one leg crossed over the other, hands clasped toward his chest, his features tightening as if he were wringing his mind to remember something.
Rora leaned her head in and then closed the window, whispering:
"It feels like frost… the south is extremely cold."
"Ha… Jinho, I'm talking to you, man."
She clapped in front of his face, making him jump and adjust himself.
"What do you need?"
He said, a hint of mild annoyance on his face.
"What's wrong with you? You've been distracted since morning."
"Distracted?"
"Yes."
She said it seriously, recalling all the words he had missed in the morning. She raised her hand and added:
"When the prince called you, when you forgot the rabbit and Mriana reminded you, when Seongjin asked you to enter the carriage before us…"
"You seemed… strange, as if you couldn't see us."
"I didn't mean that…"
He leaned back, letting out a desperate sigh:
"I had a strange dream, but I don't remember it…
Because of a dream, really…"
She replied sarcastically, unaware that this dream wasn't really a dream—it was more like a strange reality he had fallen into and emerged from, like a drowning person.
It was a dream, yet at the same time, it felt as if a piece of his shaken soul had been taken.
As if he had seen a door open… only for it to close suddenly.
"We'll meet again."
He muttered this while sinking into a deep silence.