Chapter 35
***
Hajin hurried out of the company building. While he was out, he wrapped up his meetings with the designers who’d be running fashion shows this season. On the drive home, Park Hyunwoo spoke up carefully.
“CEO, the models have been making some concerning moves lately.”
“I know.”
“It looks like they’re planning to take all the models with them and start their own company once things fall apart. How long are you going to just sit back and watch?”
“Let them thrash around. He might be a snake, but the more he moves, the more openings he’ll leave. There’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Understood.”
It seemed like Hyunwoo had more to say, but knowing Hajin’s personality as well as he did, he quietly let it drop. That’s what Hajin appreciated about him. He stayed in his lane while doing his job well, and even though he knew about Juwon’s existence, he never brought it up unprompted.
Hajin closed his eyes and thought of Juwon. He pictured how Juwon had looked the day before he lost his memory, lying there like a corpse after his failed attempt to bite through his own tongue.
His body had been covered in bruises—evidence of how he’d never stopped trying to escape. And yet that same Juwon had been lying there unable to move, cold as death. He wasn’t actually dead, but he’d looked like a corpse, and that had felt like a betrayal to Hajin.
You can’t die so easily. You said you couldn’t die easily.
Even Hajin, who prided himself on emotional control, hadn’t been able to hold it together in that moment. He and Hahyun had sobbed beneath Juwon’s bed, tears streaming down their faces.
He’d made a resolution right then and there. If only Juwon would come back to life, he’d forgive him even if he made a fuss trying to escape with impossible schemes. As long as he didn’t die, Hajin would do anything for him.
And then that person came back to life as someone completely different.
“Because I’m a virgin.”
“I’m feeling attracted to you. But I need some time.”
“Did I like meat?”
It wasn’t just that his thoughts had changed from losing his memory—it was like he’d been reborn as an entirely different person.
Watching him search the house for clues whenever the brothers weren’t around, his memory loss was probably genuine.
But none of that really mattered. What mattered more was that—even if it was subconscious—Juwon himself had decided to change his attitude.
After that day when he’d experienced the depths of despair, impossible things started happening.
Waking up together, eating meals together, falling asleep together… these dreamlike daily routines.
If days like this could continue, Hajin thought he wouldn’t mind sharing Hahyun and Juwon for the rest of his life. He vowed to do whatever it took to protect what they had now.
***
“Wow… what’s all this?”
The dining table was covered with dishes. I’d only mentioned wanting pasta, but there was steak, salad, and even wine… Seeing the spread laid out so perfectly made me feel even more guilty.
“This is incredible.”
“It’s nothing to get worked up about. If hyung wants, I can even have it delivered. Sit down and eat.”
I sat down and tried his cooking piece by piece. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was rich but not heavy.
The meat had cooled down a bit since I’d come out late after calming Hahyun down, but the juices that burst in my mouth when I bit into it were incredible.
“Hahyun-ssi, are you some kind of chef or something?”
“I took cooking classes to make delicious food for hyung. I bragged about it every single day, but you wouldn’t even look at it back then.”
No matter how much I’d disliked Hahyun, how could I have turned down food like this? What did the food ever do wrong…
Maybe because I was hungry from going out after so long, I ate way more than usual.
Hahyun’s face glowed with satisfaction as he watched me pat my full stomach. I felt embarrassed for saying those things to him earlier and then eating his food so enthusiastically.
“It’s great while we’re eating, but cleaning up is going to be rough. Let’s do it together.”
“I’m happy you want to do something with me, but I can clean up slowly later. Besides, I told you I had something to show you, remember?”
There’s more besides this?
“What is it?”
“Hajin hyung prepared it, so it’d be nice to see it together, but he’ll probably be late today…”
With that, Hahyun stood up and pulled my hand. I thought we were just going from the dining room to the living room, but instead Hahyun led me to the staircase going down to the basement.
The b-basement?
Just seeing the stairs—not even going down them—made my legs shake. In the original story, there was a basement where Hahyun would drag Juwon whenever he misbehaved, locking him up and tormenting him.
Why? What did I do wrong? Wasn’t everything resolved earlier?
I trembled, gripping the stair railing. Hahyun looked at me with a puzzled expression. When I still wouldn’t let go of the railing, he tugged on my other arm.
“Hyung, come on. You’ll like it when you see it. Think of it as a surprise from us for being so sweet to us lately.”
How could someone, no matter how insane, blush while talking about locking someone up and torturing them in a basement? It was chilling to think about what kind of person I was dealing with. I needed to say something to stop this, but my mind went blank.
“Are you feeling sick? What’s wrong?”
“Ah… yeah, I’m in pain. I’m in so much pain… I’d really like to just go to my room and rest.”
“What if I carry you? I really wanted to show you today…”
Hahyun pouted with disappointment, looking like he might actually die of regret. His childlike, cute face was somehow even more terrifying.
What if Hahyun suddenly lost it? No, I still couldn’t go down to that basement. If it came to that, I’d rather film a sex tape. What should I do? Should I try to seduce him in that direction instead? God… cold sweat was literally dripping onto the floor.
Beep beep beep beep. Just then, the sound of someone entering the door code echoed, and Hajin appeared like a savior. I ran toward him and hid behind his back. I did this knowing full well Hahyun would hate it. Sure enough, when Hahyun glared at me from across the room, Hajin said with a smile:
“What’s going on here? It feels nice having you run to me for protection… Seo Hahyun, did you do something weird again…?”
“Shut up! Don’t talk when you don’t know what happened. I was just trying to show him the basement.”
“Then why is his face so pale?”
Hajin wrapped an arm around me. I nestled into his embrace more desperately than ever before. The cool breeze from outside mixed with his musky scent hit my nose.
“Why are you shaking?”
“…”
“The basement… Oh, the basement. Hahaha.”
After turning the words over in his mind, Hajin burst out laughing like he’d figured something out.
“God, really, Yoon Juwon, how can you be so cute? You get cuter every single day.”
“What, what is it? How do you know? I don’t get it. Did Juwon hyung tell you something separately?”
“Oh, you adorable little things.”
After laughing for a while, Hajin—still with amusement in his eyes—led me to sit on the couch. When our eyes met, he gave me a gentle smile as if to say calm down, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Seriously, Juwon hyung only ever makes those faces at you.”
“Calm down and sit over there too. I’ll explain.”
As Hahyun sat across from us, Hajin began to explain step by step.
“First, Yoon Juwon.”
“Yes.”
“No matter how crazy we might be, as long as you’re being this adorable, we’re not going to lock you in the basement or do anything terrible down there. I told you, didn’t I? As long as you don’t try to run away, we won’t take you to the basement.”
I was amazed at his ability to pinpoint exactly what I’d been worried about. Hahyun asked back, looking shocked:
“What? You actually thought that? How could you think something like that?”
When I hesitated, not knowing what to say to Hahyun who looked even more shocked, Hajin explained for me:
“Don’t you remember? When Yoon Juwon kept trying to escape, we threatened to lock him in the basement. We said he’d come to his senses after being stuck somewhere without sunlight.”
“That’s true, but… Wow! This is actually ridiculous.”
“I think it’s because we tried to take Juwon to the basement on the day he lost his memory.”
Hahyun nodded like he understood now. Only then could I finally relax.
“Um, then why the basement…?”
“You’ll see when we go down. Nothing like what you’re imagining is going to happen, so relax and follow us.”
After getting their firm promise, I followed them down to the basement. With each step down the stairs, I was still scared from lingering doubt, but once we actually got there, I realized how ridiculous my fears had been.
“What on earth is…?”
Stepping into the basement, a home theater I’d only ever dreamed of unfolded before my eyes. It wasn’t just some ordinary home theater—it was like a miniature replica of an actual movie theater, complete with a beverage fridge and even a popcorn machine. Hajin spoke with a proud expression as he watched me gawk:
“I had the people who build actual movie theaters construct this, so you’ll love it. Oh, and there’s a separate entrance to the basement, so the workers only came and went through there—no need to worry.”
“Hyung, show him that too.”
This isn’t everything?
Hahyun took my hand and led me to the room next to the movie theater. It was a mini PC room equipped with various gaming consoles and computers. And next to that, there was even a karaoke booth.
