TIN 31

The affection he had shown me wasn’t genuine. If he called poisoning me “affection,” then the feelings I might develop for him wouldn’t be real love either.

‘So just play with him and then dump him. I’m not telling you to fall in love.’

After saying that, Lee Yuna snapped her cigarette in half and looked away. She was frowning irritably, but I could immediately tell that she was deliberately avoiding eye contact with me, as if her conscience was bothering her.

‘…That’s such a nonsensical thing to say.’

I murmured barely audibly. Lee Yuna’s words struck me as being utterly ridiculous.

‘Do you have any idea how selfish that is?’

‘…’

At my calm remark, Lee Yuna briefly glanced at me. Judging by her expression, she likely knew that even if things went her way, the outcome wouldn’t be a happy one.

‘To tell someone with such intense obsession to just play with him and dump him…’

Didn’t she just say that if I mess up, I was screwed? This person who would kill even his sole fiancée if she bothered him—how could he be expected to show mercy to someone who toyed with his feelings?

I guess Yuna-ssi doesn’t want to marry that weirdo, and she wants my help, but she doesn’t want to take responsibility for what happens next, so she’s giving me this advice out of a sense of conscience.

‘…’

‘Is that it?’

I wasn’t trying to argue with her. I wasn’t even offended, nor was I trying to insult her. But I had expected at least an unpleasant reaction, yet Lee Yuna simply curled her lips into a crooked smile and asked in return.

‘Is being selfish bad?’

‘…’

‘Life is inherently lived alone, anyway.’

Her attitude was unapologetic. The wry smile on her face was not just confident, but downright shameless.

‘If you’re smart enough to realize that, you should understand.’

However, I could already tell she shared some similarities with Joo Do-hwa. For instance, calling me smart, or maintaining composure even after having her intentions exposed.

‘Isn’t this better than me being jealous and tormenting you?’

What was there to be jealous about? Lee Yuna was spouting the sort of clichés you’d find in a morning drama.

‘Or should I try to turn you against each other? Maybe even pretend you slapped me?’

‘That wouldn’t actually turn us against each other.’

‘Yeah, it doesn’t seem like it would work.’

We weren’t even close enough for that, and Joo Do-hwa wouldn’t be fazed by something as simple as that. If I said I slapped Euna, he might just ask me to hit her again out of curiosity. Thinking along those terms, he did seem like the kind of weirdo that would be unfit for an engagement.

‘Anyway, remember what I said. No matter how nice he is to you, don’t forget that you’re a stand-in.’

‘…’

I lowered my eyes silently. It wasn’t out of wounded pride, but because I couldn’t figure out what to say in response.

‘You’re right, that guy is dangerous. I don’t expect you to successfully seduce him. Just try to survive.’

She was intentionally smiling and speaking in a rather carefree manner. I knew she was provoking me, hoping I’d get flustered and take the bait. It was a form of provocation, and apparently, it looked like a few people had actually fallen for it before.

‘Or should I teach you how to imitate that child?’

Lee Yuna leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling. A faint bluish tint had appeared in her irises. I inwardly sighed and met her gaze directly.

‘No, that’s okay.’

A deep smile spread across Lee Yuna’s lips. As if urging me to go ahead and try.

‘You don’t have to.’

The chairman who had tried to kill me had ultimately shown Joo Do-hwa the “hyung’s” body. I wasn’t sure what his purpose was, but revealing that I was the real one wouldn’t be a good decision in this instance. Once that truth came to light, the chairman’s next target would surely be me.

‘After all, imitating someone doesn’t make you the real thing.’

I wasn’t sure how Lee Yuna would interpret my meaning, but she let out a soft chuckle. She might have thought I was just being unnecessarily stubborn. But the reason I said I was fine had nothing to do with any of that.

‘It’s not really for that reason.’

But didn’t Joo Do-hwa say that? To perfectly deceive everyone he met from now on. Lee Yuna was the first person I met after making that threat-disguised-as-a-proposal. And that instruction to “just finish eating and come back” likely didn’t mean to just eat.

‘I don’t need to imitate anyone.’

Lee Yuna’s expression subtly changed. Looking her straight in the eye, I calmly moved my lips.

‘I am that brother.’

If there was no other choice, you would have to grab even a rotten lifeline. Revealing the truth would make me a target for Chairman Joo, but admitting I was a fake would get me killed by Joo Do-hwa. At the very least, I needed to survive today to have a chance at tomorrow.

‘The body the child saw was fake.’

“But I heard you saw the body with your own eyes.”

Joo Do-hwa’s gaze grew heavy. The intense stare held no discernible emotion in it. I had brought up the point to shatter his smile, but I wasn’t trying to provoke him.

“That’s why I said the body was fake.”

“…”

“I’m that brother.”

Only after hearing those words did Joo Do-hwa blink slowly. The sight of the golden eyes gradually emerging from beneath his eyelids was mystical, even after seeing it multiple times already. Especially with the black pupils, they looked just like a predator’s.

“Does Lee Yuna believe that?”

Contrary to my expectations, he asked this calmly. He didn’t get angry, didn’t curse, nor did he seem displeased. He simply watched my reaction with a serene gaze.

The only response I could give was this: “No, she just laughed it off.”

“Pfft.”

The moment I claimed to be the brother, Lee Yuna burst out laughing. Unlike when Joo Do-hwa left, this laughter sounded genuinely amused. After chuckling for a while, she wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes from laughing.

‘This is totally crazy.’

“It seemed like she didn’t believe it.”

It would have been more disconcerting if she believed it naively. If some rootless stranger suddenly insisted they were the one, others would naturally think they were delusional.

“She’s jealous.”

Joo Do-hwa dismissed all those reactions with just one sentence. Jealous? Of what? Pondering my puzzlement, Joo Do-hwa raised his right hand and tapped his left index finger on his pinky.

“You saw the ring on her finger, right?”

The silver ring that didn’t match her outfit. Even without a close look, it was clear it wasn’t an expensive piece, nor the kind of accessory someone like Lee Yuna would wear casually. Yet, Lee Yuna had been fiddling with the ring throughout the course of our conversation.

“That’s a couple’s ring. More precisely, an engagement ring.”

“…An engagement ring?”

Isn’t that you? With that thought, I examined Joo Do-hwa’s fingers. As expected, there was nothing on them, and I couldn’t recall ever seeing him wear any other accessory besides his watch.

How could that be an engagement ring…?

“Her partner committed suicide.”

“…”

I flinched, furrowing my brow. Joo Do-hwa continued to speak in an incredibly nonchalant tone.

“Well, ‘suicide’ is just a euphemism. It was actually a homicide. They tormented the person until they died at their own home.”

‘Don’t fall in love.’

Lee Yuna’s words flashed through my mind. Along with his earlier murmured words with an expressionless face.

‘…I thought it would be like that.’

‘…’

‘But the human heart isn’t quite like that.’

Perhaps Lee Yuna had fallen for someone once before. She had promised to marry him but then tried to call off the engagement with Joo Do-hwa, only for it to end up this way. Gold Road couldn’t refuse Sae Group, and Lee Yuna was likely Gold Road’s only remaining opportunity to get out of this situation.

“How envious she must be. The person she loved can never come back…And the brother she thought was dead has returned.”

“…”

“That’s why she doesn’t believe it.”

Joo Do-hwa spoke in a serious tone as if reassuring me, “the hyung.”

Lee Yuna didn’t deny reality, she simply gave the most realistic response. But the one saying this, Joo Do-hwa, was the one who actually seemed lost in an illusion, blind to the truth.

“…”

An overwhelming sense of unease sent a chill up and down my neck. He said he’d overlook my mistakes in front of him, yet he was treating me earnestly as the “hyung.” Even knowing this was just role-playing, hearing that the “hyung” had died felt strange.

Imitating a living person and imitating a dead one were different. Joo Do-hwa had forced the latter, and he was the one most genuinely invested in this childish theater.

The fact that he had repeated this process countless times truly began to terrify me.

“Am I going crazy?”

That was when Joo Do-hwa suddenly asked this. I instinctively clenched my fists and furrowed my brow. Joo Do-hwa, watching me silently, turned his head and let out a sigh.

“Yes, I saw the body with my own eyes.”

“…”

I felt drained. It was as if I had stepped onto a tense stage and then briefly returned to reality.

“They said the child drowned and died in the sea.”

It was no different from what Lee Yuna had told me. The only difference was that Joo Do-hwa didn’t seem disturbed by this piece of information.

“But that’s strange, isn’t it? The child going all the way to the sea, and then drowning there.”

It was a valid question. When I left Joo Do-hwa’s house, I was only nine years old. A child without a penny to their name couldn’t have gone to the sea, right?

“That’s why I thought…”

The long exhale that followed sounded eerily calm. He spoke in a voice that had grown cold in a matter of moments.

“Who could have killed them?”