In the end, it was Choi Taehun who mediated the situation.

Taehun, with a pale complexion, gently calmed the team leader who was screaming in frustration, repeatedly promising that such an incident would never happen again, before sending him out of the residence. However, thanks to that promise, Ji Gwanyeong’s face turned sour.

With one eyebrow slightly raised and his head tilted just so, he looked quite handsome, almost like a painting. But the guide knew all too well what that expression meant.

“What’s wrong?”

Ji Gwanyeong was upset.

Especially that clean expression of not knowing the reason, it made him even more upset. However, Esper remained silent, shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big deal, completely unaffected by the mood.

The guide, who was quick to pick up on things, especially with his lover, watched the man’s expression for a long time, sensing something was off. Ji Gwanyeong pretended not to notice and only focused on a script that was of no interest to him.

Finally, Taehun’s mouth opened carefully.

“I have a question.”

Why didn’t he say it earlier? Why was he making it so awkward? Esper thought to himself as he nodded, signaling for him to go ahead. But the question that followed was one he had been trying to avoid.

“How do you know so much about what happened between us?”

It was a cautious question, but Ji Gwanyeong almost dropped the file he was holding. As a result, Taehun’s eyes brightened even more as he stared at Esper.

Esper tried his best to avoid Taehun’s gaze as those dark brown eyes sparkled, staring intently at him.

“It just happened.”

“That doesn’t sound right. You seem to know everything. I’ve known you for eight months, but I don’t know you that well.”

Even I thought that was a rather shallow lie.

Taehun tilted his head, following his lover’s evasive movements. It was a soft, affectionate gesture that couldn’t have been noticed until they became physically close. Esper clicked his tongue inwardly, realizing Taehun had caught that.

D-13, the ‘experiment’ was now less than two weeks away.

But then again, there were still two weeks left, and yet he had already begun to be completely manipulated by the guide. The sharp gaze that glanced at him made his skin tingle.

After a brief silence, Taehun suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

“Oh, and feel free to speak casually. It’s fine.”

Only then did Ji Gwanyeong look at Taehun, who had been unable to detach himself from him. Over the past two days, he had made that sharp gaze wet countless times. The honest expressions that showed laughter, anger, tears, and even tension, were just as evident on the bed.

When Taehun had sex, he would gasp, bite his lips, and when the sensation became overwhelming, he would press his head into the sheets and moan.

“Why, why are you like this?”

With a blatantly observant gaze, the guide blinked, stammering as he asked. The amnesiac lover would sometimes look at him with such an inscrutable expression.

“Did I do that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did I speak casually to you, Choi Taehun?”

The sudden disappearance of formal speech made Taehun lick his dry lips. It was a fleeting moment, but it felt like he had returned to the lover he had known before the memory loss. The guide nodded slightly, answering the man’s question.

As he faced the guide, who was staring at him intently, Ji Gwanyeong felt his memory of the previous night begin to tickle the back of his mind. Even with his head completely clouded, he could clearly remember the striking features of the man, almost like a painting.

Taehun felt as though he had grown closer to his amnesiac lover, and his heart began to race. He almost felt like his lips were about to break into a foolish smile.

Ji Gwanyeong quietly observed every small change in the guide.

“Gwanyeong.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really curious how you knew about all of this.”

Taehun had a subtly stubborn side to him.

“…I’m really curious.”

“…?”

Now, even as Taehun raised an eyebrow, he was not deterred and continued to speak his mind.

Ji Gwanyeong loosened the hand that had been propping up his chin, crossed his arms, and let out a small sigh. Taehun immediately caught the meaning behind the sigh and smiled, his eyes narrowing in amusement.

This silent battle of nerves was the guide’s victory.

It was the second time visiting Ji Gwanyeong’s mansion.
The garden, so meticulously trimmed that nothing seemed out of place, was always fascinating. Taehun took in a deep breath, filled with the smell of summer.

Despite the sticky weather, the mansion felt oddly subdued. It had a slight sense of stagnation, different from the humid energy surrounding it. Taehun watched the straight back of the man walking a few steps ahead of him.

Behind that single-layered shirt, his name was engraved. Taehun liked to look at the name resting on the man’s well-defined muscles. After mixing bodies and getting up, he would walk away to get something to drink. That broad, graceful back was one of the guide’s favorites.

Lying lazily on the bed, receiving such tender care, gave him an immense sense of satisfaction, knowing that the man, who no one could touch, cherished him the most. That was a secret neither his former lover, before losing his memory, nor the current Ji Gwanyeong knew.

As the guide was lost in thought, Esper, who had been striding ahead, was still deep in thought. He had brought him this far, but his mind was still conflicted.

“Should I let Taehun into the house and show him everything? Or should I just sit him in a separate building and explain everything roughly?”

Ji Gwanyeong was hesitating, which was unlike him.

The reason was simple.
Although the memories he had created didn’t exist yet, when it came down to it, the one who had made the chaos inside the mansion was “Ji Gwanyeong” himself. He had no idea how Taehun would react to the scene, which seemed absurd and comical even to him.

In the end, Ji Gwanyeong stopped in front of the entrance.

“Go to the side.”

“Why?”

While Taehun didn’t have all the information like Ji Gwanyeong did, he knew his lover’s personality well. Ji Gwanyeong was a man of swift actions, never hesitating, with a power that didn’t require doubt or second-guessing.

If his mind changed, it changed—words like “I forgot” or “I was mistaken” didn’t suit him at all. The guide noticed Esper raising his eyebrows at Taehun’s slow response and realized something.

There was something inside that mansion. A secret that could only be known by him!

So Taehun decided to test Esper.

“I came here once before, but I couldn’t get into this part. Can’t I go in today?”

Ji Gwanyeong immediately raised his eyebrows at Taehun’s words.

Taehun had just lied. In fact, the small annex next door was the place he hadn’t visited. The main building in front of them was where he had once shared tea with Ji Gwanyeong. Taehun vividly remembered the interior, which was both luxurious and desolate at the same time.

On the other hand, Esper immediately knew that Taehun had just tested him. Before losing his memory, the guide had written down everything—from the exact date and time he had shared tea with Taehun in the mansion, to the type of tea leaves they had used. Even trivial things like “Taehun drinks cold brew black tea in summer because his younger sister likes it” had been carefully noted.

“…Taehun, where did you learn to lie?”

“I’m sorry. But look, Ji Gwanyeong, you’re hiding something too, aren’t you?”

Despite trying to be careful, the guide still said what needed to be said.

But it wasn’t a lie, so Esper crossed his arms, rolling his eyes in thought. The conclusion came quickly.

“It’s not like I’m the one who did it, so what’s the big deal?”

Ji Gwanyeong brought a card key to the entrance and entered a passcode.

The guide had expected something to immediately spill out as soon as the door opened. After all, Ji Gwanyeong had shown an unusual hesitation. But the ivory-colored marble leading from the entrance remained as immaculate as ever.

What was he hiding?

Taehun tilted his head, put on slippers, and closely followed his lover. Soon, the guide recited the exact words Ji Gwanyeong had spoken a fortnight ago.

“What is all this?”

“See for yourself.”

Ji Gwanyeong answered with a sigh in his voice.
However, Taehun stood behind the owner, unable to take a single step forward. The guide knew this place all too well. He had once observed the space, which had a chill and eerie atmosphere, devoid of any human warmth, and inwardly clicked his tongue.

But now, from the spacious living room onward, every visible wall was filled with what seemed to be obsessive scribbles of paper notes and pens, almost bordering on paranoia.

Ji Gwanyeong, who had been staring at the guide, suddenly placed both hands on Taehun’s shoulders and gently pushed him forward. This was the starting point of all these memories. The guide’s eyes widened.

[XX Month XX Day, ○○ Bookstore Fan Signing Event]

The handwriting had a slightly sharp tone to it.

The slightly tilted, but very blocky and precise writing was undoubtedly unfamiliar, but without asking, one could tell who the handwriting belonged to.

Taehun felt an overwhelming sense of joy at that alone and stood frozen, staring at the first line of text for a long time. It was much later that he noticed the large and small Post-it notes and press releases stuck underneath.

“First meeting with Taehun. He was an employee of ○○○.”

It was only then that Taehun, with a surprised expression, scanned the things around him. He had finally understood what all these things were.

Everything in sight was filled with the eight months of his and his lover’s shared memories. The guide was then reminded of how his Esper had quietly left that day, without saying much, claiming that something had to be prepared for “the last day.”

“…Gwanyeong, did you really do all of this in one day?”

“Do you think I spent an entire day doing this crazy thing?”

It was a completely different expression from a different perspective.

Taehun, so surprised that he had forgotten his lover’s memory loss for a moment, murmured “Ah. Right.” in a half-dazed response to the sharp retort.

Because of that, Ji Gwanyeong briefly wore a look of disgust, though he didn’t speak harshly. Taehun had slowly begun to follow along the memories his Esper had carefully memorized.

These were the memories of the past eight months.

Moreover, they were laid out from Ji Gwanyeong’s perspective, vividly showing the process of him falling in love with himself. It felt like Taehun was unveiling deep, hidden emotions by observing it. For some reason, a certain part of his heart tingled.

How much time had passed? Taehun carefully examined each small scribble, not missing a single note, when a faint laugh escaped from his lips.

“Haha, cold brew black tea!”

“…Laugh a little more moderately.”

“Oh, you really remember everything, don’t you?”

This was the part when Taehun first came to this place. The guide, even though he saw through the lie I had told earlier, looked at me with a surprisingly warm gaze, as if he didn’t mind. My Esper, seeing that expression, repeatedly clenched and released my fist. While following the memories, the guide occasionally shared stories that the current Ji Gwanyeong didn’t know.

“At that time, Ji Gwanyeong was actually really rude at the center,” “Ah, I once got a slap from this minister.”

Of course, those quiet explanations only confirmed that my past self had intentionally left gaps in these memories.

It was quite a dreadful thing. I knew better than anyone that there was only one person who could fill these gaps in the time where my teeth were missing. I had left things for myself to handle, thinking that I wouldn’t remember anyway. My Esper cursed my past self from a few weeks ago.

As we walked deeper into the mansion, Taehun’s faint smile slightly stiffened when we came across an article with a somewhat unkind explanation.

Ji Gwanyeong scanned the photo of a large prison made of twisted metal and water splashes from a distance.
[Taehun and Itaewon.]

This was the full explanation for the day. But as soon as my Esper saw the monstrous shape in the article, he recognized that I was the one who created it. And now, as he observed the guide’s expression, he immediately sensed that there was something about this place that he didn’t know.

Taehun fiddled with the red string tied around his wrist. It had become a familiar sensation by now. The guide hesitated for a long time, his lips tightly pressed, before finally speaking in a near-whisper.

“This… is a leather bracelet.”

My Esper’s gaze briefly shifted to the guide’s wrist.

The dark red leather strap was a rough design with no delicate touches, but its simplicity suited Taehun quite well. However, Ji Gwanyeong couldn’t keep his eyes on the guide’s beautiful wrist for long.

This was because he vividly remembered the sharp, mocking words he had spoken when he first visited the guide’s residence. Taehun, who had seemed like he was barely holding it together, completely collapsed when asked about it.

Even before Taehun spoke, the feeling that I understood the meaning of that seemingly trivial item was, honestly, quite dreadful. It was even worse when the words came from the person themselves.

“Ji Gwanyeong bought this for me.”

“…”

“It was the first time we went out together, other than when we came here… That day, we had a lot of work. Haha. Honestly, that’s how it always was with Gwanyeong.”

The forced cheerful tone stung my ears. Ji Gwanyeong suddenly recalled Taehun’s bold words directed at him.

“You’ll regret saying that the other day.”

This was a moment where I had to drop my finely sculpted pride and admit the truth. Now, my Esper regretted the sharp words he had spoken on that day, words full of bitter venom, born from his jealousy of the precious fragments of his past self that he couldn’t remember.

However, even though Taehun must have clearly recalled those cruel words, he didn’t scold me at all. He just moved his feet with a faint smile, as the last memory his lover had left him.

Ji Gwanyeong silently followed behind.

In his almost perfect mind, countless unfinished words swirled. He knew better than anyone that he couldn’t apologize with such simple words. He couldn’t seek forgiveness with something as common as “I’m sorry.”

Taehun’s inner thoughts, which I had overheard during our check-in, now felt like a heavy weight pulling up slowly. “I don’t think I can do it,” “It’s scary,” “I never imagined I’d feel this miserable.”

The expressions that seemed to pierce the heart were all words I had spoken, sentences that had hurt Taehun’s heart. Ji Gwanyeong suddenly became curious. After only a few days of losing all his memories and pouring out sharp words, what gave Taehun the strength to keep holding onto me, this fragile man?

“What’s this room?”

The voice felt full of unconditional affection.

Ji Gwanyeong briefly looked at the guide’s face and then opened the door to my bedroom. This was where the final part of the lost 8 months existed.

Taehun, who had briefly widened his eyes at the unexpected appearance of the room, couldn’t step forward as quickly as before. The guide hesitantly asked, a little more cautious than usual,

“…Is it okay to go in?”

It was a very Taehun-like question, but in reality, the guide had been taught since childhood that one should never casually enter another person’s bedroom. Especially the master bedroom of adults, which was something he had been told not to even look at, and he had taught his younger sibling the same. But now, the space in front of him wasn’t just any other person’s—it was a space belonging to a man who was notoriously meticulous.

In the end, Ji Gwanyeong grabbed the guide’s hand and pulled him inside, thinking, “I spent more time rolling around in that hotel room than getting dressed,” a thought that would make Taehun blush deeply if he knew, all while wearing a slightly uncomfortable expression.