By Zephyria 
Chrissy’s mind suddenly went blank. What had I just heard?
His mother’s face, which had always worn a gentle smile, was now distorted with a ferocity he had never seen before. Because he had never imagined her making such an expression, let alone directing it at him, Chrissy fell into a state of confusion. What on earth was happening right now?
“Mother.”
Managing to open his mouth, he struggled to hold onto his reason and tried his best to assess her state as calmly as possible.
“I know it must be hard for you to accept the reality. Many families of criminals react the same way you are.”
Yes, hadn’t he seen it countless times? The families of criminals who raged, despaired, and denied. His mother was simply doing the same.
“Your reaction is only natural. That’s why I understan—”
“Understand? Understand? How dare you, understand me?”
His mother sharply cut off Chrissy’s attempt to comfort her. As if she could no longer contain herself, she screamed at him in a shrill voice he had never heard before.
“You truly are shameless. You seduced him and dragged him into such lewd acts, and now you have the nerve to pretend you’re innocent! I turned a blind eye to your filthy deeds and even forgave you, so how—how dare you do this in front of me! How dare you pin your sins on him!”
She was genuinely enraged. If there had been a weapon nearby, she might have stabbed Chrissy. However, Chrissy could no longer ignore the source of her anger.
His mother believed it. She truly believed that her innocent husband had been caught in a trap because of Chrissy.
“I was six years old, Mother.”
For some reason, he wasn’t angry. He felt no sadness, nor any other emotion. There was only a sense of emptiness. Chrissy murmured in a sunken voice.
“I was just a six-year-old child back then.”
He recited the facts, but his mother’s expression did not change. She glared at him, grinding her teeth.
“So? My husband was a purer soul than anyone. Dennis was the one who suggested adopting you. Who would have wanted to take in and raise a child born to such horrific parents—a father who killed his wife? Yet Dennis stepped forward and took you in. And then you corrupted him and caused his death. You Satan, you demon! I will never forgive you until the day I die. You ungrateful thing! You will never die in peace. Oh, absolutely. God will punish you!”
She poured out an endless stream of curses. Chrissy’s heart had already grown cold. Staring at his mother with hollow eyes, Chrissy only spoke once she stopped to catch her breath.
“While you felt that way, what did you think I was going to help you with?”
He no longer called her mother. To Chrissy’s dry question, she replied coldly.
“Your father’s honor, of course! If you have any conscience, shouldn’t you clear his wrongful accusation? I thought you had at least a shred of conscience. But you come to me and shamelessly spout that kind of nonsense? Not a chance; I will never be fooled by you. I won’t be deceived by you like my poor Dennis was!”
She was screaming in a fit of rage. Chrissy had nothing left to say to her. He simply gazed blankly at the woman he had once called mother. Yes, she was his mother. But she had merely been Dennis’s wife. Perhaps she had never been Chrissy’s mother for a single moment. It had all been his delusion.
“…I’ll be going now.”
Chrissy said only that and stood up. As he walked toward the entrance, his mother continued to shower his back with relentless curses.
“Yes, get out! Go to hell, you child of the devil. Your father should have killed you too when he shot your mother. Someone like you should burn in the fires of hell forever…!”
The endless shouting continued even after he closed the front door. Without looking back once, Chrissy walked straight ahead and got into his car. Only after closing the car door did the surroundings become quiet. He immediately started the engine and drove away. He left that place without hesitation and kept driving.
For some reason, he couldn’t cry. He felt no emotion.
Only one face came to mind. Suddenly, he missed that man so desperately it was maddening.
“Hello, Mr. Jin.”
The guard at the entrance recognized him and greeted him. Chrissy returned the greeting briefly and asked immediately.
“Has Mr. Miller returned?”
“Yes, please come this way.”
At the guard’s signal, an employee standing by the entrance approached and guided him to the private elevator. It was a familiar path for Chrissy, but he followed the employee in silence. As the elevator ascended, he closed his eyes tightly against the subtle quickening of his heartbeat.
Nathaniel Miller had been released on bail just a few hours ago. Chrissy had tried to see him again, but further meetings had been forbidden. It had been a week since then, and upon hearing the news of Nathaniel Miller’s bail, he had come straight to the penthouse where he lived.
A week—actually, that was incredibly fast.
The fact that the bail process, which could take months, was completed so quickly was likely because he was a Miller. To feel this much relief at the fact that Nathaniel was a Miller was something unimaginable in the past. As he unconsciously let out a bitter smile, a short bell rang and the elevator stopped.
When the doors opened, Chrissy took a deep breath and stepped out. Even as he walked past the entrance and straight inside, he felt strange. He felt nervous, and… perhaps excited.
And he was standing there. In the spot Chrissy expected, staring at him with a whiskey glass resting on the bar table, just like before.
“You arrived sooner than I thought.”
Those were the first words Nathaniel spoke. Chrissy gazed blankly at the face of the man he had missed so much. Thump, thump—his heart seemed to beat even more heavily against his ribs.
“How does it feel to have a proxy experience of prison?”
Fortunately, at the indifferent tone that flowed out as usual, Nathaniel twisted the corner of his mouth and let out a breathy laugh.
“Terrible. So much so that I never want to experience it again.”
“That’s a relief.”
Chrissy continued in a voice that still lacked emotion.
“Because I don’t sleep with ex-convicts.”
At those words, Nathaniel actually laughed out loud this time. It was a very short laugh.
“My, I’ll have to get a not-guilty verdict even if I have to kill the judge.”
It was unclear whether he was joking or serious, but Chrissy didn’t bother to laugh along. He simply looked at Nathaniel with a still-stiff expression.
“…It looks like you’ve lost some weight.”
When he finally spoke after a pause, Nathaniel gazed at Chrissy with narrowed eyes, as if asking if that was all he had to say. Yes, he thought he had a lot to say. Chrissy recalled vaguely. But why had his mind gone so blank?
“My mother knew.”
At those words, Nathaniel, who was about to bring the whiskey to his lips, stopped mid-motion. Under the gaze that seemed to ask what he meant, Chrissy continued. He felt a strange sensation, as if his lips were moving on their own, regardless of his will.
“She knew what that man did to me. …She was angry at me, saying that I was the one who seduced him.”
Nathaniel said nothing. He simply kept his eyes fixed on Chrissy and brought the whiskey glass to his lips.
“My, I was too hasty.”
After drinking, Nathaniel said as he set the glass down on the bar table.
“I should have shot that woman too.”
Because he spoke in a casual tone, as if talking about the weather, Chrissy wondered if there was another meaning to the words. Otherwise, no one could talk about killing a person so nonchalantly.
…Even while thinking it was just nonsense.
“Will it be okay?”
Chrissy spoke. Despite his suppressed voice, it trembled violently.
“I’m a Beta. I don’t produce pheromones, and I can’t have children.”
At that, Nathaniel chuckled again. As if it were absurd.
“Chrissy, I have five younger siblings. I’ve had my fill of taking care of children.”
A stinging sensation hit the bridge of his nose. His vision blurred, and he couldn’t see the man’s face clearly. Without thinking any further, Chrissy threw himself at him.
“I love you…”
The words burst out of his mouth as if something had exploded inside his chest. The word he uttered for the first time gouged into his heart. With trembling arms, he hugged Nathaniel’s neck tightly. Nathaniel pulled Chrissy’s waist close with one arm. As their bodies pressed together, his skin flared up as if burning. When he hesitantly lifted his face, his eyes met Nathaniel’s immediately. Nathaniel, looking down at Chrissy, tilted his head. Chrissy did not pull away. All he did was close his eyes and part his lips.
Ah, when their lips locked deeply, Chrissy unconsciously let out a sigh. Perhaps he had been waiting for this kiss his entire life. He clung to Nathaniel with all his might, thinking that there could be no more perfect kiss in the world.
Epilogue
<Nathaniel Miller, Not Guilty.>
The day the verdict was announced, a massive upheaval occurred that shook the entire country. The controversy throughout the trial had been whether this was a ‘justifiable homicide.’ However, the victim’s criminal record revealed during the process, and the fact that Nathaniel Miller had collaborated with the FBI to bust a massive human trafficking and child prostitution ring, were enough to shift public opinion.
<Hero or Murderer?>
Because of Miller’s name, which had earned him the title of ‘Devil,’ people didn’t believe it at first. But with every new piece of evidence that emerged as the trial continued, it became impossible to deny, and eventually, Nathaniel Miller was almost revered as a ‘hero’…
“That doesn’t mean the malicious acts he’s committed in the past disappear.”
Negative opinions still remained. Of course, looking at the various cases the Miller Law Firm was still handling, such a reaction was only natural. On the other hand, there were different opinions.
“I believe he deserves praise for this specific case. This is the only thing Miller has done right so far, so it makes no sense to punish him for it.”
Nevertheless, the declaration of not guilty was a surprising result for everyone. Even if his contributions as an undercover agent were recognized, people thought a full acquittal would be a stretch…
Chrissy watched Nathaniel emerge from the courtroom from inside the car. Flashes went off from all directions as questions rained down on him, but he didn’t say a word, walking briskly—almost running—toward the car.
“Move! Get out of the way!”
Taking advantage of the bodyguards pushing the reporters aside, Nathaniel slid into the car. Chrissy, who had been waiting for him in the backseat, spoke.
“Good jo—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Nathaniel pressed their lips together. Chrissy smiled helplessly and accepted the kiss.
“How on earth did you do it?”
By the time Chrissy managed to ask, the car had already entered the road. Nathaniel smiled and bit Chrissy’s lower lip.
“I know a lot of powerful people.”
A powerful man with secrets.
And this event was also a huge help to his father, Ashley Miller. Not only political opponents but also difficult businessmen and journalists involved in this case met their ruin.
Perhaps that was Nathaniel’s reason for taking on this task from the beginning.
“As expected, you people are villains,” Chrissy said with a frown, and Nathaniel asked with a smile.
“But it’s more convenient for villains to be caught by other villains, isn’t it?”
Then, he took Chrissy’s hand and kissed his finger.
“You keep doing the righteous things. I’ll handle the dirty work.”
Biting the tip of the finger slightly before letting go, Nathaniel gazed at Chrissy with narrowed eyes.
“We’ll make a perfect couple, won’t we?”
Chrissy looked at him without a word. A month ago, his adoptive mother was murdered by a robber who entered the house late at night. Far from catching the culprit, they hadn’t even found a clue. People didn’t even seem interested, so it looked as though it would just be forgotten…
Chrissy didn’t bother to ask about it. He pulled his hand away from Nathaniel’s grip, cupped his cheek, and tilted his head again.
“Probably, more than anything.”
With a low whisper, their lips met again. On the running road, yellow ginkgo leaves fluttered in the wind, drifting and scattering chaotically through the air.