Besides, Eunjae didn’t want to bother him with this. There had to be a solution that didn’t involve alarming Jaehwan while he had so much else to be worried about. And didn’t he deserve a two-year break from parenting eight other group members?
While the cogs were turning furiously in Eunjae’s head, Jiyeon had been waiting for him to admit that he didn’t know which numbers to dial. She said, “It’s not a big deal if you don’t remember. The only numbers I’ve got memorized are mine and my sister’s.”
Denny emitted a squawk of pure indignation.
“Woosung-ah, I’m joking.”
“Ha! Ha, ha, ha!”
Eunjae hung his head and returned her phone. “I’m so sorry,” he said again. “I hate to waste your time like this.”
Jiyeon’s brother marched up and resumed acting as a living barricade. “Listen up, my guy. I know your name isn’t really Ryan Kim.”
“Why do you have zero sense of humor, Denny?”
“Why do you have inside jokes with complete strangers, noona?” Denny volleyed back, scowling at Eunjae all the while. Noona. So Jiyeon was Denny's older sister. “What’s your real name? We’ll help you out ‘cause we’re upstanding citizens, pillars of the community and etcetera, but you owe us that much.”
And he did, of course. He did owe them that much, if not more. But Eunjae absolutely could not give these people his real name. If anything would break the spell and seal his fate, it was his name. Obviously no one in the family was an Apollo fan; this was the only reason he’d lasted so long without getting caught. Still, it would take just one Google search to obliterate his hopes of remaining undetected until he sorted this out.
Eunjae vacillated on how to respond. He knew he should rattle off a fake name, but not a single believable option came to mind. The best he could come up with in the moment was, “Um.”
Jiyeon peered at him from behind the looming figure of her brother, brow furrowed. Was it concern or suspicion that Eunjae saw in her eyes? She tried to push past Denny again, but he halted her progress with an outstretched arm. “Seriously, man. Who are you?”
“He doesn’t know!”
Their father’s declaration resounded in the parking lot. Over by the karaoke bar, a group of teenagers heard him and turned their heads toward the sound, then vanished into the building, giggling.
Mr. Han nudged both of his children aside and came to stand in front of Eunjae, prompting him to master an urge to bolt. It was like facing down a giant. Two giants, what with Denny being there too. The pair of them had been sheared off the same mountainous crag.
“He doesn’t remember his name,” repeated Mr. Han, sounding oddly triumphant. “It all makes sense to me, now.”
7
“Dad,comeon.Nothingabout this guy makes sense. I’m going inside to run a freaking background check.”
Jiyeon poked Denny in the arm. “Since when can you just casually run a background check on someone? Who do you even think you are?”
“I have resources, okay?”
But Mr. Han shook his head at Denny and Jiyeon with great vehemence. “No. This boy, he’s more than lost. Just look at him, look into his eyes.”
Here, he took Eunjae by the shoulders and angled him so that the murky glow of the nearest streetlight could illuminate his face.
“I thought he looked familiar, but I was wrong. Something about him just reminded me of that drama we used to watch on Thursdays and Fridays. You know the one, Lizzie.”
“Aigoo!” gasped Mrs. Han. “The one with the chaebol who lost his memory!”
Jiyeon closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “So… every Korean drama ever made?”
“No, no.” Mrs. Han clapped her hands together. “I Loved You. That’s what it was called. The hero, he grew up never knowing he was the son of a rich CEO because he got kidnapped as a child.”
Mr. Han joined in with some enthusiastic nodding. “Uh-huh. So the kidnappers are stupid and lose him on Jeju Island. The kid hits his head, pow! Forgets everything about being a chaebol heir. He's raised by a nice family with a son the same age.”
“Very nice. Not rich, though. Just normal. Almost poor.”
“Almost poor?”
Mrs. Han latched onto her son’s arm and gave it a firm shake. “You know what I’m saying, Han Woosung!”
