RB 103

“I guess you were really looking forward to it.”

“Chairman will be there soon, right?”

“I promised you. I said I’d spend my whole week with you, Sim Eunho-ssi.”

Yeorok still had work to finish and was planning to leave on an evening flight. He was a little worried about sending Eunho to France alone, but Eunho was an adult and had flown before. He couldn’t treat him like a child left to fend for himself.

“You did well today. You must’ve been nervous, so get some rest when you get there.”

“You too, Chairman.”

Yeorok smiled without saying anything. His gently curved eyes held a profound sense of liberation that was difficult to describe.

“It’s finally over.”

He hugged Eunho tightly. If not for Sim Eunho, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this. Meeting him had been nothing short of a miracle.

“…I’m looking forward to the trip too.”

Just before Eunho could reply, someone knocked on the car window. Through the heavily tinted glass, he could make out Secretary Hong’s outline. It was time to leave.

Yeorok lightly patted Eunho’s cheek, then pulled the door handle. As always, his departing figure bore no trace of regret.

“……”

As Eunho watched Yeorok grow smaller through the opaque window, Seo Taehwa got back into the driver’s seat. He was supposed to take Eunho to the airport today.

“Did you say your goodbyes properly?”

Seo Taehwa fastened his seat belt as he spoke. It was the kind of thing anyone could ask, but there was something wrong about his tone. But Eunho didn’t think much of it.

He was too busy trying to calm his racing heart. He only nodded in response, and Seo Taehwa adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. The look in his eyes reflected in the rearview mirror was unusually rigid.

“You won’t miss him?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Alright then.”

Seo Taehwa stepped on the accelerator, and the car carrying the two of them began to leave the parking lot.

The sedan headed toward Incheon, but at some point, it changed course. After exiting the highway, it stopped on a quiet roadside. Eunho had fallen asleep and didn’t notice any of it.

Seo Taehwa carefully stepped out of the car. The sound of the door closing made Eunho’s eyes flutter open. He straightened his slumped body, rubbing his sleepy face, when suddenly the rear door opened. Several large men were standing there.

“…Who are you?”

They didn’t answer. Instead, they rushed into the car. Before he could scream, they covered Eunho’s mouth and pinned down his arms and legs. Their movements were swift and skilled, like men who had done this before.

A black van was parked right next to the sedan. Dragged out by force, Eunho frantically looked for Seo Taehwa. No matter where he turned, he couldn’t see him. All around him were strangers’ faces.

“Hyung! Taehwa-hyung! Hyung!!”

Eunho struggled with all his strength. The hand covering his mouth slipped away under his flailing, and he shouted at the top of his lungs. But on the deserted country road, not even an ant could be seen. The bright, peaceful surroundings only made his chaos more unbearable.

“Get him in, quick.”

At the order of the man who seemed to be in charge, the others grabbed Eunho and lifted him. They threw him into the back seat of the van. Eunho looked up in panic. The door closed with a loud clatter.

“Let go! I said let go of me!”

Eunho screamed and struggled, but the men didn’t react at all, as if they couldn’t even hear him. Following some preset procedure, they forced a gag into his mouth and strapped leather restraints around his wrists and ankles. The seat had a special mechanism, and once the safety bar locked over his torso, he couldn’t move an inch.

“Did you confirm his identity?”

The man in the passenger seat looked back and asked.

“Yes, confirmed. It’s definitely Choi Yoonho.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

Eunho froze, eyes wide open. He still couldn’t understand what was happening. All he could do was struggle as much as he could, though bound so tightly it barely counted as movement.

His limbs were going numb. Terror engulfed him, and bile rose in his throat. His vision turned white. He didn’t know what to do. The only thought in his mind was Choi Yeorok.

The one who would pull him out of hell, the one who always came when he needed him most. Choi Yeorok would surely come to save him.

“Oh come on, why the tears? There’s nothing to be scared of. We’re not bad people. We’ll take you safely, so don’t worry.”

The man in charge smiled as he spoke to the pale-faced Eunho. The kind words did nothing to comfort him.

Eunho bit down on the gag, gasping for breath. He was so terrified he could vomit, but he forced himself to stay rational. Tears streamed down from his closed eyes.

At first, he thought it was a kidnapping for ransom or some other kind of crime. But after several hours of driving, the place they arrived at was a hospital built halfway up a mountain.

Two men held him by the arms and dragged him out of the car. Even though he was walking into the hospital on his own feet, he couldn’t believe what was happening.

Should he be relieved that it wasn’t the kind of kidnapping he’d imagined? But it was a hospital. Maybe there would be someone there he could talk to reasonably.

“Mr. Choi Yoonho, please press your thumb here.”

A hospital staff member held out a fingerprint scanner toward Eunho. When he refused to cooperate, they grabbed his hand and forced his thumb onto the pad. Eunho trembled and shook his head frantically.

“It, it’s not me. There’s some kind of mistake.”

“Yes, yes.”

The staff member only pretended to listen, replying halfheartedly, as if this sort of thing happened often.

“The admission process is complete. Let’s get you changed.”

“…Admission?”

“You’ll be staying in the ward starting today. You’ll meet your attending physician this evening, so please change into your patient gown for now.”

“You’re putting me in a psychiatric ward? Are you out of your minds?”

Eunho resisted fiercely. He repeatedly told them that there was a mistake, but no one listened. Frustrated and desperate, he protested loudly, but the strong male staff pinned his limbs down without hesitation.

They were used to this. Patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals often reacted violently, denying reality. With his identity confirmed and the admission procedure complete, there was no reason to delay further.

Holding him down, they forced him to change clothes. His expensive sweater stretched out of shape from the struggle. They stripped it off and dressed him in a rough hospital gown. Eunho screamed until his throat was raw.

“It’s not true! You’ve got it wrong!”

The resistance was as fierce as expected. They had been told the patient had antisocial personality disorder and violent tendencies, so the hospital had intentionally assigned several strong male nurses.

But they couldn’t handle him the way they did with ordinary patients. He was a VIP case, one they had to treat carefully. Even while restraining him, they looked at one another nervously.

After locking him in a private room, they called for the doctor. The attending physician arrived quickly, then looked at the panicked Eunho and hesitated awkwardly.

“Mr. Choi Yoonho, I understand how shocked you must be, but you need to accept reality. You’ll be receiving treatment here from now on.”

Eunho grabbed the doctor’s pant leg.

“T-this is a mistake. You made a mistake, right? I’m not crazy! Please, let me out of here.”

“……”

“No! I’m not Choi Yoonho! You’ve got the wrong person!”

“Mr. Choi Yoonho, your identity was confirmed through ID and fingerprints. Please calm down and face the situation.”

“Just one phone call. Call Director Choi Yeorok. He needs to know this is wrong.”

The doctor crouched down to meet Eunho’s eyes and spoke in a calm voice.

“Your uncle is the one who authorized your admission. You’ll undergo isolated treatment for now, and you can leave when your condition improves.”

“That’s impossible… there’s no way…”

“If you’d like, I can show you the documents.”

Eunho forced himself to breathe, eyes brimming with tears, and asked to see the papers. He couldn’t trust a word they said until he saw them himself.

A moment later, an attendant brought the documents. Eunho sat down on the floor and flipped through the pages. A psychiatrist’s written opinion, a guardian consent form, a family register, a copy of Choi Yoonho’s ID, even an official notice from the local government authorizing protective admission. There was more than enough evidence.

Attending physician: Ahn Jaehwan.

Representative: Seo Taehwa.

Applicant: Choi Yeorok.

“…When was this submitted?”

“January 19, two years ago.”

“…Does he know I’ve been admitted?”

“Yes, he designated today as the admission date and reconfirmed the order recently.”

Eunho let out a hollow laugh. His head throbbed so hard it felt like it might split open.

So this is how fast a person can lose their mind?

Everyone he had trusted had been honing knives behind his back. They had planned everything, smiled kindly, acted affectionate, all while waiting for the day they could lock him away in a psychiatric hospital.

The most horrifying part was that, right now, he really was Choi Yoonho in every official sense. There was no way to prove he was Sim Eunho. He had no choice but to live as Choi Yoonho, confined in a mental ward.

Was there even a reason to keep the secret anymore? Out of his mind, Eunho muttered.

“Choi Yoonho… is dead. I’m not Choi Yoonho. I only look like him… I can tell you my resident number, where I lived, my grandma’s name, my parents’ names, everything.”

“I hope you don’t see hospitalization as something negative. We’ll do everything we can to take good care of you, Mr. Choi Yoonho.”

The doctor spoke gently, trying to comfort him. To the physician, the patient already showed signs of serious delusion. Whether it came from shock or was a preexisting condition, they would have to monitor it closely.