* * *

“I… I really was Lee Jungin.”

Sometimes, when the union of soul and body became unstable, he would return to his own body.

Overwhelmed by burning heat and bone-chilling cold, the agony would knock him senseless.

Once he regained his composure, facing the reality of what had happened to him was unbearable.

Having his body and family stolen, mocked by Choi Jungin, was utterly miserable.

He didn’t want to be manipulated by him any longer.

Drowning in despair, he slit his wrists.

He tried leaping from heights and rummaged through the house, ingesting every pill he could find.

He despised Choi Jungin, who shamelessly lived in his stolen body.

He wanted to destroy the body Choi desired so much, to stop him from deceiving him and the person he loved.

“Hngh… Ugh…”

Trembling with betrayal, consumed by how foolish and pitiful he was, Jungin felt like he was going insane.

The memories, full of nothing but pain, were excruciating.

His quivering body wouldn’t stop shaking.

A security guard, who had belatedly discovered Jungin collapsed on the floor and struggling to breathe, moved quickly.

“Young Master! Are you alright? Call the Executive Director right now!”

Jungin flinched at the approaching hands, stiffening and pushing the unfamiliar touch away.

Scared…

It felt like those hands might hit him at any moment.

He didn’t even know why he felt this way.

He knew in his head that the guards wouldn’t hurt him, but his body refused to believe it.

“Ugh, stop! I said stop…!”

The guards exchanged troubled looks, furrowing their brows at Jungin’s continued resistance.

Shortly after, hurried footsteps echoed as Jungjin arrived, having been informed of the situation.

“Jungin! Baby!”

Jungjin lifted the collapsed Jungin and immediately checked his condition.

“Jungin, are you okay? What happened?”

Hearing the concern in his voice, Jungin’s tear-soaked eyes looked up at the outstretched hand.

‘Hyung…’

Jungjin was his real older brother.

Jungin had thought he was stealing someone else’s brother’s love, but that wasn’t true.

He was the real younger brother, and Jungjin was his brother.

He didn’t need to push his brothers away out of guilt anymore.

But thinking of the sight of their backs as they left him behind hurt deeply.

He had been so happy to have them as his brothers, but he also resented them.

Why had they left him in that terrifying house?

Why hadn’t they answered his call that night?

It wasn’t fair to blame his brother, but his bitter heart kept resenting him.

Yet, at the same time, Jungjin’s love kept surfacing in his mind, tearing Jungin apart with conflicting emotions.

He wanted to sob his heart out.

As Jungjin looked into Jungin’s tear-filled eyes, he seemed at a loss, hesitantly moving his hands.

“Baby. What can hyung do? Hmm? What should hyung do so that our Jungin doesn’t cry?”

The gentle voice hadn’t changed at all since the first time they met.

The broad chest that silently shielded him from objects thrown in rage remained the same.

“Hyung… Hngh, hyung-ah…”

“Yes, that’s right. Jungin, hyung is here.”

Jungjin softly wiped away Jungin’s tears, squinting one eye as he did.

Looking at his brother, Jungin asked,

“Hyung… why… why did you leave me behind?”

At Jungin’s words, Jungjin’s face twisted for a moment.

In a single sentence, he understood exactly what Jungin meant.

He also realized that Jungin’s memories had returned.

His heart sank with a heavy thud.

Though he had already examined Jungin’s body for injuries, Jungjin checked again, worried that Jungin might have harmed himself.

“You said you’d come back soon. Why… why didn’t you keep your promise? I was in so much pain, so why didn’t you come?”

Finally, the feelings he had held back spilled out with his tears.

Jungin looked up at Jungjin with a resentful expression, then shook his head as if he shouldn’t feel this way, apologizing through his sobs.

“No, I’m sorry. Hngh, I’m sorry, hyung. It’s my fault. Because of me, hyung… no, it’s not your fault.”

Jungjin firmly held the trembling Jungin, who seemed like he might shatter at any moment.

Jungin was too distressed to hear anything properly.

Glancing over at Dr. Choi, Jungjin signaled, and the doctor handed him a syringe filled with a sedative.

“No! I don’t want it! I’m scared, no!”

The sight of the sharp needle sent Jungin’s body into violent tremors.

Memories of being beaten with thorny branches in a dark room dragged him back to that terrifying moment.

“N-no, I didn’t… I didn’t do anything wrong… I’m Lee Jungin. Hngh, ah…”

In the end, Jungin couldn’t overcome the oncoming fear.

His eyes glazed over, and he lost consciousness. His limp body felt so small and cold.

“Sir…”

The room fell silent as everyone watched Jungjin, whose jaw was clenched tight.

Cradling Jungin’s fragile form, he stood up, his expression hardened.

“Bring me the head of security.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And pull up the CCTV footage.”

Jungjin glanced down at Jungin’s tear-streaked face, his lips pressed into a grim line.

Gently holding the child in his arms, he quietly left the room.

---

“Jungin’s memories have returned.”

“W-what…?”

At the hospital, where they had rushed after hearing Jungin had been admitted, Jungjin lit a cigarette as Jungwoo and Jungseo stared at him in disbelief.

Inhaling deeply, he exhaled a cloud of smoke before speaking.

“Exactly what I said. All of it. His childhood memories. Even the memory of us abandoning him.”

When the sudden summons came, they had feared the worst.

But to hear that all of Jungin’s memories had returned…

“H-how, hyung. Jungin… is he going to…”

Jungseo, recalling the choices Jungin had made each time his memories resurfaced, spoke with a trembling voice.

“Does he know about what his mother did to him too…?”

At the question, Jungjin extinguished his cigarette.

Discarding the stub, he shook his head.

“Not yet. If he learns that, he won’t survive in his current state.”

No one dared to contradict him.

Jungin’s biological mother had wanted to raise him.

But fearing that her son’s existence would be discovered by the Hyun Group, she had sent him to an orphanage, keeping all secrets hidden.

If not for that decision, Jungin would have been with her when she died in a staged car accident.

If Jungin ever learned the horrific truth about what their mother had done…

The thought alone made Jungjin’s mind go blank.

“Jungin… might try something drastic again. Every time his memories come back, he…”

“That’s why we have to protect him.”

Jungjin couldn’t forget the way Jungin had looked at him earlier, full of anguish and resentment.

The guilt of that moment lingered deeply.

Remembering the helplessness he felt in the past, Jungjin loosened his tie and spoke firmly.

“We’re his brothers. We have to protect him.”

The moment they first saw Jungin, they knew—despite sharing only half the same blood—that he was someone they would inevitably love for a lifetime.

“I couldn’t protect him back then, so now I must do my best for the child.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Me too. I’ll protect our Jungin.”

Everyone carried a heavy guilt toward Jungin.

Though they were young and powerless at the time, they had left him alone, even knowing that the greatest perpetrator was in the house.

They had reassured themselves:

‘He’ll be fine. He smiles a lot. The housekeeper said he’s okay. And Jungin never said anything, anyway.’

But their complacency blinded them to the signals the child was sending.

His demeanor and gaze, which changed completely after he turned ten, were dismissed as puberty.

* * *