‘If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.’
The voice that muttered those words, staring intently, was laced with both resentment and self-mockery. Kim Min-seok looked at the person before him and unconsciously mumbled,
“Seo Ha-yoon…?”
But the person acted as if they hadn’t heard him.
Kim Min-seok scrutinized the face of the person standing before him. Pale skin, stunning features, even the small tear mole under the eye—it was eerily identical to Seo Ha-yoon, as if copied straight from a mirror.
“What the hell are you staring at? Turn your fucking eyes away! It’s disgusting!”
The person before him shrieked in a sharp voice. Only then did Kim Min-seok realize that this wasn’t Seo Ha-yoon. The face was a perfect match, but this person appeared older, with softer, more delicate features. Dressed in a fluttering slip, their chest curved softly beneath the fabric, and the shouting voice was undoubtedly that of a woman.
“Filthy bastard. You’re just like your father, dirty blood running through your veins. Just looking at you with those scammer’s eyes makes me sick. So do me a favor and stay the fuck out of my sight! Lock yourself in your damn room before I throw you into an orphanage!”
The woman, who was the spitting image of Seo Ha-yoon, screamed hysterically and slapped him across the face. The sudden slap whipped his head to the side, his vision tilting violently. A small hand rose to rub at the burning cheek.
“Mom… I’m sorry.”
Kim Min-seok was shocked by the voice coming from his own mouth. It was entirely that of a child. Now that he thought about it, the angle from which he was looking up at the Seo Ha-yoon look alike was incredibly low. Mom…? It seemed that this woman was the child’s mother.
“I don’t need your damn apologies! Get your ass back into your room now!”
The woman shrieked, pointing with one hand. Hatred flickered in her eyes.
Kim Min-seok couldn’t understand. The child called her ‘Mom,’ which meant they were her own flesh and blood. What could a child have possibly done so wrong to be met with such loathing?
“But… what about food…?”
The child hesitated, mumbling.
“Starve!!!”
The woman’s voice rang out furiously.
The child hung his head low before slowly turning around and trudging toward a small room.
Kim Min-seok wanted to turn back, to look at the child’s mother again, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished.
Following the woman’s command, the child crouched in the corner of the room, fiddling with a small toy car. He wasn’t really playing with it—just fidgeting absentmindedly.
Grrrrrrrk—
His stomach growled. The child’s gaze flickered toward the door before dropping back to the floor.
Kim Min-seok watched as the child’s hands toyed with the car and thought about this bizarre dream. A dream where a woman identical to Seo Ha-yoon appeared as a mother—what did it mean?
The child he was seeing from this perspective was most likely a young Seo Ha-yoon.
How was this happening? Why was he witnessing Seo Ha-yoon’s childhood? Was he reading the memories stored inside Seo Ha-yoon’s brain? Just because their souls had switched, did that mean he would gradually absorb Seo Ha-yoon’s memories while losing his own?
At some point, the sky outside had grown dark. In the dimly lit room, the child sat motionless in the corner, curled up in silence.
Suddenly, the closed door creaked open. A sliver of light from the hallway spilled into the room.
“Ha-yoon.”
This voice was somewhat familiar. The child lifted his head to see who had entered. Kim Min-seok recognized the man immediately. It was Seo Chang-seop.
“My poor Ha-yoon… Did your mom hit you again?”
Seo Chang-seop gently stroked the child’s cheek. Unlike the older man Kim Min-seok had seen before, he looked much younger now, and his features were rather handsome.
“Don’t hate your mom too much. She’s just really sick.”
“Why is she sick?”
The child—Seo Ha-yoon—asked. Seo Chang-seop ruffled his hair as he replied.
“She has cancer in her uterus. And she blames your biological father for it. She believes he gave her a filthy disease that led to this.”
“Then… is my mom going to die?”
Seo Ha-yoon’s worried voice was small. Seo Chang-seop fell silent for a moment. The young Seo Ha-yoon anxiously clung to his sleeve, as if afraid of his answer. Seo Chang-seop chuckled softly and gently patted the child’s head.
“Don’t worry too much. Even if your mom dies, I’ll always be your dad. I won’t ever let my beautiful Ha-yoon be sent to an orphanage.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Young Seo Ha-yoon buried himself in Seo Chang-seop’s embrace. Seo Chang-seop held the child tightly, softly patting his back.
***
Kim Min-seok slowly opened his eyes, momentarily unable to shake off the lingering sensation of the dream. It had been so vivid, as if he had truly experienced it himself.
He thought to himself—this wasn’t just any dream. It was undoubtedly Seo Ha-yoon’s memory.
Why was he seeing Seo Ha-yoon’s past? Since memories were stored in the brain, was it inevitable that he would start recalling them as long as he was in this body? Would he continue to remember more and more of Seo Ha-yoon’s life this way?
“Ha-yoon?”
A voice called softly from beside him.
He felt a hand gently smoothing down the strands of hair that had fallen over his forehead. Turning his head, he saw Ha Jun-seo lying next to him on the bed. Despite resting there, Jun-seo didn’t look the least bit drowsy.
“You told me to take a nap with you… but you didn’t sleep at all, did you, Ha Jun-seo?”
Kim Min-seok, his voice still husky from sleep, asked, “You just watched me sleep?”
“I dozed off for a bit too. But I woke up first and ended up watching you.”
“What’s so interesting about watching someone sleep?”
“I think it’s interesting.”
“You really have strange tastes, Ha Jun-seo.”
At Kim Min-seok’s remark, Ha Jun-seo chuckled softly.
“I just had a strange dream,” Kim Min-seok murmured.
“What kind of dream?”
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should even say it. After a pause, he finally spoke.
“A dream about Seo Ha-yoon.”
“A dream about Ha-yoon?”
“Yeah.”
When Kim Min-seok nodded, Ha Jun-seo’s expression grew more serious. His gaze silently urged him to continue.
“In the dream, I was Seo Ha-yoon. But I was a little kid. Judging by the size of my hands, maybe five? Six? Or seven? Anyway, really young.”
“And then?”
“I saw a woman who seemed to be his mother… and his father was there too. From the way he spoke, I think he was a stepfather. But I recognized him.”
“What do you mean, recognized him?”
At Ha Jun-seo’s puzzled question, Kim Min-seok suddenly realized—he had never told him about Seo Chang-seop.
“Oh… I ran into him yesterday at the apartment entrance when I was coming home. I guess he was waiting there because he couldn’t reach Seo Ha-yoon.”
“Ha-yoon’s family, huh… I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk about them before.”
Ha Jun-seo’s expression showed clear interest.
“So? What was he like? Ha-yoon’s father.”
“He didn’t seem… like a good person.”
Kim Min-seok kept his answer vague. There was no way he could mention that Seo Ha-yoon had given Ha Jun-seo’s gift to Seo Chang-seop.
“Hmm… I see. Well, go on. Tell me more about the dream.”
“Seo Ha-yoon’s mother… She looked almost exactly like him. She was really beautiful.”
“So Ha-yoon takes after his mother?”
“Yeah. Even the tear mole under the eye was the same. At first, I thought it was Seo Ha-yoon. But… it didn’t seem like she liked him very much.”
He stopped short of saying that she outright hated and resented him.
“I see…”
Ha Jun-seo’s eyes softened with sympathy as he reached out and gently stroked Kim Min-seok’s cheek. It was as if he were offering comfort. But the one who actually needed comforting wasn’t him—it was Seo Ha-yoon.
“And it seemed like she was sick. She had cancer. Uterine cancer. Seo Chang-seop talked about it in a way that made it sound like she might die… So I’m guessing she must’ve passed away early?”
“That’s possible,” Ha Jun-seo nodded.
“But then again, maybe I’m just overthinking things because I’m stuck in Seo Ha-yoon’s body, and it was just some meaningless dream…” Kim Min-seok muttered, as if trying to reassure himself.
“That could be true.”
Ha Jun-seo didn’t add anything more, simply nodding in agreement.
A brief silence followed. Kim Min-seok lay still, lost in thought, replaying the dream in his mind. It felt so real, like a memory rather than a dream. Meanwhile, Ha Jun-seo quietly stroked his hair and traced his fingers along his face, watching him with an almost indulgent gaze.
“Ha-yoon.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to kiss?”
