* * *
Hyunwook lowered his head, his words trailing off as he avoided my eyes.
“I think it’s my fault… I keep wondering if he lost his memory because of me. When I saw you again, I was so unbelievably happy—it felt like a dream—but at the same time, I felt this crushing guilt. I couldn’t even face you. I couldn’t bring myself to say I’d met Seojoo. I just… couldn’t.”
I listened quietly, but I couldn’t understand.
It was shocking that Seojoo didn’t remember me, but that’s not something anyone can be blamed for.
I’ve only died once, so I don’t know if reincarnating into another world is normal or rare.
But I do know it’s not something that happens every day.
So maybe something went wrong during the transition.
Maybe that’s why he lost his memories.
But that’s not Hyunwook’s fault.
So why is he apologizing?
He’s not someone who says things like this for no reason, and that only made me more anxious.
“Then where and when did you meet Seojoo?”
“My dad runs a private martial arts academy—only for kids from noble or chaebol families.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s super popular.”
Lately, nobles and chaebol kids have been into learning special self-defense techniques.
Since crimes targeting them are on the rise, they’re learning to protect themselves.
Hyunwook’s dad is a famous master, so it makes sense that the place is packed.
But why bring that up now?
“…I saw Seojoo there. A year ago.”
A year ago?
“You saw him there? Then that means… Seojoo is—”
If he’s there, then he must have been born into a noble or chaebol family.
The unexpected good news made me smile without realizing.
After everything he went through—no matter if he remembers or not—being born into a good family this time around… how could I not be happy?
It was such a relief.
“He’s the second son of the president of Shinsun Dairy. Apparently, he’s been taking my dad’s classes for three years now. I had no idea since I was stuck in boarding school. Pretty crazy, right?”
“Shinsun Dairy? Seriously? As in Fresh Mart? That place?”
“Yeah, that Fresh Mart. It’s part of Shinsun Dairy too.”
Wait, he once said that if he could be reborn, he just wanted to run a small convenience store… but he ended up the son of a conglomerate that owns a giant supermarket chain?
And here I was, looking around at part-timers at convenience stores thinking I might run into him…
“And Seojoo’s a year older than us. He’s a hyung. Could you call him that later?”
“…He’s older than me?”
Seojoo died six months before I did.
So maybe that’s why he’s older now?
Then… what do we even call each other now?
Isn’t this kind of absurd?
Still, I couldn’t have just died before him on purpose.
While I was getting caught up in this ridiculous mental loop over a brother I haven’t even met yet, Hyunwook kept talking.
“Also, Seojoo’s an Alpha. He’s healthy and well-built. Totally different from before. That small, childlike appearance? Gone.”
“…Then how can you be so sure he’s really Seojoo? Maybe he just looks similar?”
I was careful.
I worried that maybe Hyunwook was seeing what he wanted to see out of longing. Seojoo died when he was fifteen.
And because of his illness, he was even smaller and more childlike than most kids his age.
So imagining him as a grown Alpha man?
I couldn’t even picture it.
Even if I met him now, would I even recognize him?
His voice would be completely different too.
I couldn’t be sure that this Alpha Hyunwook was talking about was actually my little brother, Seojoo.
But Hyunwook was absolutely convinced.
“Just like how you knew I was Kang Hyunwook the moment you saw me—I knew it too. The moment I saw him. And not just that—he does the same things. The same habits, the same quirks, the way he acts.”
He can’t eat fishy food.
He hates barley tea.
He bites his lip when he’s nervous and scratches the back of his head when he’s flustered.
The way he talks, the little tics—it’s all the same.
And despite the bigger build, his face is exactly like Seojoo’s.
Like if little Seojoo had grown up, this is exactly what he’d look like.
I tried to stay calm, but the more I listened to Hyunwook, the harder it was to stop my heart from racing.
“But then… what exactly do you think was your fault?”
When I pressed him again on that part, Hyunwook looked down.
“Do you remember what I said to you right before you died? Did you hear me? I held your hand and…”
“You said I’d been through a lot. That I could rest now. And that we’d meet again. I heard it, and it let me go peacefully, like falling asleep.”
I only said that because he asked, but now he’s crying.
His eyes were red as he looked at me with a smile. This idiot.
“I heard everything too. So clearly. Honestly, I didn’t even know I’d been unconscious in the hospital for days. When I came to, I couldn’t open my eyes or move my body, but my mind was still sharp.”
That means it wasn’t really “waking up.”
Right before death, your hearing gets sharper. Just for a moment.
It’s strange how well you can hear everything right before the end.
Hyunwook must’ve realized that too.
“I couldn’t feel anything. Couldn’t open my eyes. But I could hear everything so clearly. I heard Grandma crying, asking the doctor why I had to die. I even heard the doctor explaining to her why—what was wrong with me, the name of the illness, and that the critical moment was approaching. I heard the whole story of how I was going to die.”
I stared at Hyunwook, who recounted that moment with a strangely detached expression.
“It was surreal, hearing the reason for my own death like that. Like, ‘Oh, so that’s why I’m dying.’ But you know what my grandma told the doctor? She asked them to delay my death by forty minutes. Because my parents’ classes would be ending around then. Can you believe that? Even at the end, they weren’t by my side.”
Now I finally understood what he meant when he first said he died alone.
While their own son was dying, they were too busy teaching other people’s kids to even be there at the end.
“What I’m trying to say is… if what I heard so clearly stayed with me, then maybe the same happened for Seojoo. I whispered something to him too, right at the end. Into his ear, Haejoo.”
Hyunwook bit his lip again, unable to continue.
I waited patiently, not wanting to rush him.
I didn’t know what kind of burden was weighing on him, but I didn’t want to push him when he was clearly struggling.
“Because it hurt so much, I told you to forget everything and let it go. That when you’re reborn, you should forget all the pain and hardship, start fresh, and live comfortably. Maybe that’s why. Maybe that’s why you can’t remember. I was obsessed with you until the moment I died. That’s why I remember. But our obedient Seojoo… I guess he listened to me too well.”
Our obedient Seojoo.
The kind of Seojoo who would’ve done anything Hyunwook said.
That’s probably why Hyunwook believes what he does. But it’s just baseless speculation born from guilt.
“This is why I never said anything about Seojoo. I feel like it all happened because I left those words behind. I even said, ‘If we meet again someday, try to remember me after you’ve lived a happy life.’ But he doesn’t remember a thing.”
His last sentence was almost a surrender.
After Hyunwook’s confession—or something close to one—we just sat there in silence for a while.
“Wanna go see him? If we leave now, he’ll be there. He has evening classes today.”
“…Should we? His Majesty isn’t around anyway.”
Now that Joo Minhyuk isn’t here, it’s the perfect time to check.
After hearing what I did, I have to confirm whether that Alpha is really Seojoo.
But now that we’re actually about to go… I’m scared.
What if it really is him?
What if he really doesn’t recognize me?
I want to see him so badly, but I can’t move my feet.
I finally left the palace and arrived at the location, following Hyunwook exactly.
With my cap pulled low and a mask snug on my face, no one would be able to recognize me.
The trip felt both too long and too short.
My heart was a mess.
This could be the sibling I’ve been desperately searching for, and yet I find myself wishing I could delay the encounter.
Still, we arrived.
The moment the gym doors opened, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
I stayed close behind Hyunwook as we walked in, and I started spotting people absorbed in training.
From the far back of the wide gym, I scanned the room—and then I saw him.
“…Oh?”
Among all those people, one man caught my eye instantly.
The moment I saw him, my eyes widened and my mouth fell open.
If our Seojoo had grown up, this is exactly what he’d look like.
If Seojoo had turned twenty, this is exactly it…
Before boarding the private jet, Minhyuk took a call.
He said nothing—just listened. His expression turned increasingly grim until, at one point, his throat bobbed hard and he gritted his teeth.
“…Got it. Stay close and be careful not to get caught.”
He checked the time after hanging up.
He’d told them to stay put in the palace.
Apparently, the Concubine Haejoo had no intention of listening.
A report came in that Kang Hyunwook and his car had left the grounds.
He usually stuck near the palace, but now that he’d gone out in a car, Minhyuk’s fury boiled over.
And then came a detail that really got under his skin.
“He’s gone to see Seojoo. Seojoo, huh… Where the hell did he find that cat? I’m dying to know. What kind of breed lives this long, anyway? If I’m curious, I should ask.”
You better answer well, Cha Haejoo.
Minhyuk’s eyes were sharp as blades as he boarded the jet.
What should he ask?
How could he make him squirm?
He was deeply curious about what kind of answer Haejoo would give.
* * *
Someone’s mad…