Reunion and the Fake Coma
The "blue" that Bora noona had mentioned during their reunion was a cocktail called Blue Sapphire. It got its name because the Curaçao liqueur turns the ice into something that looks like blue gems. As a liqueur-based drink, it's also famous as a sweet cocktail. Perfect for two people who loved sweets.
"Give it a try. Even the color looks delicious."
I took the first sip, and the two of them reluctantly lifted their glasses. I didn't want to drink in this kind of atmosphere either, but this was the only way to move them without them knowing.
"So, the truth is, with Manager Song..."
It hadn't been long since the pointless chatter started when the two collapsed to the floor like puppets with cut strings. It was the cocktail laced with the same sleeping drug that had worked so well on Manager Heo. I'd asked Madam Hyung—as in, As—for something that would knock them out just long enough to lose consciousness briefly, without letting them sleep too deeply like last time. A true jack-of-all-trades.
"As. Ready."
In an instant, the surroundings rippled and turned pitch black. It felt like floating in an elevator, being transported somewhere. That's why I'd put them to sleep—to keep them from noticing this bizarre phenomenon.
'Nicely done.'
The photo I'd shown As was of a single-room hospice for the dying. A hospital room designed like a home for terminal patients beyond treatment, to help them organize their final moments. I'd asked her to create this backdrop to show the two of them an unconscious Song Jinho.
It was an ordinary room, but one side had all sorts of life-support machines and a hospital bed, with Song Jinho lying there hooked up to an oxygen respirator. As had even made the props perfectly.
I checked for any awkward spots while waiting for them to wake up.
"Ungh..."
Bora noona woke first, looked around, and woke the still-sleeping Seoah with a startled expression. No wonder she was confused—waking up in what looked like a hospital room out of nowhere. Once Seoah was up, she glared at me accusingly.
"What the hell did you do to us? Where the fuck is this?!"
"Calm down and say hi to Manager Song first."
Where I pointed with my hand, Song Jinho lay with the oxygen mask on.
"Kyaaaaah! D-Darlingggg!!"
Seoah lunged toward the bed like a missile but got grabbed by Bora noona.
"Hng, unnie, let go! Darling, Darlingggg!"
"Can't you see the oxygen mask? What are you gonna do charging in like that?"
She was saying that, but she was trembling nonstop too. Of course—seeing the missing Song Jinho like this, unconscious, would shake anyone.
While comforting Seoah, who was sobbing endlessly in front of the bed, Bora noona asked me,
"What happened?"
"He was found unconscious in his car. Looks like someone staged it as an accident. We found him just in time to save his life, but he's still out. Luckily, no brain death."
"Where is this...?"
"A makeshift hospital room I converted from my villa. He's a fugitive, so I couldn't take him to a real hospital. A trustworthy doctor is looking after him, so don't worry."
"Why'd you knock us out to bring us here? If you'd just told us the truth, we would've come without a fuss."
This was the important part. Bora noona didn't buy half-assed explanations.
"A mysterious organization is targeting me and Manager Song. They track so well we almost got caught several times. I couldn't risk anyone but my own people, so I had no choice but to drug you two. Sorry."
I threw in a childish plot device. Both wore expressions like "What bullshit is this?"
"Mysterious organization? What's that?"
"The group Manager Song uncovered while digging into Executive Director Park Hyungpil's corruption. A big chunk of the slush funds went their way. Still investigating the director's ties to them. Song seems to know something, but... in his state, I'm handling the investigation myself now."
I wove the childish setup into my feud with Park Hyungpil.
"Wait. So Jinho got done in by some unknown organization?"
"From what I've dug up, yeah. I couldn't reach him that day and went looking—got lucky and beat them to him."
As found him, but I couldn't tell them about demons.
"Why target him? Was Jinho into something that dangerous?"
"If the slush fund evidence he had comes out, Park Hyungpil's done for. The guy's scheming to take over Hyeonsung Group—think he'd just sit back? He moved the organization to shut Song up."
"Hyeonsung Group?"
She didn't know about Park Hyungpil and Hyeonsung.
"Park's endgame. It'll get complicated explaining more—just know that. Doesn't really involve Song anyway."
I fleshed it out: They framed Song to plug the slush fund hole; they know he's alive; they're hunting us to eliminate evidence; I can't do much till he wakes since only he knows some proof. I explained everything that happened, piling on the details for the two.
'Lies do snowball, huh.'
If I'd just said the body got swapped like with Mingyu hyung, I wouldn't need this elaborate setup. But these two had gone all the way with Song Jinho—how would they take a body swap? This was my bare-minimum courtesy to my precious sex partners.
"Honestly, I can't buy everything you're saying. Jinho's no secret agent... and in this day and age, mysterious organizations? But we saw him ourselves today, and you're clearly working for him, so I'll let it slide for now."
Unlike Seoah, who nodded along like it was a movie plot summary, Bora noona never dropped her guard.
"What's the plan now?"
"Wait for him to wake while I investigate on my end. He was alone, but I've got capable people around me. We won't go down easy."
"Can we come check on Jinho sometimes?"
"I'm switching locations constantly—sudden visits are tough. Give me a heads-up, and I'll prep."
"...Hoo, what a mess."
"Um, th-that... there's no problem with Darling's body, right? Like, he won't be unable to... do it or anything...?"
"......"
For the first time since they arrived, I felt the same as Bora noona. Does this girl have a brain or not?
Bora noona was stroking Song Jinho's cheek with a tender expression.
"...Why's a grown man making his noona worry like this."
Seeing how loved he was warmed my chest, but there was something to check before she left. Watching her back, I opened her status window.
—You sucked noona's tits so often like a newborn. I can't forget that sensation. Hurry back and suck them again, my baby.
Yeah, I had to reveal I was Song Jinho. But how to burn 5 billion with this?
As I pondered, Bora noona vanished from the sex fantasy screen, replaced by something else.
The first scene was a filming set. Someone holding a script by the camera, giving directions—an familiar face.
'SBC Drama Division PD Yoon Seokhui. Why her all of a sudden...?'
The screen shifted to a woman attending a lecture. Messy hair, horn-rimmed glasses. The camera pulled back to show the whole building: the Writers' Association Training Center.
'But who's that woman?'
Next, SBC headquarters lobby. Camera moved to a wall of posters and zoomed on one: a drama script contest poster.
I tried to read the details, but the screen vanished. Not important?
Three scenes in a row, unrelated to sex fantasies. If it's a攻略 hint like future precognition... Yoon Seokhui PD, Writers' Association Training Center, drama script contest—what connected them?
"I'm heading out now. How do I get back?"
"Hold on. Let me check if the car's here."
Pretending to leave, I called As. The door was just a prop anyway—it wouldn't open.
'As.'
Moments later, the two collapsed like in the private bar, falling asleep. As had activated the remaining sleeping drug in their systems. She said she could do anything in this space.
I returned right away, checked on them, and first called Seoah's manager.
"Take her back to the dorm. If the manager asks, say she was drinking with me."
The manager carried Seoah out piggyback. I quenched my thirst with a drink and racked my brain.
'Even if I say Song Jinho possessed this body, they'd call me crazy. I need a situation where Bora noona has no choice but to accept it's me... but how? Can't solve this with money.'
I decided to start by tossing out some bait and testing reactions. As said she'd give more time for this one, so I'd ask for a month.
I loaded the sleeping noona into the car and headed to the townhouse in Yongin for the first time in ages.