109.
“Good heavens, oh, God, thank you… thank you…”
Even as he collapsed weakly in place, his legs giving out, Lee Han-seo kept muttering. Though he didn’t particularly have a religion he faithfully believed in, seeking a higher power when witnessing an unexpected miracle was a kind of instinct.
A few teardrops that had gathered and fallen quickly became thick streams. And soon, they poured down like heavy rain.
Normally, Park Woo-jun would have pulled Lee Han-seo into his arms the moment his shoulders began to crumble, but unusually, he just stood a step away, watching him fall apart. Because sometimes, he knew it was better to let someone collapse as much as they needed to.
Lee Han-seo’s state was so intense as he muttered thanks like a madman while sobbing loudly that neither Choi Jae-won nor Ryu Ho-yeon could say a word. The atmosphere was almost solemn.
It was right about then. The tightly closed front door burst open with a bang! and an uninvited guest suddenly appeared.
“W-w-what? Th-th-that person… no, th-that person is really Esper Ryu Ho-yeon h-h-himself?”
As always, Song Won-young was an expert at throwing cold water on a solemn atmosphere.
* * *
“Please, just let me see his face once! If not that, at least an autograph! Really, really, just once is enough!!”
“…”
“…”
His squawking voice was almost on par with Lee Han-seo’s. After having Park Woo-jun firmly restrain the uninvited guest who had suddenly barged in, Choi Jae-won and Lee Han-seo were seated in the living room. The partially constructed basement was still gaping open, which was quite distracting.
But no one had the luxury of paying attention to such things. Lee Han-seo, who had finally stopped wailing, still couldn’t calm his remaining sobs and was busy making intermittent hiccupping sounds, while Choi Jae-won was busy running calculations back and forth in his head.
Ryu Ho-yeon had temporarily retreated to the bedroom. Concerned about confusion from the sudden situation, Choi Jae-won had subtly suggested he rest inside, and Ryu Ho-yeon hadn’t refused. Of course, Lee Han-seo had tried to follow him blindly. He had already half-entered the bedroom after Ryu Ho-yeon when Choi Jae-won barely managed to hold him back, saying they should talk first.
“Hic, hnh-hiccup, sob…”
Even while pressing tissues against his eyes, Lee Han-seo’s gaze was quite fierce. His intent to make Choi Jae-won speak up quickly was fully conveyed through his eyes alone. A remarkable talent. Choi Jae-won first brought him a glass of cold water. Lee Han-seo coldly refused it.
“Sigh… first drink that and calm down. He’s not going anywhere. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, hyung.”
“Sniff, hic, hnnng, hic…”
His ragged breathing was mixed with resentment, anger, curiosity, urgency… all sorts of emotions. Lee Han-seo gave Choi Jae-won a look that clearly meant “know that it won’t be funny if you run off after saying all this,” and gulped down the water Choi Jae-won had offered in one go.
“Hyung. Don’t be shocked when you hear this.”
“What could be more shocking, you crazy bastard? What could be more surprising than finding someone I thought was dead standing alive in front of me?”
Choi Jae-won checked again that the bedroom door was firmly closed and slowly began to speak.
“Hoyeon hyung…”
It had been so long since he had properly called Ryu Ho-yeon “hyung” that his tongue felt unfamiliar. He needlessly lowered his voice. Though he couldn’t continue the brief lie now that Lee Han-seo had barged in, there was still some lingering attachment.
“He’s lost his memory. He doesn’t remember who he was, what happened in the past, not a single thing.”
“What?”
Lee Han-seo immediately questioned with a frown. Judging by his expression, he seemed to be thinking “what nonsense is this?” His personality remained the same inside and out, even as he aged.
“You’ve done guiding, so you’d know, but he’s not even an Esper anymore. I don’t know what happened. He can’t remember, since he’s lost his memory. Did you hear I went to South America recently?”
“Yeah. I heard they found the diamond you gave to Hoyeon. I was told you made a fuss, turning the car around immediately after receiving the report while coming home with grandfather.”
After upsetting his grandfather and even taking a private jet, he should have found something. The story of Chairman Noh grabbing the back of his neck and collapsing in anger after hearing that the diamond, which Choi Jae-won had flown to the other side of the earth to verify, was just a well-made imitation, had been on many people’s lips for a while.
People often rashly assumed that Choi Jae-won, who had thoroughly disappointed his grandfather, was feeling down and had secluded himself on this uninhabited island.
For those who hadn’t observed Choi Jae-won up close like Lee Han-seo, it wouldn’t have been strange to come to such a conclusion.
“Actually, I found him there by chance, Hoyeon hyung.”
“Then… perhaps that diamond too…?”
“Yes. It was genuine.”
“…”
Even after seeing Ryu Ho-yeon alive with his own eyes and touching him with his own hands, his heart still dropped to the bottom. Lee Han-seo closed his eyes for a moment and took a few deep breaths.
“I don’t know why he was injured like that. No matter how much I traced his past, all I found was that he suddenly appeared there with injuries three years ago. After being rescued locally, he had been living in a refugee camp in that area.”
“A, a refugee camp? Hoyeon?”
“Yes. Because of his scars, he kept his face covered, and since he wasn’t an Esper anymore, I didn’t recognize him either. Then somehow I discovered circumstances suggesting he might be Hoyeon hyung, so I immediately did a DNA test… and it was a match. It was him, really.”
Lee Han-seo found it hard to believe. That Ryu Ho-yeon, of all people, had been living mixed in a refugee camp. That he had lost his memory. None of the cartoons they had watched together giggling with their heads close, or any makjang drama, had as much unpredictability as reality.
But it wasn’t funny at all. Yet isn’t that what a protagonist’s life is like? It might be fascinating to read in words or pictures, but if you actually became that person and had to experience all those trials, there would be nothing amusing about it.
“Because he’s lost his memory, to Hoyeon hyung right now, a person named Lee Han-seo is just a stranger he’s seeing for the first time. Be careful not to approach him in an overwhelming way like you just did.”
“…”
The tears that had barely subsided seemed ready to start flowing again. Ryu Ho-yeon not knowing Lee Han-seo, Ryu Ho-yeon treating Lee Han-seo like a stranger. Ryu Ho-yeon… not considering Lee Han-seo important at all—it was sad how unfamiliar this felt.
Still, Lee Han-seo didn’t rashly burst into tears. Even if it seemed nothing had changed, it had been almost ten years. During that long time, Lee Han-seo had become a fairly responsible member of society.
He had grown up enough to predict that the person who should be most heartbroken in front of Ryu Ho-yeon, who had completely lost his memories, was not himself but his cousin standing before him.
As the saying goes, “Even rolling in a field of dog dung is better than being dead”—he was just not showing his feelings because being alive was better than being dead. How could Choi Jae-won be feeling inside? Lee Han-seo thought this while recalling the emotional storm he had experienced long ago when Park Woo-jun’s personality had slightly changed due to an incident caused by a mental Esper.
Compared to himself, who had made such a fuss saying he was dying of heartbreak just because Park Woo-jun’s attitude had changed a little despite having all his memories intact, Choi Jae-won was showing a very solid and mature attitude.
(This was the attitude of a complete outsider who couldn’t at all imagine Choi Jae-won’s sinister inner thoughts, rejoicing at finally being able to monopolize Ryu Ho-yeon.)
“Alright. I’ll be careful about that. By the way, why were you trying to hide Hoyeon earlier? You would have already received reports that it was me, not someone else, entering the island.”
“…”
“Because he’s my brother, I hate it, my brother is the biggest problem.” Besides those two sentences, what explanation could he give that Lee Han-seo would easily accept? Choi Jae-won’s head felt like it was about to split open from thinking so hard in such a short time.
But no suitable excuse came to mind. No choice. Direct confrontation it was.
For someone like Lee Han-seo, who could only charge forward like a wild boar, it was better to confront him directly and honestly ask for cooperation.
“I have no intention of letting him go outside. He’s already suffered enough. How much someone famous has to endure in life… you know well too, hyung. I’m not going to let him be taken away anymore by those people, by meaningless attention or gossip. I’m going to keep him safe in my shadow and let him rest. Just looking at me, just being with me.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
