Donghae's checked his phone. He saw Leeteuk's messages. Apparently, he came by. Saw him and Hyukjae. Breathing.

So Donghae's in a good mood.

Hyukjae turned back into a mannequin. During the night. Luckily, he was not clinging to Donghae. He was just lying towards him.

Now he's curled in his bed. Stone hard.

But this is normal.

Hyukjae's gotten to his sleep stage. That's what's important. He's becoming more human. More living.

And he remembers Donghae. Not just the fact that... he's someone he loves.

All that is making Donghae happy. Even if he knows: Hyukjae's going to have many emotions. He'll need more time. Reassurance.

Donghae isn't certain about how much Hyukjae remembers. Of Donghae. With Donghae. So he has to be careful.

Hyukjae might have feelings... without the full memories. It could be hurting him.

Donghae will try to prepare for it. As much as he can.

He gets work out of the way. Cooks. Makes sure he has snacks for Hyukjae. Then he checks on him.

Hyukjae's still mannequin.

A few more hours to go...

---

Leeteuk comes later. Donghae gratefully hugs him.

"You look good," Leeteuk says.

Donghae laughs. "I do feel good."

"Is Hyukjae up?"

"Not yet."

"I need to speak to you."

They sit down in the kitchen. Leeteuk places his phone beside himself.

"So I told you dad's been looking into things," he says.

"Yeah...?"

"Well, there wasn't much to learn from Hyukjae or my grandma, so he searched up on that area in the district you two found him in. Dad went back there. He said it was strange because... the people who have lived there for long... um, they talk about how the place is cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yeah... it used to be a little village... Soori or something? It had small businesses and farms. Dad went through archives, whatever he could find and get from the police, for some history. He got this."

Donghae moves his chair. Gets closer to Leeteuk. To see his phone.

It's a picture. Of old yellowed paper. It would've been black and white at some point.

Leeteuk taps. Magnifies it.

"A clothing store?" Donghae says. Men's apparel is displayed in the window. He can't read much properly. "Len... what?"

"Len Seo, I think," Leeteuk says. "Now look."

There's another picture. This is of a news article. It's hard to see what's in it. But words can be made out. An earthquake. Damages. A lot of property.

"Okay..." Donghae says. He's unsure what this is about.

Leeteuk swipes again. Zooms into another picture. It's of the street. On one side... there is Len Seo. Rebuilt. 

"Are those... mannequins?" Donghae says. Frowns. Zooms more. He can't make it out.

"One mannequin," Leeteuk says. He moves to another picture. It seems to be an advertisement.

In the middle of the display window... there is...

"Hyukjae?" Donghae says.

"Is it?"

Donghae takes the phone. The quality of the image is poor. The advetisement paper is old.

But Donghae has drawn Hyukjae... numerous times....

The angles... lines... contours of his face... body...

"This is Hyukjae..." he murmurs.

He is the only mannequin. With a complete body. The ones beside it are headless. Wooden. From their bottoms... it shows no legs. They're on thin stands.

"Okay," Leeteuk says. "Dad thought so too. But he just wanted to make sure. Here's another one."

He swipes to an article. Donghae tries to read it. It's missing parts. Words.

"I think maybe it got attention?" Leeteuk says. "Dad's trying to look for a better copy. But here's another. This is a year later. Another storm. Then..."

There's the store again. Fixed up. Clothes are displayed. On wooden figures. They have no proper form.

"Hyukjae's not there?" Donghae says. "You think he came alive?"

"I don't know," Leeteuk says. "But if this was him... Hyukjae's really old. Dad's going to keep searching."

Donghae sits back. He's not sure how to feel. Leeteuk stands up.

"There were many natural disasters," Leeteuk says. "Dad couldn't find more pictures of that store. But it happened enough times to make people lose property. Maybe that's why people started saying the place was cursed. He searched up on the owners of that store in the picture and he found someone who was willing to talk to him. I'll keep you updated."

"Okay..." Donghae says. "No wait. Teukkie..."

Leeteuk turns. "Yeah?"

"How old are these?"

"I think..." Leeteuk says. Looks at his phone again. "Probably... a hundred and fifty... or seventy years ago? Like I said. Very old."

.

Now Donghae doesn't feel so good.

---

He's still sitting in the kitchen. Thinking. Worried. But... he's also feeling angry.

It's not right. Almost two centuries? What the ?

A sound alerts him to the time. He gets up. Rushes to the bedroom.

Hyukjae's up. Panicked. He's in the middle of the r