KTS 196

Creak…

An ominous and eerie sound echoed in the quiet room. Winston stopped with his hand on the doorknob until the sound disappeared. Only after silence returned did he quietly step into the room.

Angela was breathing deeply in her sleep. Stopping a few steps away from the bed, Winston looked down at the child and let out a short breath before sitting down on a chair nearby. As he blankly stared at Angela’s sleeping face in the darkness, the weight in his heart grew heavier and heavier, making it difficult to even breathe. Before his eyes, like a hallucination, the events that had happened so far flashed by one by one. The child’s face, full of wariness when they first met, Angela trying not to leave Yu-jin’s side, the terrified eyes looking at him with fear, and the child’s appearance, with her chest puffed out to avoid being intimidated despite her much smaller frame than others her age.

Ah.

A sigh came out involuntarily, and he buried his face in his hands. He could curse himself all night for being so stupid and foolish. If only he had trusted Yu-jin back then. He should have trusted Yu-jin instead of his own eyes. Why hadn’t he considered that it could all be a fabrication?

Suddenly, Andrew’s rough laughter echoed in his ears. Even until he directly checked the file he received from Georgina, he was still half in doubt. Without even guessing what was inside, he opened the file, and the screen immediately unfolded. The scenery of the room came into view on a camera that seemed to have been installed in advance.

“It will come soon.”

Mrs. Campbell said in a cold voice. Harold, who was standing with only a dressing gown over his bare body, asked her again.

“Are you sure they’ll fall for it? Not just Winston, but Yu-jin too.”

“Didn’t I tell you? That drug is foolproof.”

Mrs. Campbell continued nervously.

“All it has to do is smell the pheromone scent. Then it will mistake you for Winston. After all, it can’t distinguish whose scent it is, can it?”

“It causes hallucinations…”

Harold muttered to himself and nodded, and Mrs. Campbell gave him one last instruction.

“You absolutely mustn’t make a mistake. Well, all you have to do is hold the child. If you can’t even do that, you’re the biggest idiot in the world.”

She didn’t even try to hide her contempt as she sneered at him.

“Isn’t it a good thing? You wanted that child too, didn’t you? Do whatever you want to your heart’s content. I’ll turn a blind eye for today.”

Then, she glared coldly at Harold and left the room. Left alone, Harold sighed and sat on the bed. Winston felt strange seeing his father’s healthy appearance after so long. He had a troubled look on his face, but after a moment, when he raised his head, his expression had changed. He opened the door himself, and when he returned to the bed, he wasn’t alone.

Yu-jin.

Winston almost vomited. He barely covered his mouth and continued to stare at the screen, and Harold, after undressing Yu-jin, laid him on the bed.

Yes, this was mine.

Harold whispered. You were mine from the beginning. I just took my eyes off you for a moment.

The deep purple eyes turned golden. He could even see with his own eyes the pheromones being poured over Yu-jin. Winston unknowingly jumped up from his seat.

Just as Harold was about to kiss him, the door opened and someone entered. It was him.

He closed and opened his eyes for a moment at the painful memory. His figure was not visible on the continued screen. He had left the room, unable to bear Harold’s scolding and shock. He was about to turn off the screen, unable to bear it any longer, when he suddenly heard something. Yu-jin’s small voice continued in his hesitant ear.

“Winnie, I missed you.”

Soon after, he began to sob softly. Harold paused and stroked Yu-jin’s face.

“It’s okay, Yu-jin, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be alright now…”

After saying that, he kissed Yu-jin’s forehead and, for some reason, began to hesitate. The explicit atmosphere from just a moment ago was nowhere to be found.

Yu-jin.

It was when Harold whispered his name again. Suddenly, he saw a hallucination. Over the face of the still youthful young man, the face of someone he had loved so much overlapped. The man, who was looking at him with a cold gaze, chuckled.

‘That’s why I didn’t choose you, Harold.’

“…Huck.”

At that moment, Harold gasped and stepped back. Yu-jin reached out to him in confusion, but Harold brushed it away. And he left Yu-jin behind and hurriedly ran out of the room.

The screen ended there. Winston heard the rest of the story from Andrew.

“Yeah, nothing happened. Between Father and Yu-jin.”

Andrew, sitting across from him in the visiting room, laughed weakly and looked at him.

“Only Father and I knew that. Now it’s three, including you and Georgina?”

“…Why.”

When Winston barely opened his mouth, Andrew smirked and asked.

“Why did I do such a thing? Why didn’t Father sleep with Yu-jin? Why did I record something like this?”

Andrew, who had been humming as if singing a song, took a short breath.

“I just recorded it in case. I was going to use it to blackmail Father if he slept with Yu-jin. Well, as a result, Father didn’t sleep with him, so the blackmail worked.”

“You blackmailed him? Father?”

When Winston’s face contorted, Andrew answered, “Yes.”

“Father was afraid that Mother would find out.”

He continued indifferently.

“The only reason Mother forgave Father was because he slept with Yu-jin and ruined your relationship. What do you think will happen if she finds out that nothing actually happened? Mother will dig up Father’s corpse and burn it to ashes.”

She might do something even worse than that. Winston didn’t need to imagine how great his mother’s anger would be. He continued patiently.

“So, the reason Father kept the secret until the end was because of Mother?”

“It must have been his last bit of conscience. It’s true that Father did a lot of terrible things to Mother.”

Andrew glanced at his trembling hand and pointlessly clenched and unclenched his fist.

“As atonement for Mother, he abandoned Yu-jin?”

At Winston’s words, which sounded like a soliloquy, Andrew shook his head.

“That’s not it, Winston. You’re the one who abandoned Yu-jin.”

At the finger pointed directly at him, Winston’s face became expressionless like a mask. Andrew smiled as if amused and continued.

“I thought you would never give up on Yu-jin until the end.”

Amidst the chuckling laughter, he continued to speak.

“You guys were like, what should I say, like 10-year-olds playing house. Cute, pure, …ignorant of the world.”

Winston just stared at him. Andrew glanced at him and smiled sheepishly.

“But still, I thought you would give up everything. For Yu-jin. If that happened, you would be excluded from the successor position, so it would be good for me. You seemed so deeply in love with Yu-jin to that extent.”

The corners of his mouth, which had been collapsing, gradually rose, and he began to shake his shoulders uncontrollably.

“But you abandoned Yu-jin.”

Winston shouted at Andrew, who was shaking his whole body while making an irritating laughing sound.

“That’s…!”

“Because we conspired and tricked you?”Andrew cut him off immediately. Andrew, who had jumped up and leaned over the table, whispered as he stared at Winston from close range.

“Even so, you should have trusted him until the end.”

Winston couldn’t open his mouth, as if he were speechless. Andrew laughed at him and concluded.

“You’re the one who didn’t trust Yu-jin and abandoned him, Winston.”

He was right. Winston looked down at Angela and mulled over Andrew’s words. It’s all my fault. Yu-jin almost died several times, and he didn’t get to see the most lovable side of his newborn child.

It’s all because of me.

Yu-jin had suffered so much and protected the child alone, but what did I say to him? All the dirty and terrible accusations I had hurled at him now seemed to come back and pierce Winston.

If I had trusted you back then.

His heart ached at all the precious moments he had missed. Winston rubbed his face roughly, letting out a painful breath.