RACA 2

He wandered around and found a dressing room decorated no less than any select shop. He stood in front of the full-length mirror set against the wall.

“Ah….”

As expected, his guess was not wrong. The reflection in the mirror was the familiar face he had seen his whole life. His face was decent but without any distinct features, a face so ordinary it would be forgotten the moment one turned away.

“As I thought.”

The real omega protagonist had been a delicate beauty, so he had allowed himself a brief hope.

That meant the current situation could only be explained in two ways.

It was a dream, or it was possession.

“Then I just need to find out from now on.”

First, he needed to search the house thoroughly.

Eunsol walked through the apartment and came to a conclusion.

This wasn’t a dream.

It was too vivid to be a dream, and there was no way everything could be this detailed.

“I’m not a genius.”

Even if he had an extraordinary mind, he would never be able to construct a space like this inside a dream.

Then the conclusion was one.

“This is that possession I have only heard about.”

The subject of Pyo Jaebeom’s previous drama had also been possession. At the end, there had been a twist where both protagonists turned out to be possessed by others souls, and it had become a hot topic. In that work, he had played a cunning but charming chaebol alpha, captivating viewers by shifting flawlessly between gravitas and comic flair.

That performance was still vivid to Eunsol.

‘Back then he was so fun and cute that he was my ideal type.’

He smacked his lips and shook his head.

“That is not what matters now.”

Eunsol touched his smooth chin and pondered if he had really possessed a character in the new drama that had just begun?

“I need to know something to prepare….”

In less than ten seconds, he grabbed his head with both hands and crouched down. All he had seen was the single broadcasted first episode, so how could he know what happened afterward?

He could only make rough guesses from scraps of talk he had overheard on set, but that was nowhere near enough to help.

“Ah, why is it like this? In the last work, the protagonist at least was the writer who wrote the drama!”

Thanks to that, the omega protagonist of that story, after a short period of confusion and wandering, could soon plan out the future.

Of course, a person’s life never goes exactly as one intends. If it had, the two protagonists would never have ended up entangled after a one-night accident.

“Haa… why does nothing go my way?”

They say even an elephant when stepping backward, can catch a mouse, but he was the sort of person who would drown even if he put his nose in a shallow dish of water.

Indeed, had there ever been anything in his life that he gained without effort?

If anything, compared to the effort he put in, there were more moments of emptiness when he gained little in return. But as always, he quickly shook off his negative feelings.

In any case, there was only one thing that could resolve this situation.

“I need to act really well.”

He reaffirmed himself again and went over the character information once more. A fragile, pure beauty, a responsible college student who had to earn his own living expenses.

In contrast, Pyo Jaebeom was a gangster boss who usually acted sly and playful but could act cold and ruthless at decisive moments.

“Ah… why did I ask for three meals a day earlier? Where did such nonsense come from?”

That had been because he couldn’t tell whether it was a dream or reality at that time. But since it was only once, surely it wouldn’t seem too strange.

Pyo Jaebeom’s mocking face from when he asked that question flashed in his mind and then disappeared.

It must have been his imagination.

“But leaving me aside, could it be that he too…?”

Now that he thought about it, Pyo Jaebeom had said his own name as well.

But Pyo Jaebeom was not cold-hearted in reality, right?

“He has a good personality originally.”

Eunsol’s eyes softened. He recalled a past moment. On a day when even the bit parts he had landed on and off had dried up, he had gone to work part-time as staff to make ends meet.

Burdened with heavy equipment and rushed by a senior shouting at him to hurry, he tripped on the stair landing.

If he had fallen, it would have been a major accident, but an arm caught his waist and steadied him.

The owner of that arm had been Pyo Jaebeom.

At that moment, he had seen an illusion, light radiated from behind him.

“No matter how I think about it, earlier he was exactly that role.”

The Pyo Jaebeom he had just encountered radiated the presence of a gangster boss. His eyes alone could intimidate, and his pheromones suppressed the will of others, a portrayal that not everyone could embody.

“I really need to do well….”

The more he thought, the clearer the conclusion became. While he was here, he absolutely must not provoke him.

Eunsol, who had been nodding even though no one was watching, suddenly felt an overwhelming fatigue.

“Haam… I should take a nap first.”

It was natural to feel exhausted since so much had happened after he woke up.

‘It isn’t like anyone will come right now.’

He strolled lazily down the hallway. Because he had wandered around earlier, he had already figured out the broad layout of the house.

“Where should I sleep?”

He arrived at the master bedroom that gave the impression of a deep sea. The space looked twice the size of his studio, and a king-sized bed was planted in the middle.

“Mm… that does not seem right.”

The atmosphere made it clear who owned the room. He turned away quickly and went upstairs. He found a spot that seemed suitable and collapsed onto the bed.

Wrapped in bedding that carried no smell of dust, he thought there could be no greater luxury.

‘Yes, this is not bad at all.’

Even if he felt lost about what might happen from here on.

‘I will sleep first and think more about the rest after waking up.’

He didn’t need to solve anything right away anyway. As always, he chose to think positively.

•••

When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings were pitch black.

“What time is it?”

He looked around, but there was no way to check the time. That was when he realized he didn’t even have a phone.

“How will I binge dramas like this?”

When he had no work, binge-watching dramas had been his only hobby. As he sat absentmindedly, the huge TV in the living room suddenly came to mind.

“It isn’t just decoration, right?”

Since this wasn’t a set, something had to play.

Probably.

Or maybe not?

He decided to check and was just climbing out of bed when his stomach growled loudly.

“I’m hungry.”

They say even sightseeing at Geumgang Mountain comes after a meal.

Rubbing his belly, Eunsol left the room. Even though it was night, dim lights were on, so finding the kitchen was not difficult.

“Will there be anything to eat?”

Earlier, when he had gone into the kitchen searching for clues, he had seen bowls and tableware. But since he hadn’t opened the refrigerator, he had no idea if there were ingredients.

With his heart thumping, he opened the large refrigerator door.

“Oh!”

The refrigerator was filled with more variety than expected. When he spotted well-fermented kimchi, his mouth watered.

“What should I make?”

After a happy dilemma, he pulled out kimchi, prosciutto, and eggs. He wanted to fry rice with kimchi and top it with a fried egg.

On a hunch, he opened a cupboard, and as expected, instant rice was stocked.

“Great!”

For a professional living alone, kimchi fried rice was nothing. Stir-fry kimchi, stir-fry rice, stir-fry them together, drizzle sesame oil, fry an egg, and sprinkle sesame seeds, and it was perfect.

“Hm, hm, hmhm….”

In less than ten minutes, the dish was ready. Proud, he carried it to the table and sat down. He hummed as he ate, but while glancing around the house, he suddenly felt something wrong.

“Now that I think about it, this is strange.”

According to the drama plot, this house was a place Pyo Jaebeom had prepared to imprison the omega protagonist.

“For that purpose, it feels a little too authentic.”

It was a proper apartment with every kitchen tool and ingredient.

“It feels as if someone actually lives here.”

Surely it couldn’t be that. For a moment, the thought made Eunsol shiver.

He felt like someone was watching him.

“Everyone left earlier, so that can’t be.”

He knew no one was here, but once he became conscious of it, the back of his neck tingled. The kimchi fried rice that had tasted so good a moment ago would no longer go down.

Dawn

He didn’t even like horror or thrillers. Why did it have to be him alone in such a spacious house? As his legs shook uncontrollably, he finally couldn’t hold back and turned his head.

“Ahh!”

Eunsol screamed when he saw the figure standing at the entrance. The moment he recognized it, the dark form began moving toward him.

And finally the face came into the light.

“Ah, Py, Pyo Jae…beom!”

Eunsol’s mind worked quickly.

What did he need right now?

He had to act according to plan!

“Uh, uh, uh… um, th, th, that is….”

He fidgeted with his fingers and rolled his eyes around, sneaking glances at Pyo Jaebeom now and then. He had to appear timid and frightened.

‘But this doesn’t feel like timid but more like scatterbrained?’