RESET.
In other words, it was a chance to use points to erase the uncle from Seo Hojin’s life.
All the things he had done to restore his younger brother’s memory flashed quickly through his mind.
At the same time, another thought crept in—was it right to waste the hard-earned points he had so carefully collected on this, something that hadn’t even been properly confirmed yet?
‘But... is this really useless?’
From another angle, the worst possibility leaked into his thoughts.
What if that uncle remembered the time when Hoyun had been a PD? That much wouldn’t be a big problem. Even if he blabbed about it, no one would believe him. They’d just think he was insane.
What worried Hoyun was something else entirely.
If memoryless Seo °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Hojin were to encounter that bastard, what if an error occurred? What if it triggered something bad inside his little brother again?
‘...That possibility isn’t zero.’
Besides, hadn’t the system itself confessed?
Even after a full format, once it had glitched, it could never operate perfectly again. That it couldn’t predict what variables might arise anymore.
He’d never trusted the thing much, but now he believed it even less.
‘If I brush this off too lightly, it could come back to bite me hard.’
In the end, this world was already overloaded by all the quests he’d ignored and the reckless loans he’d taken.
If the consequences fell only on him, that was fine.
But what about the countless little ripples that might affect Seo Hojin? He was too ignorant of how far they could spread and—
“......”
That was what scared him.
Hoyun buried his face in his palms, steadying his breath.
But after running through every angle and forcing himself to think of countermeasures, his racing heart slowly regained its rhythm.
‘...I should’ve known. It’s been way too peaceful lately.’
As if things would really stay smooth forever.
He pushed the emergency door open with tightened fingers.
Past the elevator, through the lobby, past the security office at each entrance, along the neatly trimmed flowerbeds—headed straight toward the gate of the apartment complex.
And there, on a bench in the corner, sat the uncle, pulling out a cigarette.
Hoyun’s brain whirred even harder as his steps carried him closer.
‘First, I’ll find out how much he remembers. Then I’ll decide how to handle him.’
He’d make sure that face never appeared here again.
Driven by that single conviction, he closed the distance.
“Uncl—”
The instant he tried to call out—
“...?!”
Wham!
His shoulder was yanked back by a strong grip.
“Haah... huff, cough...”
Hot breath touched the nape of his neck.
Startled, he turned his head. There stood his younger brother, red-faced and panting hard from running.
“...Seo Hojin?”
“Haah... cough... hyung...”
The convenience store bag slipped from Hojin’s limp hand, its contents scattering across the ground. Even the little slice of cake inside crashed to the pavement.
Watching it fall in slow motion, Hoyun pushed him aside to see ahead again.
“Move, Hojin.”
He tried to go toward the bench again, but his brother’s voice halted him.
“I did it!!!”
Hojin clutched his shoulders with both hands, lowering his head. After gasping for a while, Hoyun grabbed his chin and lifted it—his already droopy eyes looked even more pitiful as they stared up.
“...Hyung, you don’t have to do anything. I... I already took care of everything.”
His damp voice trembled.
Hoyun repeated slowly, trying to process it.
“...Took care of it?”
He couldn’t understand.
What did he mean, took care of it?
“J-just calm down and come here.”
Hojin pulled at his frozen arm, desperate to keep him away from the man.
‘Fuck, Seo Hoyun, look at you. Making your little brother worry, lying like this.’
Hoyun sighed deeply, shook off his hand, and looked him straight in the face.
“...Hojin. Seo Hojin.”
“......”
“Look at me.”
If only he’d gone to buy cake like he was told, instead of showing up early to see this pathetic mess.
“Go home. I’ll handle it.”
He tried to push past again, but Hojin still blocked him.
“No, I mean it! Hyung, I already settled most of it! I know it’s hard to believe, but I really worked hard. You don’t have to get your hands dirty.”
His desperate persuasion went on until, seeing Hoyun’s unchanged expression, he scratched his head furiously and pulled something from his back pocket.
“Shit, I’ll just show you.”
It wasn’t the phone model his brother usually carried. Suspicious, Hoyun watched as Hojin’s fingers flew over it.
“...What are you doing?”
“Shh.”
He pressed his finger to Hoyun’s lips, then pointed ahead.
Following the gesture, Hoyun saw the uncle.
Looking at the phone, the man suddenly scowled, kicked the ground, and stood up. Then, with heavy steps, he left the complex.
‘What the hell?’
It was such a clean exit that it was almost baffling.
Still processing what had just happened, Hoyun blinked as Hojin let out a faint sigh and met his eyes.
“...Shall we go inside and talk?”
His brother’s faint smile stuck in his mind.
.
.
.
Back home, sitting on the sofa, Hoyun listened silently as Hojin kneeled in front of him and explained everything. By the end, he pressed his palm hard against his aching forehead.
“So, you’re saying the uncle’s been contacting you for about half a year, and you’ve been dealing with him all this time without telling me?”
“...Yes.”
“And you even trailed him, dug up his scams, met the victims, and collected evidence?”
“...Yes.”
“And now you’re saying I don’t have to worry because you’ve done it all?”
“Yes!!”
His voice, which had been small and timid, suddenly grew bright and proud.
“...Seo Hojin, are you out of your mind?!!”
Hoyun grabbed him by the collar, shaking him until his brother screamed, before finally tossing him to the floor.
“Ugh—ah, but I didn’t tell him about this place?! I was super careful! He must’ve followed me, maybe—”
“You think that’s what I’m angry about?”
“Then what?!”
He’d almost wished it was all nonsense, but the spare phone Hojin had surrendered showed everything—messages with the uncle, with victims, evidence, testimony. It was all real.
“...Don’t get too mad. Thanks to this, it ended without a huge problem, right?”
Hojin peered up anxiously.
From what Hoyun could piece together, the uncle hadn’t remembered his PD past or raising a young Hojin.
‘Half a year ago... that’s when Hojin lost his memories.’
If the system glitch had erased Hojin’s memories, maybe it had affected the uncle’s as well.
Or maybe he’d just seen The Dawn on TV, realized his nephew was now a celebrity, and thought he was easy prey.
Hoyun dragged a rough hand through his hair with a sigh.
Whatever the case, reset wasn’t necessary.
“...Hyung?”
Because Hojin had secretly cleaned it all up himself.
“Click.”
His tongue clicked, making Hojin shrink back.
But Hoyun felt only disgust at his overplayed innocence.
‘You already stirred up this whole mess, and now you’re acting like some docile kid.’
The neatly organized evidence reeked of premeditation. If things had gone wrong—
His eyes squeezed shut at the thought.
‘Fuck... Mom, I take back what I said earlier.’
I raised him wrong.
Choking back his rage, he rubbed his face dryly. Hojin fidgeted with numb legs, muttering excuses.
“...I just thought... hyung’s so busy... you should focus on your main work, so since I had time I could just...”
“Hojin. Shut up. I’m thinking.”
His brother bit his lip, anxious, before speaking again.
“...But, is it really something to get this angry about?”
Hoyun lifted his head.
“Either way, one of us had to do it.”
Hojin’s brows furrowed, as if he couldn’t understand his emotions.
“Yeah, relatives begging for money are disgusting, but... that’s all it is. It doesn’t bother me. But you seem so uncomfortable with them that I figured it’d be better if I handled it. So I kept it from you and—”
“Hah.”
Hoyun cut him off with a laugh.
That was only something Hojin could say because he didn’t remember.
“Hey.”
Because his childhood memories had all been erased.
“Do you even know what you’re saying? Back then, that bastard—”
But Hoyun couldn’t finish.
The way Hojin’s eyes widened proved he truly remembered nothing.
And seeing his fearless brother, one thought crept in.
‘Ah, shit.’
Maybe forgetting all that really made Hojin happier.
Which made Hoyun hate himself—selfishly hoarding points for his own survival while pretending it was for his brother.
“...Forget it.”
“Huh? Forget what?!”
“Nothing. I’ll take it from here.”
Ignoring his confusion, Hoyun stood, grabbed his coat, and pocketed the spare phone. He’d deliver it to the company’s legal team immediately. If he mentioned the uncle had shown up near his house, they’d move fast.
‘Better check all the other relatives, too.’
Once was enough.
As he shoved his shoes on, he called out—
“Hojin.”
“...Yeah...”
“You ever contact that uncle again, I’ll kill him and then you too.”
His brother, still sulky, nodded obediently.
“And next time something like this happens, you tell me first. No hiding.”
“...Okay.”
With his answer, Hoyun moved for the door—then stopped at the sight of the shopping bags piled nearby. He kicked them.
“Take these.”
Hojin scrambled to pick them up, bewildered.
“...Aren’t these yours? You’re not taking them?”
His irritation flared. But he couldn’t very well take back the gifts meant for his brother.
Hojin crouched, glancing up at him nervously.
“...Are these mine?”
“You passed the bar, didn’t you?”
“Huh? H-how do you know?”
How did he think?
‘I investigated you too, idiot.’
“You’re set to graduate top of your class too. Why don’t you ever tell your brother important things like that?”
“It’s not a big deal, so... ah, fine, stop looking at me like that, I’m sweating...”
Backpedaling under Hoyun’s stare, he covered his mouth with his hand, eyes curving faintly.
“Anyway, thanks.”
He giggled as he opened the gifts.
“Wow, new sneakers!”
“......”
“Whoa, an expensive-looking pen!”
Hoyun glared down at him, torn between exhaustion and fury.
How could he laugh like that over a few gifts while his hyung’s mind was in turmoil?
In the end, unable to hold it back, Hoyun kicked him.
“Arghk!”
“Give me back the card I gave you.”
