Ha Hyun Seo tried to hug me, but shrank at the voice from behind him. Ha Hyun Seoâs sparkling eyes lost their light, turning sullen.
âNoonaâŚâ
âYou canât do that. Apologies, Master.â
Ha Eun Seo, Ha Hyun Seoâs older sister, shuddered and held Ha Hyun Seo in her arms. She was timid and weak, but she was courageous, too.
What do I do?
Ha Eun Seo was desperate to protect Ha Hyun Seo from me. She was trembling with fear, avoiding my eyes.
âItâs nothing. You didnât do anything wrong, so you donât need to ask for forgiveness.â
ââŚâ
âSee you later, Hyun Seo.â
ââŚYes, Hyung.â
Ha Hyun Seo gazed at his sister until he finally answered. As I passed the two of them and went outside, I saw a tidy garden.
This mansion is really big.
One floor alone seemed to be about 500 pyeong1. Itâs a four-story building⌠It was too big to live in alone. Ki Yoon Jae had lived with his father, who was currently abroad⌠but it was still too big.
Only his father? What about his mother?
Come to think of it, does Ki Yoon Jae have any other family? At the thought of it, I searched my memory, but nothing came to mind. Strangely, the more I tried to think of it, the dizzier I became.
âAhâŚâ
My body wobbled and I tried to support myself on the nearby railing. I was floundering my arms, but my hands missed their target. I closed my eyes tightly, thinking that I would get hurt badly while my body collapsed toward the railing⌠Then, someone hugged me tightly.
âAre you all right?â
âUh?â
When I opened my eyes to the smell of a deep oak, I could see a broad, strong chest. As I raised my head and looked up, I was met with a handsome man with a sharp jawline.
âKwon Jae HyukâŚâ
âYou wonât even call me âHyungâ anymore?â
Kwon Jae Hyuk lifted me up with a chuckle. Then, he easily put me down on a bench in the shade.
ââŚThank you.â
âSo, are you feeling okay? You said you were sick⌠it must have been true. You almost collapsed.â
Kwon Jae Hyuk reached out and stroked my head. I tried to avoid it, but my body didnât move. Ki Yoon Jae and Kwon Jae Hyukâs relationship seemed more intimate than I thought.
I knew that he cared enough to try convincing Ki Yoon Jae until the very end.
But⌠âHyungâ?
He called him, âHyungâ? Ki Yoon Jae? Ki Yoon Jae was a wildcat to everyone. I think he behaved politely to the people in his family, but⌠It didnât fit his pointed personality to call an orphan his âHyung.â Ki Yoon Jae wasnât even Kwon Jae Hyukâs relative.
ââŚIt seems like my memories arenât one-to-one here.â
There was a big difference between the Kwon Jae Hyuk in Ki Yoon Jaeâs memory, that is, the man -I- know, and the Kwon Jae Hyuk that Ki Yoon Jae -actually- knows. Besides, memories of his mother seemed to have been erased too. Just by looking at these two facts, I could see that Ki Yoon Jaeâs memory, which I assumed was perfect, was missing big pieces.
I donât have any false memories⌠But there are memories that have been erased or hidden.
It was God who connected his memory to mine, and he would not have mixed false memories that would end up hurting me. It would have been easier to let me die when I tried revealing my identity to Ha Hyun Seo.
âYoon Jae?â
âHuh? Oh⌠Iâm a little dizzyâŚâ
Kwon Jae Hyukâs voice calling for me brought me out of my deep thoughts. I didnât say why exactly I felt dizzy, I just cited it as the reason.
With that said, Kwon Jae Hyuk sat down next to me, covered my cheeks with his big hands, and wiped my face with his thumb.
âDonât. Get. Sick.â
ââŚâ
âTake care of yourself and your health. Iâm always on your side. You know that, right?â
I clenched my teeth at his voice full of concern. -Could- he be on my side? Even if he was on Ki Yoon Jaeâs side, he wonât be on mine.
I have to be careful with Kwon Jae Hyuk.
I tried to be careful before too, but the two are closer than I realized. Although my heart was shaken by his sincere concerns, I must not be deceived by his kindness.
Because his kindness was not towards me.
* * *
After that meeting, I went around diligently and met with Ki Yoon Jaeâs gifted people.
I was a little worried because we would betray each other in the future, but in reality, we didnât seem to have a bad relationship yet.
If I could be a little more likable here⌠Would they betray me later?
I had a thought.
But how do I find those incomplete memories?
I couldnât tell if the incomplete memory was Godâs mistake or if it was deleted because He didnât want me to know. It may be the latter, but I felt I had to find out, somehow.
There might be some important information there.
The relationship with Kwon Jae Hyuk that I hadnât seen in the book⌠little things like that.
But I had a problem: getting around.
Ki Hyun JooâŚ
Ki Hyun Joo held a position similar to my personal secretary, so she was watching my every move. Unlike other gifted people who have contract constraints, Ki Hyun Joo had not signed said contract.
Although, it was because it was a âblood relationshipâ, but blood ties were not very reliable restrictions for me, who knew the future.
So, I didnât want to give her a flimsy excuse. Personally, I couldâve had my entourage do their work without her, but I wasnât sure if theyâd keep the secret.
I need a separate pair of hands and feet.
I needed someone who would listen to me and follow my orders.
""
What kind of person would be good? âŚIf I were to make them do this and that for me, someone who works in the dark would be better than someone who works in the lightâŚ
But no one came to mind. Even with my own outside knowledge of the original plot and Ki Yoon Jaeâs memories, I couldnât think of anyone.
Nevertheless, I did not intend to use an Errand Center or Private Agency. I couldnât trust them, plus the person I was looking for must be gifted in order to work among gifted people.
But most gifted people⌠Are in my guild.
The remuneration offered by the guild was considerable. I had to assume that no one would want to, or be able to, abandon those conditions and work in a private agency. Even if there was, they may not have voluntarily avoided joining the guild, but were instead filtered out for their weak strength.
This is frustrating.
Ki Yoon Jaeâs life outside the book was a free one. Thatâs the original reason why I thought he was being such an ass beforeâŚ
In the original story, he refused to accept Ki Hyun Joo as his ally, so Ki Yoon Jaeâs life lost itâs freedom.
Everything seems to be monitored⌠So uncomfortable and frustrating.
Everything is done through Ki Hyun Joo. Every single thing I did was reported back to her. It was uncomfortable and reluctant to realize, but I could not control Ki Hyun Joo.
She was not hired by me, but sent by my grandfather, Ki Jae Mu.
What Ki Hyun Joo did was helpful to Ki Yoon Jae, but it didnât help me at all.
I need some air.
I wanted to leave this house. No. Actually, I wanted to run away. If I ran away instead of living the life of Ki Yoon Jae, I wouldnât have to worry like this.
But that would be difficult, and I wanted to get out of this house for a while.
So, I got up and left the room. I walked down the hallway to the first floor, opened the front door, and went outside. As I crossed the garden and went to the front door, I had a troubled face.
Whereâs the exit?
I tried to leave, but I couldnât figure out how. How do you call a car?
âŚItâs because Ki Hyun Joo would always do this.
I didnât know who to ask other than her because Ki Hyun Joo would do it before I even told her to.
What can I do here without her?
It seemed impossible no matter how much I thought about it. Someone behind me called out to me while I was staring at the gate foolishly.
âHey, what are you doing?â
I turned around, and it was Jung Yi Joon. He stood there with his arms crossed, and looking me up and down as if he was wondering what I was doing here.
âŚDoes he know how to leave? I opened my mouth with a little anticipation.
âUh, I want to go outâŚâ
âWhat?â
Jung Yi Joon stood there, stupefied. As soon as he understood what I meant though, he frowned.
âAre you out of your mind?â
âButâŚâ
âItâs been less than a month since you were attacked.â
Jung Yi Joon suddenly approached me and grabbed my head tightly with both hands.
âAre you thinking straight? Huh?â
âUgh!â
I had no choice but to shake my head along with his clenched hands. Jung Yi Joon had big hands, which only allowed him to have a strong, stable grip on my head. I couldnât get away from him.
âSto, stopâŚâ
âWhy donât you just stick out your nose and ask me to kill you? Since youâre so fearless!â
âStop it!â
I stretched my arms out and hugged Jung Yi Joon tightly.
It was hard to calm him down while his body kept shaking, so I hugged Jung Yi Joonâs body, which was closest to me.
Jung Yi Joon, who had been shaking me, stopped. The pressure from both his hands pressing into my head was relieved, and I held him tighter.
However, I could hear Jung Yi Joonâs thumping heart. His heart beat so hard that I could feel its thumping on my cheek that touched his chest.
T/N: Hehehe simp JYJ :3
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Footnotes
A pyeong is a Korean unit of area and floorspace, equal to a square kan or 36 square Korean feet. One pyeong is equivalent to approximately 3.31 square metres or 35.58 square feet.