“I… that’s… that’s ridiculous….”
“Do you really not remember anything at all?”
Kwon Yujin grabbed my chin and forcibly made me meet his gaze.
“I don’t want to.”
I tried to push him away belatedly, but the hand gripping my chin only tightened its hold, not budging an inch.
“Don’t tell me you don’t want to. Hyung, you don’t have the right to say that.”
Each word he spat out through gritted teeth was laden with emotions that couldn’t be contained. It was close to pure hatred.
I suddenly felt puzzled. Why was he this angry about the fact that I’d forgotten him? It was a category of rage too difficult to accept at face value. It was definitely excessive to be just because I, who used to sell my body to him, had declared I wouldn’t do that anymore.
But my puzzlement only went that far. At this rate, my jaw really seemed like it would shatter. Seized by pain and fear, I desperately kicked his leg hard with my foot.
“Ugh.”
“Hah. I clearly warned you in advance not to do this.”
Fortunately, my attack seemed effective this time—Kwon Yujin’s brow furrowed as his body tilted. I quickly put distance between us in that gap and moved toward the door.
“I’m on duty, so I’ll be going now. I intend to take at least the minimum responsibility as written in the contract, so calm down.”
I escaped from the hotel room as if fleeing, gasping for the breath I’d been holding back. I thought I’d sprint at full speed if he chased after me, but the hallway was quiet.
“……”
I stood frozen in the hallway for a while, unable to move.
Because what Kwon Yujin had said still echoed in my ears.
‘You greedily took my cock all night long that night.’
‘Hyung was so bad at it that I barely managed to train you.’
‘Do you really not remember anything at all?’
What I read in his eyes as he stared at me while saying such vulgar things was hatred more vivid than anything else.
Hatred. As much as I disliked and avoided him—no, even more than that—Kwon Yujin despised me.
But why? If he despised me that much, how did he imprint on me?
An ominous thought came to me that I might be entangled with him in a more complicated way than I’d expected. But then why were only my memories of Kwon Yujin cut off so cleanly?
Why do we hate each other?
Everything was confusing.
***
—Oh, yeah. Is that you, youngest?
After several calls, I finally got in touch with the boss. The hotel part-time job was ending this week, and since my physical condition had improved considerably, I was thinking of starting site work soon.
“Are you busy? I’ve been calling since yesterday but you kept not answering.”
—Ugh. Don’t even mention it. These past few days I’ve been so busy I couldn’t even think straight. Met some difficult customer and had to tear that apart and redo it, and then someone came looking for me….
The boss grumbled for a bit, then let out a sigh.
—Anyway, youngest, how’s your body doing?
“Yes. I think I can come to work for the next schedule.”
—The next one will probably be in the provinces, and the site is big so it might take quite a while.
“Where is it?”
—It’s Hoeju—will that be okay?
“I’ll go.”
The answer automatically jumped out without a moment’s hesitation. Because as soon as I heard the boss’s words, I recalled what Noh Seungmin had said before.
He’d definitely said the last area where President Choi had been spotted was Hoeju City. That he’d done business around there. Though it was quite a long time ago.
I had to work anyway, and if the location happened to be Hoeju City, I naturally had to go even if it was far. Even if it was impossible in Seoul, in a closed-off area like Hoeju City, the possibility of finding out President Choi’s whereabouts through word of mouth couldn’t be ignored.
“When should I go?”
—You impatient kid. Let me see….
The boss paused briefly.
—After finishing this current site and wrapping up, it’ll take a bit over two weeks. After finishing here, I’ll need to rest for a few days before going…. The Hoeju side gave us plenty of time for construction, so there’s leeway.
“Understood. Please contact me when it’s all sorted out.”
—Alright. Get going.
Two weeks—there’s still quite a bit of time left. Unlike my thought that I’d be able to work straight from next week, a long gap had opened up.
Should I do the hotel part-time job again? I wondered whether to contact the manager and ask if there were any positions available.
As I stared blankly at my phone that had gone black after the call ended, I suddenly became curious about exactly where Hoeju City was located.
I went online to check the map, and it was indeed quite a distance from Seoul. It would take at least three hours by car. Would President Choi really still be there?
And the doubt that naturally followed. Was the person I ran into in front of the funeral hall last time really President Choi? Or was it a delusion created by my obsession?
“……”
Wait. But why was I chasing President Choi in the first place?
I stared intently at the map on the screen, lost in thought.
“…What was it.”
It was definitely an incredibly important reason, but right now I couldn’t quite recall the specific reason. The more I tried to dig deep into my memory, the more it felt like a throbbing headache and thick fog rolled into my mind.
“Ah.”
After agonizing for several minutes, I barely managed to remember it was something related to Dad. Then was it related to a crime after all?
But Dad was in prison now, and his accomplice had also been incarcerated for a long time.
Then who is President Choi? Who is he that I tried to find him? Why is he connected to Dad?
It felt like my memories weren’t just breaking off but had completely disappeared. The more I agonized over it, the more unclear it became why I had even tried to chase President Choi in the first place.
But my will alone remained vivid. And I was certain.
‘Dad. A person like that shouldn’t be walking around in society.’
The words I’d said while looking Dad directly in the eyes at the visitation room not long ago suddenly came to mind. It felt like I’d found a puzzle piece I’d lost for a moment.
Right. I went to visit Dad after a long time to find President Choi. And President Choi’s connection to Dad was….
‘Hyung.’
Like a light bulb turning on that had been off, a child’s voice flashed through my mind.
Kidnapping.
That’s right. Dad had kidnapped a child. President Choi was the one who discussed the ransom for the child kidnapped at that time, and even tried to inject some strange drug.
Was the child’s body not well? It was hazy, but for some reason, that drug ended up being injected into me instead. Dad took money from President Choi and pretended not to know.
Still, in the end the child was released safely, I think. I don’t remember well what happened after that. It was a very long time ago, and I wasn’t close with the child either.
“I wonder if they grew up well.”
I only vaguely remembered that they were a very pretty child. I’m not sure about the exact appearance as I can’t recall it clearly. Since they were younger than me anyway, and were a child Dad had kidnapped, there would have been almost no reason for me to interact with them.
In any case, it was certain that President Choi was a dangerous person to the child. But for some reason, Dad didn’t mention his existence to the police. The accomplice who was arrested together with Dad was the same. I reminded myself once again that this suspicious point was why I’d been digging into President Choi’s background.
It seemed the head injury had a big impact. To momentarily forget something this important.
Perhaps it would be better to rest without overdoing it for the two weeks before departing for Hoeju. Even if I had to live a bit tight on money.
If push came to shove, I could use the money I received from Kwon Yujin. Though it bothered me that it was money earned by selling my body, it seemed better to use that money than to overdo it and disrupt the schedule.
Once I decided to rest appropriately this week, the scenery inside my home belatedly came into view. Perhaps because I’d been quite busy only going to site work, I saw household items here and there that I hadn’t been able to attend to.
I’m the type to throw away unnecessary items readily, but perhaps because I’d been busy these past few years, quite a lot of things I hadn’t disposed of in time had piled up.
First, I put broken dishes, a frying pan whose coating had completely peeled off and become unusable, flyers, torn clothes, rope left over from the site that I’d brought home, and chocolate I found in a drawer into a trash bag in turn.
I don’t even eat chocolate much, so I don’t know why I collected so many different kinds. There were so many that they filled the bag to the brim.
“A toy…?”
In the process, I discovered a blue toy car in the corner of a drawer.
The paint was peeling off here and there, making it look very old. It seemed like something I’d played with as a child. But why is it still here? I remember only packing essentials when I left Dad’s house. Did it get caught up with other things?
I observed it for a moment, then threw it into the trash bag just like the other items.
