"A-Ah… A-Aahhh—"
The woman's moans filled the dim hotel room, the only light coming from a lone lamp beside the bed. Shadows flickered across the walls as she trembled above him.
"R-Ran… I—I think I'm—" Her words broke apart, lost in the overwhelming sensation.
Ran's hands tightened around her waist, steady and possessive. She was one of the women they had met at the bar the night before—two strangers drawn together by alcohol and reckless desire. Drunk and consumed by lust, they had stumbled into this hotel room without hesitation.
Her cry rang out as she reached her peak, her body going slack for a moment. Ran shifted, pulling her beneath him, his movements quick and urgent as he chased his own release. A final breathless groan left him before the room fell into heavy silence.
Afterward, she drifted into sleep almost instantly.
Ran, however, sat up and reached for a cigarette. The brief flare of the lighter illuminated his sharp features before fading again. He stood and cracked the curtain open slightly. Dawn was creeping over the horizon, pale light seeping into the room. He exhaled a thin stream of smoke, then glanced back at the woman sleeping peacefully in the tangled sheets.
He didn't even know her name.
Crushing the cigarette into the ashtray, he gathered his clothes and dressed in silence. Before leaving, he pulled out his wallet and placed a few bills on the side table. He leaned down, brushing a brief, almost absent-minded kiss against her forehead.
Then he walked out of the hotel room without waking her, the door clicking shut behind him as the first light of morning filled the sky.
.
.
By the time he reached home, it was already 5:30 a.m.
He parked the car and walked through the garden, the cool dawn air brushing against his skin. He was about to head inside when a soft humming drifted through the quiet morning.
Right. At this hour, Jinny was always in the garden, watering the roses she and his mother had planted together.
He moved toward the fountain and caught sight of her from behind. She stood facing the rows of blooming roses, unaware that he was watching. The early sunlight painted her silhouette in gold as she gently watered the flowers, her quiet humming blending with the sound of trickling water.
For a moment, Ran considered walking over to her.
But he didn't.
Instead, he turned away.
It had been two months since they returned to their original world. Everything had gone back to normal—exactly as it used to be. The same house. The same routines. The same treatment.
Since his return, he had deliberately distanced himself from her. He avoided her.
He slipped back into his old lifestyle as if nothing had changed—drinking until dawn, partying without restraint, losing himself in sex. He threw himself into every mission their father assigned, rarely refusing one.
And now that their eldest brother, Matias, was back with them, the tension only grew heavier. Awkward. Suffocating.
When Ran finally reached his bedroom, exhaustion settled over him all at once. He quickly removed his clothes, leaving only his pants on. He lay down, one arm thrown over his eyes as if to block out more than just the light.
Then he closed them, but sleep did not come easily.
.
.
Jinny wiped the sweat from her face with the towel draped over her shoulders. She glanced at her wristwatch—six in the morning. Finally, she was done watering the roses.
The servants approached to collect the garden tools. She removed her gloves and headed inside the mansion, the cool marble floors soothing beneath her tired feet. A thin sheen of sweat clung to her skin; she needed a quick shower before breakfast.
She had just placed her foot on the first step of the staircase when she froze.
Matias was descending.
He stopped as well the moment he saw her.
Their eyes met.
For a long, suspended second, neither of them moved. The air between them felt heavy, charged with words neither dared to speak. Jinny was the first to look away.
It had been a month since they found him.
After returning to their original world, Mikhail had immediately begun searching for Matias. He had used every connection the family possessed—business partners, private investigators, old allies. And after a month of relentless searching, they finally found him in a hospital in a nearby city.
When they arrived, he was standing in the corridor, panic written across his face. He was gripping a syringe, pointing it at the hospital staff who had tried to approach him.
Matias had awakened in an unfamiliar world, believing he had died. Confused and disoriented, he had reacted on instinct—aggressive, defensive, ready to fight anyone who came near him.
Mikhail and Kaye had called out his name.
He had stared at them as if seeing ghosts. Tears welled in his eyes.
Was he dreaming? Were those really his parents?
Was this the afterlife?
They embraced him tightly, soothing his fear until his trembling subsided. Later, they explained everything to him—every detail, every truth about what had happened.
Matias listened. He understood. And eventually, he returned home with them.
Since then, he had been trying to adjust to this world. His father assigned him a private tutor to familiarize him with their family's business, preparing him for the day when he and his brothers would manage everything together.
Now, on the staircase, Matias resumed his descent.
He walked past Jinny without a word.
She glanced at his retreating back and quietly sighed.
The truth weighed heavily in her chest.
Before everything—before the worlds shifted and fate rewrote itself—Matias had gotten her pregnant. She had lost the baby.
No one knew.
No one except Ran.
There had never been closure between her and Matias. No final conversation. No clear ending. And she had never been certain about his feelings for her—whether he had truly loved her… or if she had only imagined it.
She walked toward her room but froze in front of Ran's door. A deep sigh escaped her lips. Even now, Ran was avoiding her, as if nothing had happened between them back in the Serolf Empire.
Rin opened the door and caught sight of her. "What are you doing?" he asked.
She quickly averted her gaze. "Nothing."
Rin scoffed, stepping closer. "Are you still hoping my brother will treat you the same way he did back in the Serolf Empire? Stop dreaming."
"I'm not! Your brother's a jerk—why would I want him to treat me like that?" she shot back, rolling her eyes, then turned on her heel and ran to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Rin just shook his head, muttering under his breath.
Moments later, Ran's door opened. He leaned back casually against the frame. "It's noisy. What's going on?" he asked, yawning.
"Nothing, bro. Time for breakfast. Go put on a shirt," Rin replied, walking away without another word.
Ran merely shrugged. Shirtless was normal for him—and for their family.