75.
Most fortunately for the employees who had become incredibly busy alongside their young master’s grand first love, the provincial office that received the news provided an official drone, allowing the investigation to progress quite rapidly. Given that Ryu Ho-yeon had magically disappeared from CCTV footage, the cameras mounted on the drones were equipped with infrared heat detection sensors.
Among the places classified as uninhabited islands, three were confirmed to currently have people on them. They planned to visit all of them in order from closest to farthest, but whether it was luck or not, on the very first island they visited, Choi Jae-won immediately recognized a familiar back view.
Honestly, he had thought of everything during this time. If he found him—if he could just find him—he would lock him up right away. Not like the childish attempt he’d made before, but carefully prepare a place that even Ryu Ho-yeon couldn’t easily escape from. After depleting his guiding to the point where he wouldn’t dare try to use his abilities, he would provide just enough guiding to keep him alive when he was writhing in pain, and thus keep him by his side forever.
If he could keep Ryu Ho-yeon permanently by his side just by giving up the lovely warmth of skin-to-skin contact, it wouldn’t be a losing deal. Choi Jae-won, suddenly expelled from the height of happiness, couldn’t possibly maintain his sanity. Knowing this full well with that clever mind of his, Ryu Ho-yeon was completely at fault for disappearing without a proper goodbye.
No, at this point, it might not be bad to file a death report. If he were already dead, he wouldn’t have the obligation to clear dungeons, so buying the entire island to make a giant tomb for Ryu Ho-yeon and staying locked up together forever as the cemetery keeper would be quite a romantic ending. If Ryu Ho-yeon truly couldn’t live like that, rather than fabricating a death report, they could die side by side—that would be splendid too. Anything was better than being left alone. Anything. Whatever the outcome.
Choi Jae-won thought his long-time obedience and soft affection, like tender new shoots sprouting under the spring sun, had all run out.
But what was this?
“Hyung.”
“Jae-won? How did you, how did you find this place…”
It was all conceit and miscalculation. Seeing that small face with eyes wide open in complete surprise, and just hearing him call “hyung” once made his throat constrict uncontrollably. Tears threatened to well up, and he had to clench his molars tightly.
If he was going to hit someone from behind like that, he should at least be doing well. Seeing him sitting forlornly in front of a dilapidated building that looked like it might collapse with a strong gust of wind, in such a disheveled state, was heartbreaking.
It couldn’t be helped. It was a predestined, complete defeat.
Far from locking him up, he wanted to kneel reverently at Ryu Ho-yeon’s feet and beg forgiveness. Though he didn’t know what he’d done wrong, he’d promise never to do it again if only Ryu Ho-yeon would tell him. He would do anything his hyung asked, if only he would come back. He wouldn’t dream of wishing for Ryu Ho-yeon to love him, even in his dreams—so couldn’t he just accept his love?
The support staff from the provincial office who had been dispatched to guide him here, and the employees whose cheeks had hollowed from enduring his prickly temperament for weeks, were so dumbfounded by Choi Jae-won’s behavior that they couldn’t find words and just gaped.
“Ho-yeon hyung, how could you disappear so suddenly? I was really shocked. Let’s go back quickly. We should go up together. Oh, and Research Director Ryu was very worried too.”
“…”
“Did you suddenly want to try living in the wilderness? Ah, did you want to copy some variety show you were enjoying? If so, you should have said something. It would have been better if we came together.”
Though he looked surprised, Ryu Ho-yeon’s resolute expression with tightly closed lips clearly showed a confident attitude suggesting he had done nothing wrong. From this response, not only Choi Jae-won but all the numerous other people he had brought with him could tell that this unexplained escape was not just a momentary, impulsive deviation.
Choi Jae-won wasn’t tired or hurt by continuously talking one-sidedly to someone who wouldn’t answer. He was just babbling whatever came to mind, as if trying to break through Ryu Ho-yeon’s impassive expression. In a way, it seemed like he wasn’t giving him a chance to respond. He was considerably afraid that those pretty lips that used to chirp “I love you too” might instead utter polite words asking him to leave.
Even so, the overall atmosphere wasn’t that serious until then. The real problem began when someone other than Ryu Ho-yeon suddenly emerged from the building, which from the perspective of a third-generation chaebol, looked like it was on the verge of collapse.
“Hey, darling. If you slack off like this just because I looked away for a moment…”
The red-haired foreigner with fluent Korean pronunciation had a face that Choi Jae-won knew all too well.
“Ho-yeon hyung.”
“…”
He turned to Ryu Ho-yeon’s face, grinding his teeth. But Ryu Ho-yeon still said nothing. The only change in his previously brazen and confident expression was a slight hint of awkwardness.
“What’s this, Choi Jae-won? How did you get here? Darling, don’t tell me you called him?”
What? What “ling”? The switch flipped.
“Tell me with your own mouth, hyung. Why is that bastard here? And with you.”
It was the sound of a gentle, one-sided lover who only knew how to bow his head before others suddenly changing genres.
Choi Jae-won walked forward with large strides, not hiding the fierce expression he had never shown in front of Ryu Ho-yeon before. He felt like he would go crazy if he didn’t immediately either grab Ryu Ho-yeon’s wrist and pull him toward himself, or grab Lexy’s collar and shake him.
“Ah, no… It’s a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding, Jae-won! Calm down!”
“What misunderstanding?”
“Whatever you’re thinking, all of it!”
Ryu Ho-yeon, perhaps finally sensing the gravity of the situation, flapped his hands and shook his head vigorously. Choi Jae-won let out a dry laugh. In the midst of his burning rage, what he hated most was his foolish heart that still found such gestures adorably endearing.
“This is amusing. What is the misunderstanding?”
“Well, um, first…!”
“I’m really curious too. Is the misunderstanding that you hit me from behind and flew away while I was feeling secure like an idiot because of your lies about loving me? Or is it that you finally got rid of me, who was clinging to you obliviously despite having an S-class Guide you’d wanted to pair with all along, and now you’re living cozily here with that guy?”
Ryu Ho-yeon was quite shocked by the bitter backlash from Choi Jae-won, who had always taken his words at face value even if he claimed to make bean paste from red beans, and who would even try to actually make bean paste from red beans for him. He was shocked enough that his chest stung.
After all, it was all for someone that he had deliberately turned his back on his parents and all his colleagues, and decided to achieve the feat of saving the world, which would earn him no official glory. It felt unfair.
But such shock and indignation were too insignificant to compare with the overwhelming regret, sadness, and affection that immediately constricted his breath.
“I’ll explain everything.”
“You, you really…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything, so don’t cry. I was wrong. Stop crying, Jae-won. Okay?”
Faced with a situation that would drive even a living Buddha insane, yet unable to put strength into his grip on Ryu Ho-yeon’s wrist and instead shedding sorrowful tears, Choi Jae-won clearly had no other choice.
* * *
“Are you feeling calmer now? Ah, this is tiresome. These love repertoires.”
It was Lexy, not Ryu Ho-yeon, who poured warm water into a mug with missing teeth and handed it over. Choi Jae-won still narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not dropping his unresolved doubts. Lexy raised his voice in exasperation.
“I didn’t put any drugs in it! Just drink what you’re given, will you!!”
This was immediately followed by Ryu Ho-yeon’s stern command from the yard outside, visible through the cracked glass window where the cold wind was still blowing.
– “If you’re going to be harsh, be harsh only to me! Don’t yell at Jae-won!”
“Oh my… this is really…”
It was an abrasive exchange that showed no signs of a good relationship or any hint of an improper romantic front. Choi Jae-won finally relaxed his eyebrows and accepted the cup Lexy handed him.
At this point, Ryu Ho-yeon and Lexy had agreed to reveal the truth only to Choi Jae-won and had just sent away the others who had come to the island. Ryu Ho-yeon had tried to naturally come inside together while comforting Choi Jae-won, who was dropping large teardrops without even blinking, but had to turn away in frustration at Lexy’s words, “You haven’t completed today’s training yet.”
“I thought I’d learned a lot, but I still can’t adapt to the ancestors’ way of life or love games. Is it because I don’t know this era well, or do all pre-modern people typically have such pathetic love affairs like you?”
Hmm, I have no idea what he’s talking about. With Lexy’s out-of-nowhere statement, Choi Jae-won could completely relax. He was a weirdo who didn’t need to be guarded against.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
