episode_0058

“Did you have a good time?”

When I returned to my room after going out with Yoosung, Han Chae-yeon was waiting for me.

Ha-ryeong was actually uncomfortable with Han Chae-yeon.

This was because it was difficult to know what he was thinking.

Fortunately, the room she and Han Chae-yeon share is the largest in the house and the only room with two beds, so it is fortunate that there is not much trouble.

Anyway, Han Chae-yeon, as always, was looking at Ha-ryeong, who had just returned home, with a soft smile on her lips.

“What about dinner?”

“I ate.”

And it was the same for Sujin.

Although she seemed friendly in front of her brother, she couldn’t talk much when she was alone like this.

Should I say that we are friends who met through a close friend through an intermediary?

When we’re together, we can be friendly, but when we’re not together, I feel strangely awkward and just keep looking at my phone.

Han Chae-yeon and Su-jin had that kind of relationship.

“Hmm, I see. It’s a shame.”

Despite Ha-ryeong’s answer, which may sound cold, Han Chae-yeon’s reaction was extremely simple.

It felt like reading the script of a well-written play.

“…”

“…”

Han Chae-yeon’s clear eyes stared at Ha-ryeong.

Ha-ryeong avoided his gaze like a mouse in front of a cat.

I didn’t intend to play Sujin.

It was something Haryeong did without even knowing.

Unlike Sujin, Ha-ryeong knew that Han Chae-yeon was different from ordinary people.

Even Yoosung, who thinks he is far from ordinary, is nothing compared to her.

“Then, let me go prepare dinner. It must have been hard to go out for the first time in a long time, so I’m taking a break. If you need anything, let me know.”

After saying that, Han Chae-yeon got up from the bed she was sitting on and went out of the room.

‘Long time no see?’

Ha-ryeong, who was watching the scene indifferently, felt a sense of discomfort.

It is true that, except for when Sujin went to the sea, she didn’t go out often during vacation.

But is that the extent to deliberately adding the word ‘it’s been a long time’?

Moreover, I couldn’t help but get the impression that he was strangely a little more considerate than when he was Sujin.

‘It must be a coincidence, right?’

This was all because of Ran’s strange reaction.

From that day on, Ran completely avoided her.

We weren’t close when we were Sujin, but now we felt distant, as if we were dealing with an outsider.

Thanks to this, more than once, I was worried that my brother would reveal my true identity.

‘Maybe I’m taking it too far?’

Even as he thought that, Ha-ryeong felt uncomfortable for some reason.

**

That night.

A text message arrived with the familiar ringing sound.

This was the second reply from my brother.

“…”

It was an expected name.

As a result, two out of three chances were lost.

There is only one chance left for my brother.

The odds of getting even that right were slim.

Personally, I thought the probability of my brother winning the bet was almost 0%.

It is safe to say that the bet ends with Haryeong winning.

However, Ha-ryeong was not very happy.

She didn’t really know why.

“Idiot.”

Ha-ryeong unconsciously muttered out of frustration for some reason and fell down on the bed.

Even with that, the tightness in my chest didn’t go away, so I started flapping my legs for no reason.

“Fool. Asshole. Eunuch cub.”

A variety of swear words came out of Haryeong’s mouth with his face buried in the pillow.

The events of today passed through Haryeong’s mind like a panorama.

Every time I recalled each memory, my heart, pressed against the bed, pounded without control.

The iced chocolate latte I tried in person was delicious.

It was much sweeter and colder than when I experienced it indirectly through Sujin’s sense of taste, so I couldn’t help but be impressed the moment I took a bite.

My brother’s body temperature, which I personally felt, was hotter than I thought.

When I touched my body while playing Sujin, the heat was so hot that it felt like I was in a sauna.

Still, there was a strange sense of warmth.

The movie I saw with my own eyes was much more exciting.

Perhaps because she was looking at a large screen rather than the small TV screen she was used to, she was much more immersed in it.

Even thinking about it now, the scene where the female and male protagonists end up going through numerous hardships was touching.

I turned my head buried in the pillow to the side.

There was a small lion doll on the dresser right next to the bed.

The lion with the cute Kao-o pose was a popular mascot character back in the day.

Sujin didn’t like it very much, saying it was childish.

As I reflected on the day, the blurry memories gradually emerged more clearly.

A gesture from my brother, a warm word, a facial expression.

Because she was more sensitive to human emotions than anyone else, I was able to feel it more clearly.

This person really cares about her.

To be precise, it was Sujin, not Haryeong.

‘The next two days?’

It’s now been 5 days since I started betting.

She can only be herself for two days.

Yes.

From the beginning, Ha-ryeong had no intention of giving up control to Su-jin during the betting period.

As Yoosung expected, this bet was designed to be very unfavorable to Ha-ryeong.

There were three chances to answer, and you only had to get one of them right.

In addition, there were extremely unfavorable variables for a subordinate named Sujin.

It’s a bet that anyone can see has a slim chance of winning.

However, Ha-ryeong thought he had the advantage.

There are three chances.

That meant relatively less consideration when making a choice.

Usually, if they know that there is a future opportunity, the average person will choose stability over gambling.

In fact, my brother wrote Sujin’s name, not Ha-ryeong’s, as his first answer.

There must have been a desire to check what Ha-ryeong’s current level of acting is.

That will serve as a clue for making the remaining two choices.

Therefore, in the sea of Haryeong Island, I imitated Sujin somewhat clumsily.

Could it be that the child who proposed such a confident bet could act like this? So that my brother can think like this.

And in the second time, the depth of the acting was further increased.

Rather than simply imitating Sujin’s usual appearance, I thought about how she would feel and how she would act if she were actually her.

According to the first answer, it turned out that it was Ha-ryeong who spent the last day at sea together.

In that case, Sujin will definitely feel a gap in her memory.

However, Sujin is not the type of person to say that to others. Even if I don’t have a day or two of memories, I’m the type of person who hides them because I don’t want to cause trouble.

So Ha-ryeong seemed to be overdoing things on purpose.

I played Sujin, trying hard to pretend to be okay and clumsily acting like Sujin’s usual self.

Looking at that appearance, can you really think that it is Haryeong?

Just in case, I made a straight face on the way back as insurance.

Although Sujin may seem reckless, she is not stupid. I am a child who can fully understand what kind of feelings a person has when he behaves like this towards me.

So I said something like that at the end.

It’s good that he cared about me, but that’s not what I want.

Just like Sujin playfully grumbled like usual.

This was possible because Ha-ryeong knew Su-jin 100% as much as her brother understood Su-jin.

Acting is not about reciting lines and passages from a set script.

The key was to first identify and understand how the character expressed these lines and actions, and how he or she would think and act afterwards.

In that respect, Ha-ryeong’s acting as Soo-jin is not lacking even if I give it 100 out of 100, or even 200 points.

“…”

Now what you have to do is clear.

All you have to do is pretend to have lost your memory for a few days and act extremely unstable.

That was a fatal blow to my brother, who had become cautious with the last opportunity to answer.

Two out of three times were missed, and a clear clue was given while Sujin did not appear even once.

Adding to this the icing on the cake is the fragmentary memories of when Haryeong was pretending to be confused.

There is no way you won’t be fooled.

The possibility that Ha-ryeong is acting comes to mind, but I quickly erase it from my mind.

There are not many people who go all-in with slim hopes when they have failed twice.

Three times is an advantageous condition, but it is a noose hidden by Ha-ryeong.

Since it had already been completely bet, there was no chance left for him to win.

The bet will end with Ha-ryeong winning, and she will become the winner of the bet and sleep quietly inside Su-jin like she wanted.

I use the sound of Sujin’s happy laughter that I hear from time to time as a lullaby.

The future she longed for. It must be the perfect utopia I’ve been dreaming of for 9 years.

Why does it feel like my heart is breaking and tears are flowing?

“…I was too immersed in Sujin’s acting.”

Actually, I already knew the reason.

But even if I admit it, nothing will change, so I’m just pretending not to know.

“Asshole.”

All Ha-ryeong could do was swear at someone whose name was unknown.

**

A reply has arrived.

It was what I expected.

One thing that is different is that, unlike the last time, which was playful, I came here very calmly.

I was convinced when I saw that.

I won this bet for sure.

“It’s my responsibility to take care of everything.”

However, regardless of those thoughts, I was a little afraid of the aftermath that would come later.