When You Forget Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
Gi Ju stood leaning halfway against a car parked by the roadside, staring blankly at the 24-hour trucker’s diner across the street.
A worn scrap of paper taped to the shabby restaurant’s entrance fluttered in the wind, threatening to fly off—“Breakfast Served”—barely visible even when not blocked by passing vehicles.
After a while, he dropped his emotionless gaze downward. His hand reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a half-opened pack of gum.
With a swift flick of his fingers over the torn edge, he popped the gum upward like tapping a cigarette box. When one piece shot out, he picked it up, peeled off the wrapper, and shoved it into his mouth.
The sweetness flooded his mouth in an instant. Dopamine surged through his foggy brain, exhausted from staying up all night.
Chewing slowly, Gi Ju trudged toward the diner. He stretched out his long arm, pushed the rusted sliding door wide open, and the abrupt noise drew every diner’s eyes to him.
The restaurant fell momentarily silent.
Yet the very man who’d drawn all that attention merely glanced irritably at the dusty rail on the floor before lifting his head. His indifferent eyes slowly swept over the sparsely seated patrons.
Someone quickly lowered their head and resumed eating. At the clinking of utensils, others followed suit, picking up their spoons again.
Gi Ju walked calmly through the silently eating crowd—until he stopped in front of a middle-aged man dining alone, his face gaunt and weary.
The man, slurping down cod stew, lifted his eyes at the sudden presence. When their eyes met, Gi Ju gave a faint smile, dragged the chair opposite him across the floor with a scrape, and plopped down.
As if sensing something instinctively, the middle-aged man’s pupils flickered. His hand clutching the soup bowl trembled faintly.
Whether Gi Ju noticed his fear or not, he brushed off nonexistent dust from his shoulder and spoke.
“You must be pretty hungry.”
At this mere opener, the man flinched, shoulders tensing. Gi Ju shook his head slightly, as if to say there was no need to be so afraid.
“Well then, was training that stray dog as fun as you’d hoped?”
He asked in a friendly tone and even offered a grin, calmly watching the man’s face slowly drain to ash gray while recalling the visitor from that morning who’d brought him here.
It had been that dead hour between deep night and early dawn—too late for night, too early for morning—three a.m., to be exact. Gi Ju, who’d been idly killing time, saw Secretary Director Kim Jin Ho appear on the CCTV feed at the mansion gate.
Kim wasn’t heading toward Chairman Song Myung Hwan’s main house but toward the annex where the security team stayed. Gi Ju, who’d been sitting motionless, moved only after hearing two crisp knocks at the door.
When he opened it, Kim Jin Ho stood there, pale as if coming straight from an all-nighter, exhaling a weary sigh.
“Finance Director Kwak Hyun Seop is blackmailing me with hidden fund records.”
The Finance Director was a sycophant who eagerly carried out Chairman Song Myung Hwan’s frequent demands for accounting fraud. He reported directly to Executive Managing Director Choi Min Cheol, one of Dewon Group’s founding members.
For years, Kwak had been lost in sports betting—blowing through multiple houses, amassing debts in the hundreds of millions of won, and recently scrambling everywhere for money because he couldn’t afford his only son’s overseas tuition. Just a month ago, he’d finalized a mutual divorce with his wife—essentially bankrupt. Moreover, from separate intelligence, Gi Ju knew Kwak had even beaten both his son and ex-wife after the divorce whenever he felt like it.
A cornered rat would do anything.
Gi Ju easily pictured how things had escalated to this point.
“Why tell a mere bodyguard something like this?”
Because internal whistleblowing would be fatal to Chairman Song Myung Hwan, of course.
Though he already knew the answer, Gi Ju feigned ignorance with an innocent smile.
“Chairman’s health isn’t what it used to be. More worries might undo whatever progress he’s made. Let’s handle this quietly.”
Leaning crookedly against the doorframe, Gi Ju pressed again.
“Quietly?”
“Yes. Quietly.”
“How quietly?”
“……”
“Feed him. Bury him.”
Kim Jin Ho offered no reply. Gi Ju straightened his posture as if that settled it, then turned and walked away.
“I wanted to see her privately.”
“She’s in her hometown—Chuncheon.”
Hometown, my foot. Do backstabbers have some secret pact that they must plan betrayals from their hometowns?
Scoffing inwardly, Gi Ju headed to the bathroom.
“After all the loyalty I’ve shown you like a dog, you can’t even do this much for me? I’ve earned it, haven’t I?”
Gi Ju watched indifferently as Kwak Hyun Seop muttered bitterly and drank soju straight from the bottle.
The diner, bustling with people when he’d entered, had emptied out by now.
“I only meant to avoid troubling the Chairman.”
At those words, Gi Ju let out a soundless laugh. He looked Kwak up and down—was this some admirable devotion or insane fanaticism? Either way, it was just self-hypnosis to leech off Song Myung Hwan.
“You’re gulping down thirty billion won.”
Gi Ju pushed his chair back with a scrape and stood up abruptly. Kwak’s hand clutching the soju bottle trembled uncontrollably—his body reacting predictably at the mention of money. Gi Ju stretched both arms high into the air.
“No more pretense.”
Gi Ju started walking, and Kwak staggered to his feet to follow. They exited through the sliding door just as they’d entered.
While Kwak fumbled to zip up his thick jacket against the biting wind, Gi Ju strode toward his parked car, his cashmere coat fluttering behind him. The trunk popped open on its own. Kwak gulped hard as he watched Gi Ju pull out what looked like a suitcase full of cash.
“I’ve brought the cash as you said, along with details for a secure account inside.”
Kwak’s voice choked; his hand reached out before any words came out. Just as his fingers were about to grab the suitcase, Gi Ju deliberately dropped it with a thud.
The wheeled suitcase slid across the asphalt, and Kwak waddled forward with a hunched back to grab the bag. Gi Ju didn’t bother watching longer—he simply twisted Kwak’s arm behind his back and shoved him toward the trunk.
Pressed between the trunk lid and Gi Ju’s firm hand, Kwak’s face crumpled as he thrashed desperately. But the harder he struggled, the more helpless he felt against that unyielding strength.
Holding Kwak pinned so he couldn’t even dart his eyes to assess the situation, Gi Ju spoke.
“But didn’t you miscalculate something?”
“W-What do you mean…?”
With his free hand, Gi Ju covered Kwak’s eyes and leaned down close to his ear.
“This should’ve settled everything already.”
Eun Chae was lost in thought. Though not particularly sensitive to cold, her thoughts lingered a long while—long enough for the tea on the terrace to go completely cold. The untouched dessert beside it had hardened from chill.
She snapped out of her daze at the chatter of two housekeepers cleaning the next room.
“Was that him just now?”
“Who?”
“You know—the one guarding Miss Song Eun Chae. Tallest guy, super handsome.”
At that description, Eun Chae immediately pictured Gi Ju, whose imposing height made him hard to approach. The added qualifiers further confirmed it was him.
“Oh, him! Didn’t he suddenly quit?”
“According to Se Jin, the Chairman even sent that Mr. Seo—who was cleaning the annex—off with a pot of beef bone soup.”
Eun Chae’s palms suddenly felt hot. She reached for her teacup and took a sip of the stone-cold tea. She tasted nothing.
Then she set the cup down so hard it clattered. The housekeepers in the next room fell silent instantly. But Eun Chae didn’t care—her eyes were locked on the annex, quiet as a tomb in the darkness. She heard the rustle of bedding hastily folded and carried out from the next room.
Soon, all was still.
Eun Chae rose from her seat and left the room. The living room downstairs was lit only by a dim nightlight, empty of anyone.
At the front door, she hastily shoved her feet into her shoes and stepped outside—but suddenly froze mid-step. Only then did she realize she’d crumpled her sneakers on.
Calmly, she bent down to fix them properly, then stood tall again and walked steadily forward.
She pressed the annex’s dimly remembered passcode button by button. Thankfully, it registered correctly—the lock clicked open with a beep.
Eun Chae took a deep breath, then opened the door and stepped inside. Like a stealthy cat, she crept in silently—but sensed no presence within.
Carefully removing her sneakers, she stepped into the living room, yet couldn’t decide where to go next.
After wandering her eyes aimlessly, she simply walked down the hallway—until she slowed before a door from which faint chimes drifted.
Just as she leaned closer, ears straining in hope, she suddenly felt foolish.
What exactly did she plan to do by coming all this way?
Overwhelmed by regret, Eun Chae turned to leave—but jolted violently as the door suddenly swung open, startling her.
She couldn’t even scream—only felt her legs give way. A massive shadow loomed over her face.
Swallowing hard, she lifted her head—and gasped in shock. She’d locked eyes with Gi Ju, bare-chested.
For a split second, Gi Ju’s pupils seemed to widen—but when he blinked, that expression was gone.
Seeing Eun Chae standing there dumbfounded, he twisted his torso to squeeze through the doorway, prompting her to instinctively step farther back.
He looked strangely haggard. His already sharp features now appeared even more angular—making him seem a year or two younger. Combined with his nakedness, the changed image gave off a strangely decadent air.
Whether Gi Ju realized this or not, he looked down at her with a tilted, questioning frown. His dry, sleepless eyes glinted sharply in the dark, as if trying to distinguish whether she was real or a mirage.
“…What’s this supposed to be?”
He muttered it like a sigh, then chuckled faintly—as if it were all ridiculous.
At his cryptic words, Eun Chae’s heart sank heavily. Feeling cornered, she blurted out something feeble.
“Who gave you permission… to just leave your post?”
Had she really come all this way just to say that? Gi Ju stared at her as if asking precisely that. Undeterred, she shot back without thinking.
“If you’re going to do whatever you want, just quit already.”
Gi Ju stared blankly at her, then tilted his head sideways. His muscular torso shifted languidly.
The moment Eun Chae flushed and quickly averted her eyes from the sight, he spoke.
“Come in.”
She’d been about to retort, “Why should I?”—but changed her mind instantly.
“Why? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
Gi Ju, holding his shirt in one hand, waited until Eun Chae stepped inside behind him before slipping into it.
Rustle, rustle.
Had the sound of fabric ever been so strangely intimate?
She found herself suddenly puzzled.
Gi Ju, having hastily buttoned his shirt, dangled his tie deftly from his fingers and held it out to her.
What was this? Why was he giving it to her?
For a moment, Eun Chae stood frozen, thoughts blank—until her eyes refocused.
“Are you giving it back to me now?”
She stiffened at the sight of the tie she’d personally picked out for him at the department store.
“I’ll do it—if you tie it yourself.”
Gi Ju’s hand holding the tie twitched slightly, as if urging her.
“You’ve got to throw me a bone. I need to be sure I’m actually your man, Eun Chae.”
Staring blankly for a moment, Eun Chae snatched the tie from his hand and looped it around his neck. Silk slid smoothly over cotton.
“…Well, fine. Even if you’re some secret man, you’re still my man.”
She felt his intense gaze on her skin as he dipped his head slightly, watching her closely. She glanced up quickly.
Her hand tightened firmly around the half-knotted tie.
Since he’d said that would do, she wanted him to feel it deep in his bones—how long his disappearance had felt to her.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
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