That night, Ji Hyo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
For the first time in years, he had no bruises to cover, no shouting to ignore, and no fists to dodge. His father was gone. Not just out of sight—gone forever.
The words Minsook and Dong-pil had shared over dinner echoed quietly in his head: "He collapsed in the street... just alcohol in his system, no food at all."
A quiet, unceremonious end. Fitting, in some cruel way. And yet, Ji Hyo hadn't cried. Not even once. No grief welled in his chest. No relief either. Just emptiness. Hollow silence.
The man who had cast a shadow over his entire life had vanished. And all that remained in his place was a haunting stillness that Ji Hyo didn't know how to fill. But fate, it seemed, wasn't done leaving surprises on his doorstep.
Literally.
While he was eating dinner with the Lim couple earlier, a delivery agent from a private finance company had arrived at his house. When he returned home afterward, the first thing he saw was a bright red notice taped to the front door.
"Property Seizure Notice – This Property Is Now Under Repossession Authority. All Occupants Must Vacate Immediately."
His heart sank.
He ripped the notice from the door and found a sleek envelope below, bearing the company's seal and official documents. Inside was a mortgage contract, dated months ago, with his father's name scribbled at the bottom.
Ji Hyo stared at the papers in stunned silence as he read through them. The house had been mortgaged—without his knowledge.
Payment defaults had stacked up. Warnings were ignored. The contract clearly stated that unless full repayment was made by February 29, 2025, the property would be repossessed immediately.
Tomorrow.
"Of course," Ji Hyo thought bitterly, walking back into the now-clean house that was no longer even his.
His father had taken the only thing left from their family—the last legacy of his late grandmother—and gambled it away in his drunken haze. He hadn't just left him with scars—he left him with a debt-ridden ruin.
Now, lying alone in that hollow house, the notice and mortgage papers still resting on the nightstand beside him, Ji Hyo stared blankly at the ceiling.
"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
His life had always been about escape—running from pain, from fists, from screaming. The military had been his only plan, his only salvation.
But now that he is free from it all… He had no plan. No direction. No home. A humorless chuckle escaped his lips.
"So this is what freedom feels like?"
It was nothing like he imagined. No joy. No peace. Just a quiet void and a deadline taped to his door. But what choice did he have now?
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. The night air felt cold against his skin, but for once, it wasn't because he feared the sound of his father stumbling drunk.
At the very least… that fear was gone.
His fingers gently grazed the edge of the mortgage notice as he muttered to himself.
"I don't even have time to mourn."
Letting out another soft sigh, he turned on his side. There was no use thinking too hard about it now. Morning would come soon. Reality would hit harder.
But just for tonight… maybe he could pretend things were still normal. Just for a little while longer.
Outside, the city remained quiet. But the night felt colder. And somewhere in that silence… fate began to stir.
A strange stillness settled over the world, as if reality itself was holding its breath.
And as sleep took him, something shifted.
When Ji Hyo opened his eyes, he was somewhere else.
He stood in the middle of an endless expanse.
The air was thick yet weightless, heavy yet without substance. It felt like he was floating—yet his feet remained firmly planted on… something. Above him, below him, all around him, the world stretched endlessly in all directions. There was no sky. No ground. No horizon. Just a vast, infinite void filled with countless glowing orbs of light.
They flickered like distant stars, shimmering with unnatural energy, moving as if they were alive.
Ji Hyo frowned.
"Where… am I?"
His voice didn't echo. The sound was swallowed whole by the abyss, absorbed into the endless void surrounding him. He took a step forward. The lights remained distant.
Another step. Still, nothing changed.
No matter how much he walked, he wasn't getting any closer. It was as if the space itself was shifting, keeping him in place. His heartbeat quickened.
"Is this a dream?"
It had to be. But it felt too real. The air was too crisp. The silence was too suffocating.
And then— A presence.
Something unseen. Watching.
Ji Hyo froze.
His body tensed instinctively, muscles tightening as if preparing for a fight. But there was nothing. Just the endless void.
Until…
A shadow.
At first, it was distant—a barely visible silhouette at the edge of his vision. But as he blinked, it grew closer. It wasn't walking. It wasn't moving. And yet, it was getting nearer.
Ji Hyo took a step back. The figure stood still. But he could feel it. It was watching him. An unsettling chill ran down his spine.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
The shadow remained motionless. Ji Hyo's breathing grew uneven.
A strange, heavy pressure settled over his chest. As if the air itself was pushing down on him. He clenched his fists.
"This is just a dream."
He had been through worse. He had faced things more terrifying than this.
And yet—
He couldn't move. His body wouldn't listen. He was trapped. The lights around him began to flicker violently. The shadow took a step forward.
And for the first time—
Ji Hyo felt fear. His breath hitched as he stared ahead. There, standing in the void, was a figure.
Not him. Definitely not him.
The figure was tall, radiant, and ethereal—its presence overwhelming, like it didn't belong in this world or any realm Ji Hyo had ever known. His breath caught in his throat, not just out of fear, but out of sheer awe.
Because the person standing there… was beautiful. Too beautiful. The kind of beauty that didn't feel real—unreachable, surreal, divine.
His features were flawless. Porcelain-like skin that glowed subtly under the dim starlight of the void. A perfectly sculpted face that seemed born from the dreams of gods. His hair, dark and silky, gently framed his face and cascaded over his shoulders like flowing ink. The soft curve of his lips, the delicate contour of his cheekbones—every inch of him looked like art, sculpted with impossible precision.
And those eyes.
Those eyes…Heterochromatic. The inner iris is a piercing, glimmering golden brown that seemed to shimmer with galaxies, and the outer ring is a warm, mysterious brown.
Even those contact lenses celebreties wear paled in comparison. On them, it looked strange. Peculiar. Something people stared at in confusion and awe but not wonder.
But on this figure?
It looked celestial. Transcendent.
Ji Hyo stood frozen, overwhelmed by the sight before him.
This wasn't just another person. It was something greater. Something that wore a human form, but clearly wasn't bound by it.
He unconsciously touched his own face—his plain, somewhat rough features, the crooked slope of his nose, the dullness of his skin, the way his hair never fell right no matter how he tried.
He wasn't ugly. But next to this person, he might as well have been.
And still, he couldn't look away.
The stranger's eyes met his, calm and unblinking. There was no malice in that gaze, no arrogance—just a quiet, serene intensity. But Ji Hyo felt it all the same.
He was being judged.
Not by an enemy, not by a god—but by beauty itself.
His heart thudded heavily in his chest. His legs felt weak. The stillness of the void pressed in like a crushing weight, and yet, the only thing he could see—was him.
The figure tilted his head slightly, as if curious. As if amused.
And Ji Hyo, powerless to move, to speak, could only stand there under that gaze, naked in his own insecurity.
He was being judged.
Not for his actions. Not for his choices.
But for who he was. Or rather… who he wasn't.
This figure didn't look like him—but something in him felt familiar. Not physically. Spiritually. Like an echo from a life Ji Hyo never lived, or a version of himself that had never been born.
The weight of that gaze was unbearable.
And then—
It spoke.
"You look surprised," the figure said with a smile that could bend worlds.
Ji Hyo flinched. The voice was soft, deep, echoing—almost too perfect, like a lullaby spoken through divine tongues.
"You… who are you?" Ji Hyo asked, his voice trembling.
The figure chuckled softly—calm, yet strangely chilling.
"You will know soon enough."
There was no arrogance in his tone—just certainty, as if the answer wasn't meant to be given yet, only realized in time.
Ji Hyo's eyes remained fixed on the mysterious figure. His heart pounded, a growing unease rising in his chest.
"Then… why am I here?" he asked, struggling to steady his voice.
The figure's smile deepened ever so slightly.
"Because I summoned you."
Ji Hyo froze.
"Summoned me?" he echoed, almost disbelieving.
"Yes," the figure replied simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"This place… this moment… was meant to happen."
There was a gravity in his words—heavy and quiet, yet undeniable.
And then, the figure stepped forward, his tone softening.
"I need your help."
"My help?" Ji Hyo echoed, bewildered. "Why?"
"You'll understand in time," the figure replied gently.
Ji Hyo opened his mouth to question further—but the void around them began to crack, unraveling like shards of broken glass floating through space.
The stars blinked out.
The light surged.
The figure faded from view.
And Ji Hyo—
Fell.