68.
“79.3 percent.”
“Great, now we have less than 1 percent left. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”
Choi Jae-won looked up at Ryu Ho-yeon with a bright, beaming smile. When Ho-yeon, who had hidden Lexy’s visit, only told him about Howard coming to cause trouble, Jae-won revealed the true purpose of his suddenly created vacation, mentioning that he too had met Howard one more time. Jae-won said there was nothing left to hide, took Ho-yeon’s hand, and led him downstairs. The construction of the first and second floors had somehow been completed, and they were now packed with various experimental equipment with hardly any room to step.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you happy, hyung?”
Ho-yeon silently stared at Jae-won’s gaunt face—he had reportedly handled various matters without a wink of sleep and even brought back Dr. An, who volunteered to lie on the experimental table again. His complexion was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and his twitching lips looked grotesque. An inexplicable madness flickered in his eyes.
Inexplicable… was that really true?
When he had imagined a happy future with Jae-won while gently flying back on a lavender cloud, he certainly hadn’t anticipated a scene like this.
Both his left and right hands were covered with injection marks. Judging by their appearance, it seemed he had even injected solutions into the blood vessels near his neck or on the tops of his feet when there was no space left elsewhere. His dry lips split into a cheerful curve upward. Despite blood droplets forming on his cracked lips, Jae-won seemed completely numb to the pain. His bloody lips pressed firmly like a stamp onto the back of Ho-yeon’s hand.
“Sleep. Why haven’t you slept at all? Even just a little.”
A hot sensation welled up in his throat, making his words naturally break. Jae-won answered while rubbing his cheek against Ho-yeon’s hand that he was holding, like a pet currying favor with its owner.
“It’s fine. I can sleep plenty later. Once this problem is solved… let’s really go on vacation together. Remember us in Berlin? Waking up late in bed, watching any movie with you, eating whatever when hungry, sleeping again when tired… like that, without a care.”
“Jae-won.”
“I didn’t realize it then, but looking back, I think I was happiest at that time. What about you?”
“…”
Faced with Jae-won’s haggard eyes, their blood vessels all standing out, Ho-yeon couldn’t bring himself to either nod in agreement or shake his head in denial. If he were to honestly confess that those were indeed his happiest moments as well, Jae-won would desperately struggle to protect his position by Ho-yeon’s side, sacrificing his body and mental strength. But if he lied to avoid this, wouldn’t all of Jae-won’s efforts so far be in vain?
He didn’t want much, just as much as everyone else. He wouldn’t even dream of the presumptuous wish to live freely—just enough to be able to fall blindly into the sweet dream of love that he had only just begun to understand. Couldn’t he be just that happy?
In his current state of mind, Ho-yeon felt he would be fine even if he could never read his favorite novels or comics again. He would be fine wandering dungeons for his entire life without retirement. If only Jae-won could be freed from this damn experiment and remain by his side without any sense of crisis.
Yes. Ho-yeon just…
“Well, I think I’m generally happy whenever I’m with you.”
He just wanted to be with Choi Jae-won.
Jae-won probably couldn’t even imagine how overwhelmingly deep Ho-yeon’s despair had been when he experienced Lexy’s seemingly impossible guiding.
With that ridiculously powerful guiding, Lexy had taken Ho-yeon to a state of tranquility that Jae-won had never been able to reach in all his years of struggling. It was a rough and powerful wavelength, as if grabbing him by the collar and dragging him along. The moment that guiding touched his body, he instinctively knew that Jae-won’s desperate struggles and all his efforts to somehow raise the matching rate or purity were meaningless actions.
“Hyung…”
Looking at Jae-won, who seemed somewhat moved while unaware of his complex inner turmoil, Ho-yeon felt like he was lost in the middle of an amusement park. Like a feeling of both enjoying the colorful fireworks and parades bursting right before his eyes, yet also feeling anxious and unsettled, unable to get his bearings.
Instead of this, perhaps it would be better to find Lexy and settle things properly. Ask him what he really wants, tell him to stop the nonsense about destiny and fate after suddenly appearing when Ho-yeon had lived for nearly thirty years. Tell him he’ll give him anything except the position of pair Guide. Or perhaps he should go find his biological father, who seemed quite unhinged, and tell him that if he was so desperately in love with Lexy, he should just take him and disappear.
Ho-yeon hid his unsettled feelings beneath his characteristically impassive expression and gently stroked Jae-won’s rough face with his thumb.
“Alright, let’s go upstairs and get some sleep. Your face looks exactly like a skull right now.”
“A skull? That’s harsh. Where would you find such a handsome skull?”
“Where? Right in front of my eyes.”
“Heh… okay. Let’s go up. Ah, Doctor. I’ll be back after getting a few hours of sleep, so please maintain the settings as they are without resetting them.”
“Yes, young master. Take care.”
Whatever Dr. An had gone through while being held captive by Chairman Choi’s people, his behavior had become impeccably polite. Ho-yeon didn’t even glance at Dr. An as he pulled Jae-won up to the third floor. Knowing too well that the faint, acrid smell of blood permeating the laboratory had all come from Jae-won, he didn’t want to stay there a moment longer.
After pushing him toward the bathroom with instructions to wash with warm water, Ho-yeon was about to climb into bed when Jae-won’s phone, left on the living room table, began to vibrate continuously. Ho-yeon got up without thinking to bring him the phone.
“…Isn’t this Mom?”
However, surprisingly, the caller was listed as “Director Ryu.” If it was a call from the Research Director, it wouldn’t be a big problem for Ho-yeon to answer. Before Ho-yeon could even say “Yes, Mom” after answering the phone.
—”I’m telling you to restore my son to his original state right now.”
An icily cold voice he had never heard before. Ho-yeon momentarily lost his words and pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it. The thought was to check if it was someone else, but both the saved name and the eleven-digit number confirmed it was indeed his mother.
—”I’ve been considerate of your efforts until now, but this is as far as it goes. I’ll give you exactly one hour,”
“Mom?”
—”Ho-yeon! My baby, is that you Ho-yeon? Are you with Jae-won now? That crazy bas—, I mean, has Jae-won forced you to do anything? Like… rushing to imprint despite not having fully achieved the matching rate.”
“…What, what on earth are you talking about, Mom? It’s Jae-won. Choi Jae-won, the one you were so fond of and proud of!”
—”That was only when there was no one else who could provide you with guiding. Have you met Lexy too? Have you received guiding from him? How is it? Completely different, right? Do you know what your matching rate with that Guide was in the temporary test conducted with your DNA sample? Come back quickly, hurry!!”
The Research Director’s voice, having confirmed her son’s well-being and regained composure, had the same calm undertone of laughter as when Ho-yeon first learned about Jae-won’s experiment.
In truth, he had considered the possibility. That the two people who would absolutely stand on Ho-yeon’s side might end up looking in completely opposite directions due to the sudden appearance of another Guide.
But he never expected such a rapid change of attitude. If she had even the slightest guilt for turning a blind eye to young Jae-won’s long-suffering, if she knew that her son, who never knew how to give his heart to others, had accepted Jae-won to the point of kissing him unreservedly in public view—even as the Research Director, she shouldn’t change her attitude so quickly and so drastically.
Just as Ho-yeon was watching in dismay as his mother’s desperate and selfish love for him revealed yet another bare face.
“Hyung, what are you doing here?”
Choi Jae-won smoothly took the phone with a smile as if nothing was wrong. After checking the caller, he said only “I’m hanging up” and immediately ended the call.
“Let’s hurry and go to sleep. I don’t think I can fall asleep without you by my side.”
His expression, with its gentle smile, showed not even the slightest hint of wavering. It was a manifestation of pure love that would never yield to anyone in terms of persistence and desperation.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
