Arkha checked the chat room with his senior's number once again. There was still no sign of a reply.
The moment the dismissal bell rang, he rushed out of his classroom and glanced into the room next door.
"Where's Hesa? Did he already leave?"
He hurried to the student council room, only to find it locked, meaning no one was inside.
Refusing to give up, Arkha searched the rest of the school grounds.
"Where did he go...?"
Now there were only the two of them left, yet Rahesa had suddenly disappeared as well. Could it be...
"No... There's no way Hesa fell into their hands too," Arkha muttered, trying to convince himself to stay positive.
While anxiously looking around, he finally spotted someone walking down the hallway.
"Jae!" he called.
Jaehyuk turned around. "What's up, Khan?"
"Are you heading home alone? Weren't you with Hesa?" Arkha asked.
"Huh? I thought he'd contacted you already," Jaehyuk replied.
"He hasn't replied to my messages. Did something happen?" Arkha asked worriedly.
"I'm not really sure. He got a phone call and suddenly rushed off somewhere," Jaehyuk explained.
"He didn't say where he was going?"
"No."
"I see... Thanks, Jae. I'll get going."
Arkha resumed his search. He combed through every corner of the campus, but based on what Jaehyuk had said, Hesa was no longer anywhere near the school.
So... where was he supposed to look?
Standing in the parking lot, Arkha stared blankly ahead, unsure where to ride his motorcycle.
Lost in thought, he suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder.
He turned around.
"Hesa will be fine," said the red-haired young man. "For now, let's find Joan. He's been waiting since yesterday."
~~~~~
Hesa sped toward the hospital, worried that the copies were targeting the two friends who were still admitted there.
His phone kept ringing, distracting him. When he glanced at the screen, he saw it was Arkha calling.
With a sigh, he stepped on the brake to pull over and answer—
—but the brakes failed.
Hesa panicked.
Rather than risking other drivers' lives, he deliberately steered the car toward the roadside.
Crash!
Fortunately, the impact wasn't too severe.
He reached for the passenger door.
"Tch... It jammed?"
Suddenly, the driver's side window rolled down by itself.
Outside stood his copy, smiling.
"Hi."
The copy reached through the window, grabbed Hesa's head, and slammed it hard against the steering wheel.
Pain exploded through Hesa's skull.
Then, little by little...
...the pain disappeared.
When he opened his eyes again—
A horrifying scene greeted him.
He was standing inside an old warehouse... or perhaps an underground room.
Heeseung and his six brothers were tied together with thick ropes.
Only Jungwon was different.
He was bound to a chair, his face and body covered in bruises.
Several teenagers stood nearby, spraying them with water guns.
"We've been holding back our anger this whole time," Sunoo said. "You accused Jungwon without any proof, and now he's ended up like this."
"The truth is, Jungwon never attacked you," Jay added coldly. "You're the ones attacking us now."
Jay had sensed something was wrong from the beginning.
That was why he'd secretly brought a folding knife in his back pocket.
Slowly...
Carefully...
He tried to pull it out.
"Whatever your excuse is," Jeff sneered, "you people deserve to be erased."
"You've got it all wrong," Sunghoon shouted. "You're the real experiment subjects!"
"And who's the indigo kid here?" Ayden laughed mockingly. "Maybe take a look in the mirror."
"Stop!" Jake struggled violently as they continued spraying them.
"Are you insane?! Those water guns are filled with gasoline!"
"That's right," Hyun answered casually. "We filled them with gasoline on purpose."
"We already told you," Baeksung smirked. "We're here to wipe you out."
"Looks like you've spent too much time hanging around ghosts," Yewang laughed. "You can't even understand human language anymore."
"They're becoming just like their ghost friends," Amin mocked.
"Damn it... You're murderers!" Niki shouted.
"So what?" Jeff shrugged. "Killing people who should disappear isn't a problem."
"Think of it as swatting mosquitoes," Baeksung chuckled.
Frozen in place, Hesa desperately tried to untie Heeseung's group.
His hands passed right through the ropes.
It was useless.
This was the past.
He couldn't touch anything.
He couldn't change anything.
All he could do...
...was watch.
"Oops. Looks like someone's hiding something."
Unfortunately, Hyun noticed Jay reaching for the knife.
They had been so close...
Just as hope began to disappear—
The basement door opened.
Footsteps echoed down the stairs.
"Well... I'm late."
Heeseung's eyes immediately lit up.
"Wish..."
Unlike Heeseung, Hesa felt something strange about Wish and Kayn's arrival.
Especially Kayn, who seemed to be struggling to carry a heavy bucket.
"Wish... y-your friend..."
"So," Wish smiled sarcastically, "weren't you going to invite me to this little celebration?"
Heeseung's brothers stared at him in shock.
"Wish... I thought you believed us," Heeseung said. "That's why we told you everything."
"You seriously think I'd believe stories like that?" Wish laughed. "It all sounded completely ridiculous."
"But it's all true!" Heeseung insisted.
"The Given Hospital turned orphaned children into experimental subjects. Mr Rama wanted to make the 8X children his special experiment. And the one who kidnapped me before was Gheo—because Mr Rama ordered him to collect one of the 8X children's blood."
Wish burst into laughter after repeating everything they'd once told him.
"Didn't you ever wonder why you were treated differently from the other orphans?" Heeseung asked in disbelief. "The private pavilion... all those special privileges... none of it seemed suspicious?"
"Then tell me this," Wish replied calmly.
"Out of all the children in the orphanage... why were only the 8X children chosen?"
"Because Mr Rama is your father."
Wish looked at everyone before laughing.
"See? Does that even make sense?"
He slowly walked toward Heeseung.
"Mr Rama is an amazing man. Someone like him would never abandon his own child."
Heeseung clenched his fists.
"His wife became critically ill while she was pregnant with you. She died, and the only one he managed to save was you through a C-section. Every time he looked at you, he saw your mother, so he left you in the orphanage while secretly watching over you.
He noticed how happy you were whenever you were with the other children.
That's why...
He started the project.
He wanted to create abnormal humans—stronger than ordinary people, capable of living much longer."
"Hey," Kyungmin sighed.
"Are you seriously still listening to this?"
"My brain's going on vacation after hearing all this nonsense," Ayden complained.
"Alright, alright," Wish chuckled.
"I'm done talking.
Let's finish this."
With that approval—
Kyungmin immediately poured the bucket of gasoline over them.
"Should've done that from the start," Amin muttered.
"Those water guns weren't enough anyway," Yewang added.
"Good work, everyone," Wish said.
"It's time to end this."
He flicked open a lighter...
...and tossed it beside Heeseung.
WHOOSH!
Flames erupted instantly.
The screams of the seven bound young men echoed throughout the underground room.
"Hesa!"
Ignoring everything else, Hesa chased after the children as they ran upstairs.
He had only taken a few steps—
Someone grabbed his arm.
He turned around.
The surroundings had changed.
Everything was white.
Standing before him...
...was Heeseung's group, dressed in black robes.
Heeseung lowered his head slightly and placed both hands on Hesa's shoulders.
"Stop crying."
"You're our reincarnation."
"You should be the one avenging us."
Hesa pulled Heeseung's hands away and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I understand your pain."
"But everything has changed."
"You can't keep hurting innocent people just because of what happened in the past."
"You can say that," Heeseung sneered, "because you've never been in our position."
"You never lived through what we did."
"I'm trying to understand," Hesa answered quietly.
"I know about your life as a street kid."
"I don't need your pity," Heeseung replied coldly.
"I need revenge."
"I can't do that," Hesa said firmly.
"The people you're hurting have nothing to do with your past."
"Fine," Heeseung admitted.
"Our victims have nothing to do with it.
"But tell me this."
"If the 8X children were alive today...
Wouldn't you want revenge against them?"
Hesa fell silent.
He couldn't answer.
He was afraid of hurting others.
Perhaps...
He still couldn't truly understand the pain Heeseung carried.
"Thats enough..."
Jay finally spoke.
"Hesa's right."
"Everything has changed."
"We can't judge the present by the past anymore."
"Thirteen are our reincarnations," Sunghoon added.
"Maybe... we should share the same way of thinking."
"So you're giving up?" Heeseung asked as he looked at each of his silent brothers.
"What you don't know..."
Heeseung smiled bitterly.
"Hesa has already become friends with Kyungmin and Wish."
"The 8X children have also been reincarnated in this era."
"It doesn't matter," Niki said softly.
"They won't remember us."
"I think..." Sunoo sighed.
"Our revenge should end with us."
"Fine."
"Do whatever you want."
"I'm leaving."
Heeseung disappeared.
Jungwon walked over to Hesa with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry."
"It looks like..."
"...your mission isn't over yet."