Chapter 32
Hawon set down his fountain pen and accepted the folder handed to him by Jiwoon. As he casually perused the densely written pages within the documents, his lips curled up slightly, in contrast to his indifferent expression.
“It’s quite blatant, isn’t it?”
Despite his upturned lips, his eyes gleamed sharply.
“They’re practically barking at us.”
Ha-won raised his gaze towards Jiwoon, and his lips slowly twisted into a smirk. Jiwoon silently followed the change with his eyes.
After shifting his gaze back to the documents and scanning them briefly, Hawon scrawled his signature and handed them back to Jiwoon.
Taken aback by the sudden receipt of the documents, Jiwoon furrowed his brow.
Hawon rose from his seat and headed towards the door, with Jiwoon trailing closely behind.
“But, boss…!”
“Prepare to make an example of someone.”
There was a faint hint of amusement in Ha-won’s lazy tone.
“He’s coming to us with a noose in hand. There’s no reason to hesitate, is there?”
Though faint, a sense of excitement rose clearly amidst the vague outline floating above the pale face.
With only one dim light illuminating the corridor, Ha-won’s familiar footsteps navigated the path effortlessly.
A particularly bright moonlight poured in through the stone columns.
“They contacted me earlier, saying she fell asleep.”
Although unasked, Ji-woon offered the answer he knew he wanted.
For the past two months, Ha-won had passed through this corridor every day, at around the time when she was asleep.
“Wouldn’t it be better to meet her in person? She’s sensitive; she’ll notice soon enough.”
Ha-won paused in front of Yeon-byeol’s door.
Except for him, no one else could freely enter the end room on the fourth floor. Originally, her room was on the second floor, but it was moved when she returned from the hospital.
The four guards standing by the door bowed 90 degrees and stepped aside to make way for him.
“I don’t have the courage to face her myself.”
It was a muttered confession to himself.
While her heart had escaped, her body couldn’t withstand the shock. For the first month, she spent more time asleep than awake.
Despite getting angry at the fact, deep down, she considered it a blessing.
She couldn’t just escape from here on her own.
Of course, even if her legs were intact, it would have been easy to keep her from stepping foot outside her room, but she didn’t feel inclined to do that.
The last time she had seen her awake was at the hospital.
If she were to meet his eyes directly, she feared her thoughts would be exposed, and his face would be filled with hatred, just like in her dreams.
If she couldn’t control it, many things would crumble.
She wasn’t afraid of crumbling. She just didn’t like what would be left behind after it crumbled.
But the thought of seeing that face in reality still didn’t seem so bad.
Ha-won quietly opened the door and stepped into the room. The sweet scent filled his breath as he took it in. He closed his eyes as he took a small breath.
Though the scent of medicine was faint, the room seemed to hold a different temperature from the space he inhabited.
As he slowly lifted his eyelids, the empty bed came into view.
Ha-won moved towards the bed immediately.
Before he could realize it, the moment he clenched his fist, the room lit up.
Click – The light bulb in the dark room turned on.
“Did you wait here because you thought there would be a rat?”
A small, white pill bottle rolled to a stop at his feet, and a few white pills spilled out of the open lid.
Ha-won’s gaze slowly shifted towards the direction of the voice.
“You really got caught in the mousetrap, huh?”
A voice he had only heard in his dreams. The woman he had only met in his dreams stood before him, as if lying.
“Moreover, it’s a very well-laid trap.”
She smiled brightly, brighter than the light illuminating the darkness.
—
Boom! Bang!
Fireworks of various colors decorated the night sky of the city.
Already two months had passed since the incident with the construction explosives, and the final party on the day of construction never happened.
With the damages suffered from Baekcheon’s attack and the unilateral cutoff of trades from their business partners, even the subordinates disappeared without a trace, leaving holes in the organization’s structure.
It was only natural for businesses they were reaching out to face difficulties when the funding shook like water.
However, the current party was ostensibly to celebrate Yuhwa’s birthday, but in reality, it was a last-ditch attempt to hold onto severed ties.
“Those damn bastards.”
As soon as he entered the party venue, Lee Chan, who had been wearing a friendly smile, spat out harsh curses.
Lee Chan meticulously closed the door without a gap and stood beside Yugyeom, who was leaning against the terrace railing precariously.
Then he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “You bastards! Just die already!!”
A chuckle escaped from Yugyeom’s lips in response.
As Yugyeom leaned deeper against the railing, the wine in his glass shimmered with a crimson hue under the light.
“So, you want them to die?”
“I heard they’re planning to kill you first.”
“Then Chan’s heart would break, wouldn’t it?”
He grinned as he placed his hand on Lee Chan’s chest. Lee Chan frowned and stepped back a pace.
“…People’s hearts don’t break.”
Yugyeom burst into laughter at the solemn response.
Upon seeing his laughing face, Lee Chan felt that one step was not enough and widened the distance by three more steps.
The dark circles under Lee Chan’s eyes spoke volumes—over the past two months, any thoughts other than work were a luxury.
As soon as the financial strings began to waver, the shake extended to the deepest roots.
Right now, though they were outwardly bowing their heads, everyone was ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, making the atmosphere tense.
However, in that atmosphere, Lee Chan found Yugyeom’s state to be the most tense.
Despite sleeping for two or three hours a day and working the rest of the time, why did he look so uneasy?
“What are we going to do?”
As the Utopia leader’s condition worsened, Joy’s only concern was Yugyeom’s well-being.
Despite everything, Yugyeom didn’t show the slightest hint of anxiety.
Up to this moment, Yugyeom simply faced Lee Chan with a calm face.
As the cold wind rustled through, platinum blonde strands fluttered past, and amidst the wind, the smile hanging on his lips grew thicker, and the wine glass tilted.
Crash!
The wine glass slipped through pale fingers and shattered on the floor, turning the white marble red in an instant.
“Ouch, what if you break that?”
Lee Chan scolded, sticking out his tongue and bending his waist.
At that moment, a faint voice fell from above.
Lee Chan, who was crouching on the floor and wiping the wine splashed on his shoes with a handkerchief, paused.
“What…?”
Yugyeom slowly trailed his white, slender fingers along the edge of his eye. Then, nonchalantly, he opened his crimson lips, wet with wine.
“Chan.”
“….”
“I’m going to Baekcheon.”
“What?!”
Lee Chan stood up with wide eyes. His face stiffened as he met Yugyeom’s gaze.
“What are you talking about?”
Lee Chan grabbed Yugyeom’s shoulders.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold him back no matter what, but as if he couldn’t let go, he tightened his grip on Yugyeom’s shoulders.
“You’re as good as going to your death if you do that.”
It was always like this. He always acted as if nothing could faze him, hiding his true feelings as if he were a person who wouldn’t care even if he died tomorrow.
Now, what made him angry, unexpectedly, was perhaps the ominousness that seemed different this time.
When did that ominousness begin? It was probably when Yugyeom came out of the fire carrying that woman and collapsed.
Lee Chan suppressed the rising emotions and forcefully said, “You’re going crazy, aren’t you?”
The night sky, which had been filled with colorful fireworks, was now covered with clouds. The dry wind blew stronger as if it could rain any moment.
Yugyeom turned his gaze as if pondering something.
Then, he looked at Lee Chan and slowly narrowed his eyes.
“Do you worry about me?”
Lee Chan’s face contorted more sharply than ever before. Upon seeing his face, Yugyeom burst into laughter.
“You always have a more interesting reaction than I expect.”
Lee Chan reluctantly released Yugyeom’s shoulder, which he was holding quite roughly, with a face that showed he didn’t want to respond.
“We’re not in a relationship where we worry about each other.”
Lee Chan muttered as he loosened his tie and ran his hand through the bottles of alcohol on the terrace.
Among them, as he grabbed the liquor bottle in his hand and gulped down the drink almost directly from the bottle, his mind immediately became hazy.
Just one step away, his feet tangled. Lee Chan, swaying, raised his head and looked at Yugyeom.
“You bastard….”
The moon was obscured by clouds, casting darkness over the pale face.
Between the thick lashes that created deep shadows, the pupils shone more intensely than ever.
It seemed like he was smiling, yet not.
“Whether you’re holding my leash or something else… until I know for sure….”
With each word he spat out, a feeling of either hatred or affection, he couldn’t tell which, flowed stickily.
As the sense of reason faded away, Yugyeom no longer struggled in the remnants of consciousness.
“I’m going to make you love me like crazy.”
Chapter 32
Hawon set down his fountain pen and accepted the folder handed to him by Jiwoon. As he casually perused the densely written pages within the documents, his lips curled up slightly, in contrast to his indifferent expression.
“It’s quite blatant, isn’t it?”
Despite his upturned lips, his eyes gleamed sharply.
“They’re practically barking at us.”
Ha-won raised his gaze towards Jiwoon, and his lips slowly twisted into a smirk. Jiwoon silently followed the change with his eyes.
After shifting his gaze back to the documents and scanning them briefly, Hawon scrawled his signature and handed them back to Jiwoon.
Taken aback by the sudden receipt of the documents, Jiwoon furrowed his brow.
Hawon rose from his seat and headed towards the door, with Jiwoon trailing closely behind.
“But, boss…!”
“Prepare to make an example of someone.”
There was a faint hint of amusement in Ha-won’s lazy tone.
“He’s coming to us with a noose in hand. There’s no reason to hesitate, is there?”
Though faint, a sense of excitement rose clearly amidst the vague outline floating above the pale face.
With only one dim light illuminating the corridor, Ha-won’s familiar footsteps navigated the path effortlessly.
A particularly bright moonlight poured in through the stone columns.
“They contacted me earlier, saying she fell asleep.”
Although unasked, Ji-woon offered the answer he knew he wanted.
For the past two months, Ha-won had passed through this corridor every day, at around the time when she was asleep.
“Wouldn’t it be better to meet her in person? She’s sensitive; she’ll notice soon enough.”
Ha-won paused in front of Yeon-byeol’s door.
Except for him, no one else could freely enter the end room on the fourth floor. Originally, her room was on the second floor, but it was moved when she returned from the hospital.
The four guards standing by the door bowed 90 degrees and stepped aside to make way for him.
“I don’t have the courage to face her myself.”
It was a muttered confession to himself.
While her heart had escaped, her body couldn’t withstand the shock. For the first month, she spent more time asleep than awake.
Despite getting angry at the fact, deep down, she considered it a blessing.
She couldn’t just escape from here on her own.
Of course, even if her legs were intact, it would have been easy to keep her from stepping foot outside her room, but she didn’t feel inclined to do that.
The last time she had seen her awake was at the hospital.
If she were to meet his eyes directly, she feared her thoughts would be exposed, and his face would be filled with hatred, just like in her dreams.
If she couldn’t control it, many things would crumble.
She wasn’t afraid of crumbling. She just didn’t like what would be left behind after it crumbled.
But the thought of seeing that face in reality still didn’t seem so bad.
Ha-won quietly opened the door and stepped into the room. The sweet scent filled his breath as he took it in. He closed his eyes as he took a small breath.
Though the scent of medicine was faint, the room seemed to hold a different temperature from the space he inhabited.
As he slowly lifted his eyelids, the empty bed came into view.
Ha-won moved towards the bed immediately.
Before he could realize it, the moment he clenched his fist, the room lit up.
Click – The light bulb in the dark room turned on.
“Did you wait here because you thought there would be a rat?”
A small, white pill bottle rolled to a stop at his feet, and a few white pills spilled out of the open lid.
Ha-won’s gaze slowly shifted towards the direction of the voice.
“You really got caught in the mousetrap, huh?”
A voice he had only heard in his dreams. The woman he had only met in his dreams stood before him, as if lying.
“Moreover, it’s a very well-laid trap.”
She smiled brightly, brighter than the light illuminating the darkness.
—
Boom! Bang!
Fireworks of various colors decorated the night sky of the city.
Already two months had passed since the incident with the construction explosives, and the final party on the day of construction never happened.
With the damages suffered from Baekcheon’s attack and the unilateral cutoff of trades from their business partners, even the subordinates disappeared without a trace, leaving holes in the organization’s structure.
It was only natural for businesses they were reaching out to face difficulties when the funding shook like water.
However, the current party was ostensibly to celebrate Yuhwa’s birthday, but in reality, it was a last-ditch attempt to hold onto severed ties.
“Those damn bastards.”
As soon as he entered the party venue, Lee Chan, who had been wearing a friendly smile, spat out harsh curses.
Lee Chan meticulously closed the door without a gap and stood beside Yugyeom, who was leaning against the terrace railing precariously.
Then he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “You bastards! Just die already!!”
A chuckle escaped from Yugyeom’s lips in response.
As Yugyeom leaned deeper against the railing, the wine in his glass shimmered with a crimson hue under the light.
“So, you want them to die?”
“I heard they’re planning to kill you first.”
“Then Chan’s heart would break, wouldn’t it?”
He grinned as he placed his hand on Lee Chan’s chest. Lee Chan frowned and stepped back a pace.
“…People’s hearts don’t break.”
Yugyeom burst into laughter at the solemn response.
Upon seeing his laughing face, Lee Chan felt that one step was not enough and widened the distance by three more steps.
The dark circles under Lee Chan’s eyes spoke volumes—over the past two months, any thoughts other than work were a luxury.
As soon as the financial strings began to waver, the shake extended to the deepest roots.
Right now, though they were outwardly bowing their heads, everyone was ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, making the atmosphere tense.
However, in that atmosphere, Lee Chan found Yugyeom’s state to be the most tense.
Despite sleeping for two or three hours a day and working the rest of the time, why did he look so uneasy?
“What are we going to do?”
As the Utopia leader’s condition worsened, Joy’s only concern was Yugyeom’s well-being.
Despite everything, Yugyeom didn’t show the slightest hint of anxiety.
Up to this moment, Yugyeom simply faced Lee Chan with a calm face.
As the cold wind rustled through, platinum blonde strands fluttered past, and amidst the wind, the smile hanging on his lips grew thicker, and the wine glass tilted.
Crash!
The wine glass slipped through pale fingers and shattered on the floor, turning the white marble red in an instant.
“Ouch, what if you break that?”
Lee Chan scolded, sticking out his tongue and bending his waist.
At that moment, a faint voice fell from above.
Lee Chan, who was crouching on the floor and wiping the wine splashed on his shoes with a handkerchief, paused.
“What…?”
Yugyeom slowly trailed his white, slender fingers along the edge of his eye. Then, nonchalantly, he opened his crimson lips, wet with wine.
“Chan.”
“….”
“I’m going to Baekcheon.”
“What?!”
Lee Chan stood up with wide eyes. His face stiffened as he met Yugyeom’s gaze.
“What are you talking about?”
Lee Chan grabbed Yugyeom’s shoulders.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold him back no matter what, but as if he couldn’t let go, he tightened his grip on Yugyeom’s shoulders.
“You’re as good as going to your death if you do that.”
It was always like this. He always acted as if nothing could faze him, hiding his true feelings as if he were a person who wouldn’t care even if he died tomorrow.
Now, what made him angry, unexpectedly, was perhaps the ominousness that seemed different this time.
When did that ominousness begin? It was probably when Yugyeom came out of the fire carrying that woman and collapsed.
Lee Chan suppressed the rising emotions and forcefully said, “You’re going crazy, aren’t you?”
The night sky, which had been filled with colorful fireworks, was now covered with clouds. The dry wind blew stronger as if it could rain any moment.
Yugyeom turned his gaze as if pondering something.
Then, he looked at Lee Chan and slowly narrowed his eyes.
“Do you worry about me?”
Lee Chan’s face contorted more sharply than ever before. Upon seeing his face, Yugyeom burst into laughter.
“You always have a more interesting reaction than I expect.”
Lee Chan reluctantly released Yugyeom’s shoulder, which he was holding quite roughly, with a face that showed he didn’t want to respond.
“We’re not in a relationship where we worry about each other.”
Lee Chan muttered as he loosened his tie and ran his hand through the bottles of alcohol on the terrace.
Among them, as he grabbed the liquor bottle in his hand and gulped down the drink almost directly from the bottle, his mind immediately became hazy.
Just one step away, his feet tangled. Lee Chan, swaying, raised his head and looked at Yugyeom.
“You bastard….”
The moon was obscured by clouds, casting darkness over the pale face.
Between the thick lashes that created deep shadows, the pupils shone more intensely than ever.
It seemed like he was smiling, yet not.
“Whether you’re holding my leash or something else… until I know for sure….”
With each word he spat out, a feeling of either hatred or affection, he couldn’t tell which, flowed stickily.
As the sense of reason faded away, Yugyeom no longer struggled in the remnants of consciousness.
“I’m going to make you love me like crazy.”
