Chapter 19
I was lucid the entire time until Yugyeom and Ichan left the room.
I heard the door close behind them and opened my eyes when I realized that I hadn’t heard them for a while.
“Please tell me I didn’t hear wrong…….”
I sighed and buried my face in my hands.
I thought I could change it.
It’s a romance for the main characters and a bloody noir for the rest of us.
“Everything about Cha Yeon-byul, everything.
Princess, the moment I said your name out loud for the first time, not as a joke, my mind snapped like a bucket of cold water.
I must flee.
My plan to keep Yugyeom from killing me with sweet words and to return to Baekcheon with him on the day he comes to Utopia was too complacent.
If Yugyeom and Baek Ha-won’s first meeting went wrong, how could I be sure Baek Ha-won would come on the last day?
He’ll either get caught before he leaves, or he’ll freeze to death out there.
“Either we kill him quietly. Or we can tell the boss, the old man, now.
I couldn’t stay in this room any longer.
I grabbed the shirt Ichan had given me and pulled it on, walking to my still-shaky legs and opening the closet.
I wished I could put on pants, but I knew they wouldn’t fit. As if that weren’t enough, he pulled on a black jacket and slipped on a black hat.
“This hasn’t happened in three months. I haven’t seen him come in or go out, but I’m sure it’s something to do with the white cloth. He didn’t just take stuff.
He said he hadn’t seen it go in or out.
That means there’s another way out, and there’s only one way out.
I ran my fingertips over the painting where I’d thrown the book the other day.
I felt a square indentation in the center. I pressed firmly on the square and the white wall spun like a revolving door.
I hurried to step inside, but my gaze caught something I couldn’t pass up.
“A cell phone.
Why is that in there?
It was lying on the table as if it had never been there before, but it was there.
I was skeptical, but I slipped the phone into my jacket pocket and went inside the wall.
I vaguely remembered Baek Ha-won’s phone number, which I had memorized just in case.
“Think. Think.”
I pushed the wall back into place and looked around the room, but nothing had changed.
My gaze didn’t wander but followed Yugyeom’s trail.
A patch of yellow light hung over the white bed where I’d first opened my eyes.
The desk across from the bed was neat but scuffed, and it wasn’t hard to picture Yugyeom sitting there.
His drawn gaze landed on a small window.
“…….”
At that moment, a sense of foreignness cut through my mind.
The sky beyond the window was the same as the one he’d seen outside.
But it wasn’t in the right place.
It was now out of place with the structure of the outside world that I could picture with my eyes closed.
Despite myself, my feet were already moving.
To the touch, it felt no different than a pane of glass. I reached out and groped the window frame carefully.
My fingertips caught a small square indentation like the one in the painting.
I pressed firmly on the square and the window slid gently aside, revealing a black space beyond the wall.
A long wire ran through the hole. I thought it was a window, but it turned out that a monitor had been attached to it as a window.
I stared at the square hole, just big enough for a person to fit through, and then burst out laughing.
It was fake.
The flames that rose over his face, the eyes that colored. Even the firecrackers that had set his heart racing.
All of it.
* * * *
Beyond the hole was a space that was barely a room.
There were several large monitors and speakers on the walls that looked like they had been painted over. There were no lights on, but the glow from the monitors was enough.
There were two doors, but I didn’t think twice about it.
I wouldn’t have put a door in a place where I could open it and risk being seen.
Bam.
I chose the right door. As soon as I turned the doorknob, a strange odor hit me.
The first thing I saw was a bloody, waterlogged floor.
I didn’t even take a step into it.
The man, his roped arms dangling from the ceiling, looked unconscious. His skin was bruised and his wounds had lost their color, but I recognized him at once.
The man with the oil painting.
The one who probably stole Yugyeom’s information and passed it on to Yoohwa.
I covered my mouth with my hand and stumbled backward.
Without even closing the door again, I opened another door as if I were running away.
Luckily, it was just an ordinary warehouse.
My legs went limp, but instead of hesitating, I ran and opened the opposite door.
“Hah…….”
As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, I leaned my back against the door and let out a deep breath.
But I immediately stiffened with nervousness and pulled my hat tighter around my head. My heart pounded in my chest, rising to the top of my throat.
Please don’t let anyone see me.
The sky was the color of a cup of red paint poured into a blue sky. We walked down a hallway that was flooded with orange light.
“……this is where.”
And then I got lost.
I thought I would take the elevator or take the stairs down to the first floor like I did last time, but I had never seen this place before.
At the end of the hallway was a bridge that seemed to lead to another building.
The bridge reminded me of a scene. It was the setting for a very important scene in the novel.
<‘Don’t go…….’
Yugyeom grabbed Baek Ha-won with a desperate voice as if he would never let go again.
As if it would collapse at any moment.
Or maybe it’s already falling apart.
It was one of my favorite scenes.
It’s one of my favorite scenes because it’s when Yugyeom, who was only trying to take advantage of Haewon’s feelings for him, realizes my feelings for him.
‘…….’
I paused at the end of the hallway.
My legs, reddened by the sunset, seemed to warn me not to approach.
But I was scared and drawn at the same time, and I couldn’t resist.
Eventually, I took a step forward toward the bridge.
The bridge was made of glass to the bottom, which made me feel dizzy underfoot.
At the end of the bridge was a fairly large circular space, a tall tower-like structure in the center of a large dome-shaped training area.
It was built for the organization’s members to observe their training.
A long, narrow spiral staircase led downward.
Maybe it would be better to go out this way.
I might not see anyone as I descended the stairs, as it was only for the top brass.
Chances are they’ll be too busy training to see me.
Either way, it was better than going through the lobby on the first floor, which would be crowded and guarded.
Maybe I’d get lucky and get a gun.
I slowly made my way down the stairs, keeping my ears to the ground so I could jump back up if I needed to.
It wasn’t long before I stopped.
Puck!
The sound from the bottom of the stairs sharply broke the silence. I poked my head out to look down, but it was too dark to see much.
I was about to abandon this path in a neat little pile, no questions asked.
“Chong, my dear brother.”
Puck-! Puck!
“Yugyeom!”
A familiar voice overlaid the sound of beating people. It had a distinctive way of speaking, and I recognized it at once.
Yoo-hwa is down here.
And probably Yugyeom too.
The image of Yugyeom’s scar-covered upper body flashed in my mind.
The fact that he hadn’t groaned under the constant beatings tightened my heart.
I took a few more steps down, even though my head told me to go up.
As I stopped at the end of the thick shadows, I could see the oil painting’s face blurred in the light of the lamp.
“I should have killed you and your mother back then, huh?”
Yuhwa twisted Yugyeom’s jaw and pushed him hard against the railing.
“Because I’m getting tired of being a ghastly survivor and a lowlife.”
A creepy chuckle bubbled out of his voice, his anger suppressed.
The tendons in Yugyeom’s clenched forearms bulged with roughness.
From where I stood, I couldn’t see his face, so I couldn’t tell what his expression was as his breathing tightened but never wavered.
“Ah, yes. I heard about it. It was pretty well known that Baek Hyun-woo went crazy and brought home a woman who looked like my dead wife and her daughter.”
Yuhwa leaned toward Yugyeom.
“That woman died the same day as Baek Hawon, and…….”
“…….”
“You have it, right?”
She grinned with glee and twisted her head to whisper in Yugyeom’s ear.
“Her daughter.”
His shoulders stiffened reflexively.
At the same time, Yugyeom’s gaze shot upward.
I quickly stepped back. I held my breath and waited for her gaze to drop from the darkness.
It was then.
Yugyeom leaned in and whispered in her ear, just as Yuhwa had done.
“But what can we do, sister?”
There was a hint of laughter in his soft voice.
She leaned over and twisted her head to a different angle, so she could see Yugyeom’s face now.
“I didn’t want you to live like this-”
Yugyeom laughed. It was the same face I’d seen in my dream.
His pale eyes were muddier than a swamp, blacker than a pit.
“It’s so funny to see you so eager.”
The eyes turned to me.
Unfazed, as if I’d been looking at you for a while.
Chapter 19
I was lucid the entire time until Yugyeom and Ichan left the room.
I heard the door close behind them and opened my eyes when I realized that I hadn’t heard them for a while.
“Please tell me I didn’t hear wrong…….”
I sighed and buried my face in my hands.
I thought I could change it.
It’s a romance for the main characters and a bloody noir for the rest of us.
“Everything about Cha Yeon-byul, everything.
Princess, the moment I said your name out loud for the first time, not as a joke, my mind snapped like a bucket of cold water.
I must flee.
My plan to keep Yugyeom from killing me with sweet words and to return to Baekcheon with him on the day he comes to Utopia was too complacent.
If Yugyeom and Baek Ha-won’s first meeting went wrong, how could I be sure Baek Ha-won would come on the last day?
He’ll either get caught before he leaves, or he’ll freeze to death out there.
“Either we kill him quietly. Or we can tell the boss, the old man, now.
I couldn’t stay in this room any longer.
I grabbed the shirt Ichan had given me and pulled it on, walking to my still-shaky legs and opening the closet.
I wished I could put on pants, but I knew they wouldn’t fit. As if that weren’t enough, he pulled on a black jacket and slipped on a black hat.
“This hasn’t happened in three months. I haven’t seen him come in or go out, but I’m sure it’s something to do with the white cloth. He didn’t just take stuff.
He said he hadn’t seen it go in or out.
That means there’s another way out, and there’s only one way out.
I ran my fingertips over the painting where I’d thrown the book the other day.
I felt a square indentation in the center. I pressed firmly on the square and the white wall spun like a revolving door.
I hurried to step inside, but my gaze caught something I couldn’t pass up.
“A cell phone.
Why is that in there?
It was lying on the table as if it had never been there before, but it was there.
I was skeptical, but I slipped the phone into my jacket pocket and went inside the wall.
I vaguely remembered Baek Ha-won’s phone number, which I had memorized just in case.
“Think. Think.”
I pushed the wall back into place and looked around the room, but nothing had changed.
My gaze didn’t wander but followed Yugyeom’s trail.
A patch of yellow light hung over the white bed where I’d first opened my eyes.
The desk across from the bed was neat but scuffed, and it wasn’t hard to picture Yugyeom sitting there.
His drawn gaze landed on a small window.
“…….”
At that moment, a sense of foreignness cut through my mind.
The sky beyond the window was the same as the one he’d seen outside.
But it wasn’t in the right place.
It was now out of place with the structure of the outside world that I could picture with my eyes closed.
Despite myself, my feet were already moving.
To the touch, it felt no different than a pane of glass. I reached out and groped the window frame carefully.
My fingertips caught a small square indentation like the one in the painting.
I pressed firmly on the square and the window slid gently aside, revealing a black space beyond the wall.
A long wire ran through the hole. I thought it was a window, but it turned out that a monitor had been attached to it as a window.
I stared at the square hole, just big enough for a person to fit through, and then burst out laughing.
It was fake.
The flames that rose over his face, the eyes that colored. Even the firecrackers that had set his heart racing.
All of it.
* * * *
Beyond the hole was a space that was barely a room.
There were several large monitors and speakers on the walls that looked like they had been painted over. There were no lights on, but the glow from the monitors was enough.
There were two doors, but I didn’t think twice about it.
I wouldn’t have put a door in a place where I could open it and risk being seen.
Bam.
I chose the right door. As soon as I turned the doorknob, a strange odor hit me.
The first thing I saw was a bloody, waterlogged floor.
I didn’t even take a step into it.
The man, his roped arms dangling from the ceiling, looked unconscious. His skin was bruised and his wounds had lost their color, but I recognized him at once.
The man with the oil painting.
The one who probably stole Yugyeom’s information and passed it on to Yoohwa.
I covered my mouth with my hand and stumbled backward.
Without even closing the door again, I opened another door as if I were running away.
Luckily, it was just an ordinary warehouse.
My legs went limp, but instead of hesitating, I ran and opened the opposite door.
“Hah…….”
As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, I leaned my back against the door and let out a deep breath.
But I immediately stiffened with nervousness and pulled my hat tighter around my head. My heart pounded in my chest, rising to the top of my throat.
Please don’t let anyone see me.
The sky was the color of a cup of red paint poured into a blue sky. We walked down a hallway that was flooded with orange light.
“……this is where.”
And then I got lost.
I thought I would take the elevator or take the stairs down to the first floor like I did last time, but I had never seen this place before.
At the end of the hallway was a bridge that seemed to lead to another building.
The bridge reminded me of a scene. It was the setting for a very important scene in the novel.
<‘Don’t go…….’
Yugyeom grabbed Baek Ha-won with a desperate voice as if he would never let go again.
As if it would collapse at any moment.
Or maybe it’s already falling apart.
It was one of my favorite scenes.
It’s one of my favorite scenes because it’s when Yugyeom, who was only trying to take advantage of Haewon’s feelings for him, realizes my feelings for him.
‘…….’
I paused at the end of the hallway.
My legs, reddened by the sunset, seemed to warn me not to approach.
But I was scared and drawn at the same time, and I couldn’t resist.
Eventually, I took a step forward toward the bridge.
The bridge was made of glass to the bottom, which made me feel dizzy underfoot.
At the end of the bridge was a fairly large circular space, a tall tower-like structure in the center of a large dome-shaped training area.
It was built for the organization’s members to observe their training.
A long, narrow spiral staircase led downward.
Maybe it would be better to go out this way.
I might not see anyone as I descended the stairs, as it was only for the top brass.
Chances are they’ll be too busy training to see me.
Either way, it was better than going through the lobby on the first floor, which would be crowded and guarded.
Maybe I’d get lucky and get a gun.
I slowly made my way down the stairs, keeping my ears to the ground so I could jump back up if I needed to.
It wasn’t long before I stopped.
Puck!
The sound from the bottom of the stairs sharply broke the silence. I poked my head out to look down, but it was too dark to see much.
I was about to abandon this path in a neat little pile, no questions asked.
“Chong, my dear brother.”
Puck-! Puck!
“Yugyeom!”
A familiar voice overlaid the sound of beating people. It had a distinctive way of speaking, and I recognized it at once.
Yoo-hwa is down here.
And probably Yugyeom too.
The image of Yugyeom’s scar-covered upper body flashed in my mind.
The fact that he hadn’t groaned under the constant beatings tightened my heart.
I took a few more steps down, even though my head told me to go up.
As I stopped at the end of the thick shadows, I could see the oil painting’s face blurred in the light of the lamp.
“I should have killed you and your mother back then, huh?”
Yuhwa twisted Yugyeom’s jaw and pushed him hard against the railing.
“Because I’m getting tired of being a ghastly survivor and a lowlife.”
A creepy chuckle bubbled out of his voice, his anger suppressed.
The tendons in Yugyeom’s clenched forearms bulged with roughness.
From where I stood, I couldn’t see his face, so I couldn’t tell what his expression was as his breathing tightened but never wavered.
“Ah, yes. I heard about it. It was pretty well known that Baek Hyun-woo went crazy and brought home a woman who looked like my dead wife and her daughter.”
Yuhwa leaned toward Yugyeom.
“That woman died the same day as Baek Hawon, and…….”
“…….”
“You have it, right?”
She grinned with glee and twisted her head to whisper in Yugyeom’s ear.
“Her daughter.”
His shoulders stiffened reflexively.
At the same time, Yugyeom’s gaze shot upward.
I quickly stepped back. I held my breath and waited for her gaze to drop from the darkness.
It was then.
Yugyeom leaned in and whispered in her ear, just as Yuhwa had done.
“But what can we do, sister?”
There was a hint of laughter in his soft voice.
She leaned over and twisted her head to a different angle, so she could see Yugyeom’s face now.
“I didn’t want you to live like this-”
Yugyeom laughed. It was the same face I’d seen in my dream.
His pale eyes were muddier than a swamp, blacker than a pit.
“It’s so funny to see you so eager.”
The eyes turned to me.
Unfazed, as if I’d been looking at you for a while.
