# Chapter 39
That night, Jaei’s parents, who had planned to meet after the New Year during the Lunar New Year, arrived in Korea earlier than scheduled. They had originally planned to come next week, specifically making time for Doha, but they moved up their arrival even more after hearing that Jaei had been hospitalized.
Jaei was asleep after taking medication, and Doha greeted them in the hospital room. His mother silently held Doha in her arms for a long time, having not seen him for a while. Doha led his mother and father out to the hallway to avoid waking the sleeping Jaei. As it happened, there was something he wanted to ask them.
Detective Lee Doha, who had been collecting evidence to discover his identity up until now, was about to use his “parent card” to get final confirmation. He sat between them, with his mother on his right and father on his left. The youngest member who had rolled into the Lee family comfortably brought up what could have been an uncomfortable topic without hesitation.
“Please tell me everything if you know anything. I’m almost all grown up now, so you can really tell me everything. I’ve even considered the possibility that I was born through alchemy, so whatever my identity is, I won’t be shocked by much.”
Based on the evidence he had collected so far, Doha had almost reached a conclusion about the existence of the “mysteriously naturally occurring Lee Doha.” Looking alternately at his mother and father, he continued.
“People tell me I seem to be the younger brother of someone named Ryu Doha. And it’s not just one or two people saying this. It feels like everyone except me knows Ryu Doha. You both know who Ryu Doha is too, right? The other Ryu Doha, not me.”
When he brought this up casually in a fairly composed tone, his mother pulled Doha into her arms. She apologized while stroking his head.
“I’m sorry we kept it from you and didn’t tell you. I thought it was right not to say anything until you found out on your own. I thought that would make you less sad and less hurt.”
“That’s right. I grew up bright because you hid it from me. If I had found out when I was young, I wouldn’t have grown up as cheerfully as I did. Finding out my real brother died and I was separated from my birth parents—how could anyone be okay with that?”
Doha nodded, understanding all their actions. He reassured them with a rather innocent smile and continued with his questions.
“What happened to me before? Why couldn’t I remember anything and why did I believe my name was Ryu Doha? How did you find out that I was the brother of someone named Ryu Doha? Please tell me now. I won’t be sad.”
At Doha’s request, his mother and father explained in relative detail what had happened in the past. Doha tried not to miss a single word of what they said. Soon, he was able to understand the reactions that Jaei had shown when he first met him, and those shown by his mother and father. He also understood how he was able to join their family without any obstacles.
He understood what led them to guess his existence as Ryu Doha’s younger brother. However, even after hearing their explanations, there were only plausible circumstances, no definitive evidence. For Doha, who had directly experienced the situation, many questions still remained. The feeling he had in that moment, standing in a playground without a single footprint, the certainty he had felt then—that was the most important clue. Doha quietly mulled over that feeling by himself.
“I am Ryu Doha. I am eight years old, and my birthday is July 10th. I did not exist in this world until yesterday, and my life begins now.”
In reality, not everyone thought of Lee Doha as Ryu Doha’s real younger brother. One most important person, only Jaei, had a completely different thought from others.
When he asked Hong Duyoung about Jaei’s thoughts the day before yesterday, he answered with an expression mixed with fear and fascination:
“Just look at Jaei collapsing. Jaei isn’t normal right now. He thinks that the dead Ryu Doha has come back to life when he looks at you. It might be difficult from an actor’s perspective, but for me as a director, it’s really worked out well. Thanks to that, I think this project will turn out truly excellent.”
Though he used his parent card to confirm his identity, Doha only gained the certainty that there was no clear evidence that he was Ryu Doha’s younger brother.
Doha was constantly making new connections in his mind between the dead Ryu Doha and himself. Given the situation, he thought that only he in the world could detect the parts that others would not dare guess and find out the truth.
But for the time being, he decided to just be “Ryu Seungha, Ryu Doha’s brother” to his parents. There was nothing more convenient to gloss over the mystery of his identity.
Looking at his father, he asked:
“Was hyung very sad when Ryu Doha died? Oh, I mean Jaei hyung.”
“Doha was Jaei’s favorite friend. After Doha died, Jaei couldn’t even eat a proper meal a day, and he would vomit if he managed to swallow anything. I thought he was going to die like that. But after you came, Jaei would smile all day long when he saw you. That’s why we couldn’t send you back to your family.”
At his father’s words, Doha squinted at him and asked brazenly:
“That statement could be misunderstood. Did you adopt me because of hyung? You need to fix this properly now.”
His father waved his hand in embarrassment.
“No, of course not. There were really many reasons, and Jaei was just one of them. The biggest reason, as I explained back then, was that you were too cute.”
“I almost felt really hurt.”
Soon, words of “we love you” and the affectionate statement “if you want, we’ll find your biological parents, but you’ll still be my son anyway” poured into both his ears. Doha accepted all his parents’ words sincerely without misinterpreting them. After stretching pleasantly, he grabbed their wrists and energetically stood up.
“Shall we go in now? Let’s just wake hyung up. Oh right, but let me ask just one more final thing.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Before you met me, you also lived at Winners Castle, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. We lived there together with Jaei, your real brother, and your real mother.”
“Which unit did you live in?”
While his mother and father were forcibly waking the sleeping Jaei, pinching his cheeks and ears as they reunited, Doha left the hospital and walked endlessly through the night streets. Tonight, his mother and father would spend time by Jaei’s side, taking care of him.
He had told his parents that he would go home, sleep, and go to school, but Doha’s steps were now heading toward the Han River, not home. Puberty, which hadn’t even visited him during middle school, had unexpectedly arrived at a completely unexpected moment.
To be precise, Lee Doha was just starting to wander and was in the midst of running away from home. And the one person who had made Doha go astray was none other than Lee Jaei. Of course, the fact that Jaei had kept everything he knew a secret was not a problem at all. What was troubling Doha’s heart now was something else.
It was the first time in his life that he had experienced such severe stress. He thought about getting alcohol and cigarettes to commit some delinquent acts, but he remembered Jaei who would scream as if he would faint even if Doha got a little close to anything dangerous, so he gave up. And he thought this was the power of home education.
After spending a cool night outside, he went home in the morning to take a shower. The short-term runaway teenager Lee Doha properly put on his school uniform and diligently went to school without any trouble. After classes ended, he headed to Jaei’s hospital. His mother and father, who needed to adjust to the time difference, were currently resting at their family home, and now it was Doha’s turn to spend time alone with Jaei.
Appearing at the hospital room in his school uniform with his backpack, Doha looked down at Jaei with cold eyes. Though his gaze was cold, his body diligently took care of Jaei like a skilled servant.
Jaei blinked his eyes incessantly, full of fear, as he received and ate the rice porridge that Doha fed him directly. He fluttered his lips, which were moistened with porridge, trying to induce a kiss, but Doha didn’t fall for this fishing for kisses with some kind of intention.
Jaei knew that Doha had extracted all the information his mother and father knew last night. If Doha was thinking, “To think I was the younger brother of hyung’s dead first love, how could this be? I feel betrayed. I don’t want to like hyung anymore. Kisses are over too. I’m going to make a fresh start with someone my own age,” then he needed to clear up the misunderstanding right now.
Jaei, who had been staring intently at Doha’s lips and quietly waiting for him to speak, eventually couldn’t bear it any longer and spoke first.
“If you have something to say, just say it, Doha. I’m dying of frustration.”
“I was waiting for you, hyung. I was afraid you might choke if you hear what I have to say while eating.”
Doha wiped Jaei’s mouth with a napkin, gently tapped the crown of Jaei’s head with his chin, and then cleared the bowl. Then he sat on the bed, pulled by Jaei who was clutching his collar. While caressing the pretty nose of Jaei, who was looking up at him with innocent eyes like a child, he began his confession.
“Alright, hyung. I finally know for sure who I am. I was shocked and ran away yesterday. You probably didn’t notice because I didn’t show it at all, but this is day two of my running away.”
“No, Doha. What you know now isn’t the truth. I wasn’t sure who you were until recently either. I kept worrying and getting confused. That’s why I couldn’t tell you. But I was afraid that my certainty would be too much of a shock for you, so I was hoping you would realize it slowly on your own. So listen to me first.”
