Come Back

“Rather than saying we were close, I guess I just knew my brother better.”

“… … ”

“Because I was your dedicated brother. Wherever you went, I would take you and bring you back.”

But I swallowed those words, thinking that maybe I wasn’t that kind to Yongjae.

“You said that Yongjae took care of my cat?”

“Because there is no one else like me.”

You had no family, no close friends to take care of your house or pets at a time like this.

According to what the hospital found out, Yoon Hye-an’s family relationships were complicated. No, perhaps it would be more correct to say that they were simple?

When Yun Hye-an was not even one year old, her parents immigrated to the United States. Less than five years after immigrating, her parents divorced, and Yun Hye-an, who had been living between her biological father and mother several times, ended up living with her stepmother, who was not related to her by blood, when her biological father divorced his third wife.

After that, he ran away from home several times and completely left the United States to come back to Korea, and lost contact with both his biological parents and stepmother. As a result, he was effectively without a family.

The fact that not all families are harmonious and sacrificial to one another was a kind of misfortune that Choi Hong-seo could understand better than anyone else. It was a much more common story than people with ordinary families thought.

“If you still need to adjust, I can keep you around a bit longer. Tiffany is cute and doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“No, if you don’t mind, please bring her. You’ve been a bother to me so far, so I’ll have to take care of you from now on.”

“… … ”

Yongjae, who was tidying up the kitchen as if it were his own home, looked over. His long, slit eyes without double eyelids looked sharp at first glance, but the look in his eyes was

“why.”

It looked as innocent as a frightened beast.

“No, that’s not true. Then, if you rest, I’ll go and get Tiffany.”

Although he said no, Choi Hong-seo seemed to have a vague idea. Before the accident, Yoon Hye-an was probably not the type of person to say such things.

“I’ll go shopping while I’m out. There’s nothing to drink or anything. If there’s anything you want to eat, send me a message.”

“It’s okay. I think it would be better for me to see the intestines myself.”

“Directly?”

“My favorite drinks and foods… I think they’ve all probably changed.”

“ah…”

Yongjae, who was standing in the hallway and shoving his feet into his shoes, slowly nodded his head. But his eyes were still suspicious and wary. He still couldn’t completely believe that he had lost his memories.

“But, bro.”

“yes.”

“Could you please be a little more formal with that speech?”

“… … ”

“I can’t seem to get used to it. It’s like a different person, so it’s a bit… scary…”

“I’m sorry… I feel the same way. I’ll slowly get used to it. Even if it’s awkward, please wait a little.”

As Yongjae, who had finished putting on his shoes, stood still and spoke, the sensor above his head went off and the hallway became dark.

“brother.”

Yongjae’s expression and voice, which seemed almost solemn, seemed like that of a man who had gathered up his courage.

“You really don’t remember anything…?”

Choi Hong-seo, who had come out to the front door to see Yongjae off, nodded.

“You and I really don’t remember?”

“That’s it for now. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t even speak informally to me?”

“I’ll do it slowly as we become closer.”

Yongjae took a step closer with a serious expression on his face. The light didn’t turn on despite his movement, perhaps because he was out of range of the sensor.

“Brother, then… how about an iced mocha latte instead of an iced vanilla latte?”

It was an odd question with an unclear intention. Yongjae’s two eyes were waiting for his answer so earnestly that Choi Hongseo hesitated and pulled his upper body back, reacting absentmindedly.

“Isn’t that it?”

“Right? That’s it, right?? They’re both just very sweet drinks!”

Yongjae looked moved, like someone who had been freed from an unfair misunderstanding after years of suffering. He even grabbed both of Choi Hongseo’s hands.

Yongjae’s eyes, which were close to three hundred, looked closely at Choi Hongseo’s face. His eyes seemed to believe Choi Hongseo’s words much more than before. And rather than being anxious about the fact that Yoon Hye-an, who had just woken up, could not remember the past, he seemed relieved. Yongjae’s expression and shoulders looked much lighter as he left the front door, telling her to rest and not overdo it.

The house I was in was quiet, as if it was cut off from the world.

With a sense of fear, Choi Hong-seo suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck and hurriedly opened the window. When some of the noise from outside leaked in and he felt connected to the world, he finally calmed down.

Was it because of the memory of being alone in complete silence before waking up as Yun Hye-an? As Choi Hong-seo, I hated noise, but now I was afraid of silence. I felt like I would be sucked back into that loneliness where I was alone, without a body or a voice.

I slowly looked around the house in the comfortable noise.

There were three rooms. One of the two rooms facing the entrance seemed to be used as a storage room, and the other was a dressing room. The dressing room was overflowing with fancy designer clothes, bags, and shoes. The door wouldn’t open properly.

But the other spaces were barren. It was like a house that I would move out of tomorrow.

Even though she lived in a fancy officetel built in an expensive area and was covered in luxury goods, perhaps the only thing that mattered to Yoon Hye-an was how she looked to others. Unlike her dressing room, which was so full that she couldn’t even fit one more T-shirt, there was absolutely no evidence of spending money anywhere else in the house.

Choi Hong-seo walked into the bedroom with the blinds drawn and opened the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed. Among the odds and ends like a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, receipts, and keys, there was another cell phone.

I sat on the bed and turned on my cell phone.

Two of them were stored in the contact, and one of them was a member of the Titan.

Yoon Hye-an was the face of the so-called ‘Titan’. Among more extreme people, Yoon Hye-an was the one who heard compliments, not compliments, that her ‘best job is her face’. How can you call her a bastard with such a pretty face?

Although he had never heard good things about Yoon Hye-an, Choi Hong-seo shook his head, thinking that they were not a good match. Then, he suddenly touched his face with his hand. Thinking that this face right now must be that face.

All records on the phone were erased.

There were only a few messages of concern and congratulations on his discharge from the hospital from some diehard fans who even knew his private cell phone number. All records prior to his jump from Dongho Bridge were deleted.

It wasn’t that he was just pretending to die to scare someone, as Representative Lim thought, but that he was determined to successfully commit suicide. At least, that’s what Choi Hong-seo, who had died once, thought.

Suddenly, I felt tired.

“under…”

I let out a long sigh as I collapsed from my sitting position and lay down on my side. I lay curled up for a while, listening to the distant noise of the street coming through the open door. Anxiety and loneliness were slowly creeping up on me.

Who am I, really?

How long can I remain in Yun Hye-an’s body like this?

No, maybe I’m actually Yoon Hye-an.

Yun Hye-an, who has gone mad and has fabricated memories, believes she is Choi Hong-seo.

If that’s the case, then the moment Yoon Hye-an regains her memories, will the persona she now believes to be Choi Hong-seo disappear?

I jumped down because I wanted to disappear, but I was afraid of disappearing again. It was contradictory. But this state of not matching the inside and the outside was also confusing.

To forget his anxiety, Choi Hong-seo looked at his cell phone. When he confirmed that the world was connected to Hae-sung, and that Hae-sung was alive, the thick fog that had been clouding his vision dissipated, and he felt as if the path he had to take was clearly revealed. He was able to forget his anxiety and confusion.

It didn’t matter if the road led to a dark and uncertain future. For now, I decided to just look at one thing and run towards it.

I slowly re-read the article, which I had read and re-read several times since I first discovered it a few days ago.