113.
Suddenly waking up from the cold wind, Ryu Ho-yeon found himself outside. He looked around blankly, wondering if he was still dreaming. But nothing changed. Even pinching his cheek hurt, so it seemed he was indeed awake…
“Don’t be surprised. I just have something to talk about. It’s just that it’s too difficult to avoid Choi Jae-won’s eyes except at dawn like this.”
“…!!”
Startled by the voice from behind, he turned to find Park Woo-jun standing there. Come to think of it, he was floating in the air with his feet not touching the ground. Park Woo-jun looked at the flailing Ryu Ho-yeon somewhat pitifully before casually throwing out words. His tone was completely indifferent.
“You remember everything, don’t you?”
It was the crux of the matter without any preamble. Ryu Ho-yeon forgot his flailing and gasped in surprise. His neck had somehow already stretched out like a turtle’s.
No wonder Park Woo-jun’s eyes had seemed strange these past few days…
Park Woo-jun would become a completely different person depending on whether Lee Han-seo was present or not. It was the same now. His usual demeanor, stretched out like a well-fed dog, was nowhere to be seen, and his cold, indifferent eyes even looked sharp.
“Are you… going to talk about it?”
Feeling that there was no use denying it since he was already caught, Ryu Ho-yeon didn’t answer whether he remembered or not, but asked bluntly. Then he just swallowed nervously, waiting for Park Woo-jun’s response.
“No. Why? Would you like me to?”
But Park Woo-jun’s answer was completely unexpected. Ryu Ho-yeon had thought he would be furious, demanding to know how he could deceive Lee Han-seo and threatening to tell him immediately.
“Uh…”
If you’re not going to talk about it, why did you secretly… drag me out here at this hour… Ryu Ho-yeon quickly lost his tension and scratched his cheek.
“Aren’t you going to tell Han-seo? Didn’t you call me to tell me not to deceive Han-seo?”
“Why would I?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The two of them, who had known each other for a long time as same-aged S-class Espers but whose mutual feelings weren’t exactly bright and positive, stared at each other with wide eyes, punctuating their conversation with question marks.
In all honesty, Park Woo-jun did have some childish thoughts about telling on Ryu Ho-yeon, saying, “Han-seo, he’s been lying to you all this time, deceiving you.”
He certainly felt grateful that thanks to Ryu Ho-yeon closing the dungeon and saving the world, he could live happily with Lee Han-seo, but that was separate from this. The existence of another person who divided Lee Han-seo’s attention could never be welcome to him.
He found Ryu Ho-yeon annoying and envious, and wanted to somehow damage his relationship with Lee Han-seo and drive them apart. He had felt strongly about this for a long time. But even so, Park Woo-jun knew well that this was his own selfishness.
More important than his own jealousy of Ryu Ho-yeon was the fact that Lee Han-seo’s heart should remain unscarred.
If he tried to forcibly separate Ryu Ho-yeon, it was obvious that Lee Han-seo’s heart would also be wounded. Park Woo-jun was the kind of person who thought it was a hundred, a thousand times better for him to feel a little sad than for his loved one’s heart to be hurt. After all, Lee Han-seo was the only person he could truly love anyway.
“Since you have a head on your shoulders, I assume you have some thoughts about this. I’m not interested in that. But.”
“Park Woo-jun.”
“If you’re going to hide it, hide it properly. Don’t let Han-seo notice first. Don’t create situations where he’ll get hurt. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“That…”
“I called you to tell you this. You’ve been too obvious lately.”
Regardless of how complicated the listener’s feelings might become, Park Woo-jun waved his hand as soon as his business was done. It wasn’t clear how much his ability control had improved since they last met, but Ryu Ho-yeon, who had been floating in the air, landed neatly back in his bed through the open window without making a sound. Choi Jae-won was still deeply asleep next to him.
Choi Jae-won fumbled to embrace Ryu Ho-yeon who had returned to bed, mumbling without even opening his eyes.
“Mmm… did you go out? The hem of your pajamas is cold…”
“Ah, are you awake? Just. I was a little thirsty.”
“Should’ve woken me up.”
“It’s fine. Just sleep. I’m going back to sleep too.”
“Mm, good night…”
His sleeping face used to look so youthful, but time is truly frightening. Far from looking youthful, Choi Jae-won’s sleeping face now looked strangely mature.
Ryu Ho-yeon couldn’t fall back asleep and tossed and turned all dawn.
Was it really that obvious? If Park Woo-jun had noticed, had Han-seo or Choi Jae-won also felt something was strange? If they really had noticed…
His head was full of complicated thoughts. He considered just pretending that his memory had returned all at once, but then worried that it might end too abruptly with no catalyst for his sudden memory recovery.
‘Okay. Then starting tomorrow, let’s just gather and watch works where the protagonist has amnesia. I can just watch and imitate them.’
When in doubt, turn to media. Only after the excellent media addict artist reached this conclusion did his mind feel somewhat lighter.
* * *
“Huh? What movie is this, Esper? Aren’t we going to continue watching the drama from yesterday?”
“No. I suddenly wanted to watch this.”
Somehow this was among the countless DVDs. Ryu Ho-yeon proudly showed the movie DVD in his hand. “My Sucker Ran Away” was a classic film about a protagonist who pretends to have amnesia to win over a friend he’s had a crush on for a long time, and it was a work that Ryu Ho-yeon had liked for a long time and often watched together with Lee Han-seo.
It was quite an old movie now, and Song Won-young tilted his head as if he’d never even heard the title, while Lee Han-seo raised his voice excitedly.
“Wow! You had this? It’s been so long!”
“Uh… is… is that so? I don’t remember it well…”
He was about to agree with “Right!” but made a quick U-turn. His heart was pounding again. Park Woo-jun’s docile eyes blinking behind him suddenly looked like those of a grim reaper.
The five of them, including Choi Jae-won, settled comfortably around the living room as the movie started. Since it was a work they had watched so often that they could recite every line during their peak viewing days, Ryu Ho-yeon was quite happy to see it again after a long time.
[“It looks like a hospital, when did I get admitted?”
“You don’t, sob, even remember that, you idiot? Really, trying to make someone worry to death, you jerk, shit, really… really you cruel bastard…”
“Oh, our Jaekyung. Who made you cry like this? I’m sorry. You must have been so worried about me.”
“Yoou, are, hic, saying that now, hiccup.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t make you worry again. So stop crying, it’ll give you a headache later, okay?”
“H-hyung?”
“I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier, Jaekyung.”
“Uh…”
“Who is this person anyway?”]
“Ohh…” Ryu Ho-yeon let out a hazy exclamation while munching on the popcorn that Choi Jae-won automatically offered him. The protagonist’s line was truly trashy as he pretended not to remember and innocently asked who his girlfriend was, even though she was right there in the hospital room as a substitute for the friend he had a crush on.
Compared to that case, wouldn’t I be within a normal range? If that’s non-recyclable trash, then I’m at least recyclable trash. Thinking like this while watching, he seemed to naturally become immersed in the movie.
[“I can’t believe it. That you already knew we were dating. Hmm, but thirteen years is a long time… You did well to hold out until this age without even getting engaged.”
“…”
“Hm? Why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t tell me… Did I get engaged to someone?”
“No. What engagement?”
“Ah! That’s a relief. I was worried for a moment.”]
The movie progressed quickly. The protagonist, still pretending to have lost his memory, was putting on a good one-man show, telling a friend with whom he had briefly dated and broken up long ago, “We were still dating, right? That’s great,” and seamlessly continuing the charade. When he first watched this movie, he had wondered who would fall for such an absurd lie…
“Hmm? What is it, hyung? Are you thirsty? Should I get you some water? Or would you like some other snack?”
“… No. It’s fine.”
And here he was in the flesh. An amazing guy who was calmly smiling, blind with love and completely oblivious to the signs that even Park Woo-jun had noticed.
Ryu Ho-yeon wasn’t even in a position to sigh. This was because his “sucker” was sticking too close to him. Not even thinking about running away. Indeed, his sucker was right here.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
