Chapter 101
“Let go of me!”
Si-yul used all his strength to try and shake off the men. He just needed a small opening, but these men, seemingly experienced in such matters, easily subdued him. A hand clamped over his mouth to stifle his shouts. The man in the suit sighed lightly as he watched Si-yul’s resistance.
“I understand you don’t trust us, but we really don’t intend to harm you. So just come along quietly.”
Expecting him to believe that after grabbing him like this. Si-yul struggled violently. Despite thrashing his whole body, he couldn’t break free from the two men who were much larger than him. In the end, he was dragged down the alley with his arms bound like a criminal.
True to the man’s word, they didn’t beat or threaten Si-yul. Though forcibly bringing him and putting him in the car was a threat in itself, afterward they simply sat him in the middle of the back seat and drove in silence. The car stopped in front of a mansion with fortress-like high walls.
“Where is this?”
“You’ll know when you go inside.”
“Please tell me. I came quietly, didn’t I?”
The man looked down at Si-yul. Trying not to appear intimidated, Si-yul made an effort to keep his neck straight.
“It’s the young master’s family home. Woo Hyun-se’s.”
The man answered with a sigh after repeated questioning. It seemed pointless to tell him a hundred times that they had no relationship anymore.
“Go in.”
Anticipating Si-yul might try to escape again, the man pushed his back, leading the way. Shoved forward, Si-yul crossed the lawn and stood before the mansion’s door. While the scenery was like a painting, to Si-yul’s eyes it looked like the edge of a cliff. As Si-yul hesitated, the man opened the door for him.
The man left Si-yul and had a brief conversation with someone else. He started to say “Eui-” but, conscious of the outsider, changed the title to “CEO.” Si-yul perked up his ears, but it was difficult to make out the whispered conversation.
After finishing the conversation, the man took Si-yul down a back path. Crossing a trail thick with pine trees revealed a separate building that had been hidden by the main house. Unlike the modern main building, this was a serene traditional Korean house.
“…”
As at the mansion entrance, the guest house, which seemed to swallow even sound, was truly a place Si-yul didn’t want to enter. If the man hadn’t been standing behind him like a ghost, he would have tried to escape somehow.
Urged by the man, Si-yul had no choice but to go inside. Despite bright sunlight reaching every corner, it felt somehow eerie. Si-yul rubbed his goosebump-covered arms and turned as directed by the man.
“CEO.”
The man bowed respectfully. Though he must have heard the call, the man addressed as CEO remained turned away, absorbed in pruning a bonsai tree. A fairly thick branch was cleanly cut off by the sharp scissors in his hand. The falling branch looked just like a person’s head dropping to the floor, causing Si-yul to unconsciously wrap his hands around his own neck.
The CEO turned around after a long while. Si-yul had wondered if this might be Hyun-se’s father since it was his family home, but the man before him bore no resemblance to Hyun-se. While Hyun-se’s exterior at least appeared gentle and kind, this man’s impression was vile no matter how you looked at him.
Sparse eyebrows, eyes like buttonholes, a sharp hooked nose, mean-looking lips, and a narrow lower jaw. If forced to find a resemblance, it would be to a rat.
Absorbed in observation, Si-yul forgot to greet him. The CEO strode over. He took off his wristwatch and handed it to the still-bowing man beside him. The moment the man took the watch, the CEO raised his arm and there was a sharp slap accompanied by a flash before Si-yul’s eyes.
Si-yul crashed to the floor with a thud. A long, piercing ringing shook his eardrum. The pain came next. His cheek felt like it was on fire.
“How dare a lowly bastard like you look me in the eye.”
Si-yul clutched his stinging cheek. His nose stung and then a warm liquid trickled down, touching his lips. It was the sharp taste of blood.
As if he had touched a bug, the CEO wiped his hand with a handkerchief and sat in the seat of honor. Si-yul, unable to grasp the situation, blankly stared at the floor. The man quickly helped Si-yul into a kneeling position.
“An orphan who doesn’t even know his parents, trash who sells drugs, a recessive gene rather than dominant.”
The old man recited Si-yul’s background. Though it was as good as cursing, Si-yul couldn’t say anything in response. Unfortunately, none of it was untrue.
“The purpose of a pig-dog like you clinging to that child is obvious.”
Here, “that child” clearly referred to Hyun-se. Si-yul hastily opened his mouth.
“I, I’m no longer with hyung—”
A hand flew once more. This time his lip split. His mouth must have been cut inside too, as there was a metallic taste on his tongue. It would have hurt less if he had fallen, but the man behind him held him up, preventing that.
In the past, he would have burst into tears. But now, though his eyes stung, no tears fell.
“See, Secretary Yoon. This is why both dogs and people need education. Having received no home training, he can’t distinguish when to bark and when to shut up. That Hyun-se is the same. Learning from his vulgar mother when young, his tastes have become this shape, this state. Losing his mind over some flea-bitten rat, really.”
The CEO clicked his tongue in disapproval. Si-yul kept his mouth shut. No matter how much he tried to explain, he’d just get slapped again.
“You should know why you’re here. Don’t say you don’t know, no matter how stupid you are. It makes me pity that fool who kept someone like you by his side.”
A shadow flickered on the floor. Unable to meet the CEO’s eyes, Si-yul just stared blankly at that shadow. His shoulders were completely hunched, and his hands on his kneeling knees were clenched so tightly they had turned white.
“Whether you want it or not, don’t you dare show your face to that child again. Not even a single hair of yours should be seen.”
“…”
“If you do…”
The CEO paused. He threw the handkerchief stained with Si-yul’s blood on the floor like trash. The stained handkerchief fluttered down in front of Si-yul’s eyes.
“Not just the orphanage you came from, but everyone who cares for you and whom you care for, everyone who has crossed paths with you and will cross paths with you in the future, will all end up on the streets.”
Si-yul’s eyes widened. Prepared to be hit, he raised his head. This time, even the man didn’t stop him. Though his swelling cheek pushed up under his eye, he looked straight at the CEO. The CEO clasped his hands behind his back and stared intently at Si-yul. His piercing gaze was malicious.
“The places you’ve worked will fail, and those who help you will get hurt. Everywhere you’ve stayed will become a ruin where not even a blade of grass grows, and if you form a family, that family too won’t be safe. In the end, everyone will blame you as the cause.”
“Why…”
The question burst out before he knew it, and the CEO raised his foot to kick Si-yul in the stomach this time. With a choked sound, Si-yul clutched his stomach and curled into a ball. A long string of bloody saliva dripped from his open mouth.
“You should have known your place from the start. You shouldn’t even look at, let alone approach, a tree you can’t climb.”
Place. Even in his pain, Si-yul laughed helplessly. It was fortunate the CEO couldn’t see it with his head bowed.
Having said his piece, the CEO turned away without hesitation. He reached for the bonsai he hadn’t finished trimming, scissors in hand. With a snip, a thin branch was cut cleanly between the closing blades.
When Si-yul came to his senses, he was at the bottom of the hill leading to the inn. Only after the man opened the door did Si-yul get out of the car, as if waking from sleep. Despite the pain from where he had been hit, strangely, it felt unreal, like a terrible nightmare.
“Mr. Kwon Si-yul.”
The man called out to Si-yul, who was absentmindedly walking up the hill. His expression was the same as when they first met, but there was a slight furrow between his brows. When Si-yul looked at him, he let out a long breath through his nose and took out a white envelope from his pocket, handing it to Si-yul.
“Take this.”
“What is it?”
“Consolation money.”
“Consolation money.”
His pronunciation was unclear due to half his face being swollen. Si-yul stared blankly at the envelope. When he showed no sign of taking it, the man forcibly pushed the envelope into his pocket.
“Keep what happened in the guest house to yourself. That will be best for you too, Mr. Kwon Si-yul.”
“…What.”
The inside of his cheek was so swollen that even slightly clenching his teeth caused him to bite his flesh. Si-yul suppressed the urge to grab the man’s collar by clenching his fist instead.
“What’s good for me about this?”
“…”
Si-yul roughly pulled out the envelope and threw it at the man. The envelope hit his chest and fell to the ground. Si-yul glared at him, breathing heavily. A curse, “Fuck,” escaped his lips.
“I don’t need this shit.”
The man quietly bent down to pick up the envelope. Then he placed it directly in Si-yul’s hand this time. He patted the back of Si-yul’s hand a couple of times as if telling him not to throw it away, then got into the car.
