Seo Jaehan remembered yesterday, how yet again he had gotten into a fight with his parents and stormed out, taking the car without a word. The rain had been relentless, pounding on the roof and splattering against the windshield as he drove without direction, not wanting to return home, not wanting to face the suffocating walls and the cold, unyielding expectations. Eventually, though, the road led him inevitably back toward his house, and he knew he had no choice but to go, when suddenly a car appeared, barreling straight toward him. He honked desperately, jerked the wheel, and tried to swerve, but the last thing he remembered was the blinding light of the oncoming headlights and then the world rolling uncontrollably.
And then there was nothing.
Now, lying here, Seo Jaehan could not tell if he was dead. Maybe he was… because before him stood someone—or something—that could only be described as an angel, at least at first glance.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
The voice came at the same time from the stranger, and Seo Jaehan's mind immediately argued with itself. Angel? No, idiot, that is a human being. A very, very human being.
This human had a soft voice, but Seo Jaehan noticed that his own voice was deeper than usual—he had already a deep voice, but now it felt even more…?
I must be dreaming, he thought, blinking rapidly as his mind scrambled to make sense of what he was seeing.
Just as he told himself that, a sudden shimmer appeared in front of them, materializing out of the air, forming a translucent hologram that hovered in place with impossible precision. The light pulsed faintly, illuminating the small, shabby room with an otherworldly glow.
[ALERT]
[Participants: Seo Jaehan and Lee Dohyun]
[Welcome to your Second Life.]
[Per your contract with the System, you have been granted a second chance to live.]
[Declining is not an option.]
[Failure to complete your mission will result in complete erasure and reassignment to another life, with no memories.]
[Processing complete. Press 'Proceed' to view your stats and mission.]
What the hell?
That was all Seo Jaehan could think as his eyes darted between the glowing screen and the stranger beside him. He looked at the boy, hoping to find some hint that this was all a dream, that the other person was as confused as he felt—but the "angel" looked every bit as startled as he did, wide-eyed and frozen in the strange, impossibly silent tension of the room.
"What is this?" he mumbled, his voice low, barely carrying the disbelief in his tone. "Is this some kind of joke?"
This has to be a dream, he told himself again, wishing desperately that he would wake up.
The words on the hologram shifted, shimmering like liquid, and new lines appeared:
[Accepting reality will make this process smoother]
[Press 'Proceed' for more information]
Lee Dohyun looked at him, his expression just as bewildered, and asked quietly, "Is this a joke?" as if Seo Jaehan might have some insight.
"Do I look like I know?" Seo Jaehan replied, his frown deepening.
Lee Dohyun groaned, pressing his hands to his face, clearly as conflicted as Seo Jaehan.
Seo Jaehan's gaze wandered over the small, shabby room, and he grimaced. Born with a silver spoon, the only son of one of Korea's wealthiest families, he had never been in a place like this, never needed to adjust to such plain surroundings, and certainly did not want to.
"Let's just—" Lee Dohyun sighed heavily, "let's just press 'Proceed' and see what happens."
Well, Seo Jaehan realized, there was nothing else to do. If this was a dream, the faster they completed it, the faster he could wake up. Without overthinking it, he reached out and pressed 'Proceed,' and watched, wide-eyed and incredulous, as the hologram shifted and changed.
[Processing…]
[Processing complete]
[Seo Jaehan is now Ryu Hyunwoo]
[Completing the full procession…]
[Completed!]
[Ryu Hyunwoo Stats:
Visual: SSS
Vocal: B+
Dance: A-
Rap: A+
Charm: S]
Seo Jaehan blinked repeatedly, his mind reeling. What the fuck…? Who is Ryu Hyunwoo?
Before he could even begin to process this, the hologram moved on, displaying the other participant's information. Lee Dohyun's face mirrored his own disbelief, pale and frozen as if he had just seen a ghost.
[Stats completed]
[Lee Dohyun is now Yoon Areum]
[Completing the full procession…]
[Completed!]
[Yoon Areum Stats:
Visual: SSS
Vocal: A+
Dance: A
Rap: B-
Charm: S+]
[Press 'Proceed' for your mission]
[Failure to believe will only make the process more difficult]
Seo Jaehan exhaled slowly, pressing his temples with long, elegant fingers. Questions swarmed his mind, each one more urgent than the last. What the hell is going on? Who are these people? Who even am I now?
And for the first time, he realized with a weight that settled deep in his chest… this was not a dream.
The realization hit Seo Jaehan like a wave, sharp and suffocating, and within a minute he found himself standing unsteadily on his legs, his eyes darting around the small room as panic set in. Without thinking, he ran to a closed door, his heartbeat thundering in his chest. Behind him, Lee Dohyun's voice called out, trembling and shaky, "Seo Jaehan… wait!"
Ignoring the call, Seo Jaehan flung the door open and flicked on the light, only to come face-to-face with a mirror. And what stared back at him was not Seo Jaehan.
The reflection could only be described as someone sculpted for the runway, a top-model kind of face and body, pale and flawless, messy black hair falling just so over his forehead, eyes a sharp, dark grey that seemed to cut through the room, and a physique that was taller, broader, more imposing than he had ever imagined.
He blinked, frozen, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
How…?
A sudden smack echoed through the room as Lee Dohyun slapped his own face, and Seo Jaehan jumped, wide-eyed and frozen in surprise.
And then Seo Jaehan looked at the other boy, really looked, and realized that Lee Dohyun was no less astonishing. His beauty was quiet, elegant, almost ethereal, with a slender, delicate frame that somehow carried a presence of fragility and strength at the same time. Very fair skin, soft light brown hair that caught the light, matching eyes that gleamed with an odd, intelligent awareness, framed by thick lashes—and a single mole beneath one eye that somehow made him even more captivating.
He looked… like a cat.
"This is not me," Lee Dohyun whispered, eyes wide, voice barely audible as he stared at Seo Jaehan.
"This is not me either," Seo Jaehan said, frowning, his words heavier than they should have been.
"This can't be real," Lee Dohyun muttered, pacing frantically from the bathroom to the small room, voice rising slightly. "I was working last night, and it was raining so hard… all I remember is… getting hit by a car."
Seo Jaehan's frown deepened as suspicion began to creep into his thoughts. Were you driving? Maybe he was the one who had hit him.
"Were you driving?" He asked Lee Dohyun.
Lee Dohyun shook his head firmly. "No, I was walking."
Seo Jaehan sank onto the bed, a weight pressing down on his shoulders, and mumbled, "I… I also remember an accident."
Lee Dohyun froze mid-step, eyes locking onto him. "You too?"
Seo Jaehan nodded, the air in the room heavy with disbelief.
Lee Dohyun's eyes brightened slightly, a flicker of urgency in them. "Do you have a phone?" he asked, stepping closer.
"Yes," Seo Jaehan replied, rifling through his pockets. Surprisingly, he found it. He unlocked it and opened his contacts, but they were all gone—no numbers for his parents, not even a single classmate.
Cold sweat began to run down his spine. Lee Dohyun sat beside him, voice low and careful. "Do you know your parents' number?"
Seo Jaehan could only nod, his hands shaking as he dialed his mother's number. The phone rang four times before someone finally answered.
"Hello?" His mother's voice, familiar yet distant, came through the line.
"Mother, it's me… Seo Jaehan," he hurriedly said, hope lacing his voice.
A long silence stretched, stretching his heartbeat into sharp, painful beats. Seo Jaehan frowned and double-checked the number. Then, finally—
"Who is that?"
The disbelief hit him like ice.
"Mom?" he asked again, voice cracking.
"I don't know who you are. I don't have any children." Then the line went dead.
Seo Jaehan's chest tightened. He knew his family and he had their fights, the constant tension—but never, not in his wildest fears, would his mother disown him like this. Something was undeniably, terrifyingly wrong.
Lee Dohyun sat silently beside him, equally still, his face unreadable but pale as if drained of all color. Before either of them could process more, the familiar shimmer returned, the hologram flickering back into existence, cold and indifferent.
[Press 'Proceed' for more information]
[Participants must accept reality to continue]