“You don’t want to find your memories? Are you serious?”
Kwon Yujin spoke in a tone as if asking how I could say such a thing to him.
“I need to go home now if I’m going to work tomorrow. Please move aside.”
“I clearly told you. Don’t do work like that.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do about my economic activities?”
“Because I’m giving you enough money so you don’t have to do that kind of work.”
“Are you crazy?”
He’s definitely not in his right mind. If Kwon Yujin were my employer, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember.
Moreover, until I started working at the hotel this time, I was a carpenter doing carpentry work at construction sites. There’s no way a day laborer close to being a temporary worker like me would have worked with someone like Kwon Yujin.
“If you don’t believe me, check your bank account.”
He, who had grabbed my arm, really seemed like he wouldn’t back down until I checked my account. Is it because he’s a swimming athlete? His strength was excessively strong. To the extent that I didn’t even have the will to shake him off.
Since it seemed obvious I would lose anyway, I didn’t want to waste my energy.
I took out my phone and entered the bank app. Perhaps because it had been so long, it took quite a while to update it and unlock the password.
“Haa.”
Kwon Yujin sighed next to me. I didn’t care and covered the screen with my hand while entering the password I vaguely remembered.
As a result, Kwon Yujin’s words were true. There was quite a lot of money accumulated in an account I rarely used.
I don’t remember saving this much money. Looking at the transaction history, it was being deposited on a weekly basis.
But what did I do to receive this much money from that man?
“What was this money transferred for?”
“Compensation for contracting with me.”
At his answer, my mind became even more complicated.
First of all, it seemed certain that we had an employment relationship. However, it wasn’t compensation that an ordinary carpenter like me would receive.
What kind of work would I do under a swimming athlete? Was it dangerous work? Interior related? Or could it be that I agreed to build an entire house? That would be beyond my capabilities.
“I need to check the contract first. Only then can I accurately…”
“If that’s what you want, I can show it to you right now.”
Kwon Yujin held out his phone to me. When I took it and checked, a copy of the contract was displayed on the screen. And in the contractor information, Kwon Yujin’s and my names were entered accurately.
I enlarged the screen and quickly skimmed through the content. The words were difficult so I couldn’t understand everything, but to summarize simply, Kwon Yujin was imprinted on me for some unknown reason, and there was an obligation to accompany him for a certain period of time until treatment to resolve the imprint was completed.
On the last page was my signature. Three characters simply written as Hyun Taeyoung, embarrassing to even call a signature. It was definitely my handwriting.
I had many things I wanted to ask, like how he ended up being imprinted on me, how he got to know me. But incomprehensibly, the desire not to know about it was greater. It was a reluctance that was difficult to pinpoint the reason for.
I returned the phone to Kwon Yujin. He was looking down at me with his chin raised. Arrogantly, as if asking what I was going to do now.
Looking at that expression somehow made irritation and annoyance surge up. I understood one thing. I must have disliked Kwon Yujin before I lost my memory.
“I understand for now. But I have no intention of getting examined or treated any further here.”
“Ha. Fuck…”
“I need to go home now.”
“Hyun Taeyoung, have you really gone crazy?”
“Whether or not I find my memories is something I’ll handle myself, not something you need to worry about.”
I had no intention of backing down either, so I spoke firmly. Then Kwon Yujin crumpled his expression fiercely and muttered lowly the word “you” that I had spit out.
“You saw the contract, so you should know. You at least have an obligation to fulfill the contract.”
He was right. But the more Kwon Yujin said the right thing, the more the question of why I should do that filled my head. The more deeply I tried to think about it, the more a dull pain spread to my temples.
“Kwon Yujin-ssi.”
Anyway, this was as far as it went today. I wanted to go home and rest now.
“Let’s talk later. Let go.”
“Hyun Taeyoung. I know you’re shocked, but don’t avoid…”
“I said get lost.”
I looked directly at Kwon Yujin and spoke clearly. Then the eyes of the arrogant man who had been consistently bothersome widened.
“…What?”
For a moment, I felt the strength drain from the hand holding me.
I didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately shook him off. Then I left that spot, leaving behind Kwon Yujin who was frozen stupidly.
When I checked the medical records at the 1st floor desk, the hospital bill came out seriously high. It was because they unnecessarily took an MRI or something. Looking at the receipt, my anger toward Kwon Yujin surged even more intensely.
Is this the first time he’s heard someone tell him to get lost? Why is he making an expression like he’s hurt? When he’s the one who kept being rude and throwing tantrums.
I headed home, shaking off the afterimage of Kwon Yujin I had just seen. It had been an excessively long and hard day to worry about things that didn’t even come to mind. I wanted to rest now.
***
When I searched inside my house, I did have the contract that Kwon Yujin had shown me. I read through the content related to imprinting, treatment, and compensation once more.
I thought something would come to mind if I looked at it, but my head was just blank.
What would be the right thing to do about this? Since I wrote the contract, it would be good to keep it. Because it’s a promise. In my head, I knew what the best method was.
But the image of Kwon Yujin constantly forcing examinations and treatment kept flickering. A few things were certain: I didn’t want to receive treatment. And I didn’t like Kwon Yujin either. Not just disliking him—the more I tried to think about him, the more extreme reluctance I felt.
In the end, I arrived at one certain conclusion. I don’t want to know about him. Nothing at all.
***
The next day.
“Taeyoung-ssi, let’s talk for a moment.”
Just like on my first work day, I was assigned as hotel wedding assistant staff today as well. I had changed into my uniform and was about to move toward the wedding hall when the manager who had been waiting in the hallway in front of the changing room stopped me.
“What is it?”
“There’s a room call. Designated for Taeyoung-ssi.”
What does that mean? When I just stood there without understanding right away, the manager added.
“A guest staying at the hotel designated Taeyoung-ssi and requested room service be provided separately.”
“…….”
“Do you have any idea who it is?”
At this point, the only person who would make such a request specifically for me would be Kwon Yujin. It was obvious without even going to check.
“Yes.”
When I nodded, the manager looked at me carefully and opened her mouth.
“You didn’t make any mistakes with the customer, did you?”
“No.”
Probably. I hadn’t made any mistakes with Kwon Yujin as a hotel employee. I did personally tell him to get lost, but that was after work and Kwon Yujin kept throwing tantrums anyway.
“I heard you talked with athlete Kwon Yujin for quite a while yesterday. May I ask what it was about?”
“It included personal matters, so I don’t think I can tell you everything.”
“Mm…. Taeyoung-ssi, you said your designation was omega, right?”
The manager hesitated for a moment, then mentioned my designation. Unlike on-site work where there was no need to reveal one’s designation, the hotel strictly distinguished and managed this, so it was something that had to be filled in on the resume.
“Private meetings with guests are prohibited at the hotel. It’s a rule that applies equally to short-term staff regardless of whether they’re regular employees or not.”
I knew that too. However, since I had no desire at all to meet Kwon Yujin privately, I felt wronged to be receiving this warning. It seemed that the manager and other employees were misunderstanding that I had approached Kwon Yujin with feelings or that there was something else special going on.
That said, I couldn’t tell them the truth about my relationship with Kwon Yujin either. In the first place, I too had only heard it from Kwon Yujin and couldn’t know exactly what kind of relationship he and I had. It would be best to just leave them to misunderstand.
“Hyun Taeyoung-ssi isn’t in the service part, so please minimize customer service. You also haven’t received the relevant training, and I don’t want any more talk about this to come up.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Go ahead. And after you finish the room service, return directly to the kitchen.”
“Yes.”
