The Trap of Memory

Even to me, it was obvious that the younger brother simply wasn’t academically gifted.

Because Do Jiwan was so brilliant, the contrast was stark.

The younger one did try in his own way to catch up.

But effort alone could not bridge the gap.

Jiwan was simply too exceptional.

The younger brother had always admired Jiwan’s cool demeanor, so even when he couldn’t catch up, he didn’t grow jealous.

If anything, he seemed to think, as expected of hyung.

His interests lay elsewhere.

YouTuber, perhaps.

Or streamer.

He cared more about drawing and music than studying, and he enjoyed communicating with others.

He even bragged to Jiwan that he secretly rented a studio to upload videos without their mother knowing.

“I… just want to live like this.”

He knew what his mother wanted for him.

But he didn’t want that life.

He wanted something freer.

Less greedy.

Just doing what he liked.

Maybe that was childish.

Or maybe… he simply didn’t want to fight Jiwan.

One day, he was caught.

The stepmother, who never loosened her grip on her son, would not overlook such deviation.

“What are you planning to do with this?”

She waved his report card, barely suppressing her anger.

“You’re not a child anymore. You’re entering high school next year. And this is what you bring me?”

She threw the studio contract onto the table.

“Stop playing around. From tomorrow, I’m hiring a live-in tutor. After school, you come straight home and study.”

“Mom… I really want to do this.”

He tried to persuade her.

He explained how much his subscribers had grown in a year.

How promising it was.

How meaningful it felt.

She didn’t listen.

“Enough!”

“Mom!”

“What if everything gets taken by him!”

“Mom!”

She was pointing at Jiwan.

The younger brother, who admired him like a real older brother, looked shocked.

“Mom, I don’t want to live according to your plan.”

“You’re so immature. The world isn’t that easy.”

“….”

“Fine. Say you follow your dream. How long will it last? Ten years? Twenty? Is your retirement guaranteed?”

“….”

“Wake up. It’s all yours. You may chase flashy things now, but when you grow up, will you still think I was wrong?”

“Mom….”

“Get a grip! At this rate, everything will go to Do Jiwan! Don’t you have to beat him?”

Her constant attempt to divide them finally broke him.

“I don’t care about that!”

“Hey!”

“If someone wants it, let them have it!”

He stormed out.

She chased him but failed to catch him.

It could have ended as just another small argument.

But that day, luck failed them.

Instead of cooling off nearby, he went to the studio.

On the way back, he was hit in a hit-and-run accident.

He was found too late.

Even after treatment, he never woke up.

“This is all your fault!”

The stepmother screamed at Jiwan.

Inside her mind, if Jiwan hadn’t existed, this wouldn’t have happened.

‘How can someone be that selfish.’

I understood.

She wanted someone to blame.

But Jiwan had done nothing wrong.

He was simply the easiest target.

She wouldn’t even let him approach the hospital bed.

As if he were the criminal himself.

I approached the younger brother.

I tried touching him with divine power.

It did nothing.

On the way back, Jiwan spoke to me.

“You….”

“….”

“Can’t you wake him with your ability?”

I shook my head sadly.

He didn’t grow angry.

He didn’t demand an explanation.

He simply accepted it.

‘So that’s how it is.’

If he had asked why, I wouldn’t have known what to say.

‘Your brother isn’t human here. He’s only a construct of memory.’

This wasn’t truly the past.

It was Jiwan’s memory.

The younger brother was only a replica within it.

Divine power had no effect.

That was why no one could see me.

I didn’t exist in his past.

Why Jiwan alone could see me, I didn’t know.

Maybe because he would meet me in the future.

Maybe because of my divinity.

‘Whatever the reason, we have to get out.’

This wasn’t a hidden dungeon room.

It was a trap.

One that imprisoned victims in memory and drained their life force.

Perhaps Jiwan triggered it.

Or perhaps it reacted to me being an angel.

Either way, I had been too relaxed.

Most traps like this required the trapped person to awaken by will.

‘How do I wake Jiwan?’

Nothing was simple.

Months passed.

The younger brother remained unconscious.

Time moved forward.

Jiwan became a senior in high school.

His brother should have entered high school too.

But he never woke.

Watching her son barely alive drove the stepmother mad.

“You murderer!”

In her mind, Jiwan was the criminal.

He had no license.

No car.

The real culprit had been caught.

Yet she insisted Jiwan had killed him.

“Stop it!” his father shouted.

“Stop? Are you his accomplice? Did you kill my son to hand everything to him?”

“He’s not dead! Why do you speak like that!”

The doctors had said even if he woke, he would never live normally.

To her, that meant death.

“You killed him! You!”

“….”

“You think things will go your way!”

In madness, she revealed Jiwan’s birth secret.

Jiwan had many enemies.

He kept distance from others.

Those who once admired him turned their backs instantly.

“Bastard child.”

“So that’s why he was so arrogant.”

Laughter followed him in the hallways.

At least no one hit him.

Once, someone tried.

Jiwan’s cold gaze froze them.

“Wh-what are you looking at, bastard?”

They barked to hide their fear.

Jiwan replied calmly.

“So what if I am?”

“…What?”

“If I get beaten up, will my father say, good job, you deserved it for being illegitimate?”

“….”

“Or will he want to know who touched his son?”