Chapter 127
Acting rashly would not only end badly for him alone. Eunseong could be harmed. He might face something so terrible that dying together might be preferable, and this realization doused cold water on Yoo Siwoon’s burning murderous intent.
Thinking about Eunseong, who would be left alone knowing nothing, Yoo Siwoon couldn’t act hastily in any way. He had to be careful with even the smallest step on his path.
Facing Director Nam, who reminded him of the harsh reality, Yoo Siwoon’s mind cooled. At the same time, a chill ran down his spine. The drug’s influence that had clouded his mind and excited him seemed to dissipate.
He swept back his disheveled hair with trembling fingers. His forehead and scalp were sticky with anxious sweat.
Suddenly struck by a thought, Yoo Siwoon stared at Director Nam for a long time as if he had something to say, then muttered while touching the gun in his chest holster.
“There is… a way. A way to eliminate all of them.”
There was indeed a method. Rather, there was a clear and definite way to simultaneously eliminate Yoo Oseon and Yoo Seongil who made him anxious, and keep Eunseong as his partner forever. He simply hadn’t considered it before. It was something that couldn’t be an option for Yoo Siwoon.
“What? Such a method exists? What are you talking about?”
Yoo Siwoon didn’t answer Director Nam’s puzzled question and turned his gaze elsewhere. Director Nam, keenly observing him, followed his line of sight.
Yoo Siwoon’s eyes were fixed on a spot on the bookshelf, staring at it intensely. Director Nam looked there too. Yoo Siwoon was looking at the Yongse Pacheon Church scripture hidden deep in the bookshelf, but Director Nam didn’t know what he was seeing. After staring at the scripture hidden behind the books for a while, Yoo Siwoon straightened his head.
Director Nam needed to resolve this situation anyway.
“I don’t know what method you’re thinking of, but it would be best if you left this place for now. We can think about what comes next later.”
“By hiding and hoping they’ll disappear on their own? Do you believe such a lucky coincidence will happen?”
“…”
If Yoo Siwoon disappeared with Eunseong, Director Nam would be the person in the most danger, and as long as Yoo Oseon was alive, it was already determined that something bad would happen to Director Nam. Director Nam knew this, yet he was telling Yoo Siwoon to take Eunseong and leave.
“Whatever happens, CEO Yoo Oseon is just waiting for you to make a mistake, waiting for you to chase after him recklessly like you did earlier.”
“…”
Director Nam’s words were true. Yoo Oseon had deliberately provoked Yoo Siwoon. He threatened to report him to the council of elders and revoke his breeder qualification if he touched even a hair on his body. That was his intention from the beginning. It was clear that he had planned to use the prohibition against breeders harming each other to get rid of Yoo Siwoon without dirtying his own hands, using the council of elders as a front to take Eunseong away.
If Director Nam hadn’t stopped him, it wouldn’t have been Yoo Oseon waiting for Yoo Siwoon, but the council of elders and their executioners.
“What will you do? Or should I at least look into departure arrangements for Eunseong first?”
“I can’t send him alone.”
“…”
“If I was going to send him away, I would have done it already.”
Yoo Siwoon was now starkly realizing his own petty true feelings.
While saying he would let go, he never released Eunseong until the end. From the moment he took him from Seo Jeong-gi until now, he said he would let go but never did, and even when they were apart, he kept him within his domain and watched over him. Imagining the scent of his body and the sound of his breathing, carefully caressing the face he could only see on a screen. While pretending to be rational, pretending to care for him, he lurked around him acting disgustingly. Yoo Siwoon never had any intention of letting Eunseong go from the beginning.
“I never had… any intention of sending him away from the start.”
“…CEO.”
After being lost in thought for a while, Yoo Siwoon said with a tired furrow of his eyes.
“You should go now.”
“What?”
“I’m telling you to go home.”
“Going home in this situation? Why are you acting like this? Moreover, tomorrow is the day of the sacrifice ceremony.”
Director Nam asked exasperatedly, as if he didn’t understand what Yoo Siwoon was saying. He fearfully stared at the gun still in his chest. He couldn’t understand how Yoo Siwoon could tell him to leave when he was in this state, and he was also worried about Eunseong who would be left alone with the strangely behaving Yoo Siwoon.
Yoo Siwoon lost his identity when it came to Eunseong. He became an unstable and unpredictable madman. Just a moment ago, he had grabbed a gun intending to kill Yoo Oseon.
Director Nam even had an ominous feeling that Yoo Oseon would attend tomorrow’s ceremony, and Yoo Siwoon might do something with this gun there.
“That’s why I’m telling you this. You need to leave early tomorrow, so go and rest now.”
“Why are you acting like this? CEO Yoo Oseon might come tomorrow.”
“I suppose so. The cousin I thought I had killed will also come tomorrow.”
“…”
“…Everyone will gather there.”
“You’re not planning to do something there, are you?”
Director Nam asked in horror. He imagined Yoo Siwoon with a gun shooting all the Yongse Pacheon Church members.
“Why would I do such a crazy thing?”
“…That’s how it appears.”
“Don’t you have too vivid an imagination?”
Yoo Siwoon took off the jacket he had worn combatively as if he was about to kill someone and unfastened the holster on his chest. He put the gun and holster directly into the safe and closed it.
“Will you go to the ceremony tomorrow? What about Eunseong? Wouldn’t it be better if I took him somewhere safe?”
He seemed to have made some kind of decision. Director Nam asked with anxious and uneasy eyes, afraid that his decision might involve the horrific scene he had imagined.
“That won’t be necessary. It’s late, so please go now. I think I need to rest as well.”
“…Haah, I’ll call for more private security and strengthen the perimeter. I’ll be on standby at the staff quarters.”
Sighing at Yoo Siwoon who wasn’t listening to him at all, Director Nam resolved to at least prepare his own countermeasures and turned away quickly.
∞ ∞ ∞
In the early dawn, a thick fog covered the garden. Eunseong opened his eyes to a gentle hand on his shoulder. His body felt stiff, so he curled his back and stretched long. As he turned over, his eyes met Yoo Siwoon’s, who had his hand on Eunseong’s shoulder. Eunseong greeted him with a hoarse voice.
“Ahjussi… did you sleep well?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“What time is it now? It seems too early.”
He grabbed his phone from the bedside and checked the time on the screen. It was just past five in the morning. He looked at Yoo Siwoon questioningly, wondering why he had woken him so early. The lingering drowsiness made him yawn.
“I have somewhere to go.”
“Where?”
“Just… somewhere I need to go. I’d like you to come with me.”
“…”
The tone sounded somehow grave, so Eunseong just nodded without asking further. He sat up with his sluggish body creaking. Yoo Siwoon told him to wash up and left the room.
Eunseong yawned again, rubbing his sleepy eyes with the back of his hand, and turned to look out the window. It was not a good day. A thick fog had settled, making everything look hazy.
“…The fog is so thick here. First time I’ve seen it.”
After hesitating briefly, reluctant to leave the warm bed, he kicked off the blanket and got up. He showered and changed clothes. When he went to the living room, the familiar scent of coffee was spreading.
Yoo Siwoon was brewing drip coffee as usual. He carefully moistened the coffee grounds and poured hot water to let the brown coffee liquid drip through. The rich aroma passing through the filter paper seemed especially fragrant today.
“I’d like coffee too.”
“Would you?”
He brewed coffee for Eunseong too and poured it into a pretty cup.
Eunseong took the coffee cup Yoo Siwoon handed him and gulped it down. The fact that coffee was tasting less bitter to him suggested he was becoming more adult-like. Eunseong felt proud of himself for developing similar tastes and preferences to Yoo Siwoon.
Sipping coffee with him, Eunseong looked back at the garden beyond the foggy window.
“It must be humid today. Did you see the fog outside?”
“It’s rare, but there are days with fog like that during the transition to spring.”
While drinking coffee, Yoo Siwoon peeled an apple and put it on a plate for him. Eunseong finished his coffee and ate the apple. He watched Yoo Siwoon slowly tilting his coffee cup while refreshing his palate with the sweet, crunchy juice of the apple.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Hm?”
“I asked what you’re thinking about so deeply.”
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
“Ahjussi, you look very serious right now. Do you have something troubling you this morning?”
“Do I look that way?”
At Eunseong’s observation, Yoo Siwoon finally cracked a faint smile on his tense face. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he forced himself to smile.
“But where are we going? So early?”
“…To pay respects to the elders.”
“What?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
