Chapter 27
(That woman... why is she here?)
A tense atmosphere flowed between the two women, but the moment they saw me, that mood instantly changed. Hye-jeong wore a relaxed smile, while Hye-seon, with the gaze of a beast stalking its prey, looked at me simultaneously.
The breathtaking sight of two sisters from Korea's highest echelons, a red rose and a white lily, gathered in one space, staring at me. I could only freeze, my hand still on the doorknob.
"Ah..."
The moment I opened the door and stepped in, the gazes of the two women, who had been glaring at me like beasts stalking prey, fixed on me. A suffocating tension. But the first to break the silence was the beauty in the cream-colored dress, who had been shocked by my 'ignoring' her in the hallway just moments ago.
"Hoho, our Minho is here, isn't he?"
As if she had never been flustered, she rose from her seat, a relaxed and bright smile gracing her lips. Her impression, like a cold ice princess, melted away like spring snow with a single laugh, replaced by a seductive vixen.
Click. Clack.
She approached me. As she drew closer, her cool, fresh scent filled my senses, along with the curves of her sleek figure, enveloped by the tight dress.
"You were very surprised, weren't you? I was so flustered earlier that I couldn't greet you properly."
She stopped in front of me, looked up, and smiled sweetly.
"Nice to meet you, Minho. It's me, your Auntie."
"......Huh? My, my Auntie?"
I unconsciously widened my eyes. Auntie? Mom's younger sister? I glanced at Hye-jeong, who was sitting behind her. Hye-jeong sat indifferently, arms crossed, with a 'go on, try me' expression.
(Wow... this is crazy. What the hell is up with this family's genes?)
If Mother Hye-jeong was a voluptuous and overwhelming physical type, this woman, my Auntie, was a sophisticated and intellectual slender type. For sisters to both possess such captivating beauty, isn't this cheating?
(But she's too young and pretty to be an Auntie? I'd believe it if she said she was my noona.)
Remembering how I hadn't recognized her in the hallway earlier and had given her a 'who are you?' look, I quickly bowed my head.
"Ah... I apologize! I've lost some of my memory... I didn't know you were my Auntie and I was rude."
"Huhu, it's alright. What can you do when your memory is gone?"
Hye-seon smiled gently and reached out to caress my cheek. Her touch was cold yet strangely sticky. Her fingertips traced down my jawline, then lightly tapped my chest where my shirt buttons were undone.
"Memories... we can just make new ones."
Her eyes glinted for a moment. It wasn't the gaze of an Auntie looking at her nephew. It was the gaze of a 'female lusting after a male,' the same one she had declared to Hye-jeong earlier.
"More importantly... I'm truly relieved."
Hye-seon leaned her upper body slightly towards me. Her lips drew so close to my ear they almost touched.
"That our Honey... is safe like this."
"......Huh?"
I doubted my ears. What did she just say? Honey? Thinking I must have misheard, I stared at her with a blank expression.
"Uh... excuse me, Auntie? Just now..."
But Hye-seon, as if enjoying my flustered expression, curved her eyes and drove the point home.
"Why? Why are you so surprised all of a sudden? You used to call me that every day."
She twisted my tie with her index finger, and deliberately raised her voice to whisper, as if for Hye-jeong, who was sitting behind her, to hear.
"It seems you've forgotten because your memory is gone... Minho, before you were my nephew, you were my man. Wasn't that right?"
(......?!)
My mind went blank. My Auntie is my woman? No, I'm my Auntie's man? Just how messed up was the life of the previous owner, Kim Minho, that crazy bastard?! After Mom, he even touched Auntie?
I stared at Hye-seon, unable to close my gaping mouth. But it was at that very moment.
Zzzzzzt-!
The aura I felt from behind me was extraordinary. A chilling and heavy Killing Intent, as if a laser sight was painting a red dot on the back of my head. I didn't even need to turn around to know. How fiercely Mother Hye-jeong's eyes were burning right now.
(Wow... this is driving me crazy. My back is being scorched by a laser, and in front of me, a vixen-like Auntie is coming on to me. Was this not heaven, but a bed of thorns?)
I gulped, swallowing dryly. Hye-seon, still with my tie wrapped around her finger, was seducing me with her quivering red lips. 'Honey'? 'My man'? What episode of a trashy drama is this dialogue from, anyway?
"......."
I avoided Hye-seon's provocative gaze, rolling my eyes. If I were to blurt out "Yes, Honey" here, I felt like the 'building owner' behind me would leave me without a single bone. But if I were to sternly say, "What are you talking about?", I'd regret missing out on this captivating Auntie in front of me.
But at that moment, a sense of incongruity flashed through my confused mind.
(Wait a minute. Something's off, though?)
I furrowed my brow slightly. Yesterday, I held the 'digital funeral' for the previous owner, Kim Minho. I thoroughly searched his tablet PC, laptop, and even his private Instagram account. That guy was using his SNS almost like a 'secret diary.'
(There was definitely all sorts of stuff on his Instagram. 'Mom's breasts are too big, it's overwhelming,' 'My noona walks around half-naked, I don't know where to put my eyes,' 'This damn household is a hell of fat lumps,' and so on....)
That guy had meticulously and perversely documented his hatred and complaints about his family, as well as his firm preference for flat-chested women. But then.
(Why... was there not a single line about 'Auntie'?)
I stared intently at Hye-seon's face. If there was an Auntie this impactful, one who was even obsessive enough to call him 'husband,' she would absolutely be an indispensable figure in Kim Minho's diary. Whether he cursed her or praised her, there should have been some mention; it would be normal.
But when I was organizing folders, or scrolling through his Instagram feed, I had never seen keywords like 'Shin Hye-seon' or 'Auntie.' As if... she had never existed in the first place.
(What? Did this bastard Kim Minho thoroughly hide Auntie? Or... is this woman currently telling a blatant lie, knowing I have no memory?)
Seeds of doubt began to sprout. If it was the former, it would show how much that guy cherished (or feared) Auntie, and if it was the latter....
"Oh my, my Honey. Are you so happy you can't speak? Your expression is quite blank."
At Hye-seon's voice, I snapped back to attention. I almost fell for her sweet whispers, but the 'warning light of suspicion' in my mind was still blinking red. The fact that there wasn't a single mention of Auntie in the previous owner Kim Minho's vast 'diary of hatred.' This was a clear contradiction.
(Alright, I need to check. There's nothing to lose, and if it's a lie, I'll have an excuse to turn the tables on this vixen-like Auntie.)
I gathered my scattered thoughts and opened my mouth, feigning an expression that was as serious as it was confused.
"Um... you're my Auntie... right? No matter how I look at you, you seem like a noona..."
(......Oops.)
The moment I blurted out the words, a chill ran down my spine. I had definitely intended to interrogate her. But my tongue, as if coated in sugar, was spewing out sweet flattery on its own, beyond the control of my brain.
(Damn it...! My mouth moved on its own!)
I screamed inwardly. That 'survival-type flattery' that used to pop out without passing through my brain, to appease all sorts of prickly female customers who opened their doors when I worked as a delivery driver in my previous life. That damn conditioned reflex had, of all times, activated at this critical moment.
Jijijik-!
The Killing Intent I felt from behind me became even more palpable. If it was at the level of a laser pointer before, now it was a heat as if the nozzle of a flamethrower was aimed at the back of my head.
"......Oh my!"
However, unlike the scorching heat of the laser felt from behind, a bright smile, mixed with joy and triumph, spread across the face of Auntie Hye-seon in front of me.
"Unnie, did you hear that? You just heard it, didn't you? Even if he lost his memory, his eyes are still sharp! He said I look like a 'noona' no matter how he looks at me! Hohoho! As expected, our Minho can't lie!"
Her laughter echoed through the conference room, grating on Hye-jeong's nerves. But Hye-seon didn't stop there. As if her mood had reached its peak, she completely burrowed into my arms and hugged me tightly.
Thump-!
"As expected... our Honey knows a thing or two about social graces. You're so adorable, really."
"Ugh...! I-Auntie...?"
Her sleek body pressed tightly against my chest without a gap. While it wasn't the overwhelming and heavy voluptuousness like Hye-jeong's, the snug fit, characteristic of a top-tier slender figure that was firm and free of excess fat, was exquisite. The slender waistline felt through the tight cream-colored dress, the firm hip bone touching my thigh, and the soft sensation of her lower abdomen covering it.