BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Darkness.
Heavy. Suffocating. Endless.
Then—A flicker.A gasp.
Asahi's eyes shot open.
He jolted upright in bed—Drenched in sweat, breath ragged, chest rising and falling like he had been drowning in a dream.
The room was quiet.The air, stale.
He looked around.
The walls.The fan.The desk.
8:30.
No red alarms. No blood.Just… another morning.
Another lie.
Asahi sat there, breathing slowly.His hand reached for his face—Touching the skin beneath his eye.
Still there.
The cursed one.Dormant.
He stood up in silence and pulled the eyepatch from the desk, strapping it on without a word.
No movement.
Just a boy in a dim room, haunted by the weight of his own skin.
"What if…"
Asahi stared at his hands.
Trembling.
"What if I…"
He couldn't finish the sentence.
"What if I just ran away…?"
The room stayed dark.The light bulb above flickered.The air carried a strange chill.
"Just because I could live this fucking day…"
He opened the door and stepped into the hallway.The house was quiet.
Mom and Dad were in the kitchen.He walked past them. Quiet. Distant.Not a word was spoken.
Straight to the bathroom.
But… someone noticed.
His father turned slightly.
Asahi looked at himself in the mirror.His heart skipped.
His face.His eyes.His body.
This wasn't him.
His fingers moved to his shirt—He peeled it off slowly.
A black mark had formed on his chest—just above the heart.Pulsing.Alive.
It looked like a second heart, pumping something…Not blood.Something darker.
Black veins had crawled outward from it—branching into his arms, his shoulders, all the way to the tattoo on his neck.
His muscles were tight.Toned.Unnaturally strong.
His long hair curled down in waves.He looked like someone else.Like something else.
He touched the pulsing spot.
"It's giving me power…"
"Then why am I terrified to see my own face?"
He looked at his reflection again.
Deadly eyes.Unstable.Changing.
Changing every day.
"I don't even want to sleep anymore…"
Suddenly—
A presence behind him.
He turned sharply.
"Dad…?" Asahi whispered, voice trembling.
His father stood there.Still.Silent.Just watching.
Expression unreadable.Almost… hollow.
"Dad…"Asahi's voice broke.
His father stepped forward—slow, unbothered.No panic.No urgency.
Just calm. Cold.
He reached forward.
His hand touched the black heart.
"…It's new, huh."
Asahi flinched."What?"
His father didn't answer right away.
He looked into Asahi's eyes.
"How many days?"
"What…?"
His voice was like stone.
"I asked how many days. Without sleep."
Asahi swallowed hard.
"…Yesterday," he said. Voice hollow.Eyes not meeting his father's."I didn't sleep yesterday."
His father exhaled through his nose.Still watching him.
"You look like you've lost 200 days of sleep."
Asahi lifted his head slowly.
Pulled off the eyepatch.
His cursed eye stared into his father's.
"…No, Dad," he said quietly.
"…This is my 200th morning."
His father didn't react.Didn't even blink.
"…Seeing you change," he said softly."…Again and again."
Asahi froze.
His father took a step forward.
"I've started to forget things," he murmured.
"I've started to feel numb."
"…I'm changing, Asahi. I've become dead inside."
"I was seeing you. Every day."
Asahi stepped back.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Dad…"
"You were changing," his father continued.
"At first, you didn't say anything.The days were looping.I thought they were skipping."
"…But it was the same."
"You were changing."
"You."
Asahi stood there.Silent.Broken.
His father smiled.
"…But I learned one thing, son."
He wiped a tear from his own cheek.
"…I couldn't even tell I was living the same fucking day."
The air trembled.
Asahi couldn't hold back.
"Dad…" he whispered.
He stepped forward—
And hugged him.
Tightly.
His father didn't hesitate.
"Asahi…"
His voice was soft.Pained.
"Live your life. Even if the day is repeating."
Asahi looked up at him.
"…Because?"
His father smiled.
"Because you can make every day different if you want."
Asahi's eyes burned.
"…Dad…"
He hugged him tighter.
His father held him close. Firmer. Stronger.
"Let me change a little more before I forget everything."
"I don't want to forget you, my son."
"I don't want you to suffer anymore."
Asahi bit his lip until it bled.
His father's voice cracked.
"I thought you'd come to me… I waited… and waited…"
"…And you never came."
"I'm sorry, Dad… I… I'm sorry—"Asahi broke down. Tears falling freely.
His father wiped one away.
"Live. Live, my son."
"You were always trying to save us. I see it now."
"I was just lucky I could remember you."
Suddenly—
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!"His mother's voice rang out from the kitchen.
Asahi's heart jumped.
He broke the hug, wiping his tears.
"I can't do this anymore, Dad…"
His father looked toward the kitchen.
Then back to Asahi.
"There's a woman in this house," he said softly."…who doesn't even know what you're going through to protect her."
"Let her be happy, Asahi."
"…Don't let her know."
He placed a hand on his son's shoulder.
"…Before I forget everything."
He smiled.
"I'm proud of you, my son."
Asahi's voice shook.
"I love you, Dad…"
"I love you too," his father whispered.
"But you have to go."
"Make her happy."
"Don't come back."
Asahi turned, grabbing his shirt and slipping it on.His body trembling.
He reached the door.
Stopped.
"Bye, Dad."
His father looked at him.
"Don't say that."
"When I remember everything again…"
"Just say…"
"I still love you, Dad."
Asahi smiled through falling tears.
"…I still love you, Dad."
And he ran.Out the door.Into the morning.Into the chaos.
Back inside—
His mother stood in the kitchen.
"Where is Asahi? He's gone?"
His father nodded, coldly.
"Yes."
She frowned.Angry. Confused.
"He didn't even eat, you fool!"
His father didn't speak.
He just turned to her—
And smiled.