As soon as the man left the hospital room, Igyeong said to Chahyun.
“I thought you’d remember something when you saw your lover, but how disappointing. I guess you two weren’t as close as I worried?”
Contrary to her words, Igyeong didn’t look disappointed at all. Chahyun snorted lightly.
“What lover when I’ve never seen him before.”
So, it’s called amnesia. Moon Chahyun had lost eight whole years of his memories.
The last thing Chahyun remembered was his twentieth birthday. From Chahyun’s perspective, it was just yesterday that he’d secretly occupied the penthouse Igyeong had set up to occasionally take breaks, called over all kinds of acquaintances, and partied wildly.
It had been his first such fun birthday party.
The party news that started with a select few spread in real-time through SNS, and all the people in the vicinity known for partying hard gathered. By midnight, the number of people who’d passed through the penthouse easily exceeded several hundred, and they’d brought in truckloads of alcohol.
So when Chahyun woke up in the morning, he thought the splitting headache was from a hangover. But it turned out it was because of a contusion from the car accident.
And then he suddenly became twenty-eight years old. He felt so wronged he could die.
‘I was planning to play for at least 2 or 3 more years.’
With an irritated expression, Chahyun got up from the bed and stood in front of the full-length mirror attached lengthwise to one wall of the hospital room. Then he examined his twenty-eight-year-old face in detail.
‘It does seem a bit different.’
Changes he hadn’t noticed at all when he first received the amnesia diagnosis gradually became apparent.
He’d grown taller, and his shoulders had broadened. Perhaps he’d been exercising quite diligently, as his somewhat slender physique now seemed closer to solid. In fact, this was the ideal adult male appearance Chahyun had in mind.
If he dressed up properly in a suit, it would be absolutely killer.
Once his thoughts reached this point, aging eight years overnight wasn’t entirely bad. He could see Igyeong looking back at Chahyun in the mirror.
“You’ve become quite impressive, haven’t you?”
Chahyun nodded with a thoroughly cocky expression as he met Igyeong’s eyes through the mirror. Unusually, Igyeong showed signs of being proud of Chahyun as she added.
“When you were young, you caused so much trouble, then suddenly matured. Was it around when you were twenty-two? You rose to deputy general manager through your own ability. I didn’t pull any strings.”
“What happened when I was twenty-two?”
Igyeong seemed to ponder Chahyun’s question for a moment, then soon shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, I wouldn’t know.”
Though he’d asked first, Chahyun wasn’t actually that curious either. He’d originally planned to only play around as a chaebol family’s irresponsible good-for-nothing until then anyway. Having been born as a member of Moongang Group, he couldn’t live as a troublemaker forever.
Igyeong got up from her chair and stood behind Chahyun.
“I was thinking of promoting you to CEO of our hotel soon. If you continue as you are now, the board of directors won’t have any complaints either.”
“Not bad.”
Chahyun answered with a grin. In truth, he was quite pleased. To be recognized by Moon Igyeong, who pursued only the best, the highest, the optimal in everything. He felt satisfied that he’d become a splendid adult worthy of earning the trust of his big sister who used to be dying to devour him whenever she saw him.
Suddenly, Igyeong hardened her face coldly and warned.
“Though the story would be different if you continue to insist on that poor artist.”
“That won’t happen.”
Chahyun stiffened his face and answered firmly. At the same time, in his head, he couldn’t suppress the curiosity of ‘An artist? In what field?’
In any case, seeing Igyeong say this much, the man must have had some kind of relationship with Chahyun. Chahyun looked back at Igyeong.
“Just give me back my phone.”
“Are you confident you won’t make a mistake answering texts or calls?”
It was a question asking if he was confident he wouldn’t let slip the secret that Moon Chahyun had amnesia.
Chahyun showed an expression asking why she’d ask something so obvious. Then Igyeong smiled as if Chahyun was quite reliable and nodded toward Director Jin.
“Get him a new one activated, and return the one he was using as soon as it’s repaired.”
“Just to warn you in advance, don’t touch my phone.”
Chahyun glared at Igyeong and said coldly.
Igyeong was someone who would more than manipulate his phone to control him to her liking while he’d lost his memory. For instance, information related to the ‘poor artist’ clinging to Chahyun. But that was a problem Chahyun needed to verify and resolve himself.
“Even if that man earlier really was my lover, I’ll handle it.”
Having lost their parents early, Igyeong had a tendency to be overprotective of her two younger siblings, especially Chahyun with whom she had a large age gap.
However, even Igyeong acknowledged that while he was just young, among the three siblings, Chahyun was the most calculating and cold-blooded. There was no way such a Chahyun would be helplessly sucked dry by a leech approaching him for his background.
‘Unless we were briefly playing around matching each other’s rhythm.’
At an extremely low probability, on the off chance. Even if the twenty-eight-year-old Moon Chahyun had been blinded by belated love and become an idiot, it would be enough if his current self came to his senses.
***
Yiyoung stood rooted in front of the main entrance of S Ward in a daze.
Thinking about it carefully, there had been more than one or two strange things all along. The secretive attitude of suspiciously not talking about himself. Becoming deputy general manager of Moongang Group at an absurdly young age.
No matter how high his annual salary, his luxury car that an ordinary person wouldn’t dare dream of, and his obviously expensive suit and watch at a glance. Even bearing date costs that were burdensome every time and giving him gifts. He’d just thought he was from a wealthy family.
It felt foolish that he hadn’t noticed earlier that he was a person from Moongang Group. But it was a difficult fact to deduce just from working at Moongang Group and having the surname Moon.
‘How many people in the world would think their lover is a chaebol?’
Moreover, unlike Chairwoman Moon Igyeong, Chahyun and his brother rarely exposed their names and faces to the media. If you weren’t particularly interested in social economy or chaebol families, you might not even know that the chairwoman of Moongang Group had two younger brothers.
Yiyoung rubbed his face roughly with his palms as if having a nightmare.
He didn’t know which he should be more flustered about—the unfamiliar attitude Chahyun had just shown him in the hospital room or his status. He was just confused.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Hyeyoung. As soon as he answered, Hyeyoung asked.
― Did you hear from Chahyun?
“Boss……”
Hearing the familiar voice made him suddenly feel like he’d returned to reality.
Until just now, he’d felt like he was lost in a scary, strange world. Having relaxed his tension, Yiyoung burst into tears.
“Why didn’t you tell me Chahyun-ssi is a fourth-generation chaebol……”
Standing in front of the ward’s main entrance, Yiyoung was so absorbed in crying his heart out that he didn’t hear Hyeyoung hurriedly apologizing and consoling him.
***
Once his tears had somewhat subsided, Hyeyoung asked Yiyoung if he’d like to come to her bar and drink during the day. Yiyoung wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and said he would. Since today was Sunday, the whiskey bar’s day off, it seemed like a good time to organize his thoughts.
When he arrived at the whiskey bar, he saw Hyeyoung waiting for him, having prepared drinks and snacks in advance.
Yiyoung sat down facing Hyeyoung with a sullen expression. In truth, it wasn’t really an issue to take up with Hyeyoung, but he couldn’t help feeling hurt. Hyeyoung made excuses awkwardly.
“Chahyun asked me not to tell you.”
Still, even so. This wasn’t something to hide.
Yiyoung couldn’t understand either Chahyun, who had started a romance that absolutely couldn’t work out no matter who looked at it, or Hyeyoung, who had subtly encouraged it. Of course, people could meet and break up, but that was a completely different matter from starting a romance that must inevitably end someday.
Who would pour their heart into a romance with a predetermined end?
As if reading Yiyoung’s expression, Hyeyoung continued with an apologetic look.
“Among people like Chahyun, there are many who hate talking about their families. Especially when dating. Because it’s hard not to care about their background.”
“Then what about me?”
Hearing the explanation, he understood Chahyun’s position a little, but the dissatisfaction settled in one corner of his heart didn’t disappear. Yiyoung tearfully addressed Hyeyoung.
“There’s no way I could keep dating someone like that.”
Chahyun probably thought the same. Rather, it was questionable why he had confessed to him.
