Hesa was stunned as he stared at the young man in front of him. He couldn't utter a single word.
"We finally get to meet like this, in person," the young man said, still wearing his sweet smile.
But Hesa remained silent. Instinctively, he slapped himself.
"Wake up. Please, wake up. This is a good dream, but I shouldn't be here."
Just as he was about to slap himself again, a hand stopped him.
The young man gave Hesa a bitter smile. "Apparently, this is how pathetic my fate is. I went into a coma instead of waking up, only to end up dying temporarily."
"Y-You're really Kala?" Hesa stared at the lavender-haired young man in disbelief.
"Hmm. Sunoo said I apparently existed in the past too, and his life was just as tragic. But obviously, the version of me from back then must already be dead," Kala said.
Without saying another word, Hesa immediately pulled the young man into a tight hug.
~~~~~
And this was where they were now—in Kala's living room.
Hesa chuckled when he saw the food served in front of him.
"Don't make fun of me. My maid made this fried rice, so at least it won't be overloaded with MSG again," Kala said.
"Yeah, yeah," Hesa replied.
He happened to glance at the watch on Kala's wrist and immediately remembered it.
"That compass watch…"
Kala glanced at it briefly before sitting back down.
"Kayn saw you burying this watch, then he took it," Kala said.
"Oh, that's a relief," Hesa replied.
"This watch was a gift from Asta. He bought it at Yoga's father's shop," Kala explained.
"Oh, so he's your friend? His father owns some kind of occult shop?" Hesa asked.
"No. It's just a regular electronics store. I don't know why this watch ended up being different. If you ask me, maybe it's because of Heeseung's influence," Kala said.
"Could be. Back then, he was able to seal the watch's power," Hesa said.
"Yeah, but don't worry. This watch can still be used," Kala assured him.
"Sorry for damaging it before."
"Heeseung is the one who should be apologizing," Kala replied.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward, so Hesa quickly changed the subject.
"I'm glad I get to see you again."
"You could say this is the first time we've actually met in my real form."
"What happened to you all this time?" Hesa asked.
"If you want to know everything from the beginning, you should probably read the story on the other side. It's basically my gang's story," Kala said.
"Skip it. There's already been a little flashback here, so I understand some of it."
"Okay. Then maybe I'll start from after I jumped off the rooftop. I thought I was going to die after that, but instead, I woke up at the campsite. I saw Jihan crying among all her friends who had already died. I immediately went over to comfort her. Luckily, she was an esper too, so she could see me."
"She was shocked and sad when she saw me wandering around like that, but I tried to keep comforting her. A few weeks after that incident, she suddenly asked me about you because I had once asked her to keep an eye on you," Kala continued.
"Keep an eye on me? When?" Hesa asked.
"You might remember seeing something strange in the dance extracurricular room. That incident actually happened to two of my friends when we were being terrorized at school too. We were being terrorized by Heeseung, who disguised himself as someone named Lyo. He showed his true appearance, which looked a lot like you. And you probably don't remember that we first met at a café. You left your book there, and you and Arkhan went back to get it."
"I really don't remember. But you remembered it, and that's why you kept an eye on me? Because Heeseung and I looked alike, so you thought we might be connected?" Hesa asked.
Kala nodded. "At that point, Jihan and I could make sure that you weren't involved. But after I became a wandering spirit, Jihan told me that you were Heeseung's next target. That's when we decided to help you."
"At first, the two of us tried to gather any information we could find that was related to all of this. Unfortunately, over time, it became dangerous for Jihan because she had to go looking for information by herself. There was the danger of getting attacked by criminals, as well as Heeseung, who seemed to be getting suspicious."
"Jihan said that Heeseung's gang probably couldn't detect the movements of spirits either. She meant me, of course, but I couldn't touch physical objects. While we were trying to figure out another way, Kayn came along and offered to help because he was worried about Jihan after she had been attacked."
"Jihan and I were obviously hesitant because Kayn didn't have any abilities. That also meant he would be extremely vulnerable to danger. But then I thought about how Heeseung's gang couldn't detect the movements of spirits. I realized that if I possessed Kayn, I could protect him while also deceiving Heeseung. So, whether we liked it or not, that's the path we chose."
Hesa nodded in understanding as he listened to Kala's explanation, but then he remembered the consequences caused by the exchange of their names. He could only remain silent, thinking about it.
"And about Asta, that really was my friend's name, but it was also my name. I didn't expect Kayn to use it because he was nervous," Kala said.
"I want to talk about your past now, Kal," Hesa said.
"Oh, right. Heeseung pulled you into the past, didn't he? What did you see there?" Kala asked.
"It was horrible. I saw—"
The chiming sound of the compass watch suddenly startled them. Kala instinctively opened it.
Slowly, a portal appeared in front of them and immediately swallowed them both.
The darkness surrounding them gradually changed, replaced by the nighttime scenery of a park.
"Is this the past?" Kala asked.
"No. This is the future," Hesa replied.
Hesa pulled the young man toward another part of the park, where it was somewhat crowded because several other young men were gathered there.
"That's your gang, isn't it?" Kala asked.
"Yeah. Looks like I just got a spoiler that there'll be another video on the Thirteen channel," Hesa said.
"Didn't you guys already make plans to do another investigation?" Kala asked.
"Not yet. We're still pretty traumatized, but we've also been thinking about continuing. That's why we threw the question to our fans."
"Oh, so you got a spoiler that you'll eventually investigate an abandoned amusement park?" Kala asked.
"Not exactly. Arkha suggested that back when we were trying to cancel the camping trip."
Kala simply nodded in understanding, but the next second, he suddenly fell because Hesa pushed him down.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Kala protested.
Instead of answering, Hesa headed toward someone who was recording near Kala.
"W-Wait, me?"
Hesa reached out his hand to help Kala back up.
"H-Hang on. Why am I here too? Am I joining the investigation with you guys?" Kala asked.
"Yeah. So that means you got a spoiler too, right?" Hesa replied.
"Hmm... Since this is the future, it can still be changed, right?" Kala asked.
Hesa immediately fell silent at those words.
"I'm just kidding, bro," Kala said, trying to reassure him.
"It actually looks really fun. I'd love to be able to do something like this with you guys someday," he added.
The two of them continued watching the Thirteen gang's activities in the future until the portal eventually appeared again, taking them back to Kala's house.