RACA 65

There was no reply. But seeing Pyo Jaebeom’s eyebrows twitch, it occurred to Eunsol that he didn’t need to hear an answer after all.

“Then why did you tell me…!”

“I was just a bit confused about my memory. As you know, it hasn’t been that long since I started remembering again.”

His light tone, pretending to be a gang boss, surely didn’t sound like an excuse. Eunsol looked at him with narrowed eyes, then nodded.

Well, if that’s how he sees he I suppose he can let it slide. The important thing is talking to this man who suddenly appeared claiming to be his father.

“I understand. Bring him back.”

While they briefly argued, Bulgom, who hadn’t heard their exchange, grabbed Lee Daebak by the collar and was already leaving the parking lot.

“Take it somewhere else.”

“If you insist…”

Is that really necessary? Eunsol, who had been about to say they wouldn’t need to talk long and could settle it here, turned his head following Jaebeom’s gaze as he looked around, then shut his mouth.

He’d momentarily forgotten amid the sudden commotion. That this was a supermarket parking lot.

Even for a weekday morning, it wasn’t exactly a quiet spot. He realized it too late, but all eyes were already on them.

“Wouldn’t it be better to move?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Eunsol immediately changed his mind and tried to get into the car quickly. But he hesitated at the look in Jaebeom’s eyes, asking why he was going there.

“Yes, yes. I’m going, I’m going.”

Eunsol followed the direction Jaebeom was heading, and there was a huge sedan parked across two parking spaces.

In any case, he certainly can’t be called anything but a person who makes his presence felt in many ways.

‘But the actor is someone who values courtesy and order….’

Given that it’s a profession that demands constant awareness of the public eye, he must have been extra careful. So seeing him act so unrestrained like that was unexpected.

“What’s wrong?”

“No… I just thought the car was really big…”

Jaebeom seemed to immediately understand that Eunsol wanted to change the subject.

“Someone dented the door, saving us a lot of money.”

“Ah.”

While the claim that he was being considerate of other drivers seemed absurd, it wasn’t entirely wrong either, so Eunsol gave a half-hearted nod.

But Pyo Jaebeom stared at him, he didn’t like that answer either.

“Should I sit in the back?”

“Sit in the passenger seat.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Why have you been answering twice since earlier?”

“Huh?”

Seeing him look back with a completely baffled expression, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure again. Watching Pyo Jaebeom shake his head and plop down on the stone bench instead of saying more, Eunsol stuck out his tongue.

This petty revenge against the actor who tried to resolve matters without even telling him was something only he needed to know.

“Take him to the officetel. Yeah, there.”

As he climbed into the passenger seat, he saw Pyo Jaebeom on the phone. From what he could overhear, he guessed he was probably talking to Bulgom.

His hunch proved right. Just as they were pulling out of the parking lot, Eunsol witnessed Bulgom shoving Lee Daebak into the car. Seeing how little Lee Daebak resisted, it seemed he had told his story.

But an officetel? He knew Pyo Jaebeom was rich, but it seems he owns multiple properties.

‘He said the place we live in now was given to him by Chairman Jang.’

Then the actual owner must be Chairman Jang too. Does he own an officetel? While Eunsol was lost in these pointless thoughts, the car sped swiftly down the road.

Maybe it was the protagonist effect or something, the traffic lights at every intersection timed perfectly. After driving for 15 minutes, the car entered the underground parking garage of a mixed-use building that looked easily 50 stories tall.

Before entering, Eunsol saw the parking terminal display a message about the vehicle number and something about residents, confirming his suspicions.

“Get down.”

Pyo Jaebeom, who had parked near the entrance, opened the car door and stepped out first. Eunsol also quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

Without looking back, Pyo Jaebeom walked straight toward the glass door. Eunsol saw him press his thumb on the keypad and stuck out his tongue.

He said it looked expensive, and it seems the security system uses fingerprint recognition. Even the elevator was already waiting in the basement.

The machine, which he thought would climb endlessly, finally stopped at the very top. The door opened to reveal a Chinese-style door.

“Wow… Does it take up an entire floor?”

Eunsol asked in admiration, then quietly at Jaebeom’s expression. He caught the corner of his mouth lifting as he started to walk away.

“Oh, come on. People can be surprised. Why are you sneering like that?”

“You noticed I was laughing?”

“Then you didn’t know?”

Even though he didn’t even try to hide it? He chuckled as he saw Eunsol’s squinting his eyes, Pyo Jaebeom pushed open the double doors.

Inside was an open studio-style space. The first thing to catch the eye was the tall, large cat tower.

“Huh?”

Wondering if he had seen correctly, Eunsol blinked and looked back in that direction. But nothing had changed.

Instead, he only felt a growing question: Why was that thing there? Then he realized.

“So Jongjong lived here, huh?”

“How did you know?”

Pyo Jaebeom followed Eunsol’s glance and nodded.

“That’s right. I lived here for a while before moving to your apartment.”

“Why didn’t you take that with you?”

“It was too big.”

Pyo Jaebeom answered and started walking, and Eunsol followed behind him. It really was an object that didn’t belong in such a starkly empty house.

It probably meant Pyo Jaebeom cherished the cat that much. Of course, that was before he recalled his memories.

“Come to think of it… what will become of us?”

When he brought up the thought that occurred to him, Pyo Jaebeom gave him a look that seemed to say, What are you talking about?

“Well, that’s what I mean. Suddenly being transmigrating in a drama. So, is there no way to go back?”

Actually, this wasn’t the first time Eunsol had wrestled with this dilemma. It was just that, until now, there had been more urgent problems to deal with, so he hadn’t given it much thought.

Above all, this wasn’t something he should be mulling over alone; it was something he needed to discuss with Pyo Jaebeom.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it seems like Grandma did that because of me.’

It was Eunsol’s flimsy excuse that it was a topic he found hard to broach first, partly because he felt a little guilty and partly because he felt.

“Well, what about you, Lee Eunsol?”

Without a trace of surprise, his calm tone made Eunsol realize Jaebeom hadn’t given this matter much thought.

‘Isn’t he the one who needs this more than I do? What about all the reputation and recognition he’s built up over the years? Right now, there must be all sorts of rumors about an unconscious actor flying around over there.’

Isn’t that how it usually goes in possession stories? The original body is asleep or unconscious, or in the worst case…

‘No, that can’t be it.’

Well, even so, the situation back then was that he was riding a motorcycle and crashed. It was shocking and truly embarrassing to learn later that it was Pyo Jaebeom who saved him from being launched in the air.

“As you know, I’ve been swamped with work for various reasons, so I couldn’t make it that far…”

When Eunsol looked at him with a face that look that said, “Don’t you know?”, Pyo Jaebeom smiled again. Eunsol has no idea why he keeps smiling like that.

The actor he’d met turned out to be much more mischievous than he’d expected.

‘Or maybe it’s just a habit ingrained from playing a gangster.’

In Eunsol’s opinion, among actors who could immerse themselves perfectly in a role, Pyo Jaebeom was the best.

‘That’s probably why it took so long for him to regain his memories.’

It was fortunate that he realized it now.

“Right. Then we’ll talk more about that later. For now, you want to know something else, don’t you?”

As if that were a signal, a sound came from behind. Turning around, they saw Bulgom leading Lee Daebak inside. Spotting the two, he bowed his head.

Unlike him, Lee Daebak, his earlier momentum seemingly vanished, his head was bowed and he anxiously looked around.

Realizing he’d been dragged to a luxury officetel, relief mingled with suspicion in his eyes. Eunsol sighed as he watched him.

He’s the epitome of cowardice, weak toward the strong, strong toward the weak. That’s the kind of person who’d think of selling his son to gangsters just to suit his own convenience.

It wasn’t hard to guess, but there were things Eunsol wanted to hear directly.

“Excuse me.”

The moment he heard the voice, Lee Daebak looked over here. Unlike his timid demeanor moments ago, his eyes were now burning. Seeing that, Eunsol could guess what kind of thoughts were floating around in that messy head of his.

He opened his rotten-smelling mouth to speak. But Eunsol asked first.

“Are you really my father?”