JKA 77

And yet, the reason they had deliberately followed him was because they remembered 1129. He had dealt with what happened at the chicken restaurant by roughly erasing it, but he had been unable to change the fact that they had met 1129 before, and had only managed to make it a little blurry.

It took quite a long time to carefully examine and change every single one of Jiwoon’s memories of 1129. It wasn’t that it took days and days, but because the time they had spent together was not short, he had to put in a lot of effort. Thus, the memories of other people had to be pushed off as a problem for later.

But if Jiwoon’s memories were to be revived by a single word from someone else, it would be a disaster. As it was, 1129 had gotten Jiwoon into some strange habits, creating a mountain of work, and there was no end to the cleanup.

“It’s the same person. It’s been a while.”

Looking at their faces, it was a relief that everyone who remembered 1129’s face was present. Although they had only seen his face once, 1129’s face when he was staying on Earth had been excessively striking. Anyone could see that he was of a different race, so the claim that they were cousins was bound to be deeply memorable.

‘Appearing in front of other people for no reason. If you have time for that, you should have taught him some housekeeping.’

17 clicked his tongue, tsk, inwardly, but maintained a smiling face on the outside. As he did so, he deliberately made eye contact with each person, one by one, superimposing his current face over their hazy memory of 1129’s.

Having finally chewed and swallowed her kimbap, Youngeun covered her mouth with her hand, nodded, and spoke.

“That’s right. You were wearing a hat then, weren’t you? I thought you looked like a foreign model, so I guess I was remembering it wrong. But what brings you all the way here…”

“Ah, Jiwoon asked me to pack some clothes, and I thought it would be hard for Hanbyeol to carry them alone, so I came with him.”

Hanbyeol placed the box he was holding on top of the one 17 had brought. The boxes weren’t small, so it was obvious at a glance that there was a considerable amount.

“Is this all clothing?”

Youngeun opened a box, and her expression turned to one of surprise at the clothes that filled it to the brim.

“You didn’t bring everything from the house, did you?”

“No. Jiwoon has quite a few clothes… If you need more, I can bring them. They’re all clothes he doesn’t wear.”

“Clothes he doesn’t wear? They look brand new…”

Heechan and Youngeun each pulled out an item of clothing, looking puzzled. For some reason, the clothes lacked any sense of having been worn, as if they had just been bought. It was because they didn’t have the common smell of laundry detergent or fabric softener, but the distinct smell of new clothes.

“It’s a hobby, a hobby. He said he has a lot of clothes he bought and failed with because he didn’t know what suited him.”

Although he didn’t know the full story, Hanbyeol made a rough excuse for him and began pulling clothes out of the box haphazardly. Youngeun repeatedly asked if it was okay since she was just going to pile them up here and there, and at that moment, 17 looked around and spoke.

“I think we’ll have to ask him, but where might Jiwoon be?”

“Ah, he went to take a short break. He’s probably at a nearby restaurant or convenience store, don’t you think?”

Heechan said this, then whispered softly in a voice only 17 could hear.

“He said he wanted to be alone, so I sent him off. He had a really tough day today.”

“Ah…”

“Try giving him a call.”

At Heechan’s tip, 17 nodded. It seemed his guess—that Jiwoon had deliberately sent Hanbyeol to him in order to talk with Egarsia—had been correct.

“Have you eaten? Gosh, you brought all that for us, please have some kimbap before you go. We ordered a lot. Hanbyeol, you sit down too, you’ve worked hard.”

“No, I should go to Jiwoon…”

Hanbyeol’s brow furrowed slightly at the news that Jiwoon had gone out separately. Seeing that Egarsia was also nowhere to be found, it seemed the two were likely together. Although he had heard from 17 that Jiwoon might have wanted to talk with Egarsia alone, for some reason, he couldn’t just leave them be.

But as Hanbyeol turned to leave, 17 stopped him. Hanbyeol glared at 17 blatantly, but he paid him no mind.

“You need to eat too.”

“…”

“You said the shoot would go late. If you don’t eat now, when will you? You have to help organize these clothes, too.”

“Ha.”

“I’ll go check on Jiwoon.”

17 said this, forced Hanbyeol to sit down, and after a brief farewell, he left the small room first. Hanbyeol sat with a sullen expression, then forced a smile as he accepted the kimbap Youngeun handed him.

“Back then, Jiwoon’s cousin said he was just visiting from abroad for a little while, but it looks like he’s staying for quite a long time, huh?”

At Youngeun’s question, Hanbyeol answered vaguely while unwrapping a roll of kimbap.

“I don’t know about that, but he is staying at the studio apartment.”

“Didn’t he say his family home was in Busan?”

“Yes. But well, his cousin could be living in Seoul.”

Since it wasn’t something he had coordinated with Jiwoon, Hanbyeol answered as vaguely as possible, as if he didn’t know much.

“But that, uh, where is Kim Seonwoo?”

“Ah, come to think of it, he said he was stepping out for a bit too. That Seonwoo kid is a really good actor. I was wondering if he might actually end up in a movie or drama later.”

He’s not at a level to be in a video for a department club showcase like this. Youngeun said, eating her kimbap. Heechan, who had put down what he was eating and was pulling clothes out of the box, had a strange expression, as if he were thinking about something.

Noticing this, Youngeun nudged Heechan’s arm and pointed at the kimbap.

“Eat while you work, eat. You’re kicking up dust.”

“This is strange…”

“What is?”

“I mean, don’t you think it’s strange?”

“What are you talking about? Say it so I can understand.”

Heechan took a deep breath, then looked at Youngeun and spoke.

“That guy isn’t his cousin.”

“What?”

It wasn’t Youngeun who asked back in surprise, but Hanbyeol. When he heard the mention of blond hair, Hanbyeol had guessed that 17 hadn’t managed to tamper with everyone’s memories yet. But when Youngeun suddenly changed her attitude and agreed that she had remembered incorrectly, he had thought that he had completely altered their memories as well.

“Hanbyeol, you’ve seen Jiwoon’s cousin before, right? From the way you were talking, it seemed like you knew each other.”

“Yes, well.”

“Was that the same person? Ah, in my memory, he was a completely different person. Looks aside, he didn’t talk like that either.”

“That was him. I told you, you’re confused because he was wearing a hat.”

“What does a hat have to do with it? His hair color was completely different.”

“You couldn’t even see it well because he was wearing a hat. It must have looked that way because of the light.”

“No… I’m sure he didn’t look like that. I remember it clearly because his face was so shocking. He looked so foreign, I was thinking, is he really his cousin.”

Heechan kept shaking his head as if trying to recall the memory, repeating the same thing, “No, no,” while only Youngeun insisted it was the same person. It seemed the suggestion hadn’t taken properly, but there was nothing Hanbyeol could do.

“Ah, who cares? Forget it, sunbae, if you’re not going to eat any more, give me the rest.”

“If you want to eat more, get a new one!”

“You’ll be punished for wasting food.”

While the two were bickering over the kimbap, the closed door opened and Jiwoon walked in. Egarsia was with him. As soon as he saw the two of them, Hanbyeol put down the kimbap he hadn’t even touched and approached Jiwoon.

“Are you okay? Did anything happen?”

*

“Let’s, let’s talk later.”

Jiwoon whispered quietly, holding up the coffee carriers that filled both his hands. Not just Jiwoon, but Egarsia’s hands also held several cups of coffee.

“If you’ve eaten, you have to have coffee.”

Egarsia paid no mind to whatever Hanbyeol and Jiwoon were saying, walked past them, and started handing out the coffee he was holding.

“Jiwoon bought it. For all your hard work.”

“What’s all this? You didn’t have to!”

Youngeun shouted her thanks even as she said this, and Jiwoon walked past Hanbyeol to hand out coffee to the club members. Watching this, Hanbyeol felt frustrated. He was extremely curious about what conversation the two had shared, but it seemed impossible to wedge himself in there and pull Jiwoon out.

It was Egarsia, who had finished handing out the coffee and was folding the empty paper carriers, who abruptly approached Hanbyeol as he stood with his arms crossed, just watching. He stood naturally next to Hanbyeol and whispered.

“You came with the new angel.”

“…”

“How much do you trust him?”

Hanbyeol did not answer Egarsia’s question. It wasn’t just that he didn’t exchange words; he stared straight ahead, not even glancing in his direction. As always, he acted as if he couldn’t see him at all.

“I’m warning you, you’d be better off going home now.”

“…”

“Seriously. Do you know who’s at your house right now?”

Only then did Hanbyeol turn his head towards Egarsia, his eyes gleaming fiercely. Far from being intimidated by the murderous look in his eyes, Egarsia grinned and added.

“I was made unable to touch the souls of your mother and your little sister. But, you shouldn’t think that just because I can’t do that, I can’t do other things.”

“What kind of bullshit is that.”

“I told you, I would get my revenge.”

“…”

“You think this is the only way I can torment you? I just have to not touch their souls, right?”

“…”

“And if you think about it, this isn’t even me tormenting you. It’s just that the thing that torments you still exists.”

At the same time as Egarsia’s words, the mobile phone in his pocket began to ring. He took out the phone and looked at the screen; the caller was his younger sister. The moment he confirmed it, Hanbyeol gritted his teeth and glared at Egarsia.

“This misfortune was originally yours. Not just yours, but something your whole family had. I just wanted to offer your entire family a way to be at peace, at least while they lived.”