#122
“I’m going to the research building.”
“Our paths are the same for a while. Let’s go together.”
Ho-woo matched his pace with Joo Si-yeo. Her steps were neither fast nor slow, and Ho-woo felt she was being considerate of him. Though he hadn’t seen her many times, she always walked faster than Ho-woo.
“By the way, what brings you here, Si-yeo?”
“Ah, I’m here to receive the imprinting contract.”
“…The imprinting contract?”
Ho-woo recalled that terrifying contract he had signed. According to Oh-yul, that was the standard contract, so the one Joo Si-yeo mentioned was likely the same.
“That contract’s clauses…”
Ho-woo was about to say they were a bit strange, but he closed his mouth at Joo Si-yeo’s next words.
“It’s fine. They said they put a lot of thought into it, and I like every single clause.”
“……”
It seemed problematic from the very first clause.
Ho-woo calmly collected his thoughts. Maybe espers have some peculiar aspects.
“You’re going to get imprinted, right?”
“Of course! I’m so happy to finally have a legal means to keep that guy tied down.”
Joo Si-yeo smiled more brightly than ever. A rosy color bloomed on her cheeks like a flower suddenly blossoming.
“Congratulations.”
While offering congratulations, Ho-woo hoped it would be something to celebrate for Joo Si-yeo’s partner as well.
“Thank you.”
After parting ways with the radiantly smiling Joo Si-yeo at their midpoint, Ho-woo returned to the lab and slowly organized his thoughts.
As the saying goes, if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it. If it’s something he’ll face eventually…
Ho-woo decided not to avoid it anymore.
***
Before his resolve could waver, Ho-woo sat Oh-yul down with a determined face as he was about to prepare dinner. Oh-yul, who had been looking puzzled, slowly lost his expression at Ho-woo’s following words.
“I’m going to check my memories.”
His hardened gaze and lips that had lost their smile closed heavily. Eyes filled with so many emotions that they appeared emotionless closed deeply and then opened.
“It seems you’ve decided.”
“Yes.”
At Ho-woo’s resolute voice, Oh-yul tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingertips.
“When do you plan to check?”
“I want to check as soon as possible, before my resolve wavers.”
“I see.”
Tap, tap, tap—
The steady tapping on the armrest stopped. The monster, disguised as kindness, checked once again if the terrible trap was well set.
“Do you remember the button I gave you?”
“The magic button?”
There was a hint of laughter in Ho-woo’s voice. The predator licked its lips, looking at the pitiful rabbit unaware of the sharp teeth looming over its head.
“Yes, it will surely help if you find me unbearably disgusting after regaining your memories.”
There was certainty in Oh-yul’s voice. Certainty that Ho-woo would loathe him. Ho-woo couldn’t give him assurance that he wouldn’t.
“Well then, shall we have dinner first?”
Oh-yul got up nonchalantly and resumed the dinner preparations he had originally intended to do. The clattering sounds, the savory smell of food, and the solid back view wearing an apron. It was a scene that had become all too familiar now.
Ho-woo approached from behind and hugged Oh-yul’s waist tightly. Like a child seeking comfort, Ho-woo clung to him, and Oh-yul silently turned around and embraced him. His patting hand enveloped Ho-woo like gentle waves.
Ho-woo hoped he wouldn’t be hurt, that he wouldn’t lose this gentleness.
***
After finishing a suffocatingly silent dinner with Oh-yul, Ho-woo hesitated for a long time holding his phone. He had made his decision and now only execution remained, but he felt he should inform Do-hyun about this. No matter how awkward things had become, Kim Do-hyun was someone who had occupied a long 18 years of Ho-woo’s life.
If he talked on the phone, it was obvious that Do-hyun would try to dissuade him. Of course. Even he would grab and try to stop a long-time friend if they were trying to dig up bad memories unnecessarily.
So a phone call was one of the worst options. Therefore, although it might be unfair to Do-hyun, leaving a text message would be the best method.
Ho-woo carefully composed his message. The sentences weren’t smooth as there were things he had to hide, but he could still convey what he wanted to say. Taking a deep breath, Ho-woo pressed the send button and then turned off his phone.
“I’m ready now.”
With a determined face, Ho-woo lay down neatly on the bed. This was a decision based on Oh-yul’s words that regaining old memories would take quite some time.
The esper whispered gently that he would look into his memories as if dreaming, and when he woke up after a good sleep, everything would be different.
A large hand patted Ho-woo’s chest at a steady pace. It was Oh-yul’s consideration for Ho-woo, who was trying hard to ease his tension. He firmly held Ho-woo’s faintly trembling hand.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side until you wake up.”
Biting his lower lip, Ho-woo slowly closed his eyes. He could now naturally enter the corridor containing his memories. He slowly passed through the open doors and reached the slightly ajar black door at the very end of the corridor.
Oh-yul’s voice faintly flowed in from a distance, riding on the curves of his ear.
“We’ll always be together.”
Whispering words he had heard before into Ho-woo’s ear, Oh-yul embraced him tightly as if constricting him.
Within those strong arms, Ho-woo grabbed the handle of the black door and flung it open with all his might.
***
The first thing he felt was noise. The high-pitched laughter and fighting sounds unique to children, and the tickling sensation of sand on his fingertips.
Ho-woo’s eyes flew open.
No, he thought his eyes had opened.
He was trapped in a small body. A vivid consciousness held Ho-woo, but the view he saw was incredibly low.
Only then did Ho-woo realize he had fallen. His palm, scraped from the dirt, stung. The body he was trapped in got up nonchalantly and dusted off the dirt on its clothes.
“That hurts.”
That was the extent of the child’s reaction to falling. The child bravely went back to playing with friends. The limping leg seemed to have stopped hurting as it stretched out freely.
Ho-woo, trapped in the body of a child running around shouting as if out of breath, was bewildered. Where was this, and why was he existing with only his consciousness in the body of such a child?
But such questions soon disappeared.
The child’s reflection in the window was undoubtedly Ho-woo himself. His own image was projected behind the child’s appearance. He observed the passing scenery through the small child’s body. It wasn’t a school, but a place that could only be a kindergarten at most.
I see, this is…
Ho-woo realized. This was a place created by his memories.
Unlike other memories he had viewed as if watching a movie, he instinctively knew that these long-suppressed memories had surged like a tidal wave and engulfed him.
Ho-woo spent time sharing the child Ho-woo’s view as he moved. There must be a reason why he started viewing memories from this point. The young Ho-woo was literally playing excitedly.
As if playing tag, he stretched out his arms to catch the fleeing children and finally succeeded in grasping one child’s clothes. The small Ho-woo’s joy at this achievement didn’t last long. The caught child refused to be “it” for an absurd reason.
“I’m a masked hero, so I have to be caught twice to be it!”
“There’s no such thing!”
“There is! You guys tell him! I’m right that I have to be caught twice to be it, right?”
Young Ho-woo glared fiercely at the child who was insisting on his unreasonable claim, even dragging other children into it. His tightly bitten lip and firmly clenched fist looked ominous.
No way.
Ho-woo, who had no control over the body, was shocked by his own immediate action. The small fist firmly struck the chest of the child making unreasonable claims. The fight, rolling back and forth on the dirt, pulling each other’s hair and shouting, was extremely wild.
I hope all the lost memories are like this.
Ho-woo sighed, though no one would notice. The fight was quickly ended by a figure who seemed to be a teacher, rushing out of the building. Controlling the young beasts growling and glaring at each other, the teacher said, “Did you fight again?” looking very troubled.
So I was a habitual offender.
Ho-woo admitted that he had been quite a fighter when young. And he had even been winning until the teacher intervened. The teacher took the two children to separate places. She dusted off their dirt-covered clothes, washed their wounds with water, applied medicine, and put on bandages.
Even during this, young Ho-woo felt wronged. The reason was that he had clearly caught the other child, who was being unreasonable. While listening to this, the teacher made a phone call somewhere.
From the occasional voices he could hear including the word “mother,” Ho-woo quickly realized she was calling his mother.
“Yes, yes, then I’ll see you in a bit. Please come at your convenience.”
At the clearly audible voice at the end, young Ho-woo’s body straightened up. He was visibly tense.
