Chapter 23
The outside air, which I encountered for the first time since arriving at Utopia, was cold and damp.
Surrounded by more than five guards, I took the elevator to the first floor and then exited through a door where no one else could be seen.
The sky, filled with ash-gray clouds, seemed ready to pour rain at any moment.
“They said to wait here.”
Before I knew it, a black sedan came rushing towards me and stopped right in front of me.
A familiar face emerged from the open door.
“Get in.”
Chan was dressed in a sleek black suit and wore black sunglasses.
“Why is it always you?”
As Chan stood by the open back door, his lips trembled as if in a spasm.
With a wry smile, Chan gestured towards the car interior.
“You can ask Yugyeom about that. But for now, would you mind getting in?”
Chan’s face looked anxious and eager as he motioned for me to enter the car.
Without a word, I got into the car obediently.
As the door closed, a distinct scent filled the air.
Chan leaned in close, enveloping me in his unique scent.
“They asked me to escort you safely.”
Struggling to force a smile, Chan handed me the seatbelt and closed the door with a firm click.
Then he opened the door on the other side and sat down beside me.
“Aren’t you driving?”
Chan shrugged and pointed to the driver’s seat. One of the guards who had been following us took the driver’s seat instead.
“I’m not in a position to drive.”
“I thought you were just one of Yugyeom’s lackeys.”
“Hey…! That’s not true!”
As the car smoothly started moving, I leaned against the window and looked outside.
The view of the Hong Kong cityscape wasn’t much different from Seoul, giving me a momentary illusion of returning to my old life before the luxurious sensation of the high-end sedan brought me back to reality.
“Where’s Yugyeom?”
“He’s coming separately. Thanks to that, I’ll be in charge of you all day.”
Lively words carried a hint of thorns, but I paid them no mind.
That day.
It was the day I did the craziest thing in my life.
Yugyeom sat across from me, holding my trembling hands tightly as we sat together.
I didn’t squeeze his hands too hard, as I had no intention of hurting him, yet my palms were a mess.
I couldn’t scream in pain as I removed the glass shards, but it was agonizing to endure the pain in silence.
Throughout the treatment, Yugyeom’s presence worried me as much as the pain itself.
He didn’t ask what crazy thing I had done or if I was okay, but his face showed nothing but anxiety and restlessness as he took shallow breaths.
When the bandages were finally wrapped around my hands, Chan was called away without even looking at me, leaving a message to prepare for me to accompany him tomorrow.
What was he thinking?
“Anyway, it’s fortunate.”
Chan glanced at me with a furrowed brow, and I smiled back at him.
—
“Hey! Chan Yeon-byeol! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes to find Chan shaking me vigorously.
As my vision cleared, I saw Chan vigorously shaking my hands.
“We’ve arrived.”
Wiping my face with both hands, I looked out the window to see that we were no longer in the city.
Instead of tall buildings lining up, the landscape was filled with green trees.
Under a platform surrounded by trees, people stood tightly packed.
“You’re not going out anyway.”
Yugyeom ended up bringing me here, probably because he thought it would be dangerous to leave me alone after yesterday’s incident, as planned by Chan.
Yugyeom didn’t officially disclose that I was the brother of the head of the Baekha Group, so I had to stay hidden quietly inside the car.
Well, it’s fine up to here.
“They’ll take care of it themselves. They’ll help you out as much as they can. Once you’re out, you’ll have to go as far away as possible.”
I remembered Chan’s whispered words when he fastened the seatbelt for me.
But how am I supposed to take care of it?
There’s only one person in the car right now. There must be at least five people outside.
I clenched my fists and banged my head against the window.
—
At that moment, I saw Yugyeom standing on the platform outside the window.
Even in the cloudy weather, his glamorous face sparkled as he held the microphone and spoke.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why I was acting like this, but seeing his face, it seemed to make sense.
Yugyeom, dressed in a trendy deep blue suit, literally shone.
As Yugyeom finished speaking and descended from the platform, people began to disperse and scatter into the mountains.
“Ha…”
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a way to escape from here. Perhaps I had already tried various attempts, so it was clear that nothing I said now would be effective.
“If you’re going to follow Yugyeom to enjoy the mountain breeze and end up getting lost, Yugyeom won’t be able to find you, right?”
It sounds easy. But how can I even get a chance to feel the mountain breeze?
About 30 minutes passed.
Still banging my head against the window, avoiding the strange looks from Chan, who was still looking at me with concern.
Tap, tap.
I raised my head at the sound of tapping on the window. Yugyeom was standing outside the window.
Startled, I recoiled and bumped into Chan. Chan frowned and reached out to lower the window with his long arm.
“Feeling bored?”
Yugyeom said, his lips curling gently.
He didn’t say anything yesterday.
Taken aback, I couldn’t say anything, but Yugyeom reached in through the open window, unlocked the door, and opened it.
“Come out.”
“I brought you here, so you have to take responsibility and have fun.”
What?
“Just pretend to be my bodyguard.”
Yugyeom laughed as he looked at my outfit, a white shirt with black slacks, and extended his hand.
I looked between his hand and Yugyeom’s face with trembling eyes.
“Hey, I’ll lend you these.”
Then Chan handed me the sunglasses as if he had been waiting, and pushed me out.
Caught off guard, I grabbed Yugyeom’s hand and was pushed out of the car.
Bending down to meet my gaze, Yugyeom took the sunglasses from my hand and put them on me.
“It suits you. Bodyguard.”
Yugyeom whispered like a laugh. Then he held my hand and led me somewhere.
“Where are we going…?”
In a whisper-like shout, I turned to Yugyeom, who turned his head towards me and smiled brightly.
“Hunting?”
Anxiety surged even more intensely.
Following Yugyeom, we went deep into the mountains for quite some time. Only when the surroundings became eerily quiet did Yugyeom stop and let go of my hand.
Running his hand through his neatly arranged hair, he exuded a strangely calm atmosphere.
Yugyeom rummaged inside his jacket and pulled out a gun.
“What’s going on…!”
For a moment, I imagined myself lying dead in a deserted place, but I shook my head vigorously to dispel the thought.
Seeing multiple guns tucked inside Yugyeom’s jacket, I swallowed hard.
Yugyeom loaded bullets into the gun and then raised my wrist with his free hand, the one not holding the gun.
“You want to run away with this?”
The cold metal of the gun gripped my hand.
Looking up at him with astonishment, Yugyeom tilted his head slightly and smiled.
“Then try running away once.”
I felt like my mind went blank for a moment.
What is he saying?
Is he serious?
Am I supposed to try running away? Is that it?
I could only stand there frozen, mesmerized by his perfectly drawn, beautiful smile.
Unable to figure out what to say, I rolled my eyes and avoided his gaze.
Is he testing me?
But what’s there to test? Even if he takes a quick look, he’ll know I’m desperate to escape from here.
“What if I get caught if I run away?”
Yugyeom asked cautiously as he handed me the gun. His gaze on me became somewhat mysterious.
Then, in a moment of hesitation before his laughter, a shadow loomed closer.
Hot lips brushed against my forehead and then pulled away.
I raised my head and blinked. Yugyeom’s eyes scanned my lips with a dangerous glint.
“Now, whether roasted or boiled, it’s all up to me.”
His harsh words sent shivers down my spine.
But I couldn’t let go of the gun I was holding.
He’s practically offering me the chance to escape.
Sure, the price might be excessively harsh, but…
The next day was the final day of the establishment party. There wouldn’t be another chance like this before then.
Whether roasted or boiled, as long as I don’t get caught, that’s all that matters, right?
“Okay.”
With a quick response, Yugyeom chuckled.
Yugyeom seemed to have no intention of letting me escape.
He seemed confident that even if I, a princess of a small country, ran away for a few minutes, he could easily catch me.
“Give it a try, see if you can escape.”
But I felt the same.
“I’ll never get caught.”
Yugyeom chuckled and slowly released my hand, stepping back. Leaning against a tree, he looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“When I close my eyes, we’ll start. I’ll stay here quietly for 3 minutes.”
“…3 minutes seem too short. How about 5 minutes?”
His casualness ignited my competitive spirit.
“If I can do it, I’ll give it a try, Your Highness.”
Yugyeom lazily smiled with his eyes half-closed.
He ran his slender fingers over his piercing, his gaze intensifying until the very end.
Bang!
At the sound of a gunshot from somewhere, Yugyeom closed his eyes.
Chapter 23
The outside air, which I encountered for the first time since arriving at Utopia, was cold and damp.
Surrounded by more than five guards, I took the elevator to the first floor and then exited through a door where no one else could be seen.
The sky, filled with ash-gray clouds, seemed ready to pour rain at any moment.
“They said to wait here.”
Before I knew it, a black sedan came rushing towards me and stopped right in front of me.
A familiar face emerged from the open door.
“Get in.”
Chan was dressed in a sleek black suit and wore black sunglasses.
“Why is it always you?”
As Chan stood by the open back door, his lips trembled as if in a spasm.
With a wry smile, Chan gestured towards the car interior.
“You can ask Yugyeom about that. But for now, would you mind getting in?”
Chan’s face looked anxious and eager as he motioned for me to enter the car.
Without a word, I got into the car obediently.
As the door closed, a distinct scent filled the air.
Chan leaned in close, enveloping me in his unique scent.
“They asked me to escort you safely.”
Struggling to force a smile, Chan handed me the seatbelt and closed the door with a firm click.
Then he opened the door on the other side and sat down beside me.
“Aren’t you driving?”
Chan shrugged and pointed to the driver’s seat. One of the guards who had been following us took the driver’s seat instead.
“I’m not in a position to drive.”
“I thought you were just one of Yugyeom’s lackeys.”
“Hey…! That’s not true!”
As the car smoothly started moving, I leaned against the window and looked outside.
The view of the Hong Kong cityscape wasn’t much different from Seoul, giving me a momentary illusion of returning to my old life before the luxurious sensation of the high-end sedan brought me back to reality.
“Where’s Yugyeom?”
“He’s coming separately. Thanks to that, I’ll be in charge of you all day.”
Lively words carried a hint of thorns, but I paid them no mind.
That day.
It was the day I did the craziest thing in my life.
Yugyeom sat across from me, holding my trembling hands tightly as we sat together.
I didn’t squeeze his hands too hard, as I had no intention of hurting him, yet my palms were a mess.
I couldn’t scream in pain as I removed the glass shards, but it was agonizing to endure the pain in silence.
Throughout the treatment, Yugyeom’s presence worried me as much as the pain itself.
He didn’t ask what crazy thing I had done or if I was okay, but his face showed nothing but anxiety and restlessness as he took shallow breaths.
When the bandages were finally wrapped around my hands, Chan was called away without even looking at me, leaving a message to prepare for me to accompany him tomorrow.
What was he thinking?
“Anyway, it’s fortunate.”
Chan glanced at me with a furrowed brow, and I smiled back at him.
—
“Hey! Chan Yeon-byeol! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes to find Chan shaking me vigorously.
As my vision cleared, I saw Chan vigorously shaking my hands.
“We’ve arrived.”
Wiping my face with both hands, I looked out the window to see that we were no longer in the city.
Instead of tall buildings lining up, the landscape was filled with green trees.
Under a platform surrounded by trees, people stood tightly packed.
“You’re not going out anyway.”
Yugyeom ended up bringing me here, probably because he thought it would be dangerous to leave me alone after yesterday’s incident, as planned by Chan.
Yugyeom didn’t officially disclose that I was the brother of the head of the Baekha Group, so I had to stay hidden quietly inside the car.
Well, it’s fine up to here.
“They’ll take care of it themselves. They’ll help you out as much as they can. Once you’re out, you’ll have to go as far away as possible.”
I remembered Chan’s whispered words when he fastened the seatbelt for me.
But how am I supposed to take care of it?
There’s only one person in the car right now. There must be at least five people outside.
I clenched my fists and banged my head against the window.
—
At that moment, I saw Yugyeom standing on the platform outside the window.
Even in the cloudy weather, his glamorous face sparkled as he held the microphone and spoke.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why I was acting like this, but seeing his face, it seemed to make sense.
Yugyeom, dressed in a trendy deep blue suit, literally shone.
As Yugyeom finished speaking and descended from the platform, people began to disperse and scatter into the mountains.
“Ha…”
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a way to escape from here. Perhaps I had already tried various attempts, so it was clear that nothing I said now would be effective.
“If you’re going to follow Yugyeom to enjoy the mountain breeze and end up getting lost, Yugyeom won’t be able to find you, right?”
It sounds easy. But how can I even get a chance to feel the mountain breeze?
About 30 minutes passed.
Still banging my head against the window, avoiding the strange looks from Chan, who was still looking at me with concern.
Tap, tap.
I raised my head at the sound of tapping on the window. Yugyeom was standing outside the window.
Startled, I recoiled and bumped into Chan. Chan frowned and reached out to lower the window with his long arm.
“Feeling bored?”
Yugyeom said, his lips curling gently.
He didn’t say anything yesterday.
Taken aback, I couldn’t say anything, but Yugyeom reached in through the open window, unlocked the door, and opened it.
“Come out.”
“I brought you here, so you have to take responsibility and have fun.”
What?
“Just pretend to be my bodyguard.”
Yugyeom laughed as he looked at my outfit, a white shirt with black slacks, and extended his hand.
I looked between his hand and Yugyeom’s face with trembling eyes.
“Hey, I’ll lend you these.”
Then Chan handed me the sunglasses as if he had been waiting, and pushed me out.
Caught off guard, I grabbed Yugyeom’s hand and was pushed out of the car.
Bending down to meet my gaze, Yugyeom took the sunglasses from my hand and put them on me.
“It suits you. Bodyguard.”
Yugyeom whispered like a laugh. Then he held my hand and led me somewhere.
“Where are we going…?”
In a whisper-like shout, I turned to Yugyeom, who turned his head towards me and smiled brightly.
“Hunting?”
Anxiety surged even more intensely.
Following Yugyeom, we went deep into the mountains for quite some time. Only when the surroundings became eerily quiet did Yugyeom stop and let go of my hand.
Running his hand through his neatly arranged hair, he exuded a strangely calm atmosphere.
Yugyeom rummaged inside his jacket and pulled out a gun.
“What’s going on…!”
For a moment, I imagined myself lying dead in a deserted place, but I shook my head vigorously to dispel the thought.
Seeing multiple guns tucked inside Yugyeom’s jacket, I swallowed hard.
Yugyeom loaded bullets into the gun and then raised my wrist with his free hand, the one not holding the gun.
“You want to run away with this?”
The cold metal of the gun gripped my hand.
Looking up at him with astonishment, Yugyeom tilted his head slightly and smiled.
“Then try running away once.”
I felt like my mind went blank for a moment.
What is he saying?
Is he serious?
Am I supposed to try running away? Is that it?
I could only stand there frozen, mesmerized by his perfectly drawn, beautiful smile.
Unable to figure out what to say, I rolled my eyes and avoided his gaze.
Is he testing me?
But what’s there to test? Even if he takes a quick look, he’ll know I’m desperate to escape from here.
“What if I get caught if I run away?”
Yugyeom asked cautiously as he handed me the gun. His gaze on me became somewhat mysterious.
Then, in a moment of hesitation before his laughter, a shadow loomed closer.
Hot lips brushed against my forehead and then pulled away.
I raised my head and blinked. Yugyeom’s eyes scanned my lips with a dangerous glint.
“Now, whether roasted or boiled, it’s all up to me.”
His harsh words sent shivers down my spine.
But I couldn’t let go of the gun I was holding.
He’s practically offering me the chance to escape.
Sure, the price might be excessively harsh, but…
The next day was the final day of the establishment party. There wouldn’t be another chance like this before then.
Whether roasted or boiled, as long as I don’t get caught, that’s all that matters, right?
“Okay.”
With a quick response, Yugyeom chuckled.
Yugyeom seemed to have no intention of letting me escape.
He seemed confident that even if I, a princess of a small country, ran away for a few minutes, he could easily catch me.
“Give it a try, see if you can escape.”
But I felt the same.
“I’ll never get caught.”
Yugyeom chuckled and slowly released my hand, stepping back. Leaning against a tree, he looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“When I close my eyes, we’ll start. I’ll stay here quietly for 3 minutes.”
“…3 minutes seem too short. How about 5 minutes?”
His casualness ignited my competitive spirit.
“If I can do it, I’ll give it a try, Your Highness.”
Yugyeom lazily smiled with his eyes half-closed.
He ran his slender fingers over his piercing, his gaze intensifying until the very end.
Bang!
At the sound of a gunshot from somewhere, Yugyeom closed his eyes.
