The Brother Who Shouldn't Exist
Had Kim Jeeon seen that snake too? The question flickered through her mind for a moment, but clearing out the man right in front of her came first.
“So who exactly are you supposed to be that Kim Jeeon would leave me in your care? I’ve never even seen your face before. What country’s manners let a stranger just stroll into someone’s bedroom like this?”
“Hmm. French manners, maybe?”
“…….”
Heeseo, who had been dragging France into every conversation despite never having set foot there, clamped her mouth shut without thinking. Then she slowly looked the man over.
His lean frame and sharp features somehow reminded her of Choi Jinwook from the night before. He looked about the same age as Kim Jeeon, yet the loose clothes made him seem more like an invalid than an office worker.
He was unmistakably tall, and his pale complexion made him look somehow unwell. Stranger still, his overall image felt oddly familiar.
“I’m Jeeon’s older brother. Kim Jeseon.”
“Liar.”
She denied it at once, yet she had already found the reason for that familiarity. He resembled Kim Jonghyeop quite a bit. Still, she had her own grounds for refusing to believe him.
“I’ve never once heard that Kim Jeeon has a brother. And if you’re really siblings, why didn’t you come to Kim Jeeon’s wedding? We’re meeting for the first time right now, aren’t we?”
“I never said you had to believe me.”
The man who had introduced himself as Kim Jeseon rose from the bed with an expressionless face. It wasn’t even the season to feel cold indoors, yet he wore a thick cardigan; standing, he was taller than she had expected.
Even so, Heeseo gradually let the tension ease from her body. He looked frail enough that she could subdue him easily without even swinging whatever she was holding.
“My health’s poor, so I barely go outside. I avoid crowded places too. So don’t resent me for missing Jeeon’s wedding.”
“……Resent you? Me? Toward someone I’ve just met?”
“If you don’t, that’s fortunate.”
Answering the bewildered Heeseo, the man quietly faced her. Looking at him again from roughly the same eye level, she saw just how strongly he resembled Kim Jonghyeop.
Feeling uneasy, Heeseo nevertheless set the bedside lamp carefully back in place. Kim Jeseon asked her casually,
“Have a nightmare?”
“Wouldn’t anyone have a nightmare if they woke up to find a strange man sitting at their feet?”
The sharp retort flew out on reflex.
No matter how she searched her memory, she couldn’t recall falling asleep—or even coming home. Because of that, everything from the tedious banquet through Choi Jinwook and the snake felt as if it had happened only a minute ago.
Heeseo steadied her breathing, then sank heavily onto the bed and muttered,
“I collapsed?”
Had Kim Jeeon really not seen the snake? Then where did the dream begin?
Whenever she closed her eyes, the snake’s form rose as vividly as if it were real. Yet as the fear slowly faded, Heeseo could think rationally again.
My spiritual eyes aren’t open, so even if something like that ghost had been there, I wouldn’t have been able to see it with my own eyes. All I can see are living spirits. But that thing……
It had been a massive, oppressive presence that she didn’t even dare call a mere stray ghost. Recalling the vivid poison energy that had spread so clearly through the air, Heeseo trembled finely.
It wasn’t an ordinary being. That aura was at least on par with a divine spirit.
No matter how she turned it over, nothing added up. The moment she opened her eyes her head was so tangled that a headache started. When Heeseo pressed her forehead, Jeseon held out medicine with the same blank face.
“You look rough. How about taking something?”
“…….”
Heeseo stared at the painkiller for a moment, then swallowed it with water. She no longer had the energy to keep suspecting a face that looked exactly like Kim Jonghyeop’s.
After taking the medicine she collapsed onto the bed. Unlike her complicated thoughts, the mattress still cradled her softly.
“I never expected Jeeon to get married.”
“That makes two of us.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Was that really something to say to someone who was exhausted? With her face buried in the pillow, Heeseo let out a long sigh. He claimed he barely went outside, and true to his word, Jeseon seemed utterly lacking in social sense.
“I mean I never expected I’d end up marrying…… Kim Jeeon either.”
Kim Jonghyeop’s closest aides knew Heeseo’s true identity. She hadn’t asked Seo Hyeon-a, but Hyeon-a also seemed to understand that Heeseo was a fake bride. Choi Jinwook, however, was different.
Did Kim Jonghyeop only tell the people he trusts about me?
Yet no matter how she thought about it, he didn’t seem the type to trust people easily. As Heeseo fell silent, lost in thoughts of Kim Jonghyeop, Jeseon pressed her.
“Do you not like Jeeon?”
“What?”
She couldn’t hide her fluster at the sudden question. Of course she didn’t like Jeeon—wasn’t that obvious?
Unlike Seo Hyeon-a or the aides, Kim Jeseon spoke as if he truly knew nothing about her. The question itself carried a strangely naive air.
Heeseo chose her words carefully. She couldn’t tell how honest she ought to be with someone she had met only today.
“……Not every marriage starts with love. Either way, I did it to save Kim Jeeon.”
“Save Jeeon?”
“Well. ‘Save’ might be too strong—maybe ‘help’? Something like supporting him as a wife.”
If he didn’t know about the possession of Kim Jeeon’s body, there was no need to mention it. The same went for her own identity.
Heeseo briefly imagined herself beating Kim Jeeon under the excuse of “wifely support,” then shook her head. Deliberately she opened her mouth wide and yawned.
“Haaah…… I’m tired.”
The message was clear: get lost because I’m exhausted. Unfortunately, Kim Jeseon was truly, excessively, absurdly dense. Even when Heeseo blinked and yawned repeatedly, he simply stared at her blankly.
Is that bastard just putting on an act?
Even if he’d never lived in society, could anyone really be this oblivious? Heeseo narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Only then did Kim Jeseon begin tidying the area around him.
Yes. Just leave already. Once you’re gone I’ve got a lot to do.
First she needed to check the salt she’d hidden under Kim Jeeon’s bedsheets and the purifying water she’d tucked beneath the wardrobe. They weren’t as direct as spirit-warding charms or Golswaebo Powder, but they could at least suppress ghostly energy and help her find traces.
And after that……
After that…… there’s so much I have to do……
Yet whether because of the deliberate yawns or not, real drowsiness swept over her. Her eyelids grew so heavy she simply couldn’t keep them open.
Jeseon, who had been straightening things, saw her like that and settled onto the sofa that gave a clear view of the bed. Even through the sleepiness it was outrageous.
What the hell is that guy…… even……
Bastard…… Heeseo whispered faintly, then sank into the sleep that rushed over her. Soon only her soft breathing filled the bedroom.
From that day on, Kim Jeseon was nowhere to be seen.
It had not been a pleasant first meeting. Perhaps for that reason, the encounter with Jeseon faded from Heeseo’s mind as quickly as a hazy dream. She couldn’t even tell whether it had been real or imagined to begin with.
A mountain of things waiting to be prepared before the wedding left her no time to dwell on the meeting anyway.
When she asked what preparations could possibly be needed for a mere honeymoon, Manager Jo—who had woken her at the crack of dawn—made a terrifying face. And so Heeseo was dragged around by Manager Jo, whose expression was as frightening as a goblin’s.
Even the wedding preparations hadn’t been this exhausting……
Heeseo sat half out of her mind while strangers handled everything from her hair to her hands and feet. She felt exactly like an actress about to walk the red carpet at an awards ceremony.
It was already past five in the afternoon, yet the only things she had eaten so far were some strange green juice and two eggs. By now her stomach felt glued to her spine.
“Manager, when is this actually going to end?”
The thick pack plastered all over her face made even speaking difficult. Yet Secretary Jo somehow understood her perfectly.
“The aesthetic treatment will be finished soon. After that you only need to stop by the boutique and choose clothes, and today’s schedule will be over. Just hold on a little longer.”
“Bou…… what?”
“The Executive Director specifically instructed that nothing be lacking in Heeseo-nim’s travel preparations. Given the weather conditions in Dubai, we’ve already contacted them so you can select suitable clothing.”
What did the local weather have to do with anything? If it’s hot, just go around half-naked, right? Isn’t a single T-shirt enough? These rich bastards—money must be rotting on them!