By Zephyria 
“Nothing, Mmuil, I didn’t, I didn’t have.”
“Ah, you didn’t have anything? Hey, it seems like Han-seon has some leeway. Throw him back into the freezer.”
The burly men immediately nodded and dragged Han-seon’s legs. His burned back was dragged back to the refrigerated truck, scraping against the rough warehouse floor. Han-seon struggled and resisted, writhing like a fish out of water.
“Heoeok! Ai, aaack! Sajang, President! Please save me! Save me! Aaaack!”
“It’s noisy. Put him in quickly.”
“Yes.”
The struggling Han-seon was once again hung upside down and trapped in the cargo compartment. As the door closed, the screams coming from inside grew smaller. Kwon Hyeon-oh took out his cell phone and started playing a game. It was a game where three jellies of the same color would explode when gathered. He concentrated until one round was over, and only after the game ended due to time over did he give orders to his subordinates.
“Take him out.”
The subordinates dragged the frozen Han-seon out of the freezer. He was dragged back to the factory floor, shivering from the abuse of the cold. Lying face down, he was breathing heavily, barely breathing. His complexion was pale and his whole body and limbs were stiff, so he looked like a mannequin rather than a living person.
The next step was obviously followed as planned. Boiling water covered him, and Han-seon was tormented by the cold and heat. It would not be easy for an old body to endure such asceticism. Still, he persevered to the end. He did not spit out any information and fought to the death.
I don’t know why Han-seon was kidnapped and dragged here like this, but after all, the opponent was Kwon Hyeon-oh, not the main enemy Kwon Tae-oh. Kwon Hyeon-oh would only have suspicions, not evidence. If he gritted his teeth and endured, the torture would end someday.
But.
“Kwon Tae-oh called me and specifically told me to find out about you, Han-seon. Isn’t it suspicious that you don’t have any dust even if I shake you like this? Don’t you think so, guys?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“That’s right. It’s suspicious. Then, let’s see… shall we cut off your toes first?”
“Yes. I’ll prepare it.”
“Okay. Move quickly.”
Han-seon blankly let go of his mind. Kwon Hyeon-oh started the next round of the jelly game and said casually without even looking at Han-seon.
“After your toes, it’s your fingers, and after your fingers, it’s your ears. I’ll pull out your teeth one by one in order. There’s a lot to do. I have plenty of time.”
“…”
“If you still don’t say anything, you have a younger sibling, don’t you? A half-sibling? I wasn’t planning on touching a normal person who’s living a normal life, but what can I do? There’s no other way.”
“…Sa, President.”
“Come to think of it, I heard your sibling has two children? I was going to sell the young ones to China and dismember your sibling and sell all the organs, but if Han-seon still keeps his mouth shut… hmm… then there’s no other way.”
Pang, pang, pang.
The sound of jellies exploding in Kwon Hyeon-oh’s smartphone game was heard in succession. Kwon Hyeon-oh, who had cleared the ‘All Clear!’ and moved on to the next stage, smiled with a bright expression. His subordinates were bringing and setting up the Guillotine, and dawn showed no signs of breaking, and it was endlessly dark.
***
“Oops… it’s all cold now.”
Kwon Rae-i, who had put on his clothes, brought three black plastic bags from outside the front door. Tae-hwon, exhausted, was sitting half-seated on the rug-covered living room floor. His back hurt because he had been in a somewhat strained position on the bare floor.
“It’s late, but shall we eat something? I’ll warm it up.”
Tae-hwon looked up at the ceiling with hazy eyes. A spiral chandelier was attached to the ceiling that was open to the third floor. He felt like he had closed his eyes for a moment and opened them, but Kwon Rae-i, who had warmed up the late-night snack in the kitchen, had already started taking out the food and setting it up on the sofa table.
Roasted sweet potatoes, bungeoppang, tteokbokki, fish cakes, sundae, and fried foods, all the street food commonly seen outside, were laid out in front of him. White snow was still falling heavily outside.
“Here, ah.”
Kwon Rae-i split a roasted sweet potato in half and brought it to Tae-hwon’s mouth, who was picking up his pants. The bright yellow golden flesh looked appetizing. Perhaps he was more hungry after using his body so intensely. Tae-hwon blinked once and obediently opened his mouth to take a big bite of the sweet potato.
The softly steamed sweet potato was sweet as if it were melting.
‘It’s delicious.’
It was still amazing to realize it again.
That he had the leisure to savor the taste of food.
Not only that.
That he could stick so close to Kwon Rae-i, mix bodies, roll around, and get along without any problems.
Even in this situation where he was trapped in an iron cage and surrounded by enemies, the two of them were at peace in this moment together. It was undeniably strange, but honestly, it wasn’t bad. Rather, it was comfortable.
“How is it? The roasted sweet potato.”
“It’s sweet.”
“Is it?”
Kwon Rae-i also bit into half of the split sweet potato. He savored it little by little, and his eyes curved gently as if he liked the taste.
“Shall we grow sweet potatoes later?”
He even uttered absurd words.
“Farming?”
When Tae-hwon asked back, Kwon Rae-i answered while blowing on the hot skin to peel it.
“What’s wrong with that? We can plant acacia trees in the garden, and sweet potatoes next to them. We can water them, pull out weeds, and grow them for a year, and then bake them together when the first snow falls in winter.”
“…”
“Wouldn’t sweet potatoes be easy for beginners to grow? Or is it difficult?”
Kwon Rae-i smiled gently and held out the peeled part to Tae-hwon’s mouth. Warm steam was rising from the bright yellow honey sweet potato. Tae-hwon stared at Kwon Rae-i and the sweet potato for a moment, then opened his mouth and ate it as he offered.
“It won’t be that difficult.”
And he agreed to his dreamlike future plan.
“Sweet potatoes grow well even in barren land and don’t have pests.”
“Right?”
“Besides, you don’t need to get seeds or seedlings separately, you can just plant raw sweet potatoes with sprouts in the ground.”
When Tae-hwon was going around factories, he had traveled all over the provinces, so he had heard stories from farmers. Anyone can grow sweet potatoes, even beginners.
“That’s right. Haha, it already sounds fun, doesn’t it? If this goes well, we’ll plant sweet potatoes all over the Kyungjung Main Family yard.”
Kwon Rae-i, who was excited by Tae-hwon’s agreement, shrugged his shoulders and chuckled like a rascal. Since he had declared a full-scale war with Kyungjung, if he won, he would naturally take over the Main Family, which was Kyungjung’s base. Kwon Rae-i, who had thought about the future after that, continued.
“We’ll fill not only the Separate House, but also the wide yard of the main house with sweet potatoes. My father will faint standing up if he sees that from the afterlife. The same goes for my brothers.”
“You’re going to turn the Kyungjung Main Family into a sweet potato field?”
“Hmm, shall we plant potatoes too?”
“What about saplings? Like persimmon trees.”
“Do you like persimmons, Tae-hwon? Sweet persimmons? Or soft persimmons?”
“There’s not much difference, but if I had to choose, I think soft persimmons are more delicious.”
“Haha! Is that so? Ah… Tae-hwon likes soft persimmons. I see.”
Kwon Rae-i’s eyes sparkled as if he was very happy to learn new information. Then he fed him a bite of spicy tteokbokki. Eating something sweet and then something spicy surprisingly created a good sweet and spicy harmony.
“Then let’s plant everything. Let’s plant persimmon trees, pear trees, apple trees, and grapevines.”
“That many?”
“What does it matter, the land is wide there anyway. I think it would be fun to watch the fruits ripen with you, Tae-hwon.”
“Hmm… fruit trees don’t bear fruit right away when you plant them. It will take at least a few years.”
“It’s even better if it takes time. Because I can watch it with you, Tae-hwon, while spending a long time together.”
After that, they ate fried food dipped in tteokbokki sauce, sundae, and split bungeoppang in half and shared it. Even though they were eating quite a lot, it went down easily without feeling too full. Strangely, he kept feeling hungry and felt that everything he ate was delicious. It shouldn’t be this delicious to warm up late-night snacks that had been left out and cooled down in the snowy winter night.
‘Is it because of the atmosphere?’
As he chatted with Kwon Rae-i about trivial things and ate a bite or two, he felt comfortable and a little happy.
“Of course, if you want to leave this world, Tae-hwon, it doesn’t matter if you don’t go back to Kyungjung.”
And not only Tae-hwon, but he also looked comfortable.
“It will take some time, but I will guarantee that you, at least, can live like a normal person someday.”
“…Wouldn’t that be difficult? Young Master is going to embrace Jeun in Kyungjung and become the chairman, but I don’t want to be the only one who wants to get out of there.”
“Then will you stay with me?”
Kwon Rae-i moved closer to Tae-hwon. His hand, resting on the soft rug on the floor, overlapped with his. He grabbed Tae-hwon’s hand and asked again for the answer that was obviously determined.
“Whether I go back to Kyungjung or anywhere else, until the end?”