A Bet Built on Memory

Woo Jaeyoung said that Park Yijeong must have died ten years ago in that accident.

They couldn’t have another child.

But if there was no heir, they would be at a severe disadvantage in both management disputes and inheritance battles.

In a rigid, old-fashioned family, the title of eldest grandson held power almost like a badge of authority.

So Park Yijeong was replaced.

With a boy who looked suspiciously similar to him and was the same age.

A healthy, tight-lipped orphan with nowhere to go.

“The facility you stayed in was in terrible condition.”

“The guardians were basically useless, and the kids survived by scraping by and even begging to make ends meet.”

“After you left, some TV program exposed it, and the owner got arrested and the place shut down.”

They said proper records barely existed, so very few people even knew who had stayed there or for how long.

Because of that, there was a limit to how much information Woo Jaeyoung could find using the fake name ‘Park Yijeong.’

“Then… the one who took Park Yijeong’s place now was someone like me, um, someone who came from the same facility as ‘Yoo Sowon’?”

“Yeah.”

“When I first investigated your past, I picked a few kids from that place and asked around, but they all said they didn’t know you, so I thought you were only there briefly.”

“But now that I think about it, it’s probably the opposite.”

He tilted my chin slightly to check my expression.

It was a little embarrassing, but it wasn’t shocking enough to shake me, so I was fine.

Woo Jaeyoung seemed a bit relieved as he continued.

“Kids who grow up in unstable and disadvantaged environments, if they get a new home, they’d want to bury their past.”

“They’d see it as a weakness.”

“Especially if you knew about Park Yijeong’s adoption process.”

“So it’s not that you don’t remember…”

“Right.”

“They probably told you to pretend you don’t remember.”

“To not act like you know anything.”

“To not answer even if someone asks.”

“And even if you run into each other by chance, just pass by like strangers.”

“Maybe not with everyone, but definitely with Park Yijeong.”

What kind of feelings did those children have, who barely had enough to eat or a blanket to sleep under, yet clung to each other like family as they slowly parted ways one by one?

What kind of heart did it take to let go of the hands of those they once protected like their own lives, promising to become strangers forever?

They were emotions I couldn’t dare to measure right now.

Woo Jaeyoung scanned the documents again and muttered quietly.

“…So that’s how you ended up alone.”

“Convincing yourself it had to be that way.”

I had nothing to say.

I lowered my gaze, fidgeting with my teacup.

“What about the other documents?”

“Hospital records and information from when Park Yijeong was young.”

“He looks similar, but there are subtle differences.”

“The Sangyu F&B family is starting to notice me digging around, so it won’t be easy, but I can dig deeper if needed.”

“……”

“He’s connected to your memories too, so if you want, I can investigate more.”

“And since we’ve basically got leverage, we could use it if we wanted.”

He thinks I’m Yoo Sowon.

So he believes that finding people who knew me in the past, or people I might have cared about, would help me.

But… would that even mean anything?

I’m not Yoo Sowon.

Even if I learned about his past, it would feel no different than learning backstory about a character in a novel.

My head started throbbing.

It was the kind of headache that came whenever I thought too deeply about ‘Yoo Sowon’ and myself.

I frowned slightly and answered.

“I don’t want that.”

I didn’t want to meet Park Yijeong.

At least not right now.

In the original story I remembered, there was no mention of Park Yijeong at all, so he probably wasn’t an important character that affected the plot.

No… even if that wasn’t the case.

“Let’s not use Yijeong.”

Even if he was living his entire life as someone else, it was still better than eating spoiled food and sleeping curled up under worn-out blankets.

I wanted him to keep living properly.

Going to school.

Having a driver.

Living in a nice officetel gifted to him.

So what if he was fake?

It wasn’t like the real one, who had already died, would come back just because he didn’t get to enjoy it.

I suddenly found myself wishing that Park Yijeong could be happy, even if it was like that.

Not just me—

The real ‘Yoo Sowon’ probably felt the same way.

Just as much as Park Yijeong cared about Yoo Sowon, Yoo Sowon must have cared about him too.

Enough to tell him to forget him and pretend not to know him.

“…Ah.”

The memory that had surfaced at the hospital flashed through my mind again.

Small, dirty hands.

Voices calling my name.

Hands holding mine.

Arms wrapping around me.

Whispers saying they loved me.

Those small, lovable kids who devoured my loneliness.

Whose memories were those?

Were they mine?

Or remnants left behind in this body?

My head throbbed sharply.

The teacup slipped from my hand and its contents spilled onto the floor.

As I curled up, Woo Jaeyoung rushed over in shock.

“Yoo Sowon!”

My head hurt so much I couldn’t think.

My vision darkened as if I might faint right there.

I realized all over again that when pain gets truly bad, you can’t even make a sound.

When I grabbed him with trembling hands, Woo Jaeyoung, clearly flustered, pulled me into his arms.

“What’s wrong.”

“Where does it hurt.”

“Should we go to the hospital right now?”

“……”

“Sowon, Yoo Sowon.”

“Come on, stay with me.”

“Look at me, okay?”

His large hand reached out and frantically wiped around my eyes.

Only after he wiped away the tears streaming down my face did my mind slowly start to come back.

My blurred vision gradually cleared, and his face came into focus.

Only then could I breathe properly again.

“Should you take a painkiller?”

I wanted to say, ‘Can I take medicine?’

But instead of words, only ragged breaths escaped.

Thankfully, Woo Jaeyoung quickly read my expression.

“It’s an emergency pill.”

“They said to only take it when it’s really necessary.”

“If you don’t want to go to the hospital, let’s just take one.”

I didn’t want to end up in the emergency room in the middle of the night, dealing with all that chaos.

No matter how comfortable a private room might be, hospital life was still something I didn’t want.

When I slowly nodded, he lifted me into his arms.

He quickly carried me to the kitchen, sat me down at the table, and brought water and the medicine.

He brushed his thumb over my lips to make me open my mouth, then helped me drink the water.

The pill was bitter when I couldn’t swallow it all at once.

As I grimaced, Woo Jaeyoung apologized.

“…Sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“The doctor told me not to stimulate you, but I ignored it without even realizing.”

“You looked like you were doing fine, so I thought it’d be okay.”

“F*ck, that was stupid.”

“I was dealing with someone who could’ve died at any moment…”

“Hyung.”

“I…”

He carefully pulled me into an embrace.

He rested his forehead against the back of my neck and slowly stroked my back.

“I got greedy.”

“I wanted you… to be Yoo Sowon.”

“So I tried to find your memories somehow…”

“I wanted to know that you weren’t someone’s substitute.”

“That you didn’t steal someone else’s place.”

His words sounded like a confession.

Like he was painfully revealing a long-buried sin.

“I want you to feel comfortable staying by my side.”

In the long silence, he wiped away my cold sweat and checked my condition.

The headache slowly began to fade.

He held my limp body as exhaustion took over me.

He always nagged me to sleep in the master bedroom, but now he carried me to the guest room I had been using for the past few days.

Whether it was his determination to make me more comfortable or his way of distancing me from himself, I couldn’t tell.

After laying me down properly, he sat by my bedside and gently smoothed the crease between my brows.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s put the Park Yijeong matter aside.”

“I won’t bother him.”

“We’ll think about it slowly later.”

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time?”

“Of course we do.”

He pressed his lips softly against my forehead and whispered.

“Let’s change the approach.”

“How?”

“I’ll wait.”

“I won’t rush you.”

“I’ll match your pace.”

“Yeah… I should’ve done that from the start.”

“So let’s do that.”

His hand gently held mine as it slipped out from under the blanket.

His touch was careful and soft.

He pressed lightly on my fingertips, traced along my knuckles, rubbed the back of my hand in slow circles with his thumb, then lightly squeezed and released it over and over.

As if this was the first time he had ever handled something so delicate.

“Yoo Sowon will come back someday.”

Was that certainty?

Faith?

Hope?

Or a desperate plea?

“Yoo Sowon is kind.”

“He even loved a b*stard like me.”

“So someday, somehow, he’ll come back to me.”

“If not because of love, then out of pity.”

“If not pity, then out of longing.”

“If only to see how much Woo Jaeyoung regrets losing Yoo Sowon, he’ll come back at least once.”

“……”

“It’s okay if he’s far away.”

“It’s okay if it takes a long time.”

“I won’t rush you, so just do whatever you want.”

“You don’t need to worry about anything.”

“But… I hope you are Yoo Sowon.”

His grip on my hand tightened slightly.

“It’s a bet.”

“I’m betting that you are Yoo Sowon.”

“And you’ll bet that you’re not, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ll wait for Yoo Sowon.”

“And you’ll search for Yoo Sowon.”

“If you are Yoo Sowon, I win.”

“If you’re not, then you win.”

“What does the winner get?”

“How about the loser grants the winner’s wish?”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

Suddenly, I wanted to ask.

Was this feeling just a remnant tied to this body?

Or an instinctive choice made by someone with nowhere to belong?

Or simply a fickle, impulsive pull?

If I won this bet, I wanted to ask Woo Jaeyoung to love me—not Yoo Sowon, but me.

Even if I had to hide behind the excuse of a wish, I wanted to claim his heart as mine.

But at the same time, I didn’t want to carry the subtle guilt of being someone’s substitute forever.

So for the first time, I found myself wanting to lose this bet.

“Hyung.”

I intertwined my fingers with his and asked.

“If you win, what wish would you make?”

“I…”

Woo Jaeyoung stayed silent for a long time before finally forcing out an answer.

“I’d wish…”

“……”

“That you’d never give up on me again.”

I wanted to tell him.

That even without wishing for it, ‘Yoo Sowon’ would grant that.

That with a face like that, no one could ever abandon him.

That no one could stay strong in front of that kind of love.

A few days after Woo Jaeyoung got completely chewed out by the doctor for giving his patient emotional shock.

After finishing my first consultation with the new attending physician recommended in place of Doctor Jang, I was left struggling through a ridiculously thick stack of test papers.

“This is seriously annoying…”

I flipped through the pages one by one with dead eyes, sighing heavily like I was finishing overdue homework.

‘Don’t even think about going out until you finish all of this.’

After threatening me like that, Woo Jaeyoung had actually stationed Hopi and Gamja at the door like guards.

If it had just been Gamja, I might’ve managed to act pitiful and sneak out for a walk.

But strict Hopi wouldn’t let anything slide.

In the end, I had no choice but to finish everything, even the written sections, before I could finally open the front door.

“Yoo Sowon, you finished your homework?”

“Yes.”

“Can I go out now?”

“What’s got you running out so often…”

“I gotta call hyung and report, so wait a bit.”

While handing over the stack of papers for inspection, I placed my hands confidently on my hips.

“I’ve got something very important to do.”

“What is it?”

“It’s…”

“Today’s dinner is on me.”

“Let’s go grocery shopping!”

The first step to becoming a good housemate—making a warm dinner for the owner of the house.

Challenge starts now!