Chapter 60: Should I Stop Here?
Ever since I was discharged from the hospital, I had been looking for Lee Hee-seo to persuade my grandfather. But the incident that triggered his wrath was actually…
‘I never thought it was real.’
I had seen the past Yoo Yeon Seo staring blankly at the air several times in the previous synchronization.
Back then, I was disappointed that such a worthless memory was wasting my time.
‘Was he seeing Lee Hee-seo’s illusion every time?’
There were times when he was wearing a school uniform too.
‘Don’t tell me he’s been like this ever since he witnessed Lee Hee-seo’s accident…’
I tried to ignore it, but somehow I felt that my suspicion was true. He let out a big sigh.
“Sigh…”
Lim Seung-hyun and Lee Tae-gyeom, who sensed the seriousness of Yoo Yeon Seo’s mood, didn’t say anything. In the bathroom, only the sound of water draining from the sink was heard.
“Let’s go.”
Yoo Yeon Seo, who had been bowing his head for a while, was the first to leave the bathroom.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t look okay. Lim Seung-hyun pretended to be calm, but he stared at the back of Yoo Yeon Seo’s head, which was noticeably pale.
“Secretary hyung, shouldn’t he go to the hospital? He collapsed before too…”
“…”
“Isn’t it the aftereffect of the car accident? They said it lasts long…”
The doctor had praised him as a miracle when he was discharged, but there could be problems later… Lim Seung-hyun nodded silently. He thought he would try to persuade him later.
Even though they whispered loud enough for him to hear, Yoo Yeon Seo didn’t look back once, lost in his thoughts.
‘Beta, what’s the current synchronization rate?’
<The current synchronization rate is 27.43%.>
‘Still far away.’
Beta said that he needed to increase the synchronization rate to find out the exact cause, but well… Did he really need to continue the memory synchronization?
Yoo Yeon Seo stopped for a moment.
‘Should I stop here before it gets worse?’
This phenomenon didn’t happen in the early stages of memory synchronization. But if he continued to synchronize his memories, and if a situation like this happened again, where he couldn’t control himself… Stopping would be one of the options.
‘Anyway, I’ve already adapted to this body to some extent, and I don’t need the past memories anymore.’
His memory loss was known to his family and the agency’s president and manager. He didn’t tell them, but Lee Tae-gyeom seemed to know about his memory loss too.
If Lim Seung-hyun and Lee Tae-gyeom helped him well from behind, there would be no problem in acting without memory synchronization. His family seemed to welcome the change in his personality due to memory loss…
“Yeon Seo is here!”
Yoo Yeon Seo, who moved to another nearby theater, quickened his pace as he saw the staff waiting anxiously in front of the screening room.
“Am I late?”
“No, hyung! It’s okay!”
Park Min-woo said that, but he ran into the screening room without looking back.
“Yes, I had a little trouble… I’ll start the stage greeting for ‘Baekhoham’ now.”
He looked like he was late because they were waiting for him. Yoo Yeon Seo entered the stage as if nothing was wrong.
Anyway, the original was a person who did whatever he wanted, so everyone would understand. Wait, was he really like that?
‘Now everything is doubtful.’
He frowned.
He felt heavy like a wet cotton after seeing the illusion, and his heart beat unpleasantly.
He was already overwhelmed by the aftermath of memory synchronization and automatic behavior mode, and now he had to worry about this too. He felt hopeless.
“Hello, I’m Yoo Yeon Seo.”
Yoo Yeon Seo, who received the microphone from the side, greeted the audience, but he was lost in his thoughts.
He realized that he didn’t really need to synchronize his memories anymore. But even then, he tried to synchronize his memories whenever he had time.
[Do you really think mom committed suicide?]
That question unconsciously bothered him.
‘Maybe I’ll synchronize up to 30%.’
Just up to 30%, and if I can’t find any memories worth digging, I’ll just leave the remaining 70% unknown.
He tried to think that way, but it was obvious that he was already influenced by the real Yoo Yeon Seo, since he didn’t stop completely, but left some room.
-Yoo Yeon Seo’s stage greeting as expected lol
No fan service at all lol. Doesn’t he feel anything when he sees Park Min-woo and Lee Han-gyeol making hearts next to him?
└It’s his first time doing this, isn’t it?
└└What about Lee Han-gyeol? It’s his first time too.
└Lee Han-gyeol is an idol, and Park Min-woo has always been like that.
└└Isn’t Yoo Yeon Seo a former idol too?
└└└He only worked for 9 months and then quit, so it’s a bit awkward to call him a former idol.
-But Yoo Yeon Seo looked really bad when he did his first stage greeting.
I’m not shielding him, but seriously. If you watch the video, he suddenly spilled coffee and staggered.
He looked unhappy in the next stage greeting too.
└It’s ridiculous to hear people say he got actor’s disease or something lol.
└Seriously, wasn’t Yoo Yeon Seo always like this? People are expecting too much from him just because his attitude and acting changed a bit.
└└Either they’re from Buntang or Dreaming. People used to like Yoo Yeon Seo for his rude charm lol.
-Look at the photos the fansite took of Yoo Yeon Seo. He’s crazy.
└I’m not a fan, but his face is amazing.
└The bouquet is crazy too. I love it.
└I was there at the scene, and people went crazy when he smelled the flowers lol.
Yoo Yeon Seo lay down on the bed as soon as he got home and closed his eyes.
He didn’t know how he managed to finish the first day of stage greetings.
He was lucky that no one complained about his lack of enthusiasm, thanks to the image he had built up.
“Beta, what happens if I stop memory synchronization?”
<It’s entirely up to you whether you continue or stop. There’s no disadvantage.>
“Really?”
That’s good.
Yoo Yeon Seo got up from his place and headed to the bathroom.
It was more comfortable to do the memory synchronization in the bathroom because of the blood.
<Yes, but… I’m personally curious about how far the real Yoo Yeon Seo’s trauma will affect you.>
“Curious? Not worried?”
<Worried… That’s the right expression. Yes, that’s right.>
He could tell that he hadn’t learned enough from humans yet.
That’s why he couldn’t figure out the real cause. Anyway, it didn’t matter. He would stop the synchronization cleanly after filling up 30%.
“Start.”
<Yes, understood. Random memory synchronization will begin.>
His vision went dark.
When he opened his eyes, Kim I-joon of One Seven, who had visited his hospital room, was right in front of him.
“No! Not that!”
Yeah, I didn’t want this memory either. Yoo Yeon Seo glared. It was a memory from when he was living with One Seven.
“This isn’t it?”
Yoo Yeon Seo, who had casually put on rubber gloves, picked up a wobbly bowl.
“Hey, have you never done the dishes in your life?”
“Do I look like I can do it?”
“No way!”
Kim I-joon bit back his irritation. He couldn’t believe he had to ask this spoiled brat to do the dishes… It was his fault.
Yoo Yeon Seo frowned as he watched Kim I-joon grumble. He was in a bad mood.
“Why don’t you do it yourself? I’ll pay you. How much do you want?”
“Wow, are you trying to buy me with money? Is this how you live in a group?”
“Me! Brother Yeon Seo! I want to do it!”
Jung Woo-hyun, who was hanging the laundry behind them, quickly came to Yoo Yeon Seo’s side. Yoo Yeon Seo casually took off his rubber gloves and pulled out his wallet from his pants.
“Woah… You’re giving me all this?”
Jung Woo-hyun’s eyes sparkled as he saw the bundle of 50,000 won bills in Yoo Yeon Seo’s hand. Yoo Yeon Seo waved the money in front of Kim I-joon’s face.
“Group life? This is capitalism.”
“Ugh…! Hey, give it to me. I’ll do it.”
Kim I-joon swallowed his pride and changed his attitude.
Soon, all the members of One Seven were sitting in front of him, arguing over who would take care of Yoo Yeon Seo’s share of the chores. They all gave up their dignity and coveted the money in Yoo Yeon Seo’s hand.
“Me! Me! I can clean really well.”
“I’ll do the laundry then!”
“Are we this desperate? I’ll… I’ll organize the shoe rack!”
Yoo Yeon Seo chuckled as he watched them. The noisy atmosphere was not bad.
‘This is fun…’
And his memory shifted to another time. After a brief blackout, he opened his eyes and found that his eye level was much lower.
“Yeon Seo, let’s go. Grandpa is looking for you.”
“Okay.”
Just like him, the young Yu Eun-ho held Yoo Yeon Seo’s small hand and led him to the garden. Yoo Yeon Seo shook a robot airplane toy in his other hand.
“Oh! There’s a man!”
“What?”
“A man I’ve never seen before!”
Yoo Yeon Seo pointed at a man who bowed his head and walked away. He had a radio earphone in one ear and wore a suit. He looked like a bodyguard.
“He’s one of the men who protect our house.”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go. Grandpa is waiting.”
Yu Eun-ho was annoyed by his slow brother, so he picked up Yoo Yeon Seo and walked with him.
The robot toy in his hand was familiar. It was the toy that he had in his hand when he went to the room at the end of the hallway. The toy that he was holding when he witnessed the death of Lee Hee-seo…
‘But a man I’ve never seen before?’
On the day Lee Hee-seo died? Of all days?
He returned to 2019 as Yoo Yeon Seo and spat out blood.
“Cough…!”
He couldn’t believe he found such an important clue on the day he decided to stop the memory synchronization… Could it be the work of his original body? He lost consciousness after suffering from the aftermath.
***
After that, Yoo Yeon Seo went to school and attended the stage greetings for ‘White Tiger’ whenever he could.
‘White Tiger’, surpasses 8 million viewers… Still in theaters after 32 days
‘White Tiger’ releases behind-the-scenes of the one-take action scene to celebrate 8 million viewers
‘White Tiger’ was a word-of-mouth hit that broke even long ago. The number of viewers exceeded expectations, but there was also negative public opinion that JSENM, the distributor, had a monopoly because the film department secured a lot of screens and kept it for a long time.
“You’re not doing it?”
Han, the representative, was shocked as Yoo Yeon Seo spun his chair.
“No, what am I supposed to do if you suddenly say that… I already told the PD and was about to set up a pre-meeting…”
“Already? I haven’t even signed the contract, Representative Han.”
“You like the sea, right? Huh? It would be nice to go on a vacation and film there.”
“I don’t want to.”
Han Jun-oh, the representative of Halo Media, clenched and unclenched his fist. He thought he had become a bit nicer, but Yoo Yeon Seo was still Yoo Yeon Seo. His whims made him dizzy.
‘I already promised the PD that it was done.’
Han, the representative, bent his pride and begged Yoo Yeon Seo in front of him.
“Please, can’t you think about it one more time? You did well on ‘Killing Time’ too.”
“That was just a brief appearance at the end.”
Yoo Yeon Seo looked at him indifferently and reached out his hand.
“Give me that.”
“That?”
Han, the representative, furrowed and unfurrowed his brows. It was the thing that Yoo Yeon Seo had rummaged through the agency and found, the ‘Yoo Yeon Seo file’ that Director Park had barely protected.
“Hey, that’s…”
“Don’t you need that file now that I’m not changing managers?”
Lee Tae-gyeom, who was on his phone behind him, scratched his head. Han, the representative, narrowed his eyes. What did he like so much that he was smiling shyly? He had no shame in bragging that Yoo Yeon Seo gave him a holiday bonus.
“No, you never know. What if Tae-gyeom suddenly quits, like before…”
“Are you going to do that? Traitor.”
Yoo Yeon Seo turned his head back. Lee Tae-gyeom, who hadn’t even quit yet, protested softly that he wasn’t.
“Anyway, we’ll keep that file. Even if we dispose of it later…”
“Are you going to use that file to play dirty with the media when I move agencies? Representative Han, I’m disappointed.”
“Yeon Seo… Don’t you trust me? Is this all our trust relationship is worth?”
“Our representative has a big mouth. If you don’t give me the file, I won’t do the show either. You know that.”
“Director Park!”
Han, the representative, shouted. Director Park, who was about to enter the office, cautiously opened the door.
“Give me that file!”
Visit freewe𝑏n(o)vel.𝑐𝘰𝑚 for the best novel reading experience