Chapter 36
The white palace on the island surrounded by the sea resembled a Roman temple, its appearance both contradictory and befitting of the authority of the palace.
As onlookers gazed upon the awe-inspiring sight, those who entered the island prayed.
“May we be allowed to live here by the mercy of the gods.”
“I hate the sea,” Hawon muttered, extending his lips as he followed behind the sailor, accepting the sunglasses offered to him. The glaring sunlight was unusually intense, not fitting with the season.
“I didn’t know the guy I caught was a lunatic…”
Hawon sighed again as he glanced at the black sailors standing restlessly beyond the pier, feeling a sense of exasperation.
“Good morning.”
Yugyeom walked out from behind, greeting them with a casual smile. Hawon once again realized that he had completely lost his mind.
“The boss is waiting. Please follow me.”
“Oh? What about our guards?”
“You can’t go in with them anyway.”
Watching the utopian organization members walk away in the opposite direction with a wistful gaze, Hawon got into the waiting car.
Throughout the journey, Hawon’s nails, which were never in good condition, were being bitten messily once again today.
“This is the Square.”
“The Square?”
“Think of it as the headquarters. Not that you’ll have any reason to come in again.”
After a ten-minute drive, they arrived at the Square, where more than twenty guards were stationed at the entrance.
At that moment, two sailors approached Hawon and Yugyeom as they got out of the car, extending their hands. Startled, Hawon slapped the sailor’s hand away.
“Why are you doing this?”
His voice, barely contained, escaped his lips.
“Carrying unauthorized firearms is not allowed.”
Hawon stiffened his face, reluctantly rummaging through his jacket upon seeing Yugyeom retrieve his gun and return it. Am I going to die now? Hawon thought with a grimace as he emptied his pockets and returned the gun.
As Hawon and Yugyeom entered, the door slammed shut behind them with a thud. Simultaneously, Hawon phone buzzed in his pocket.
“They need to be dealt with.”
That bastard…
“Quickly.”
This damn asshole…
When he glanced at Yugyeom, Yugyeom grinned.
“I’ll give you a bonus.”
“Oh, my! Sirs!”
As the phone buzzed again, Hawon’s face lit up brightly. Sporting a friendly smile, Hawon joined the two men ahead, offering his companionship.
“What are you doing…?”
“Isn’t the weather too hot today? Hahaha!”
Hawon attempted to shake them off like peeling off a sticker, but they persistently stuck around. Taking advantage of their distraction, Yugyeom smoothly changed direction.
“Hey? Where are you going?!”
“How about playing tag?”
“Mr. Han! Stop! Hey!!”
As he heard the fading voices from behind, Hawon chuckled and took out his phone.
“Yeon-byeol. Square, 1st floor, shooting range.”
Upon reading the message, the smile disappeared from his face without a trace. His hand, gripping the phone tightly, revealed prominent blue veins.
Leaning against the wall, Yugyeom made a call.
“How am I supposed to know where the shooting range is?”
– Oh, right. Hmm, what should we do?
Amusement laced the voice coming from the other end of the phone.
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. But why a shooting range?”
– I don’t know, it’s sudden. Anyway, I’ll send you the map. Just do it properly.
“…”
– Promise to keep your word about clearing them out in front of me.
Yugyeom hung up the phone and glanced at the map that had been sent as a message before continuing on his way.
His steps became faster and more decisive, without hesitation.
“I finally got in touch. I heard about Yeon-byeol.”
I hope you’re still in pain.
“They said the condition was quite serious. They said his heart stopped once during surgery.”
I hope you haven’t forgotten me yet, since you’re still not completely recovered.
The only reason I was relieved that you didn’t die was that.
* * *
“Now it’s Miss, not Princess.”
The face in front of me looked unfamiliar.
It stared at me, but I wasn’t reflected in those eyes.
Under the hollow eyes, there were deep red marks, and the smile I used to draw habitually seemed artificial.
As if with a dead face.
“I missed you, Miss.”
He whispered a confession to me.
The lazy voice messed up my thoughts so much that I couldn’t think properly.
As his gaze deepened, the pain intensified, and I clenched my chest. Yugyeom’s gaze shifted along with my movements.
Yugyeom faintly smiled.
“It seems like you’re still in pain.”
“…Why are you doing this?”
Yugyeom slowly approached, closing the distance between us.
My heartbeat accelerated as if it would burst, and instinctively, I stepped back.
But in an instant, as the distance collapsed, when I swallowed dry saliva, Yugyeom, who had approached close to me, poked my hand with his finger.
Where the bullet had lodged in my hand, it felt sore.
“Fortunately.”
His eyes, half-hidden under his eyelids, gleamed as if they would devour me.
I found it absurd that the gaze of a hunting dog leaping at me seemed more human.
* * *
“Boss.”
After Yeon-byeol died, Baek Ha-won clearly remembered their second encounter.
The moment Baek Ha-won saw Yugyeom for the first time, he felt a fate-like pull.
Yugyeom, convinced that Ha-won harbored emotions beyond mere fondness, headed to the palace.
To climb to the top and exact revenge on those who trampled on him.
“Don’t you want to take care of at least one poor bastard?”
Sitting on the windowsill against the backdrop of the dark night sky, Yugyeom looked at Ha-won without any surprise.
Fingers, pale as they brushed through the moonlight, passed over the piercings in his ear.
Following the faint smile on Yugyeom’s lips, Ha-won twisted his lips.
“A stray without a leash?”
Yugyeom descended from the windowsill and approached Ha-won. In an instant, he closed the distance between them, wrapping his hand around Ha-won’s nape.
“It’s grown here.”
In Ha-won’s space, Yugyeom seemed like the moon outside the window.
“A leash.”
Ha-won, who seemed like a black abyss, was brightly illuminated.
Ha-won stared at Yugyeom, his gaze growing increasingly intense as it bit into Yugyeom’s bright pupils, and his grip tightened around Yugyeom’s neck.
Obsession.
According to the dictionary, it’s an attachment to something, unable to forget and clinging to it persistently.
“Ugh!”
Ha-won pulled Yugyeom towards him, and in an instant, Yugyeom, who had lost his balance, fell onto the table.
Above him, Ha-won leaned over, gripping the disheveled tie around Yugyeom’s neck and whispered as he tightened it.
“A leash should be given by the owner.”
Baek Ha-won’s obsession with Yugyeom.
Yugyeom’s attachment to affection created the beginning.
But since their first encounter had already gone awry, Ha-won didn’t expect Yugyeom to ascend to the palace as originally planned.
His coming to the palace was a gamble with his life.
But why.
“I’m really lucky.”
But why is Yugyeom here?
“Because there’s still something left.”
And that, in front of me, in such a state.
There’s no reason for him to be here. He no longer has a reason to risk his life.
The muddled thoughts chewed on relentlessly. Various thoughts swarmed in like a flock of bees, and I couldn’t even blink.
How was our last encounter?
The image of Yugyeom aiming a gun at me overlapped with his figure standing before me. Bang! The replayed gunshot sounded so vivid.
Bang!
Unconsciously, I swatted away Yugyeom’s hand that was still resting on the back of my hand.
Yugyeom lowered his gaze to my dismissed fingertips. I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind his eyes.
The illusion that I knew him better tHawonanyone else had long been shattered.
“Step back.”
A low voice came from behind at that moment. The gun pointed at Yugyeom’s heart extended from behind me.
Only then did my body react, and as I turned around, I saw Doshiyu standing there.
He seemed out of breath, perhaps from rushing. There was no trace of the playful atmosphere anymore.
“Drop the gun and raise your hands.”
Doshiyu slowly stepped in front of me and nodded towards Yugyeom.
After hearing Doshiyu’s command, I noticed that Yugyeom had a gun in his hand.
Yugyeom obediently dropped the gun and raised both hands above his head.
“We’ve come to see the boss.”
* * *
“…You’re all in on it.”
“What’s with the grim talk?”
Angel agreed with Doshiyu’s nonchalant words. I regarded the two of them with a skeptical gaze.
Not long after Doshiyu aimed the gun at Yugyeom, Angel returned, followed by pale-faced members of the organization rushing in.
Seeing Hawonbeing dragged along with both arms restrained, I thought, This development is insane.
“But why are we suddenly going somewhere?”
“To see Baek Ha-won.”
“What?”
Although it was Doshiyu who shouted, Angel’s steps faltered.
“Why are we going there?!”
“Is that important right now?”
Doshiyu turned towards me, raising an eyebrow.
“We’re close, aren’t we?”
“…”
“Was his name Yugyeom?”
The added name caused a sharp pang in my chest.
He’s still not completely healed, it seems.
Even though I felt like I couldn’t shake off the discomfort completely, I held back the urge to grab Angel by the collar and shake him, yelling, “You fool.”
Suppressing the impulse to act on it immediately, I lowered my head.
“Oh, what happened in Utopia?”
Chapter 36
The white palace on the island surrounded by the sea resembled a Roman temple, its appearance both contradictory and befitting of the authority of the palace.
As onlookers gazed upon the awe-inspiring sight, those who entered the island prayed.
“May we be allowed to live here by the mercy of the gods.”
“I hate the sea,” Hawon muttered, extending his lips as he followed behind the sailor, accepting the sunglasses offered to him. The glaring sunlight was unusually intense, not fitting with the season.
“I didn’t know the guy I caught was a lunatic…”
Hawon sighed again as he glanced at the black sailors standing restlessly beyond the pier, feeling a sense of exasperation.
“Good morning.”
Yugyeom walked out from behind, greeting them with a casual smile. Hawon once again realized that he had completely lost his mind.
“The boss is waiting. Please follow me.”
“Oh? What about our guards?”
“You can’t go in with them anyway.”
Watching the utopian organization members walk away in the opposite direction with a wistful gaze, Hawon got into the waiting car.
Throughout the journey, Hawon’s nails, which were never in good condition, were being bitten messily once again today.
“This is the Square.”
“The Square?”
“Think of it as the headquarters. Not that you’ll have any reason to come in again.”
After a ten-minute drive, they arrived at the Square, where more than twenty guards were stationed at the entrance.
At that moment, two sailors approached Hawon and Yugyeom as they got out of the car, extending their hands. Startled, Hawon slapped the sailor’s hand away.
“Why are you doing this?”
His voice, barely contained, escaped his lips.
“Carrying unauthorized firearms is not allowed.”
Hawon stiffened his face, reluctantly rummaging through his jacket upon seeing Yugyeom retrieve his gun and return it. Am I going to die now? Hawon thought with a grimace as he emptied his pockets and returned the gun.
As Hawon and Yugyeom entered, the door slammed shut behind them with a thud. Simultaneously, Hawon phone buzzed in his pocket.
“They need to be dealt with.”
That bastard…
“Quickly.”
This damn asshole…
When he glanced at Yugyeom, Yugyeom grinned.
“I’ll give you a bonus.”
“Oh, my! Sirs!”
As the phone buzzed again, Hawon’s face lit up brightly. Sporting a friendly smile, Hawon joined the two men ahead, offering his companionship.
“What are you doing…?”
“Isn’t the weather too hot today? Hahaha!”
Hawon attempted to shake them off like peeling off a sticker, but they persistently stuck around. Taking advantage of their distraction, Yugyeom smoothly changed direction.
“Hey? Where are you going?!”
“How about playing tag?”
“Mr. Han! Stop! Hey!!”
As he heard the fading voices from behind, Hawon chuckled and took out his phone.
“Yeon-byeol. Square, 1st floor, shooting range.”
Upon reading the message, the smile disappeared from his face without a trace. His hand, gripping the phone tightly, revealed prominent blue veins.
Leaning against the wall, Yugyeom made a call.
“How am I supposed to know where the shooting range is?”
– Oh, right. Hmm, what should we do?
Amusement laced the voice coming from the other end of the phone.
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. But why a shooting range?”
– I don’t know, it’s sudden. Anyway, I’ll send you the map. Just do it properly.
“…”
– Promise to keep your word about clearing them out in front of me.
Yugyeom hung up the phone and glanced at the map that had been sent as a message before continuing on his way.
His steps became faster and more decisive, without hesitation.
“I finally got in touch. I heard about Yeon-byeol.”
I hope you’re still in pain.
“They said the condition was quite serious. They said his heart stopped once during surgery.”
I hope you haven’t forgotten me yet, since you’re still not completely recovered.
The only reason I was relieved that you didn’t die was that.
* * *
“Now it’s Miss, not Princess.”
The face in front of me looked unfamiliar.
It stared at me, but I wasn’t reflected in those eyes.
Under the hollow eyes, there were deep red marks, and the smile I used to draw habitually seemed artificial.
As if with a dead face.
“I missed you, Miss.”
He whispered a confession to me.
The lazy voice messed up my thoughts so much that I couldn’t think properly.
As his gaze deepened, the pain intensified, and I clenched my chest. Yugyeom’s gaze shifted along with my movements.
Yugyeom faintly smiled.
“It seems like you’re still in pain.”
“…Why are you doing this?”
Yugyeom slowly approached, closing the distance between us.
My heartbeat accelerated as if it would burst, and instinctively, I stepped back.
But in an instant, as the distance collapsed, when I swallowed dry saliva, Yugyeom, who had approached close to me, poked my hand with his finger.
Where the bullet had lodged in my hand, it felt sore.
“Fortunately.”
His eyes, half-hidden under his eyelids, gleamed as if they would devour me.
I found it absurd that the gaze of a hunting dog leaping at me seemed more human.
* * *
“Boss.”
After Yeon-byeol died, Baek Ha-won clearly remembered their second encounter.
The moment Baek Ha-won saw Yugyeom for the first time, he felt a fate-like pull.
Yugyeom, convinced that Ha-won harbored emotions beyond mere fondness, headed to the palace.
To climb to the top and exact revenge on those who trampled on him.
“Don’t you want to take care of at least one poor bastard?”
Sitting on the windowsill against the backdrop of the dark night sky, Yugyeom looked at Ha-won without any surprise.
Fingers, pale as they brushed through the moonlight, passed over the piercings in his ear.
Following the faint smile on Yugyeom’s lips, Ha-won twisted his lips.
“A stray without a leash?”
Yugyeom descended from the windowsill and approached Ha-won. In an instant, he closed the distance between them, wrapping his hand around Ha-won’s nape.
“It’s grown here.”
In Ha-won’s space, Yugyeom seemed like the moon outside the window.
“A leash.”
Ha-won, who seemed like a black abyss, was brightly illuminated.
Ha-won stared at Yugyeom, his gaze growing increasingly intense as it bit into Yugyeom’s bright pupils, and his grip tightened around Yugyeom’s neck.
Obsession.
According to the dictionary, it’s an attachment to something, unable to forget and clinging to it persistently.
“Ugh!”
Ha-won pulled Yugyeom towards him, and in an instant, Yugyeom, who had lost his balance, fell onto the table.
Above him, Ha-won leaned over, gripping the disheveled tie around Yugyeom’s neck and whispered as he tightened it.
“A leash should be given by the owner.”
Baek Ha-won’s obsession with Yugyeom.
Yugyeom’s attachment to affection created the beginning.
But since their first encounter had already gone awry, Ha-won didn’t expect Yugyeom to ascend to the palace as originally planned.
His coming to the palace was a gamble with his life.
But why.
“I’m really lucky.”
But why is Yugyeom here?
“Because there’s still something left.”
And that, in front of me, in such a state.
There’s no reason for him to be here. He no longer has a reason to risk his life.
The muddled thoughts chewed on relentlessly. Various thoughts swarmed in like a flock of bees, and I couldn’t even blink.
How was our last encounter?
The image of Yugyeom aiming a gun at me overlapped with his figure standing before me. Bang! The replayed gunshot sounded so vivid.
Bang!
Unconsciously, I swatted away Yugyeom’s hand that was still resting on the back of my hand.
Yugyeom lowered his gaze to my dismissed fingertips. I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind his eyes.
The illusion that I knew him better tHawonanyone else had long been shattered.
“Step back.”
A low voice came from behind at that moment. The gun pointed at Yugyeom’s heart extended from behind me.
Only then did my body react, and as I turned around, I saw Doshiyu standing there.
He seemed out of breath, perhaps from rushing. There was no trace of the playful atmosphere anymore.
“Drop the gun and raise your hands.”
Doshiyu slowly stepped in front of me and nodded towards Yugyeom.
After hearing Doshiyu’s command, I noticed that Yugyeom had a gun in his hand.
Yugyeom obediently dropped the gun and raised both hands above his head.
“We’ve come to see the boss.”
* * *
“…You’re all in on it.”
“What’s with the grim talk?”
Angel agreed with Doshiyu’s nonchalant words. I regarded the two of them with a skeptical gaze.
Not long after Doshiyu aimed the gun at Yugyeom, Angel returned, followed by pale-faced members of the organization rushing in.
Seeing Hawonbeing dragged along with both arms restrained, I thought, This development is insane.
“But why are we suddenly going somewhere?”
“To see Baek Ha-won.”
“What?”
Although it was Doshiyu who shouted, Angel’s steps faltered.
“Why are we going there?!”
“Is that important right now?”
Doshiyu turned towards me, raising an eyebrow.
“We’re close, aren’t we?”
“…”
“Was his name Yugyeom?”
The added name caused a sharp pang in my chest.
He’s still not completely healed, it seems.
Even though I felt like I couldn’t shake off the discomfort completely, I held back the urge to grab Angel by the collar and shake him, yelling, “You fool.”
Suppressing the impulse to act on it immediately, I lowered my head.
“Oh, what happened in Utopia?”
