Chapter 2
While the man was gripping my ankle in that moment of despair, I became terrified he might drag me down to the basement right then and there. I opened my eyes and waited for him to look at me.
I needed to make eye contact before saying anything, but he wouldn’t look up. Since I wasn’t getting the chance to ask “Who are you? Where am I?” I decided to speak first.
“Excuse me…”
Expressionless eyes turned toward me. The moment our gazes met directly, I unconsciously held my breath.
The man was so…
Now that I thought about it, all the men in Kim Hyunju’s novels were described in similar ways.
“Eye-catching to everyone,” “as if carefully sculpted,” “beautiful even to other men”—those kinds of descriptions.
The man I saw in person had looks beautiful enough to make someone tense just from eye contact alone.
A high, straight nose bridge, pale skin with an overall exotic air, vivid red lips, and brown hair that looked like it could flutter in the slightest breeze… Plus those blue-tinged eyes that completed his face perfectly.
Am I insane? I’m standing in front of a man yet reacting as if I’d just met someone of extraordinary beauty…
I scolded myself for being so overwhelmed by his appearance that I’d forgotten to speak, and tried to refocus on the situation.
“Did you sleep well?”
When he greeted me with the corners of his lips turned up, I snapped back to attention and openly showed my surprise.
“Who are you? Do you know me?”
His blue eyes trembled anxiously before quickly settling.
“Ha… so now you’re trying a different approach?”
His expression—half-mocking, half-sneering—and his piercing gaze made me tremble. Still, I needed to act like I was seeing this man for the first time. Since that was actually true, I figured showing shock or trembling might work in my favor.
“Different approach… what do you mean?”
He released my ankle, stood up, and began bringing his face close to mine. The gradually shrinking distance stopped only when our breaths could mingle if we exhaled.
His gaze, as if licking over me, touched various parts of my face before finally pulling away. At the same time, the breath I’d been holding burst out all at once.
“You don’t seem to be lying… What’s going on? Did your brain get scrambled from not eating for too long?”
I openly displayed the confusion I’d felt when I first opened my eyes. After all, my job now was to play a confused and disoriented Yoon Juwon who couldn’t remember anything.
I felt calmer now. I trembled outwardly, acting confused while remaining composed inside.
“I… I wish this situation were a lie too. I opened my eyes and there you were. I don’t even know who I am…”
“You don’t remember anything?”
“No.”
“Hmm…”
A strange light flickered in his eyes as he stared at me.
“Not even your name or occupation?”
“I told you—I don’t remember anything. Are you family? Why am I here?”
His face suddenly hardened. After staring at me for a while, the man rubbed his face as if in agony and ran his hands through his hair.
“Fuck, you—that is, Yoon Juwon—have forgotten me, Seo Hajin, of all people?”
His voice, enunciating each word separately, revealed unmistakable anger.
Seo Hajin? And he’s angry?
According to my original plan, I was supposed to fake amnesia to give them hope of restoring their relationship and escape the danger of possibly dying in the basement immediately.
However, the man who’d introduced himself as Seo Hajin—far from having hope—seemed even more furious. Bang, bang. As Hajin pounded the wall, my heart pounded with it.
“How… could you forget me?”
He cupped my face with both hands and looked into my eyes.
“Ha… Juwon, you can forget everything else, but not me… Even if you forget yourself, you should remember me. Right?”
“…”
The hands holding my face fell away. His voice grew increasingly agitated.
“You did this the first time too. You said you didn’t remember me. With that pretty face of yours, being all kind, asking ‘Who are you?’ And then what? ‘Can I help you?’ Ha… Do you know how fucking awful that was?”
“…”
For a moment, I had to think. Should I pretend to remember now? Or should I stick to the original plan of feigning amnesia until the end?
While I was deliberating, Hajin suddenly threw his head back and started laughing like a madman.
“Hahaha…”
Wow, he really is insane. Kim Hyunju is crazy too. There are so many kind people in the world, yet she chose someone like this as a protagonist…
Momentarily forgetting he wasn’t even in the original story, I was busy cursing my friend in my head. Meanwhile, Hajin’s madness continued without pause.
“Yoon Juwon has forgotten me… Yoon Juwon has forgotten me?”
Hajin repeated the same words, pacing back and forth restlessly. Then he grabbed a flowerpot from the windowsill and hurled it to the floor.
“How could you…”
The flowerpot shattered, pieces rolling across the floor.
I was too scared to even breathe properly, terrified that fragments might fly toward me. It was lucky he’d thrown it away from me—otherwise my body would’ve been shredded. The thought gave me goosebumps.
Seo Hajin seemed like a genuine lunatic, and I worried he might suddenly snap and attack me if this continued. Finding the situation more serious than what was portrayed in the original story, I concluded that Seo Hajin, like Seo Hahyun in the original, was completely insane.
Feeling I couldn’t just leave him like this, I spoke first.
“Hajin-ssi?”
Hajin turned his gaze toward me. I spoke as sincerely as possible.
“I’m sorry. For not remembering you. I’ll make sure to remember the name Seo Hajin from now on.”
Hajin collapsed to the floor as if his legs had given out. I wanted to see his expression to gauge whether my words had worked, but he was covering his face with both hands, making it impossible to tell.
After staying in that position for a while, Hajin got up and staggered toward me.
“You really have forgotten. Yoon Juwon would never call me by my name. Seeing you say it… Even when I begged you to call me by name, you never did. Because I was supposed to be a nonexistent person.”
Hajin mumbled incomprehensibly to himself. Since I had no information about him, I suppressed my curiosity, afraid of causing trouble by asking unnecessary questions.
Hajin looked directly at me and spoke emphatically:
“Seo Hajin, lead model and CEO of Fashion Group H. Even after I tell you all this, you really don’t remember?”
I forcibly filed away the information Hajin gave me while continuing to shake my head, pretending not to remember.
Just then, the door suddenly burst open and someone entered.
“You’re not done yet? What’s taking so long? While I was sleeping… Huh?”
Someone said that while looking at me, and our eyes naturally met. This person must be Hahyun.
Hahyun gave off a completely different vibe than what I’d imagined from reading the novel. In the story, he was mainly described with the decadent beauty characteristic of an unhinged character, but in person, he just looked tall with boyish features.
Hajin and Hahyun were both beautiful, but their atmospheres and features were completely different. While Hajin had porcelain-like translucent skin, Hahyun’s was like baby powder; while Hajin had straight, sharp features, Hahyun had a round, cute face.
They don’t look alike at all for brothers.
Even though no one had said they were brothers, I’d already assumed they were. Probably because of their names—Seo Hajin, Seo Hahyun—which anyone would expect to belong to siblings.
Hahyun stood frozen for a while, as if surprised by something. Then suddenly he looked back and forth between me and Seo Hajin. Though he wasn’t glaring, a chilling sensation enveloped my entire body.
“That’s strange. Why is he still the same?”
Hahyun tilted his head, then shot a look at Hajin.
“What’s going on? You agreed to do as I said. So why haven’t you done anything yet?”
Hajin didn’t answer Hahyun. Hahyun frowned deeply as he looked at me. His round, cute face instantly took on a menacing air.
Feeling like he might kill me at any moment, I repeated the same words I’d said to Hajin to find my own way out.
“…Who are you?”
Hahyun stared at me blankly, then slowly approached. With a curious look in his eyes, he brought his face so close it was almost a kiss. His gaze was so cold I had no choice but to turn my head away.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you insane?”
