1.2 Tarten

There was no nameplate there.

Or perhaps there was one somewhere on the wall. However, the wall was far too long to walk around and search for a nameplate.

“I’ve seen quite a few prominent houses, and Kyle’s house isn’t exactly modest either, but…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered as he looked at the wall, which, to exaggerate, seemed to have no end in sight.

As he said, thanks to his genius older brother who was often invited to the homes of high-ranking officials since childhood, Jeong Tae-ui had also seen numerous prominent houses.

However, the mansion before him now was exceptional even among them.

“Who on earth lives in a palace like this… Wow. I can’t even see the building.”

Like a country woman seeing Seoul for the first time in her life, Jeong Tae-ui blinked in admiration in front of the wall. He could see a building far off through the gaps of the large main gate made of heavy iron bars, but he couldn’t tell if that was indeed the main building of the house.

Jeong Tae-ui stared at the note in his hand. He had already memorized the address written in Kyle’s cursive after looking at it several times.

However, he couldn’t be sure if the address of this house matched the one on the note. He tried to check the name [unauthorized copy]our site">visit our siteon a nameplate, but there wasn’t one to be seen.

Right next to the iron gate was a small guardhouse. Two guards in uniform sitting inside were casting suspicious glances his way. It was understandable. A strange Asian man loitering near the house—carefully searching for a nameplate—was bound to look suspicious.

“Nothing is more certain than just asking.”

Jeong Tae-ui put the note in his pocket and stepped forward. As he approached, one of the guards stood up and came out of the guardhouse.

Facing someone with iron bars between them felt slightly subtle. But thinking about it, since he was outside the bars, he didn’t need to feel subtle. Technically, weren’t the ones trapped inside the bars those people?

“What brings you here?”

The guard asked in a polite but stiff tone. Glances mixed with caution and curiosity were flying not only from him but also from inside the guardhouse.

“Ah—I’m looking for Christina Tarten.”

“Christina Tarten?”

The guard’s expression turned strange.

Confusion clouded his face as he repeated the name Jeong Tae-ui had mentioned. He tilted his head and looked back toward [visit our siteclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read stolen contenton Read BL Novels]the guardhouse. The guard inside also tilted his head to the side.

It was Jeong Tae-ui who became bewildered by the gesture, which suggested they had neither heard nor known of such a person.

Although he hadn’t confirmed the nameplate, he had thought there was a ninety-nine percent chance this was the right house.

Kyle had said that since it was such a large house, it would be immediately visible once he got near. And there was no other house in the vicinity large enough to be that visible. To be precise, this house was overwhelmingly large.

“There is no such person.”

The guard spoke firmly after exchanging a few words with the other guard in the guardhouse.

Jeong Tae-ui exchanged blank stares with the guard for a moment.

He didn’t seem to be lying. There was no reason for him to do so.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head.

“Isn’t this the Tarten estate?”

“It is.”

“…Christina Tarten is…”

“There is no such person.”

Something was tangled right from the start. Where did it go wrong?

Just in case, he asked if there were any other Tarten estates nearby, but the guard shook his head with an incredulous look.

“This is troublesome…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered with a sigh. It seemed he would have to contact Kyle.

Tarten.

It was a name he had heard several times recently.

When he heard that the person named Christina had the surname Tarten, Jeong Tae-ui finally realized why she was a guest who couldn’t be easily dismissed. If she was a member of a family with whom they had maintained ties for over a hundred years, that would make sense. He finally understood why Ilay could have a childhood friend.

He had come prepared to suffer greatly upon meeting a person who, based on the explanation alone, was by no means easy stolen contentto [Read unauthorized copyon Read BL Novels]deal with, but he hadn’t expected things to go awry even before meeting her.

Then, for now, he should contact Kyle and double-check…

It was just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to step back from the iron gate.

A dark blue sedan, likely visiting the mansion, approached and stopped in front of the gate. Upon seeing the car, the guard identified the person in the driver’s seat and began to open the gate.

While the guard was opening the gate, the car window rolled down, perhaps because they found the strange Asian man standing blankly beside them curious. Three young people, who appeared to be around the same age, were inside the car.

The young man in the passenger seat spoke to Jeong Tae-ui lightly, in a tone that sounded almost like a joke.

“Who are you looking for?”

Seeing that they shared some similar features, the young people seemed to be family or relatives. If such a group had come together, there was a high possibility they were blood relatives of this house.

They might know the name of a distant relative that the guard might not know.

“I’m looking for Christina Tarten.”

Jeong Tae-ui answered with hope, smiling as friendlily as possible.

Unfortunately, however, the expression of the young man repeating, “Christina?” was not much different from the expression the guard had shown a moment ago. Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips bitterly. He really did have to contact Kyle.

But just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to take a step back, the young man in the passenger seat, who had been muttering the name Christina, suddenly stiffened his expression.

…Aha. Bingo.

Jeong Tae-ui stopped his step.

It wasn’t just that young man; the other people in the car were the same. Though there was a time lag, their expressions changed one by one as if the name had finally come to them.

But… the bingo part is fine, but why do their expressions look like…

Jeong Tae-ui glanced at the atmosphere inside the car.

Their expressions didn’t stop at mere surprise or astonishment. They began to scan Jeong Tae-ui fiercely, with clear caution and hostility.

He knew he had stepped on a landmine of some sort, but since he didn’t know what it was, Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head. It felt as if they were about to gang up on him.

“Who the hell are you?”

Even the tone turned hostile in an instant.

“Ah… I’m just a messenger.”

“What did you come here for!”

“At the request of an acquaintance, I came to retrieve an item that was lent.”

Jeong Tae-ui answered calmly as if it were nothing, while observing them carefully. Hostility was blooming blatantly amidst the pouring gazes.

It seemed these young men got along very poorly with Christina.

Then again, who could possibly get along with someone capable of being a friend or colleague of Ilay? Unless you’re the same brand of ‘green,’ it’s impossible.

In that sense, it was clear that these young men were not of that sort. It was a fortunate thing for them.

“So, is Christina home right now?”

When Jeong Tae-ui asked, a harsh shout returned after a short silence.

“There’s no such person!”

What am I supposed to do when you ask me everything and then suddenly say there’s no such person?

However, before Jeong Tae-ui could wipe the bewildered look off his face and say something else, the young men spat out the window, glared at him, and asked again.

“Who sent you! And what is this ‘lent item’?”

…They sure have a lot of questions for someone they claim doesn’t exist.

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue and sighed.

Talking to these guys wouldn’t make anything better. He thought it would be better to just send them away quickly and find another way.

“If she’s not here, that’s fine.”

Jeong Tae-ui stepped back from the car and gestured for them to go on. The gate was already wide open, and the guard inside was observing the atmosphere with a curious face.

Wait a minute…

The guard didn’t know her. And these guys—they clearly knew her, but they couldn’t remember the name for a moment when it was first mentioned. Kyle had given him this place as her address.

If so…

Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head, gathering the pieces of the situation one by one. But as he frowned, unable to reach a fitting conclusion, he heard a rough shout calling him from behind.

Turning around, he saw that the young men had no intention of entering. Moreover, they didn’t seem inclined to leave him alone to organize his thoughts.

What a damn mess. Why is it like this from the start?

“Hey! I asked who sent you! Are you going to answer properly?!”

Whether it was some deep grudge against Christina, they seemed determined not to leave Jeong Tae-ui alone for mentioning her name. One of them even opened the back door and stepped out.

Jeong Tae-ui, who never liked fighting from a disadvantageous position, eventually let the man grab him by the collar.

He had already been told that finding the book wouldn’t be easy, but he hadn’t known that the process of finding the book included a pre-stage of meeting Christina.

“Why are you looking for that woman, huh?!”

The young man gripping Jeong Tae-ui’s collar yelled menacingly. Seeing that the guard was hesitating and ultimately not coming over, it seemed he would just watch until the end. Thus, he had no choice but to navigate this situation with his own strength.

If I hit him once and run away, there’s a fair chance things will get complicated later, Jeong Tae-ui pondered while being shaken by the collar.

It was then.

Behind their car, which was blocking the main gate, another car approached.

A black sedan stopped silently behind them without once honking its horn. The rear window rolled down.

“What is going on at the gate?”

It was a soft yet stern voice.

As soon as that voice was heard, the young men surrounding Jeong Tae-ui fell silent instantly. And Jeong Tae-ui turned his head toward the direction of the voice, which sounded somehow familiar.

“…Ah.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered unconsciously.

He had seen the man sitting in the back of the sedan looking out.

It was that man. The man who had visited Kyle—or rather, Ilay—recently. The one with the impressive, calmly smiling face. Yes, the man who had commissioned some work from Ilay.

Why was he here?

However, without knowing Jeong Tae-ui’s question, the man tilted his head with a look of curiosity upon making eye contact.

“Do we have a guest?”

When the man asked quietly, the young man who had been gripping Jeong Tae-ui’s collar hurriedly let go. Then, as if defending his behavior, he quickly shouted.

“He’s not a guest! This kind of…!”

Perhaps embarrassed to have shown such an ugly side in front of the man, the young man stammered out excuses, while Jeong Tae-ui silently dusted off his collar and looked back at the man. Their eyes met.

The man observed Jeong Tae-ui slowly and asked politely.

“Who are you looking for?”

Instead of answering, Jeong Tae-ui stared at the man for a moment.

The guard didn’t know the name, and these young men showed hostility toward the name. Then this man… surely he wouldn’t just start swinging his fists.

“Christina Tarten.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked straight at the man and said the name for the third time.

The man said nothing.

He simply stared at Jeong Tae-ui intently. From head to toe, slowly. Not so blatantly as to be offensive, but enough to be thorough.

Eventually, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Christina Tarten. You couldn’t have heard that name directly from her… If it’s not too rude, may I ask who introduced you to us?”

“…I came to Dresden for the first time today.”

The man fell silent. His gaze narrowed slightly, as if trying stolen contentto unauthorized copygauge what Jeong Tae-ui was trying to say.

“I don’t even know if this is the right place I’m looking for, I’ve never met Christina, I don’t know what position she holds in there, nor do I know who she has relationships with. Of course, I don’t know what I should or shouldn’t say.”

The man seemed to understand that this meant, In other words, I cannot answer your question.

After looking at Jeong Tae-ui for a moment, the man nodded.

“I understand. I shall guide you. Welcome to Tarten.”

The man spoke with a welcoming light in his slightly curved, smiling eyes.

Unlike the others, this man seemed to be someone who wasn’t on bad terms with Christina. Then again, even Ilay hadn’t been on bad terms with everyone at UNHRDO.

Seeing the man point to the seat beside him, Jeong Tae-ui nodded and quickly climbed into the car.

One of the young men, who had been watching their actions from a short distance, shouted with a scowl.

“Richard! That guy is the one looking for that woman!”

At that shout, Jeong Tae-ui shifted his gaze from the young man to the man.

Richard.

Richard Tarten.

It was a name that had come up briefly in a previous conversation between his uncle and Kyle. Someone who was said to be promising.

“He is a guest of Tarten.”

The man spoke calmly to the young man, indifferent to Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze. At the firm tone that allowed no rebuttal, Jeong Tae-ui realized that gentleness was not the only thing this man possessed.

Sitting beside the man, Jeong Tae-ui gave the young man a bright smile as they passed the fuming youths and entered the gates.

Now I’m the one trapped inside the iron bars, he thought, looking out the car window.

It was a vast estate. After driving a bit further, the mansion appeared in the distance. The U-shaped, off-white mansion was of a scale that was overwhelming even from afar.

Beyond that, low rolling hills stretched out. The forest, though not particularly dense, grew in a lush green, radiating a light that seemed to be a harmony between human touch and nature. The forest looked quite vast, appearing as a wonderful place for a stroll or forest bathing.

“The horseback riding courses are well-established in that direction. Beyond that, it [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL Novels -->connects to the mountain range, so when we have free time, we set a date to go hunting.”

The man beside him explained, as if following the direction of Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze.

“The mansion may look like one building, but it actually consists of three separate houses. To the right of the main building is the east wing, and to the left is the west wing.”

Even though he didn’t know who Jeong Tae-ui was, the man explained this unfamiliar environment in a soft, detailed manner; looking at him again, he truly had a good impression. His aura was gentle and kind.

…Come to think of it, Ilay had said something about this man. That he was a top-tier pervert.

Jeong Tae-ui narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the man once more.

Even from up close, the man had a reliable, handsome appearance; there was nothing written anywhere on him that suggested he was a top-tier pervert.

It wasn’t written on Ilay that he was a lunatic either, but at least that guy made it obvious the moment he opened his mouth. This man’s low, soft tone of voice didn’t give off that feeling at all.

“Then again, people who look perfectly normal are often the scariest…”

But if that were the case, he’d have to be wary of everyone in the world, and that would be an impossible way to live.

As Jeong Tae-ui muttered to himself unconsciously, the stolen contentstolen contentEND: stolen content -->man looked back in curiosity, having overheard him. Jeong Tae-ui hurriedly waved his hand, saying it was nothing.

After proceeding for a while along the well-manicured tree-lined road, the car soon arrived in front of the mansion.

Seeing it right in front of him, the scale was so immense that he couldn’t even gauge it, which actually calmed his nerves a bit.

The man approached Jeong Tae-ui, who had stepped out of the car first and was scanning the exterior of the mansion. A man who looked like a footman, standing in front of the main entrance, was approaching from a distance. Seeing that solemn and stiff face, Jeong Tae-ui suddenly missed Rita.

Regardless, it would all be over once he quickly found the book and went back.

Jeong Tae-ui looked at the man who had come right up beside him and was quietly looking down at him. He then greeted this grateful man who had provided immense help in getting him this far without any trouble.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I got in comfortably. By the way, where can I find Ms. Christina Tarten?”

The man looked him over silently, every nook and cranny, as if trying to dig up some hidden lie from Jeong Tae-ui’s face. When Jeong Tae-ui felt awkward under that gaze and scratched the back of his neck, the man finally spoke quietly.

“If you go into the main building and inform the butler of your visit, word will be sent to her. However, if you are on close terms, you may go directly to the west wing.”

Jeong Tae-ui pondered for a moment.

Since he had never met Christina, he should normally go to the main building and meet the butler first, but Kyle had said he would contact Christina in advance. And though he didn’t know for stolen contentstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]sure, Kyle was likely quite close with Christina. In that case, would it be better to go straight to the west wing and ask for her using Kyle’s name?

However, the process of going to the main building, formally finding the butler to announce his visit, and waiting for a message to be sent felt incredibly cumbersome and tedious. Since contact had likely already been made, it didn’t seem like it would be rude to go straight to the west wing.

“…I’ll go to the west wing. You said that building is the west wing, right?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked, pointing to the building connected to the left of the main building by a small tower. The man remained silent for a moment before nodding.

Soon, the footman who had been standing at the main door approached and took the luggage from the man. After giving a few brief, formal instructions to the footman, the man turned back to Jeong Tae-ui.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had just started walking toward the west wing with a light step, stopped when he felt the man’s gaze.

Right, I should say goodbye one last time…

But before Jeong Tae-ui could open his mouth, the man asked first.

“By the way, may I ask the name of the person who has come to visit?”

“Huh? Ah… Come to think of it, I haven’t been introduced yet. Are you a relative of Christina?”

He already knew the man’s name, but the man hadn’t formally revealed [[visit our site]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]it. Jeong Tae-ui smiled brightly and held out his hand. The man looked momentarily flustered before shaking it.

“Ah. I see. I am Richard Tarten. I am her cousin.”

I see, a cousin, Jeong Tae-ui muttered, tilting his head.

He didn’t know how this family was structured, but if he was the cousin of the man Kyle had evaluated as being exceptionally promising, they wouldn’t be distant relatives. And yet, when asked about her, they—

Just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to reveal his name while harboring this vague doubt.

Suddenly, at the edge of his vision, he saw something rushing toward them at a terrifying speed.

“?!”

It was a horse.

Kicking up a cloud of white dust, a white horse was galloping from the forest behind the west wing toward the main building.

The reckless charge, which looked as if it would trample over anything in its path, was headed exactly toward them.

“…!”

There was enough distance to avoid it, but Jeong Tae-ui stared at the horse in bewilderment.

No matter how large the estate was, there was no way the area in front of the main building, where cars and people passed, was a riding course.

The man, Richard, glanced in that direction and, showing no sign of surprise, stepped back a few paces. Only then did Jeong Tae-ui follow suit and step back.

The horse wasn’t exactly charging at them. They happened to be in the middle of the path the horse was galloping down.

As the horse approached without slowing down, as if it didn’t care whether they moved or not, Jeong Tae-ui could see a person sitting atop it.

There was someone dressed in riding gear as white as the horse.

Seeing him, Richard shouted in a voice that wasn’t loud but was clearly audible.

“Christoph. A guest has come to see you.”

“Eh?”

Jeong Tae-ui looked back at Richard, pointing to himself with his thumb as if [unauthorized visit our sitecopy]to say, ‘Me?’ [visit our site]Richard kept his eyes on the horse.

The horse, which had been closing in right in front of them, suddenly reared up in the next instant.

A deceleration with almost no distance to spare.

That abrupt stop, which would not be easy even for a highly trained rider, was executed as smoothly as flowing water. Right before his eyes.

The rider, who displayed horsemanship that even Jeong Tae-ui—who had almost no riding experience—could admire, came to a halt in front of them.

The magnificent white horse, a rarity to behold, moved a few steps calmly in front of them, as if it hadn’t just been galloping. If its breathing hadn’t become heavy, one might not have known it had run at all.

As Jeong Tae-ui met the pitch-black eyes of the white horse, which were warily scanning the stranger, a listless voice drifted down from above.

“Looking for me…?”

Along with that voice, the rider flicked the reins twice to the side. The horse shifted its body slightly. Only then could Jeong Tae-ui see the person sitting on the horse.

Shining platinum blonde hair. Deep blue eyes imbued with melancholy and boredom. A lanky, slender frame.

Jeong Tae-ui knew this young man, who possessed an impression Read stolen contenton Read BL unauthorized copyNovelsso vivid that it would be impossible to forget once seen.

He had seen him just the other day. In Berlin, about 200 kilometers away from here in Dresden. In that silent cathedral where they had been trapped in a downpour.

The young man seemed to remember Jeong Tae-ui as well. A slight spark of interest flickered in those bored eyes.

“Uh… you are…”

The young man leaned forward from the horse and scanned Jeong Tae-ui thoroughly, as if confirming he wasn’t seeing things.

“I believe you said you had never met, but it seems you were already acquainted,” Richard said from the side. Turning away from the young man, who was looking at him with only his eyes, Jeong Tae-ui gave an ambiguous smile.

“Yes, we crossed paths briefly a while ago… By the way, is Christina Tarten, perhaps…”

Because an unexpected person had suddenly appeared before him, Jeong Tae-ui momentarily forgot his manners and pointed at him with his finger.

The moment the words left Jeong Tae-ui’s mouth, the young man’s expression suddenly changed.

The indifferent and bored face turned ice-cold in an instant. A chilling, expressionless face looked down at Jeong Tae-ui.

In that moment, Jeong Tae-ui realized he had made a mistake. He didn’t know exactly what [unauthorized copy]copy -->unauthorized copystyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]the mistake was, but he knew he had done something wrong.

The young man stared at Jeong Tae-ui with a ghost-like, expressionless face, then suddenly muttered to himself.

“Ah, right… right… right… that’s right. It was. I see, so that’s how it is. And so…”

Listening to those mutterings, which he couldn’t understand no matter how much he chewed over them, Jeong Tae-ui was reminded once again of the eccentricity he had witnessed in this young man at the cathedral.

“You came for the book, right?”

The young man suddenly spoke. Jeong Tae-ui raised an eyebrow.

“…Yeah. But Christin—”

“I took it. …They said they’d send someone else instead, and it was you.”

Jeong Tae-ui stared blankly at the young man in front of him.

All the circumstances indicated that this young man was the book thief in question, Christina. However, he was not of a gender that suited the name Christina, and here, he was being called Christoph.

“…? You?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked skeptically. Because an unexpected person had appeared, the credibility of the situation itself plummeted.

Is this man really the person I came to find? What Kyle said about the person named Christina was clearly—

Just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to recall the memory.

The sedan that had been standing just below the stairs of the main entrance drove away, and another car took its place. It was the young men he had seen earlier in front of the iron gates of the outer wall.

Handing the car keys to the footman, they piled out of the car. Seeing Jeong Tae-ui, the young man, and Richard facing each other in a standoff, they approached aggressively, though they looked slightly puzzled.

“I guess you forgot where the riding course is after being away for so long.”

“If you really don’t know, don’t block the way and get in the way here; just go play in the stables.”

Their hostility was no longer directed at Jeong Tae-ui. They spoke with a sneer, looking up at the young man sitting straight on the horse.

As Jeong Tae-ui watched the atmosphere in silence, Richard frowned slightly beside him.

“Stop it.”

“But look, the atmosphere has been a mess since this bastard returned. Why did a guy who has nothing to do with us anymore crawl back in here?”

One of the young men stepped forward. He was the one who had been driving. He seemed to be the eldest among them.

The atmosphere here is really not great either. Not great, not great at all.

Jeong Tae-ui watched the fire from across the river, hoping that the blaze would not approach him. The way they were picking a fight didn’t seem like an atmosphere formed in a day or two.

One of the men, among the younger ones, approached and lightly kicked the horse. His gaze flickered toward Jeong Tae-ui.

“Come to think of it, what was it? Christina? Ha, yeah, with a pretty face like that, you could call him Christina. Christina—”

It was then.

The young man, who had been looking down at them coldly from the horse, stared intently at the young man and spat out.

“It seems you all have forgotten who I am after being away for so long.”

He finished his sentence casually, without appearing particularly angry.

Simultaneously, a sharp sound cutting through the air rang out chillingly.

Slap!! —A dry sound followed. Red droplets of blood scattered on the ground.

It happened in an instant.

Without even a scream, the young man whose flesh had been torn by the horsewhip merely groped his face in a daze, as if he didn’t know what had happened.

And before he could regain his senses, the dry sound of impact rang out twice in succession. This time, a scream erupted.

Without a chance to counterattack, the young men, whose facial flesh had been torn away, stared wide-eyed at the blood soaking their shirts as it flowed down their necks.

“Even after 10 or 20 years, you shouldn’t forget the things that must not be forgotten. It hasn’t even been 10 years since I left this house, so what use is that head of yours if you’ve already forgotten? Go on, try calling me by that name once more. Who was it?”

The young man muttered calmly, without becoming agitated. His slightly slow manner of speaking seemed bored.

Gasp… Jeong Tae-ui belatedly covered his mouth. That name must have been a taboo.

Kyle, you should have told me that in advance! I almost had my flesh flown off by a whip!

Fortunately, the young man, who didn’t seem to have any intention of punishing Jeong Tae-ui by saying, ‘Come to think of it, you called me that too,’ leaped down from the horse and landed on the ground. The way he casually tied the whip to the saddle was practiced.

At that moment, one of the young men seemed to have attempted a counterattack. The reason I say ‘seemed’ is that although he tried to attack, the young man easily stepped aside, leaving his fist to slice through empty air.

“It wasn’t just your head that was useless. …Good grief.”

The young man sighed in disbelief. Having completely lost his will to fight, the young man put his hands in his pockets and ruthlessly kicked the young man’s knee with his riding boot.

A horrific sound echoed. Watching a human skeleton twist in a grotesque direction right before his eyes, Jeong Tae-ui shut his mouth. The young man still hadn’t so much as batted an eyelid.

That was it. Kyle had said it. About that person, Kyle had said this:

Ilay’s childhood friend. A former colleague from the T&R Mobile Unit days.

It suddenly clicked.

When they met at the cathedral not long ago. At that time, this young man had stopped by Kyle’s house and was on his way back with the book.

Suddenly, the world felt dizzying. Life was one big hurdle race.

Thinking that beating someone half to death without a shred of excitement truly made him a friend of that guy, Jeong Tae-ui was spacing out until he snapped back to his senses when another harsh scream rang out.

No matter if it was another family’s business, he felt he should at least try to stop it. No, but why is no one coming out when a half-slaughter is happening right in front of the main entrance?

As Jeong Tae-ui approached them in bewilderment, he soon stopped.

Richard had approached from behind and grabbed the young man, who had been delivering consecutive blows so rapidly that it was difficult to intervene.

The young man, whose arm was grabbed, flinched and stopped. The eyes of the young man, which had been listless even while beating the others, began to flash fiercely.

“Let go.”

The voice growling as he looked back at Richard was like a predator ready to tear into the other’s throat at any moment.

Richard obediently let go. And as if he were truly dealing with a wild beast, he stepped back a few paces, showing his empty hands.

The young man glared at him menacingly and irritably rubbed the arm that had been grabbed. He rubbed it violently as if he wanted to tear the flesh off his own arm, and eventually burst into a curse.

“Manage the people under you better before you try to stop me, Richard. Otherwise, I’ll visit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]kill these idiots every time they do something stupid to me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Richard answered quietly and nodded. The young man glared at him harshly and turned away. Walking briskly toward the west wing, he shouted to Jeong Tae-ui without looking back.

“You there. You follow me.”

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue while looking at the people lying bloodied on the ground and walked in silence. He didn’t forget to give a slight nod to Richard as he passed him.

 

* * *

 

Christoph Tarten.

Whether it was Christina or Christoph, the name didn’t matter anymore.

Regarding the mysterious dangerous person who was unauthorized copystyle="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit unauthorized copyour siteclose with Ilay, Jeong Tae-ui had never imagined someone like that young man.

He knew the person would be extraordinary, but he didn’t expect them to be so visibly extraordinary. No, even if they were extraordinary in appearance, he might have found it easier to accept if it were a man as large as a house who looked like he had been raised on wolf’s milk in some deep mountain.

With that face and that appearance, being associated with Ilay… this feels like a scam.

“……The main building has the office, the drawing room, the hall, and things like that. The east wing is where the old folks stay, and that’s also where the guest rooms for outside visitors are located. Those staying in the west wing are bloodline members of my generation or below, or their guests. Since you won’t have any reason to go to the main building or the east wing anyway, you only need to know the layout of the west wing. On the first floor……. ……Are you listening?”

Christoph, who had been reciting the information in a steady stream without taking a single breath, turned to look at Jeong Tae-ui, who was standing perfectly still and silent. Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips and muttered, “I am listening…… but more importantly. Do I really have to stand right here? Can’t I just go inside?”

“Were we on close enough terms for you to enter my bedroom?”

“We’re on close enough terms for me to stand in front of your wide-open bedroom door and watch you change your clothes.”

Christoph paused his hand as he was taking a new shirt out of the wardrobe and looked at Jeong Tae-ui.

Having blocked Jeong Tae-ui at the threshold of the bedroom while telling him not to enter, Christoph had been delivering his explanation while changing his clothes.

He faced Jeong Tae-ui head-on as he put on the shirt.

Tapping the buttons of the shirt directly against his skin, he spoke. unauthorized copyvisit our site“I forgot unauthorized copyto mention this first. I don’t mind if you watch or talk to me. But you cannot touch me.”

“What?”

“I said don’t touch me. Me. And don’t touch my things unless I specifically tell you to.”

“……. Do you have a phobia of germs?”

“Far from it. It’s not that I can’t stand things being dirty or messy. I simply dislike physical contact with others.”

“I’m surprised you were in the mobile task force. You must have had to rub shoulders with people.”

“I was never assigned to tasks that required rubbing shoulders. ……The mobile task force. Other than that, how much have you heard about me from Kyle?”

“Well……. That you’re a friend of Ilay’s?”

Jeong Tae-ui said, frowning slightly. As soon as those words left his mouth, Christoph also frowned.

“Surely not. What is lacking in me that I would be friends with a lunatic like that?”

“…….”

It had been a long time since Jeong Tae-ui felt the urge to defend Ilay.

He decided he should tell Ilay about it the next time they met—that he had met his friend, Christoph. Though he suspected that Ilay wouldn’t care about a word like ‘friend’ in the first place and would instead just ask how he happened to meet the man.

“But listen. Since I’m leaving as soon as I get the book, do I really need such a detailed explanation of the house layout?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked him as he fastened the last button of his shirt. Christoph stared at Jeong Tae-ui with a look of extreme bewilderment, then pulled out a trouser rack from the wardrobe without even looking at it. From the neatly lined-up trousers, he pulled out the one at the very front, again without looking.

“Then tell me. Until you receive the book, without knowing the layout of this house, where do you plan to sleep, eat, and spend your time?”

Christoph countered.

I see why Kyle said he wouldn’t be an easy target.

“When are you giving it back?”

“When I get bored of it.”

“……. So, what’s on the first floor of the west wing?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked again, resigned. Christoph’s eyes narrowed slightly. Only then did he examine the trousers, flick away a tiny speck of dust from the hem, and step into them.

“The dining room, the hall, and the drawing room are on the first floor of the west wing. There is also a hall in the basement equipped with games like chess and billiards, but there are many idiots there, so it’s better not to go. Same for the sauna. The second floor has private studies. The third and fourth floors are private spaces, such as bedrooms, as you can see.”

After the trousers came the tie. The belt. The knit vest. And finally, the wristwatch.

Once fully dressed, Christoph looked up. Noticing Jeong Tae-ui watching him with admiration, he asked with his eyes why he was staring.

“No, it’s just that dressed like that, you look exactly like some noble young master.”

Jeong Tae-ui said, scratching the back of his neck. Only then did he realize he had spoken nonsense and clicked his tongue. He didn’t look ‘like’ one; he actually was a noble young master.

Come to think of it, here was another one. A person who would instill a prejudice toward those born with silver spoons.

Christoph suddenly scanned Jeong Tae-ui from head to toe. Jeong Tae-ui, who had simply dropped his luggage in the room Christoph pointed to and come straight here to stand, was naturally still dressed in the clothes he had worn when departing from Berlin.

“……. What. You want me to go change too?”

“No…… I was just thinking for a moment about Rick’s twisted aesthetic sense.”

At that subtle nuance that didn’t sound like a compliment, Jeong Tae-ui grumpily agreed, “I know, right……?”

“And dinner time is at seven.”

Christoph said as he walked from the bedroom toward the door. Behind him, the wall clock hanging on the wall directly in front of Jeong Tae-ui pointed exactly to seven.

Following him as he passed by and headed down the hallway, Jeong Tae-ui sighed.

How should he put it—he felt like he hadn’t quite gotten a handle on things yet. The feeling of moving without a proper grasp of the situation always came with a vague sense of anxiety. The feeling of not yet belonging to any environment.

It wasn’t the first or second time he had been thrown into an unfamiliar place, but this place felt exceptionally unsettling.

From the moment he entered the house, he could feel the subtle currents of air crossing between people. It was a strange atmosphere where intimacy and hostility were split, yet coexisted within a single household.

Even now, as he walked down the hallway, he occasionally brushed past people. Their reactions were one of two things: either on my side, or on your side.

“Did they have some kind of gang war or something? Why is the atmosphere like this?”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered as stolen contenthe passed a young man visit our sitewho glared fiercely at both Christoph and himself before walking away.

Christoph, who was walking a few steps ahead, slowed his pace slightly and turned his head.

“Didn’t Kyle tell you?”

“? Tell me what.”

“That the Tartens are in a constant state of gang war.”

“Huh?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked back with a bewildered expression. Christoph turned back toward the front and continued nonchalantly.

“The Tartens decide on the candidates who will become the successor to inherit everything in the family when they are young. They select three or four of the most outstanding children among the bloodline after a rigorous screening process. From that moment, they enter a system of competition. And the children who weren’t chosen line up behind the promising candidates for their own futures, fervently cheering for the ‘betting ticket’ they chose to win.”

His tone was very calm, as if he were talking about the dinner menu.

However, hearing this, Jeong Tae-ui was momentarily stunned and then became uncomfortable. He frowned, lost in thought for a moment, and then sighed.

“Competition can help bring out a person’s abilities more easily, but…… though I don’t know stolen contentunauthorized copycontent" style="display:none;" aria-label="stolen content">stolen contentthe exact circumstances, to an outsider’s ears, it sounds a bit inhuman.”

Christoph glanced at Jeong Tae-ui. After a short pause, he spoke as if to himself.

“A human who was inhuman from the start remains inhuman even after stepping back from the competition.”

“I mean, it’s not a matter of nature—well, that’s not really a topic for discussion. But this competition, is it absolutely necessary?”

“Only for the children chosen as succession candidates. The others just have to wait for one of them to be selected eventually, so there’s nothing to compete for directly. ……Ah, though they all pray for their supported candidate to win, so there is that kind of competitive psychology.”

“Then what about those chosen children? Once chosen, must they unconditionally compete? Is there a right to refuse?”

Christoph did not answer. It was as if he hadn’t heard. But they weren’t even a few steps apart in the quiet hallway; there was no way he hadn’t heard.

Only when they reached the landing after descending the last step of the stairs did a slightly delayed answer return.

“Of course there is. There is an opportunity to refuse if you don’t want it. I did that too.”

Looking at the back of Christoph, who continued forward without once looking back, Jeong Tae-ui’s eyes widened slightly.

“Then you were one of the succession candidates too?”

Did the elders of your family who selected the candidates not look at personality or social relationships?! — The words rose to the tip of his throat, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them so soon after meeting.

Then, he suddenly muttered, “Ah.”

He remembered the conversation between the uncle and Kyle, mentioning that Richard Tarten was the most likely candidate.

That must have been it. The most promising among those with the possibility of succeeding the Tartens.

As they finished descending the stairs and reached the first floor, another young man brushed past them. That young man also glared at Christoph with wary eyes as he passed. A short curse was heard.

Seeing Christoph walk on without any reaction despite clearly hearing the sound, Jeong Tae-ui thought that in this regard, he was at least a bit better than Ilay.

Jeong Tae-ui let out a deep sigh. Feeling a lingering sense of suffocation, he scratched his arm vigorously and asked.

“If you refused, you’re no longer a competitor, so why are those guys like that? If you step back from the competition, there’s no need to be wary or hostile, right?”

“That’s why I call them idiots. Trying to think for themselves with their own delusions…….”

Christoph muttered ambiguously and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue along with him.

With the household atmosphere like this, staying here would be like walking on thin ice. Even now, everyone they passed glared fiercely at both Jeong Tae-ui and Christoph; it didn’t seem like it would get any better in the future. Moreover, judging by the ratio, it seemed there were far more allies of Richard than of Christoph.

Whether he should call it a series of misfortunes or simply picking the wrong side.

“Ah…… splitting into factions and fighting isn’t really my style…….”

Jeong Tae-ui shook his head.

Besides, no matter how I think about it, this is an overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation. The other side has more numbers, seems to have more popularity, and is even a promising succession candidate…… As Jeong Tae-ui muttered and counted on his fingers, he almost collided with Christoph, who had stopped and was waiting for him.

“If you want to go to Richard’s side, go ahead.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked up from his fingers, asking “Huh?” at the nonchalant remark. He soon realized what he had said and frowned.

“Whether I stay here or go there, it’s still factionalism. I hate both. Besides, you seem to have forgotten, but I didn’t come here to fight. Give me the book, the book.”

Christoph narrowed his eyes. He stared intently at Jeong Tae-ui for a while as [visit our site]if searching for something, then suddenly muttered.

“I heard you were in the UNHRDO.”

Jeong Tae-ui shut his mouth. And just as Christoph had done, he stared back at him.

“……Did Kyle tell you that much?”

“No, Kyle only said he would send someone in his stead.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked at Christoph in silence. If it wasn’t Kyle, there was only one other point of contact he could think of.

Just as he thought, Christoph spoke dismissively.

“I wonder why Rick went through the trouble when he knew it would obviously become a nuisance. At the very least, there isn’t a single person among the mobile task force who doesn’t know you.”

“Sigh…….”

Not knowing how to respond, Jeong Tae-ui only muttered meaninglessly.

Christoph tilted his head. [Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen unauthorized copycontent]He looked at Jeong Tae-ui from a slanted angle for a long time before sighing.

“I’ve completely lost track of the reason why he went through that trouble, though…….”

“Why don’t you just curse at me openly instead.”

Christoph, who had let out a sigh as if to be heard, looked at the grumbling Jeong Tae-ui and tilted his head the other way. This time, only slightly.

“Would you prefer that? If you prefer being cursed at openly over indirect insults, I can do that much for you.”

“Are there no other options…….”

Jeong Tae-ui dropped his head.

“How can anyone live in such a harsh world.”

As Jeong Tae-ui grumbled, he looked up at the sound of a small, soft breath—a ‘hm’.

Christoph was looking at Jeong Tae-ui. With eyes as if he were seeing something strange. The corners of his mouth were trembling faintly.

……Ah. There it is again.

Jeong Tae-ui looked at those lips.

Watching the mouth that seemed to be wandering lost, as if not knowing what expression to make, he awkwardly scratched his neck.

How should he put it, he felt a bit…….

It wasn’t that he felt low, or depressed; he just couldn’t specifically express it.

However, Christoph soon turned around as if nothing had happened, and Jeong Tae-ui followed behind him again.

He soon found out where the dining room was.

After walking straight down the first-floor hallway and passing the hall, he saw a place where a large door was open. As he saw the place from which delicious smells and the sound of murmuring voices flowed, Christoph, who had been walking in silence with an expressionless face, suddenly turned to Jeong Tae-ui as if he had just remembered something.

“Ah. And about your name.”

“Huh?”

“It’s an unlucky name. I’ll call you something else.”

“…….”

Jeong Tae-ui stared at him with narrowed, triangular eyes.

He thought those incredibly rude words sounded familiar, and indeed, he had heard similar things when they met before. That it was an unlucky name.

“No, what’s wrong with my name—”

Just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to shout that the name his father gave him was perfectly fine, Christoph carelessly covered his mouth with his palm and pushed him away.

“In my opinion, that name doesn’t seem to fit this region. I suspect it carries a streak of misfortune. So, I’ll call you something else.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked at him with a very appalled expression as he spoke with utter seriousness, without blinking an eye.

Having suddenly leaped into the realm of superstition, Christoph continued with a face that felt no doubt.

“There are plenty of other Korean names. Hmm…… when I went to Bosnia a while ago, I met a Korean journalist there. What was his name…… Ah, right. Young-soo. That name would be fine. The surname Kim is the most common in Korea, right? Kim Young-soo. That will do.”

“……. Did you hear something from Ilay?”

The face that asked back, “Huh? Rick?” looked completely clueless.

He had intentionally chosen a common name, but it seemed it was truly that common, or perhaps it was a coincidence.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head vigorously. He couldn’t see any reason why he had to be called by a different name, but there was no reason to blush and insist on defending his name.

Right, anyway, a name is for the convenience of the person calling.

“If you insist, I’ll just be Kim Young-soo here…….”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered with a sigh. Christoph looked at Jeong Tae-ui expressionlessly, then turned away upon hearing those words.

His steps toward the dining room seemed somehow satisfied.

 

 

He had already heard that unauthorized copythe relationships among the younger generation within the Tartens took the form of a gang war.

Thinking about it, since this atmosphere would have been built over decades, it wasn’t strange that such an air was now clearly evident. Moreover, since everyone who knew already seemed to know, it was understandable that they wouldn’t care much about an outsider who had entered the house to share a meal.

“I just don’t want to be the only fool swept up in that atmosphere.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, skillfully cutting a military-style potato into four pieces using only a fork.

“Huh? What did you say?”

Right next to him, a neighbor who had been talking to a man in the opposite seat turned his head. Jeong Tae-ui chewed the potato and waved his fork dismissively. The friendly neighbor said, “Never mind then,” and put his fork to his own plate.

The atmosphere of the dining room, however, was not as grim as he had braced for.

Since it was a place where the young people staying in the west wing ate together, he had prepared himself to see some rough scenes, but surprisingly, there weren’t many people. He was told it was because their meal times differed slightly.

Furthermore, it seemed they didn’t want to get into fistfights even while eating; although fierce glares were exchanged, no one explicitly started a fight.

“The atmosphere is relatively mild at this level.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, wiping [stolen stolen contentcopy">unauthorized copycontent]the sauce from his lips with his thumb and licking it. As he did, he reminisced about the past.

It had already been several years.

When Jeong Tae-ui had fallen into his uncle’s scheme—or rather, been threatened and dragged away—to join the UNHRDO Asia branch, they had joint training sessions with other branches every three months in rotation.

The first place he encountered shortly after arriving there was the Europe branch. It was a place rumored to be on very bad terms with the Asia branch.

Back then, it was hard to even enjoy a meal in peace.

Of course, they sat and ate with people from their own branch, but if members from another branch happened to be sitting at the table right next to them, forks and knives would fly throughout the entire meal. Then, some would inevitably escalate it into a full-blown fight and flip the tables.

…Come to think of it, who was it…? The one who would constantly grab some European guy and slam his face into a plate, causing all sorts of chaos. There were so many similar types that it was hard to tell them apart at a glance. Let’s see…

“Ah, right, right. It was Alta. Alta.”

Because of that, he had to endure all the nagging from the life manager, Kyu-ho. Toward the end, Kyu-ho even grabbed Alta and sat with him every single meal.

“This guy’s been mumbling to himself for a while now… Hey, you okay?”

The neighbor in the next seat had been glancing at Jeong Tae-ui for some time, and unable to bear [[visit our site]our site">visit our siteclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]it any longer, asked while mimicking the motion of tapping his own head.

Right, if the person saying this in such a situation had been one of those European branch guys, it would have ended in disaster. No, actually, there was a case exactly like this.

During a sparring session, Jeong Tae-ui had slightly sprained his arm, and when he dropped his food a couple of times while eating, a European guy at the next table sneered. He told him to eat well, as he must be suffering a lot from hand tremors.

While Jeong Tae-ui nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, thanks for the concern,” and continued eating calmly, Carlo had suddenly hurled a plate at the guy. In an instant, the surroundings turned into a battlefield, and Jeong Tae-ui remembered having a hard time eating while not only plates but forks and knives flew through the air.

Jeong Tae-ui let out a sigh-mixed laugh as he recalled the memory, which had now become a nostalgic one. Then, he gave a bright smile to the kind neighbor who had worried about him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for worrying.”

“Uh, okay. It might be hard since everything is unfamiliar, but hang in there.”

The kind man in the next seat, who was genuinely concerned, nodded deeply and patted Jeong Tae-ui on the shoulder.

This neighbor was one of the few who supported Christoph—or more accurately, those who did not welcome Richard.

Although most people had tacitly agreed-upon seats—with Christoph sitting at the head table, which was implicitly designated as his spot—if one looked closely, one could see a pattern of people sitting divided by faction.

Jeong Tae-ui, who belonged to neither side, hesitated for a moment before sitting in a random empty spot. Fortunately, the person next to [unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy]him happened to be such a kind—and essentially allied—individual.

“By the way, how did you get caught by Christoph and end up stuck here? Where are you from?”

The kind neighbor asked while finishing a palm-sized piece of grilled fish in just two bites. This cheerful neighbor, who introduced himself as Yohan, said he was Christoph’s cousin. Remembering that Richard had also mentioned being a cousin, Tae-ui asked just how many cousins there were, only to be told that there were nearly twenty cousins officially registered on the paternal side alone.

Indeed, the elders of this family must have known that nothing is as important as numbers when it comes to building power.

Yohan laughed boisterously, adding that the number would more than double if one included maternal relatives or descendants not officially registered. He mentioned that the man sitting across from him was also a cousin who had no official relation to the family on paper.

The atmosphere here is really ambiguous, Jeong Tae-ui thought, glancing over at Christoph, who was sitting far away.

In a place where people generally ate while chatting with one or two people sitting right next to or in front of them, Christoph was silently moving his silverware alone.

He had heard that for noblewomen, silverware was practically just an accessory during meals, and it seemed this guy wasn’t much different. It felt as if a filming camera were rolling somewhere nearby.

Jeong Tae-ui suddenly set his fork down on the plate. Then, rubbing his mouth with the napkin beside him, he muttered.

“Even if he shows some shocking and baffling sides occasionally, that level of behavior could probably be solved by just saying he has a foul temper… Did he do something that warrants being ostracized like that?”

“Hmm? Who?”

With a fork in his mouth, Yohan followed Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze. Upon confirming it was Christoph, he grimaced.

“Christoph?! Is that guy even the type to be ostracized? It’s just that he’s a lunatic, so nobody goes near him. For me, I hate the people surrounding Richard so much that I’d rather be around Chris because it’s quiet, but it’s not like I support him from the bottom of my heart.”

“Hmm. He doesn’t seem like that much of a lunatic.”

Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head. However, he didn’t bother to argue the point. Considering that even Ilay had spent some time acting nearly normal at home, there was a high possibility that Jeong Tae-ui was wrong.

Jeong Tae-ui nodded, letting Yohan’s passionate arguments about the ‘Christoph-is-a-lunatic’ theory go in one ear and out the other.

He felt he now had a decent grasp of the atmosphere. It didn’t mean he was satisfied or pleased with it, but he understood the general vibe.

Most of the young people—though they expressed it through threats or outbursts of anger—feared him. Beyond liking or hating, they were wary of him. The fact that the man had almost zero social skills likely played a part.

“Well, if he doesn’t care about it himself, then it doesn’t matter.”

Jeong Tae-ui nodded, chewing on some salad as he spoke.

Regardless of their state, how they lived, or how others viewed them, if the person [Read on Read BL Novels]themselves was satisfied unauthorized copywith the situation, it wasn’t for others to comment. He only hoped the person wouldn’t grow pessimistic about reality.

Right, come to think of it, even a guy like Ilay was living just fine.

He was condemned by everyone and had earned so much resentment that he could be showered with bullets while simply eating in a restaurant. He doubted such a person was common.

Yet, such a person lived well without becoming pessimistic or falling into depression. If anything, the people around him were the ones showing such symptoms, while the man himself lived without restraint. Nor did it seem likely that, after several decades, he would suddenly repent and suffer while atoning for his past.

“…I heard he even worked with Grow, so that says it all.”

Suddenly hearing a familiar name, Jeong Tae-ui looked up with a “Huh?”

Yohan, who seemed to have been continuing his ‘Christoph-is-a-lunatic’ theory while Jeong Tae-ui was lost in thought, shrugged and looked at him as if seeking agreement. Seeing Jeong Tae-ui’s blank expression, he frowned.

“You don’t know? Madman Rick?”

“Huh? Ah… no, you mean Ilay Riegrow.”

“Yeah. …Well, if you look at it, everyone here ran around with him when they were kids, so you could call them childhood friends—though many would deny it vehemently—but still, nobody ever thought about working with him.”

Yohan set his fork down on the plate, which he had cleared of every single piece of parsley, [Read stolen contenton Read BL Novels]and picked up his napkin. Though cheerful, his personality had a private streak, and he shook his head in disbelief.

“Chris, despite being a lunatic, isn’t a bad guy. At any rate, as long as you don’t mess with him, he doesn’t hurt people first. Plus, he’s smart. He always looks like he’s lost it, but he has a natural brain and received proper gifted education. So why on earth would he need to build such a dangerous relationship—well, that’s why he’s a lunatic.”

Having reached a conclusion by talking to himself, Yohan scrubbed his mouth with the napkin.

Just what did Ilay do to leave such a firm negative reputation? Thinking this with a slightly gloomy heart, Jeong Tae-ui also set down his fork. A few pieces of vegetables remained on the plate, but he was full.

I’ve eaten enough, so maybe I should head back. The atmosphere isn’t exactly great, Jeong Tae-ui thought, rubbing his stomach and looking toward Christoph. There was still a fair amount of food on the other’s plate, but it seemed he was nearly finished.

Should I go?

Just as he was about to stand up from his seat.

For a brief moment, the dining hall went quiet.

Richard was entering through the open door.

Upon spotting Richard, several gazes shifted toward Christoph. They were looks mixed with anticipation, worry, and curiosity.

Jeong Tae-ui rested his chin on his hand, thinking [unauthorized copy]he should have [visit [visit our site]our site]left sooner. He nonchalantly watched them while popping the tab of a beer can he had received from a servant passing by.

Looking as if he had come straight to the dining hall from somewhere else, he entered with a smile, saying, “Ah, I haven’t eaten anything since lunch,” and handed his suit jacket to a servant. Then, his gaze stopped on Christoph.

Christoph also didn’t bother pretending not to see the gaze and glanced back.

The moment their eyes met, the smiles vanished from both their faces—though Christoph never really had a smile to begin with.

“…”

The people who had been whispering among themselves until a moment ago were now silent. Then, perhaps finding the silence awkward, they resumed their conversations, but their voices were noticeably lower than before.

Richard soon calmly greeted the people nearby, asking, “Has anything happened today?” before taking a seat. It was the seat directly opposite Christoph.

“People who don’t get along always end up sitting like that…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, narrowing his eyes while sipping his beer.

Watching people come and go, it seemed that while there weren’t strictly fixed seats, there were general spots people often sat in. Seeing as he naturally sat there despite several empty seats nearby, it seemed that spot was a designated seat for those two in their own way.

Indeed, when they first entered the dining hall, the seat where Christoph sat had been [Read [visit our site]on Read BL Novels]unnaturally empty, as if it were intentionally left open.

Yohan, beside him, supported Jeong Tae-ui’s thought.

“Yeah, but that’s always his spot.”

“Well, if you deliberately sit far away, it feels too much like you’re conscious of the other person, so I guess that would be annoying too.”

“Right, you’d be like that too, wouldn’t you?”

“No.”

Jeong Tae-ui shook his head decisively, thinking that if it were him, he would absolutely go to the seat furthest away from someone he found unpleasant. After all, one should live in peace of mind.

For instance, if a human like Ilay were sitting there, he would definitely claim the furthest seat. If that seat were taken, he felt he might even push the person already sitting there to take it.

He had faint memories of trying to avoid him like that, yet he had ended up in this situation.

Recalling the adults’ words that one never knows what life will bring, Jeong Tae-ui gnawed on the edge of the beer can.

Come to think of it…

Jeong Tae-ui gazed intently at Richard.

He looked at that pleasant face, which was chatting with the man next to him and occasionally smiling, seemingly oblivious to Christoph sitting right across from him, and tilted his head.

Come to think of it, it seemed that man had entrusted some work to Ilay.

Recalling Ilay, who had suddenly left home one day and been missing for two months, he considered going over to ask what kind of work he had commissioned, but he soon stopped.

Asking what work had been requested regarding a task entrusted secretly to another person was absurd in itself, but to ask such a thing, he would first have to explain that he had been there at the time.

He had no intention of digging into Ilay’s business by saying things like, I was lying behind the sofa eavesdropping on your conversation…

“By the way.”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke up abruptly, watching them while leaning his arm on the table in a decadent posture, pouring beer into his mouth. Yohan, who had also gotten a beer after seeing Jeong Tae-ui drink, looked back.

“That area over there where the air is exceptionally foul. Do they really have to get along that badly?”

“Hmm? Ah… Richard is there.”

Jeong Tae-ui frowned at Yohan, who spoke as if it were only natural for them to be on bad terms.

“I heard Christoph isn’t doing that competition anymore anyway.”

“No, regardless of the competition, Richard has always disliked Christoph immensely. And Christoph feels the same.”

“Hmm…?”

Jeong Tae-ui shifted his eyes to Yohan and then looked back at Richard with a surprised sound.

He didn’t seem like the type of person who would dislike a specific individual so intensely that others would notice—or at least, the type to make it so obvious.

“He looks like such a kind person.”

“He is kind. To be precise, he’s a man of character—diligent and reliable—which is why so many people follow him.”

Jeong Tae-ui started to ask how such a man of character could—but then he shut his mouth. He felt that would also be a comment based on prejudice.

Who doesn’t have one or two people they like or dislike? No matter how great a person’s character [stolen content]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]is, they cannot embrace everyone. Simply not overexpressing one’s dislike for someone is commendable enough.

“It’s like some kind of battle between good and evil.”

When Jeong Tae-ui muttered this, Yohan burst out laughing, spraying beer. Jeong Tae-ui flinched and leaned away. At the same time he thought it was dirty, he felt a pang of waste for the beer. He should have sprayed water instead.

Yohan, who laughed for a long time as if he were about to fall backward because the comment was so funny, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and spoke.

“Well, there are parts of their personalities that just don’t mesh, but they basically grew up together, seeing each other often since they were kids. Various things happened over those years.”

“Hmm.”

Jeong Tae-ui nodded and swirled the beer can. Slosh, the remaining bit of beer hit the sides of the can.

Relationships accumulate over time. There was no relationship that was consistently smooth. If there were, it probably wouldn’t be a normal relationship.

Then again, a relationship that was purely abrasive like that wasn’t easy to form either. Especially if a long time had passed.

“They don’t call it ‘affection born of hate’ for nothing…”

It was just as Jeong Tae-ui muttered this and finished the rest of his beer.

While he was spacing out for a moment, he noticed some noise, and before he knew it, a minor dispute had broken out up ahead.

A man sitting two seats away from Christoph and another man sitting diagonally from him were radiating a hostile atmosphere.

“What’s going on over there now?”

“Maybe someone kicked him after their feet bumped a few times.”

“…They wouldn’t fight over something so childish… …Actually, they might.”

Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips. He wanted to drink one more can of beer, but in a dining hall where curses were starting to fly, the beer wouldn’t taste good.

It didn’t seem like that fight would settle quietly; maybe he should just grab a couple of cans of beer and head back to his room.

Jeong Tae-ui pushed his chair back to sneak away. Just as he was trying to head toward the door unnoticed, the man who had been hurling curses across the table stood up as if provoked and walked around toward this direction, as if blocking the path.

Since the seats were somewhat far apart, the sparks wouldn’t fly this far, but the path to the door was blocked.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head and cautiously checked the situation.

The two men had already stood up and were grabbing each other by the collars, but no one seemed to be trying to stop them properly.

I guess I’ll just have to watch the fight and wait until the path clears, he thought with a sigh. Then, Richard, who had been watching them from across the way, spoke.

“Stop now. There are many people here, so you should find another place.”

It was a soft voice, like someone giving a suggestion to a friend, but there was a clear power behind the words.

The man, who had been hesitating while gripping the other’s collar, clicked his tongue when Richard called his name again—”Günter”—and shoved the other man away as if throwing him aside.

“Hmph. You little rat.”

However, unable to leave quietly, he left a final curse, and the other man, provoked, sprang back up and grabbed his shoulder.

“What did you say?!”

“This bastard—…”

It was just as the man twisted his body to shake off the hand gripping his shoulder.

As the man took a couple of steps to return to his spot, he whipped his upper body around, and his elbow—along with the chair next to him—struck the back of the head of the person sitting there.

“Ah…”

“…”

Jeong Tae-ui instinctively frowned and opened his mouth. There were several others who reacted similarly.

The atmosphere around them turned frigid.

Christoph, who had just wiped his mouth with a napkin and was pushing his chair back to stand up, was suddenly struck on the back of the head. He froze, remaining motionless for a moment.

The man who had hit him with his elbow stiffened the moment he realized who it was. He seemed to forget to shake off the hand gripping his shoulder. That hand, too, seemed to lose its strength and slid away.

Christoph slowly raised his head. A cold gaze pierced the man.

The man—who would have been better off apologizing right then, though the result might have been the same even if he had—shuddered under that gaze.

However, realizing that he had recoiled [unauthorized copy]and trembled from a mere look, he flushed with embarrassment. Instead, he puffed out his chest and stepped closer.

“What? You’re just slow to move after you’re done eating. The plate is already cold anyway, so why are you lingering there like a starving rat? Get lost.”

The man tucked his chin and tilted his head up, growling. His narrow eyes flashed fiercely as he looked down at Christoph. Yet, seeing the glint of excitement bordering on terror in those eyes, Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue.

“…. The plate is already cold?”

Christoph spoke quietly.

The moment he heard those words, murmured with a lingering indifference, Jeong Tae-ui could predict almost exactly what was about to happen. But before he could shout a warning, it happened.

As if grabbing a friend’s hand, Christoph casually seized the man’s wrist and pressed it firmly onto the searing hot iron platter where his meat had been.

It happened in an instant.

“Ah, ah… AAAAAAGH!!”

The man’s scream erupted like the roar of a beast.

Though it was cooler than when it was first served on the visit our sitestolen contentBL Novels]END: visit our site -->table, the platter was still sizzling faintly beneath the pieces of meat.

The sound of searing flesh reached the edge of the table.

“You’re making such a fuss just because your hand touched a plate that you said yourself was cold.”

Speaking nonchalantly, Christoph remained unmoved by the man’s violent struggles to break free. Keeping the hand pressed to the platter, he picked up a random knife lying nearby with his other hand. It was a butter knife.

“Hey, instead of that, just use a real kni—”

But once again, before Jeong Tae-ui could shout, having predicted the next move, the butter knife flew vertically down onto the man’s hand resting on the platter.

“…!!”

The blunt blade, devoid of any sharpness, tore through the back of the hand and dug deep into the flesh. Between bone and bone, slicing through muscle, the metal blade embedded itself in the hand.

The man screamed and flailed his arm wildly, but a fork was driven into that hand.

After that, it became a scene of carnage.

The man, raging like a wounded beast; other men rushing in to help him with changing expressions; the men who had been engaged in various psychological skirmishes with them visit [Read on Read BL Novels]our sitethroughout the meal—they all became entangled, turning the dining hall into a cauldron of chaos.

Amidst this, Jeong Tae-ui felt a profound sense of déjà vu as he watched from a distance: the indifferent Christoph, making the men who lunged at him taste blood one by one, and Richard, cleanly knocking out the men who attacked him with a single blow.

He felt as if he had seen a trivial quarrel escalate into a massive brawl before. It had happened exactly once during his time at the academy—after which they had all toured hell together—and more frequently at UNHRDO.

He thought he wouldn’t have to see this sort of thing now that he was living peacefully.

Within this scene that almost evoked nostalgia, Jeong Tae-ui narrowed his eyes.

Right, this was exactly the kind of situation where that guy usually excelled.

Jeong Tae-ui drifted into fond memories, thinking of an old colleague he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Damn it, we were eating quietly, what the hell are you all doing? Calm down.”

Beside him, Yohan, who was maintaining a neutral stance in his own way, clicked his tongue and reflexively gripped his fork. When Jeong Tae-ui shifted away by a few inches and stared blankly at the fork, Yohan waved his hand frantically.

“No, no, this is just a defensive tool. You never know when a spark might fly. —Damn it, can’t someone calm this down? One or two guys are one thing, but it’s hard when they’re all acting like this.”

“A way to calm this situation down, huh…”

Jeong Tae-ui gazed into the air with longing eyes.

I wonder what you’re doing now, Alta. Are you still doing that every time the Asia branch does joint training with the Europe branch?

Thinking that he should ask his uncle about it once they got in touch, Jeong Tae-ui stood up.

“There’s something a guy I used to know did quite often… Hey, you guys over there, move aside, move aside.”

Jeong Tae-ui gestured with his hand to the men sitting across the table. Then, he gripped the edge of the table with his other hand.

The next moment.

A noise loud enough to drown out all the commotion in the dining hall rang out.

The heavy mahogany table flipped over, and all the tableware, food, and glass bottles on top of it crashed onto the floor. Clang, crash, shatter—the sounds of breaking and colliding scattered everywhere.

Even the men who had been brawling up ahead stopped instantly and turned around with wide eyes.

Eventually, after everything that could spill had spilled and everything that could break had broken, a small stainless steel vase Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]style="display:none;" aria-label="Read on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsrolled about half a turn and stopped.

In the deathly silence, Jeong Tae-ui shrugged and looked back at Yohan.

“This usually makes things quiet for a while. There was a guy who did this constantly, and he told me: flipping the table is only hard the first time; after that, it’s easy.”

 

 

Only after flipping it did he remember what Alta had added afterward.

Three seconds to flip, three hours to clean, three months to deal with the aftermath.

But considering Alta, who received terrifying glares and abuse from the serving staff every time he went to the cafeteria not just for three months, but long after, he might have had to deal with the fallout for a full three years.

Chayson, one of the few married men in the branch, had said that if the person were one’s wife, one would have to be prepared to hear those complaints for a lifetime.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had just finished helping with the cleaning and tidying up while receiving cold stares from the servers, firmly engraved in his mind that he must never do such a thing again.

While the loud noise had thrown cold water on the atmosphere of the brawl, the aftermath re[stolen content]style="font-size:0;color:trRead on Read BL Novelsansparent;display:inline;">stolen contentmained entirely his to bear.

The attention of the men who glared at him, muttering dryly, “What the hell was that?” as if he had suddenly become a public enemy; the pale gazes of the servers who rushed in upon hearing the noise; and the invisible blades that pierced his spine in the silence as he cleaned the place with the servers after the people had ebbed away.

He didn’t want to experience it twice. He absolutely never wanted to experience it again.

“To think he did this over and over… Looking back, Alta was an incredibly bold guy…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered exhaustedly.

The part that wounded his heart the most was what Christoph—who had sat by the dining hall door and ‘only’ watched until Jeong Tae-ui finished cleaning while sweating buckets—tossed out as Jeong Tae-ui was leaving.

‘I can just charge the cost of the broken equipment to Kyle as a debt, right? …It might be a bit hard for you to get your book back.’

Having been in this house for only one day—no, not even a day, half a day—Jeong Tae-ui’s body and mind were tattered, and he was knocked down by those words predicting that he would never get his book back peacefully.

Despite the fact that it took a little time to flip the table, Christoph, who had survived the brawl completely unscathed, only turned and disappeared with a satisfied look after watching Jeong Tae-ui slide down the dining hall door with his head thumping against it.

Limping, Jeong Tae-ui barely managed to make it back to his room. As soon as he entered, without even taking off his shoes, he collapsed onto the bed with a sound like a falling slab of lead.

He felt like a piece of cotton soaked in water.

It felt as if several years had passed since he arrived, and looking back, he couldn’t believe the fact that he had arrived today.

“Is the flow of time different from the outside world…?”

Jeong Tae-ui mumbled with his face buried in the blanket.

The moment he sprawled out on the bed, it felt as if the blanket was swallowing him whole. He felt as if he were melting and being sucked into it.

He was so tired that he wanted to turn his head because his breathing felt stifled from having his face buried between the pillow and the blanket, but he didn’t even have the strength to move.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this exhausted.

In truth, the cleaning that took several hours wasn’t that big of a deal. He often helped Peter with garden work all day under the scorching sun on holidays, and sometimes he went to help a neighbor fix their roof and ended up taking over a major renovation.

Compared to that, cleaning for a few hours was nothing, but—.

“As expected, it’s the mind, not the body… the mind…”

Because he had been moving against his will and paying attention to everything around him, he felt as if Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">stolen contenthe had muscle pain in his brain.

Even visiting a harmonious home, spending a day among strangers would be mentally draining, but to be thrust into a vicious brawl the moment he arrived. Moreover, it seemed he had unintentionally been marked by everyone as Christoph’s ally.

When Kyle said that retrieving the book wouldn’t be easy, he thought it was simply because the person who took the book had a problematic personality. Could he have been referring to this situation as well?

“… No… This situation also happened because that guy’s personality is problematic.”

Jeong Tae-ui slowly turned his head. His nose, escaping the fluffy edge of the pillow, finally inhaled the air refreshingly.

Yohan had said that Christoph doesn’t attack first as long as you don’t provoke him. It was likely a fact known not only to Yohan but to others as well.

“Why provoke him in the first place… The guy who did it knowing that is the fool.”

Jeong Tae-ui let out a deep sigh. Suddenly, Christoph’s indifferent face came to mind.

Indifferent, or rather, a listless face. To be precise, an expressionless face that found everything meaningless, had no interest in anything, and was simply bored.

That face didn’t change at all even at the moment he placed the man’s hand on the heated platter and stabbed it with a butter knife.

He didn’t hesitate to harm people, nor did [unauthorized copy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]he loathe or enjoy such acts. He even thought it would be better if there were some mockery or pleasure mixed in.

“What a rocky road… Then again, there’s no way something Kyle said wouldn’t be easy would actually be easy.”

Jeong Tae-ui sighed once more, as if the bed might cave in.

“Kyle, this is too grueling, can’t I just go back…?” he muttered to himself, then opened his closed eyes.

“Ah. I have to call Kyle.”

Come to think of it, he had only vaguely thought about calling earlier and hadn’t contacted him yet.

He felt he should let Kyle know that he had arrived without incident and met Christoph.

Furthermore, he was concerned about whether Ilay had contacted him—and if so, whether Kyle had handled it well.

His mind told him to make the call, but the bed gripped his entire body and wouldn’t let go. He wondered how comfortable it would be if he just fell fast asleep like this.

The phone was on the nightstand right next to the bed. To reach it, he only had to get up and lean forward half a step, but it felt as difficult as completing a triathlon.

“….”

When was it?

There was a time when he had completely overturned the backyard with Peter and spent the whole day renovating it, then lay there groaning. While lying motionless like this, he had asked Ilay to pick up the phone because there was someone he needed to call, and that guy had looked down at him before dragging him over to the phone.

At the time, he had grumbled about why he was being such a nuisance, but now he wished he would do that for him…

“I wonder where that guy is and what he’s doing.”

He hadn’t been that curious, but now that he had said it out loud, he suddenly became curious. Since he started living with that guy, they hadn’t been apart for more than a month.

“… I guess I even miss that guy…”

Stopping mid-mumble, Jeong Tae-ui frowned slightly.

If he entered the house later than that guy—or if that guy were standing right there at the entrance to greet him when he returned home—that longing would vanish without a trace.

“Where did he put that guy’s book… As Kyle said, it might be better to just steal everything and bolt.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered in a voice full of agony, and eventually, with a groan, he forced himself up.

He wondered what the Berlin area code was; it was fuzzy, but the number he dialed while tilting his head was, fortunately, correct. Kyle’s familiar voice came through the receiver.

‘Tae-yi?’

“Yes. How did you kno—ah, the number must have shown up.”

Jeong Tae-ui pulled the phone cord and lay back down on the bed. While lying flat on his back, he kicked off his shoes one by one with his other hand.

‘Did you meet Christina well?’

“Ah, yes, fortunately without any major issues—no, wait, about that title.”

Only then did a problem he needed to address come to mind, and he furrowed his brow.

“Why didn’t you tell me in advance that if I call him by that name, I have to be prepared for pieces of my flesh to fly off from a whip!”

‘… Ah.’

Hearing the voice mumble after a brief pause as if he had only just remembered, unauthorized copyon Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL NovelsJeong Tae-ui felt the strength drain further from his already exhausted body.

“Kyle… I thought at least Kyle was on my side…”

As Jeong Tae-ui muttered gloomily, he heard Kyle urgently making excuses over the phone.

‘No! No! It’s because I’ve known him since we were kids! He was truly as pretty as a girl when he was young. So, even if I mistakenly thought Chris was short for Christina, you can’t put all the blame on me. I only found out his name was Christoph after I already remembered him that way and the name stuck to my tongue; would it have been only my fault?! Right, Chang-in also told me that after he first greeted him. That Christina suited him better than Christoph!’

“That doesn’t mean I can give that excuse to Christoph. ‘I only called you Christina because of how you look, sorry’… You want me to say that?”

‘… Please find my books and return them safely and intact…’

“Right?”

Jeong Tae-ui glared at the phone with sharp eyes, then eventually lost strength and let out a deep sigh.

“So… by any chance, has there been any contact from Ilay in the meantime?”

He had only left Berlin this morning. He didn’t think a man who barely gave any notice would have contacted him during the day today, but he asked just in case.

‘Ah. Right. Yes, he did.’

“….”

If possible, he had hoped there would be no contact until he found the book and returned home, and that Ilay wouldn’t even know he had left. Then again, after shouting so boldly that he was leaving, was that even possible?

“What did he say… Did you, uh, tell him well?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked, clutching his pounding heart. In truth, no matter how well it was said, he would still be worried about the aftermath, but he wanted to survive without incident if possible.

‘Ah… well, you see…’

His heart sank at Kyle’s ambiguous voice.

“You didn’t just hang up after telling him I left, did you!”

If Ilay had misunderstood and the misunderstanding wasn’t cleared, he would have to seriously worry about his future. Just like some time in the past, there was no guarantee that Ilay wouldn’t shut his mouth and cause a disaster before he could even make an excuse.

‘No, it’s not that. He called, but I couldn’t pick up.’

At Kyle’s troubled tone, Jeong Tae-ui almost dropped the phone, but [stolen content[stolen content]"font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]he barely managed to keep his grip.

No, it’s okay. It’s better than having a misunderstanding and then losing contact. Since he doesn’t even know the fact that I left the house, it might actually be better.

Jeong Tae-ui calmed his racing heart and asked again.

“Then you’re saying you didn’t get in touch?”

‘Um. That’s right. But… there was a missed message. A message for you.’

But then, as Kyle hesitated, trailing off slightly before continuing, an ominous feeling surged once more.

“What did he say?”

‘If you go out, you die.’

“…….”

‘…….’

Ilay’s voice seemed to overlap with Kyle’s message. A chilling sensation, as if someone were whispering right next to him, visit our site -->visit our sitecrawled from his ear [visit our site]to the nape of his neck and down his spine.

‘……If he calls back, I’ll handle it.’

“I’m counting on you.”

‘Right. ……Don’t worry too much. He’ll never think that you ran away to avoid him.’

“I can only hope so.”

‘No, I told you, trust me.’

Perhaps feeling pity for Jeong Tae-ui, who was muttering despondently, Kyle asserted firmly with a strange amount of strength in his tone. Jeong Tae-ui only smiled bitterly. Kyle was certainly someone he could trust with a task, but for some reason, he felt completely unreliable this time.

Still, looking back over the recent period, Ilay had lived quite quietly. Perhaps his personality had improved a lot during that time. Maybe he had finally become more human.

Clinging to a shred of hope and barely knowing what he was saying, Jeong Tae-ui exchanged a few more words with Kyle before hanging up the receiver.

“…….”

Even after that, he stared at the receiver for a long time before suddenly tossing and turning, burying his face in his pillow. He pressed down hard on the pillow, muttering, “Ah—I stolen [unauthorized copy]contentdon’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.”

Having stayed like that for a while, oblivious to the fact that he was suffocating, Jeong Tae-ui suddenly sat up. He took a deep breath.

“No. Let’s think positively. It means he doesn’t know I’m not at the house yet. Right, I told him I’d be back in a month, so if I find the book and leave before then, it’s all good. ……Yeah. I feel bad for Kyle, but if it comes down to it, forget the book—I’ll just go back before the month is up.”

Thumping his chest, Jeong Tae-ui tore at his hair.

With what kind of nerve, what on earth was he thinking when he told that guy he was leaving? If he hadn’t made that claim, his heart would feel at least a tiny bit lighter right now.

But as always, no matter how fast regret comes, it is always too late.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes, while dreaming, there are moments when you realize, ‘Ah, this is a dream.’

In those cases, it was usually easy to open your eyes if you tried to copy -->unauthorized copywake up. That was why it was a relief to realize a situation was a dream while having a nightmare.

However, when it wasn’t a nightmare, even if you realized you were dreaming, you didn’t necessarily try to wake up. You would think, This is a dream, but continue to move within the given situation. It was a strange feeling in its own way, but not a bad one.

That was the case now.

For no particular reason, the thought suddenly occurred to him, ‘Ah, I am dreaming right now.’

But before his eyes was a deep blue, distant sky; the fresh scent of growing grass wafted vibrantly; the breeze blowing just right was cool, and there was no shadow in his heart.

Wondering why he should bother waking up from such a vivid and peaceful dream, he stretched languidly and suddenly realized.

This had happened once before. On a day with weather exactly this beautiful, he had lain in the shade of a tree in the backyard, tossing and turning peacefully, enjoying that leisurely time.

This dream was reflecting a past memory exactly as it was.

‘Ah…… the sky looks so clear it feels like it would shatter if I threw a stone at it.’

He had muttered this to himself in a lazy, pleasant tone back then. Right, he had. He did. Then what did he do after that?

It wasn’t that he constantly recalled and remembered every single event, large or small, from the past. He lived his life letting visit [visit our site]our sitethe trivial things fade from his memory.

So, seeing a trivial matter he had been forgetting again in this way felt strange.

‘I’ narrowed his eyes and stared blankly at the sky for a long time. Then, at some point, he let out a satisfied sigh and sprang up. He was thirsty, and he was starting to get bored of lying there.

Since the beer he had stocked in the minibar in his room had run out, he thought he would go to the kitchen refrigerator, grab a cold can of beer, and head back to the room.

On a leisurely afternoon with nothing to do for the first time in a while, it seemed perfect to sip a beer by the window, feel the gentle breeze, and slowly flip through an art book by a favorite painter.

‘I’ opened the refrigerator in the kitchen, hesitated for a moment, and then took out two cans of beer. Then he walked toward the room.

It seemed Ilay had stayed up all night, as if he had a pile of work to deal with. Even when ‘I’ woke up in the morning and came out of the room disheveled, he was still sitting at his desk, having stayed up the entire night. It was only around the time ‘I’ had washed up and regained some composure that he finally finished his work and went to bed.

Even when ‘I’ went out to the backyard to enjoy the leisure of this sunny afternoon, he was still asleep.

Judging by the lack of any sign of movement, he seemed to be sleeping still, but just in case he was awake, one can of beer for him. If he wasn’t awake, ‘I’ would drink both.

‘I’ hugged the two large beer cans and headed toward the room, stepping softly to kill the sound of his footsteps. In any case, if he was still asleep, he had no intention of waking him on purpose.

Turning right at the end of the hallway led to his room; turning left led to ‘my’ room. Since they were [unauthorized copy]practically side-by-side, [[stolen content]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]such distinctions generally didn’t mean much, but that was how it was set up.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he looked to the right. The bedroom door, which had been closed until a moment ago, was open. He must have woken up.

Thinking he might deliver a cold beer, perfect for waking up, he turned his steps that way. Then, he suddenly realized.

The door to the study opposite the bedroom was also open by a hand’s breadth.

It seemed he had woken up and gone to sit in the study.

He thought he had finished everything and gone to sleep by morning, but was there still work left?

‘I’ scratched his head and quietly approached. If he was working, it might be a bit awkward to shove a beer in his face…… but he should just do it anyway. A beer for a break during work is just as good as a beer for waking up.

‘I’ approached the study. He was about to say, “I’m coming in,” to the slightly open door, but he paused.

A low voice was leaking from inside. He seemed to be on the phone with someone.

‘I’ pushed the study door. The door, which had been open by a hand’s breadth, pushed open by three. Perhaps sensing the movement, the man sitting at the desk on the phone looked back.

After raising a hand slightly to tell him to ignore him and continue the call, ‘I’ entered the study and sat down on the floor. Setting the beer cans beside him, he leaned stolen contentagainst the bookshelf stolen contentvisit our siteEND: stolen content -->and pulled out a book within reach. It was a collection of photographic works.

Slowly flipping through the pages of the book, which mixed black-and-white and color photos, ‘I’ popped open a beer can with one hand. The small, sharp sound of the carbonation bursting was pleasant to hear.

While ‘I’ drank the beer and flipped through the photo book, he continued the call.

‘……Right, that wouldn’t be bad. The conditions are quite good. ……Ah, yes. Given the nature of the work, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the compensation exceptional. So, the duration?’

‘I’ could feel his gaze pouring down onto the crown of his head, but he didn’t mind.

Roughly guessing, it seemed a request for work had come in. He often received work from somewhere like that. Sometimes ‘I’ knew what kind of work it was, and sometimes not. If it was work that could be handled at home, ‘I’ could tell roughly what he was doing since he saw it while passing by. But if it was work that required going outside, there was no way to know. ‘I’ didn’t go out of his way to ask what he did. It was because he had a vague feeling that the more he knew, the more of the dark world he would see.

But the request he was discussing now seemed to be something that required going outside.

I wonder how long he’ll be gone this time.

Usually, it was a few days, and at most a few weeks, but it was rare for him to be gone for several weeks. He usually returned within a week.

For a wanted criminal to roam around so brazenly, what on earth are the police doing…….

While thinking such things, setting aside his own situation, the man, who had visit [Read on Read BL Novels]our sitebeen silent for a moment after hearing something, spoke.

‘I’m not doing it.’

At that short answer, ‘I’ lifted his gaze from the photo book.

A few strands of hair were sticking up, as if he hadn’t been awake from bed for long. Seeing him slightly frowning in that state was a bit funny. He looked like he was throwing a sleepy tantrum.

Anyway, until a moment ago, he had looked satisfied, mentioning the very good conditions and exceptional compensation, so what was added to the conversation that made him flatly refuse?

‘I’ sipped the beer and looked at him. While saying, ‘Right, it’s a shame to throw away those conditions,’ he didn’t look particularly regretful as he stated firmly once more. That he still wouldn’t do it.

Over the receiver, the other party seemed to be protesting. The other person’s voice, barely audible, seemed to be saying that jobs with such good conditions were rare.

However, without any intention of listening to such words, he clicked his tongue.

‘It’s too long. I have no intention of being away for a whole month. The conditions are good, but not enough to make me want to be gone for that long.’

Aha. Then again, it was only a few days ago that he had returned after being away for about three or four weeks. It made sense that he’d want to rest.

‘I’ nodded to himself and chewed on the edge of the beer can.

It was then.

‘Do you have a honey pot buried at home or something! Why the hell won’t you take this great job!!’

The other person shouted so loudly, as if suddenly enraged, that the words reached ‘my’ ears. Judging by that tone, it seemed to be that suspicious former colleague who occasionally called him. Someone ‘I’ had never met, but one of the former colleagues who had shared a den of madmen…….

At that booming voice, ‘I’ unconsciously lifted his gaze from the photo book and blinked at him. By chance, his eyes met with the man’s, who had glanced over.

But he soon turned his head away and simply answered bluntly.

‘Don’t make me say it twice. I’m not doing it.’

And with that, he hung up the phone.

‘…….’

‘I’ sat on the floor with the beer can in his mouth, staring up at him. He clicked his tongue and picked up the beer can next to ‘me,’ as if he knew from the start that it was his share.

‘If the conditions are that good, why don’t you just do it?’

‘I’m not.’

‘Hmm……. Well, since you just got back, you can rest for a while, unless you have to work that desperately. Still, you’ve been going out for work quite often lately.’

‘I’ muttered while nodding and dropped his gaze back to the photo book.

Ah. Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1952, I really like this photo…….

While staring blankly and stroking a black-and-white photograph, ‘I’ heard him speak as he moved closer.

‘By the way, I don’t make much. Maybe it’s because of the recession, but the pay is meager.’

Bending his waist while still sitting in the chair, he looked down at the photo ‘I’ was viewing upside down and spoke nonchalantly.

‘…….’

‘…….’

‘I’ pondered for a moment whether to mention that the other night, when the water pitcher ran out and [visit our unauthorized copysite]he had to get up in the middle of the night to drink water and go back to his room, he had heard this guy talking about millions of euros in compensation through the gap in the open study door.

However, looking at the photo and then looking up at his brazen mouth as he faced ‘me’ calmly, ‘I’ decided to just keep my mouth shut.

‘Right, I’ll work hard to earn money and take responsibility for feeding you…….’

Thinking that he would have to receive payment from Kyle for helping with his work, ‘I’ answered with a sigh. Then he fixed his gaze back on the photo book.

A very faint breeze brushed the crown of his head. He must have laughed.

Laugh all you want, you wicked extortionist.

‘Right. I’ll also work whenever I have time to contribute to the household.’

‘Then take this job. You said the pay is good.’

‘……. Don’t you think a month is too long to go out again so soon after returning?’

He spoke quite seriously. Right, right, ‘I’ answered half-heartedly and flipped the page of the photo book.

Then, as if he saw something, he reached out. At the touch of the hand brushing past his unauthorized unauthorized copycopyear to sweep up his hair, ‘I’ flinched and tilted his head the other way.

‘Were you lying in the garden? Where did you get grass on you. ……Your back is stained with grass. You should change.’

‘Oh, really? I just showered and changed into these clothes at lunch.’

‘I’ clicked his tongue. Then he pulled at his clothes to look at his back. Sure enough, as he said, there were bluish grass stains.

‘I sweated anyway, so I might as well shower and change again.’

‘Right, then shall we go in together?’

At that naturally following answer, ‘I,’ who was about to take off the grass-stained shirt, paused for a moment.

‘……. Where?’

‘To the bathroom. I just woke up and was about to wash up too.’

‘……. ……You go first. No, wait, both your room and my room have separate bathrooms anyway.’

‘We haven’t been able to talk much because Read [stolen content]on Read BL NovelsI’ve had work for a while. Since we’re finally free, let’s take our time washing and catch up on how things have been.’

Having finished speaking, he stood up without even waiting for ‘my’ answer. Then, he slid his hand under the armpit of ‘me,’ who was still sitting blankly on the floor, and effortlessly lifted him up.

And at that moment, ‘I’—Jeong Tae-ui—suddenly realized.

This dream, which was vividly recalling past memories, was now transitioning into a nightmare.

He had to wake up from the dream quickly before things got ugly. It was a relief that he recognized it was a dream; otherwise, he would have felt unsettled even after waking up.

Jeong Tae-ui struggled with all his might to open his eyes.

This is a dream. I have to wake up. I have to wake up quickly. Quickly.

Screaming that in his anxious heart and shaking his sleeping self in reality, Jeong Tae-ui was fortunately able to open his eyes at the moment he was being dragged out of the study.

“…….”

Jeong Tae-ui blinked. He found himself lying alone in a dark room. Above him was the high ceiling.

He slowly relaxed his clenched fists. He let out a sigh.

To think that forgotten past memories would attack him in this way.

Jeong Tae-ui got up, rubbing his stiff neck. In the darkness, he felt around with his hand and picked up the water pitcher on the nightstand. As the water, which had lost its ice but remained cool, went down his throat, he finally felt the reality that he had completely woken up from the dream.

Right, I remember.

Back then, Ilay, who had refused the job saying that being away from home for a month was too long, had only gone out for about a week after working from home for a few months. Even then, he seemed to have told him not to go outside the neighborhood for no reason before leaving.

—If you go out, you die.

Suddenly, the message from Ilay delivered by Kyle came to mind.

“Ugh……,” Jeong Tae-ui groaned and placed the pitcher and water cup back on the nightstand.

“Who told you to be away for two whole months…….”

Shifting the blame slightly, Jeong Tae-ui lay back down in bed to try and sleep again. Then, he hit his forehead on the corner of the headboard and shuddered, letting out a soft “ugh.”