By Zephyria “How are you feeling?”
Winston suddenly asked Yu-jin, who was lost in thought.”Why all of a sudden…? Okay, I’m fine.”
As he answered absentmindedly, Winston stared intently at his face. Yu-jin, puzzled, met his gaze, and Winston’s eyes lingered on Yu-jin’s expression for a moment, causing Yu-jin to belatedly recall what had happened during the day. His heart pounded rapidly for a moment, but he quickly frowned, pretending to be unaffected. As if scolding Winston for acting this way. Fortunately, Winston didn’t notice. Soon, a smile spread across his face, overlapping with the face of an older man.
I won’t let it go.
Harold vowed revenge. He wouldn’t let his own son, nor the child of his precious former lover, get away with anything. And it happened as he wished. They broke up and would never be able to go back to the way things were.
The thought of those hate-filled purple eyes sent shivers down his spine once more. Seeing him tremble and hug himself, Winston spoke.
“It’s okay now, your father is dead.”
“I know.”
Yu-jin murmured in a faintly trembling voice.
“I’m not old enough to believe in monsters under the bed anymore.”
“I know.”
Winston gave a faint smile.
“If you were that much of a child, I wouldn’t even be thinking about wanting to kiss you right now.”
For a moment, Yu-jin doubted what he had heard.
“How can you think about something like that in this situation?”
Winston, instead of being taken aback by Yu-jin’s wide-eyed, horrified expression, chuckled.
“Aren’t you scared anymore?”
As he said, Yu-jin was no longer trembling. The fact that he had been distracted, even for a moment, and had forgotten the bad memories, made Yu-jin feel absurd.
“You were joking on purpose.”
As Yu-jin relaxed and chuckled, Winston, still looking at him, murmured.
“Maybe.”
“What?”
Yu-jin asked again, but Winston only smiled. Avoiding his gaze, a moment of silence passed. After a few seconds of wordless emptiness, Winston, still looking elsewhere, spoke.
“I read the book.”
At first, Yu-jin didn’t understand what he meant. He blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of subject, and Winston chuckled briefly, looking at him.
“Isn’t it a bit too sophisticated for a fairy tale?”
It was a joking tone, but Yu-jin answered listlessly.
“I’ve heard a lot that it’s depressing for a fairy tale.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
Winston seemed flustered and started to speak, but then stopped. What was he trying to say? Yu-jin suddenly became curious and waited silently for him to continue. Winston, who seemed to be searching for something to say for a while, murmured, looking into the distance.
“It was too much of a book for me.”
This time, Yu-jin couldn’t even ask back, and just stared with wide eyes. He never imagined Winston would say something like that. He thought he would be lucky if Winston didn’t laugh at him.
He wanted to hear more of his thoughts, but Winston didn’t seem to want to say anything more. Soon, he changed his tone and spoke.
“Go to sleep now. Your father’s ghost won’t come out.”
Feeling his gaze on him, Yu-jin couldn’t bring himself to say anything. In the end, he couldn’t ask any more questions and lay back down in bed. Winston was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Winston’s gaze on him. On the one hand, it was uncomfortable, but on the other hand, it was reassuring. He felt like he wouldn’t have any more nightmares. Even though there was no basis for it.
His vague guess turned out to be correct, and this time, Yu-jin fell into a deep sleep without even dreaming. When he opened his eyes in the morning, Winston was gone. Still dazed from sleep, he sat up, and just then, he heard a knock, and a moment later, the Butler entered.
“You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
Hearing the usual businesslike voice, Yu-jin said briefly, “Fine,” and then hesitated before asking.
“Did Winston go to work?”
“Yes, he went back early this morning.”
It was a strange answer. Yu-jin was puzzled and asked.
“Went back? To the company?”
Had he not gone home at all? To Yu-jin’s question, the Butler replied with a blank face, “No.”
“Mr. Campbell went on a business trip to the West yesterday morning. It was originally scheduled for four days, but he stopped by briefly.”
“Stopped by briefly?”
Yu-jin couldn’t help but repeat his words again. Was it because he had just woken up? His head wasn’t working properly. The Butler calmly explained to Yu-jin, who was in such a state.
“He was worried that you haven’t been feeling well recently. He called last night to ask how you were doing, and when I told him, he came early this morning.”
“W-what did you say?”
Yu-jin asked, flustered, and the Butler answered honestly.
“I said you looked pale, didn’t eat dinner, and when I said I would call a doctor, you said you were fine.”
It was all true. After finding out she was pregnant during the day and being shocked, she couldn’t eat properly and suffered from a headache before falling asleep. But he heard that and came back in the middle of a business trip? From the West to here?
“How long was he here before he left? I woke up briefly and saw him…”
“About two hours.”
The Butler answered faithfully this time as well. Yu-jin could only say, “I see.” But his head was still complicated. He just heard that I wasn’t feeling well and came all the way from the West? It takes more than four hours by plane? That’s almost ten hours round trip!
“No way…”
Yu-jin murmured absentmindedly. He wanted to believe that he had dreamed it, but the Butler’s testimony made it impossible. Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time this had happened. He had done that before too. He had flown all the way from England just to see him for 30 minutes.
Go to sleep now. Your father’s ghost won’t appear.
Winston’s quiet voice suddenly echoed in his ears. And unbelievably, Yu-jin had fallen into a deep sleep. Without even dreaming.
“How would you like your breakfast?”
To the Butler, who asked after a pause, Yu-jin only said that he would rest a little longer. He needed time alone. The Butler didn’t say anything more and readily stepped back. Then, silence and a quiet morning came. After confirming that he was alone in the large room, he felt a sense of emptiness in a corner of his heart, unlike his clear head.
* * *
The midday sun was warm and soft. Watching his mother quietly drinking tea, Gordon sat with his legs wide apart and stretched his arms over the back of the sofa.
“It ended more anticlimactically than I thought. It makes me feel empty as to why I was so worried all this time.”
The smile on his face was nothing short of despicable. How could children from the same womb be so different? Mrs. Campbell inwardly clicked her tongue at the sight of her eldest son, who had no dignity, and put down her teacup.
“Yes, it’s a relief.”
When she first found out that everything had been exposed, she was literally shocked. She had prepared herself that this day might come someday, but when it actually happened, the shock was far greater than she had imagined.
But Catherine, who delivered the news, said with an excited face, “Winston doesn’t believe it.” In short, he heard the truth but believed it was a lie. It was unspeakable luck. Her daughter was overjoyed that her efforts had paid off, and everyone else who had conspired at the time felt similarly. Andrew is still in the facility, so I don’t know how he is, but he probably feels the same way.
But after letting out a sigh of relief, an unsettling feeling arose in her heart. Does it end this easily? Really?
If Winston really believed them, there could be no greater luck. But on the contrary, it was different from the son Mrs. Campbell had loved so far. Was the wound of being betrayed by the love he had protected with his life that great, or…?
As she thought that far, the Butler entered the drawing room.
“Mrs. Campbell, you have a guest.”
“Oh.”
Hearing the words, she immediately got up with a delighted expression. It was the first time Gordon had seen his mother like that, so he was surprised and straightened his posture. Soon after, the man who appeared behind the Butler was a middle-aged gentleman dressed in a neat suit.
“Welcome, I’ve been waiting for you.”
Gordon could only stare with a dumbfounded expression at his mother, who was approaching with a delighted smile.