TL | Chapter 4 | Feeling Like He’s Been Possessed by a Ghost

Min took a short breath as he checked the contents of the file envelope once again. What in the world was going on? How could someone exist who looked exactly like Ha Seowon? It was too exact to dismiss as a mere resemblance. He could understand why Iden’s usually impassive face had frozen when they found this person by the lake.

Unless they were identical twins, this was impossible. Min himself had witnessed Seowon’s death and the entire cremation and funeral process. Could the dead have returned to life? It felt like they were haunted by a ghost. If he felt this way, Iden’s shock would be even greater. That’s why he understood Iden’s instruction to recheck all of Seowon’s death and funeral records and bring them back.

Knock knock. After a pause, a voice inside called him in. As Min entered, he paused, catching sight of Iden sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing down at the sleeping Seowon. Iden’s eyes looked almost the same as they had in the past. His gaze was fixed on Seowon’s face, as if he was holding something infinitely precious that would never come again.

“The documents?”

Iden asked, still not taking his eyes off Seowon.

“Here they are.”

As Min held out the file envelope, Iden’s gaze finally shifted from Seowon to him. Taking the envelope, Iden pulled out the papers and quickly scanned them. There wasn’t anything new to check. Seowon’s parents had filed the death certificate, but it was Iden who had identified the body and attended the funeral.

“Is there a chance that ID is forged?”

Iden gestured toward Seowon’s ID lying on the table.

“I checked earlier; there’s no indication of forgery.”

“So, this is really Ha Seowon’s ID.”

There was a hint of frustration in Iden’s voice. Min understood how he felt and held back any further comments.

“If he’s returned, that’s all that matters.”

Iden said as he rose from the bed. But his words left Min startled.

“Returned? What do you mean by that…”

“Ha Seowon.”

Iden looked down at Seowon and spoke his name clearly.

“Do you really believe it’s him? Isn’t it more likely he’s just someone who looks like him…?”

It was frightening how identical he looked, but it seemed more plausible that this was a look-alike than that Seowon had returned from the dead. But when Iden gave a slight, knowing smile, Min lost the words to continue.

“If he’s not Ha Seowon, then how do you explain the same pheromone scent?”

“…Ah.”

Min’s gaze shifted to Seowon as he considered Iden’s question. Someone might look the same, but the scent of their pheromones couldn’t be identical. Especially not for Iden, who had always regarded Seowon as special. He’d once casually mentioned feeling like it was fate when they first met. For a man like Iden to talk about “fate” showed how deeply he regarded Seowon.

“If he hadn’t been cremated, I would’ve dug up the grave to check.”

Iden added with a bitter smile. His words implied he hadn’t fully accepted the existence of the man before them, either. Min was speechless; if there was indeed a body in that grave, would Iden really be able to let this man go?

Probably not. A man who looked so much like Ha Seowon, and an Omega at that, would’ve been impossible for Iden to ignore.

In light of this, it didn’t matter whether this man was actually Seowon returned from the dead or just a stranger with the same name. The important thing was that Iden had found him—and now, having lost him once, Iden wouldn’t let him go again.

“Put guards on him. Assign people who will keep him safe. If this man were to disappear by accident while I’m gone, they’d better be prepared to pay with their lives.”

As Min had anticipated, Iden had no intention of letting go of Ha Seowon—or this man who resembled him so closely.

“What should I tell the boss about returning to the United States?”

The boss had been calling for Iden since a fortnight ago. There wasn’t any urgent matter; he was simply concerned that Iden, straying from his routine since Seowon’s death, needed to be brought back for supervision as soon as possible. Iden was fully aware of that.

“Tell him I can’t return at the moment. Add that he needn’t worry now that I’m back to my senses.”

After a moment’s pause, Iden’s eyes turned cold, as though contemplating something.

“Reexamine every detail from the day Seowon died. We need to catch the culprit.”

Since losing Seowon, he’d been frozen in shock. While anger had always simmered within him, the sorrow of loss had overshadowed it. Now, however, he was baring his teeth, ready to capture the one responsible for Seowon’s death—the one who had, ultimately, targeted Iden himself. If his boss saw him like this, he wouldn’t be summoning Iden to the U.S. anytime soon.

“I don’t care if it’s a ghost or anything else.”

Iden’s gaze returned to Seowon.

“I won’t lose him twice. This time, I’ll keep him safe from anything.”

His low words weren’t directed at Min; they were a promise to himself.
•

How much time had passed? With a soft groan, Seowon slowly lifted his eyelids. It had been ages since he’d woken up naturally without dreams. He took a few deep breaths, staring at the ceiling, and then realized he wasn’t in his room. Only then did the languid feeling in his body become real.

He frowned, glancing around. He had thought it was all a dream, but was it not? Had he really been held by Iden? No, it hadn’t been Iden.

Regrettably, he couldn’t see him now, so he still couldn’t tell if it was reality or not. Though he felt a bit better than before, his body still felt feverish. He wasn’t sure if it was from the sex or something else entirely.

Sigh. He let out a long sigh, feeling a bit pathetic. He needed to get out of here. Staying in an unknown place like this any longer wasn’t an option.

As he got up from the bed and looked for an exit, his gaze fell on his ID lying on the table. Another frown creased his brow. Just how much of all this had been a dream?

He pocketed the ID, intending to leave, but then his eyes landed on the file envelope next to it.

What’s this?

Curious, he picked it up but hesitated to look inside, feeling it might not be his place. Then, noticing the logo on the envelope, he froze. Luciano. It was the logo of the organization Iden’s father owned.

That settled it. Whoever had brought him here was connected to Iden.

With that thought, he sensed that the contents of the envelope were likely related to him. Could it be that Iden’s father had investigated him? Why would he, after all this time? He’d only seen him once, at Iden’s funeral—that was the first and last time. He hadn’t heard anything else until he returned to South Korea.

Because Iden had died. His connection to Iden’s father had been severed for good. So now, this suspicious file couldn’t be overlooked.

Could it have something to do with Iden’s death? That thought pushed him to open the file and pull out the papers.

“Ha!”

As soon as he saw the first page, a dry laugh escaped him. It was a death certificate, bearing his name: Ha Seowon.

“What is…!”

His initial shock at the audacity of whoever created this vanished the moment he checked the date of death, his eyes widening.

It was the same date that repeated endlessly in his nightmares—the day he’d watched Iden die from a gunshot wound. The certificate listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound piercing the heart. Those details all fit Iden, not him.

But why…?

Looking at his name on the death certificate again, he frowned in confusion. If this was some kind of joke, it was truly cruel.

After a moment, a wry, defeated smile spread across his lips. If only it were true—if he’d been the one to die, not Iden—then he wouldn’t have known this heart-wrenching pain.

Whoever was behind this, he wouldn’t fall for it. He felt disgusted by the exploitation of Iden’s death in this way. And if it was his father’s doing, that only angered him further. Iden’s death was all because of his father. If he hadn’t been a mafia boss, if he hadn’t insisted on bringing Iden to the U.S. as his successor, none of this would have happened.

He set the envelope down and turned to leave. He didn’t want to spend another moment here.

As Seowon reached for the door handle, he paused, sensing a presence outside. Someone seemed to be standing guard. Why had they brought him here in this strange, near-imprisoned state instead of leaving him to live or die in peace?

Moreover… remembering the stranger who looked so much like Iden, the one he’d been held by, filled him with an unsettling sense of shame. If he could, he would erase it from his memory entirely.