After all that time had passed, I could finally manage to move my body. I stood still beneath the cascading water, letting it run over me before slowly raising my hands to wash myself. The water was colder than I had expected.
Once I finished showering, I grabbed a towel and dried myself off before slipping into a robe. I had started drying my hair, but my strength gave out halfway through, so I just left it as it was. Tightening the belt of my robe so it wouldn’t come undone, I opened the door—only to come face-to-face with him.
“Are you done?”
He reached for the towel draped over my shoulders as he asked. Instead of answering, I simply nodded. The towel covered my damp hair, and then his large hands followed, gently rubbing away the moisture. His familiar touch, careful and deliberate, made my barely restrained tears threaten to spill over.
I hated him. He was the one who had destroyed District 5, the one who had killed all those people, the one who shot Se-yul. And yet, every time I caught glimpses of Vin in him—just like now, in the way he tenderly dried my hair—I couldn’t stop my heart from wavering.
I wanted to ask him why. Why did he have to do it? The person I knew… He wasn’t like that.
“Get some rest for now. Once your stomach settles, try eating some soup. If you keep starving yourself like this, you’re going to ruin your body.”
“…I’ll take care of it myself.”
Suppressing the turmoil inside me, I pushed his hand away and walked toward the bed. My body, as light and frail as a drifting scrap of paper, sank onto the mattress. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt him move closer and lie down beside me. A faint floral scent wafted through the air.
His flame-colored eyes held nothing but me within them—steady, unwavering. I shut my eyes tightly, unwilling to face his gaze.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
His quiet voice echoed in my ears. The scent of flowers grew stronger as he moved closer. He curled his large frame inward, trying to press himself against me—just like Vin used to when we were younger. But I shoved him away, coldly rejecting him.
“Don’t.”
I opened my eyes and glared at him. His expression wavered, clearly shaken by my rejection. I pulled my disheveled robe closed and turned my back to him completely.
He didn’t try to approach me again. He just lay there beside me, silently watching. I didn’t have to look to know—his gaze was palpable, as was the pheromone-laced longing emanating from him. It was so blatant that ignoring it felt almost impossible.
Time passed in heavy silence as I continued to feign indifference. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, he rose quietly and left the room. The sound of the door closing reached my ears, and only then did I force my eyes open.
I waited, listening intently. Not a single noise came from beyond the firmly shut door. I held my breath, waiting for his footsteps to fade completely. Only once I was certain he was gone did I carefully slip out of bed.
I cautiously pulled back the curtains that had been blocking the light. Unlike the two-story estate of District 5, this bedroom was situated at an unmistakably higher altitude.
‘If I jump recklessly, I’ll only break my legs and get caught right away.’
If there was something like a rope, that would be ideal—but whether Han Seo-yul’s frail limbs could even get him down from this height safely was another question. He was already unsteady, too weak to even dry his hair properly. What exactly did he think he could do?
The escape route he had painstakingly thought up had turned out to be useless. Until he was let go, he had no choice but to stay trapped here. And that would likely be forever—because he knew that man had no intention of ever letting him go.
“There’s no way out.”
He leaned against the window, gazing at the flood of light outside. The breathtaking scenery, so close it felt like he could reach out and touch it, meant nothing to him now. It was nothing more than a meaningless painting.
***
It felt like he was sinking into an endless swamp. His body kept plunging deeper, and his consciousness drifted further and further away. The fear that he might suffocate and die like this made him struggle desperately to hold on—but it wasn’t easy.
And then, he remembered Seo-yul. Seo-yul, who had pointed a gun at people, determined to protect him. His hands had been trembling so violently—how did he ever expect to shoot someone? That sight had been both pitiful and courageous. He must have lost consciousness watching Seo-yul’s back.
Or… had he been shot? His memory was hazy. He could only recall the unbearable pain, so vivid that for a moment, he had genuinely thought he might die.
“―nida.”
“…Still… alive, it seems.”
Distant voices echoed faintly in his ears. At first, they sounded as if they were coming from far away, but gradually, they grew clearer, closer. It felt as if his mind was resurfacing.
As Se-yul slowly regained consciousness, he tried to open his eyes. But his heavy eyelids refused to budge. After several attempts, he finally managed to push away the darkness clouding his vision. His blurry gaze focused, and the first thing he saw was the butler’s face, filled with deep worry.
“…Butler?”
“Thank goodness, truly… thank goodness.”
The butler’s head bowed as tears began to fall. Surprised, Se-yul instinctively tried to comfort him, but his body was stiff, refusing to move. It was only then that he remembered—he had been shot. Twice.
Those damn bastards from District 1.
“How long was I out?”
“Not long.”
In truth, more than a month had passed. But the butler, wanting to spare Se-yul any unnecessary shock, told a well-practiced lie. Deceived by the butler’s careful deception, Se-yul relaxed slightly and asked the question that had been pressing on his mind.
“What about hyung?”
“……”
“He’s okay, right?”
“…Young master Seo-yul…”
The butler trailed off, unable to continue. But the silence told Se-yul everything he needed to know. Gritting his teeth, he forced his stiff body to sit up. The butler hurriedly tried to stop him, warning that his wounds could reopen—but Se-yul wouldn’t be swayed.
“Those bastards took him, didn’t they?”
Se-yul grabbed the butler’s collar, demanding an answer. The butler, exhausted from trying to restrain him, panted heavily before replying that he didn’t know. He had his suspicions, but there hadn’t been any reports of Seo-yul’s whereabouts anywhere in District 1.
“No, they definitely took him. That damn aide said they had to take hyung… Ugh.”
“Young master Se-yul, please, stay still!”
His body had only just begun to stabilize, but his rough movements were putting strain on his wounds again. The butler, seeing blood seeping through the bandages, forcibly laid Se-yul back down. With his strength drained, Se-yul had no choice but to comply.
He needed to go and bring Seo-yul back immediately, but his useless body wouldn’t allow it. Frustration boiled inside him as he clenched his powerless fists, trying to contain his anger. After a moment, he spoke again.
“Butler, those bastards from District 1 took hyung.”
“Yes, we believe that is likely the case.”
“Then we need to go get him right now! Why are we just sitting here?!”
Se-yul couldn’t hold back his frustration and shouted. The butler worked to calm him down, explaining the situation carefully. Han Jae-hoon, too, had wanted nothing more than to storm District 1 and bring Seo-yul back immediately—but it hadn’t been possible.
As much as they were all worried sick about Seo-yul, their first priority had to be stabilizing the district. The dead had to be recovered, the destroyed estate rebuilt, and the shaken citizens reassured.
Listening in silence, Se-yul bit down hard on his lip to keep himself from cursing. It had only been a week, but he knew better than anyone how heavy the burden of leading a district was. He had carried it himself in place of his father.
“If he took young master Seo-yul, then he’s likely safe.”
“I know.”
It was infuriating, but until they could put District 5 back together, they had no choice but to hope that Seo-yul would remain unharmed in that man’s hands. The very thought of having to trust the person who had destroyed their district with Seo-yul’s safety was laughable.
“That’s why, young master Se-yul, you need to focus on recovering first. If young master Seo-yul saw you like this, he’d be devastated.”
Only after hearing that did Se-yul finally relax, releasing the tension from his stiffened body and lying back down properly. As his anger subsided, the pain he had been ignoring surged back all at once. Well, of course—he had been shot twice. There was no way his body would be fine.
That idiot hyung. If he had just listened and escaped alone, he wouldn’t have been dragged off to District 1. But he was too damn stubborn, too determined to save Se-yul, and now things had ended up like this. He was such an idiot. So foolish, so frustratingly reckless—and yet, Se-yul loved him more than anything.
“As soon as I’ve recovered, I’m going to find hyung.”
Se-yul’s words carried the weight of a declaration. The butler gave a faint smile and replied, “Understood.”
Staring up at the empty ceiling, Se-yul played the events before he lost consciousness over and over in his mind. His eyelids grew heavier, and before long, he drifted into sleep, sinking into the pull of exhaustion.
