#15
Yeoul felt as if he had been struck by lightning without warning. He couldn’t believe it and touched his own cheek. He had no idea what this situation was. He felt wronged and anger surged up. But he tried not to let go of his rational thread. He didn’t know what kind of violence he might commit against Baek Cheonhui.
Soon he heard busy footsteps coming up the stairs. When he turned around, there were Secretary Kim and men in black suits.
“Are you alright?”
Secretary Kim’s expression was calm, as if he had expected things to turn out this way. Following that, the men with him moved in a rush and dragged Baek Cheonhui away.
“Let go! Let me go!”
Baek Cheonhui screamed at the top of his lungs. But he couldn’t match the strength of the burly men and was eventually dragged down to the first floor. Yeoul felt like his head would explode trying to understand what this situation was.
Secretary Kim glanced at Yeoul and opened his mouth.
“It seems Baek Cheonhui-nim snuck into this mansion to avoid our eyes.”
“Snuck in?”
“Yes. According to the housekeeper, he appears to have been in the first-floor storage room.”
“Ah…”
“He probably came because of the contract termination with CEO-nim, but don’t worry about it. CEO-nim will handle it well.”
Even with those words, having been slapped, he couldn’t help but be concerned. Moreover, even if he had been hiding in the mansion, seeing his emaciated appearance made him think differently.
As if he had been confined…
For a moment, a disturbing guess flashed through Yeoul’s mind.
“No way… surely not…”
But it was such an irrational imagination that he shook his head. Secretary Kim said he would handle it, so he would probably send him back safely.
Soon there was no sign of Baek Cheonhui or the men. Had they left? Yeoul looked down at the first-floor living room from the railing to confirm. It was quiet.
Suddenly he felt tired, as if he would get entangled in troublesome matters. His head felt heavy and he could feel the strength leaving his legs. Yeoul pressed his forehead and entered the bedroom, lying down on the bed. Since Eun Sajun would be late today anyway, he thought he might just sleep like this. He closed his eyes.
How much time had passed?
When Yeoul opened his eyes again, the dim ceiling and bedroom scenery greeted him. He didn’t know how much time had passed. Yeoul raised his upper body, which felt as if it had been soaked in water. Then he took out his phone from his pocket and checked the time. It was a little past 9 PM. Yeoul sighed and got up from his spot. Perhaps because he had woken up after a deep sleep, his throat was dry. Thinking he should go to the kitchen, he got out of bed and left the bedroom.
The main lighting in the second-floor living room was off, and mood lighting was softly illuminating the space. However, the housekeeper and other staff who usually moved around the mansion were nowhere to be seen, and a fishy smell faintly reached his nose. What was this? Was someone preparing meat? Yeoul tilted his head and went down the stairs. But as he gradually reached the first-floor living room, this smell became stronger.
Yeoul was puzzled again. He felt like he shouldn’t take another step forward. So he tried to return to the second floor, but he could see what looked like dark red stains sprinkled on the white carpet. Furthermore, there were traces that looked like something had been dragged.
“What is this? What the hell?”
Looking closely, something glittered. Yeoul’s damned curiosity kicked in and he approached closer. It was a ring-shaped piercing. He wondered who the owner of this piercing was. The fishy smell that had been faint gradually became stronger and pierced his nose.
Looking closely, the red stains on the carpet extended all the way to the sofa. On that sofa, someone had collapsed in a miserable state.
It was Baek Cheonhui. A knife was stuck in his neck and his eyes were wide open.
“Huh?”
Moreover, although there was a knife stuck in his neck, his fingers were trembling slightly. It was proof that he was still alive.
“Huk!”
Yeoul was so shocked that his heart beat like crazy.
“Sa… save me.”
Baek Cheonhui moaned faintly. What he had done earlier – slapping his cheek – was unpleasant, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die like this. Yeoul was about to approach to remove the knife stuck in that omega’s neck.
“What are you doing here?”
“Huk.”
Someone’s voice reached him along his spine. Startled, Yeoul turned his head. Eun Sajun stood there with sharp eyes. Yeoul’s heart sank at his appearance.
“No… I…”
He was bewildered. Usually he was always late because of overtime work, so why had he come so early today?
“I… I was thirsty so I came down.”
He tried to speak as calmly as possible, but it wasn’t easy.
“Then why aren’t you drinking water and standing here? I’ll get you water.”
It was when Eun Sajun was about to head to the kitchen.
“Ah…uuh!”
Baek Cheonhui’s moan brushed past his ear.
“Do you want cold water? Or lukewarm water?”
In the midst of all this, he seemed to have forgotten about the existence of Baek Cheonhui in this space.
But Yeoul couldn’t continue trivial conversation with Eun Sajun while Baek Cheonhui was still breathing.
“Um… CEO-nim… This person is still alive. We need to call an ambulance quickly…”
When Yeoul tried to approach Baek Cheonhui, Eun Sajun reached Baek Cheonhui first. Then he grabbed the knife that was stuck in his neck.
“Uuuh!”
Baek Cheonhui made a wet moan and his body squirmed. Yeoul thought Eun Sajun might be giving first aid.
But.
Contrary to Yeoul’s judgment, Eun Sajun stabbed Baek Cheonhui’s neck forcefully. Not just once, but two, three times, stabbing deeply. Baek Cheonhui’s fingers, which had been moving somewhat, froze as if they had stopped.
“Hiik!”
Shocked Yeoul averted his eyes from Baek Cheonhui, who had become a cold corpse. It was too painful to look at anymore.
“From now on, our jagi didn’t see anything.”
Eun Sajun’s face as he spoke calmly showed not a trace of guilt. No, rather he was confident as if he had done something natural.
“Ah… nothing?”
He blinked rapidly, wondering what crazy thing he was saying now. He wondered how he could do such a thing.
Eun Sajun crouched down to match Yeoul’s eye level. Eun Sajun’s sharpened gaze felt colder than frost in May or June. He grabbed Yeoul’s chin with his hand that had Baek Cheonhui’s blood clotted on it.
“You just need to carry my child anyway.”
“……”
“So pretend you didn’t see even when you saw, pretend you don’t know even when you know.”
At his coerciveness, Yeoul was at a loss for words. The Eun Sajun he had heard about through Shin Taeon was not normal. He had known this, but right now, at this moment, he felt like more of a madman than Shin Taeon.
“Answer me. Say you didn’t see anything.”
His authoritative words were full of nuance that he wouldn’t let it slide if he didn’t answer as he wanted.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
He felt like he had fallen into a huge trap, but he was in no position to escape. Moreover, if he didn’t comply with his will now, he might become like Baek Cheonhui. In that process, Yeoul would naturally resist too, and he couldn’t show his violent nature to Eun Sajun once more.
“Yes… yes… I don’t know… I don’t know anything.”
Yeoul had to please him because he wanted to find the code as soon as possible and escape from here. At Yeoul’s appearance, Eun Sajun seemed satisfied and raised one corner of his mouth.
“Then, what do you want to do now?”
It was his question as if testing whether Yeoul would deny this situation itself.
“I… I’m thirsty so I want to drink water.”
Yeoul responded tactfully.
“I see.”
Eun Sajun smiled gently with his eyes, as if satisfied with Yeoul’s answer. Yeoul exhaled a sigh of relief as if he had passed through a major gateway.
“Wait.”
Eun Sajun immediately got up, went into the kitchen, and brought out a glass of water, offering it to Yeoul.
“Here, drink this.”
His gesture was frighteningly gentle. Yeoul had no choice but to accept that glass of water.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
