Perhaps due to Hajin’s smile, the tension eased a bit.
“He probably suspects it already. After all, I still haven’t regained my memory.”
Hajin sat up as if he intended to listen seriously. I continued speaking while remaining lying down.
“Hajin-ssi, you said it yourself. That I seem like a completely different person. I feel the same way. But if you asked me to explain it scientifically, I couldn’t. Because even I don’t know why this happened.”
This world is the world inside the novel created by Kim Hyunju, and even I don’t know how I, an outsider, entered it. So what I was saying was the clear truth. I just omitted the part about the novel.
“True, you’ve changed so completely that I could believe you’re an entirely different person. I agree that it can’t be explained scientifically, and that you don’t understand it either. But I don’t see what connection there is between you becoming a different person and Area A.”
“Hajin-ssi, think about it carefully. Logically, the only explanations for me knowing in advance that real estate prices in Area A would rise are either that I came from the future or that I suddenly received divine inspiration. But as you know, I’m neither.”
Strictly speaking, I came from outside the novel, not from the future, and I didn’t receive divine inspiration. So I was telling the truth again. Hajin looked down at me with sharp eyes before his gaze softened.
“So you’re saying it was truly a coincidence?”
Hajin shook his head in disbelief, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at me directly.
“…Why did you mention A Tech stocks? For something that was a coincidence, you seemed like you were trying to time it as if you knew the future.”
I calmly told the truth. I knew about another world, not the future.
“I didn’t predict the future.”
Then I added a fabrication.
“I just suddenly had a dream while sleeping. Someone who looked like a company chairman appeared and told me. He said he actually owned the most real estate in Area A. He looked like the chairman of A Tech. So, I had a feeling.”
Hajin made a “hmm” sound. Unlike before, he seemed skeptical of my words. I thought, he really does read my expressions well.
“I can’t help it if you don’t believe me. I thought it was nonsensical too. So I was going to keep it to myself, but at that time, I already had feelings for both Hajin-ssi and Hahyun… I wanted to help in any way I could.”
Hajin’s eyes widened as if this interested him. But soon his expression hardened as he looked at me. Seeing the doubt in his eyes, I started to worry that he wouldn’t believe me.
“I’m telling you the actual truth, so I don’t have anything more to say even if you ask.”
Hajin sighed.
“We promised, didn’t we? To believe whatever you said. And if, as you say, you didn’t come from the future or receive divine inspiration… Oh, fuck.”
Hajin, who had been speaking so fluently, suddenly froze and cursed. I stared at him blankly, not understanding what was happening.
“What’s wrong? Suddenly?”
“So that’s how it was.”
Just as Hajin made this incomprehensible comment, the door burst open and Hahyun entered. Seeing Hajin sitting on the bed, Hahyun narrowed his eyes.
“I knew it! Every chance you get, you two…”
I frantically waved my hands.
“No, nothing happened. We were just talking, talking.”
Hahyun looked back and forth between me and Hajin before striding over. He looked ready to hit Hajin, so I quickly clutched my stomach, pretending to be in pain.
“Ugh, suddenly my stomach…”
Hahyun practically threw the porridge bag he was holding onto the table and rushed to me.
“Hyung, what’s wrong? Does it hurt a lot? Should I call the doctor?”
I grabbed Hahyun’s arm and continued to pretend to be in pain before taking a deep breath.
“I think I’m better now. I think my stomach reacted when I suddenly smelled food. I should eat quickly.”
The rich scent of sesame oil filled the air even before opening the lid. Hahyun, as if he had never been angry, unfolded the bedside table and placed the porridge on it. Then he pulled Hajin’s arm.
“Come out for a bit.”
After Hajin obediently got off the bed, Hahyun stuck right next to me. He scooped up some porridge, blew on it to cool it down, and brought it to my mouth.
“Say ‘ah’.”
Because our conversation had been cut off right before Hahyun arrived, I didn’t hear Hahyun’s words and just stared at Hajin. Hajin looked at me with a slight smile before leaving the room. Hahyun flared up.
“What are you doing? You said you were hungry.”
“Oh, thank you, I’ll eat well.”
“Hyung, are you going to keep making me feel bad?”
I shifted my gaze to Hahyun. He was looking at me with an expression that suggested he might cry at any moment.
“Why?”
“Just because I don’t say anything doesn’t mean I don’t know. Who do you think doesn’t notice that you’re always giving attention to Hajin hyung? You know it but you keep doing it.”
Despite saying this, Hahyun still held the spoon to my mouth. I opened my mouth to receive the porridge and then smiled gently at him.
“It’s savory. Really delicious. Is it because Hahyun is feeding me?”
“…Forget it. Don’t try to pacify me.”
“Then should I keep staring at Hajin-ssi only?”
“No! Who said that? You’re really mean, hyung.”
After saying that, Hahyun scooped up another spoonful of porridge and brought it to my mouth. As I ate the porridge he was feeding me, I continued thinking about what Hajin had left unsaid. The porridge got stuck in my chest and wouldn’t go down.
* * *
After leaving the hospital room, Hajin went to the parking lot. Hyunwoo, who had been waiting while looking at his phone, was startled when he saw Hajin.
“Huh? I didn’t expect you to come out so quickly. I thought you’d stay all day since it’s been a while since you saw him.”
“Thanks to that, you get to rest a bit?”
“Why the hostility? After working hard all this time, shouldn’t you take a break?”
“What break? This is just the beginning.”
Hyunwoo’s face turned pale.
“What? Did you forget your promise of a vacation, CEO?”
“Did I? I think there was a precondition that ‘after the work is done’…”
Hyunwoo started the car and asked Hajin:
“Are we going home?”
“No.”
“Where are you going when everything’s finished? Don’t tell me you’re going to the prosecutor’s office again? Prosecutor Lee Woohyun said he’s sick of seeing you. Take it easy. He said the trial is just a formality. There’s no way for him to escape now.”
Hajin didn’t respond to Hyunwoo’s words and just stared blankly ahead. Then he abruptly spoke.
“How much have real estate prices risen in Area A?”
“Close to 20 percent, I think? After the announcement of nearby area development, there are no properties available for sale around there.”
Hyunwoo was nervous about what Hajin was planning with his sudden question.
“Hyunwoo, I need to meet with Chairman Kim of A Tech.”
“Suddenly? You need to tell me what it’s about so I can set up an appointment.”
“Just say I have something to discuss about Area A. He’ll understand.”
“So where are we going now?”
“To the company. I have something to check.”
Hyunwoo didn’t understand why someone who had been constantly worried about Yoon Juwon was now focusing on other matters despite Juwon having woken up, but he silently turned the car around. As always, everything would make sense with time.
* * *
After waking up after three days, my body recovered quickly. During that time, Hahyun stayed at the hospital continuously, despite my telling him to go home. Hajin seemed busy again and only stopped by the hospital once a day to show his face before leaving. I was curious about what Hajin had left unsaid that time, so I asked several times when Hahyun was briefly away, but Hajin only repeated that it was nothing.
I had clearly told him that hiding things wasn’t good and asked him to tell me everything from now on, so it was frustrating that he was still concealing his thoughts. But there was no way to find out.
The news reported on model Yoon Juwon, a suspect in Chairman Seo’s murder case, being kidnapped by the real culprit and then regaining consciousness.
Though I wanted to live quietly, I became even more famous. After that, the nurses kept acting like they knew me, which made me want to be discharged soon.
“Hahyun, when did they say I could be discharged?”
“They said you could be discharged within this week, but I’m anxious and would like to stay a bit longer. You haven’t even had your cast removed yet.”
“I can’t stay in the hospital until the cast is removed.”
“Still…”
Hahyun looked at my leg and made a sad face.
“And how long does an inside director plan to not go to work? I clearly said I like a working man.”
Hahyun pretended not to hear me and took an apple from the fruit basket to peel.
“Not answering.”
“Do you dislike being with me, hyung?”
“Who said that?”
“If not, why do you keep trying to send me away? Even after you’re discharged, your leg will be inconvenient, so you’ll need someone to take care of you.”
He was right. I would need to keep the cast for at least another month, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything with this leg. Despite being free from being a fugitive, I would have to continue a life identical to being confined… It was frustrating.
“Then just go to work in the morning and come back. I’ll write in the morning too.”
Hahyun blinked several times while looking at me and said:
“Are you still writing the screenplay?”
“Yeah. Having survived a near-death experience seems to inspire me. Why, you don’t like it? Should I return to Fashion Group H as a model like you instead?”
I stirred him up, knowing full well what his answer would be.
