By Zephyria 
“Actually, it takes time to complete, so I only ordered the main gate key in advance. We’ll mostly use a digital lock, but an analog object still has meaning.”
The lines drawn on the paper confused my vision. The blueprint, with numerous lines drawn here and there mixed with numbers, made it difficult to imagine the shape.
“Hmm, it’s a blueprint. A key and a blueprint… is this a house? Am I right?”
I asked uncertainly, but to my surprise, he nodded vigorously.
“A real house?”
“Yes. I plan to build a fallout shelter so you can survive even if the sky falls. This part here is the shelter. It can prepare for disasters like war, as well as radiation, and unauthorized people cannot enter. Even if a war breaks out and everyone dies, you will survive.”
My eyes darted around at the sudden appearance of a fallout shelter. It was strange enough that he was showing me a house blueprint, but the fact that the first thing he explained about the house was a fallout shelter left me utterly bewildered.
“There’s also a panic room inside the house, so there’s nothing to worry about. You’ll be safe from external attacks or threats.”
“Well, being safe is a good thing. There’s one thing I want to ask… by any chance, is a war breaking out in our country?”
“What?”
“Is this one of those things? Where the government tells only the rich in advance? Why haven’t I heard anything? Don’t tell me my family is planning to evacuate without me.”
Because I’m the child of a second wife, or because I’m an Omega, do they feel no need to take me? Even so, they’d take the Omega father when evacuating, but they’d leave me behind? Or are they planning to abandon both the Omega father and me to save only themselves? Did Grandfather tell them to do that? As I agonized over all sorts of assumptions, Kwon Yi-kang flicked my forehead with his finger.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking deeply about why I haven’t heard anything about a war breaking out.”
“A war is breaking out?”
“You said you’re building a fallout shelter. So I can survive even if a war breaks out.”
Why is the culprit who made me worry about this in the first place asking me? At my response, Kwon Yi-kang burst into laughter.
“You said you’d dig a hole to survive even if the sky falls.”
I did? I said that? When I thought about when I might have said that, I remembered saying something like that when I went to meet Kwon Yi-kang’s father. The talk of gifts and gold bars also came up then.
“What does that have to do with this…”
“What did I say then?”
“Back then, you… said you’d dig one more hole for me…”
“This is the hole I’m digging for you. A hole where you can survive even if the sky falls, if a war breaks out, or if anything happens.”
I think he dug way too much of a hole. Right, no wonder he had a look of such easy understanding back then. I had thought my words wouldn’t be understood, so it had been strange that he looked like he understood.
“This isn’t all built yet, right?”
“Not yet. You can’t build a house in a day or two.”
“Then go cancel it. I didn’t say that because I was afraid the sky would fall or a war would break out. I was just worried about my future; why a fallout shelter? I meant preparing for a time when I might be kicked out or have to run away because something bad happened. Not war or disaster.”
“Isn’t the possibility slim either way?”
“Anyway, the fallout shelter is unnecessary!”
“Then just think of it as an option attached to the house. It’s not bad to have a safe house. It’ll be the perfect house for when you’re kicked out or have to run away because something bad happened.”
“It’s not the perfect house at all.”
Where is there a house with such an option? I’m not the president, so there’s no reason to need a safe house. I have no intention of taking refuge in such a magnificent house.
I hit the shoulder of Kwon Yi-kang, who was rattling off nonsense while rolling up the blueprint, but he had a face that showed absolutely no remorse.
Instead, he unfolded the stolen blueprint again and proudly listed where the bedroom would be, where the bathroom would be, where the swimming pool would go, and where the theater would be.
It was drifting further and further from my original intention. Today, I realized poignantly that conversation shouldn’t just end with exchanging words, but that the meaning must be communicated. Looking at my gloomy face, Kwon Yi-kang’s expression was full of amusement.
∞ ∞ ∞
Unlike dinner, where the members changed depending on when people finished work, breakfast was a gathering for the whole family unless something special happened. Except for when I stayed out, when the prestigious doctors were away for conferences or seminars, or during relaxed weekends, the seats were almost always filled like this.
Unlike my usual self, who would blurt out nonsense just to break the stifling atmosphere, I focused on eating quietly. No, I pretended to eat while glancing at my younger brother sitting opposite me.
I used to think the little one was pitiful—stupid and simple, yet greedy enough to keep a sharp eye on the eldest brother while pretending not to—but now, just looking at that stupid, simple face made me boil with rage.
If Cha Soo-kyung’s words were true, if someone around Cha Soo-kyung was the culprit behind my parents’ accident… how could Cha Soo-kyung be so sure?
The little one wouldn’t have explained in detail when, where, and how he killed someone; at most, he would have heard something similar to what I heard a few days ago. How could Cha Soo-kyung conclude from just that that he was the culprit of my parents’ accident?
If the little one really is the culprit of my parents’ accident, who are the people involved in covering up his crime? Alpha father? Eldest brother? Does the Omega father know this fact too? Did he overlook it knowing the truth?
My head became cluttered with various thoughts.
“You’ve been lost in thought throughout the meal.”
Coming back to my senses at the voice, I looked up to see the table had already been cleared.
What, where did everyone go?
As I looked around with a confused face, I saw the Omega father, who was the only one left. He also seemed to have finished his meal, as he had neatly set down his utensils and was drinking water.
“You have a bit of time before your lessons, right?”
“Yes, about two hours.”
“Wait in your room after finishing your meal. I have something to tell you.”
I wondered what the business was that made him act like this from the morning. I put down my chopsticks and stood up. I had no appetite, so eating any more was a chore.
“I’ll go up now. I didn’t really feel like eating anyway.”
“Then go ahead. I have something to bring, so I’ll come up in ten minutes.”
“Yes, well. Please do.”
As I headed up to my room, I tried to anticipate what my father wanted to talk about.
Was he going to ask if I was feeling better? Or if any memories had returned? But this felt like too formal a setting for such questions.
Did he find out that I’d taken drugs after following that little brat? My younger brother’s driver might have told him. Or perhaps he wanted to warn me about staying out too often lately. I had been drifting in and out of Kwon Yi-kang’s house quite a bit. I’d even stayed there during my heat cycle.
There were so many things weighing on my mind that I sighed, wondering if I was still living like trash even after becoming Cha Soo-kyung.
I had the excuse that the drugs were because of the little brat, but drifting in and out of Kwon Yi-kang’s house… isn’t that just what happens when you’re dating? It’s not like I said we were moving in together; it could just be seen as dating at home instead of going out. Still, staying overnight was a bit much.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, anxiously shaking my legs, when my father entered the room and frowned upon seeing it. I immediately snapped my legs together and forced an awkward smile.
“What did you want to tell me?”
“The hospital said there’s nothing physically wrong, and while your memories are a bit unstable, there’s no problem with your daily life. From what I’ve observed, I agree. Since this state might persist, you can’t just cling to memories that may never return.”
“…And so?”
I stared at him, wondering why he was bringing up things I already knew.
“I don’t know if it’s in your memories, but these are the people you are expected to meet for arranged dates.”
What he pushed toward me was similar to the personal information documents I had seen once at Kwon Yi-kang’s house. I guess you have to strip someone’s soul bare just to go on one blind date. I wondered if the information the other party would receive should include: ‘Special Note: Body is Cha Soo-kyung, Soul is Min Jae-hee.’
“Are these the guys you told me to meet before the accident? The pharmacy son? The bank son? What else was it… some grandson?”
“It seems you remember that. Anything else?”
“Just some recent things right before the accident are vaguely coming back. And not even clearly.”
In truth, during the two months I spent talking with Cha Soo-kyung, everything he had rambled about as his ‘worries’ was all I knew.
“I’m not sure what your criteria for remembering is. But what you said is similar. Look through the details slowly.”
My father gestured as if giving me time to read. I skimmed through the papers and the faces of the men in the photos.
“Wow, holy shit. They’re all old farts. The minister’s grandson is thirty-six, and the youngest one is the bank president’s son at thirty-three. The other one is in his forties. Did this ahjussi fail to get married until this age, or is he a divorcee? This is seriously bad.”
“Soo-kyung.”
“I’m only twenty now. I don’t understand why you’re pushing arranged dates on a twenty-year-old, but the candidates are all ahjussis over thirty? One is in his forties? Who on earth picked these? Who’s the matchmaker? I have something serious to say, so bring that person here.”
No, seriously, they couldn’t find anyone else, so they’re pairing a fresh twenty-year-old with ahjussis over thirty? The photos all looked like they were taken ten years ago, and even the ones touched up with Photoshop reeked of ‘middle-aged man.’