Episode 7
I had considered the worst-case scenario first, and I hadn’t never envisioned this moment.
However, this development was truly unexpected.
Just a few days before escaping from Baekcheon, I had never considered seeing Yugyeom in front of me, leisurely smiling like this.
“How did you know?”
His gentle voice tickled my ear.
The light-colored eyes and the softly tinged smile might have misled people into thinking he was an easygoing person, but I knew better.
“Was there a rat?”
All the beautiful things surrounding him were just masks to hide the dark truth.
Yugyeom, the leader of Utopia, was a bastard born between his father, the leader of Baekcheon, and a prostitute with whom he spent a night.
Gyeom.
A name given to him humbly, like a bastard should be, hinting at the environment in which he grew up.
Always thirsting for an affection he never received, he might have been a person scarier than Baekhawon.
When someone desires what they can’t have, they can become endlessly cruel, even if they look ugly and pathetic. Yugyeom was a case of the latter.
He ultimately became cruel even to himself.
“Tell me, huh?”
Yugyeom swept his swaying hair aside and smirked, and I instinctively took a step back.
What should I do?
I thought of Jiwoon, who might be guarding the door. Would he hear if I shouted?
“Oh, even if you scream, no one will come.”
It was a chilling moment, as if Yugyeom had read my thoughts, and he uttered words that sent shivers down my spine.
*Kwak-!*
With an enormous explosion, the cruise ship shook, and all the lights inside the ship went out.
This can’t be happening.
I tried to change the storyline a bit, and now it’s leading to a dead end.
As Yugyeom predicted, even if I screamed, Jiwoon wouldn’t come. According to his predetermined settings, the moment the lights went out, he would have already rushed to Haewon.
Even so, since I’m already facing death, I can’t just give up without trying anything.
*…!*
With another explosion, when Yugyeom turned his gaze away, I threw a handkerchief toward his face and simply ran. Laughter seemed to echo behind me, but I couldn’t stop.
While rushing down the stairs, I silently shouted inside.
Please, please!!
If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have carried pepper spray or something!!
*Ugh!*
The way to the door was too far, and grabbing the doorknob with a mere handkerchief proved futile. As soon as I grabbed it, someone grabbed my shoulder.
Thrown away as if I were nothing, I slammed into the door with a powerful impact, and a groan involuntarily escaped from me.
*…Haha.*
But this moment was also part of Yugyeom’s plan.
“I didn’t know I had such a capable hand.”
While looking at the muzzle of the gun stuck to my chest, Yugyeom burst into laughter.
Though he still hadn’t hit a single shot, practicing loading and unloading a gun at least should be a relief.
“Now it’s your turn to answer, right?”
“He said overpowering the opponent is crucial.”
While keeping his eyes fixed on me like a fierce beast, he smiled even more frighteningly. Yugyeom, with his eyes glinting like a predator, didn’t take his gaze off me. Despite looking slightly perplexed due to the twisted smile, he put effort into maintaining his composure, gripping the gun with strength.
“You didn’t answer any of my questions.”
Even in a situation where a single flinch could result in a bullet piercing my heart, he remained calm, making me even more uneasy.
Could I escape from here with just a gun in my hands?
As I pondered my complicated thoughts, a single beam of moonlight entered with the wind, illuminating his face. Our eyes met, and in that moment, I felt my heart stop, swallowing hard.
In the half-shadowed face of Yugyeom, who laughed with a broken expression, I read intense pain.
It felt like a massive boulder had been thrown into the calm waters, disrupting everything.
Why?
Why do you have that look?
As if pushed to the edge of a cliff.
“I’m genuinely curious.”
I felt as if I could let go of everything at any moment.
“Even the man you call your stepfather, I don’t know.”
Reading his life involuntarily, I poured out the heartfelt wish that he would find happiness.
The size of that wish was like a waterfall that couldn’t be covered with one hand, and I found myself completely drenched in it.
A person so unbearably unhappy.
I couldn’t possibly pull the trigger, knowing better than anyone what kind of person he was.
Perhaps it was the sharp wind or the colorless eyes, but my mind felt parched. In that gap, my true feelings flowed uncontrollably through my lips.
“…I mean.”
Because he was not the character from my planned scenario, but a real person.
Realizing this now made it impossible for me to think of anything else. It was the moment I faced his eyes, which had always seemed dry. The earnest wish I had for him, beyond the pages of the book, to be happy and free from the dryness, surfaced.
Words that no one had said to him. Words that I had said countless times to the version of him in the text.
“Because I liked you.”
* * *
“Because I liked you.”
I spoke the words, and they echoed back into my ears.
And in that moment, I regained my composure.
The overwhelming and inexpressible emotions quickly subsided.
Did I just, by any chance,
“…?”
Did I say it out loud?
As if wanting to deny the fact, Yugyeom, who always smiled and should remain that way, stared at me with a stiff face, as if he had been hit with a hammer.
The moment I saw that gaze, I felt a strong sense of impending doom.
Yugyeom’s face, usually expressionless, was now filled with embarrassment. And as if struggling to say something, he mumbled.
“NO! Don’t say anything!”
I realized that silencing him wouldn’t postpone the inevitable problem.
I had seen you in the book, and you were my favorite, so I couldn’t say it even if I died.
Yugyeom, in a state of mental breakdown, still seemed oblivious to the gun lodged in his chest and my movements.
I desperately found the door handle, grabbed it, and opened it.
Bang!
And just as I leaped, the gun was seized, pointing towards the sky, and a shot was fired.
Instinctively, I abandoned the gun and chose the path of running. The gunshot seemed trivial in the face of the enormous problem I was facing.
“Heuk, heuk!”
Why is there no one here?
Although I had been in track and field from elementary school to high school graduation, the high heels made me feel like my ankles would break at any moment.
I didn’t have time to look back, but the footsteps getting closer and closer were sheer terror.
If I’ve come this far, why is Baekhawon doing this to me?!
“Baekhawon!”
It was a name I didn’t want to call, but I had only one name I could call. So I screamed for my life.
I didn’t want him to sense the crisis like typical romance novel protagonists and come to my rescue. I hoped they would stick to their genre and clash when they met.
So that I could disappear as an extra.
With all my strength, I ran out of that dreadful corridor.
And as I reached the stairs leading to the deck, I couldn’t help but stop.
Thick, overwhelming scent of flesh.
I had never properly experienced it, but instinctively, I knew.
The gaze and eyes that met mine made chills run down my spine.
“…Insane.”
The white sparkling marble was entirely red, not only on the marble floor but also on decorations, frames, and chandeliers – there was no place untouched by blood. In the midst of it all stood Baek Ha-won.
“Jiwoon,” Baek Ha-won uttered two words in a low voice, wiping the blood splattered on his face with the back of his hand, which held a gun.
His neatly arranged hair was soaked in sweat, and the once tidy tie was nowhere to be found, replaced only by a shirt covered in red stains. Nevertheless, not a single breath was disturbed.
It was indescribable, just not human.
“Miss.”
Jiwoon reached out to me from below the stairs.
Actually, I was confused about who the enemy and ally were, looking at Baek Ha-won’s appearance, but for now, I descended the stairs.
Well, that guy might be crazy, but he probably won’t kill me.
Over there, they have a track record of killing me!
As I hurriedly descended the stairs, thinking only of escaping from here, at that moment, without feeling any signs, my wrist was firmly seized.
“Ugh!”
When I came to my senses, I was being held in the arms of Yoo-geum, as if he were pulling me from behind.
Trying to break free with a scream, but the arms that tightly constrained my body did not even flinch.
When Jiwoon aimed the gun at Yoo-geum, he pulled me like a shield and burst into laughter.
“I didn’t know the leader of the Baekcheon would personally get his hands dirty.”
What?
This isn’t right.
Episode 7
I had considered the worst-case scenario first, and I hadn’t never envisioned this moment.
However, this development was truly unexpected.
Just a few days before escaping from Baekcheon, I had never considered seeing Yugyeom in front of me, leisurely smiling like this.
“How did you know?”
His gentle voice tickled my ear.
The light-colored eyes and the softly tinged smile might have misled people into thinking he was an easygoing person, but I knew better.
“Was there a rat?”
All the beautiful things surrounding him were just masks to hide the dark truth.
Yugyeom, the leader of Utopia, was a bastard born between his father, the leader of Baekcheon, and a prostitute with whom he spent a night.
Gyeom.
A name given to him humbly, like a bastard should be, hinting at the environment in which he grew up.
Always thirsting for an affection he never received, he might have been a person scarier than Baekhawon.
When someone desires what they can’t have, they can become endlessly cruel, even if they look ugly and pathetic. Yugyeom was a case of the latter.
He ultimately became cruel even to himself.
“Tell me, huh?”
Yugyeom swept his swaying hair aside and smirked, and I instinctively took a step back.
What should I do?
I thought of Jiwoon, who might be guarding the door. Would he hear if I shouted?
“Oh, even if you scream, no one will come.”
It was a chilling moment, as if Yugyeom had read my thoughts, and he uttered words that sent shivers down my spine.
*Kwak-!*
With an enormous explosion, the cruise ship shook, and all the lights inside the ship went out.
This can’t be happening.
I tried to change the storyline a bit, and now it’s leading to a dead end.
As Yugyeom predicted, even if I screamed, Jiwoon wouldn’t come. According to his predetermined settings, the moment the lights went out, he would have already rushed to Haewon.
Even so, since I’m already facing death, I can’t just give up without trying anything.
*…!*
With another explosion, when Yugyeom turned his gaze away, I threw a handkerchief toward his face and simply ran. Laughter seemed to echo behind me, but I couldn’t stop.
While rushing down the stairs, I silently shouted inside.
Please, please!!
If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have carried pepper spray or something!!
*Ugh!*
The way to the door was too far, and grabbing the doorknob with a mere handkerchief proved futile. As soon as I grabbed it, someone grabbed my shoulder.
Thrown away as if I were nothing, I slammed into the door with a powerful impact, and a groan involuntarily escaped from me.
*…Haha.*
But this moment was also part of Yugyeom’s plan.
“I didn’t know I had such a capable hand.”
While looking at the muzzle of the gun stuck to my chest, Yugyeom burst into laughter.
Though he still hadn’t hit a single shot, practicing loading and unloading a gun at least should be a relief.
“Now it’s your turn to answer, right?”
“He said overpowering the opponent is crucial.”
While keeping his eyes fixed on me like a fierce beast, he smiled even more frighteningly. Yugyeom, with his eyes glinting like a predator, didn’t take his gaze off me. Despite looking slightly perplexed due to the twisted smile, he put effort into maintaining his composure, gripping the gun with strength.
“You didn’t answer any of my questions.”
Even in a situation where a single flinch could result in a bullet piercing my heart, he remained calm, making me even more uneasy.
Could I escape from here with just a gun in my hands?
As I pondered my complicated thoughts, a single beam of moonlight entered with the wind, illuminating his face. Our eyes met, and in that moment, I felt my heart stop, swallowing hard.
In the half-shadowed face of Yugyeom, who laughed with a broken expression, I read intense pain.
It felt like a massive boulder had been thrown into the calm waters, disrupting everything.
Why?
Why do you have that look?
As if pushed to the edge of a cliff.
“I’m genuinely curious.”
I felt as if I could let go of everything at any moment.
“Even the man you call your stepfather, I don’t know.”
Reading his life involuntarily, I poured out the heartfelt wish that he would find happiness.
The size of that wish was like a waterfall that couldn’t be covered with one hand, and I found myself completely drenched in it.
A person so unbearably unhappy.
I couldn’t possibly pull the trigger, knowing better than anyone what kind of person he was.
Perhaps it was the sharp wind or the colorless eyes, but my mind felt parched. In that gap, my true feelings flowed uncontrollably through my lips.
“…I mean.”
Because he was not the character from my planned scenario, but a real person.
Realizing this now made it impossible for me to think of anything else. It was the moment I faced his eyes, which had always seemed dry. The earnest wish I had for him, beyond the pages of the book, to be happy and free from the dryness, surfaced.
Words that no one had said to him. Words that I had said countless times to the version of him in the text.
“Because I liked you.”
* * *
“Because I liked you.”
I spoke the words, and they echoed back into my ears.
And in that moment, I regained my composure.
The overwhelming and inexpressible emotions quickly subsided.
Did I just, by any chance,
“…?”
Did I say it out loud?
As if wanting to deny the fact, Yugyeom, who always smiled and should remain that way, stared at me with a stiff face, as if he had been hit with a hammer.
The moment I saw that gaze, I felt a strong sense of impending doom.
Yugyeom’s face, usually expressionless, was now filled with embarrassment. And as if struggling to say something, he mumbled.
“NO! Don’t say anything!”
I realized that silencing him wouldn’t postpone the inevitable problem.
I had seen you in the book, and you were my favorite, so I couldn’t say it even if I died.
Yugyeom, in a state of mental breakdown, still seemed oblivious to the gun lodged in his chest and my movements.
I desperately found the door handle, grabbed it, and opened it.
Bang!
And just as I leaped, the gun was seized, pointing towards the sky, and a shot was fired.
Instinctively, I abandoned the gun and chose the path of running. The gunshot seemed trivial in the face of the enormous problem I was facing.
“Heuk, heuk!”
Why is there no one here?
Although I had been in track and field from elementary school to high school graduation, the high heels made me feel like my ankles would break at any moment.
I didn’t have time to look back, but the footsteps getting closer and closer were sheer terror.
If I’ve come this far, why is Baekhawon doing this to me?!
“Baekhawon!”
It was a name I didn’t want to call, but I had only one name I could call. So I screamed for my life.
I didn’t want him to sense the crisis like typical romance novel protagonists and come to my rescue. I hoped they would stick to their genre and clash when they met.
So that I could disappear as an extra.
With all my strength, I ran out of that dreadful corridor.
And as I reached the stairs leading to the deck, I couldn’t help but stop.
Thick, overwhelming scent of flesh.
I had never properly experienced it, but instinctively, I knew.
The gaze and eyes that met mine made chills run down my spine.
“…Insane.”
The white sparkling marble was entirely red, not only on the marble floor but also on decorations, frames, and chandeliers – there was no place untouched by blood. In the midst of it all stood Baek Ha-won.
“Jiwoon,” Baek Ha-won uttered two words in a low voice, wiping the blood splattered on his face with the back of his hand, which held a gun.
His neatly arranged hair was soaked in sweat, and the once tidy tie was nowhere to be found, replaced only by a shirt covered in red stains. Nevertheless, not a single breath was disturbed.
It was indescribable, just not human.
“Miss.”
Jiwoon reached out to me from below the stairs.
Actually, I was confused about who the enemy and ally were, looking at Baek Ha-won’s appearance, but for now, I descended the stairs.
Well, that guy might be crazy, but he probably won’t kill me.
Over there, they have a track record of killing me!
As I hurriedly descended the stairs, thinking only of escaping from here, at that moment, without feeling any signs, my wrist was firmly seized.
“Ugh!”
When I came to my senses, I was being held in the arms of Yoo-geum, as if he were pulling me from behind.
Trying to break free with a scream, but the arms that tightly constrained my body did not even flinch.
When Jiwoon aimed the gun at Yoo-geum, he pulled me like a shield and burst into laughter.
“I didn’t know the leader of the Baekcheon would personally get his hands dirty.”
What?
This isn’t right.
