96.
The hot, humid air of South America was gone in the blink of an eye. By the time Ryu Ho-yeon had become fairly skilled at pretending to have lost his memory, their residence had already changed to Korea.
Ryu Ho-yeon was fine with that. He was secretly excited to set foot on his homeland much sooner than expected, after longing for it with no guarantee of when he might return.
Having heard that Choi Jae-won had already left the Center, Ryu Ho-yeon naturally assumed they would settle somewhere in Seoul, even as they landed at the airport in a luxurious private jet.
He had no suspicions even as they boarded the waiting black limousine. He only thought it was interesting how darkly tinted the windows were.
But strangely, the car that should have headed straight into Seoul city kept driving on the highway. Down and down, without stopping. Ryu Ho-yeon wanted to ask where they were going, but he couldn’t ask anything.
Since Choi Jae-won had only said they were going to Korea, he couldn’t possibly ask why they weren’t going to Seoul, wasn’t that where they originally lived?
“What’s wrong, Ho-yeon? Is something bothering you?” Choi Jae-won asked in a voice filled with strange excitement, quite contrasting with Ryu Ho-yeon’s furrowed expression. Ryu Ho-yeon just made up an excuse that it felt unfamiliar, and Choi Jae-won smiled contentedly, apparently pleased with Ryu Ho-yeon’s shyness.
It was around then that Ryu Ho-yeon noticed something suspicious. He had been too happy about reuniting to notice, but looking back, ever since they started living together again as “Ryu Ho-yeon,” Choi Jae-won had obsessively avoided mentioning Ryu Ho-yeon’s original life before losing his memory—his relationships with the Laboratory Director, Lee Han-seo, and others.
The information Choi Jae-won provided about “Ryu Ho-yeon” was as follows:
First, Ryu Ho-yeon was Choi Jae-won’s pair and lover for a very long time.
Second, Ryu Ho-yeon and Choi Jae-won were supposed to go together to save the world and had trained hard together, but Ryu Ho-yeon, who loved Choi Jae-won too much, suddenly disappeared alone to save the world without saying a word.
And third… Ryu Ho-yeon was one year younger than Choi Jae-won.
Throughout listening to these stories, pretending to be surprised and fascinated, Ryu Ho-yeon was dumbfounded. It was beyond torturous to suppress the urge to refute.
To briefly express his objections here, though he couldn’t say them to Choi Jae-won: First, they were indeed pairs who spent a long time together, but strictly speaking, they hadn’t spent that much time together as lovers. Also, regrettably, it wasn’t Choi Jae-won but another Guide who had trained with Ryu Ho-yeon to save the world.
And finally, the grand finale. One year younger? Who exactly? Whose?
No wonder he had felt uneasy from the moment all internet access was blocked while one-way media like television was abundantly provided.
At first, he couldn’t understand why this kid five years his junior was telling such baseless lies, but his frustration gradually subsided. Every time he called him “Jae-won hyung,” Choi Jae-won’s face would melt into goo, seeming never to tire of it.
Come to think of it, he had always thought Choi Jae-won’s tastes were unusual from when they first met, became pairs, and started their relationship, so this must just be one of his peculiar sexual fantasies being fulfilled in this way…
“Esper Ryu Ho-yeon.”
“Ah, yes.”
Momentarily lost in thought, Ryu Ho-yeon hurriedly answered while raising his gaze. The doctor removing the IV needle from his arm had quite a stern look.
Though he wasn’t sure if he still qualified to be called an “Esper” when he no longer had any abilities, this was how others always addressed him when Choi Jae-won wasn’t around. Choi Jae-won greatly disliked anyone addressing him as “Mr. Ryu Ho-yeon” or “Ho-yeon” without the distinctly formal and official title.
He had only ever seen Choi Jae-won smiling softly, always asking what he wanted to eat, what he wanted to have, what he wanted to do, eager to accommodate his every wish. But since reuniting at that distant foreign airport, Ryu Ho-yeon had discovered entirely unexpected facets of Choi Jae-won.
Especially Choi Jae-won the third-generation chaebol, from an employee’s perspective, was truly…
‘What is it? Can’t you do it properly?’
‘I believe you’ve been paid quite well. If you need more pay, just beg for it. Don’t try to ruin the schedule like this.’
‘You’re not feeling well? So what am I supposed to do about that? Proceed as planned.’
…
He was an insufferably unpleasant bastard.
During his time as “Won,” Ryu Ho-yeon would pull his hat down deeper to avoid eye contact and keep his distance to avoid even the slightest touch. Meanwhile, the very person who supposedly missed him so much failed to recognize him standing right in front of him and spoke with such irritating brusqueness that Ryu Ho-yeon sometimes wanted to smack that round, handsome back of his head.
“Are you listening to me?”
“…”
“Esper Ryu Ho-yeon?”
“…”
“Esper Ryu Ho-yeon!”
“Ah.”
Oh dear, drifting off topic again in the brief moment of distraction. Ryu Ho-yeon focused his gaze with apparent clarity, as if he had really been concentrating this time. But it was useless given how long he had been spaced out.
The medical staff frowned intensely before sighing deeply and adding that he should at least take his medication on time.
“Please take care of your body, I beg you. Please.”
He wasn’t in a position to argue that he was already taking care of himself sufficiently. Having fainted from anemia after losing track of day and night, engrossed in manga and novels that Choi Jae-won had brought him after not experiencing them for so long—what more could be said?
What made it worse was that Choi Jae-won knew Ryu Ho-yeon’s tastes too well, bringing such excellent works—at that point, even Ryu Ho-yeon felt wronged.
What media artist—no, otaku—wouldn’t gorge themselves when presented with a feast fit to break table legs after years of media starvation due to practical constraints? The aftermath was a concern for later.
Choi Jae-won had tried every means to dissuade Ryu Ho-yeon when he sat motionless with a manga for too long, or didn’t eat or sleep, but unfortunately, he was an excessively permissive guardian.
When Ryu Ho-yeon would blink his no-longer-adorably-round eyes and say, “I’ll go to sleep after just one more book, really just one more, Jae-won hyung,” he would melt helplessly and only manage to feed him, insisting he shouldn’t skip meals—not much help from a health perspective.
“…Yes.”
In any case, it was true that he hadn’t taken care of his own body, so what more could he say? Ryu Ho-yeon replied quietly, nodding his head vigorously, and the medical staff, still wearing a dubious expression, warned they would be watching him before disappearing outside.
As soon as the doctor left, Choi Jae-won, who had been waiting outside, rushed in. He always vacated the room during examinations because he would frown and create an intimidating atmosphere whenever the doctor said anything to Ryu Ho-yeon that might be unpleasant, despite it being based on professional duty.
“How are you feeling now, Ho-yeon?”
“I’m fine.”
“Earlier when your fever spiked, you have no idea how worried I was. If you feel even slightly off, don’t hold back—tell me right away. Understand?”
As if he hadn’t been the one saying ‘just do your job properly for the money you’ve been paid’ regardless of whether someone had a fever or not. Ryu Ho-yeon mentally snorted while casually nodding.
Choi Jae-won, as if even that brief separation was too much to bear, quickly slipped under Ryu Ho-yeon’s blanket, patting his head, rubbing his shoulder—making quite a scene.
If he hated being separated so much, couldn’t he just not pressure the doctor? That’s what Ryu Ho-yeon thought, but as he had done so far, he didn’t voice this thought aloud.
The exact reason was unclear, but the Choi Jae-won he knew would typically be furious whenever Ryu Ho-yeon casually said what was on his mind, so it seemed better to just keep quiet.
Setting that aside and returning to the main point.
After returning to Korea and driving south in that car with windows so darkly tinted that the outside scenery was barely visible, they took a boat from a familiar harbor. From that moment, Ryu Ho-yeon could guess their destination.
It was the very island where Ryu Ho-yeon had injected Choi Jae-won’s arm with a guiding substitute and escaped.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
