July 28, 2008

  Gulp. Kim Dae-hyun swallowed a pill with water. Kim Sung-cheol looked down at him and sighed. "...How did you only inherit my worst traits? What a headache." He snatched the pill bottle from Kim Dae-hyun’s hand. "This medication will affect your brain. The doctors say it regulates empathy and stress levels. I don’t know what that means, but it’s probably good. Come on, let’s go see your brother." Kim Sung-cheol took Kim Dae-hyun’s hand and led him out of the mansion. They got into the limousine, and the driver started the car.

  Kim Sung-cheol glanced at Kim Dae-hyun. "...You’ve been less rebellious lately. Are you taking your meds properly?" Kim Dae-hyun nodded. Kim Sung-cheol lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. As smoke filled the car, the driver coughed. "...I went through the same thing when I was your age. My father took me, a sociopath, to the hospital and made me take pills. It was awful at first, but he promised to pass down his fortune if my symptoms improved. The day he died, I inherited everything. I haven’t taken those pills since." Kim Sung-cheol turned to Kim Dae-hyun. "...Just hold out until I die, Dae-hyun. If you boost your empathy and manage your image until then, I’ll pass the chairmanship to you."

  When the limousine arrived at the hospital, Kim Dae-hyun got out expressionlessly, fidgeting with a small knife in his pocket. Kim Sung-cheol silently led him to Kim Dae-hyung’s hospital room. He grabbed Kim Dae-hyun’s shoulder. "...Go visit your brother. You’re on meds now, so don’t hold any grudges against him. Got it?" Kim Dae-hyun opened the door and looked at Kim Dae-hyung, who was sleeping peacefully in bed. He pulled out the knife, held it to Kim Dae-hyung’s throat, and made a small cut. A trickle of blood seeped from the wound. "Ugh..." Kim Dae-hyung sweated and shed tears. Seeing his brother cry, Kim Dae-hyun hesitated, touching his own neck. "...That must sting..." He wiped the blood off the knife on the bedsheet and slipped it back into his pocket.

  ...

  August 18, 2003

  Thwack! A nine-year-old boy struck his younger brother with force. The five-year-old, just turned five, crashed into a corner of the park, clutching his stomach and holding back tears. "Ugh..." The older boy grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at his brother, who closed his eyes. "I told you not to act friendly with me at school! The other kids don’t want to hang out with me because of your cluelessness!" The five-year-old grimaced, stood up, and ran off. The nine-year-old threw more sand. "Yeah, run away and don’t come back!" Still fuming, he kicked the sand, then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He answered. "...Yeah, come to the PC Cafe now? Got it. Dae-hyun? He’s not coming. Don’t worry."

  Minutes later, the nine-year-old was playing games at the PC Cafe with his friends, engrossed in League of Legends. "Man, you suck at this! Push bot, not mid! And how many times do I have to tell you to use a health potion?" While gaming, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned, startled. "...Butler? What are you doing here?" The butler whispered something in his ear. The boy sighed. "...Fine, I’ll be there soon." He followed the butler to a car outside the PC Cafe. The butler drove to a mansion and opened the car door. The nine-year-old stood before his father. "...Kim Dae-hyung, Kim Dae-hyun told me you bullied him again," Kim Sung-cheol said expressionlessly.

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  Kim Dae-hyung glared at Kim Dae-hyun standing behind his father, then turned to Kim Sung-cheol. "...Yes, I hit Dae-hyun, Dad." Kim Sung-cheol tilted his head. "...Why’d you do it? Tell me, son." Kim Dae-hyung sighed. "...That idiot asked to join me and my friends playing League at the PC Cafe. But my friend said Dae-hyun’s Bronze tier doesn’t match our level. Then Dae-hyun tattled to you without a clue. And you banned me from gaming for a month." Kim Sung-cheol nodded and turned to Kim Dae-hyun. "...You heard him. What punishment should your brother get?" Kim Dae-hyun thought for a moment. "...Take him to the park and hit him five times, like he did to me." Kim Dae-hyung’s face twisted. "...You moron! Because of you, my friends keep ditching me, and I can’t game. And you still tattle to Dad? Stay out of my sight, got it?"

  Kim Sung-cheol grabbed Kim Dae-hyung’s arm and dragged him along. Kim Dae-hyung resisted slightly but followed quietly when they reached the city, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment. At the park, Kim Sung-cheol threw Kim Dae-hyung to the ground. "Argh!" Kim Sung-cheol kicked him hard in the stomach on the sandy floor.

  ...

  August 18, 2014

  "Urgh!" Kim Dae-hyun woke up screaming, still strapped to the hospital bed. Kim Dae-hyung lay in the bed beside him. Gamamusa looked at him. "...Must hurt a lot, huh? This is Kim Dae-hyung’s memory from eleven years ago. Remember it?" Kim Dae-hyun steadied his breathing and nodded. "...Yeah, I remember. The first time he hit me." Gamamusa stroked his chin. "...Now do you understand why your brother hit you? Back then, your sociopathic personality made you socially clueless. You caused trouble or discomfort without realizing it. You were good at studies but alienated others because you couldn’t understand them. So, you deliberately became a delinquent to make friends with rough kids. Meanwhile, your brother, though he hit you for being clueless, got along well with others and even won the class president election."

  Kim Dae-hyun sighed and looked at Gamamusa and Ko A-young. "...When you first kidnapped me, you injected your thoughts and memories into me. Ko A-young, how you were ignored and abused... Gamamusa, how you saw people as tools and viewed them coldly... You made me know it all." He swallowed hard. "...And Baek Hyung-jin and Jang Cheol-jin, the two I bullied... You didn’t inject their thoughts, but you showed me their lives and what they went through through records..." Gamamusa nodded. Kim Dae-hyun swallowed again. "...What are you going to do with me?"

  Gamamusa clasped his hands. "...We’re going to modify you. Mentally, you’re a high-risk sociopath. The medication has made you a low-risk sociopath, but if you stop taking it, you’ll revert to high-risk. Then you can be used for our project." Kim Dae-hyun swallowed. "...What project needs a sociopath?" Gamamusa gestured to Ko A-young, who handed him a small chip. He showed it to Kim Dae-hyun. "This is the ‘God’s Brain’ chip. It can store all the data humanity has accumulated on the internet. Implanted in your brain, it lets you store and recall every human action and conversation. I’m going to modify you to be my successor in monitoring humanity. And to monitor humanity, you need to completely eliminate the empathy that makes you resonate with their pain."

  Kim Dae-hyun frowned. "...What if I refuse?" Gamamusa tucked the chip away. "...Then we’ll respect your choice. We’ll erase most of the memories you’ve seen and heard in recent months, including those of us and anything about Baek Hyung-jin that might make you feel guilty. We’ll restore those memories later, and you can reconsider my offer then." Gamamusa injected another dose of anesthetic into Kim Dae-hyun’s IV. Kim Dae-hyun passed out again.

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