Come Back

He knew very well that Director Kang hated Yoon Hye-an and disliked noisy parties more than anyone. Even when he showed up here for the second time, everyone had been surprised.

‘Today, I came because Choi Hong-seo is the guest.’

If that was the case, then there was no reason for him to be here today since Choi Hong-seo wasn’t present.

“Are you completely better now? You don’t look like someone who’s been sick,” Director Kang asked with a concerned expression as he handed Choi Hong-seo an empty glass.

“Thanks to your concern, I’m completely fine now. Thank you.”

“Even so, don’t overdo it. Let’s just have one drink together. You’ll have to drink with other guests too.”

After collapsing on Lee Hae-sung’s rooftop, Choi Hong-seo had woken up the next day in a hospital room he’d never seen before. The room was far too spacious and comfortable to be a typical hospital room, which made him confused about its purpose.

Fortunately, Yong-jae was there, and he explained the situation. The room was in a VIP ward of a general hospital in Gangnam, and he had been moved there after collapsing in Lee Hae-sung’s bathroom.

“Why a VIP room though…?” Choi Hong-seo had asked.

“Vice President Lee Hae-sung told them to do so,” Yong-jae replied.

“Vice President?”

“He must have been concerned because a guest collapsed at his house. He said not to worry about the hospital bills and to stay here for tests and until you’re discharged. I think it was his secretary or someone like that who contacted the hospital.”

“What tests?”

“Oh, um, something like sepsis or a kidney condition. They said once you wake up, they’ll do urine tests, X-rays, CT scans… stuff like that.”

Choi Hong-seo had experienced similar symptoms before at the memorial hall, and the doctor had given a similar diagnosis back then. After various tests, the final conclusion was that there were no abnormalities.

This time would likely be the same.

The symptoms seemed to occur when strong memories or emotions from his past, as Choi Hong-seo, were triggered.

Although it wasn’t certain, looking at the common factors in the moments when those symptoms had occurred, this was the only explanation he could come up with.

Of course, it was just an absurd guess. But now that someone else’s soul had awakened in another person’s body, Choi Hong-seo wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Though he couldn’t tell anyone else this.

As expected, the test results showed no abnormalities.

The doctor had suspected either pyelonephritis or sepsis, but those were ruled out. They had then considered the possibility of pancreatitis but dismissed that as well, explaining the results kindly to the VIP ward patient.

“Patients and their families may feel anxious, but the truth is, in 20-30% of cases, the cause of a fever cannot be identified through testing. It’s not uncommon. For your case, while it’s concerning that there’s vomiting along with the fever, and that the symptoms came on suddenly and intensely, your body is healthy with no issues. In the future, don’t try to endure the symptoms. Take fever reducers immediately, rest, or go to the hospital if it’s severe.”

This news was somewhat shocking to Choi Hong-seo. In a world where even cancers, which were once thought to be untreatable, could be cured, it was surprising to hear that a cause for simple fever and nausea couldn’t be found in so many cases.

But at the same time, it was reassuring.

There were things in the world that could not be explained by science or medicine.

The strange comfort he felt came from knowing that he wasn’t the only one with such inexplicable things happening to him.

After two days, Choi Hong-seo was able to be discharged.

Although he wanted to express his gratitude, Lee Hae-sung hadn’t left a contact number with the company. There was a number saved under “Carrot Seller” in his phone’s contact list, but of course, he couldn’t make a call to it.

Perhaps the hospital had been reporting to Lee Hae-sung, because just before his discharge, one of his aides came to deliver a flower basket. It wasn’t much—only two days had passed—but it was a “congratulations on your discharge” gift…

The flower basket, while not extravagant, was bright and cheerful, reflecting his taste. The card tucked between the flowers had only the very clichéd message: “Congratulations on your discharge, Yoon Hye-an. Wishing you good health.”

Even though he personally didn’t like Yoon Hye-an, and was even closer to disliking him, Lee Hae-sung still showed him respect. At least it wasn’t like last time when he just called an ambulance and ended it there. He had arranged for the VIP room, covered all the medical expenses, and even sent flowers for his discharge.

Still, the clichéd message, seemingly handwritten by the florist, made his heart ache.

He shouldn’t expect more. He knew Lee Hae-sung wouldn’t give him anything else. But that one obligatory line, written by someone else, seemed to highlight the distance between them, and it made him feel suffocated.

Even so, he carefully brought the flower basket and the card home and kept them.

After toasting with the drink poured by Director Kang, Park Dong-ha urged Choi Hong-seo to greet other guests, prompting him to leave the table.

“Now you can greet everyone at once. It’s good, right? It’s not like you’re going to pretend not to know people just because you don’t remember them.”

It made sense logically, but Choi Hong-seo wasn’t particularly inclined. His steps naturally slowed.

Park Dong-ha, who had been leading the way, urged him to hurry, and when Choi Hong-seo approached, he cautiously asked, looking around.

“So, what happened that day?”

“That day?”

“The day you collapsed.”

“…”

“The other guests weren’t even allowed near the bathroom, and after that, Vice President Lee didn’t show up either. Did you follow him to the hospital?”

Park Dong-ha carefully watched Choi Hong-seo’s expression as he asked. He seemed nervous, wondering if he would get an answer that confirmed Lee Hae-sung had followed Yoon Hye-an to the hospital, leaving the other guests behind.

“I didn’t remember anything until the next morning. I don’t recall what happened that day.”

“Didn’t the hospital staff say anything? If someone like Lee Hae-sung had been at the hospital, people would’ve talked about it after you woke up.”

“I didn’t hear anything like that.”

Choi Hong-seo shook his head in response.

After his discharge, he had turned off his phone. While there was nothing medically wrong, his body, which had endured a night of high fever, needed rest. Park Dong-ha had probably tried calling several times during that time.

“…Is that so?”

At last, the anxious look faded somewhat from Park Dong-ha’s face.

He had answered truthfully, but he thought it best not to mention that Lee Hae-sung had arranged for him to stay in the VIP ward and covered all the hospital expenses. He had no obligation to report that to Park Dong-ha.

“He said you collapsed in the bathroom and were taken to the hospital, but after that, the Vice President didn’t show up… His assistant, or butler, or whoever, came to apologize on his behalf and said we should enjoy the food and drinks. But everyone lost their mood, and the party ended up fizzling out. It’s hard to enjoy eating and drinking at a party when someone’s been taken to the hospital.”

“…”

“I thought maybe the Vice President went to the hospital with you… But I guess that wasn’t the case?”

It seemed that Park Dong-ha really wanted to confirm this point. His eyes, sneaking glances at Choi Hong-seo, were filled with urgency. Choi Hong-seo had been unsure about Park Dong-ha’s interest in Lee Hae-sung, but by today, he was certain—this wasn’t just regular curiosity about a rich person.

“There was no need for him to do that. He probably had something more urgent to attend to. He’s a busy person.”

“Right? If you were close, maybe, but he wouldn’t have followed you to the hospital. If he did, there would have been rumors at the hospital, but there’s nothing.”

“Exactly…”

Park Dong-ha seemed to have fully relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. His emotions were so transparent that it almost made him seem pure, not hiding anything.

Seeing that expression made it hard for Choi Hong-seo to keep looking at him, so he subtly turned his gaze away.

“I heard from Yong-jae hyung that the test results showed nothing unusual?”

“Yeah.”

“So there’s nothing wrong, but you don’t remember anything, and there’s nothing wrong, but you collapsed… That’s why people are starting to doubt you. How can you collapse like that, and the doctors say nothing’s wrong? Isn’t that doctor a quack?”

As he spoke, Park Dong-ha started moving again. Choi Hong-seo reached out and grabbed his arm as he tried to turn.

“When they say nothing is wrong, it means there’s no specific illness… I’m not saying I faked collapsing.”

“Who’s saying that?”

“Doesn’t it sound like that from what you’re saying? Do you think I have some skill to intentionally raise my fever to 42°C?”

“Did your fever really reach 42°C?”

It seemed like Park Dong-ha had suspected something, but he didn’t want to admit it. He shrugged off Choi Hong-seo’s hand from his arm.

“I never said you faked collapsing. I’m just saying, when the test results come back showing nothing, people start to have doubts.”

“…”

Choi Hong-seo had nothing more to say.

No matter how much he insisted he wasn’t Yoon Hye-an, his social identity was still Yoon Hye-an.

Even if he pretended to have lost his memory and faked the collapse, people saw him as the same Yoon Hye-an from the past. And now, Choi Hong-seo had to take responsibility for that.

“Whether you remember or not, the past you is still you. Even if you don’t remember who you were, other people’s memories don’t change.”

“…”

“To be honest, when they said you woke up and lost your memory… of course, you must have been the most shocked and confused, but the people around you were just as surprised.”

“…”

“Not everyone can accept it right away like Yong-jae hyung did. It’s not just that you lost your memory, but your speech, personality, even your tastes—they’ve all changed. You’ve become like a completely different person. Honestly, isn’t it strange that Yong-jae hyung accepted it so easily?”

There was a growing sense of resentment in Park Dong-ha’s voice.

“Yeah. You must be confused, too. I guess I’ve been too sensitive.”

“…”

“This is what’s different from the old me, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah. You really do feel like a completely different person. I’m still not used to it.”

Now, Park Dong-ha was glaring at Choi Hong-seo, looking like a child about to cry from frustration and injustice.

Choi Hong-seo decided to ask the question he had been wanting to ask Park Dong-ha for a while.

“Do you want me to go back to the way I was? Do you like the old me more?”

Park Dong-ha’s eyes still burned with emotion, but he forced a painful smile, pulling the corners of his lips up.

“Yeah, it would be much better if you stayed the way you were.”

Then he turned around and quickly walked toward a loud table.