Chapter 109
Chapter 109
The first thing to do, naturally, was visit the hospital.
My last memory was taking the pills and lying down on the bed. And that person's first memory was probably opening their eyes on that same bed.
I heard from Yang Hye-in what happened right after.
"We escorted the young lady to the hospital as she was thrashing and screaming. The hospital said there were no issues other than extensive bruising across her entire back."
Yang Hye-in answered while maintaining a respectful demeanor.
"Bruising on my back...?"
Is there a reason my back would be bruised? Did I fall off the bed while thrashing around?
"No, you were on the bed, miss."
Yang Hye-in cut me off with a firm answer.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if I could believe that one hundred percent.
Putting aside the fact that I didn't trust Yang Hye-in on a personal level, I also didn't know how smart and rational she truly was. At least, that was the image she projected to me. She handled her assigned duties without private emotion, never meddling in her employer's affairs. That was the Yang Hye-in I remembered.
From that image alone, she seemed cool-headed and decisive. There's no way Mother would have just picked anyone to plant at my side.
But I had no memory of any personal connection with Yang Hye-in.
I had tried to start a conversation with her a few times.
No matter how accustomed you are to being alone, there are still times you want to talk to someone. I never shared anything personal with Yang Hye-in, but I did make a few trivial requests. So trivial I can't even remember them now.
Each time, Yang Hye-in would handle my request efficiently and then return to her own tasks.
Because of that, we never had any personal conversations.
I don't really know this person. Even though she's been by my side for three years, I don't know what she likes, where she's from, how many family members she has, or what she does in her free time. Not a single thing.
So I couldn't quite trust that she remembered every detail of such a chaotic moment. I could only assume that she might.
...Then again, even if I had fallen off the bed, it would be hard to bruise my entire back. Not unless I'd deliberately slammed myself against the floor.
I don't know what kind of entity took over my body. Rationally speaking, the safest assumption is that it was 'me with amnesia.'
Even if its personality and behavior were wildly different from what you'd call 'me.'
So I still don't know why that person thrashed around enough to cover their back in bruises.
I suppose it'd be better to ask them directly.
...Or I could just 'remember' it.
It's a bit hard to say exactly why, but if I had a choice, I'd prefer the former.
"The police came by?"
"Yes. The doctor thought the bruises on your back were the result of domestic violence and filed a report..."
Domestic violence, huh.
Does emotional abuse of a child count as domestic violence? It would at least fall under child abuse. Even if the wounds on my body weren't from being hit by someone else, once the police get involved, things become incredibly complicated.
"You sent them away, I assume?"
"...Yes, that's correct."
At my question, Yang Hye-in hesitated for a split second before answering. That was a little surprising. It was a side of her I'd never seen in front of 'me' before.
"I apologize."
Yang Hye-in bowed her head deeply to me in apology.
For what?
I considered asking, but stopped.
Because I wouldn't get a proper answer anyway. How should she respond to that question? Is she sorry she turned the police away? Is she sorry she neglected three years of child abuse? Is she sorry she took money to work for the person committing that abuse?
...If I kept tracing it back, Mother would end up getting dragged in too.
Whether it was because that person's personality had rubbed off on me, or thanks to those faint remnants of memory, I was dealing with people far more naturally than my old self. Before, I could only manage a whisper so small you'd have to lean in close or write things down on paper.
Or I'd let out some bizarre noise with all the wrong pitch and rhythm.
...I'm in so much debt.
Thoughts kept chaining onto other thoughts, and I shook my head to clear them away.
The priority was finding that person again. Just like they had come looking for me.
That's the only way I'll understand why they did all this, and what I'm supposed to do next.
"Then, let me confirm one last thing."
After hearing everything out and organizing my thoughts, I asked.
"Do you still have the pills?"
Yang Hye-in's eyes widened slightly at my words. After a very brief silence, she answered in a voice that trembled just a little.
"...Yes, I do."
"Good. Keep them stored away."
"...Yes."
Shin So-hee, who was standing next to Yang Hye-in as her 'successor,' flicked her eyes at me.
I think they said this kid was hired with my money.
Probably in the hundreds of millions... if I'm remembering the figure right.
I didn't have the frame of reference in my head to judge whether that was a lot or a little. But I guess it's the kind of money that gets you someone to follow you around twenty-four hours a day.
...Was this another setup that person arranged for my sake? Giving me a maid who genuinely cares about me, to keep me from having strange thoughts?
I'll just ask when I meet them in person.
*
"...."
We had come to the hospital, but we couldn't meet the doctor who treated me that day right away.
Actually, if we're being accurate, we were the nuisance.
The place I'd been taken was a university hospital emergency room, and the doctor was someone who worked in that ER.
Fortunately, he hadn't transferred elsewhere, but emergency rooms are perpetually understaffed. They said that unless it was strictly business, having a proper 'personal' conversation would only be possible around the time he got off work.
And since waiting around in front of the ER seemed like it'd be a bother, we stepped outside the hospital.
Thankfully, it was close to April, so even though it was past six, the sun hadn't set yet. The weather wasn't that cold, either.
I lifted my head and saw the hospital's name: 'Hwayeong University Hospital.'
...They said they arranged my discharge under the guise of a donation. I could kind of guess how that was possible.
"There wouldn't happen to be contact information for the officers who came that day, would there?"
"...No, there isn't."
Well, figures.
They probably backed off because of connections too.
"Will you continue to wait here?"
"...."
Was that look Yang Hye-in gave me one of worry? Her attitude had changed, but she still wasn't someone with dramatic facial expressions.
Is she someone who even knows how to smile?
Then again, I don't really know how to smile, either.
Was that person someone who smiled often?
If I asked the three kids who'd followed me here right now, I'd probably get an answer. But I wanted to hear it from their own mouth.
Because I still couldn't bring myself to trust people.
The loner lodged in a corner of my chest kept whispering.
If you never trust, you can never be betrayed.
...Maybe that's exactly why I keep looking for that person who sacrificed themselves for me.
Because they were the first person in my life to ever sacrifice something for my sake.
Though I have no way of knowing if most people have someone like that in their lives or not.
At the very least, I should be able to trust the person inside my own head.
Someone might call me crazy for that.
"You really don't remember anything after meeting us?"
Shin So-hee asked me that. After I came back and they confirmed I was alright, she was the one who stuck closest to me. Which meant she was probably hurting just as much.
But everyone else only knew that I had 'lost my memories.' I hadn't used the phrase 'different person.' Only Yu Ha-neul knew that my personality was different.
If I get found out, it can't be helped, but I had no intention of telling them on purpose.
...Because once they know, this life might shatter.
Yeah, it all comes back to the fact that I can't trust these people. If I believed that their feelings would stay the same even after I told them the truth, I would have told them everything.
Like that person who entrusted me to Yu Ha-neul and willingly surrendered the body.
The more I thought about it, the more unfathomable that person was.
Shin So-hee stared at me with a slightly anxious look, and Lee Su-a looked at me as if she might burst into tears at any second.
The reason those two could even make such expressions must also be because of their bond with that person.
...The thought that I had become some kind of intruder pricked at a corner of my heart.
"Should we at least request a copy of the medical records first?"
"...No."
I shook my head.
This wasn't a normal situation. Could it even be explained medically?
To begin with, the test results from that day were all normal except for the wounds on my body. If there had been anything unusual, they wouldn't have discharged me from the hospital before running additional tests.
Because it'd be a disaster if they just let the child of a VVIP who donates that much money walk out and then something life-threatening happened.
...In a sense, since I was practically dead already, maybe that made it a non-issue.
I shuddered.
"Cold? Want to go wait inside?"
I hadn't shivered from the cold. I shivered at the reality that I really could have died.
...It was rich coming from someone who had chosen death themselves, but I was terrified that I could have turned my back on this other possibility.
It had only been a week since I opened my eyes again.
The events of that week were so painfully similar to the week I had so desperately wished for.
And yet, even as I doubted and distrusted everything, I wanted to keep living in that week.
It's so hypocritical of me to keep insisting this isn't my life, while at the same time wanting to live it.
But I couldn't shake this persistent feeling that something was missing. Was it because someone had passed through here?
I can't remember, but maybe that person had been by my side all along.
"There is a cafeteria inside the hospital. Would you like to wait inside?"
I turned my gaze to the kids around me. They were all looking at me quietly. Waiting for me to say something. Their faces were filled with worry.
Right, I can't make all of them stand around outside.
I nodded and answered.
"Yes. Let's do that."
It wasn't particularly cold, but I decided to go in anyway.
It was probably the first time I'd ever chosen to do something for someone other than Mother.