Chapter 177 - Operation: Recover Memories 1
"Master-nim, today was fun, right?"
Minseo's face was flushed as he laced his fingers with mine and beamed at me.
"Huh...?"
For a second, a strange unease washed over me and I glanced around...
Unsurprisingly, nothing was out of the ordinary.
What's this?
I feel like I've forgotten something important...
"Master-nim?"
Seeing my expression, Minseo tilted his head...
Pale skin set against black hair.
Bright, rabbit-like eyes.
Sharp features.
Bright red lips I wanted to ravage.
It was definitely the Minseo I knew.
Whoosh—
Overwhelmed by an inexplicable emotion, I pulled him into a tight embrace.
So he could never get away.
I squeezed.
"Keuh... why are you doing this all of a sudden..."
Minseo checked his surroundings, wary of the sudden display of affection, but...
Tighter.
"Minseo-ya, I love you."
I didn't care and hugged him even tighter.
Because he shouldn't go anywhere.
"Haha. Me too."
Minseo laughed sheepishly, his cheeks turning red.
Walking out of the movie theater holding hands like any other couple, we chatted about trivial things.
"I told you I didn't like action movies."
"But I won rock-paper-scissors, didn't I?"
Watching Minseo smile so brightly made me feel satisfied, and I playfully tugged on his cheek.
"Then let's bet on something else next time."
"Like what?"
At the mention of a bet, Minseo perked up...
I wore a mischievous smile.
"The person who doesn't pass out gets to pick the movie."
"Pass out... what are you..."
Minseo asked back with a confused look...
I whispered softly and sweetly into his ear.
"What we're going to do in a little while."
"In a... little while...?"
To Minseo, who still didn't get it...
"The thing where you always end up crying while pinned under me."
I made sure to drive the point home.
"Euhik—"
At my words, Minseo shuddered and looked at me with trembling eyes...
"Are we doing it again today...?"
"Do you realize there are more days we did it than days we didn't?"
I hugged his waist and pulled him against me.
"Th-that's why we need to show some restraint..."
"Do we really?"
"My stamina these days..."
"I'll have to look for food that's good for stamina."
"My physical strength these days..."
"We'll have to do exercises to improve your physical strength together."
I smiled, dismantling every one of Minseo's excuses.
"You'll like it once we actually start."
"That's true, but... Master-nim, once you start, you torment me until I'm on the verge of passing out..."
Minseo blushed again and leaned on my shoulder.
"But it feels so good...?"
"I don't want to keep fainting every night..."
"Alright. Let's just do it four times."
"What?!"
At his startled, urgent shout, the eyes of people around us turned toward us, but...
Minseo soon cleared his throat and whispered to me.
"That's the same thing...!"
"It was five times yesterday."
"Ha."
Realizing words weren't getting through, Minseo made a bitter face, put the cola straw he was holding into his mouth, and sucked on it.
"Hey, you're not even going to smile at your Master-nim?"
Hayoung, finding it pathetic that Minseo was looking at her as if there was no answer, grabbed his chin and pressed her lips against his.
"Heup—!"
Mmph—
Her tongue softly invaded Minseo's mouth and began to wrap around his tongue...
She transferred the cola that was in his mouth into hers.
"Th-that... your displays of affection are too excessive these days..."
Minseo said, looking around after the sudden kiss.
It seemed he was quite self-conscious about them kissing repeatedly in a public place.
"I can show you something even more intense."
Hayoung smiled, grabbing his buttocks...
"Euhut."
A short, shallow moan escaped him.
Watching Minseo tremble, I whispered low into his ear.
"Forget it. Let's go until sunrise today."
When I finished speaking, the look on Minseo's face was quite a sight.
That feeling of being fucked.
Cute.
"Let's hurry to the mansion."
I led my body, which was starting to heat up, and held his interlaced hands, but—
Whoosh—
Minseo suddenly pulled his hands away from mine.
With a serious and sorrowful expression, quite different from the one he'd had while joking with me just moments ago, Minseo stared at me.
"Why... are you like this...?"
"You know there is no mansion anymore."
Minseo gave a sad smile and hugged my waist...
I felt confusion in my head and was extremely flustered.
Ah...
Tears were already streaming down his cheeks...
Ah. Fuck.
No...
Tell me it's not true...
I was gradually realizing reality.
Blood was streaming down from his sorrowful face...
"No... Minseo-ya... I'm sorry..."
At that moment, I opened my eyes.
"Was it... a dream..."
I teared up, looking at the hospital bedding that was damp with sweat.
Because in front of me, Minseo was lying there with his eyes closed, his face gaunt and unconscious.
"Minseo-ya, I had a dream about you today. We went to the movie theater together... and watched an action movie again. And... also..."
My throat tightened, and I couldn't speak anymore, so I just held his cold hand.
"Keuheuk... heuk... I'm sorry... as your Master, I couldn't protect you..."
The helplessness of being his Master but failing to protect Minseo.
The terrifying emptiness of knowing he wouldn't be there even if I returned home.
The sorrow that deeply tore at my heart just by looking at him.
All these emotions were felt by me vividly every single day.
For over a month, Minseo hadn't shown any signs of waking up...
I stayed by his side, nursing him until he could wake up.
I told him how the executives were doing these days, and I diligently watched the movies he liked and told him the plots.
In case he might wake up if I told him stories he liked.
In case he might wake up even a little bit faster.
Before I knew it, Hayoung's face, unlike her confident self in the past, had become very gaunt.
Her silver hair, which was always neat, was very disheveled... and there were dark circles under her eyes.
It was only natural.
She nursed him day and night, and at dawn, she had to find stories for Minseo for the next day.
She started watching movies at dawn, finding new topics, and gathering stories that Minseo might be even slightly interested in.
In case he might react even a little bit.
But despite her efforts... for a month, Minseo didn't show any signs of waking up.
"Heuk... Minseo-ya... is there nothing you want to do? Wake up and say something... okay?"
Hayoung grabbed Minseo's cold hand with her trembling hands...
She was more desperate than ever.
She hadn't even confessed to him yet.
She had intended to confess confidently after this was all over.
This isn't right.
Give me a chance... just once... please...
Uh...?
Didn't the hand of Minseo I was just holding twitch...
Hayoung froze right there.
Because the eyes that had been sadly closed for a whole month... were slowly opening.
"....H..here..."
Hayoung muttered low.
Because words wouldn't come out.
At this miraculous event.
It's not a dream, right...?
It can't be. I already had one.
Then... he regained consciousness.
Minseo... has regained consciousness.
"Over here—!!!"
Soon, she shouted as loud as she could.
Without even realizing that thick tears were starting to drip down her own eyes.
Ring, ring—
Seoyoung, who had been taking a walk as usual, had dead eyes.
Thinking about where to go today.
Thinking about what story to tell Minseo today.
And—at the call from Hayoung that came in immediately...
"Uh... Unni."
"Minseo... woke up."
"Come to the hospital quickly. Right now."
Click.
Hearing what Hayoung said, Seoyoung ended the call with trembling hands.
It's not a dream, right...?
Seoyoung deliberately pinched her cheek hard.
"A-ut."
The pain was felt just as it was...
And Seoyoung's dead eyes were slowly—very slowly—regaining their vitality.
"Kang Min... seo.."
And she started running to the hospital like crazy.
After that, the call was passed on to all the executives...
Before Hayoung could even say anything, all the calls were cut off.
Because they were busy running like crazy.
Bang—!
The first to arrive was... Seoyoung.
Holding all her hope in her heart, Seoyoung, who opened the hospital door...
"Haa."
She saw Hayoung standing with a dark expression and the doctor looking at Minseo with a regretful expression.
"Haa.. haa.."
Before Seoyoung could say anything, her gaze was already directed at Minseo, who had removed the oxygen mask and regained consciousness.
"Minseo-ya..."
Seoyoung approached him slowly, wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop flowing,
"I'm... sorry.."
The moment she tried to say she was sorry and reach out with trembling hands,
"Excuse me... who are you...?"
Before Seoyoung could even say she was sorry, Minseo's question pierced through her heart.
"What...?"
At Minseo's words, Seoyoung's eyes widened and shook violently.
Who are you...?
You're just pretending not to know me because you're mad at me, right??
That's it, right...?
That's it, right... Minseo-ya...?
But Minseo's next words were enough to blow away the hope Seoyoung had been holding onto, even if just a little.
"Is my name... Minseo...?"
"Right now... the patient...
seems to have temporary amnesia."
Soon, she received the shocking words from the doctor.
The largest single room in the hospital.
There, all the Baekhwa executives were gathered in one place.
With faces that weren't happy, even though Minseo had woken up.
"What did the doctor say?"
Suhyeon asked in a trembling voice,
"He said it's likely temporary amnesia, and that he'll regain it slowly as time passes."
Hayoung said it as calmly as she could, but she still looked at Minseo, who was sleeping soundly, with sad eyes, biting her nails as if she were a bit anxious.
I thought it was all over now.
But there was still hardship left.
The fact that he had lost his memory.
He had become someone who couldn't even remember his own name.
Although the doctor said it was temporary amnesia, it was true that everyone was worried about him.
"Ha... fuck."
Seoyoung held her forehead and spat out a curse.
"It can't be helped. Let's help him as much as we can."
Hayoung said with a determined expression.
"Of course we should."
Chaeryeong nodded and agreed with Hayoung's words.
"Um... but how do we explain our relationship...? If Minseo finds out he was a slave... won't he be shocked...?"
Seoyoung said, looking anxious in case he might be shocked and something bad might happen...
At those words, everyone's jaws dropped.
Didn't we treat Minseo as a slave just a few months ago?
If he found out about this, it could hinder him from regaining his memory.
"Telling Minseo the truth... is absolutely not allowed."
At Hayoung's words, everyone agreed and nodded.
"And Minseo isn't a slave anymore, either."
He was no longer a slave, but an existence indispensable to Baekhwa. He was also the person she loved.
"Then how do we explain our relationship...?"
"How about doing it like this?"
Jiha, who had come up with an idea, whispered to them.
The meeting for Minseo continued for a long time...
And in the end, they reached a conclusion.
A plan that would make Minseo's body shudder if his memory returned was being devised while Minseo was fast asleep.
*
Minseo's eyes slowly opened...
"Heuk—!"
In front of his eyes were six women looking at him with bright, clear eyes.
"Wh-who...?"
Minseo, who had lost his memory, asked the women who were in his room again, even though they had come in yesterday...
"We are... your executives."
Hayoung blushed and greeted him.
At Hayoung's words... Minseo's jaw dropped.
Out of the blue, they're executives; what kind of bolt from the blue is this?
"Yes...?!"
Minseo was extremely flustered, his pupils shaking...
"Th-that... Master-nim... no, the Boss's executives..."
Hayoung smiled brightly and stroked his hair...
Minseo was already on the verge of foaming at the mouth and collapsing.
Are they sane...?!
I opened my eyes and became the boss of a mafia organization.
What is this...?
It took quite a long time for Minseo's shock to subside.