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Dr. Park’s advice that the patient’s psychological stability was paramount, and the family’s insistence that it would be better not to create unnecessary trouble if that’s what Yeonhu believed, served as a convenient excuse for Jaekyung’s cowardice.
It would only be a few weeks at most… until Jang Yeonhu regained his memories…
While he was thinking this, time flew by like an arrow. Even the main family residence, which had always felt like sitting on pins and needles since breaking up with Yeonhu, became surprisingly comfortable.
“Hmm? Jaekyung. Let’s talk about it already.”
Yeonhu, clearly displeased that Jaekyung wouldn’t even look at him and only stared at his documents, cupped Jaekyung’s face with both hands and gently shook it. With his head forcibly lifted, Jaekyung shot a glare at Yeonhu while skillfully hiding his complicated feelings.
“Are you going to let go of this?”
“Aah, Jaeekyuung. Han Jaekyuuung.”
“Stop doing disgusting things. It’s annoying.”
“Your affection has cooled. What happened to saying I was cute and telling me to do more?”
“That was—”
He was about to snap back “That was when you were really eighteen,” but he had to clamp his mouth shut without saying anything. From the perspective of Yeonhu, who had lost all his memories of the intervening years, everything must seem to have changed overnight.
“Why are you just opening and closing your lips without speaking? Hmm? So cute.”
Yeonhu snickered as he planted kisses all over Jaekyung’s face, which was trapped between his palms. Each time that soft, warm sensation touched his skin, Jaekyung seemed to hear Choi Eunseong’s sobbing voice echoing in his ears.
He tried to shake off the auditory hallucination clinging to his eardrums and focused on Yeonhu in front of him. This was a mirage. A powerless mirage that couldn’t change reality. So perhaps it was okay to indulge a little.
“…Just a little. Wait just a little longer. I’ll think about it seriously.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Really, really?”
“Have I been lied to all my life? I said I will.”
They said it would be a few weeks at most. A few weeks at most. Yeonhu looked completely happy, smiling gently and saying how grateful he was, not knowing that Han Jaekyung was pretending they hadn’t broken up, with the active support and encouragement of his family.
The Yeonhu who always knew every little detail of family matters that never surfaced was gone. All he knew was that after finishing his years of practical business training, he had been about to go abroad for a trip to clear his head when he unfortunately had a traffic accident, causing him to lose several years of memories.
He had no idea what had happened between him and Jaekyung during the thirteen years he’d forgotten. He just firmly believed that they were still in love, no different from when they first started dating. As if the option of breaking up with Han Jaekyung had never even existed for him.
The crisis hit the very day Yeonhu was discharged from the hospital and Han Jaekyung returned to his own residence.
Thinking that Jaekyung wasn’t coming to the main house simply because he was late due to work, Yeonhu rejected all his family’s pleas to rest and kept waiting for Jaekyung’s return. When he finally heard the news that Jaekyung had moved out of this house long ago, he became agitated, demanding they bring Jaekyung back immediately, and then fainted again.
Dr. Park Eunhye, who rushed over to hear what had happened and check on Yeonhu’s condition, politely requested that Jaekyung move back into the main house, at least temporarily. She explained that emotional instability was common after brain surgery and emphasized that the most important thing was to avoid situations that could raise his blood pressure.
The family immediately made a decision and informed Jaekyung. There should be no difference between the world of eighteen-year-old Yeonhu and the world of thirty-one-year-old Yeonhu. Especially when it came to matters related to Han Jaekyung.
‘Young madam, but what about Choi Eunseong…’
‘Eunseong or whoever can be put back by his side once his memory returns. You don’t know, if Yeonhu has really gone back to when he was eighteen, he can’t be without you. Back then, when they tried to secretly send you to study abroad, what a scene he made—ah, never mind. Anyway, listen to me. Understood, Jaekyung?’
Thus began the strange secret relationship that everyone knew about except Yeonhu himself. Even though Jaekyung knew it would all end once Yeonhu’s memory returned… he decided to go along with the flow without protest. Yes, this is all for Yeonhu’s sake. Even the family is asking for this. Even though he knew it was all just pathetic self-justification.
“Hmm…”
It seemed like he’d been playing along well, but somehow Yeonhu’s demeanor didn’t look right. With narrowed eyes, Yeonhu stared at Jaekyung’s face with a displeased expression.
“What now? I said I’ll think about it.”
“No, no. That’s not it. I just find it strange. I haven’t moved out, so why are you the only one living somewhere else? Could it be…”
“Could it be what? That we broke up?”
“Are you crazy, Han Jaekyung! Don’t you know words can come true? Take it back quickly, hurry!”
How was he supposed to take back words already spoken? Yeonhu repeatedly pressed his finger against Jaekyung’s lips, insisting he retract his statement. He looked like he might faint if he learned they had actually broken up. Jaekyung bit down hard on that finger, hard enough to leave teeth marks. It must have hurt, but Yeonhu still had a grinning face.
“How did our Jaekyung get such evenly spaced teeth? Even your bite marks are pretty.”
“…Ha. This crazy bastard.”
His head was buzzing. He tried to recall if the young Yeonhu had been this overwhelming to deal with, but it had been too long ago to remember clearly. When they were clearly defined as “friends,” Yeonhu had never been like this, even jokingly. …Was that why being by my side was like hell for him? For a brief moment, all sorts of thoughts ran through Jaekyung’s mind.
“Anyway, why did you move out alone? Hmm?”
“That’s funny. Who was it that suddenly threw me keys as a college entrance gift?”
“Oh, was that me?”
“Yeah, it was you.”
With his finger still bearing the teeth marks, he pointed at his own face, blinking with a docile expression that looked unbelievably young. Although Han Jaekyung had been consistent with his lies since Yeonhu regained consciousness, this statement alone was true.
It had been a little over a year after they broke up. Han Jaekyung was still maintaining his fake relationship with Moon Yeonu, and Yeonhu, as always, was entertaining engagement talks with families of similar status. With the youngest daughter of a construction company, who was a year below Yeonhu, it was more than just talk of engagement—they had practically gone through the formal meeting of families.
On the day Yeonhu’s prospective fiancée came to the main house under the pretext of a meal, Jaekyung, unable to endure any longer, had a meltdown, insisting he would leave the house immediately. He screamed that he couldn’t live there anymore because seeing Yeonhu’s face was uncomfortable, and that he would go somewhere Yeonhu didn’t know and live without ever seeing his face until death.
Yeonhu, pale and trembling, apologized profusely and handed Jaekyung the keys to an officetel that very day. It was a desperate plea: if Jaekyung wanted to leave, he couldn’t stop him, but please don’t go somewhere completely unknown. As luck would have it, the prospective fiancée, returning home, directly witnessed the scene of Yeonhu kneeling and clinging to Jaekyung, which naturally led to the engagement being called off.
“Well done. I guess it makes sense that if we were both going to college and wanted to date properly, one of us should move out. Jang Yeonhu did something useful.”
Yeonhu patted his own shoulder as if praising his past self that he couldn’t remember, smiling broadly.
“Then let’s go see it tomorrow. Our home.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What do you mean ‘our home’?”
When he first received it, it had been Han Jaekyung’s home, and now Jang Yeonhu lived there alone, so strictly speaking, that officetel had never been “our” home for Han Jaekyung and Jang Yeonhu.
“If I bought it and you live in it, that makes it our home, doesn’t it?”
But the sight of Yeonhu, who always had a somewhat bitter, awkward smile beside Jaekyung, now showing a smile as bright as sunshine after so long… made it impossible for Jaekyung to utter any words of denial.
“Just focus on your rehabilitation. I’ll decide based on what Dr. Park says about how you’re speaking.”
“That’s mean, Han Jaekyung.”
“If you don’t like it, we can break up.”
“Tsk, you keep saying things you don’t mean.”
The thirty-one-year-old Yeonhu probably knew all too well that speaking harsh, cruel words he didn’t mean had always been Han Jaekyung’s only special talent.
“Hey, Jang Yeonhu.”
“What, Han Jaekyung.”
“…”
“…Jaekyung?”
“No, just…”
“…”
“I like you a lot.”
It was a final confession that he could never deliver except now. One he could barely share with the eighteen-year-old Yeonhu who would disappear like a mirage.
“Mmm, more than that. I don’t want you to just like me. That’s not enough for me.”
“Greedy.”
“That’s right. So hurry up. Okay?”
I love you.
The small whisper, seemingly about to fade away, had barely passed the tip of his tongue when Yeonhu hastily pressed their lips together. Han Jaekyung squeezed his eyes shut. It felt as if he had really gone back thirteen years, and he couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
