The Store That Sells Memories
"I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad.com,"
The Memory Merchant
Prologue – The Confession of a Memory Dealer
My name is Minjae Kang. I'm 29 years old, and I’m a memory dealer.
At 7 a.m., like clockwork, I open the door to a small shop with a sign that reads Memorium.
At first glance, it looks like a regular café. But instead of coffee, we deal in memories—buying, selling, storing, and even healing them.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who want to remember, and those who desperately want to forget.
I exist in the space between them—sometimes like a doctor, sometimes like a therapist, and sometimes, just someone who listens.
But when it comes to my own memories… I only have the last three years.
Everything before that is shrouded in mist, like a dream I can't quite hold onto.
Sometimes I hear a voice in my sleep, a faint echo from the past.
But the moment I wake up, it vanishes—
“Hyung… why did you do it…”
Last night, I had the same dream again.
Someone was crying, calling out to me.
But I don’t know who they are—or why they’re weeping.
Today, I’ll step into someone else’s memories again.
I’ll walk through another person’s life, feel their pain and joy, and sometimes carry their burdens for them.
And still, I wonder…
Who am I, really?
And how did I end up in this strange line of work?
