CNC 7

■

Outside the hospital building, at the end of a small walking path, was a designated smoking area surrounded by trees. Perhaps sensing the summer’s end, the cicadas chirped loudly. Thanks to that, one could momentarily forget it was a city.

The smoking area, which had a roof, had about five or six benches. Perhaps due to the midday heat, there were only three people smoking, including Yong-jae.

Yong-jae gazed at the two people sitting on a bench diagonally across from him. They were men in hospital gowns, each holding a cigarette between their fingers and looking at their phones, chuckling. The two, who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, both had their hair bleached yellow.

Perhaps due to the strict group life he had experienced as a baseball player until high school, whenever he witnessed scenes like this, his fists would clench. He felt an urge to lecture them, that even if they were going to smoke, it shouldn’t be done so brazenly. Although he was usually described as foolishly gentle, he found it difficult to maintain his composure in such situations.

“Leave them be. Kids these days don’t listen to you.”

“……”

Someone appeared, pressing down on his shoulder, and sat down with a thud next to him. It was CEO Lim. How did he know he was about to say something? Yong-jae glanced at CEO Lim with his narrow, elongated eyes.

“Guys like that aren’t scared even by your size. They live without consequences.”

CEO Lim took off his jacket and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, then pulled the knot of his tie. As if bothered by the heat, his already stern face was deeply furrowed.

“What did the doctor say?”

“The test results show no problems.”

“Then why…”

CEO Lim lit his cigarette and exhaled a long stream of smoke into the air, replying listlessly.

“Even if there are no physical issues, such a phenomenon can occur. The mind is like that, they said, rattling off some difficult terms…”

He took another puff of the filter and continued,

“Anyway, it’s a relief that there’s no problem. They said there’s a high probability it will naturally get better over time.”

“……”

“They told me not to stress him out too much. Not to keep forcing him.”

“Not forcing him means…”

“If he insists he’s Choi Hong-seo, don’t deny it and just let him be.”

CEO Lim, looking at Yong-jae’s rock-like profile as he nodded, tilted his head, gnawing on the filter.

“But, you know…”

“Yes.”

“Why Choi Hong-seo, of all people?”

“……”

“That Hyean kid, did he have any connection with Choi Hong-seo? Were they close without me knowing?”

Yong-jae shook his head. He looked as puzzled as CEO Lim.

“No. Before Hyung left ‘Titan,’ they only exchanged greetings a few times at music shows or similar events. Not many times at all, I think.”

“Even though Choi Hong-seo was doing well then, he wasn’t a top star yet. With Yoon Hye-an’s personality, he wouldn’t be envious of someone who wasn’t a top star… No matter how I think about it, I don’t understand why it had to be Choi Hong-seo, someone he barely knew.”

“Now that you mention it, there were rumors that the two of them looked alike.”

“Really? They look alike? I don’t really see it.”

CEO Lim tilted his head with an even more bewildered expression.

“They say they both look young, and their facial features look cold, but they become cute when they smile, so they say they resemble each other.”

CEO Lim looked unconvinced.

“When was the last time Hyean kid smiled, even if it was fake, in front of a camera? Ever since he met Chairman Jo, he’s just sat there looking aloof and acting proud. His image is completely different from Choi Hong-seo, who did everything he was told on all sorts of programs to promote the group.”

CEO Lim snorted and brought the filter to his lips. He took a puff of his cigarette and spat out the rest of his words with the smoke.

“Well, Choi Hong-seo was also an X-boy with that fresh face. Thinking about what Choi Hong-seo did behind the scenes with that face, maybe they do look alike.”

“Still, Choi Hong-seo was concluded to be the victim.”

“Do you believe court rulings? If a trial says someone is a victim, are they a victim? They all have a certain inclination, that’s why they ended up in a host bar. A truly innocent person would never get involved with that world in the first place, right?”

“That may be so… but not being innocent isn’t a crime.”

“What are you talking about now?”

CEO Lim’s displeased face scanned Yong-jae up and down.

“The reason he ended up working at that host bar was because CEO Myeong had planned it from the start and lured him in. After that, he cornered him step by step. He had already caught his weaknesses, so he couldn’t escape. Choi Hong-seo wasn’t the only one who fell victim to that method.”

“Since when did you start using words like ‘step by step’ and become so knowledgeable?”

“Still, it happened in the industry I work in, so I paid close attention. People working in the entertainment industry aren’t meant to be exploited like that.”

At Yong-jae’s timid protest, CEO Lim clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“You’re good at everything, but you’re too soft, and that’s the problem. What good is a person who works in this world being so kind-hearted?”

Then, as if he didn’t care about anyone else’s business, he narrowed his eyes and took another puff of his cigarette.

“Anyway, the point is, why Choi Hong-seo out of the blue?”

“Hyung Hyean is very proud of his appearance. Although he paid some attention because people often said they looked alike, it wasn’t serious. There were no other connections to speak of.”

“If he’s going to insist he’s someone else, I wish his temper would change a little.”

He had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could rest easy now that Yoon Hye-an’s consciousness had returned, but it was only for a moment.

For the past few days, the patient insisted he was Choi Hong-seo, not Yoon Hye-an. He cried, he yelled in anger, he pleaded for them to believe him. Because of this, the patient had to undergo all sorts of detailed examinations related to the brain and psychological tests.

“He’s been like this for days, I’m starting to think it was better when he just lay there with his eyes closed,”

Spitting out a short curse, CEO Lim stood up from the bench. Even so, how could he say something so frightening? Yong-jae also stood up, following him while glancing at CEO Lim’s broad back.

Picking up his jacket that had been draped over the bench and dusting it off, CEO Lim suddenly spoke to the bench opposite them.

“Students.”

Two young men, whose faces were buried in their phone screens, reflexively looked over. CEO Lim smiled broadly and gestured with his chin towards the cigarette butts discarded on the ground.

“Cigarette butts go in the ashtray.”

“……”

“Well?”

The guys scowled. It wasn’t that he was telling them not to smoke, but a lecture about putting butts in the ashtray? They looked bewildered. Glancing back and forth between the two burly men, they grudgingly and slowly picked up the butts and tossed them into the ashtray.

Only then did CEO Lim smile with satisfaction and start walking towards the hospital building. He’s a man you can never quite figure out. Yong-jae shook his head and followed.

When they went up to the hospital room, the patient was standing by the cabinet near the window, rummaging through the drawers. CEO Lim entered the room cautiously, trying not to upset him.

“Hyean… no, that’s right, Hong-seo. How are you feeling today?”

Choi Hong-seo stopped his hands and stared intently at CEO Lim’s face. No matter how much he insisted he was Choi Hong-seo and not Yoon Hye-an, not a single person had listened to him for the past few days.

The face he saw in the mirror was clearly Yoon Hye-an’s.

Now, even he wondered if he had gone mad. What if he was truly Yoon Hye-an, but something strange happened during the accident, causing him to firmly believe he was Choi Hong-seo? He had such thoughts.

But if that were the case, he remembered everything related to Choi Hong-seo too clearly. His birthdate, family relationships, debut date, career history… the information he found online and his own memories all matched.

On the other hand, he had no memories of Yoon Hye-an.

As someone in the same industry, he only had the brief information and rumors he’d heard here and there. Just in case, he meticulously scanned Yoon Hye-an’s Wikipedia page, but he didn’t even feel like anything was about to come back to him.

However, as the days passed, Choi Hong-seo was able to accept one thing.

No matter how much he insisted to them that he wasn’t Yoon Hye-an, no matter how much he revealed all the information and memories related to Choi Hong-seo, no one would ever see him as Choi Hong-seo instead of Yoon Hye-an.

It couldn’t be helped.

Could another person’s soul inhabit someone else’s body?

If someone claimed that about him, he would judge that person to be insane. It was the kind of story that wouldn’t even make it onto a TV entertainment show featuring eccentric people. He’d be lucky if he wasn’t locked away in a psychiatric hospital.

So, he changed his mind.

Even if he sat in this hospital room and wrote down the entire life journey of Choi Hong-seo, their minds wouldn’t change. It wouldn’t be proof that he was Choi Hong-seo, but rather proof that he was Choi Hong-seo’s stalker.

“Uh, I’m checking out.”

“Checking out? Why?”

“My limbs are fine, and there’s nothing wrong with my head, so there’s no reason to stay any longer. It’s a waste of hospital fees.”