It had already been a full day spent in the car without a proper place to hide. As soon as he heard that Kang Tae-yi was personally stirring up trouble in the area where the villa was located, they had completely given up on catching Da Haram and, together with Kang Tae-jin, had fled. Although he had fled in haste, it was already too late to regret it. All he had done was drag out the time and now found himself stuck in a situation where neither option seemed viable. Now, his only choice was to use Kang Tae-jin’s position to negotiate with Kang Tae-yi.
If that didn’t work out, his only option would be to flee abroad, but the problem was Kang Tae-jin. Secretary Kim, who was sitting in the front seat, glanced at Kang Tae-jin through the rearview mirror. Kang Tae-jin had been furious when he first heard about Kang Tae-yi’s movements, his face pale with anger, but now he was silently smoking a cigarette. It was hard to keep driving aimlessly without a destination. He needed to issue orders to make a decision, but the silence from Kang Tae-jin was only increasing his anxiety.
Kang Tae-jin was a simple man with clearly defined desires. If you could persuade him with words, he usually moved as expected. But Kang Tae-yi was different. His thoughts and plans were completely unpredictable, which was slowly driving everyone crazy.
“Vice President, I think it’s better to leave the country for now,” Secretary Kim’s tense voice cut through the heavy silence in the car.
“Did Kang Tae-yi find Da Haram?” Kang Tae-jin asked.
“Not yet, that hasn’t been confirmed yet…”
In the chaos, there was no time or energy to verify that. They had to move carefully to avoid leaving traces. The heavy silence settled again in the car, until suddenly, a vibration broke the quiet.
It was Secretary Kim’s phone. As Kang Tae-jin’s suspicious gaze shifted, Secretary Kim immediately took out his phone and showed the screen to the back seat.
“It’s the hospital.”
It was a call from the hospital where Chairman Kang was admitted. Kang Tae-jin took the phone from Secretary Kim and, without saying a word, pressed the call button. Secretary Kim watched him in silence, his throat tightening as cold sweat began to bead down his back.
He couldn’t understand what Kang Tae-jin was thinking, but it seemed like he was suspicious of him. Secretary Kim had been reducing his words and watching his every move. His back was drenched in cold sweat as he nervously awaited the next development.
“Why is the hospital calling…”
After a brief, silent conversation, Kang Tae-jin ended the call and threw the phone onto the seat next to him with a slight smile. Secretary Kim was confused—what was there to smile about in such a dire situation? The longer the silence stretched, the more pale Secretary Kim’s face became.
Kang Tae-jin, who had been staring out the window into the pitch-black darkness, finally spoke after a long while.
“Let’s go to Seoul.”
There was still a chance to reverse the situation.
***
Later, at the house.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Yoon Min-ho asked as he opened the backseat door carefully.
Carrying the sleeping Da Haram in his arms, Kang Tae-yi nodded slightly, signaling his answer.
“I’ll go back and look into Kang Tae-jin’s whereabouts.”
Yoon Min-ho, grabbing his brother’s shoulder as he tried to head inside, whispered in a low voice. Tae-yi, also nodding, didn’t say anything further and headed straight for the house.
Inside his room, he gently laid Haram, who was still sound asleep, onto the bed. As he was about to rise, Haram, half-awake, tugged at his shirt and mumbled softly.
“Don’t go…”
Despite his weak pull, Tae-yi turned around and slipped his arm around Haram’s back, pulling him into another tight embrace.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Mmm.”
Fully awake now, Haram wrapped his arms around Tae-yi’s neck and slowly blinked his eyes. The warm bed was filled with Tae-yi’s scent. He didn’t need to ask anything; he could tell he had returned to the place he had wanted so badly—Tae-yi’s home.
Haram nuzzled his forehead against Tae-yi’s shoulder, letting out a small, happy laugh.
Hearing the laugh he hadn’t heard in so long, Tae-yi smiled faintly and left a soft kiss on the corner of Haram’s mouth, which was lifted in a big smile.
“I want to take a shower.”
Just as it seemed like Tae-yi was about to kiss him more, Haram turned his head quickly and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. But despite his attempts to turn away, Tae-yi’s lips kept finding their way back. It seemed like Tae-yi didn’t mind how dirty he looked. After all, he had been running around, wandering the forest and walking along the beach—his appearance was certainly shabby. Once he became aware of it, it bothered him more than he expected.
“Wanna… take a shower together?”
Haram, covering his lips with the back of his hand while avoiding Tae-yi’s kisses, looked up at him and asked. Without a word, Tae-yi gave him a soft smile, then immediately picked him up and headed toward the bathroom.
Since he was already not wearing any clothes, Haram waited for Tae-yi to undress. Not knowing where to look while Tae-yi took off his shirt, he awkwardly hugged his tail, then moved to the side to quickly start the shower.
The warm water from the shower helped loosen his tense muscles, making him let out a lazy sigh as he scrubbed every part of his body. Suddenly, he heard the sound of water from somewhere else and quickly turned his head. He saw Tae-yi, filling the bathtub with water.
Thinking about getting in the tub with him, Haram grinned, hurriedly finishing his shower, and walked over to him.
“Should I go in first?”
Although he had seen it several times, it still wasn’t easy for Haram to get used to seeing Tae-yi naked in front of him. As he tried to step into the half-filled warm tub, Tae-yi grabbed his wrist.
“Huh?”
With a confused look on his face, Tae-yi furrowed his brow and spoke.
“You’ve got bruises on your back. Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Ah… not really. I didn’t even notice the bruises.”
It seemed like the bruises were on places he couldn’t see. The pain he was feeling now was only from the muscle soreness from traveling non-stop for several days. Compared to the pain he had endured after spending the night in the woods with Tae-yi, it felt negligible.
“I’m really fine. Let’s just get in.”
Avoiding Tae-yi, who had raised his hand and was trying to touch his body, Haram took a step back with a nervous laugh and climbed into the tub. Once he settled into the warm water, Tae-yi finished his shower and joined him soon after.
Tae-yi naturally pulled Haram onto his lap and began to gently touch his body. Haram’s body had always been thin, but after everything that had happened, it seemed even more frail.
Haram, however, didn’t care. As he relaxed in the warm water, the muscle pain that had been bothering him before all but disappeared. With his body fully relaxed, he nestled comfortably against Tae-yi, feeling the perfect combination of warmth and security. It was like being in the exact kind of haven he had always wanted.
“I really don’t feel pain…”
After reuniting with Tae-yi, he had wanted attention for every little thing, even showing his hurt hands to receive concern. But now, he didn’t want to burden Tae-yi any further. Looking at the worried expression on his face, he didn’t want to cause him more stress.
“I’m sorry.”
Staring at the swollen, red palms of his hands, Tae-yi sighed deeply and, in a low voice, apologized.
“Why… why are you apologizing…”
It was shocking to see Tae-yi apologize so sincerely when the person who should have been apologizing was someone else. Shedding his usual teasing smile, he looked like someone who would kneel down and beg for forgiveness, and Haram didn’t want to face that expression. It was far easier to deal with his usual teasing smirk.
Even though he wasn’t the most perceptive, Haram could easily tell that the emotion in Tae-yi’s face was guilt. No, it was hard not to notice, given how full of guilt his face appeared.
Tae-yi, sensing Haram’s discomfort, carefully poured water over his shoulder and spoke again.
“It was because of me that you went through all of this. I should apologize. I’m sorry.”
Kang Tae-jin and Da Haram’s painful connection, which led to his kidnapping, was entirely his fault. Not protecting Da Haram properly during dangerous situations, and leaving him behind while prioritizing business matters—it was all his fault. He had repeatedly blamed himself while chasing after Da Haram’s missing trail. The regrets were endless, and they kept replaying in his mind like the water filling the bathtub.
Seeing that Tae-yi’s expression wasn’t improving, Haram, who had been holding back his words, finally spoke up.
“I wasn’t hungry, and I could shower, and…”
He tried to list the small positives he had experienced during his captivity, but Tae-yi’s furrowed brow showed no sign of easing. The fact that he had been locked in a cage was not something he could even joke about.
