I'll Pretend to Be You
Possession? No thanks. Embarrassment is still embarrassment.
I couldn't stop asking questions about this place where I knew nothing. Fortunately, none of my questions seemed to trouble Hwaya.
"Hwaya, you're a fox... right? And the Mouse Doctor was different."
"Yes, that's correct, ma'am. The Mouse Doctor came from another mountain on a visit."
"So each mountain has different ones? What do you call people like that?"
"There's no specific name for us. We're just known as mysterious beings. We're grouped by the mountain we live on."
She answered my questions with utmost sincerity. Maybe I just hadn't asked anything tricky yet.
I could feel her genuine effort to clear up my doubts.
Our question-and-answer session continued as I lay there, until I asked, "Why are there beings settled on each mountain?"
-Grrrrumble.
"Oh my."
A rumble loud enough for others to hear echoed from my stomach.
According to the story, I'd been asleep for a month without eating a thing, and just now I'd thrashed around in this frail body. Of course I was starving.
"Ma'am, shall I go to the kitchen and fetch something suitable for you?"
Hwaya looked happier than I'd ever seen her—like she was thrilled I was hungry.
Even if I said no, she'd probably come up with excuses to go anyway. It was true I was hungry, so no reason to refuse.
"Would you? Thank you."
"Right away, ma'am."
Hwaya bowed politely and rose to leave, but paused and picked up a small rectangular object from the table, handing it to me. I instinctively held out both hands to receive it.
A woman I'd never seen stared back from the object—a mirror.
Her skin was so pale it looked bloodless, shadowed dark circles under her eyes making her seem pitifully frail. Stray strands of unkempt black hair clung to that skin.
Yet her large eyes and delicately gathered features clearly marked her as a beauty, all captured in that tiny mirror.
"Look in the mirror while I'm gone. Something might come to mind."
"Y-yeah, sure."
"The Mouse Doctor will stay at the door checking on you, so don't worry, ma'am."
"Got it."
Even just heading to the kitchen, Hwaya fretted endlessly until I waved her off gently. Only then did she finally disappear.
Finally, alone. The Mouse Doctor was still outside, but inside the room, it was just me.
"This is me...."
Whoa. I just dropped the most clichéd possession line ever. I'd always thought those were so overdone.
But now that it was my reality, it felt completely natural. When your reflection is someone else entirely, that's just what slips out.
At least my eye color seemed similar to my original—deep brown, the default for East Asians. Meaningless, though.
"Hi."
I whispered so the doctor outside wouldn't hear, greeting the mirror.
Not my reflection, but Ryu Sua's.
"And sorry."
Right from the start, I'd trashed your image big time.
Even if we're betrothed, scaring a girl half to death would freak anyone out. Sorry.
But there'll be a lot more apologies ahead.
No status screen or protagonist perks for this pathetic possessor who can't even recall your original memories—your existing relationships and goodwill are my lifeline. I have to cling to them.
Just a guy used to modern comforts, tossed defenseless into an unknown world—could I survive long enough to find a way home or settle here?
In this state, I'd wreck your body in under a week. You might not even want it back.
So I'll stay.
No denying ties blindly, no running away at night, no blurting "I'm not Ryu Sua!" to the male lead. I'm not like those other possession protagonists.
I'll stay as the amnesiac Ryu Sua, deceiving everyone by pretending to be you.
From now on, I'll smirk slyly and trample your precious bonds with muddy boots, basking in them selfishly. I'll drink deep of your maid Hwaya's concern disguised as duty, the fox monster's pity called love.
All while the man inside refuses to give them what they truly want, just because I'm not her.
I'll stay cowardly and filthy.
I don't even know your state now.
You might be dead already, or trapped because of me, unable to wake. Maybe you're watching, feeling what I don't.
Either way, I can't afford to consider you. Don't forgive me.
I'll just hope I make it home safely, returning your body intact so you can continue your love.
Unlike other possession heroes, a guy like me can't fall for him for real.
Don't worry too much.
Leaving the room to fetch food from the kitchen, Hwaya passed the doctor and turned the corridor's end—only to spot a man with snow-white hair sitting on the floor.
Her master. The lord of Horyeongsan, where all foxes gathered: Sohwi.
A peerless existence around Horyeongsan, now pathetically trembling on the floor.
"Why sit here like this? Why not go inside?"
"She can't ruin her health because of me. It's fine today."
Hwaya thought it absurd—him pretending it was consideration when he just couldn't bear seeing his beloved flinch in fear.
Of course, even she had nearly collapsed when Sua looked at her like a stranger, forgetting her name. She understood.
But she'd faced her directly and spoken. Could she really send her nursling off to such a pitiful lord?
Treacherous thoughts resurfaced. But she had to. He was the man her lady—her beautiful daughter who called her "mom"—loved. Even if the bride was too good for him.
Recalling worries from before Sua's injury, Hwaya finally believed her lady was truly back.
"How is Sua?"
"I can't be certain, but...."
It hit bone-deep: her lady had lost all memories of this place.
"At the very least, she remembers nothing from here."
"As expected. Sua was the type to snap at me even during our first meeting. And?"
Sohwi had gleaned that much watching from outside until she woke. Even the doctor could tell after a few words.
But those closest to her knew it wasn't the whole story.
"So, presumptuously, I tested her...."
"I understand."
The rest followed naturally.
"Despite no memories, she conversed fine and understood 'check' like before."
A secret only they two knew, heard directly from pre-amnesia Ryu Sua in this household.
"Seems only her past life's memories remain."
"As I thought? Sigh... Looked that way."
Knowing she'd started this life retaining past-life memories, they realized that's all she had left.
"Lucky she didn't forget everything? Or...."
And that fact loomed larger for these two. Because....
"Do I have to court a Sua who sees me as a man?"
"You've done it once. What's the issue?"
"Before, she at least saw me as the daughter of her late parents. Not now."
They knew everything—even that her past life was as a man.
"Wait... So from her shy maiden days too?"
"Obviously."
They knew every eccentricity she'd pulled up to now.
"She won't run off again, right?"
"Absolutely not. Last time was hell. She can't leave Horyeongsan anyway—I couldn't even search myself!"
"I'll go with the Great Madam then. Worry alone."
"Hwaya, are you getting disloyal lately?"
"I'm your subordinate, but her new mother too?"
Forgetting her antics and dark history, the potential for repeats brought worrisome yet smiling nostalgia.