When the Clock Strikes|Pi Han Ul x Reader|

(S02) Chapter 35

Before either of us could speak, a voice drifted from the top of the stairs. Low, playful, and completely unfazed.

“Never thought I’d see you alive.”

I froze.

That voice.

The lazy, teasing edge of it. The kind that made everything sound like a joke, even things that weren’t.

I turned slowly.

Min Hwan stood at the top of the staircase like a ghost who’d been let loose with a smirk. His hair was longer now, a bit messier, a shadow of stubble on his jaw. But his smile? That cocky, crooked grin? Still the same.

If Han Wool hadn’t told me the truth…if I hadn’t heard it from his lips that Min Hwan wasn’t the one who betrayed us, I would have hurled every curse I knew at the man standing before me. For seven years, I thought it was him. The betrayal. The setup. The fall.

But it wasn’t.

And now he stood there, arms resting lazily on the banister, like he never vanished in the first place.

“You…” I breathed. “Min Hwan?”

“You seem old,” he said with a grin, taking one step down. “Did life treat you that badly?”

Now I just stared. Jaw tense. Hands curled slightly at my sides.

“You’re quiet,” he commented as he made his way down the stairs, hands tucked in his pockets. “Come on, aren’t you happy to see me?”

I blinked once. “Min Hwan…”

“I know, I know,” he grinned. “I ruined your twenties, made you lose faith in friendship, turned your soul to ash—yada yada. But hey, at least I aged well, right?”

“You’re still ridiculous,” I said, my voice flat. Guarded.

“I try my best.”

“You… I hated you.” My voice didn’t rise, it didn’t tremble. It just settled heavy between us like fog.

“I figured,” he said with a lazy shrug. “You’re not the only one. Everyone hated me.”

A long pause.

“But not anymore,” I said softly. “Han Wool told me everything.”

That wiped the smirk from his face, just for a second. His shoulders fell slightly. And beneath that carefree act, I saw it—the weight. The years. The regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said, more real than anything I’d heard in a long time.

I didn’t respond.

Not because I didn’t believe him.

But because I didn’t know how to.

“Guess Han Wool still believes in lost causes,” he muttered, glancing toward the kitchen. “Good guy. Would’ve lost my mind if not for him.”

At that moment, Han Wool reappeared, placing a hand gently on my back.

“I’ll go grab us something to drink,” he said softly. “You two… catch up.”

And just like that, he disappeared again, leaving me in a room with the person I once believed destroyed my life.

Min Hwan watched me for a second, then plopped down onto the couch, slouching like he had no care in the world.

“You look serious,” he said.

“I am serious.”

“Right, right. Still the same Beak Cheonga,” he said with a teasing grin. “Eyes that could freeze hell. I missed that.”