Chapter 4
Yeonho woke late, the clock showing 9 AM.
The deep, uninterrupted sleep had done him good, soothing his tired body after nights of tossing and turning on the hard, uncomfortable hospital bed.
He began his morning routine.
First, he took a long bath, lingering in the spacious bathroom fitted with a deep tub, enjoying the warmth.
Stepping out, he chose his clothes for the day, then carefully combed and dried his long blonde hair.
He even used the array of high-end skincare products neatly arranged on the vanity desk.
Fifteen minutes later, he headed downstairs and walked into the dining room.
There, he saw Han Jiseok, already eating his breakfast.
Even just looking at Jiseok's broad back, a familiar knot of nervousness tightened in Yeonho's stomach, a faint unease he couldn't shake off no matter how hard he tried.
"You're awake."
Jiseok's voice cut through the quiet, making Yeonho flinch.
He was surprised the man had sensed his presence without even turning around.
He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry, and walked slowly towards the table.
"Yes…"
That was all he could manage. He felt acutely awkward, his palms growing clammy even though he was doing nothing.
He took a seat on the opposite side, directly facing Jiseok.
"Eat. You need energy."
Jiseok's dark eyes fixed on him, intense and unwavering, his large hands crossed casually over his broad chest.
Yeonho met his gaze for a split second before looking away, nodding quickly as he reached for the food.
He could feel the weight of that stare burning into him, a pressure that made his skin prickle and filled him with a strange, restless impatience.
'Weird. This is really weird.'
"Lucy told you about me, right?" Jiseok asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Yeonho froze mid-movement, his fork hovering in the air, and looked up sharply.
"Yes, Mr. Han."
The words came out stiff and formal. A cold sense of dread was building in his chest, a nervousness he couldn't explain or control.
"Good. Because once your body is fully healed, you'll need to start working again."
Yeonho's hand stilled again. He forced himself to keep eating, piling more food onto his plate, but the older man's words sent a chill down his spine.
'Work? Does he mean… selling my body?'
The thought was ugly and frightening, but he had to know. He had to confirm what he was getting into.
"You mean, serve my body? Do I need to go to some red-light district or something?" he blurted out, his voice shaking slightly.
He watched Jiseok closely. A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of the older man's lips.
It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but Yeonho caught it.
"No. You'll serve me instead."
"What?"
Hearing those words come out of Jiseok's mouth directly made Yeonho's heart skip a beat, panic and confusion rising inside him.
"You see, I don't share what's mine."
Jiseok stood up slowly, his movements powerful and deliberate, and walked around the table to stand right beside Yeonho's chair.
He was so close that Yeonho could feel the fabric of his expensive suit brushing against his own arm.
They stared at each other—Yeonho tilting his head up, Jiseok looking down, tall, dominant and utterly confident.
"Mr. Han…?"
Fear shot through Yeonho as Jiseok leaned lower, bringing his face closer.
But what disturbed him most was his own body's reaction.
Despite being scared, he found himself leaning in too, a strange, hot thrill pooling in his gut.
'What the hell is wrong with me? Why is my body acting like it has a mind of its own?'
Their gazes were locked, neither looking away, tracking every small change in the other's expression. Then Jiseok spoke, sending shivers down Yeonho's spine.
"Looks like your body still remembers everything, even if your mind doesn't."
He pulled away just as slowly, turning and walking towards the door.
Yeonho was left sitting there, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears.
"Mr. Han! Where are you going?" he called out, standing up abruptly.
"To work. Finish your breakfast and recover faster."
Jiseok left, the door clicking shut behind him. Yeonho stood frozen in place, unable to move or speak, his legs feeling heavy as lead.
After a long while, he sank back down onto his chair, staring blankly at his plate.
The maids moved silently around him, clearing Jiseok's used dishes and wiping the table clean, but Yeonho barely noticed them.
His mind was a chaotic mess of questions and fears, confused and baffled by everything that had just happened.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and forced himself to keep eating.
No matter what Jiseok said or meant, his first priority was to get his strength back. He couldn't afford to be weak right now.
"I need to eat first. I should stop stressing and ignore it for now," he muttered to himself, picking up a piece of bacon and bread.
Ten minutes later, he was done.
With nothing else to do, he went back to his room and turned on the TV, finding a Western movie to watch.
It was convenient having a large screen right there in his room, saving him the trouble of going downstairs again.
But once the movie ended, the boredom came crashing back.
"There's literally nothing to do here except eat, sleep and watch TV."
Yeonho groaned, pulling a pillow over his face in frustration.
He sat up, looking around the large room, until his eyes landed on the cabinet by the wall.
Determined to find something to pass the time, he started rummaging through it, but found nothing but empty space.
"There's gotta be something in here…"
It was so boring he could hardly stand it. Then an idea struck him.
"Maybe I can find something that will help me recover my memories."
Now driven by a new purpose, he walked over to the computer setup and sat down in the comfortable gaming chair.
"Let's see…"
He pressed the power button, ready to try guessing passwords or bypassing security.
To his shock, the computer booted straight to the desktop, no locks, no passwords, no protection at all.
'Why is there no security? Isn't this weird?'
He shook his head and started browsing through the files.
But no matter where he looked, there was nothing personal. No photos, no videos, no messages, no social media logs.
It was completely empty.
"Nothing? There's absolutely nothing here? This is so annoying!" He slapped a hand over his face in frustration.
Just as he was about to give up, he noticed a small drawer built into the desk, and it was locked tight.
"What's this?"
He pulled and pushed, but it wouldn't open. It definitely needed a key.
"I need something thin and sharp to pick this lock."
Remembering all the things provided in his room, he stood up and went straight to the area where accessories and skincare products were kept.
Rummaging through a box, he found exactly what he needed, a hairpin.
"Bingo."
He wasted no time going back to the desk, holding the hairpin like a tool.
"Sorry, you look like an expensive designer brand, but I really need to open this," he murmured jokingly.
He bent the end of the pin slightly, inserted it into the keyhole, and twisted it carefully.
After a few seconds of fiddling, he heard a soft click.
"Yes!" He held back a shout of triumph, grinning widely.
The drawer slid open. Inside, wrapped carefully, was an old laptop.
'It looks old… I hope there's something useful in here.'
He brought the laptop to his bed, placed it on his lap and opened it. Just like the desktop computer, there was no password. It opened right up.
"Again. Exactly like the other one."
His hands moved swiftly as he clicked through the folders, his heart beating fast with anticipation.
"Choi Family Photos, Yeonho's Representation Plan, Choi Hana's Success, Business Partners, Online Forums…"
There were dozens of them. He opened the Online Forums folder first. Inside were screenshots of news articles.
"Huh? These are just news reports."
They were all about his sister, Choi Hana. How she had successfully taken the position as CEO, her achievements, her future plans, and her speeches thanking everyone who worked with her.
It was all perfect, all glowing praise. He checked the rest, and they were all the same.
Next he opened the family photos. He saw pictures of himself as a child, beautiful and smiling.
And in all of them, he and Hana looked incredibly close, like the perfect twins, just like the sister who had appeared in his dreams.
"She looks so happy in all of these…
I don't understand any of this."
Curiosity getting the better of him, he searched his own name online.
What came up made his blood run cold.
Mockery. Hate comments. Edited photos making him look ugly or ridiculous. Vicious insults thrown around like they were nothing.
"People hate me? Why? What did I ever do to them?"
He kept reading, scrolling through page after page of abuse.
"Isn't this just cyberbullying? What kind of person does these things?"
Then he saw a long comment that made his stomach turn:
[Choi Yeonho was abusing his own twin sister Hana. Even his own family kicked him out. Sure he's good looking, like a painting or a 3D model from a game, but what's the point of all that perfection if your attitude is garbage? He's just so greedy and jealous of how successful she is, that's why he acts out. If you think about it, he's useless otherwise—only his face and body have any worth. I even heard he's working as a prostitute in Russia now. Someone saw him…]
The comment went on and on, but Yeonho stopped reading. He didn't feel scared or hurt, just… tired. Like this was something he had heard a thousand times before.
So the original him really was a scumbag brother, a villain, and this was what he deserved.
"I need to know everything. Every single thing."
He kept searching until he found a news report.
It said he had tried to kill Hana by pushing her down the stairs during a family event. The video attached was clear, perfectly captured, like a scene from a movie.
Yeonho frowned at the screen.
"This looks too perfect… Is it just me or does the angle look staged? Or am I overthinking things? Maybe the event was broadcasted live so the cameras were set up properly."
Confused and conflicted, he clicked on another link.
This time it was a forum thread where people were discussing writing a novel about his family, about him and Hana.
"This is absolutely ridiculous."
The moment he thought that, a sharp, blinding pain exploded inside his head.
It was worse than the one he had in the hospital, so painful he almost blacked out.
"AGH! MY HEAD!"
He dropped the laptop, clutching his skull as his body arched off the bed. And then, memories flooded his mind all at once.
He remembered his past life. He wasn't just Choi Yeonho. He was a man from another world who had died after being hit by a truck.
He remembered his cousin Lim Taejoon, who had written a novel, using his name for the villain. He remembered his own past life vividly, how he lived, how he loved men, how unapologetically freaky he was, and that he was a masochist. He remembered his best friend Ella too. His Family being so done with his wasted life.
Everything from his previous life came crashing down on him.
"Shit… Lim Taejoon you fucking bastard!"
He panted heavily, sitting up straight as he looked around the room, everything finally making sense.
"So that's why I never felt like I belonged here… That's why everything felt wrong."
It was true. He had always felt a genuine distance from this body, from this life. Because he wasn't originally this person.
He had transmigrated into the novel his cousin wrote.
"So I died… and now I'm here. What do I do now?"
He rubbed his face, the reality sinking in.
He was the villain brother, the twin of the female lead, destined to be hated, destined to die a horrible death at the hands of the five male leads once the story ended.
'Wait a minute. In the novel, Hana is supposed to be fragile, weak, the delicate innocent heroine. But in my dreams, she looked nothing like that. She looked cruel, manipulative. Why is there such a difference?'
"Something is wrong here. I'm not crazy, something is definitely off."
He grabbed the laptop again, typing furiously, digging deeper. He knew the story inside out, he knew how it was supposed to go, but reality was not matching up.
After almost thirty minutes of bypassing heavy encryption and security layers, he found it.
A hidden, locked and cloned folder named 'Unknown'.
"Good thing I know how this story goes. Now let's see what you're hiding."
He opened it. Inside were video files.
He clicked play.
On the screen, the original Choi Yeonho appeared, looking tired and broken, talking to the camera like he was recording a private diary.
[She stole my project proposal again. How are you doing, Choi Yeonho? Are you winning yet?]
"What is he talking about?" Yeonho whispered, leaning closer.
[She's my own sister, but she's always like this. She's desperate and greedy, but everyone thinks she's an angel.]
Yeonho's eyes widened. He clicked the next video.
[They framed me for money laundering. Father won't even listen to my side of the story. Hana just stands there crying, acting like the perfect victim.]
Another one:
[HANA! YOU PUT ME INTO THIS MISERABLE STATE! JUST HOW MUCH MORE ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE FROM ME?!]
Then he clicked another one.
[Ever since we were kids I knew she was pathetic and pretentious. Now she's written her own story and made me the villain!]
[I have no one to talk to except this camera. She stole the project Father assigned to me, and now he hates me.]
[Mom kicked me out of the house because she thought I stole her jewelry. I know it was Hana, but no one believes me.]
[Dad slapped me in public today. Hana provoked me first, made me lose my temper, then acted like I attacked her for no reason at all.]
[I'm so tired… I just want to get this all settled, to clear my name.]
There was so many videos and Yeonho keep watching each one of them.
[Hana has all five men wrapped around her finger now. They all hate me without even knowing the truth. She manipulated every single one of them.]
[Look at me… I'm all bruised and beaten up. I tried to confront her, and her guards just jumped me like wild dogs.]
[She framed me. Made my family catch me sleeping with men. It was all staged, every bit of it, just to ruin me completely and make her look perfect.]
[My family abandoned me. I heard Father saying he wants to throw me away, send me off to another country and forget I exist.]
Yeonho tried his best to hold back the tears, his throat was hurting like it was being pricked by needles.
[That night I tried to talk to him, to explain, but he wouldn't even let me speak. Hana was there crying, looking so soft and innocent in front of everyone. But I snapped. I slapped her right across the face in front of the whole family.]
He finally broke down, watching the exhausted face of the original Yeonho in every video.
[Tomorrow I'm being sent to Russia. Hana came to my room last night, pretending to hug me and comfort me where all the servants could see. But I didn't care anymore. I poured hot coffee right on her face and attacked her. I'm just so tired and worn out, I can't pretend anymore.]
[I'm leaving Korea. Maybe in Russia, someone will finally listen to me for once.]
The videos played one after another, taking almost an hour to finish. By the time the last clip ended, tears were streaming freely down Yeonho's cheeks.
"Yeonho… you suffered so much… and no one ever even tried to listen."
He slowly closed the laptop, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, his heart aching deeply for the original owner of this body.
"That's why he turned bitter. That's why he wanted revenge. Hana played the victim perfectly, got her happy ending with those five men, while he was thrown away like trash."
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Now he understood everything, and he knew exactly where he stood in the plot.
In the original novel, this was the part where the original Yeonho had tried to kill himself, survived, and then decided to get revenge—only to fail miserably and die a cruel death.
"I need to think carefully… In the story, he goes back to Korea later, starts his villain arc, tries to take down Hana, but those male leads are always by her side protecting her, and he ends up dead."
He bit his lip, his hands clenching into tight fists.
He couldn't die. Not again. Not after knowing the truth. Not after seeing how much the real Choi Yeonho had suffered, how unfairly he was treated.
This was his life now, this was his fate now.
"This story won't end like it's supposed to. I won't let that happen."
He got up from the bed and walked straight to the vanity mirror, gripping the edges of the table so hard his arms trembled.
He stared at his reflection, the beautiful face, the long blonde hair, the bright blue eyes.
"This face, this life, this stupid novel written by Lim Taejoon… he used my name for the villain, made my character go through all that pain. None of this will end the way it was written."
He reached up, running his fingers through his soft hair, his gaze turning sharp and determined.
"Hana, all this time you've painted Choi Yeonho as the bad guy, the villain of your story…"
He sat down on the cushioned chair, his blue eyes blazing with unshakable resolve.
'Lim Taejoon. You think you can write my fate? I'll destroy your whole story with my own hands. I won't let any of this slide.'
"You wanted me to be the bad guy? Fine. Then I'll be the bad guy."
A cold, confident smile tugged at his lips as he kept staring at his reflection.
Now that he knew everything, he had a plan. He would tear apart this so-called romance novel piece by piece.
That perfect heroine Choi Hana? She would get exactly what she deserved.
'The Wicked Villain Brother that everyone hates? Fine. I'll be that… but I'll be the one to ruin her life, not the other way around.'
This time, Choi Yeonho wouldn't be anyone's punching bag.
He would become the villain that never got his chance, the villain this story actually deserved.
He knew every plot point, every arc of the novel. He would dismantle it all with his own hands.
He stood up and walked out to the balcony, letting the fresh wind brush against his face. The view below was beautiful, vast and serene.
"This is the Choi Yeonho you're going to see from now on. I'm the Choi Yeonho that will destroy everything you thought was perfect."
He smiled, appreciating the view for a moment, then let out a low, amused chuckle.
This was his life now and no one's gonna know that the Choi Yeonho from novel was now gone.