* * *

The mention of part-time pay at JS Hotel, a subsidiary of Yeonhwa Group, made the back of his neck stiffen momentarily.

When he belatedly received the documents handed over by Mr. Kim, his vision darkened.

He never intended to use the money he had painstakingly earned with his small, delicate hands just to eat.

Judging by Jungin’s startled reaction—his eyes wide open like a rabbit—it seemed he hadn’t expected himself to say such a thing either.

Jungjin merely maintained a calm smile, pretending not to have heard.

“Alright. Anyway, I’m heading back now, so you go first.”

The moment Jungin slipped and said Beomhyeon’s name, sweat trickled down his temple.

He quickly furrowed his brows and pushed Jungjin away by his back.

The feeble gesture to drive him out was enough for Jungjin to comply and step back willingly.

With every step Jungjin took away, he kept looking back, reluctant to leave.

Once he was gone, Jungin drew a deep breath and walked into the hospital room.

“Hello…”

The attention of everyone in the room shifted to the pale and beautiful boy who stepped in through the door.

Thankfully, he had taken a calming pill in advance.

Nervously, Jungin held out the drink Jungjin had prepared for him and spoke up.

“I’m here to see Grandma Kim Chunja… Oh.”

Jungin, his gaze darting around, caught sight of the name in the corner of the room and bit his lip.

When he saw the sleeping face of the woman, her hands neatly folded over her abdomen, his pupils quivered as though they might shatter.

He thought he would feel something special when meeting family, but there was nothing.

He felt strangely indifferent, to the point where he didn’t recognize himself.

Staring at the face that both resembled his own and didn’t, Jungin was seized by an unfamiliar emotion.

‘So… I really did have a family.’

Seeing the name “Kim Chunja” written above the name Choi Jungin in the documents Jungjin had handed him last night, the unbelievable truth had started to sink in.

‘You were alive all this time… So why didn’t you come looking for me?’

Why had they so abruptly left him behind ten years ago?

How could they call themselves family and yet abandon him at the orphanage?

As Jungin looked at the face of his sleeping grandmother, memories of the unjust and painful moments he’d endured at the orphanage came flooding back.

The tattered school bag he carried, passed down through so many hands that it had become threadbare.

The mocking whispers of classmates who pointed fingers at him.

The school field trips where he wandered aimlessly, unable to afford lunch.

The sudden downpours that left him drenched because no one came to pick him up, no one gave him an umbrella.

And the director who scolded him for wetting his clothes, hitting his calves with a stick.

If he had lived with his grandmother, at the very least, those things wouldn’t have happened.

He wanted to speak to her, but it felt like it might be better to just leave.

Biting his trembling lips, he turned his head away.

Just then, an older woman approached and asked him, “You’re that grandma’s grandson, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“I could tell as soon as I saw your face. But where’ve you been all this time? Why didn’t you come?”

Jungin’s gaze followed the direction the woman pointed.

“But you must have it tough, taking care of your grandma on your own. You know her mind’s… not all there, right? Still, that young man—your brother?—seems really devoted.”

“My brother?”

“You don’t have an older brother? Hm, now that I think about it, you don’t look much alike…”

A brother?

Did his grandmother have other family?

Then would that mean Jungin had another family member too?

But the documents Jungjin had given him listed only his grandmother, no one else.

Even if there were others, there was no reason for Jungjin to hide it.

So who was the “brother” this woman was talking about?

He had come here hoping to clear his thoughts, but the more he learned, the more muddled his mind became.

Why was everything so confusing, his memories such a chaotic mess?

Seeing Jungin’s face turn pale, the older woman patted his shoulder gently and said, “Are you worried about your grandma?

Don’t be.

She might say strange things sometimes, but she’s still strong.

What matters is that you take good care of her now, okay?”

“…”

“It’s about time your brother came, too. He always shows up around 6:30. Oh, there he is now.”

The woman turned her head toward the entrance, and Jungin followed her gaze.

His eyes sharpened when he saw the man standing at the door.

For a brief moment, the air turned icy. It was Jungin who broke the silence first.

“…Lee Jungin.”

He hadn’t been mistaken that morning.

The man standing there in the same outfit was indeed Lee Jungin.

Jungin’s eyes flickered rapidly.

“How did you know to come here?”

“Hah. That’s what you have to say right now?”

How could he look so calm, so unflinching, with that face?

“So, you know everything now? Did your memories return?”

Lee Jungin smirked at Jungin, who was trembling with suppressed anger.

After checking on the grandmother’s condition, he began putting the side dishes he’d brought into the refrigerator.

“Lee Jungin.”

“Wait. Let’s not cause a scene here.”

With practiced ease, he squeezed hand sanitizer from the bottle attached to the hospital bed and cleaned his hands.

Then, gesturing for Jungin to follow, he walked out of the room.

There was a lounge for guardians not far from the patient rooms.

Once seated, Lee Jungin fixed his gaze on Jungin with a face that had gone eerily calm.

“You…”

Jungin couldn’t understand why Lee Jungin, wearing his original face, was glaring at him like that.

What kind of grudge did he bear to look at him with such resentment?

He couldn’t ignore the negativity in those eyes.

Overcome with frustration, Jungin blurted out.

“Aren’t you even sorry? How can you be so shameless after doing something like this? Do you know how much I—”

“Why should I be sorry?”

“Lee Jungin!”

Jungin couldn’t hold it in anymore and raised his voice, calling out to him.

His fingertips trembled in anger at his unapologetic attitude.

He acted as though he had no idea what kind of monstrous thing he’d done.

Because of him, everyone—his brothers, Ki Beomhyeon, and himself—had been made fools.

“Didn’t you come here already knowing everything?”

Smirking, Lee Jungin tilted the corner of his mouth mockingly and swept his hair back.

“Did you hate it that much? That I took your body?”

“Why did you do it? What did I ever do to you? I thought of you as a friend.”

Even after discovering that Lee Jungin had stolen his body, even after realizing that the person he loved had been tormented by Lim Kyungsoo, Jungin had tried to understand him.

But looking at Lee Jungin now, it seemed Jungin had been the only one who thought of them as friends.

“Friend?”

Lee Jungin let out a hollow laugh, his jaw tightening briefly.

Grinding his teeth, he looked at Jungin, still feigning innocence with the same face he’d had as a child.

“Disgusting.”

“Jungin…”

“Don’t you dare act like the victim here. Saying it was awful, that you lived like trash because your body got taken away by some beggar. Why don’t you just admit it?”

A beggar?

“How does it feel to have been outsmarted by the person you looked down on the most?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Judging by his words, it was as if Lee Jungin had been Jungin all along, and Jungin was the real Lee Jungin.

No way.

That’s impossible… Jungin, confused and overwhelmed, stared at him with wide eyes.

“You always pretended to care about me, acting like you were above it all. That’s why I’ve always hated you.”

* * *