“If the situation demands that both of us die, that’s one thing, but if one of us can survive, it’s going to be me. Not Cha Seung-kwon.”
The corner of his mouth, stretched fully, showed no sign of dropping.
“As you said, I will survive tenaciously. I will survive ruthlessly by any means, even if it means betrayal.”
It was interesting. That he didn’t hide his cowardice at all.
“Is that all you want? For me to stay quietly by your side?”
“…”
“Fine. That would be better. After all, even if I run away, you’ll inevitably find me, and the more I do that, the more I’ll lose.”
“…”
“In return, leave me alone. Whatever I demand from you, whatever I do in this house. All I have to do is not run away and stay by your side.”
He had known from the beginning that he couldn’t be easily handled with just such threats.
“Do that.”
“…”
“Only as long as you don’t disturb my mood.”
However, he didn’t think that was entirely Jae-young’s true feelings.
He’s a person skilled in deception. Even in a crisis, not panicking and escaping danger is what he has been doing all along.
Unfamiliar situations are always accompanied by fear, and that instinctive sensation was always new, even for someone who has lived committing crimes.
Conversely, the more one tries to hide, the more one’s true heart is revealed.
Would he really put his stubbornness first even in a situation where someone might die?
“Act as you please. All the cause and effect from now on depends on your actions.”
Sa Gong-hyun didn’t think so. It didn’t matter if it was vile. Even if through such means, Do Jae-young had to remain by his side. At least until his interest waned, that’s how it had to be.
That’s certainly what he thought.
His initial plan was to make Do Jae-young a paraplegic. He intended to play with him thoroughly, and break his integrity and pride like crushing flower petals. Afterward, he planned to sever his nerves so that he couldn’t stand on his own two legs.
The end of the plan was to savor Cha Seung-kwon’s bloody screams to the fullest before killing him. Since the two had no blood relation, if they suddenly disappeared one day, no one would look for them. It wasn’t a difficult or complicated task.
And the day he had been so eagerly awaiting approached without warning.
To put it bluntly, Do Jae-young hit the mark from their first meeting.
When the face he had replayed countless times in his mind loomed before him, he felt an indescribable pleasure.
Since he was already dealing with him, he intended to properly play with him.
He didn’t expect Do Jae-young to emotionally fall for him. The first priority was to let him roll around as much as he wanted.
Originally, people who had seen it all showed more effective reactions when something they held was destroyed rather than when they themselves were threatened.
“I didn’t sell my body to you, Hyun-ssi.”
“So Hyun-ssi, don’t think you bought my body with money.”
As expected, Do Jae-young came back to him even after experiencing situations that should have felt humiliating. Though not in the way he had expected.
Although it was absurd, it was tolerable except for those corny lines. It wasn’t so bad to waste time on something that wasn’t part of the plan.
It was amusing to see him suppressing his temper and fidgeting anxiously.
When did his attitude, which had been endlessly light, change? Well, even Sa Gong-hyun didn’t know clearly.
At some point, Do Jae-young’s actions, which had only been funny, became interesting. His impudent and presumptuous behavior was unpleasant, but he felt like being a bit more patient.
Seeing his smiling face while holding his hand, Sa Gong-hyun began to play along with him. When he collapsed into his arms with feverishly flushed cheeks, he considered watching a little longer.
Just a little.
Silently watching that “just a little” was the root of the problem.
“…Hyun-ssi, it’s me. Me… I’m Do Jae-young.”
By then, it was laughable that he was surprised even while pointing an unloaded gun.
When his voice penetrated his eardrums that couldn’t contain a sound, he was certainly in his right mind. Though his body was uncontrollable, Sa Gong-hyun remembers Do Jae-young crying and chewing curses underneath him.
It was around that time that the hallucination symptoms, which occasionally appeared as side effects, began to become uncomfortable. It was after that when he didn’t like seeing him lying without changing his facial expression.
The heart that just wanted to play along a little more and watch a little more, was soon eagerly awaiting the day when he would confess the truth to him.
Sa Gong-hyun endured so much during that short time.
As their surroundings gradually became messy due to their mischief, he remained still even when Kim Jung-han said it would be good to clean up now.
It’s not time yet.
He repeated only those words. Even though he clearly knew how ridiculous their actions were making him look.
He could only put an end to it when Do Jae-young confessed on his own. Only then could he tie him down without any issues.
That patience became distorted around the time he acknowledged that Do Jae-young’s sense of purpose was firm.
Looking at the bracelet rolling on the chair, Sa Gong-hyun had many thoughts. Seeing Do Jae-young waking up in the middle of the night and heading to that room, he had countless concerns.
Should he pretend not to know this time too? Suddenly, a conclusion was reached.
No, you will never confess the truth to me. In the end, you’ll run away beyond the crossroads and never return.
It was then that Sa Gong-hyun took the lead in implementing the plan he had only been delaying.
Not observing the movements of that group and moving according to the wind, but deciding to remove everything that was irritating to the eyes.
Although he couldn’t be satisfied with the results, he was relieved for now. As for Cha Seung-kwon, he could just find and kill him, and Do Jae-young, who had no one to rely on, could be forcibly tied down.
Having lived his entire life on edge, he had never felt reassurance. Sa Gong-hyun was relieved even in that incomplete situation.
“…I love you.”
Suddenly, the confession that he was certain was a lie flowed through his ears. The voice that should have remained in the past was like an auditory hallucination heard when doing drugs.
He gently lifted his eyelids. Jae-young was nestled in his arms.
Sa Gong-hyun hunched his head. Naturally, his lips touched the top of his head. The breath he had taken leisurely did not linger in his lungs for long and poured out.
At that moment, Jae-young, who had been snuggled without movement, left a small trace. Jae-young’s hand softly landed on Sa Gong-hyun’s broad back. The hand that had detached leisurely settled back onto his back.
Sa Gong-hyun’s eyebrows wrinkled minutely and soon returned to normal.
With his nose buried in his chest, his slow movements continued endlessly. Like patting a child’s back to put them to sleep.
Jae-young, who was soaked in alcohol, couldn’t have regained his senses by then. That behavior was his new sleep habit that had formed previously.
Instead of brushing off that touch, Sa Gong-hyun embraced Jae-young more strongly. The touch that had landed and left his back now lingered for a long time.
The hand caressing his back was quite attentive.
The habitual headache he carried was not easily dispelled. The medicine he sought quarterly was the only painkiller, but he hadn’t touched it since meeting Jae-young.
It wasn’t that he thought Do Jae-young had a positive influence on him staying away from the medicine. He just didn’t want to show any weakness to a man whose actions were unpredictable.
However, Sa Gong-hyun felt like his headache was gradually subsiding even now, without touching the medicine.
***
Work was endless. Sa Gong-hyun postponed even the tasks that should have been completed immediately and spent time with Jae-young.
He had left a couple of guards, whom he would have normally sent away. Although it was confirmed that Cha Seung-kwon was not currently in Seoul, it was too early to be relieved.
He could tell without anyone telling him that he would be looking for an opportunity to come looking for Jae-young.
Sa Gong-hyun blankly stared at Jae-young’s back as he was connecting music to the Bluetooth speaker.
“Do you like music? Like classical music?”
He turned to look at Sa Gong-hyun. From the speaker that had finished its operation, gentle classical music was flowing out.
“I thought you might have lived just working inflexibly. Right?”
Jae-young, leaning against the cabinet, opened his mouth again.
“Do you know why people engage in cultural activities?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
