Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 81

“Hyung, I’ll hang… hang up for now!”

The memories of the early morning suddenly rushed in, tormenting Yeon-woo. After rolling around a few more times where he had fallen, Yeon-woo lay there staring at the ceiling before covering his face.

“Why am I like this…”

To have caused trouble again so soon. It seemed he needed to develop some self-control. His feet, which had been fidgeting, finally calmed down when pain rose from his waist. Yeon-woo dropped his hands from his face with a deep sigh. Right, what’s done is done. It might be better to act as if nothing had happened.

After repeatedly telling himself not to be conscious of it, Yeon-woo calmly got up. When he tried to walk quickly, his legs gave out like before, but walking slowly was much better.

Yeon-woo opened the terrace door and let the incoming wind envelop him. Warm sunlight settled on his skin as if welcoming him. As he breathed in the fresh air deep into his lungs, he felt his mind clearing. Right, a dream is just a dream. As his unsettled feelings calmed down, he found it amusing how he had overreacted to a mere dream.

“But it really is strange.”

Not just the lucid dreaming, but it was fascinating that he always appeared as a child in these dreams. Should he get an exorcism at this rate? It was a funny thought, but not entirely a joke. Unlike ordinary dreams, these engaged all five senses vividly and left an unsettling feeling afterward, which was very strange.

Could he be possessed by a ghost? Yeon-woo hugged his arms, covered in goosebumps, and shuddered. Even knowing it was unlikely, he felt needlessly scared. As he picked up his phone to look up information about lucid dreaming, Yeon-woo came across unexpected news. His eyes stopped on an article on the internet’s main page.

***

Ki-won, sitting in the back seat finishing up remaining work on his tablet PC, took out the phone from his inner pocket. The executive secretary was calling.

Ki-won glanced at the car window before answering the call. The vehicle was entering the apartment’s underground parking lot, heading to a parking spot.

“You can leave as soon as you finish parking. I have some work to do in the car.”

“Yes, understood.”

As soon as he answered, the driver quickly finished parking. Then, with a short nod, he hurried to get out and switch to the car he uses to go home. Watching the driver’s retreating back, Ki-won put the phone to his ear.

“Yes, I’ve answered the phone.”

“Hello, Director Kwon. I’m calling because the results of the ongoing financial fraud and assault case have come in.”

“Ah.”

Ki-won let out a small exclamation as if remembering. They were definitely the thugs who had lent money to Yeon-woo’s biological father. They had been tormenting Yeon-woo with that debt. It’s about time for the results to come out. Ki-won nodded slowly.

“The criminal organization was larger than expected, and due to the severity of their crimes, they’ve all been sentenced to prison. It seems there were dozens of victims uncovered during the investigation.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes, the 300 million won and passport that Mr. Seo Yeon-woo handed over to the JP Capital manager have been recovered. Should we deposit the money into Mr. Seo Yeon-woo’s account and send the passport by quick delivery?”

“Just put the money in Yeon-woo’s account.”

“Then, the passport…”

“It would be better to dispose of it. We can always get a new passport issued.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Ki-won didn’t want to return the passport to Yeon-woo after it had been dirtied by being in someone else’s possession. He was about to get out of the car when he waved his hand.

“By the way… It seems this information was reported in the news before it reached us. Should I tell the broadcasting station to take it down?”

“Is Yeon-woo mentioned or is there any content that could identify the victims?”

“No, there’s nothing like that.”

“Then leave it be. Journalists need to make a living too.”

“Yes, understood.”

After ending the call, Ki-won loosened his tie and got out of the car. His only thought was to get back to Yeon-woo as quickly as possible.

***

Yeon-woo, who had been staring at his phone for a while, rubbed his closed eyelids again. The story about JP Capital, the loan sharks who had tormented him, had been reported in the news.

[Estimated damages in the hundreds of millions of won, organized crime group involved in illegal loans arrested]

He had been uncertain just looking at the title, but reading the content made it clear. The photo attached to the article depicted the interior of the JP Capital office.

The content stated that the organized crime group had made over 35 billion won in profits from illegal loan sharking over several decades. The police, aiming to root out the organization, had launched an investigation and finally succeeded in arresting the criminals. The arrested gang members had received prison sentences due to the severity of their crimes, with sentences ranging from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 10 years.

“…Hyung must have pushed for this behind the scenes.”

Yeon-woo was convinced that Ki-won had influenced the outcome, given that they received up to 10 years for illegal loans, fraud, and assault. After all, even murder charges often don’t result in 10-year sentences. Yeon-woo went to the living room and turned on the TV. He was half-expecting the news airing at this time to cover the details.

As he pressed the remote control buttons, Yeon-woo stopped at one channel. With perfect timing, the news anchor on TV was covering the illegal loan sharking case with a very serious face. Yeon-woo turned up the volume and listened to the broadcast.

“It really is true…”

Yeon-woo looked at the faces of the loan sharks being broadcast on TV. Among the men standing in the photo line with annoyed expressions was the manager with his head bandaged. Thankfully, he was alive. Although Ki-won had said he was alive, his injuries had been so severe at the time that Yeon-woo had been worried. He had been concerned about causing trouble for Ki-won if the man had died, but now he could finally relax.

Beep, beep beep-.

As Yeon-woo was watching the news intently, he turned his head at the sound of the front door opening. Ki-won had returned from work. Yeon-woo forgot about the pain in his legs and waist and rushed to the entrance.

“Hyung!”

Ki-won, who was taking off his shoes, looked bewildered at the enthusiastic greeting. He entered the living room with Yeon-woo, who had suddenly stuck close to him and started chattering.

“I saw the news. They say all the JP Capital people are going to jail.”

Yeon-woo seemed unaware that he was clinging to Ki-won as he kept talking. He had unconsciously sought help with each step due to the pain rising from his waist. Ki-won gently wrapped his arm around Yeon-woo’s waist to keep him from falling as they entered the bedroom.

“Thank you, this is all thanks to you, hyung…”

“Is that so?”

Ki-won nodded leisurely, as if listening to someone else’s heroic tale.

“Ah, right. You probably don’t remember.”

Memory loss was really inconvenient. Even when expressing gratitude to someone, you had to add reasons and explanations every time.

“Actually, I had a debt… You paid it off for me. There were loan sharks involved at the time, but it turns out they were fraudsters. Seeing the news and articles about them going to jail really made me feel relieved.”

He was truly grateful just to be able to get revenge on the men who had taken away his entire youth during his school days. As Yeon-woo’s brightened expression calmed down, Ki-won gently stroked his head.

“It’s good to see you smile.”

Ki-won, having taken off his coat, spoke a beat later as if deciding to say something.

“Come to think of it, the executive secretary told me something related to that.”

“What did they say?”

“They said they recovered the 300 million you sent to the loan sharks.”

“…Gasp!”

The response showed he hadn’t expected this at all.

“It turns out the records of the principal and interest collected through illegal debt collection didn’t match up. They had lied to receive several times more money from debtors.”

For a moment, Yeon-woo felt dazed. How could they do such a thing… The memories of his past days of working to the bone and struggling made Yeon-woo choke up. However, no tears welled up under his reddened eyes. They had already been judged by the law, and sentences had actually been handed down. Although it was frustrating, their predetermined punishment awaited them, and the money had been returned.

“Then the money…”

“It should have been deposited into your account, Yeon-woo.”

Was he a god? It seemed like there was a halo behind Ki-won. Not knowing how to express his gratitude, Yeon-woo’s toes kept fidgeting. After gaping for a while, Yeon-woo’s cheeks turned red as he mumbled.

“Thank you… I don’t even want to think about what would have happened without you, hyung.”

Ki-won, ruffling Yeon-woo’s hair, said lightly that there was no need to bow his head like that.

“It would be strange to stand by when my spouse was being harassed.”

He was such a reliable person, no different before and after losing his memories. Yeon-woo left the bedroom to make it easier for Ki-won to change clothes, and waited for him to come out. The wait wasn’t long. Ki-won, now in comfortable clothes, opened the tightly closed bedroom door and looked at Yeon-woo pacing in front of it.

Ki-won chuckled at Yeon-woo’s behavior, moving here and there as if trying to look busy for no reason.

“By the way, haven’t you forgotten something?”

“Forgotten something?”

What is he talking about? Yeon-woo tilted his head in confusion as question marks instantly filled his mind.