Chapter 114
“Please stop the car around here.”
“Here?”
It was a crowded area near a subway station. Not only did Yoo Siwoon dislike busy places, but it was also highly unlikely he’d have business in such a location. Though Director Nam asked questioningly about Siwoon’s request to stop briefly, he slowly changed lanes.
“I have a takeout order to pick up.”
“A takeout order? You could have just told me.”
“It seemed a bit much to ask you to order tteokbokki for me.”
“Ah… I see.”
It seemed he had ordered tteokbokki on his phone in advance for Eunseong to eat. Recognizing the sign of a spicy tteokbokki franchise, Director Nam stopped the car in front.
Siwoon got out of the car, went into the store, and soon came out with tteokbokki carefully packaged in a plastic bag. The same man who had threatened a police officer just hours ago, saying he would cut off his testicles and stuff them in his mouth instead of cigarette burns, now climbed into the car holding spicy tteokbokki.
Director Nam had thought him reasonable and patient. Yet he never expected this sudden revelation that, as Team Leader Lee Joon-seung had said, Siwoon too was a member of that family, carrying the bloodline of Seongha.
Watching Siwoon’s mood more tensely than usual, Director Nam felt somewhat deflated as Siwoon proudly got into the car with the tteokbokki package.
“I guess Eunseong wanted to eat it,” Director Nam said as he started the car.
“He likes spicy food. I wonder how spicy it must be to be called ‘bizarre.'”
“Aren’t you going to have some too, CEO?”
“I can’t handle spicy food well.”
“I like tteokbokki too. I crave it sometimes. I order it at home occasionally.”
“Would you like to join us later?”
“No, that’s fine.”
Director Nam flatly refused, indicating he wasn’t tactless enough to intrude on them by eating tteokbokki together. It wasn’t the time for such leisurely conversation, yet with just one order of tteokbokki, Siwoon had returned to his usual self.
Shortly after, the car arrived at Siwoon’s residence. Siwoon got out of the car before Director Nam could get out and open the door for him.
“Then I’ll be going in.”
“Keep a close eye on Lee Joon-seung. Make sure he doesn’t do anything unnecessary.”
The man who had been so gentle when talking about tteokbokki suddenly revealed his hidden blade and spoke coldly. Given Siwoon’s current state, they should be grateful he hadn’t killed Team Leader Lee Joon-seung. That’s why Director Nam still believed that Siwoon retained at least minimal humanity and the ability to discern right from wrong.
“…What if I meet and talk with him properly? Team Leader Lee Joon-seung is not someone who will ever give up. You know well how his colleague from the Police Academy died.”
“…”
“He was eaten by a beast. Team Leader Lee Joon-seung simply dislikes the Seongha Group, and forgive me, but you as well. No, it’s not just dislike—it’s hatred. You knew that, and understood it too, didn’t you? And as the progress of our work continues to stagnate, his temper and patience have probably worn thin. This incident should be treated as a warning.”
“You want me to let it go?”
“…”
“He insulted Eunseong.”
His tone suggested it was absolutely unforgivable and that it ending at just that should be considered a stroke of luck. Director Nam felt a chill at these unexpected words.
Insult…?
His mistake was clearly the carelessness of implying something that Eunseong must never know. That’s why Director Nam thought Siwoon was so angry. The word “insult” didn’t fit this situation.
It meant that someone had insulted the being he cherished, the being he believed in, the embodiment of the prophecy that no one could ever damage—and to Siwoon, that was an unforgivable blasphemy.
As Director Nam increasingly understood how Siwoon viewed Eunseong, he felt frustrated. There was no reasoning with him. It seemed unlikely that any rational appeal or emotional pleading would work on him.
“Keep someone watching him and make sure he knows we’re monitoring him.”
“…Yes, I’ll do that.”
“I think precise people are the ones who do jobs well.”
“…”
“You’re such a person, Director. Thank you for your hard work.”
Director Nam bowed his head in acknowledgment as Siwoon went inside. Only after hearing the door close did Director Nam straighten his back.
Lee Joon-seung had mentioned it. That they must not forget that CEO Yoo Siwoon was also a member of the Yongse Pacheon Church and carried the bloodline of the Seongha family…
A family that firmly believed they were chosen by God, maintaining that bloodline for over two thousand years.
Director Nam let out a weary sigh. It would have been better if Siwoon had been blinded by greed to take over the Seongha Group. But that wasn’t it. Siwoon wasn’t using Eunseong as a tool to control the group; he sincerely believed Eunseong was the “Great Crevice” and had come to revere him.
The realm of blind faith—exactly the behavior of the Yongse Pacheon Church that Siwoon and Director Nam had so despised.
Siwoon believed Eunseong was his life partner. The man who had rejected and guarded against the Council of Elders and his family, finding them disgusting, was now voluntarily adopting the very image he had so loathed. Now Eunseong was no different from a sacred realm to him.
If not for the consideration and mercy Siwoon had shown him, Director Nam might have turned his back on him immediately. Director Nam knew his own character well. Even so, he also knew he couldn’t betray or leave Siwoon. A favor once received was eternal.
After unlocking the door and entering, Siwoon called Eunseong’s name.
“Eunseong.”
The living room was quiet. Looking around, he raised his eyebrows in confusion and knocked on Eunseong’s door. He waited for a moment, but there was no response from inside. He knocked once more and waited, but it remained quiet. He opened the door. No one was inside. Thinking that Eunseong might be in his study, he closed the door.
He placed the bag containing the tteokbokki on the dining table and headed to the study.
“…”
Eunseong wasn’t in the study or in Siwoon’s room either. In the middle of taking off his jacket and loosening his tie, Siwoon took out his phone. He immediately connected with the security staff. Assuming Eunseong was in the garden, he asked, but the reply came that he wasn’t there either. When he asked where Eunseong had gone, the answer was that he hadn’t left.
Siwoon’s heart rate quickened momentarily. Although Seo Jeong-gi was now gone and Yoo Oseon was dead, meaning there was no more threat of someone taking Eunseong away, fear overwhelmed him. Even after confirming that Eunseong wasn’t in the house, he shouted his name.
“Eunseong!”
After calling like that several times, he realized his mistake and called Eunseong’s phone. Eunseong answered before the first ring had even finished.
—Hello? Ahjussi?
“Haa… where are you? I’m at home now.”
Siwoon took a deep breath to hide that his voice was trembling slightly.
—Ah, I’m in the bathroom right now. I thought I heard your voice faintly from somewhere.
As Eunseong said, his voice sounded as if it was echoing in a large space. Siwoon strode to Eunseong’s room with the phone still at his ear. He flung open the bathroom door without even knocking.
He came face to face with Eunseong, who had his arm resting on the edge of the bathtub as he answered the phone. Eunseong ended the call, careful not to get the phone wet, and placed it on a towel.
“…I thought you had gone out. I called, but there was no answer.”
“I must not have heard because I was in here. Sound doesn’t travel well from here.”
The color of the water in the bathtub was flamboyant. When Siwoon looked at the bathtub with a strange expression, Eunseong smiled and said:
“This is something Director Nam bought for me. It’s a bath bomb—when you dissolve it in water, purple glitter spreads. It smells good too. It might be my imagination, but it feels more refreshing.”
Eunseong seemed to like the soapy water dissolved in the bathtub. He repeatedly scooped the purple water over his shoulders and face. His skin was momentarily dyed mysteriously, as if covered in purple watercolor paint.
Siwoon had thought Eunseong had disappeared. That he was gone. The mere assumption that someone might have taken Eunseong left him disconcertingly shattered. The tension that had stiffened his body now drained away emptily.
Siwoon sank down on the floor beside the bathtub.
“Your clothes will get wet.”
“I was so startled. I thought you were gone. I thought you’d disappeared somewhere.”
“Why would I disappear? Leaving you behind.”
“I looked for you for a long time.”
The choking feeling when calling his name still lingered in Siwoon’s chest. Not understanding how Siwoon felt, Eunseong spoke playfully:
“It seems like having a big house has its disadvantages too. If I deliberately hide, you might not be able to find me. There was this story from abroad where a homeless person hid in someone’s house and lived there for years without the owner knowing. Because the house was so large.”
Siwoon finally smiled with relief at Eunseong’s words that he hadn’t gone anywhere and had been here all along.
“Then we should get the smallest possible house in New York. It would be troublesome if you hide from me.”
He scooped up a handful of water and wet Eunseong’s shoulders and back. His large hand kneaded and rubbed the nape and spine. Eunseong leaned into his touch. Siwoon’s bass voice resonated pleasantly within the bathroom.
“One room, one bathroom, one kitchen, and one living room. So you can’t hide anywhere. So I can know right away where you are.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
