Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 285
After the courage test ended.
I pressed my tired eyes.
“Yeon-jae.”
A weary voice reached my ears.
“Sorry about earlier. I caused you a lot of trouble, didn’t I?”
Seo Ji-oh staggered over like a newborn lamb.
“I tried my best, but….”
His muttering voice lacked energy.
Tsk.
He looked like he had just been rescued after being lost in the mountains for three days.
‘There’s no point in scolding someone like him.’
I sighed and shook my head.
“No, I’m more sorry. I think I got too annoyed earlier.”
“You got annoyed? You? When?”
“……Just go to bed.”
I pushed Seo Ji-oh toward the dormitory.
He staggered into the dormitory without any resistance.
Ha.
‘That was really exhausting.’
The thought of it finally being over made me sigh in relief.
At first, Seo Ji-oh tried to keep his expression in check in front of the camera.
‘The problem is, it was his first time.’
From the beginning of the walk, Seo Ji-oh refused to move, making the staff dressed as ghosts wait for almost an hour.
Although he said he had learned special makeup effects, his makeup was vivid….
‘Ah, what was that sound just now?! What is it?!’
‘I told you several times, it’s your footsteps. How many times do I have to say it.’
‘Yeon-jae, someone seems to be hiding over there…! Let me go first―.’
‘Wait a minute. Hyung, calm down. Let’s take a moment to relax.’
―Woof!
‘Happy, please.’
The courage test was a complete mess.
I couldn’t even see the ghosts properly.
Seo Ji-oh got startled at every tiny sound, clinging to my right arm as if he were going to tear it off.
‘My right arm still feels numb.’
Thanks to that, I lost my right arm.
Every time Seo Ji-oh screamed, Happy would bark in response.
Meanwhile, Sung Lee-jun wandered around like a five-year-old.
Every time Sung Lee-jun curiously touched something, Seo Ji-oh would scream directly into my ear.
As a result, I lost my hearing.
‘I’m so tired I could die.’
The only consolation was that we got enough footage.
When the staff member dressed as a ghost made a surprise appearance, I couldn’t react properly because I was holding back Sung Lee-jun.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, we had Seo Ji-oh.
‘Aaaah!!!!’
Thanks to him getting scared for us, the staff came down with satisfied faces.
“Wow, what would we have done if we hadn’t called Seo Ji-oh?”
“Exactly. Without Ji-oh, we would’ve ended up filming a documentary. ‘Night Scenery of the Mountain’ or something.”
I heard the staff chatting in the distance.
“Sung Lee-jun was quite unexpected.”
“Right? Who would’ve thought he’d be so calm?”
Exactly.
I nodded inwardly when someone called from behind.
“Yeon-jae.”
Speak of the devil.
“Are you very tired? I brought a massage machine, do you want to borrow it?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I quietly looked at Sung Lee-jun.
It was indeed unexpected that he wasn’t afraid of ghosts.
“Hyung, you seemed really excited earlier.”
“Oh, it’s been a while since we all hung out at night….”
Sung Lee-jun smiled gently.
“Did you see the staff dressed as ghosts earlier?”
“Yeah. They looked really real. It was fascinating…!”
Sung Lee-jun chatted excitedly about wanting to try it himself someday.
Far from being scared, he was like an excited child.
Hmm.
‘I guess I won’t see him cry from fear.’
I felt a vague sense of disappointment.
Sung Lee-jun hesitated, pacing in front of me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you have something to say?”
“Oh, it’s nothing….”
Sung Lee-jun’s gaze fell to the floor.
“You seem to have gotten close to Ji-oh.”
“Huh?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Ji-oh act like that. And you… getting annoyed.”
Sung Lee-jun hesitated, then continued.
Ah.
“Sorry, hyung. Did I make you uncomfortable?”
I hadn’t considered his feelings.
I straightened my posture and apologized.
“I was too annoyed earlier. I’m sorry. At first, I held back because of the camera―.”
“No, no.”
Sung Lee-jun waved his hand urgently.
“No, it’s just that you two genuinely looked close. It seemed like there was a distance between you before….”
“There’s still enough distance now.”
“…You two seemed really close.”
Sung Lee-jun rebutted, albeit awkwardly.
What’s up with him now?
I looked at him quietly and then smiled.
“Hyung.”
I playfully flicked his chin with my fingertips.
“…?”
“Whatever you’re worried about, I’m still closer to Ji Hae-soo.”
“……”
Sung Lee-jun stared blankly for a moment, then quickly understood and smiled.
It was a gentle smile that reminded me of Han Ha-ram.
Thanks to him, I also couldn’t help but smile.
* * *
After that, we focused on the movie shoot.
Do Yoo-young’s mother suddenly visited in the morning, and Shin found himself going to school with her, feeling bewildered.
After her meeting with the homeroom teacher, she asked to speak with Shin for a moment.
“Yoo-young, I believed you every time you said you were okay.”
“……”
“Ha-soo told me you were practicing acting, and that your current role is a candid character.”
“Yes.”
“Can you act for me right now?”
Speak honestly.
Do Yoo-young’s mother asked calmly.
“Do you resent me a lot?”
“……”
“I know I haven’t been a good mother. That’s why I want to do better for you. As much as I didn’t before, from now on.”
It was an honest side of her I had never seen before.
Shin, unsure how to react, avoided her gaze.
“Yoo-young, tell me honestly. Do you resent me a lot? So much that you can’t forgive me?”
“Mom….”
Shin hesitated before finally speaking.
“I resent you.”
“……”
“And I love you.”
Shin recalled how Do Yoo-young would look at his phone every morning.
Though he only voiced his irritation, his eyes were always nervously watching.
“……Thank you.”
Do Yoo-young’s mother murmured with slightly reddened eyes.
She promised to try harder from now on.
“How about living together now? Come to where I live. You can bring your dog too.”
“You said we couldn’t bring the dog before….”
“That was because your brother was young. He’s five now. It’s okay. Alright?”
Shin hesitated, feeling it wasn’t a decision he could make.
Do Yoo-young’s mother found the reason for his hesitation in her own family.
“You feel uncomfortable referring to him as your brother, don’t you?”
“……”
“I’m sorry, Yoo-young. I didn’t consider your feelings before. But I love him as much as I love you.”
She held Shin’s hands.
“And I love you as much as I love him. It’s difficult, but can’t you think of him as your brother?”
Her sincere feelings were evident in her trembling voice.
Shin stared at her blankly.
“Even though you have different surnames, he’s definitely your brother.”
“My brother….”
“Yes, your brother. If you’re worried about what others think, don’t be. Or we can change your surname to your stepfather’s.”
“Surname?”
“We can change it right away if you want.”
She said.
Let’s start anew.
“When we move, you’ll have to make new friends anyway. It’ll be easier for you.”
Shin didn’t know what ‘surname’ meant, so he couldn’t answer immediately.
The surname she mentioned was a family name that Koreans place before their given names.
A name indicating a shared ancestry.
Do Yoo-young’s current surname ‘Do’ came from his mother’s family name.
“Mom will do whatever you want. I won’t force you, so tell me when you’re ready.”
She left after saying that.
As soon as Shin returned home, he told Do Yoo-young.
“Mom said we can change our surname. What’s a surname? Yoo-young, do you know?”
―……
Do Yoo-young fell into silent contemplation.
His mother’s new husband, Do Yoo-young’s stepfather, had the surname ‘Shin.’
‘If I follow Mom’s suggestion….’
He would live as ‘Shin Yoo-young’ instead of ‘Do Yoo-young’ from now on.
A truly new life.
Do Yoo-young stared blankly at the floor.
‘……Mom says she loves me.’
The news Shin brought was so joyous it was hard to believe.
That his mother needed him, and loved him.
‘Living with Mom?’
Do Yoo-young awkwardly imagined living with his mother.
The imagination was clumsy, perhaps due to his weak sense of it, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
He wouldn’t have to stare at his phone first thing in the morning anymore.
Just opening the door would allow him to see his mother.
But….
“Do you hate it? Why?”
Do Yoo-young shook his head, and Shin asked curiously.
“Why do you hate it? Wherever you go, I’ll go with you!”
Shin reassured him with a bright smile.
Do Yoo-young looked at him quietly before standing up abruptly.
“Yoo-young?”
―…….
“Where are you going?”
Do Yoo-young walked past the floor where they had been sitting, wandering around the rooms, the kitchen, and the living room.
At first, Shin watched him with curiosity, but his expression gradually changed.
From the familiar way Do Yoo-young moved around, a sense of comfort emerged.
Shin muttered softly.
“…This is your home.”
Do Yoo-young nodded.
Without a word, Shin immediately understood what Do Yoo-young wanted to convey.
‘Yoo-young (游泳).’
Do Yoo-young had lived a life that matched the meaning of his name, drifting here and there.
He wondered how he was born, who he should live with, and how he should live in the future.
He had swum through life, overwhelmed by countless questions.
‘But now I know.’
Thanks to spending a few days in Shin’s body, he could now be certain.
He understood what he truly wanted.
‘I….’
He wanted to find the answer here.
As Do Yoo-young, not Shin Yoo-young.
It was an uncertain task with no clear end, but that was fine.
Do Yoo-young wasn’t alone.
‘I have you.’
There was no need to move to a new home to meet his mother.
His family was already here.
“Yoo-young.”
Shin met Do Yoo-young’s gaze as he looked at him quietly.
“I’ll follow you.”
―…….
“Just like I said before….”
Shin smiled.
“Wherever you go, I’ll go with you.”
At that moment, they both felt the same emotion.
‘To convey these words.’
‘To hear these words.’
A strange and peculiar feeling, as if their bodies had switched.
“Yoo-young, I really like you.”
―Woof!
“When we go back to normal, I think I’ll miss hearing you bark.”
Unable to resist Shin’s teasing, asking if he could bark occasionally, Do Yoo-young pounced on him.
They spent the night together like that.
It was a peaceful and complete time just for the two of them.
White moonlight shone down on them.
* * *
The next day, they confirmed their bodies had returned to normal.
The past few chaotic days.
Despite the chaos, those days were necessary.
From now on, Do Yoo-young would spend peaceful days with the family he had named himself.
‘You never know.’
Spending a long time with Shin might eventually free him from his drifting life.
The moment he would become Shin (新) Yoo-young instead of Do Yoo-young.
Anticipating the moment when everything would be new.
Under the bright sunlight, he closed his eyes gently.