3. Adaptation

It was a familiar feeling. The sensation of the moist soil beneath his sneakers, the refreshing air that drifted through the greenery. Everything felt as vivid as reality.

His two legs moved regardless of his will. He walked almost as if running, as if he had a destination set. He passed the village chief’s wide cabbage patch and the small convenience store that had more missing items than it had in stock.

A swing hung from a massive zelkova tree. When the wind blew, the swing swayed gently back and forth. If he ran with his back to that zelkova tree until he was out of breath, he would soon arrive in front of a large gate. A nameplate carved in Chinese characters hung there. It was his grandfather’s name. They were among the few Chinese characters eight-year-old Ju-wan knew.

Opening the gate and entering, he could see Gangneung Grandmother diligently preparing a meal. Mr. Choi, who was sincere and gentle despite not having married by his late thirties, looked back with a smile while sweeping the yard. His grandfather, who was pulling weeds around the garden, threw a loving reproach, saying he had turned pitch black from playing all day.

The thick scent of earth, the clear air, the cozy zelkova tree and swing, and the people who were so precious. Those things had always been there, as if it were natural and obvious. He thought he could spend his whole life that way. That they would always be a sturdy fence for Ju-wan.

He should have stopped there. He should have struggled by any means necessary to wake up from this wretched nightmare. But his body would not listen. He reached out and flung open the closed main gate with all his might. He couldn’t even shift his gaze from what lay ahead. The nightmare finally realized its cruel premonition.

His grandfather’s hanok looked like nothing more than an abandoned house. The Gangneung Grandmother and Mr. Choi, who always welcomed him, were nowhere to be found. The only one remaining was his grandfather, standing with his hands behind his back. He called out to his grandfather at the top of his lungs, but no voice came out. His two legs, which had been moving just fine until now, remained frozen in place as if they were bolted to the ground. Leaving Ju-wan behind, his grandfather walked away with steady steps. The distance between them widened relentlessly, leaving him no chance to stop him.

He knew the ending of this nightmare. Despite that, Ju-wan struggled desperately to move his feet. He grit his teeth and flailed his limbs.

In the meantime, his grandfather opened a small side door and entered. Ju-wan finally managed to lift his legs from the ground and hurried after him. His reason sounded an alarm, telling him to stop, but he was completely out of control.

He reached out without hesitation to open the side door. However, before Ju-wan’s hand could touch it, the door swung open from the inside. And there stood a monster, giggling eerily. The grandfather he had been chasing so desperately was gone.

The monster gripped Ju-wan’s wrist with a force that threatened to break it, wriggling as if it were about to pounce at any moment.

‘You’re unlucky. You’re annoying. I hate the sight of you, so just fucking die.’

A child’s voice emanated from the monster. He tried to pull his captured hand away, but he could not overcome the monstrous strength.

While he was doing everything in his power to escape, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and covered his nose and mouth at once. His breath was cut off. It was agonizing. Even without checking the face of the person behind him, he could identify them by their characteristic scent and the smell of nicotine.

The man behind him licked the nape of his neck and laughed basely. Goosebumps broke out all over his body. He wanted to get away. He wanted anyone to help him.

He turned his head desperately. In that moment, through his shaking vision, he saw his mother standing in front of the main gate. She watched Ju-wan’s situation with an expressionless face. She shook her head. He had to wake up now. He didn’t want to taste that terrible feeling of despair again.

And yet, his foolish hand reached out toward his mother. Looking at her desperately with both eyes, he screamed at the top of his lungs for help. The screams that echoed only within himself did not reach her. His mother turned her head as if she had seen nothing and soon disappeared outside the gate. The gate slammed shut.

Immediately after, the monster wriggling in front of him swallowed Ju-wan whole.

“…Haa!”

His eyes snapped open. Cold sweat that had gathered on his face and back trickled down. He couldn’t even blink, nor could he exhale the breath that had suddenly stopped. His body trembled thinly. A drop of sweat seeped through his parched lips. It tasted salty.

Only after hearing someone’s breathing beside him did he release the breath he had been holding. He took a deep breath, his chest heaving significantly. His limbs, which had been tense, felt tingly. He seemed to have been suffering from a severe fever.

He raised his hand to wipe his damp forehead. Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut once and opened them.

He turned his head toward the sound of breathing. Filling his vision was the face of the sleeping Kwon Su-hyeok. Although it was still dawn, his silhouette became clearer than in the night due to the bluish light. Jaguar was still clinging tightly to him.

The reason he flinched was that Jaguar was staring intently at Ju-wan with its bright yellow eyes wide open. Its thick tail flicked back and forth in the air.

Did it wake up because of his struggling? Thinking that made him feel a bit sorry.

Jaguar didn’t growl at Ju-wan. It simply didn’t take its eyes off him for a second, as if observing something curious. Ju-wan also fixed his gaze on the creature’s jewel-like pupils. No, once their eyes met, he found it difficult to look away.

After some time, Jaguar opened its mouth wide and yawned. It seemed to have grown bored of the long staring contest. The creature soon raised its body from its flat position.

He felt instinctively intimidated. His wrists were still bound by handcuffs, leaving him with nowhere to escape. Would it bite him? Perhaps he would be stepped on by the beast.

However, Jaguar lightly leaped over Ju-wan and landed below the bed. When Ju-wan glanced back, the creature looked at him for a moment, then turned away as if unimpressed and left the bedroom. Its long tail swayed left and right before disappearing outside the door. Only then did Ju-wan let his head drop onto the bed and let out a sigh of relief.

Even a slight toss and turn caused his wrists to chafe against the handcuffs. Perhaps it had been like that all night, as his entire arm felt stiff. To keep the handcuffs loose, he slid closer to Kwon Su-hyeok. Then, he gazed blankly at his face.

With every breath, the jet-black hair covering Kwon Su-hyeok’s forehead fluttered lightly. His long, dense eyelashes also trembled. His peaceful sleeping appearance was so alluring that not a trace of violence could be found. It was enough to make him wonder if this was the same man from last night.

“…….”

How long had it been since he had slept this close to someone? It was so distant that it was hard to even count. Come to think of it, he had almost no experience watching someone sleep like this. The opposite, perhaps. Was that why? It was a strange feeling.

As if he weren’t having a pleasant dream, Kwon Su-hyeok’s smooth brow furrowed deeply. Soon after, his jaw tightened. He groaned, rubbing his head deeply against the pillow. Sweat began to bead on his once-smooth face. His massive body also twitched occasionally.

“…Ugh.”

He looked like he was in pain. His steady breathing became noticeably rough. Was he suffering from a nightmare?

It would be better if he just woke up, but like Ju-wan, Kwon Su-hyeok could not easily open his eyes. Watching anxiously, Ju-wan slowly reached out his hand. He thought he might as well wake him up.

Just as his slowly extended hand was about to touch Kwon Su-hyeok, a heavy voice sounded from behind.

“He dislikes being woken up while sleeping.”

Startled, he turned around. A man was standing outside the open door, though he didn’t know when he had arrived. It was the very man who had been slapped by Kwon Su-hyeok last night. The area that had been hit was slightly swollen.

Soon, Jaguar entered the bedroom again. Perhaps the creature had gone outside because it sensed the man entering. It glared at Ju-wan again with its bright yellow eyes. Ju-wan also didn’t take his eyes off it. Amidst the strange standoff, the man outside the door suddenly bowed.

“Are you awake, President?”

He turned his head back toward Kwon Su-hyeok. His eyes were wide open, though it was unclear when he had woken up. There was no trace of sleepiness. The pained expression had completely evaporated.

“…Ah.”

Because Kwon Su-hyeok abruptly sat up, Ju-wan had to awkwardly lift his own body. Kwon Su-hyeok wiped his sweat-drenched face with his hand and shook his head lightly. Doing so wouldn’t make the unpleasant feeling go away.

The man outside the door habitually brought a robe and draped it over Kwon Su-hyeok’s shoulders. Then, even without separate instructions, he unlocked the handcuffs on his own. As soon as his wrists became free, they were gripped tightly by Kwon Su-hyeok again. As pressure was applied to the areas that had been scratched and chafed all night, a significant pain surged. Yet, rather than showing pain, Ju-wan stared at Kwon Su-hyeok with a surprised face.

“What were you trying to do with this hand?”

“…What?”

He didn’t know what he was talking about. When Ju-wan tried to wake him, Kwon Su-hyeok was clearly asleep. He didn’t know how the man had perceived the hand approaching him.

When Ju-wan didn’t answer, more strength was applied to Kwon Su-hyeok’s grip. It felt as if his wrist would pop out. At that point, even Ju-wan, who usually didn’t react to moderate pain, frowned. Kwon Su-hyeok glared straight into his eyes and warned him.

“If you don’t want to end up a cripple out of nowhere, don’t touch my body.”

Su-hyeok released Ju-wan’s arm as if pushing it away, having held it tight enough to break. Because of that, Ju-wan lost his balance and staggered. Clear finger marks remained on his wrist, which had been scratched by the handcuffs.

Was his intuition so sharp that he could detect another person’s presence even while asleep? Or perhaps he was in such a precarious position that he couldn’t lower his guard even when sleeping. Was he very surprised? Although it was out of goodwill, it seemed he should apologize.

Ju-wan said, “I’m sorry,” to the back of Kwon Su-hyeok, who was about to leave the bedroom.

“I just… wanted to wake you up….”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s steps came to a dead halt. He didn’t look back. Instead, the man following him hesitated. Even he seemed unable to guess how Kwon Su-hyeok would react.

Looking at Kwon Su-hyeok’s wall-like back, Ju-wan apologized steadfastly.

“I just wanted to wake you up because it looked like you were having a nightmare. I apologize if it offended you.”

As if it were absurd, Kwon Su-hyeok let out a “ha” and looked back at Ju-wan. The man standing in between entered a state of subtle tension. He seemed to anticipate a violent incident like the one from the previous night.

But that was all. Kwon Su-hyeok immediately retracted his gaze and left the bedroom. The awkwardly standing man quickly followed him.

Jaguar, who remained in the bedroom with Ju-wan, opened its mouth wide and yawned long again. Once he escaped hell, would heaven soon unfold? The first morning he greeted at Kwon Su-hyeok’s house gave birth to an unprecedented question.

* * *

How pathetic is the end of a woman who clings to a man who does not love her? His mother’s life was nothing less than proof of that. It was said that biologically, females have a strong desire for species reproduction. Therefore, they are naturally drawn to the strong who can protect themselves and their offspring from all threats. In that regard, his mother was a complete exception. To put it nicely, she was devoted; to be honest, she showed the extreme end of terrible obsession and madness.

As a penalty for being born through such a mother’s body, his life never followed a normal trajectory for a single moment. That was why he didn’t bother struggling. It was because he had learned firsthand that doing so only drained his strength.

His father came home once every two weeks when he felt like it, or usually once or twice a year. There was no reason for his ruthless violence. Violence is originally like that. That was the first logic that man of a father taught his son.

On the days his father came home, he held his breath and kept a low profile in a corner of the room. If their eyes happened to meet, a large hand invariably flew toward him. The reason was that his gaze was “filthy.”

‘You’re here?’

His mother, returning home after finishing work, always welcomed his father with joy. In her eyes, that man seemed to be visible before her son, who lay sprawled after being beaten severely.

His mother tried everything to win his father’s favor. She emptied all the money she had, and if that wasn’t enough, she borrowed money from acquaintances to fill his father’s pockets first. When his father stayed at home, the table was filled with menus they hadn’t seen all year. Of course, the only one who dared to touch them with chopsticks was his father.

Once his father finished his meal, he hurriedly filled his stomach with the leftovers. Meanwhile, behind the back of her young child, his mother clung to his father’s embrace and let out deathly moans. That was the only reward his father gave to the blind mother.

His father did not love his mother. He even seemed to find her tedious. That was clearly visible even to young eyes. After his father stayed for a while and left, his mother spent her days soaked in alcohol again. All while touching the bruises his father left on his young son as if they were mementos.

His mother said he had to endure. Because he was her child, she said he had to do at least that much for her sake. The son’s existence was merely a pretext for her to bind his father to her forever. Conversely, for the father, it must have been a noose that he couldn’t completely shake off because it felt too unpleasant.

Since he was young, he had only one wish. It wasn’t to become rich or to be properly loved. It was for his father to die. For him to completely vanish from this world. That would be enough revenge against his mother. Because if that happened, his mother wouldn’t be able to live a peaceful life either.

‘Hello?’

The first time he met Ju-wan was the day his mother returned after leaving the house for four days without a word. From their first meeting, he smiled brightly. They were the same age, children of the same mother, yet no shadow was visible in him. Was that fair?

He wanted to distort that bright face. Setting aside basic needs, it was the first desire he had ever harbored in his life.

He threw the pillow he had been using at Ju-wan’s face. A direct hit. As expected, the smile vanished from that stupid face. He didn’t burst into tears. He just seemed surprised. He seemed unable to understand what had happened to him or why he had to suffer such a thing.

‘Retard.’

Instead of apologizing, he spat out an insult and went back to watching television. But something unexpected happened. A pillow flew back and hit him in the back of the head. Ju-wan, who had counterattacked, huffed as if he were angry. It was absurd.

‘Apologize. It hurts.’

He felt he had to establish dominance. He had no intention of occupying the very bottom of the hierarchy again. It felt as if his anger would only be appeased if he thoroughly trampled on everything the other had enjoyed until now.

He pushed Ju-wan over and swung his fists wildly. Even while being beaten severely, he didn’t cry. Instead, he fought back by scratching, biting, and tearing. No matter how much he tormented him, he didn’t yield and fought back. Then, as if nothing had happened, he soon smiled brightly again.

All of that was different from how he had behaved when he met the strong. That’s why it was even more irritating. Because the pain of his past days, which he had endured stubbornly, seemed too cowardly.

He wanted to break him into pieces. Until he cried uncontrollably, unable to bear the pain, and begged him to please stop. It felt as if he would only be satisfied once he confirmed that the other was also a lowly existence, no different from himself.

“You said you came to see the patient Park Ju-wan.”

He opened his eyes after being immersed in memories of the past. Kim Je-guk, who said he was the attending physician, was standing before him. When their eyes met, he bowed. Woo Hyeong-seok also gave a slight nod.

Kim Je-guk went to the bookshelf and looked for something. At a glance, it looked like a chart or a record book. Woo Hyeong-seok obsessively followed his movements until he came and sat opposite him.

After a long while, Kim Je-guk, sitting on the sofa, flipped through the innocent chart. His Adam’s apple flickered thinly as he swallowed. Why was he so nervous? Was it because of Woo Hyeong-seok himself or the subordinates outside the consultation room?

When Woo Hyeong-seok smiled faintly, Kim Je-guk’s complexion became noticeably flushed. In truth, it wasn’t just him. Most people were intimidated just by looking at Woo Hyeong-seok’s appearance. They didn’t even dare to make eye contact. It was because they could tell at a glance that he was a dangerous person. It was pleasing to see them hold their breath, tuck their tails, and avoid his gaze on their own.

Woo Hyeong-seok suddenly leaned forward and offered a handshake. Kim Je-guk froze and just stared at his rough hand. When he gestured with his eyes as if urging him, he quickly grasped it with both hands. His buttocks almost lifted off the sofa.

“I am Woo Hyeong-seok.”

“Ah, yes.”

After responding to the handshake with utmost courtesy, he hurriedly withdrew his hand. Woo Hyeong-seok smirked faintly and buried his back deep into the sofa. He acted not like a guest, but like the owner of the place.

Kim Je-guk read the room for a bit longer before cautiously starting the conversation.

“But… what brings you here so suddenly…?”

“I heard that patients here can be discharged if the family agrees? For now, I am the family of that patient, Park Ju-wan.”

Kim Je-guk swallowed hard. His heart was beating so fast inside that he worried the sound might leak out.

For the past ten years, no one had come to visit Ju-wan, nor had anyone asked about his well-being. Therefore, he had naturally judged that he had been abandoned. Since most patients admitted to the hospital were in such a situation.

But for family to visit now of all times. Moreover, a figure who looked like a gangster from any angle. He couldn’t decide how to handle this. If he made one wrong move, he would end up in handcuffs. No, before that, he might lose his life to the man in front of him.

Kim Je-guk hid his bewilderment and responded as calmly as possible.

“Yes. That is the policy.”

“Then I think I’ll take Park Ju-wan back now.”

Woo Hyeong-seok smiled leisurely. For some reason, it felt more eerie than when he was expressionless.

Kim Je-guk tried to maintain his composure, but he couldn’t gather his thoughts at all. This was truly the first time such a crisis had hit him.

First, he had to make some excuse. His heart raced ahead of him as he hurriedly opened his mouth. Even Kim Je-guk himself didn’t realize what he was babbling.

“Ah, of course it is possible. However, the director’s approval is also required. After all, if a patient with a psychiatric history is discharged before full recovery, various problems could arise. We must clearly define where the responsibility lies. But as luck would have it, the director is currently overseas, so I’m not sure when we might receive approval.”

“Is that so?”

Woo Hyeong-seok raised an eyebrow as if surprised. Kim Je-guk nodded exaggeratedly.

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“Hmm.”

Woo Hyeong-seok fell into thought for a moment, stroking his chin. Kim Je-guk rolled his tongue inside his tightly closed mouth, trying to soothe his burning anxiety.

He also ground his teeth toward the innocent Ju-wan. That kid had given him a hard time while hospitalized, and even after being sold off, he was still causing trouble.

Then, at the sound of “Then,” he snapped back to attention. He tried not to show it, but his shoulders twitched involuntarily again. Fortunately, Woo Hyeong-seok didn’t seem to mind the reaction. People weren’t afraid of him solely because they had committed a crime.

“Then let’s wait for now. Contact me as soon as things are ready.”

Woo Hyeong-seok stood up immediately and left the consultation room. His subordinates, who had practically occupied the hallway, scanned the room with fierce eyes before following him. As soon as the door closed, Kim Je-guk collapsed into his seat. The breath he had been holding burst out all at once.

But before long, the closed door swung open. Startled, he let out a scream. Jang Jin-woo looked at the pale Kim Je-guk with a puzzled expression. Kim Je-guk shouted abruptly.

“Don’t you know how to knock, Dr. Jang?”

“Your guilt must be quite heavy. I came by because I heard Park Ju-wan’s family suddenly visited. I was curious about what you were up to, Seonbae.”

Kim Je-guk glared at Jang Jin-woo irritably.

“I told you I won’t die alone, didn’t I? If the Park Ju-wan problem blows up, it won’t just be me—you won’t be safe either, Dr. Jang.”

Even when cornered, he was still making threats. Jang Jin-woo clicked his tongue and advised him.

“It’s not too late. As long as I keep my mouth shut, no one will know what you did to Mr. Park Ju-wan. If necessary, I’m willing to coordinate my story to favor you, Seonbae.”

At the tempting offer, Kim Je-guk looked suspicious. Jang Jin-woo added with his usual beaming smile.

“So, put him back where he belongs. Mr. Park Ju-wan.”

* * *

Woo Hyeong-seok, who was descending the old stairs, suddenly stopped in his tracks. The hulking men following him stopped as well and looked around. However, nothing in particular caught their eye.

“What is it, Hyung-nim?”

Woo Hyeong-seok beckoned with a silent flick of his finger. His subordinate stepped closer.

“That doctor bastard… I have a bad feeling about him. Do some digging into his background.”

* * *

Kwon Su-hyeok, now ready to go out, looked different from the previous night. As he swept his long bangs back, his smooth forehead was revealed. His thick, sharp eyebrows became even more prominent. The perfectly tailored suit blended naturally with him, as if it were a part of his body.

If he had felt like a ferocious wild beast last night, he now looked like a cold-blooded businessman. His eyes, which were exceptionally clear and sharp, reminiscent of a jaguar’s, seemed to contribute to building a rational image at this moment.

What on earth does he do for a living?

Perhaps feeling the persistent gaze, Kwon Su-hyeok glanced back while putting on his jacket. His eyes met Ju-wan’s immediately. Ju-wan stared at him, repeatedly fidgeting with his own neck. He seemed to have something he wanted to say. Kwon Su-hyeok’s brow furrowed slightly. Around that time, the man helping him dress quickly straightened the collar pressed by the jacket. Only then did Ju-wan’s hand drop from his neck.

“Everything is ready, President.”

The man soon stepped back.

Even so, Kwon Su-hyeok didn’t leave immediately but gazed steadily at Ju-wan. It was because he felt something was slightly off. During the transaction, he was clearly told the patient had been hospitalized for nearly ten years.

However, Ju-wan didn’t seem to suffer from a psychiatric illness severe enough to make such long-term hospitalization inevitable. Though he occasionally acted unexpectedly, he didn’t hear hallucinations, babble nonsense, or have seizures.

He had ordered a “product” that wouldn’t cause any after-effects. The other side had guaranteed there was nothing to worry about since no family, relatives, or acquaintances had visited for ten years.

Seeing the perfectly sane Ju-wan, he couldn’t shake a nagging intuition. It was a vague anxiety that this could become a headache. He felt he would need to keep a close eye on the situation for a while.

“You don’t follow me.”

“Pardon?”

“Stay here today.”

At the sudden instruction, the man who usually assisted him looked puzzled. Kwon Su-hyeok gestured toward Ju-wan and delivered the final notice.

“For the time being, your job is to fatten that thing up.”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s gaze, which had been fixed on Ju-wan once more, snapped away. He immediately put on his shoes and left the house. Several footsteps were heard outside the door and then faded away. The man, who had been bowing deeply toward the closed front door, finally straightened his upper body after a long while. He then turned to look helplessly at Ju-wan, who was standing blankly behind him.

“Ah…”

He seemed unsure of how to take care of Ju-wan.

“May I wash up?”

Eventually, Ju-wan spoke first. Instead of answering, the man nodded. Ju-wan slowly passed him and entered the bathroom.

Shortly after the door closed, the sound of water was heard. Simultaneously, a deep sigh escaped the man. He was being told to look after a grown adult, not a child. On top of that, there was a special order to fatten him up. The man thought that Kwon Su-hyeok’s anger from last night had not yet subsided.

The man first entered the bedroom. Jaguar was sprawling across the neatly made bed. Upon seeing the man, it flicked its tail slowly. It didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. As long as it was fed on time, no accidents would occur.

He went to the dressing room connected to the bedroom and searched through every single drawer. It was to find something Ju-wan could wear. There was nothing suitable. Jaguar watched the scene with interest. It didn’t growl at him for rummaging through its master’s things.

After a long while, the man unearthed a sweater that had been shoved away haphazardly. It was a piece of clothing Baek Do-un had given to Kwon Su-hyeok as a Christmas present a few winters ago. The sweater, knitted with red yarn, had a large yellow bear character embroidered on it. He could vividly recall Baek Do-un laughing loudly while holding it up to Kwon Su-hyeok. Since he hadn’t seen the clothes since that day, he was sure they had been burned. Perhaps they had just been shoved here and completely forgotten.

The man grabbed a pair of athletic pants to go with it and left the bedroom. It was an atrocious match, but there was no other choice for now. Fortunately, there were plenty of unopened underwear, which eased his worries.

He placed the clothes to change into in front of the bathroom door, where the sound of water was still audible. Meanwhile, Jaguar, who had come out of the bedroom, poked its head out of the hallway and watched his actions. Ju-wan felt an ambiguous sensation, unsure if he was being observed or monitored.

Returning to the living room, the man examined the food spread across the table. The food, mostly untouched, had grown cold and hard. It was expected. Greasy food like that wouldn’t easily go down on an empty stomach.

“…”

After pondering for a moment, the man stood up and entered the kitchen.

In the meantime, Ju-wan finished his shower and came out. He discovered the clothes placed in front of the bathroom door. It was clearly the man who had brought them.

Ju-wan fidgeted with the damp robe before slipping it off. He then changed into the clothes left at the door. He had to fold the pants twice, and the sweater hung down to the middle of his thighs like a dress. Still, it was certainly better than the robe.

As he walked toward the living room, the man was nowhere to be seen. He only felt a slight presence coming from the kitchen.

Jaguar, who had been peeking from the end of the hallway, slowly approached. It then prowled around Ju-wan, examining him meticulously. It seemed puzzled that he smelled the same as its master. The creature’s swaying tail kept brushing against his legs. It was a feeling that couldn’t be described as simply ticklish.

The creature’s persistent gaze broke the moment a heavy chunk of meat was thrown from the kitchen. Last night it had devoured a whole large turkey; this time, it was a pork front leg. Jaguar leaped nimbly and pinned the massive piece of meat down. Its claws sank deep into the smooth surface. Once again, it scanned the surroundings with wary eyes.

Ju-wan quietly averted his gaze. After confirming that he had no intention of stealing its prey, Jaguar began to eat with wet smacking sounds.

Careful not to disturb the creature, Ju-wan went to the sofa, making sure not to touch it. On the table there, the unfinished food was scattered. Despite not having eaten properly for nearly a full day, he wasn’t hungry. Rather, the smell of the food made his stomach feel nauseous again.

Nevertheless, Ju-wan willingly picked up a piece of cold chicken. Grease soon coated his hand. He stared at it in silence, then steeled his resolve and took a bite. Immediately, his stomach churned, and a surge of nausea hit him.

“…Ugh!”

He hurriedly covered his mouth. His stomach, which had suffered last night, throbbed again.

Around that time, the man came out into the living room. He was holding a small tray. The man silently watched Ju-wan, who was stubbornly holding a piece of chicken in one hand while fighting back the urge to gag, then came closer and sat down. He then snatched the greasy chicken from Ju-wan’s hand as if stealing it. In its place, the tray the man had brought was set before him.

What was on the tray was a thin porridge. It contained no meat, nor even vegetables, but white steam rose from it as if it had just been boiled.

“Let’s swap.”

“Pardon?”

Without saying much, the man began eating the snatched chicken. Even though the cold meat must have tasted bad, he stuffed it into his mouth and chewed. He certainly didn’t look like he was enjoying it.

The man proceeded to cram the other foods into his mouth one by one. He didn’t say anything particular, but he occasionally glanced at Ju-wan’s porridge.

Ju-wan cautiously lifted the spoon and ate the warm porridge. The warmth of the food made his bloated stomach feel much more comfortable. It didn’t have much flavor, but for the first time in a while, he finished the entire bowl.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“All I had on hand was instant rice… I’ll make you a proper one next time.”

The man seemed embarrassed despite his kindness. Of course, there was no significant change in his blunt expression. Between this and how he had protected Baek Do-un last night, he seemed to have a deep heart despite his taciturn nature.

As the man stood up to take the empty bowl, he added, “And…”

“I’ll report to the President that you ate everything.”

When Ju-wan snapped back to reality, the food on the table had been completely cleared.

“Um, may I… ask your name?”

At the sudden request, the man stopped abruptly. He turned to Ju-wan and asked for confirmation, as if doubting his ears.

“My name?”

“Yes.”

For some reason, the man looked troubled. He lightly rubbed the back of his neck. He paused for a long time, staring at some point on the ceiling.

Was he perhaps required to hide his identity? That he shouldn’t reveal something like his name carelessly. Given the atmosphere exuded by Kwon Su-hyeok and his subordinates, it was a plausible assumption.

Ju-wan was about to tell him he didn’t have to if that were the case, when the man finally spoke. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor, as if embarrassed.

“I’m… Mi-nam.”

A moment of silence descended. Ju-wan wondered if he had heard correctly.

The man reminded him of a bear. He was that well-built, and his voice was deep. His impression was also quite sturdy. And his name was Mi-nam (meaning ‘handsome man’).

It wasn’t that it was funny. It was just that he was at a loss as to how to react to a man who seemed so ashamed of it.

“Ah… thank you, Mr. Mi-nam.”

He barely managed to convey his gratitude. It had been so long since he had spoken those words that it felt awkward. Even his voice trembled slightly. He couldn’t remember the last time he had thanked someone, or when he had received such warm treatment.

“I’m not ‘Jeon Mi-nam’,” he muttered, then hurriedly left the spot. He seemed unable to endure such a cringeworthy atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Jaguar, having finished its meal, trotted over to Ju-wan. Then, as if trying to assert its dominance, it stretched its body out and lay down right behind Ju-wan’s back. Because of this, Ju-wan was pushed to the very edge of the sofa.

When Ju-wan didn’t move out of the way quickly, the creature wiggled its massive body and eventually pushed him off the sofa. Ju-wan stood tall beside it, staring down at Jaguar, who was pretending not to notice. At the defiant look in his eyes, Jaguar bared its sharp teeth as if saying, ‘Come at me if you dare.’

While the two were engaged in a fierce staring contest, Jeon Mi-nam returned to the living room. He had rolled up his shirt sleeves neatly, appearing to have finished the dishes. In his hand was a tray containing apples. He placed the tray on the table and pulled out a knife he had tucked into his calf. With the blue blade, he sliced the apples into small pieces, peeling the skin as thinly as possible. Then, clearing his throat, he offered them to Ju-wan.

“Would you like some fruit as well?”

* * *

Kim Je-guk looked into his phone repeatedly with an anxious expression. He hadn’t been able to sleep peacefully since Woo Hyeong-seok’s visit. He had constantly pondered ways to overcome this crisis, but no clear solution came to mind.

As Jang Jin-woo suggested, simply bringing Ju-wan back as if nothing had happened also presented many problems. If Ju-wan confessed what had happened to him, Kim Je-guk could be reported. Other trafficking cases would be exposed in a chain reaction. Even if Woo Hyeong-seok didn’t resolve it through legal authority, it was obvious he would retaliate privately. He might be blackmailed for the rest of his life. Thugs like that don’t easily let go once they have someone’s weakness.

Furthermore, since the transaction was already complete, there was no way to get Ju-wan back. Organs, in particular, are priced highly due to their urgency. It was difficult to guarantee Ju-wan’s safety right now. He might have already been disassembled and placed into someone else’s body.

His head felt like it was going to explode. Why had a problem he had never encountered—and thus never even suspected—suddenly erupted like this? If he moved rashly, he would surely be plunged into a deep mire. He had to find a way to survive.

If he held out without contacting them, Woo Hyeong-seok would eventually come looking for him. He couldn’t be sure if he could deceive him again like last time. If, by any chance, the man demanded to see Ju-wan’s face, the lie would be exposed. The mere thought made his mouth dry and his blood run cold.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one way. Regardless of everything else, he had to preserve his own life first. He had to meet the man who had bought Ju-wan.

Kim Je-guk immediately sprang up from his seat. He threw off his white coat haphazardly, grabbed his outerwear, and left the consultation room. Jang Jin-woo, who was talking to a nursing assistant at the station, spotted him and approached.

“Seonbae. I heard you didn’t even do rounds today. What are you doing, staying cooped up in your office all day?”

What he really wanted to ask was why Kim Je-guk was sitting idly by when he should be rushing to find Ju-wan. Kim Je-guk patted Jang Jin-woo on the shoulder and made an urgent request.

“I’m sorry, but could you cover for me today, Dr. Jang?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back. Please, I’m counting on you.”

He no longer had the luxury of chatting leisurely with Jang Jin-woo. Jang Jin-woo nodded readily. The milk was already spilled, and Kim Je-guk had to clean it up somehow. He could afford that much kindness to return everything to the way it was.

Jang Jin-woo watched Kim Je-guk walk away as if being chased for a long time. He looked completely frazzled. For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off that precarious back today.

Kwon Su-hyeok was inspecting a warehouse. The vast space, which must have once been used as a hangar, was filled with containers. From home appliances to fruit, meat, clothing, plants, and ornamental fish. The items contained were all different, but their contents were the same. Kwon Su-hyeok personally cut the root of a plant to check the white powder contained within. A subordinate beside him reported the types, quantities, and remaining balances of the newly arrived goods. Everything was according to plan. The quality of the products was better than expected.

Kwon Su-hyeok’s warehouse always evaded crackdowns. Constant entertainment of the right people had proven effective. It also helped that his products were exceptionally popular. It wasn’t just celebrities or chaebol heirs who couldn’t quit drugs. Humans who have captured money, fame, and power pursue fresh pleasures. And once they touch drugs, they cannot easily escape the temptation. The loyalty of the privileged was Kwon Su-hyeok’s power.

While he was checking the delivery work, a subordinate approached. He seemed to have something to report.

“What is it?”

“I am told a man named Kim Je-guk has come to see you, President.”

“Kim Je-guk? Who is that?”

“The seller of that… item you brought into the house.”

“What does he want?”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s expression became even more inscrutable. If it was about the transaction, it should have been over long ago. The moment the balance was paid, all records should have been destroyed and the matter treated as if it never happened. For him to come visiting like this—whatever his purpose—was irritating.

“He only said he has something urgent to tell you… that it is a pressing matter.”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s face turned cold. It seemed a problem had finally arisen with the traded item. He disliked things that weren’t clean. Therefore, he had no choice but to make it clean in his own way.

* * *

“Hyung, we have arrived.”

He opened his closed eyes. Woo Hyeong-seok’s car had stopped in front of a women’s prison. He tilted his head slightly and looked up at the prison walls. The gray walls, which always looked cold, felt even taller today. Inside, the sunlight likely didn’t reach, and a blade-like wind would be blowing. She was there, amidst that wretched cold and solitude. A being who was, regardless, his mother.

The subordinate in the passenger seat quickly got out and opened the rear door. Woo Hyeong-seok entered the prison alone. He stopped by the civil affairs office and completed all the necessary procedures for a visit. The officer in charge guided him to the visitation room.

While waiting for his mother, he scanned the narrow space. Perhaps because of poor ventilation, it seemed to smell of musty mold.

He was quite accustomed to visiting such places. It was because many of his subordinates had served time taking the fall for Woo Hyeong-seok’s own crimes. Among them, there were those who had passed away while trying too hard to prove their loyalty. That was simply how the world of organized crime worked.

As he was lost in these various stray thoughts, the door beyond the thick glass wall opened. The woman who entered the visitation room following the prison guard was noticeably haggard. Her eyes were sunken, as if she hadn’t slept at all. There was no focus in her pupils.

The woman, glancing around with vacant eyes, spotted Woo Hyeong-seok on the other side and rushed over in a single bound. She struck the glass wall with her skeletal fists. The prison guard flinched, appearing to hesitate over whether to subdue her or not.

Woo Hyeong-seok shook his head at the guard. Then, he looked straight into the eyes of the woman, who could not hide her excitement.

“I’m here, Mother.”

As he spoke affectionately, the woman’s wide-open eyes slowly curved. It was clear that forcing a smile was difficult for her, as the corners of her mouth and eyes trembled visibly. She welcomed Woo Hyeong-seok in the gentlest tone possible.

“Yes, son. My son has come?”

It was utterly pathetic. He couldn’t suppress a sneer. The woman swallowed hard at Woo Hyeong-seok’s cynical reaction. Then, rolling her anxious eyes, she repeatedly tidied her disheveled hair and clothes with trembling hands. Soon, her pleading voice shook violently.

“Son, listen to me. Please? Mom was rash last time. I shouldn’t have spoken so carelessly. After sending you away like that, Mom regretted it so much in here. Yes, I shouldn’t have done that. What did you say you wanted to know? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything about where Ju-wan is right now. Will that work? Then you’ll stop being angry, right? You won’t play any more of these cruel jokes. Right?”

She clung to him desperately. A face that was once more glamorous and beautiful than anyone’s had deteriorated beyond words. Now, even when she tried to smile, it was merely grotesque.

The smile on Woo Hyeong-seok’s lips deepened. The woman, who had been smiling along instinctively, paused at some ominous intuition. Woo Hyeong-seok delivered the notification to his mother without mercy.

“I found Park Ju-wan.”

The woman’s face, which had been clinging to a single shred of hope, distorted in despair.

“…You found… Ju-wan?”

She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it, or refused to believe it. As she did, the tears that had welled up in her eyes soaked her cheeks without fail.

Woo Hyeong-seok looked amused. The more the woman suffered, the greater his pleasure seemed to grow. The woman’s pale, chapped lips began to tremble.

“I saw you threw him into a psychiatric hospital. But was there a need to go that far? He is your own flesh and blood, after all. Seeing as you lived comfortably for ten years after that, you really are something, Mother. Most mothers aren’t like that. Well, perhaps it was because of me? Did you lose your mind because that bastard swung a knife at me? No, that’s not it. Since when did you ever think of me that way? I was just a means and a pretext to keep Father tied down. Regardless, it’s definitely not that… perhaps it was a desire for revenge? Could you not stand the fact that Father looked at you like a stone while he was desperate to devour that brat? Wow, thinking about it now, it’s actually quite scary. You were so blinded by jealousy that you couldn’t even see your own child.”

At the blatant accusation, tears fell incessantly from the woman’s eyes. She cried so sorrowfully that mucus ran down with them.

Woo Hyeong-seok watched the scene impassively. The tears, which had never once fallen for her own child, were merely loathsome.

“Why are you doing this to me? What did Mom do so wrong to you? Huh?”

The woman’s appeal was barely audible, buried in her sobbing. Yet, it was clear she was casting herself as the most pitiful and wronged person in the world.

She was a woman who knew absolutely nothing of shame or guilt. To the point that whenever Woo Hyeong-seok reminded himself that he was her child, he felt nauseous.

Once, he had craved her affection. He hadn’t wanted anything grand. Just as much as other children did. He had hoped she would linger by the door when her child didn’t come home, or worry if he had eaten well or if he was hurting anywhere. It was a vain hope.

Of course, he had no need for such things now. He only hoped she would exit his life in the most wretched way possible.

“There’s no need to resent God. That man gave you several chances. He took everything, even the shares meant for his children, and gave it all to you, didn’t he? You were the one who cast it aside, Mother.”

The woman covered her ears and shook her head repeatedly. From the backs of her hands to her entire arms, she was covered in bruises. It seemed she had pinched herself countless times every night to confirm that the misfortune that had befallen her was a dream.

Woo Hyeong-seok reminded her of the cruel reality.

“If you have a disease, you must be isolated so you don’t infect others. Obsession is a disease, Mother.”

Other mothers, you know? They say they nag their children when they spend all day idling and watching television. If they don’t come home late at night, they track down their friends and even go out to find them personally. They say they always leave food out when their child goes out, fearing they might miss a single meal. Is that all? Even for a common cold, they say they stay up all night nursing them.

I don’t even ask for such luxurious affection. I gave up on that long ago. Still, if it were you, Mother, you could have shielded your son, who was being beaten like a dog by Father, at least once. No, you wouldn’t even do that for a puppy. Even for a puppy.

Because I didn’t cry, because I always endured it, did you think it didn’t hurt? Do you really think it didn’t hurt? There wasn’t a single spot on me that wasn’t bruised.

No, was it really that hard to put some medicine on the wounds? While your child was curled up in a corner groaning, what were you doing, Mother? Don’t you remember? You were clinging to Father, crying with joy. With a face that looked fed up, you were practically dying of pleasure even while pinned under a man driven by animalistic lust. Why? Are you suddenly ashamed? Or did you think I was too young to know anything?

Here, this finger. Do you know why it’s bent like this? You probably don’t. How typical of you.

Was it when I was seven, or eight? You and Father had a huge fight. Ah, you fought so often it’s probably hard to remember which one. It was right before Park Ju-wan came to our house. Do you think you remember now?

Whenever Father came, he always made sure to fill your pockets, but that day, there wasn’t a single penny. That was why Father was angry.

Back then, you begged like an idiot, clutching Father’s pant legs. Asking him to wait just a little longer. Saying there was a way money would come in soon, so please just wait until then. Father said he would endure it for exactly four days, as if he were a creditor.

You rushed out of the house, and I was caught by Father and beaten until I was on the verge of death. Asking why a useless brat like me was even born to cause such a fuss. I think this finger broke then. It hurt as if the finger had been severed, but I couldn’t say a word. Who would I tell? No one was home until Mother brought Park Ju-wan exactly four days later.

Since it broke then, it just fused together haphazardly and hardened into this shape. To me, it’s like a medal. A token of those dog-like days when I struggled desperately not to die.

You said it, didn’t you? That you loved how much I resembled Father. At the time, I thought it was better to just accept it. Even when you carelessly fondled my cock, when you pushed your tongue in while kissing me, when you gasped in a dark room and bit my ears and cheeks, I just thought that’s how it was. I didn’t have a single friend to tell me that their mother didn’t do such things to them, since I had parents who worked at night.

I was a substitute for Father, wasn’t I? You saw Father in me. Or not? After Park Ju-wan came to our house, after we moved to a big house a few months later and Father settled down completely, you never did that to me again. As if you no longer needed a substitute.

Do you know how horrific it was? You should have just abandoned me. I’d rather have been sent to an orphanage or someone else’s house.

I always had one wish. For Father to drop dead as soon as possible. And as painfully as possible. I even prayed for that to Santa Claus. I don’t even have a religion, but I don’t know how many times I pleaded with God.

But unexpectedly, you were the one who granted that wish. Should I bow to you in gratitude?

Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised. Because I thought it might happen one day. Every time I saw you pretending to be fine, pretending not to see, while Father brought other women into the house. Every time you lingered in front of the stairs because of that man who sneaked into Park Ju-wan’s room at night. Every time you duplicated Father’s phone, stared into it all day, and fretted while tracking his location. I could see Father’s lifespan decreasing like a battery.

Still, I didn’t expect Mother to step forward personally. I thought you’d hire someone. That’s your specialty, isn’t it? A specialty you honed while dealing with the women Father played around with.

Well, I suppose you were frantic. All that money went into Father’s settlement fees, bail, and gambling debts. You also frequented department stores and plastic surgery clinics relentlessly. Once you put Park Ju-wan in a psychiatric hospital with your own hands, the funding cut off, and Father stopped coming home as much because the one person he found fun had disappeared. Your heart must have been melting away day by day.

Father came home that day for the first time in a long while. I thought about staying out for a few days, but I went inside. Because I smelled something that made me suspect. And I heard Mother crying.

The moment I opened the bedroom door, my socks got soaked. When I turned on the light, you were covered in blood and looked soulless, and that man was motionless with a knife stuck in him. I thought I was dreaming.

I thought Mother would follow Father in death. If you were that desperate, isn’t that what most people do? Romeo and Juliet? They did too.

But Mother, you looked at Father as if he were trash. You didn’t even want to touch him. When blood accidentally got on you, you even screamed. Isn’t that a bit too much? He was a human you loved enough to abandon all human morality for.

By the way, I wonder if you knew? In Father’s back. The knife hadn’t gone in all the way.

I was going to watch how painfully he died, but that man suddenly grabbed me by the collar. He couldn’t say much because he’d been stabbed so many times; he just snorted like a wild boar. Ah, maybe he couldn’t speak because his throat was stabbed too? It was so funny to see his mouth just gaping like a goldfish.

What do you think I did?

The woman sitting across from Woo Hyeong-seok looked as if even maintaining her seat was a struggle. She swayed violently, then looked at Woo Hyeong-seok, completely devoid of spirit. Tears flowed incessantly from her swollen eyes. Was it remorse? Or perhaps the thought that she might have avoided a murder charge.

Woo Hyeong-seok abruptly stood up. The woman, who couldn’t even open her eyes properly due to the overflowing tears, looked up at him desperately. The desperate light in her reddened eyes was not some belated maternal love. It was merely a wretched survival instinct, trying to grasp at any straw.

It seemed the visitation time was up. The prison guard approached and grabbed the woman. She roughly shook off the hand and rubbed her two hands together toward Woo Hyeong-seok.

“Please, my baby…”

“Look closely so you don’t forget.”

Not a shred of sympathy could be glimpsed from Woo Hyeong-seok. At the cold gaze, the woman shook her head again. Then, she reached out toward the glass wall. As if trying to stroke her son’s face just once, or wanting to hold at least his hand. Of course, blocked by the glass wall, she could not achieve that. Even so, Woo Hyeong-seok stepped back with a displeased face.

“Because today will be the last time I see this face.”

He pushed his mother to the edge of the cliff without hesitation. He turned around and left the visitation room. From behind the closed door, the woman’s piercing scream was heard. Ignoring it, he passed through several iron gates and stepped back into the outside world. Until he climbed into the waiting car, the wretched screams continued to linger in his ears.

Persuading his mother, who was in a state of panic, was not very difficult. At that time, he comforted her more devotedly and kindly than any filial son in the world. He told her that since it had already happened, they should turn herself in to the police. Since Father had eleven prior convictions for violence and his usual behavior was problematic, they could claim self-defense. He added that he himself, a living witness to the horrific domestic violence, would help her as much as possible.

His mother did not deliberate for long. No, she didn’t have the capacity to organize her thoughts calmly. She confessed her crime to the police that very day.

On the day of his mother’s trial, Woo Hyeong-seok dressed neatly for once and headed to the court. As he opened the door and entered the courtroom, he saw his mother wearing a prison uniform. Upon spotting Woo Hyeong-seok, she smiled faintly with a face that had cleared up over the past few months. He smiled back.

A long and tedious legal battle ensued. The prosecution strongly argued that no reason could justify the murder of a family member. The lawyer stepped forward.

‘Your Honor, I request the defendant’s son as a witness.’

The judge granted approval. Woo Hyeong-seok stepped forward, declared that he would tell only the truth, and sat in the witness stand. His mother and her lawyer looked at him with expectant eyes.

The lawyer, who had approached him, asked the questions they had discussed beforehand one by one.

‘Witness. What is your relationship to the victim?’

‘He is my biological father.’

‘I see. The defendant claims to have suffered long-term domestic violence from the victim and experienced great conflict due to the victim’s womanizing, gambling, and criminal record of violence. As the biological son of the defendant and the victim, you would know these circumstances better than anyone. Do you agree?’

Woo Hyeong-seok looked up and stared at his mother. She nodded slightly as if encouraging him. Without hesitation, Woo Hyeong-seok began the testimony he had prepared.

‘I believe a person cannot be judged solely by their criminal record. My late father was like that. He was simply hot-tempered and could not tolerate injustice; he was not an evil man as Mother portrays him. He may have been a hideous criminal who committed violence outside, but he was a man devoted to his family. Although he didn’t come home regularly, he visited as often as possible to play with me while I was left alone, and he sent living expenses as soon as he had money. He never once exercised violence at home.’

At the unexpected testimony, the faces of the lawyer and the mother completely froze.

‘No, witness. What do you mean by that? This is different from what other witnesses have said.’

The lawyer struggled to maintain composure. The tone was not sharp. Yet, it felt as if he were pressing him, asking why the story was different.

Woo Hyeong-seok’s mother only looked at her son with vacant eyes. Shaking her head repeatedly as if she couldn’t believe it, or refused to believe it. It was as if she had foreseen the misfortune that was about to crash down upon her.

The judge watched Woo Hyeong-seok with an interested gaze.

‘Who knows, perhaps the other witnesses made some kind of deal with the lawyer.’

‘Witness, such a statement is inappropriate.’

‘Is that so? Honestly, I don’t know if the other people are even qualified to testify. Not once have my mother’s acquaintances ever visited our home. So how can they talk as if they know the inner workings of our family? Furthermore, my mother asked me to testify in her favor. The lawyer was with us at the time, so you know this well, don’t you?’

The courtroom erupted in a commotion. Woo Hyeong-seok, the son of both the defendant and the victim, was a witness who could be the least objective, yet the most neutral. Although his testimony stood in sharp contrast to the testimonies given thus far, it could not be dismissed as a lie.

The prosecutor’s face lit up as if he had found an oasis in the middle of a desert. He immediately received approval for the witness examination and approached Woo Hyeong-seok.

‘In that case, what kind of person was the defendant normally?’

Woo Hyeong-seok looked his mother straight in the eye. Then, without blinking once, he poured out the story he had been waiting and waiting to tell.

‘Rather, it was my mother who wandered outside under the pretext of making money. She would leave after sunset and return drunk the next morning, and sometimes she would disappear from the house for days without a word. She didn’t even take care of the meals for her young son, who wasn’t even ten years old. The reason my father didn’t come home often was because of my mother’s pathological delusions of infidelity. She cloned my father’s phone to censor it, tracked his location, and dug up the personal information of every woman he encountered. I don’t know for sure, but I think she even hired people to do terrible things. With a wife so obsessed, what man would want to live with her? I felt so sorry for my father. Like a dark spider, I thought that one day my mother would devour him. I was scared of my mother and found her disgusting. She didn’t hesitate to sexually abuse her young son just because he resembled his father. The incident regarding my father’s death was likely triggered by him bringing up the topic of divorce. I heard the police found a divorce application signed only by my father?’

Every eye in the courtroom turned simultaneously toward the defendant’s seat. Even the lawyer lost his words and stared blankly at the mother. That gaze was filled with loathing for a being who had abandoned its humanity.

‘That was the kind of person my mother was.’

Woo Hyeong-seok drove the final nail in and stepped down from the witness stand. Even if a lie detector had been used to determine whether he committed perjury, the result would not have changed. Because when it came to the testimony about his mother, there wasn’t a single shred of a lie.

And so, the shameless woman—who had abused her young son out of obsession for her husband, commissioned the kidnapping of innocent women blinded by jealousy, and finally murdered her ‘virtuous’ husband for requesting a divorce—was sentenced to life imprisonment. Of course, the defense’s claim that she suffered from a mental illness was not accepted.

* * *

Kim Je-guk sat blankly in Kwon Su-hyeok’s office. He had never met the buyer in person. He had simply handed over the goods that met the conditions and received money. Therefore, he didn’t even know the man’s name or profession. He could only guess the nature of the work based on the company name, ‘Baek Mu Trading.’ Seeing that they used an entire building, the scale of the business seemed quite large.

What felt off was that there were only male employees. Even then, they were all dressed in black suits. While some looked like ordinary employees, most had physiques and expressions so fierce they were reminiscent of gangsters. The atmosphere inside the company was simply silent. It was also strange that one had to hand over their phone to enter the building. He had his phone confiscated by a guard. At the entrance, he had to pass through a security scanner like those seen at courts or airports. Even after that, he underwent another body search. He felt as if he had stepped into a place where he wasn’t supposed to enter.

He looked anxiously at his wristwatch. He had been waiting for two hours already to meet the dealer, who was said to be out in the field. On the office desk sat a nameplate engraved with ‘President Baek Do-un.’ He assumed that was the dealer’s name.

Unable to bear the boredom, Kim Je-guk stood up. He then walked slowly toward the tiger skin hanging on the opposite wall. Was it a fake? It was hard to imagine a tiger of that size actually existing. The tiger skin filled an entire wall to that extent. However, the eyes, claws, and every single strand of fur were flawless. It felt as if it might come alive at any moment.

Gulping, he slowly reached out his hand. Just as Kim Je-guk’s fingertips were about to touch the tiger’s fur, the door swung open. A tall man walked in. It was Kwon Su-hyeok. Startled, Kim Je-guk froze in an awkward posture.

“Ah, uh, I…”

Out of sheer panic, nonsense came out. And then he felt flustered again, embarrassed by his own behavior. Kwon Su-hyeok watched Kim Je-guk in silence before walking to his desk. He pulled out the chair, sat down, and clasped his hands, staring at Kim Je-guk once more.

An employee closed the door from the outside. Now, only Kwon Su-hyeok and Kim Je-guk remained in the office. The space, which had been excessively wide, suddenly felt cramped. An indefinable pressure weighed down his entire body.

Since he was the president of a company, he had expected him to be at least middle-aged. However, Kwon Su-hyeok looked to be in his early to mid-thirties at most. His face was so handsome that he wondered if a double had been put forward, yet he didn’t feel any affinity for him. Perhaps it was because of his cold impression. Under his silent gaze, Kim Je-guk felt his breath tightening for no reason.

Additionally, a sudden realization hit him. He couldn’t describe the intuition exactly, but the moment he encountered Kwon Su-hyeok, he felt something was wrong. It felt like trying to avoid a mad dog only to encounter a great tiger on a deserted path.

Kwon Su-hyeok’s pupils were like embedded black ice. No emotion could be felt at all, so just being observed by him sent a chill down his spine. The act of openly scanning someone from head to toe was like a predator weighing its prey.

“You said you were looking for me.”

He spoke only after a long while. The actual time that had passed might have been different from the perception.

His voice was lower than expected. Although he used polite language, it didn’t feel like he was being respected at all. Rather, his spirit was only further crushed. Kim Je-guk nodded slowly. Then, with an apologetic smile, he explained the situation.

“The thing is… a defect has occurred with the item I traded with you. For about ten years, no family members came for visits, and I couldn’t reach a guardian, so I thought there would be no problem. But a few days after the trade, a man claiming to be his younger brother suddenly showed up and demanded his discharge. In our hospital, a patient can be discharged with family consent even if they aren’t fully recovered…”

“I believe I clearly asked you to prepare something without any lingering issues?”

“Yes, you did. But the situation became unavoidable. If you could just help me this once, I will find a much better item and deliver it to you as soon as possible…”

“I don’t need anything else. I liked that one because it wasn’t noisy.”

Kwon Su-hyeok cut Kim Je-guk off and spoke decisively. Then he tilted his head slightly, as if asking if there was anything more to say.

Kim Je-guk clenched his fists tight. He hadn’t expected his proposal to work easily. The conditions Kwon Su-hyeok had presented were quite demanding, so finding a replacement wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Because of that rarity, hadn’t he taken a much larger sum for Ju-wan’s price than usual? Moreover, since Kwon Su-hyeok had taken a liking to Ju-wan, it was a headache.

Still, he had to settle this. If the carrot didn’t work, he had no choice but to use the stick.

From trading with Kim Je-guk himself to the suspicious operation of the company, Kwon Su-hyeok seemed to have many secrets. What could be more unsettling than those secrets coming to the surface?

“You shouldn’t do this to me, sir.”

Kim Je-guk wiped away his petty smile and hardened his expression. Venom pooled in his eyes.

At the clear change in attitude, Kwon Su-hyeok gave a faint smile. He sent an intrigued look, as if telling him to continue. He couldn’t let himself be intimidated.

“If I return empty-handed, that person claiming to be Park Ju-wan’s brother will surely report either the hospital or me. If that happens, I can’t just take the fall and die alone, and it’s only a matter of time before the black market network is exposed. It will be difficult for you to avoid the investigation as well; would you really risk ruining your business over greed for a single item?”

Kwon Su-hyeok, who had been listening in silence, openly snorted.

“So, did you tell that brother that you traded with me?”

“No. Not yet. So if you just return Park Ju-wan, I can settle this quietly without any commotion.”

“Anyone else who knows about this?”

“A fellow doctor knows that Park Ju-wan disappeared. Naturally, he doesn’t know who he was traded to. It’s still at a stage where it can be handled. So let’s move before things get bigger.”

Kim Je-guk’s voice was quite excited. He seemed convinced that he had almost persuaded him.

However, Kwon Su-hyeok shook his head.

“As I thought, I cannot return Park Ju-wan.”

“What? You want to go all the way with this?”

Kim Je-guk’s face crumpled. His face turned red and blue, feeling as though he had been toyed with.

Kwon Su-hyeok leaned his upper body forward. That alone was enough of a threat. Unconsciously, his entire body tensed up.

Instead, Kwon Su-hyeok threw out a proposal that would tempt Kim Je-guk.

“I’ll give you more money. I’ll give you three times the previous amount. How about leaving this place with that? Even if I return Park Ju-wan, it won’t solve all the problems anyway. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if Park Ju-wan opened his mouth? If you wish, I can help you leave the country safely.”

Kim Je-guk’s face cleared instantly. He seemed unsure if he had heard correctly. If he did that, there was no reason to refuse.

Kim Je-guk swallowed hard. The money he received for trading Ju-wan was 1 billion won. Three times that was by no means a small amount. Looking at it differently, it meant that Kwon Su-hyeok was desperate enough to insist on Ju-wan even after paying that much extra.

Blind humans tend to become poor at calculating. Maybe he could bet a little more. Kim Je-guk gripped his trembling hands tightly and demanded abruptly.

“Give me ten times the amount I received. Then I’ll do as you say.”

Kwon Su-hyeok was not surprised. He simply sank into thought for a moment. While waiting for his answer, the only thing Kim Je-guk could hear in his ears was his own ragged breathing.

Soon, Kwon Su-hyeok stood up. Then he walked steadily toward Kim Je-guk. Unconsciously, Kim Je-guk took slow steps backward. Uselessly, he was soon swallowed by Kwon Su-hyeok’s shadow. Kwon Su-hyeok smiled coldly at the frozen man.

“…I’ll give it to you. As much as you want.”

He had heard the answer he wanted, yet for some reason, goosebumps broke out all over his body.

* * *

Woo Hyeong-seok took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. A subordinate, who had been standing some distance away, tactfully ran over and lit it for him. After confirming the cigarette was burning well, he stepped back. He didn’t dare speak. This was because he had once asked if he was okay after Woo Hyeong-seok returned from a prison visit, only to be beaten without knowing why.

Woo Hyeong-seok inhaled the filter until his cheeks hollowed. Acrid smoke filled his lungs. Thinking of his mother’s hideous end made him chuckle.

He had hoped his father would die as soon as possible. Only then would his mother receive a terrible punishment. He achieved that wish after exactly 27 years.

He thought he would feel completely relieved, but that wasn’t quite the case. He didn’t know why. Was it because he let her go too easily? The shadow covering his insides had only been peeled away by the width of a finger joint. He felt suffocated and irritated, wondering when those stale emotions would finally be resolved. What more did he have to do?

The sunset was particularly red today. While he was staring blankly at that aching halo of light, suddenly the phone rang. With the cigarette still in his mouth, he looked over immediately. The subordinate, fearing he might get caught in the crossfire, quickly answered the call.

“…Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on?”

He took his eyes off the subordinate, who was repeatedly bowing his head. The call lasted quite a while, as if he were receiving a report. In the meantime, the sun completely set and night arrived. The scattered streetlights flickered on dimly.

After finishing the call, the subordinate approached cautiously once more. Woo Hyeong-seok threw away the cigarette he was smoking and looked at him.

“What is it?”

“Hyung-nim, I’ve looked into the doctor named Kim Je-guk.”

“Really? Tell me.”

“Yes. He graduated from a provincial medical school and completed his residency at a university hospital in that region. After becoming a specialist, he worked at a renowned general hospital. However, it seems he was kicked out of the hospital for laying hands on a patient he was in charge of. Rumors spread in the industry, making it hard for him to find re-employment, and he apparently wasn’t in a position to open his own practice. Then, through an acquaintance’s introduction, he started working at that Central Psychiatric Hospital he went to before. Since he’s been there since 12 years ago, I suspect he was in charge of Park Ju-wan since the moment he was admitted.”

“Just spit out the core, the core. So, is there something fishy or not?”

Woo Hyeong-seok kicked the subordinate’s shin without hesitation. Despite the intense pain, the subordinate swallowed a groan and said, “I’m sorry.” The report continued.

“According to someone who previously worked at that hospital, inpatients often disappeared. Some people did return, but every single one of them had surgical scars on their bodies. The medical staff didn’t seem to know much since they weren’t the ones doing it, but they said it looked like organs had been removed. There’s a high possibility that Kim Je-guk arranged those trades. He had the longest tenure at the hospital, and on the days patients disappeared, that bastard would slip money to the guards to tell them to take a break. Well, it was an open secret among the hospital staff, but since it wasn’t their business and they had nowhere else to go if not that hospital, they probably pretended not to know. I heard he used the same method on the day Park Ju-wan disappeared.”

Listening to this, Woo Hyeong-seok couldn’t help but let out a scoff. He seemed to find it absurd.

“So that doctor bastard just sold Park Ju-wan off? And then he told me I needed someone’s consent or whatever to take Park Ju-wan? Ha, I treated him politely because he was an educated man, and he takes me for a fool.”

Woo Hyeong-seok suddenly burst into a loud laugh. If his guess was correct, Park Ju-wan might have already been sliced into pieces and turned into logs. After laughing his fill, a slight dizziness washed over him. As the laughter subsided, a thick vein rose on Woo Hyeong-seok’s forehead. His eyes turned red with rage.

“Haa… that doctor gentleman is completely useless, isn’t he?”

Woo Hyeong-seok had never shown mercy to those who opposed him. This time was no exception.

“Bring that bastard here immediately.”

Ju-wan suddenly felt a gaze and looked back. He had felt a prickle on the back of his head, and as expected, his eyes met Jeon Mi-nam’s. Jeon Mi-nam belatedly avoided his gaze. This was already the third time. Whenever he looked to see if there was something to say, the man remained consistently oblivious. It made him wonder if there was something on his face.

Rubbing his face for no reason, he looked back into the daily newspaper. He had been stuck for a while on a slang term he didn’t understand.

“It’s a habit.”

While reading the article haltingly in a small voice, he suddenly explained. This was because he sensed Jeon Mi-nam’s gaze once again. When he turned his head as before, he saw Jeon Mi-nam’s face full of questions. He didn’t pretend not to know as before, nor did he ask what Ju-wan’s explanation meant.

Ignoring him, he turned another page of the newspaper and muttered.

“It was about ten years. The period I was trapped in that hospital. There’s nothing in the room but a bed. Naturally, I couldn’t watch TV, and reading books or having long conversations with someone was impossible. If you spend that long without being able to do anything, you forget everything you knew and become stupid. To the point where you get confused by simple arithmetic or the Korean alphabet.”

“…….”

“Suddenly, I even became hazy on how to write my own name. Ridiculous, right? But it really happened. It might not be a big deal, but I was very scared of that. So from then on, I started reading any text that caught my eye, regardless of what it was.”

Jeon Mi-nam didn’t respond. He didn’t dare offer comfort by saying he understood. That was a fear and despair that only someone who had experienced it could feel. Moreover, it was difficult to arbitrarily guarantee that this place was better than that one.

Before long, Ju-wan reached the page with the word puzzles. Referring to the given hints, he tried to guess the correct words for the blanks. However, it wasn’t easy trying to solve them with only his eyes.

He leaned in a bit closer and focused. Watching this, Jeon Mi-nam stood up silently and entered a room. Returning shortly, he slid a pen toward Ju-wan, who looked as if he were about to bury his nose in the newspaper. It seemed to be a promotional item, with the business name ‘Original Grandmother’s Jokbal Bossam’ engraved on it. When Ju-wan looked at him with a puzzled expression, Mi-nam looked embarrassed.

“The beauty of those things is filling them in one square at a time…”

Ju-wan took the ballpoint pen, feeling bewildered.

“Thank you.”

The sensation of holding a pen for the first time in ten years felt incredibly awkward. Even when he tried to grip it properly, he either applied too much pressure or his hand felt too loose, making the pen feel as if it were slipping. He adjusted his grip this way and that. Before long, the familiar sensation returned. A faint, unconscious smile spread across Ju-wan’s lips.

Ju-wan began to press down the words he had only been thinking to himself. The blanks began to be filled one by one. Mi-nam simply watched Ju-wan’s unusually brightened expression from a distance.

Jaguar, who had fallen asleep sprawled on the sofa, flicked his tail upward like he was talking in his sleep and then slapped it down. Because of this, the tail brushed against the nape of Ju-wan’s neck several times. At first, Ju-wan had glanced back, startled by the sudden contact, but at some point, he grew accustomed to it and let it be. He was so absorbed in completing the word puzzle that he didn’t even notice Jaguar’s tail had wound itself around his shoulder.

Every blank was filled except for two words. However, those two simply would not come to him. Even after reading the hints several times, it was the same. If they were words he didn’t know at all, he would have given up, but because they felt like they were on the tip of his tongue, he couldn’t let go.

“Um,” he said, turning to Jeon Mi-nam. Mi-nam, who had been watching Ju-wan the whole time, half-rose from his seat. It seemed to be a habitual action, as if he were ready to follow an order immediately.

“A person who acts in a way that goes against the proper duties one should fulfill as a human… what on earth could this be?”

“Do you mean a son of a bitch?”

Jeon Mi-nam answered without hesitation. For a moment, Ju-wan was speechless and stared at him blankly.

Jeon Mi-nam remained completely nonchalant. He wasn’t the type to suddenly play jokes. Rather, he looked seriously earnest. Therefore, he probably wasn’t trying to make a joke. But there was no way such a word would be the correct answer to a puzzle published by a news agency.

Ju-wan didn’t know how to react.

“…….”

“…….”

Seeing the dazed Ju-wan, Jeon Mi-nam realized his answer was wrong. If not a son of a bitch, then what? He thought about it a bit more. There were countless terms to describe people who acted contrary to human decency.

Once again, without much deliberation, he threw out the words that popped into his head.

“Then… a fucking bastard?”

“…Ah.”

“A crazy bastard?”

“That…”

“…Or perhaps a degenerate?”

“…….”

Silence fell again. Jeon Mi-nam seemed to have run out of swear words, and Ju-wan looked troubled, unsure of how to explain that the more sincerely Mi-nam answered, the further they drifted from the correct answer. As the silence lengthened, it felt as if they were returning to the awkward atmosphere of when they were left alone this morning.

Just then, the doorbell rang. To Jeon Mi-nam, it was no different from the bells of heaven. He sprang from his seat and strode toward the entrance.

“Someone’s here!”

He even shouted loudly. Startled by the voice, Jaguar flinched and woke up. When he encountered Ju-wan, he narrowed his eyes with dissatisfaction.

Around that time, things became bustling at the entrance. He could hear Mi-nam, who had practically fled, exchanging greetings with someone.

Soon, the person who walked into the living room following Mi-nam was none other than Baek Do-un. Ju-wan stood up and gave a polite nod. Baek Do-un also greeted him with a bright smile.

“Good to see you again, Ju-wan. Did you sleep well yesterday?”

“…Yes, thanks to you.”

“Hmm? You look like you didn’t sleep at all. Have you eaten?”

“Yes. Mi-nam took care of me.”

“Oh, I see you two have exchanged names already?”

Baek Do-un looked back at Jeon Mi-nam with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jeon Mi-nam simply disappeared into the kitchen with the things Do-un had bought, acting as if he hadn’t heard.

“What were you doing?”

“Ah, the newspaper…”

“A word puzzle? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of those.”

The atmosphere in the house shifted instantly with Baek Do-un’s presence. Jaguar, seemingly hating the noise, hopped down from the sofa. He trotted toward the bedroom, glancing back briefly.

“What’s this? Why are you going inside as soon as a person arrives? Are you being shy?”

When Baek Do-un complained, Jaguar’s ears flipped back. Soon, his gaze shifted from Baek Do-un to Ju-wan. He watched him intently for a long time, slowly wagging his thick tail. Then, he whipped his head around and disappeared into the bedroom. It was quite a haughty gesture.

“Ju-wan, you’re being intensely observed by that guy, aren’t you?”

“Observed?”

“He takes after his owner, so he doesn’t lower his guard for just anyone. When a new creature appears, he tries to establish dominance first, and then he observes them carefully for a while to determine their role or rank in his own way. I think it took half a year for him to recognize me as ‘something that shouldn’t be eaten.’ There was even someone who tried to approach him too hastily in the past and got their finger bitten.”

“Ah…”

“Be careful. Don’t try too hard to get close to him.”

Baek Do-un advised with a beaming smile. Ju-wan nodded slowly. He didn’t feel a newfound sense of fear. It had been the same last night. Even after seeing a wild jaguar and being kidnapped to a completely unknown place, Ju-wan had remained almost unfazed. He seemed like a person who was broken somewhere deep inside.

Baek Do-un placed his hand over Ju-wan’s hand, which was holding the pen clumsily. With just that small amount of contact, he could feel Ju-wan’s shoulders stiffen.

“So, do you think you can handle it?”

“Yes. He hasn’t done anything threatening yet. I’m sure he knows I don’t taste good.”

“Not that guy, I mean Kwon Su-hyeok. Pleasing that bastard is no easy task. You’ve spent a night with him, so you should have a feel for it. If you think it’ll be too hard, you can come to my house with me right now.”

Ju-wan shook his head without hesitation. A smile that seemed as if it would vanish at any moment brushed across his lips.

“I’ve endured worse.”

Baek Do-un could only let out a small sigh and smile along.

* * *

Kim Je-guk flinched and opened his eyes to an unidentified damp sensation. As soon as he regained consciousness, a fishy smell penetrated his nostrils. It was similar to blood, but not exactly the same. Where had he smelled this before? Right, soil. It was the smell of wet earth. As soon as he realized this, a chill ran down his spine.

He slowly rolled his eyes. However, the surroundings were too dark for anything to be visible. Kim Je-guk twisted and struggled with his limbs to escape the cold dirt floor. But his body would not move as he wished. Moreover, he was completely naked, without a single shred of clothing. His teeth chattered involuntarily, and his entire body trembled.

He felt that something was wrong.

The last thing he remembered was the conversation he had with Kwon Su-hyeok in his office. When he had offered ten times the amount as Ju-wan’s ransom, Su-hyeok had readily agreed to do so. With a suspicious smile.

Then, he had made a phone call, and the office door flew open as several large men stormed in. They had subdued Kim Je-guk in an instant and blocked his vision. He felt as if he had been tied up so tightly that he couldn’t move a single finger and was being moved somewhere.

But he couldn’t recall what happened after that. Had he fainted? He could only guess that a considerable amount of time had passed by looking at the pitch-black sky.

So what happens now? He couldn’t imagine a single positive scenario.

“That son of a bitch…”

Kim Je-guk shook his head to snap himself out of it. He had to keep his wits about him, especially at a time like this. He hadn’t lived so tenaciously just to end like this so futilely. He was not someone who should suffer such humiliation. And all because of one insane patient.

He gnashed his teeth. He vowed that as soon as he escaped this place, he would run straight to the police station. Even if he had to pay for his crimes, he couldn’t die alone. To do that, he first had to survive.

“Damn it, ugh! Argh!”

It was while Kim Je-guk was struggling to lift his bound body, leaning against the dirt wall. Suddenly, a light so blinding it made his eyes sting poured down. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. It was pure light pollution. It was an intensity that could only come from special lights at a night stadium.

While he didn’t dare open his eyes, he heard the sound of footsteps. He couldn’t perceive which direction they were coming from. His body, sensing danger, stiffened automatically.

Soon, the scorching light shifted slightly away from Kim Je-guk. Only then was he barely able to lift his eyelids. Even then, his vision remained blurred in white for a while, and he could do nothing until his eyes adjusted to the light.

As he recognized the scene slowly coming into view, his breath hitched. He grasped his situation instantly.

His body, which had felt exceptionally uncomfortable, was tightly bound from his arms to his ankles. The only things he could move were his toes. In that state, Kim Je-guk had been thrown into a deep pit. He was surrounded by dirt walls that looked to be about 10 meters high.

Kwon Su-hyeok looked down at Kim Je-guk from far above.

“What is the meaning of this! You son of a bitch, are you crazy?!”

Kim Je-guk thrashed and screamed with all his might. But for some reason, sharp pains shot up from various parts of his body. As he shifted his gaze to find the source, he saw blood flowing between the tightly wound loops. The areas where his kidneys and liver were located hurt particularly badly.

It had to be a dream. A nightmare. Kim Je-guk shook his head as if trying to deny the entire situation before him.

“No… no! You fucking bastards! What did you do to me! How dare you touch my body! You son of a bitch! Do you think you’ll get away with this? I won’t let you! I’ll kill you all!”

Kim Je-guk raged, spitting as he screamed. There was not a hint of change in Kwon Su-hyeok’s expression as he looked at him. He looked as if he were a mannequin.

“Haa, haa… fuck, it hurts so much…”

Exhausted, Kim Je-guk even began to sob. It was desperate. In the current situation, escaping on his own was nearly impossible. Even if he fought for his life to get out of the pit, he would be caught immediately.

And for good reason; he couldn’t hear any sound from the surroundings. Not a sign of a person, nor even the noise of a passing car. He was certainly in the deep mountains or a remote area. There was nothing to be gained by provoking Kwon Su-hyeok. He had to handle this flexibly.

Kim Je-guk took several deep breaths to calm his excitement. Along with that, his momentum faded.

“Why are you doing this, why are you doing this to me…”

“Because I really hate it when things are left messy.”

Kwon Su-hyeok answered nonchalantly, in an infinitely light tone. It was confusing. Kim Je-guk had no idea how to persuade him. The only thing clear was that he didn’t have much time left.

His lips grew parched. If only his limbs were free, he felt like lying flat on his face and begging for his life. He had to try anything.

“I’m telling you, no one knows you took Park Ju-wan! As long as I keep quiet, that’s it, right? Is there really a need to go this far? Let’s be a bit more rational…”

Kwon Su-hyeok chuckled. It felt as if the surroundings became even quieter, as if by magic.

“Right. If only you keep your mouth shut forever, it’ll be very clean.”

“…That’s impossible. P-please, save me.”

Kim Je-guk’s voice, begging for his life, cracked miserably. He was being dominated solely by the desire to survive. He forgot the pain of the excised areas that was becoming clearer, the money he loved so much, the USB in the drawer that could control Jang Jin-woo, and the existence of Woo Hyeong-seok who had come to pick up Ju-wan. Even the vow to go straight to the police station if he survived was wiped completely blank.

Everything was futile if he died anyway. In his current state of mind, he felt that if he could only preserve his life, he could repent for his past sins and become a new person. He prayed and begged to every god he could think of, promising to live virtuously and serve others from now on.

“Oh, I remember I agreed to give you more money, right?”

Kwon Su-hyeok murmured as if he had suddenly remembered. Kim Je-guk shook his head, his face twisted in grief. He pleaded for him to just let him out, saying he didn’t need such things anymore. But his voice was drowned out by a heavy mechanical sound.

As the noise drew closer, he felt the illusion that the ground was shaking. Soon, a massive object entered the light. Kim Je-guk stared at it, completely losing his mind. What had pushed its rear close to the pit was a truck. A 10-ton dump truck. He was intimidated just by its silhouette.

Kim Je-guk couldn’t even make a sound, only choking. By now, his face was a mess of overflowing tears, snot, and saliva. It was because he sensed his own miserable end. To witness the shadow of death falling over one’s own life—there could be no more terrible fear than that. Especially for a human obsessed with living.

“D-don’t do this. I was wrong. I was all wrong. So please, just let me go this once.”

As the truck came to a complete stop, the recoil caused a few things filling the cargo bed to roll off. They weren’t clearly visible due to the reflection of the light, but the familiar size and shape looked exactly like coins. In an instant, a powerful realization pierced through his empty mind.

“…Save me. Save me, save me, save me, AAAAAAGH!”

Kim Je-guk screamed, repeatedly slamming his head against the dirt floor. Hoping that if this was a dream, a terrible nightmare, he could wake up now. But nothing changed.

With eyes blurred by tears, Kim Je-guk stared desperately at Kwon Su-hyeok. Out of boundless fear, he urinated himself. His teeth clattered repeatedly.

Kwon Su-hyeok averted his gaze from Kim Je-guk. Then, he commanded with infinite indifference.

“Pour it.”

“NOOOOOOO!”

The truck’s cargo bed slowly tilted toward the pit. As it did, the various coins filling it poured down into the pit in a torrent. Kim Je-guk screamed and struggled, but the indiscriminately pouring coins slowly engulfed his feet, his legs, and then his waist.

“…I was wrong, I was all wr… ugh… save me… save… uuuugh.”

The coins continued to pour for a long time. Until Kim Je-guk’s groans could no longer be heard. When the last few coins fell with a clink, the pit had become 2 meters shallower. The dump truck leisurely withdrew, and the actual burial process began. Concrete was poured into the remaining part. Finally, it would be covered with soil and leveled to match the surroundings.

“I’m told the asphalt work in this area will proceed in two days.”

At the following report, Kwon Su-hyeok simply nodded in silence. It was an area where roads were being laid for a long time. Even if special vehicles came and went late at night, or related noise was heard, no one would suspect anything.

Soon, even the special lighting was turned off, and the area was enveloped in complete silence and darkness.

“It looks like the President is coming.”

Jeon Mi-nam suddenly stood up. He then hurried toward the entrance. Ju-wan, who had been holding his spoon, followed him with his eyes. Soon, the sound of Jaguar’s trotting footsteps was heard. When he looked back, Jaguar, who had been leaving the bedroom, stopped abruptly and met his eyes. After looking at him warily for a moment, he soon looked away and leisurely disappeared toward the entrance.

It wasn’t that it was noisy outside the front door. No special presence or mechanical sound of the elevator was heard. Yet, Jeon Mi-nam and Jaguar knew he was coming. It was strange. Was it because he always returned at the same time? Perhaps it was a part of their intuition.

Soon, the lock on the front door clicked open. The person who opened the door and entered was, as expected, Kwon Su-hyeok. The attendants who usually followed him like shadows were not seen. It seemed he had sent them back. Jeon Mi-nam bowed his head politely toward him.

“Welcome back, President.”

Kwon Su-hyeok gave him a brief glance and stepped inside. Jeon Mi-nam did not straighten his bent body until he did. Jaguar, who had been staring up at his owner, walked with him through the hallway leading to the living room. He didn’t act particularly affectionate. He simply walked side by side, matching his pace. The movement of his swaying tail was quite haughty. Every time he stretched out his sleek legs, his slender body also swayed quite elegantly.

Kwon Su-hyeok, who was about to enter the bedroom, stopped abruptly. It was because he locked eyes with Ju-wan, who had stood up and was staring at him. Ju-wan simply gave a silent nod. Kwon Su-hyeok didn’t react much. He simply let his gaze slide down to scan Ju-wan’s attire. Was it an illusion? A smile seemed to flicker across his stiff lips.

“What a… taste.”

It seemed to be a sneer. Ju-wan, who had been looking down at his sweater for a moment, stared at Jeon Mi-nam, who happened to be walking toward the two of them. Jeon Mi-nam merely shifted his eyes to meet Ju-wan’s gaze. Judging by his strangely tense expression, it seemed best to keep it a secret that this ‘remarkable taste’ of a sweater had come from Kwon Su-hyeok’s closet.

Soon, a shadow fell over his face. It was because Kwon Su-hyeok had suddenly approached. With an expression devoid of emotion, he lifted Ju-wan’s sweater. Then, without hesitation, he placed his hand against Ju-wan’s bare skin.

His fingertips were much colder than expected. Ju-wan flinched instinctively. After skimming over Ju-wan’s bony chest and hollow abdomen, Kwon Su-hyeok looked him straight in the eye. Then, he pulled his hand away, turned around, and muttered to himself.

“Still a long way to go.”

It seemed he was checking how much weight had been put on in the meantime. Jeon Mi-nam appeared more flustered by Kwon Su-hyeok’s abrupt action than Ju-wan was. After fumbling silently, he quickly followed Su-hyeok into the bedroom. Ju-wan silently pulled his sweater back down and sat back in his seat.

Kwon Su-hyeok came out after changing his clothes and headed straight for the bathroom. Jeon Mi-nam followed him out of habit, carrying a freshly laundered towel and a robe. Kwon Su-hyeok stopped just before entering the bathroom and looked back at him.

“I’m going to rest now, so you can leave.”

“Yes, President.”

Jeon Mi-nam bowed to the closed bathroom door. Normally, he would have gone home right then, but today, he returned to the kitchen. He then gave a slight bow to Ju-wan, who was still sitting at the table.

“I’ll be heading out now.”

“Ah, yes. Goodbye.”

Ju-wan nodded back. Jeon Mi-nam turned and left the house immediately. Ju-wan, who had followed him out late to lock the door, stared blankly at the door lock that locked automatically before his hand even touched it. It was a device he hadn’t seen before. Just in case, he pushed down the door handle, and the lock released immediately. When he closed it again, it locked just as it had the first time. In the ten years he had been cut off from the world, many things had changed.

As he turned around dazed, he saw Jaguar, who had already come out to the middle of the hallway. It seemed the cat had come to investigate the sound of the door lock opening and closing repeatedly.

“…Oh, sorry. I’m not going anywhere.”

When he approached with an apology, Jaguar tilted its head and then quickly turned and walked away. Even though Jaguar and Kwon Su-hyeok acted coldly, and even though his body was still restricted, strangely, he didn’t feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried at all, but at least he felt more room to breathe than when he was staying at the hospital. Jeon Mi-nam and Baek Do-un were even kind to him, despite having never met him before. Perhaps that was why it was easier to endure the day than before. Though it hadn’t been long, and he shouldn’t judge too hastily.

As he walked, lost in various thoughts, he suddenly heard the bathroom door open. A large amount of steam and a distinct, cool scent wafted out. He glanced back at the sound of footsteps approaching. Once again, his entire body was submerged in Kwon Su-hyeok’s shadow.

His jet-black hair was, as always, disheveled. Perhaps because of that, the shadows around his eyes seemed particularly deep. After staring at each other blankly for no reason, Ju-wan turned away first. He returned to the kitchen and sat at the table.

On the small table, which he had barely used, sat a bowl of instant rice, roasted seaweed, canned tuna, and a small pack of stir-fried kimchi. Kwon Su-hyeok, who entered the kitchen late to take out some alcohol, checked the time. It was nearly 1 AM. He couldn’t be having dinner only now, yet there was no appetite visible on the face of Ju-wan, who was eating a late-night snack.

“I’m sorry for vomiting all the food. I heard that to eat a lot of different things, I first need to increase the size of my stomach. They said it’s better to binge-eat irregularly if possible, and while greasy food is good, carbohydrates are especially advantageous for gaining weight… So I thought it might be better to eat late at night if I’m going to eat anyway. Since I have to gain weight.”

Sensing the questioning gaze, Ju-wan explained the reason for his eccentric behavior. It sounded somewhat strange. If he had read this somewhere and was repeating it, the actual content written there must have been the exact opposite. The topic of the text would have been ‘how to lose weight’ rather than ‘how to gain weight.’

Kwon Su-hyeok frowned and stared at the back of Ju-wan’s head. It was a gaze as if he were observing a bizarre creature. Normally, wouldn’t someone refuse food and drink? There would be nothing beneficial for him to gain weight quickly. If anything, it would only invite danger.

“Sounds to me like you’re saying you want to be eaten quickly.”

Ju-wan didn’t give a particular response. There was no change in his expression. He simply continued to eat his meal in silence. The series of motions—pushing food into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing—was remarkably mechanical. As if he intended to grind the food into powder before swallowing, the movement of his jaw was agonizingly slow. At this rate, it didn’t seem like he would become plump even if he ate without stopping for the rest of his life.

Kwon Su-hyeok shook his head and went out to the living room. He sank into his private single-seater sofa. Jaguar approached and rested its chin on his knee. Then, it glared silently at Ju-wan. While gently stroking the beast, Kwon Su-hyeok slowly closed his eyes. From the kitchen a short distance away, the sound of chopsticks hitting the can, the crisp sound of seaweed being crumpled, the friction of a cup being placed on the table, and the crunching of kimchi continued to be heard. They were extremely mundane and faint noises that wouldn’t have been audible if the house weren’t so quiet. To Kwon Su-hyeok, it was the unwelcome presence of another person. And yet, it wasn’t entirely bad.

Having finished his meal, Ju-wan looked toward the living room. Kwon Su-hyeok, sitting on the sofa, didn’t move a muscle. Fearing he might disturb his rest, Ju-wan quietly stood up and cleared the table. He washed the empty containers and turned them upside down to dry, and put the leftovers neatly into the empty refrigerator.

By the time Ju-wan came into the living room, wiping the moisture from his hands on his clothes, the glass held loosely in Kwon Su-hyeok’s hand slipped and fell. Kwon Su-hyeok didn’t budge, as if he had fallen asleep in the meantime. Fortunately, there was a rug, so the glass didn’t break, but the alcohol remaining inside seeped out slowly.

Ju-wan quickly went to the bathroom and brought a towel. He used it to roughly wipe the wet floor. He also picked up the glass and placed it on the table. Jaguar merely watched the entire situation, shifting only its eyes.

Returning to the living room, Ju-wan fell into thought. He couldn’t decide whether he should wake Kwon Su-hyeok or not. He couldn’t sleep on the sofa until morning. Even if he could, he wouldn’t feel well in the morning.

The reason he hesitated wasn’t that he feared Kwon Su-hyeok’s reaction. It was because he remembered Jeon Mi-nam’s tip that he extremely hated being woken up. Fast asleep on the sofa, Kwon Su-hyeok looked relaxed for once. Indeed, his impression was completely different when he was asleep. Even though it was wrong, Ju-wan found himself staring for a long time.

Suddenly, Jaguar dashed into the bedroom. Only then did Ju-wan snap back to his senses. When he consciously looked, Kwon Su-hyeok’s eyes were still closed. A moment later, Jaguar returned to the living room with a blanket in its mouth. The beast spat it out onto the tops of Ju-wan’s feet and then lay flat on its belly at Kwon Su-hyeok’s feet. Its two bright yellow eyes stared directly at Ju-wan. It was as if it were urging him to take a certain action.

Ju-wan picked up the fallen blanket. He then gave it a light shake and covered Kwon Su-hyeok with it. Jaguar monitored Ju-wan’s every move clearly as he did so.

Since the master of the bed was taking a nap on the sofa, a guest couldn’t brazenly go and sleep first. Ju-wan quietly sat down on one end of the long sofa. This time, Jaguar even turned its head to watch him. Since their eyes met, he softly tossed out a word.

“You’re clever, aren’t you?”

It was a compliment in its own way, but there was no way the cat would understand. Jaguar merely continued to watch Ju-wan with a gaze full of vigilance. He continued regardless, though he felt a bit ridiculous attempting a conversation with a beast.

“You’re not starving, so there’s no need to eat something that tastes bad. It probably doesn’t have much nutritional value either. So, if possible, please choose someone who isn’t your prey.”

Jaguar’s eyelids twitched once, and then it turned its head. Then, it dropped its head onto its neatly gathered front paws. Its two round ears flickered. After shifting its large body for a while as if to change positions, the beast soon became still. Every time Jaguar inhaled and exhaled, its massive body swelled and subsided. Its tail, which had been swaying gently, now lay quietly on the floor. It seemed the beast had fallen asleep as well.

Ju-wan leaned his head back and stared meaninglessly at the ceiling. For some reason, he felt he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep easily tonight. For fear that if he closed and opened his eyes, he would realize that all of this was a baseless dream. That he would be trapped in that stark white prison once again.

* * *

Jang Jin-woo was standing in front of Kim Je-guk’s consultation room. In the deep dawn, only the dim light of the fluorescent lamps illuminated the gloomy hallway. He waited anxiously for someone, repeatedly looking down the empty corridor.

“…Why is he so slow.”

Just as his legs were beginning to feel stiff, he sensed a presence at the end of the quiet hallway. For the footsteps of someone called urgently, they were extremely leisurely.

However, Jang Jin-woo suppressed his irritation and bowed to the old security guard who appeared late. The guard barely acknowledged his greeting. Night shifts were already taxing at his age, and being called out suddenly seemed to have made him quite displeased. Frowning deeply, he trudged along, grumbling loud enough to be heard about what could be so urgent. Whether he had just woken up, his hair was a mess, and pillow marks were clear on his cheeks.

“I apologize for the lateness. There is a document I must see right now, but Dr. Kim took it. I thought it would be inappropriate to ask Dr. Kim to come out at this hour… Ah, I have received permission from the Seonbae to enter.”

“Yes, well…”

Despite the apology, the guard responded bluntly, smacking his lips. Jang Jin-woo stepped aside and glared at the back of the old guard’s head. He claimed to have worked here since the hospital opened, and he was trying to act like the lord of the manor. Not just today, but usually, he tried to manipulate and lecture everyone in the hospital.

The guard struggled for a long time even with the bolt cutters in his hand. It might have been because his strength was failing, but the lock was particularly thick and sturdy. It would have been better if he had just asked for help, but he stubbornly wrestled with it. Unable to watch any longer, Jang Jin-woo stepped forward.

“I’ll try.”

The guard stepped back with a reluctant expression. Jang Jin-woo took the bolt cutters and snapped the lock in one go. With a smirk, he handed the cutters and the severed lock back to the guard.

“I’ll leave this to you.”

“…You’re sure you told Dr. Kim? It’s tiring when he makes a fuss in the morning.”

“Yes. I’ll take care of locking up, so you may go now.”

“Will you be alright alone?”

The guard didn’t leave immediately but lingered, as if intending to watch what Jang Jin-woo was doing.

The guard gave a clumsy greeting and walked back down the hallway. Only after he had completely disappeared from sight did Jang Jin-woo enter Kim Je-guk’s consultation room. He turned on the light and rushed to the desk first. The memory card was definitely inside the locked drawer. He had to dispose of the item that would remain his weakness for a long time.

First, he opened the drawers one by one. The first drawer was locked. He pulled out the remaining two drawers and emptied them onto the desk. Then, he fumbled through the cluttered items. Cigarette butts, half-eaten snack bags, and even socks came out. There were unidentified stains everywhere. He instinctively frowned, and his stomach churned.

The items he had checked were thrown haphazardly onto the floor. Documents stuck together also covered the floor in white. He didn’t think about the aftermath. No, he had no time for that. If he didn’t get his hands on the memory card this time, Kim Je-guk would use the videos inside as leverage to tighten the noose around Jang Jin-woo whenever he was desperate. It might only be a matter of time before his father found out. Junk continued to roll off the desk. The cleaner the desk became, the more urgent his touch grew. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“Haa, haa…”

But the drawer key was nowhere to be found. Without stopping, he searched the desk chair, the gaps, and even the sofa thoroughly. He even overturned and emptied a vase containing flowers that were beyond withered—they were shriveled. It was a waste of effort. What he wanted was nowhere. Was Kim Je-guk carrying it on his person after all? Since it was practically a source of funding for him, that was highly likely.

After thinking for a moment, Jang Jin-woo went straight out to the hallway. He flung open the fire hydrant cabinet and took out a fire wrench. He had to get that memory card no matter what. His face, clouded by obsession, was colder than ever.

He strode back into Kim Je-guk’s consultation room and closed the door. He even locked the door so the guard wouldn’t come running upon hearing the noise. Then, he took off his jacket and unbuttoned a few buttons of his dress shirt. His expression as he rolled up his sleeves was beyond solemn.

Soon, he gripped the wrench so tightly his knuckles turned white and took a deep breath. Immediately after, the wrench was swung high into the air. Just as he was about to smash the drawer, the phone suddenly rang.

Jang Jin-woo flinched and looked at the loudly ringing phone. At this hour, who would call a doctor’s private consultation room? At the very least, it wouldn’t be a patient or a guardian. Unless it was someone who needed to check if Kim Je-guk was still at the hospital.

He tossed the wrench aside and picked up the receiver, hoping it might be a contact related to the organ trafficking business.

“Hello?”

…Hello?

However, the voice that followed drained the strength from his body. A sigh, almost a groan, escaped him. The person who had called so late was none other than Kim Je-guk’s wife.

Jang Jin-woo brushed back his disheveled hair and greeted her kindly.

“Hello, Ma’am. This is Jang Jin-woo.”

Ah, Mr. Jang. It’s been a while.

In her responding tone, a strange sense of relief and anxiety coexisted. Come to think of it, he could hear the sound of children crying on the other end of the line, who should have been asleep. Had something happened at home?

“But what brings you to call at this hour?”

By any chance, is my husband there?

“Seonbae? If you mean Seonbae, he left early this morning saying he had business to attend to. He didn’t specifically tell me his destination. He left and hasn’t returned to the hospital, and he’s not on duty today.”

Ah…

Kim Je-guk’s wife let out a desperate cry. An ominous omen could be read from her anxious tone. It was certain. Jang Jin-woo’s lips curled up silently as he asked in a worried tone.

“Did something… happen at home?”

After a brief pause, Kim Je-guk’s wife explained the situation in a trembling voice.

My husband hasn’t come home and hasn’t contacted me until this hour. He’s usually the type of person who always calls if he’s late or can’t come home. His phone keeps saying it’s unavailable… And earlier tonight, a bunch of dark-looking men swarmed in and turned the house upside down. They pressed me, shouting and demanding to know where my husband was… They said if I reported it to the police, my husband wouldn’t be safe either. I’m scared. They spoke as if they wouldn’t leave him alone. Do you know anything? I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know what to do…

The arc of his lips grew longer and deeper. It seemed Woo Hyeong-seok, who looked like a gangster at a glance, had finally discovered Kim Je-guk’s secret. Even if Kim Je-guk had noticed the signs and gone into hiding somewhere, it would be difficult to hold out for long. And if he were eventually caught, it seemed they would never see each other’s faces again. Burying one or two people without a trace was a daily occurrence and a piece of cake for gangsters. Even in the unlikely event that Kim Je-guk returned safely, he could simply report him to Woo Hyeong-seok.

The filth he had found unpleasant to touch seemed to be taking care of itself. He felt like he’d hit the jackpot. A chuckle escaped him.

“Seonbae deserves what’s coming to him.”

…What?

Kim Je-guk’s wife asked back blankly, as if she had misheard. Her unstable breathing stopped abruptly.

“He laid his hands on someone else’s property without permission. A shameless human like that is just trash even if you try to recycle him, so it’s better to dispose of him as soon as possible.”

Mr. J-Jang? Why would you say…

Jang Jin-woo leaned back deep into his chair. Then, he tapped the drawer, which no longer needed to be dealt with urgently, and laughed lowly.

“That man has no right to complain even if he dies a dog’s death. So, Ma’am. If you want to protect whatever honor Seonbae doesn’t have, and if you don’t want to lose what you currently possess, just pretend you don’t know and go to sleep. The children will grow up just fine without a father.”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s eyelids fluttered. Soon, his eyes opened clearly, as if by magic. Perhaps because it was still early, his surroundings were bathed in a bluish hue. Within that light, the outlines of familiar furniture came into view one by one.

Shaking his head lightly, he pushed himself up from the sofa where he had been leaning. At that movement, Jaguar, who had been sleeping at his feet, stirred. Kwon Su-hyeok stared at the animal for a moment before reaching out to give his back a slow, firm stroke. Feeling pleased, Jaguar flickered his round ears before letting out another deep, rhythmic breath.

Come to think of it, why were both he and Jaguar there instead of in bed? He retraced his memories of the previous night. He had returned home in the early hours of the morning and showered, then had a glass of whisky while watching Ju-wan eat a late meal in the kitchen. He stared blankly at his empty hand. And after that?

As he pondered, he suddenly bolted upright. It was because his wrists, which should have been handcuffed, felt far too light. He had no memory of seeing Ju-wan fall asleep before him. He had to check on him immediately.

He had let his guard down because of exhaustion. While he was asleep, it would have been a piece of cake for Ju-wan, freed from surveillance, to open the front door and flee. With no one watching, there would have been no reason to hesitate. He had been fooled by that detached gaze, as if the man had already given up on the world. He had let his guard down because of that absurd remark about contributing to the plumpness of someone who was clearly trying to harm him.

He strode quickly to the kitchen first. The moisture on the sink had completely dried. Only the empty containers Ju-wan had cleaned the night before were neatly stacked to one side.

He left the kitchen immediately and went to the bedroom. The bedsheets were also clean, without a single wrinkle. Gritting his teeth, he opened every single door in the house, searching for any sign of life. Ju-wan was nowhere to be found.

He snatched up his phone, which he had turned off, and powered it on. Then, he grabbed any coat from the closet. As he held down a specific dial, the ringing began. He walked back into the living room with the phone to his ear. Despite it being the early dawn, the other party answered before the second ring. It was Jeon Mi-nam. His voice was huskier than usual, as if he had just woken up.

Yes, President. What is the matter?

“The object is missing.”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s voice was lower than ever. It was low enough for Jeon Mi-nam to immediately recognize the severity of the situation. At the commotion, the sleeping Jaguar woke up. The animal shook its whole body to shake off the drowsiness and leisurely followed behind Kwon Su-hyeok as he hurried past.

Just as he was about to put on his shoes, determined not to let the man go if he caught him, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. Kwon Su-hyeok paused and looked back. Ju-wan, coming out of the bathroom, looked at him and Jaguar standing at the entrance with a puzzled expression. There hadn’t been a single sound from the bathroom until a moment ago.

Please wait. I will be there soon….

“No, forget it.”

Kwon Su-hyeok unilaterally hung up the phone while keeping his eyes on Ju-wan. As he slowly turned toward Ju-wan, his face was frozen in a terrifying expression, like that of a ghost. Ju-wan took in Kwon Su-hyeok’s face, his light clothing, and the coat in his hand in turn. Combining that with the circumstance that he looked ready to leave at any moment, Ju-wan asked nonchalantly, as if offering a greeting.

“Are you… leaving now?”

Kwon Su-hyeok suddenly reached out. He gripped Ju-wan’s arm so hard it was painful. Without showing any sign of surprise, Ju-wan simply looked back and forth between his crushed wrist and the man glaring at him with a deep furrow between his brows.

“What the… you….”

Kwon Su-hyeok couldn’t continue and fell silent. He simply could not understand Ju-wan. That was why he was confused.

If he wanted to run, he could have done so at any time. No, shouldn’t he have? If he properly understood for what purpose he had been sold to this place. Even if he had been afraid that Kwon Su-hyeok or Jaguar might wake up and cause him harm if he failed to escape.

“I went in to wash my face… but it was so cozy and warm. The floor was toasty. I meant to sit for a moment, but I accidentally fell asleep.”

Ju-wan’s statement, which was unclear whether it was an excuse or an explanation, almost made him let out a hollow laugh. Jaguar glanced up at the two people blocking the hallway and then leisurely walked past them. The animal seemed to have realized it was no big deal.

Kwon Su-hyeok let go of Ju-wan’s arm as if shaking it off. That alone caused Ju-wan’s thin body to stagger significantly.

Kwon Su-hyeok irritably ruffled his unkempt hair and violently threw the coat in his hand aside. Then, without a word, he pushed past Ju-wan and entered the bedroom. The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

“…….”

Did he make him angry? Ju-wan picked up the clothes fallen on the floor and returned to the living room. Jaguar, who had already gone there, opened his mouth wide and let out a big yawn, then lay flat on his belly to try and sleep again. Ju-wan carefully draped Kwon Su-hyeok’s coat over the single-person sofa and crouched down beside the animal. At the sudden proximity of his presence, Jaguar’s closed eyelids twitched slightly. But that was all. The animal soon fell back asleep, its large body heaving rhythmically.

Listening to the regular, exhausted breathing, Ju-wan’s heart softened as well. He felt like he could close his eyes for a bit longer. As he looked at Jaguar, Ju-wan’s eyelids began to droop. Just as his eyes were finally closing, the quiet area outside the front door became noisy with thumping sounds.

Startled, he jerked awake. He immediately stood up and peeked his head toward the hallway where the entrance was visible.

pip- pip- pi- pip.

The passcode for the door lock was entered, and the lock clicked open. Immediately after, the door was flung open violently. The person who burst in was none other than Jeon Mi-nam.

“…Mr. Mi-nam?”

Seeing Ju-wan, who was supposed to have disappeared, facing him perfectly fine, Jeon Mi-nam also seemed surprised. He froze in his bursting-in posture, eyes wide and breath ragged. The beads of sweat on his forehead streamed down incessantly.

* * *

A stream of water that felt like it would freeze the skin poured down. The chilly sensation made even his hair stand stiff. Being hit by water cold enough to make his skull ring felt as if all distracting thoughts vanished and his mind became clear. Of course, it was only a temporary solace.

After finishing his shower, Woo Hyeong-seok glared at himself in the mirror. He looked more and more like him every day. Like his father, whose only wish had been to die. He wiped down his innocent face with both hands as if he wanted to tear it apart. Red finger marks remained on the skin that had turned white from the cold.

Soon, the diffuser placed in the bathroom collided with the mirror and shattered into pieces. A sharp crashing sound echoed loudly. In every jagged shard of the mirror, Woo Hyeong-seok’s piercing face was reflected.

“Hyung-nim, are you alright?”

A subordinate waiting outside asked loudly. He didn’t dare open the door and enter. Without answering, Woo Hyeong-seok took a dry towel and walked out. The remnants of the glass bottle were scattered, but he didn’t even care about that.

The subordinate quickly draped a robe over his shoulders. He didn’t dare tie the belt for him. As Woo Hyeong-seok walked half-naked, red blood stained his wet footprints. The subordinate wasn’t that surprised; he simply signaled the other attendants toward the bathroom. Even without detailed instructions, they knew exactly what they had to do.

While the men rolled up their suit pants to clean the bathroom, the first subordinate followed Woo Hyeong-seok. The days Woo Hyeong-seok broke a perfectly fine mirror meant his mind was turbulent. In such times, moving rashly would only provoke his anger. Especially if he had to deliver a report that went against his expectations.

Woo Hyeong-seok leaned back on the sofa and tilted his head loosely. A long sigh escaped him. Soon, he rolled his eyes to look at the exceptionally stiff subordinate. Come to think of it, he remembered ordering him to bring Kim Je-guk.

“What happened to that doctor bastard? Why did you come alone?”

The subordinate who received the question stiffened visibly. His lips were pressed tight.

“Do I have to ask again?”

Woo Hyeong-seok pressed him in a still leisurely tone. Somehow, it felt as if he wouldn’t be asking with words next time. Only then did his subordinate swallow hard and begin the delayed report.

“That is, well… Kim Je-guk’s whereabouts have been unknown since yesterday morning. When we asked the hospital, they said he left saying he had urgent business and hasn’t returned. So we stationed the boys in front of Kim Je-guk’s house and waited, but not a single strand of hair was seen there. Thinking the bastard might have caught a scent of something, we raided his house immediately, but only Kim Je-guk’s wife and children were there. Even when asked where the bastard was, they were pissing themselves saying they didn’t know and begging for their lives, so there was no way to believe them. We tried calling Kim Je-guk’s wife’s phone, but he didn’t answer. According to the woman, he usually comes home before 9 PM, but this time he didn’t return without any contact, so they were worried too.”

“So, you just crawled back empty-handed?”

Woo Hyeong-seok’s eyes sharpened. His jaw tightened. Sensing the danger, his subordinate hurriedly added.

“According to people around him, Kim Je-guk, that bastard, was devoted to his family. So he wouldn’t have run away just to save himself. Unless something went wrong while he went to retrieve a sold item. I have a younger acquaintance in that field, Hyung-nim. There must have been a broker who connected the buyer whenever Kim Je-guk traded items, right? Through that acquaintance, I found out who the broker was and tried to shake him down.”

“…And?”

“Well, that bastard was also dead, with a tool driven into his chest.”

The subordinate bowed his head as if ashamed. Woo Hyeong-seok, who had been listening in silence, distorted his face strangely. The broker who mediated the trade was eliminated, and the seller disappeared. Calling it a disappearance was generous; there was a high possibility he was buried somewhere. It was a clear cutting of the tail.

His target was snatched away right before his eyes, time and again. This was already the second time. When they went to find Ju-wan, and this time when they tried to catch Kim Je-guk. No doubt, it was the buyer’s doing.

“Who is it? Just what kind of person are they….”

He clicked his tongue, muttering to himself. The mysterious buyer was bold and fast. He didn’t know why they were going to such lengths, but if they insisted on interfering, there was no choice. He would just have to catch and eliminate them first.

* * *

Jeon Mi-nam, who had rushed over at the crack of dawn, prepared breakfast as if nothing had happened. Ju-wan, who had been woken up by his noisy movements, sat at the table and watched him. The sink only reached the height of his thighs. Because of that, it looked as if a large adult was fumbling in front of a child’s play kitchen set.

Suddenly, Jaguar, who had been sprawled in the living room, stood up and ran over. Because of that, Ju-wan’s gaze, which had been fixed on Jeon Mi-nam, shifted toward the animal. But the animal barely looked at Ju-wan and abruptly turned its back to him. Then, it stared intently at the closed bedroom door.

After a while, the door opened and Kwon Su-hyeok, ready to leave, came out. He was wearing a black shirt that fell smoothly over his body. The jacket in his arm was also black, and his characteristic jet-black hair was not styled, covering his forehead naturally. Perhaps because of that, his white skin looked exceptionally bloodless. Jeon Mi-nam hurriedly pulled down his shirt sleeves and approached him. Ju-wan, who had stood up instinctively, followed a bit behind.

Jaguar wagged its tail gently and walked to the entrance as if seeing Kwon Su-hyeok off. One might have expected him to pet the animal at least once, but Kwon Su-hyeok silently put on his shoes. Jeon Mi-nam, standing before him, cautiously confirmed the destination.

“Where are you going?”

“…….”

Kwon Su-hyeok stared at Jeon Mi-nam without answering. His eyes, which were already lifeless, seemed to sink even deeper. Perhaps because of that, Jeon Mi-nam didn’t ask further and simply bowed, saying, “Please have a safe trip.” Kwon Su-hyeok’s gaze, which had been fixed on him, shifted briefly to Ju-wan. Ju-wan gave a slight bow, just as he had the night before. Kwon Su-hyeok stared at him until Ju-wan raised his head again, then turned away and gave an order.

“He’s an eyesore, so buy him new clothes.”

Before Jeon Mi-nam could even confirm the subject, the front door slammed shut. The door lock clicked securely. Jaguar let out a long yawn and, as if his job was done, immediately returned to the living room along the hallway.

Jeon Mi-nam, who had been staring blankly at the closed door, finally turned to Ju-wan after a long while. Ju-wan also looked back at him with a puzzled expression, then looked down at his sweater. The red was a bit flashy, but the yellow bear was quite cute. Was it that unsightly?

When he looked at Jeon Mi-nam as if seeking confirmation, the man made an awkward face. Ju-wan also scratched the back of his ear. He was about to say any clothes were fine, but Jeon Mi-nam kept hesitating as if he had something to say. The words that eventually came out were utterly rambling.

“Well… it’s the weekend, so wherever we go there will be many people, it’ll be noisy, the roads will be blocked, and it’s a bit embarrassing for two men to go look at clothes together, but….”

After struggling to get the words out, he blurred the core point. Of course, a normal person would have easily understood the meaning. However, Ju-wan only stared at him with a puzzled look.

Jeon Mi-nam rubbed his forehead for no reason and struggled, saying, “So, I mean…” After a while, he made up his mind and proposed aggressively.

“Let’s go together!”

“What?”

“What? Ah, to go grocery shopping… the animal’s food is running low, and to buy clothes, the person’s taste or size… it would be better if the party went in person. And also….”

He added explanations in a flurry. Even so, Ju-wan’s face remained blank, like someone who had received a shock.

“Ah….”

After coming to Kwon Su-hyeok’s house, he liked that he no longer had to look at walls that were sickeningly white. He also liked that there was someone to have everyday conversations with, even if it was only a word or two.

He had thought that the kindness shown by Baek Do-un or Jeon Mi-nam might be like a brief ray of sunlight hitting prison bars. Since he had come here for a certain need, once that usefulness was gone, he might be restrained or killed as before. Even so, he desperately needed a moment of warmth, of freedom. He didn’t dare greed for more.

That was why it was difficult to immediately understand and accept Jeon Mi-nam’s proposal to go outside the house together. It was something he had vaguely imagined at least once while staying at the hospital, but he didn’t know he would encounter such a dream-like situation so suddenly.

Ju-wan couldn’t readily answer that he would. He tried to suppress his delight and carefully checked if it was a joke.

“Is it really okay to do that?”

How could he explain the feeling of stepping back into the light after ten years? No word seemed perfect to describe that emotion. Watching the scenery pass quickly outside the window, he felt his heart swelling. Even when he breathed deeply, the tightness in his chest didn’t ease.

He couldn’t express it simply as being fluttered, happy, unfamiliar, or sorrowful. It felt as if he had become a lost child. The world he met again was covered in brilliant colors, to the point where his eyes, accustomed only to static things, actually hurt. People and cars brushed past busily. Everything was new and overwhelming.

Out of consideration for Ju-wan, who had no coat, the heater was turned up high, causing white steam to constantly fog the windows. Every time Ju-wan raised his hand to wipe the car window, it made a squeaking sound.

Jeon Mi-nam kept glancing at the back of Ju-wan’s head as he was absorbed in watching the outside world, pressed right against the window. He was like a young novice monk who had just come down from a mountain, unable to take his eyes off even the smallest thing. The things he looked at obsessively were just ordinary streets with nothing special about them. A slice of daily life that repeated to the point of boredom. It seemed that for some, that could be an unfamiliar, wondrous, and awkward sight.

Jeon Mi-nam slowly lifted his foot from the accelerator. Sensing the decrease in speed, Ju-wan, who had been looking only outside, glanced back at him. He hurriedly wiped the sweat that was streaming down his side profile. Inside the car, with the heater on maximum, it was practically a sauna. The two hands gripping the steering wheel were also slippery with sweat.

Ju-wan silently watched Jeon Mi-nam wipe the sweat from his forehead again and handed him the tissues that had been shoved into the passenger door.

“I’m okay. Even if it’s a bit cold.”

When Jeon Mi-nam looked at him blankly, Ju-wan gently waved his hand as if telling him to take them. Jeon Mi-nam bowed first and took the tissues to wipe away the uncontrollable sweat.

“Winter is supposed to be cold, isn’t it?”

Ju-wan muttered while folding the remaining tissues. Before long, his gaze flew back and fixed on the window.

I had forgotten for ten years. The indoor temperature of the hospital was always kept constant. I couldn’t feel the scorching heat of midsummer or the cold snaps of midwinter. If I was lucky, I would encounter a sudden downpour of rain or heavy snowfall during the brief moments I was permitted to visit the lounge, and through that, I recognized the flow of the seasons.

I gently pressed my palm against the window, which was clouded with white condensation. Just as I had felt once in the hospital, the cool energy from outside was transmitted directly to me.

It seemed the world had continued to turn without pause. As the traffic light turned green, the cars stopped in unison, and pedestrians waiting on both sides of the crosswalk hurried their pace, huddling their necks. Dogs and cats on leashes passed by elegantly, matching their owners’ strides, and young children ran past, giggling. Merchants who had come out to make a living even on the weekend had set up camp in various places to welcome customers. Buses ran along the center lane, spitting out passengers at scattered stops and taking on new ones.

Ten years. Even during the time when Ju-wan himself did not exist, tomorrow and another tomorrow came as if nothing had happened. It was a natural law, but for some reason, he felt a bit lonely.

While Ju-wan was immersed in various thoughts, the car entered the parking lot of a department store. It seemed to have just opened, but perhaps because it was the weekend, there were quite a few parked cars. Jeon Mi-nam headed straight for the second floor. He scanned the surroundings for an empty spot, then attempted to go up to the third floor. Ju-wan quickly pointed to an empty space. It looked spacious enough, seeming like there would be no problem parking Jeon Mi-nam’s car there.

“There’s a spot over there…”

“That’s a reserved parking area.”

Whether he had passed it on purpose or not, a confident reply came back. Looking again at the spot he had pointed to, the disabled parking sign caught his eye. The spot next to it seemed to be for pregnant women. Despite this, other cars following behind parked there without a second thought. Even though the people getting out of the driver’s seats were all men.

In the end, the car was parked on the empty fourth floor.

During the walk from the car to the elevator, and even after boarding the elevator, there was no significant conversation between the two. After checking the floor guide, Jeon Mi-nam pressed the button for the second floor without hesitation.

“Let’s buy shoes first.”

Was he embarrassed by the sound of shoes dragging every time Ju-wan took a step? Or perhaps the open-toed slippers in the middle of winter looked pitiful. Ju-wan stared blankly down at his shoes and silently nodded.

The elevator was very spacious, but because of Jeon Mi-nam’s bulk, it didn’t feel that way. Perhaps because of that, even though the doors opened at every floor, none of the people waiting dared to board. Someone who had been about to step in while looking at their phone suddenly went, “Ah,” and stepped back. As if it were a familiar occurrence, Jeon Mi-nam gave a light nod of acknowledgment each time and closed the door.

Soon, the two arrived on the second floor. It was an area primarily occupied by stores selling bags and shoes. Jeon Mi-nam strode toward a men’s shoe store. An employee quickly approached and greeted them.

“Welcome, sir.”

“This is the one who will be wearing them.”

Jeon Mi-nam gestured with his eyes toward Ju-wan standing beside him. Whether it was an illusion or not, the employee’s expression seemed to brighten considerably.

“What style do you prefer, sir?”

“…I’ve never worn dress shoes before.”

Ju-wan just stared blankly at the shoes on the display. A look of realization flashed across Jeon Mi-nam’s face. To anyone looking, he was currently a young man in his twenties, but his perceptions and habits would still be stuck in his teens. Moreover, if he was going to stay home most of the time, there was no reason to insist on formal wear.

“Let’s go buy sneakers.”

He took Ju-wan back up to the fifth floor. Every sports brand was gathered there; it seemed one could buy everything needed, from clothes to shoes. Perhaps it suited Ju-wan’s taste better, as his eyes widened, unlike before.

“Feel free to look around.”

To Ju-wan, who stood blankly unable to decide where to go, he gestured toward the shoe section. Only then did Ju-wan enter and pick up a pair of sneakers. They were ivory-colored sneakers. It would have been better to try them on, but he just held the shoes in his hand and examined them for a long time. A sales clerk who spotted him approached and spoke.

“Please try them on. They feel different once you put them on. What is your size?”

“Ah…”

Ju-wan couldn’t answer immediately and glanced back at Jeon Mi-nam. Even if he looked, there was no way the other man could tell him the size.

Compared to ten years ago, he was a bit taller. He recalled Kim Je-guk grumbling during the periodic physical exams at the hospital, saying that while his height kept growing, his weight was steadily decreasing. Normally, feet grow in proportion to height, but it was difficult to gauge by how much.

After a long pause, Ju-wan murmured in an uncertain tone.

“I’m probably larger than 255.”

The sales clerk, looking perplexed, said, “One moment,” and soon brought two boxes. He took out one shoe from each, loosened the laces, and placed them in front of Ju-wan’s feet. Ju-wan took off his slippers and slid his foot into the sneaker. The clerk held his ankle and fit the heel of the sneaker perfectly. Then, he pressed the front several times to check Ju-wan’s reaction.

“This is a 260. In my opinion, you’ll be more comfortable with this much room. How does it feel?”

“It’s comfortable.”

“Shall I get you these then?”

“Wait a moment.”

Ju-wan looked back at Jeon Mi-nam again.

“…Um, is it okay if I get these?”

He hesitantly asked for permission. Jeon Mi-nam nodded silently.

“Then would you like to wear them out?”

“Ah, yes.”

The sales clerk took out the remaining shoe and handed it over. When Ju-wan struggled to tie the laces, the clerk stepped in and tied the knot with an experienced hand. Jeon Mi-nam completed the payment immediately and left the store. Ju-wan bowed his head to the sales clerk and quickly followed him.

The sensation of the sneakers wrapping around his feet felt very awkward. So, after walking a few steps, he would look down at his shoes. The fit was entirely different from the slippers he had worn there or the hospital indoor shoes that slipped off easily.

“As I thought, you look ridiculous.”

Suddenly, Jeon Mi-nam muttered with a dissatisfied air. Only then did Ju-wan, who had been walking while looking only at his feet, look around. No matter where he cast his gaze, he made eye contact with people. It was as if everyone’s attention was focused on the two of them.

Some stared openly, while others glanced sideways while pretending not to look. They weren’t particularly friendly looks, but they didn’t seem offended either. Rather, it was closer to curiosity toward an unfamiliar object.

“Why is everyone staring?”

“Because two men are shopping together on a weekend morning.”

Jeon Mi-nam spoke with conviction and quickened his pace. Ju-wan had to practically jog to keep up with his stride. Doing so, he realized. If there was a reason people were paying attention to them, it was because of Jeon Mi-nam. As the distance between him and Ju-wan grew, the piercing gazes dropped away from Ju-wan one by one. A hulking man nearly 2 meters tall, wearing a black suit and pitch-black sunglasses that hid his eyes, wandering a department store on a weekend morning was indeed an uncommon sight.

A staff member of a clothing brand, who had been glancing at Jeon Mi-nam like the others, froze as he approached the store. It was a store that mainly dealt with basic items.

“P-please take your time and let me know if you need anything.”

The store employee stared at Jeon Mi-nam, who stood towering before him, and faithfully recited the designated greeting. Meanwhile, Ju-wan began looking at tops. As if his taste hadn’t changed in ten years, the clothes he pulled out were all sweatshirts or hoodies.

When Ju-wan stared at a light pink hoodie and even held it up against his body, Jeon Mi-nam’s face, watching from the side, distorted subtly. Around that time, he checked several times whether the items Ju-wan picked were for women. In his perception, men and pink were realms that could not mix, like oil and water.

Ju-wan agonized over picking even a single t-shirt. The designs and colors were so diverse that he couldn’t easily make a choice. Mi-nam, who had been waiting for him at the entrance, finally walked over to him. Then, as if sweeping up everything Ju-wan had pulled out even once, he gathered them all and took them to the counter. The store employee watched with wide eyes before rushing over to ask, “Shall I ring these up for you?” Jeon Mi-nam simply nodded and handed over his card.

“I don’t need this many.”

Ju-wan quickly came over to decline. However, Jeon Mi-nam gestured toward the clothes as if telling the clerk to finish the payment. Soon, both of his hands were heavy with shopping bags.

“Let’s go.”

Jeon Mi-nam left the store with a fast pace again. Ju-wan wanted to help carry a bag, but for now, just catching up to him was overwhelming. Standing in front of the elevator, Jeon Mi-nam glanced at his wristwatch. Then he looked back at Ju-wan, who had followed him almost at a run.

“It’s almost lunchtime. Would you like to eat?”

The subtle scent of food was wafting from somewhere. He still had no appetite, but it would be different for Jeon Mi-nam, who had rushed over since dawn. He had even left in a hurry to go shopping while in the middle of preparing breakfast at home. Ju-wan had a groundless conviction that if he said he was fine, the other man would choose to starve as well.

“Yes, let’s go.”

He stepped into the elevator that had just arrived. As Jeon Mi-nam boarded behind him, the people already inside stopped talking and focused on him. A young baby who had been fussing finally burst into tears. The brief moment it took to reach the 9th floor felt as long as eternity.

As lunchtime arrived, the department store became crowded. Waiting lines formed at every restaurant, and the sounds of mischievous children playing could be heard everywhere. The sound of babies crying bursting out here and there felt almost natural.

“What would you like to eat?”

“I’ll have anything…”

“……”

Answering reflexively, he paused upon seeing Jeon Mi-nam’s face. He looked like a man facing the most difficult problem in the world. Ju-wan hurriedly scanned the surroundings and found a place that seemed to have no wait.

“Uh, shall we have Korean food over there?”

“Let’s do that.”

They entered the restaurant side by side. The reason there was no waiting line was that the interior of the restaurant was spacious. Guided by an employee, the two sat in the furthest corner. Jeon Mi-nam seemed relieved to be liberated from the gaze of others, even if only slightly.

They both ordered the soft tofu stew set. While waiting for the food, Ju-wan aimlessly looked at other tables. Then, his gaze fixed on a table where a family was gathered. An elderly couple, their children, and grandchildren were sitting across from each other, eating. It wasn’t that they looked particularly more harmonious than others. Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off that mundane sight. It was a scene that had never been permitted to Ju-wan himself.

Ju-wan sank into certain thoughts until the server brought the food. His gaze had long since left the other people and wandered the floor. He didn’t even realize he was doing so.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Only when Jeon Mi-nam suddenly asked did he snap back to his senses. He shook his head, saying it was nothing. He hurriedly picked up his spoon.

The bright red chili oil, white soft tofu, and bright yellow egg yolk blended together, stimulating his appetite. He slowly scooped a spoonful, blew on it, and carefully put it in his mouth. As the spicy, savory taste spread through his mouth, his entire body warmed up. It was a comforting taste.

While Ju-wan savored the soft tofu stew three or four times, immersed in emotion, Jeon Mi-nam quickly emptied a bowl of rice. He even gripped the still-hot earthenware pot with both hands and gulped down the remaining broth as if drinking cold water.

Watching this blankly, Ju-wan scooped out some of his own rice and slid it toward him. Fearing Jeon Mi-nam might feel embarrassed, he awkwardly attempted a conversation.

“By the way… it seems that person works even on weekends.”

“Who are you talking about?”

Jeon Mi-nam returned the rice bowl to Ju-wan. The reason Ju-wan looked perplexed was not because his kindness had been rejected. It was because he was at a loss as to how to explain Kwon Su-hyeok.

When Jeon Mi-nam’s curiosity reached its peak, Ju-wan gave up on choosing the right words and instead tried to elaborate more.

“It seems like he leaves before dawn and comes back late at night… Plus, today is a holiday. Seeing him go out even then, I wondered if he’s incredibly busy. I think I’m needed for the work he does… but I don’t know how or why I’m needed…”

“Ah, you mean the President?”

He nodded instead of answering. Ju-wan, who was slow and indifferent in everything, moved his head more quickly than usual. It seemed he had been that curious.

Why wouldn’t he be? Since the reason he was brought as a blood supply was for work, it was only natural to want to know exactly what that work was.

However, Jeon Mi-nam omitted a detailed explanation and answered only what Ju-wan had asked.

“No, the President also rests on weekends if there is nothing special.”

“Then today…”

“Ah. It’s not because of you, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

That it might be uncomfortable to spend the whole day with him. It wasn’t unreasonable for Ju-wan to speculate that as the reason for Kwon Su-hyeok’s outing. There had been a strange happening in the early morning, after all.

“Today is a special day for the President.”

Jeon Mi-nam added that, dispelling Ju-wan’s remaining concerns. There was no reason to ask further, nor any reason to answer.

After that, the conversation between the two ceased for a while. Ju-wan simply ate the soft tofu stew, which had cooled moderately, under Jeon Mi-nam’s surveillance-that-wasn’t-surveillance. It was unclear whether he was poking at the food or eating it in tiny bits. Because Jeon Mi-nam watched him with his arms crossed, it looked as if he were scolding Ju-wan. Ju-wan’s strangely subdued atmosphere made him look intimidated, so passing servers and customers at the next table kept glancing at the two of them.

Jeon Mi-nam sighed lightly and spoke again.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

Ju-wan looked up immediately. His face was expressionless, but there seemed to be a hint of gladness. In contrast, the question flowed out hesitantly.

“What exactly is the work he does?”

For some reason, Jeon Mi-nam seemed to have anticipated that such a question would come. Or perhaps he was used to it because he had heard it so many times.

“Strictly speaking, it’s the trade business.”

He answered curtly without a shred of hesitation. Ju-wan’s curiosity was not resolved in the slightest.

Kwon Su-hyeok stood alone on the banks of the Han River. The biting wind carried by the waves fluttered his collar and well-textured hair chaotically. His gaze was fixed vaguely somewhere on the murky river. In his focusless, pitch-black pupils, a mass of emotions that could not be defined by a single word pooled and flowed.

In a position where he didn’t know when or where he might be stabbed, spending time so defenselessly alone without a single attendant was a reckless act. Kwon Su-hyeok himself, as well as Jeon Mi-nam and other subordinates, knew this fact well. Yet, no one stopped Kwon Su-hyeok. No, it would be more accurate to say they couldn’t stop him.

Like an annual event, Kwon Su-hyeok would come out alone, spend a full day, and return. It was the only time he, who had no affection or mercy and would stop at nothing for his goals, became human. It was always around this time every year.

As he had been facing the strong wind for a while, something tapped against Kwon Su-hyeok’s leg. It was a rubber ball that children play with. Soon, the child who owned the ball came running after it with toddling steps. As soon as the child picked up the ball, he tilted his head back far to look up at the distant face of Kwon Su-hyeok. Most people would have smiled kindly at such a child. It was common to offer a greeting or warmly ask how old they were.

However, Kwon Su-hyeok’s gaze remained fixed on the distance without wavering. Whether the child’s ball, rolled by the wind, hit his leg or not, he seemed completely transcendent of such trivial matters.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

The child’s parent quickly picked up the child and apologized on their behalf. Even so, Su-hyeok’s gaze did not return to them even for a moment. The couple, who looked at each other with puzzled expressions, bowed to him once more and walked away. Occasionally glancing back as if they had seen a strange person.

A strong wind blew again. The black trench coat, not fully buttoned, fluttered violently. Kwon Su-hyeok calmly closed his eyes. His body heaved as he took a deep breath in and let it out.

Before long, Kwon Su-hyeok turned his back on the river he had been gazing down at for a long while. His tightly clenched fists had turned white. Perhaps he was firmly bracing himself. As he walked away with steady strides, the lingering knots of old emotions could no longer be found in his eyes.

“Ah, I’m home.”

Entering the house, Ju-wan greeted Jaguar, who had come out to the entrance to meet him. However, the beast simply turned away with a look of feigned disappointment. Had it expected its owner?

Ju-wan followed the creature into the living room. He first set the bags filling both his hands down on the sofa. Jaguar then deliberately climbed onto the sofa and nudged Ju-wan’s bundles, knocking them onto the floor. It stared intently at Ju-wan with bright yellow eyes, as if warning him not to trespass carelessly into its territory.

Jeon Mi-nam placed the groceries on the counter and began organizing them efficiently. Everything was food, but there was almost nothing for a human. Most of it was meat that would be consumed by Jaguar. The amount was staggering, enough to fill an entire cart. It had taken a long time just to check out.

And yet, that was only three days’ worth of food. A far-fetched thought occurred to him: if Jaguar were truly starving, it could probably devour a human being without leaving a trace.

Jeon Mi-nam tossed a chunk of meat to Jaguar. The beast leaped its massive body and landed in front of the meat in a single bound. Despite its size, its movements were remarkably agile. In the meantime, Ju-wan stealthily perched himself on one end of the long sofa.

Suddenly, Jaguar paused and looked at Ju-wan. It didn’t growl as before, nor did it crouch its front legs as if ready to pounce. Was it granting him that much space? It seemed the creature’s wariness toward Ju-wan had softened ever so slightly. Or perhaps its attention was simply diverted by the food, causing its guard to slip for a moment.

Jaguar tore and chewed through the tough meat, which looked like it would be difficult to cut even with a knife. As Ju-wan watched the scene blankly, he suddenly sensed a flurry of activity in the kitchen. Jeon Mi-nam was taking out the meat he had just organized and cross-referencing each piece with the receipt.

Soon, a low sigh escaped him.

“Ah, oh dear…”

“What’s wrong?”

Ju-wan shifted his body and looked toward the kitchen. Jeon Mi-nam walked into the living room holding the long receipt.

“The calculation was wrong.”

“By how much?”

“There should have been 20 items total, but it seems only 18 were charged.”

Jeon Mi-nam put back on the coat he had briefly draped over a dining chair. Someone else might have taken the gain without hesitation, calling it luck. But he seemed to have no intention of doing so. Seeing him grab his car keys, it appeared he intended to return to the department store to pay the remaining balance.

Ju-wan followed Jeon Mi-nam as he strode toward the entrance. Then, just as the man had silently finished putting on his shoes, Ju-wan crouched in front of him and slid his feet into the sneakers he had bought today. Watching this blankly, Jeon Mi-nam waved his hand.

“No. There is no need for you to follow me. It would only be a hassle.”

“What? But…”

“I’ll be back soon, so please wait at home.”

Ju-wan stared at Jeon Mi-nam blankly, as if he had been hit on the back of the head. It wasn’t that his words were hard to understand, but still.

“Ah, if it’s because of that fellow… he’s eating his fill right now, so he won’t do anything dangerous. Just don’t provoke him unnecessarily.”

“No. It’s not that…”

Though his role was ostensibly to fatten Ju-wan up, Jeon Mi-nam was essentially a warden appointed by Kwon Su-hyeok. If by any chance Ju-wan were to disappear, the responsibility would fall entirely on him.

Despite that, it was hard to understand why he would leave Ju-wan alone to go out.

“Um, is it okay if I’m not tied up?”

Ju-wan tentatively held out his pale wrists. He had no intention of running away, but if he were left tied up, at least Jeon Mi-nam wouldn’t have to be anxious.

“It will be fine.”

Jeon Mi-nam was certain. It seemed this was the first time Ju-wan had seen a smile flicker across his lips. However, the man opened the door and left immediately, leaving Ju-wan wondering if he had imagined it.

“…….”

Ju-wan remained crouched in front of the closed door for a long time. His chest swelled so much that he couldn’t move a muscle.

The confident phrase, It will be fine, sounded exactly like a statement of trust in Ju-wan himself. It felt quite different from a sneer asking where he could possibly go even if he did run away.

Why? Why was Jeon Mi-nam showing such kindness to a complete stranger like Ju-wan? There is no such thing as kindness without a reason. That was all he had learned while steadfastly enduring those harsh ten years. That was why he felt a sudden surge of fear at kindness without a justification. He felt as though something far more immense would be demanded in return.

Was it because of the blood, after all? Because he was the person who would supply blood to Kwon Su-hyeok, whom Jeon Mi-nam followed blindly?

But that was merely the reason for his stay here. A price that had to be paid in exchange for leaving the psychiatric hospital. He had already braced himself, knowing he would have to pay the price even if Jeon Mi-nam or Baek Do-un didn’t specifically show him favor.

He felt confused all the way back to the living room. He could no longer trust anyone easily. Therefore, he needed a reason for everything—so that he wouldn’t sincerely rely on Jeon Mi-nam and Baek Do-un. If he tasted despair once more, he wasn’t sure he could live with his sanity intact.

Hack. Hack. Hack. Hack. Grrr.

Just as Ju-wan was becoming immersed in his thoughts, a strange sound echoed from somewhere. Only then did he snap out of it and look around. His gaze soon fixed on Jaguar, who was staggering mid-meal.

The beast kept scratching its head with its front paw and hacking. Murky coughs repeatedly burst from its muzzle, which was dripping with saliva. Something was wrong. Soon, the creature began slamming its head against the walls and the floor. He became certain that this was no longer something he could just watch.

Grrrrrrr.

As he hurried toward Jaguar, the beast bared its sharp teeth and wrinkled its snout. Its eyes flashed with an unprecedented eeriness. Even then, saliva continued to drip onto the floor. Its breathing became rough, sounding like scraping metal.

“…Be a good boy, okay? I just want to look for a second. It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.”

Ju-wan soothed the agitated Jaguar, approaching carefully, one step at a time. But the beast retreated just as much, remaining wary. It growled repeatedly, as if it would pounce and cover him the moment it saw the slightest opening.

What on earth was it? What had suddenly made the creature so violent?

When Jaguar backed into the bedroom, Ju-wan followed and closed the door tightly. Suddenly trapped inside, Jaguar grew even more frantic, not knowing what to do. It threatened Ju-wan as he tried to approach, yet it didn’t actually pounce. Instead, it continued to struggle and flee.

After a while of engaging in a battle of wills while maintaining a certain distance from Ju-wan, the beast seemed unable to endure it any longer and began slamming its head wildly against the bed, the wardrobe, and the walls. The way it occasionally scratched at its throat looked ominous.

“What’s wrong? I’ll just look for a moment. Okay? I won’t hurt you.”

Ju-wan continuously soothed Jaguar. Then, at one point, he suddenly pinned down the creature as it struggled on the floor to lessen its pain. The beast flinched and twisted its body violently.

Kyarrng, kyarrrrng.

“Wait, stay still!”

He pressed down firmly on Jaguar’s tossing head with his arm and slid his other hand under the beast’s jaw. Then, slowly and deliberately, he stroked up the creature’s throat. Soon, he felt something foreign inside the throat. Just by feeling it, Jaguar howled irritably. Its sharp claws slashed the air several times.

Ju-wan shifted his position and gripped Jaguar’s muzzle with both hands. The beast instinctively clamped its mouth shut and resisted. Sitting on the struggling creature’s belly, he forced its jaw open somewhat roughly. The claws of the instinctively resisting beast tore Ju-wan’s clothes and left clear scratches on his skin. Even so, Ju-wan did not back down.

“Ugh…”

Khek. Hack.

As he forced Jaguar’s muzzle open, clamping down even on the molars, the beast let out the cough it had been holding back. Ju-wan peered intently into its mouth. Something whitish flickered in the throat. With a bit of pink flesh attached, it looked similar to the chunks of meat the beast had been eating. Since it had a habit of crunching and crushing even bones, it seemed this disaster happened because it tried to swallow a large piece whole.

“Just bear with it for a moment. I’ll take it out for you.”

Whispering softly to the struggling Jaguar, he slowly pushed his arm into the creature’s mouth. Soon, the beast’s sharp canines touched his skin, but his fingertips had not yet reached the entrance of the throat.

The hand holding the lower jaw to prevent Jaguar from closing its mouth trembled. It felt as if the beast might shake its head at any moment to throw off his hand and crunch the arm that had entered its mouth.

“…Please.”

Closing his eyes tight, he pushed his arm in further, and finally, something hard caught his fingertip. Ju-wan pushed his arm in to the end and gripped the foreign object. Then, he slowly pulled it out, careful not to damage Jaguar’s throat or mucous membranes.

Jaguar’s viscous saliva flowed down his arm. Once the piece of bone, which had been stuck in the throat to a suffocating degree, was cleanly removed, the beast finally stopped struggling.

“Haa… there. It was because of this.”

Ju-wan showed the piece of bone he had extracted to Jaguar. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

Jaguar continued to hack and cough dryly for a while longer. Then, as soon as Ju-wan got off of it, it spun around and stood up straight. It seemed it had only been having difficulty breathing because of the bone, and there were no other injuries.

Ju-wan’s face filled Jaguar’s bright yellow eyes. The beast simply watched Ju-wan quietly, as it had done once before.

It wasn’t long before the gaze that had been almost glued to Ju-wan shifted. Ju-wan turned his head, following the creature’s gaze as it moved away from him toward somewhere behind. There, Kwon Su-hyeok stood frozen, looking down at Ju-wan. The bedroom door, which had been intentionally closed, was now wide open.

“You…”

He hadn’t felt anyone enter at all. That was because the situation had been so urgent.

Ju-wan gave a small nod to the speechless Kwon Su-hyeok. By the time his gaze, which had dipped for a moment, returned to the front, Kwon Su-hyeok had approached, filling his field of vision.

Kwon Su-hyeok tightly gripped Ju-wan’s arm, where blood was flowing from scratches caused by Jaguar’s claws and teeth. Absurdly, only then did the pain register. With a small groan, Ju-wan frowned and looked up at Kwon Su-hyeok. The grip was so strong that his captured arm trembled.

He didn’t know how long they stood facing each other like that. He could tell a considerable amount of time had passed when sweat began to seep from Kwon Su-hyeok’s hand gripping his arm.

That oppressive silence was broken a short while later by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Footsteps that were leisurely at first suddenly became urgent, rushing toward the bedroom.

“What happened?”

The person who burst into the bedroom was Jeon Mi-nam. He couldn’t quite grasp why the clothes he had just bought for Ju-wan had become rags, why there were clear scratches all over his skin, or why Kwon Su-hyeok was holding Ju-wan so tightly and refusing to let go. His bewildered gaze shifted frantically from Jaguar to Kwon Su-hyeok, and then back to Ju-wan. He seemed unable to decide what to do first.

Though he didn’t show it openly, Jeon Mi-nam grew restless upon seeing the small pool of blood gathering under Ju-wan’s arm.

“…Are you alright?”

He asked a question with an ambiguous target.

Only then did an order come from Kwon Su-hyeok.

“Call Baek Do-un immediately.”

Even in that moment, his pitch-black eyes were staring intently at Ju-wan.

* * *

“What is it now?”

Baek Do-un grumbled as he climbed into the back seat of the car. A faint sigh, born of habit, was embedded in his resigned tone. This was because the meaning of such a sudden summons was clear.

“I think you should hurry.”

Jeon Mi-nam, in the driver’s seat, gave no detailed explanation, as was his custom.

“As if I ever had the option to go slowly.”

He pouted in dissatisfaction. He would find out soon enough anyway; he didn’t know why the man was being so secretive. It was always like this. Whenever something bad happened to Kwon Su-hyeok, a call would come from Jeon Mi-nam. And that call would always be a unilateral notification saying he would be there to pick him up soon, so to be ready, before hanging up. When he went out at the sound of the horn, the car would be waiting just like this. Upon arriving at the destination, Kwon Su-hyeok was usually collapsed and covered in blood.

Kwon Su-hyeok didn’t call Baek Do-un for just any reason either. It was because he would have to endure the flood of nagging that followed. He felt he had warned him a hundred times that one could die from those ‘minor’ injuries if they were unlucky. He had only earned ridicule in return.

That was why he felt conflicted. If Kwon Su-hyeok’s life were in danger, a transfusion would be essential. Currently, there were no blood bags in stock. The only place to get blood immediately was Ju-wan, but he couldn’t bring himself to plunge a needle into him.

But could he just let Kwon Su-hyeok die? Baek Do-un was a doctor before he was his friend. He couldn’t just stand by and watch a life fade away.

Baek Do-un shook his head after imagining various complicated scenarios. Worrying in advance didn’t create a solution. Opening the medical bag he had brought, he checked the medications and supplies and asked only for the simple information needed for treatment.

“Is it a knife? Or a hammer? Glass again? It’ll be troublesome if it’s a gunshot wound. I’ve never treated a wound caused by a bullet…”

“It’s teeth.”

“…What?”

“And it’s likely claws as well.”

Baek Do-un’s movements stopped at the unexpected answer. He looked at the rearview mirror in bewilderment, but Jeon Mi-nam’s expression reflected there was infinitely serious. He wasn’t the type to make jokes in the first place.

Teeth and claws. Was it Jaguar? If so, the injured person probably wasn’t Kwon Su-hyeok. Jaguar would never sink its teeth into him.

Then who was it? As Baek Do-un pondered, his brow furrowed deeply.

“Don’t tell me it’s Ju-wan who’s injured?”

Finally, Mi-nam’s gaze shifted toward the rearview mirror. He didn’t say a word, but that was as good as an answer. Even if he asked how or how badly he was hurt, he couldn’t expect a satisfying response.

He kept remembering the time one of Kwon Su-hyeok’s subordinates had carelessly approached Jaguar and lost a finger. Forcing that thought down, he anxiously stared at the scenery passing quickly outside the window.

Jeon Mi-nam, who always followed traffic signals no matter how urgent the matter, was now speeding down the road, ignoring all regulations. Because of that, Baek Do-un’s anxiety grew larger.

Kwon Su-hyeok took off his coat and threw it on the bed. He unbuttoned a few of the stifling shirt buttons. But he didn’t feel any lighter. His mind was cluttered, as if something unknown was blocking his cerebral vessels. He felt inexplicably irritated.

He turned his head and stared at the back of Ju-wan’s head. Ju-wan was sitting blankly on the edge of the bed, pressing down on the area where blood was slowly seeping out. His gaze was fixed on Jaguar, who was observing him intently from across the room. The look in those eyes was so composed that it was absurd.

Was he truly out of his mind? Of course, if Kwon Su-hyeok himself had faced the same situation, he would have put his hand into Jaguar’s mouth without hesitation.

But that was only because he had the certainty that Jaguar would not bite him. And even if he were injured, the bond between them was deep enough that it wouldn’t matter.

Ju-wan was different. He had no guarantee that Jaguar wouldn’t attack him, nor was it possible that he had developed an extraordinary affection for the beast in just a few days. Therefore, unless he was completely insane, he couldn’t have committed such a reckless and foolish act.

Kwon Su-hyeok approached Ju-wan, who seemed to be in a staring contest with Jaguar. As a shadow fell over him, Ju-wan slowly turned his head. His gaze touched Kwon Su-hyeok’s thigh before moving up to his face. His round eyes were clear, but they were still devoid of vitality. It was difficult to read what he was thinking or what emotions he was feeling.

He abruptly grabbed Ju-wan’s chin and turned it to the side. This left his white neck fully exposed. There, a thin, swollen scratch remained where Jaguar’s claws had raked him during its struggle. A vivid streak of blood was visible below his left cheek. If a mere graze caused that much damage, the state of the arm he had shoved into Jaguar’s mouth was obvious without even looking.

“You… why the hell did you do that?”

Kwon Su-hyeok abruptly let go of Ju-wan, who hadn’t offered much resistance. In the meantime, Su-hyeok’s brow had furrowed deeply.

Ju-wan, who had been gazing blankly at Kwon Su-hyeok, shifted his gaze back to Jaguar. Jaguar, who had been keeping a close eye on Kwon Su-hyeok’s actions with its head held high, once again filled its bright yellow eyes with Ju-wan. It was as if it understood the words, though it likely didn’t.

There had been no particular purpose from the start. It wasn’t something he had thought about for long. The reason he ‘did such a thing’ was simple.

“Because he looked like he was suffering.”

It was a concise answer. As if there were absolutely no other reason.

Even after hearing the answer, the inexplicable frustration within Kwon Su-hyeok did not dissipate. With his face still hardened, Kwon Su-hyeok glared back at Ju-wan, who was staring at him again. Ju-wan did not flinch even at the rather menacing aura emanating from Kwon Su-hyeok. He didn’t even avert his gaze, as if he weren’t embarrassed by someone staring at him so intently.

A tense current flowed between the two, one that felt impossible to intervene in.

Breaking that heavy silence, the front door opened noisily. It seemed Baek Do-un had arrived.

“Ju-wan!”

A frantic voice rang out through the spacious living room. After confirming the living room was empty, Baek Do-un rushed straight to the bedroom.

“No, what on earth happened?”

Kwon Su-hyeok glanced at Ju-wan once and then walked out without a word. Baek Do-un looked at him with a strange expression before quickly approaching Ju-wan.

Blood was still dripping from Ju-wan’s arm. Jaguar, the cause of all this chaos, merely looked up at Baek Do-un with an indifferent, leisurely posture, as if nothing had happened.

“How did this happen?”

“A bone was stuck in his throat. I felt like I had to take it out….”

“So you just shoved your hand in there without thinking?”

Ju-wan silently nodded to Baek Do-un’s questioning tone. Baek Do-un let out a deep sigh and hurriedly pulled saline solution, disinfectant, and gauze from his bag. He then poured an entire large bottle of saline over Ju-wan’s blood-soaked arm. The bright red blood washed away cleanly. Baek Do-un didn’t care at all that Ju-wan’s pants were becoming drenched in the process.

“Doctor, my pants….”

“Who’s worrying about that right now?”

Baek Do-un, unusually focused, meticulously checked and disinfected the now fully revealed wound.

“The wound is deep, but since it’s a puncture rather than a tear, there’s no need for stitches. Still, you have to be careful so it doesn’t get infected. Got it?”

His voice was far too loud for someone speaking to Ju-wan right in front of him. It was as if he wanted the two men in the living room to hear clearly as well.

Baek Do-un applied medicine to the disinfected wound and attached gauze. Then, he found and disinfected every other small scratch one by one. Despite the pain rising from the wounded areas, Ju-wan simply watched blankly as gauze and bandages were plastered all over his body without any particular reaction.

Having finished the treatment, Do-un took off his glasses and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Another deep sigh escaped him.

“Ju-wan, you need to value yourself a bit more.”

He admonished Ju-wan with a look of pity.

Had Ju-wan done something wrong? He simply wanted to help because Jaguar seemed to be in so much pain. He hadn’t specifically intended to harm himself. He just hadn’t had the luxury to weigh the options.

Around then, a knock sounded from behind. Baek Do-un, who was about to say more, turned around. Jeon Mi-nam was visible through the half-open door. He glanced at Ju-wan over Baek Do-un’s shoulder and handed Baek Do-un a change of clothes and a dry towel. Baek Do-un gave the clothes to Ju-wan and used the dry towel to wipe the floor, which was soaked with saline and blood.

After cleaning up, Baek Do-un suddenly approached Jaguar. With his arm resting on his hip, he scolded the creature.

“Su-nam, you too! I told you not to swallow bones!”

Had accidents like this happened more than once or twice?

Ju-wan, who was changing his clothes, suddenly paused and watched Baek Do-un. Whether it was because he disliked the nagging or was annoyed for some other reason, Jaguar immediately stood up and walked toward the door, shaking its two round ears as if it were a nuisance.

Ju-wan followed the creature with his eyes and unconsciously murmured.

“Su-nam…?”

As he called the name in bewilderment, Jaguar, who had been leaving leisurely, whipped its head around toward Ju-wan. Its eyes twitched as if it were displeased, and then it roughly kicked the floor and bolted outside. Ju-wan watched the scene blankly.

He had thought it would be good to have a name. He didn’t know how long they would be together, but he couldn’t keep calling it ‘hey’ or ‘you’ forever. But of all the names, why ‘Su-nam’?

While Ju-wan was harboring that question, Baek Do-un approached and helped him pull down the hem of his t-shirt.

“I don’t know for sure, but if you hadn’t done it, Su-hyeok would have done the exact same thing. That fellow is practically like a younger brother to Su-hyeok.”

“Su-nam….”

As he repeated the name to confirm, Baek Do-un nodded readily. It seemed he hadn’t misheard.

The jaguar—with its smooth, glossy golden fur, straight and sturdy legs, an elegant long ridge from shoulder to tail, and wild beauty showcased by its amber-yellow eyes and sharp canines—was named ‘Su-nam’. He could easily guess why it had been named so. ‘Su’ for Su-hyeok’s brother, and ‘Nam’ because it was a male.

Who had named it? He felt it probably wasn’t Kwon Su-hyeok. It just felt that way.

“Do you know what Su-hyeok does for a living?”

“I heard he’s in the trade business….”

A strange smile spread across Baek Do-un’s face. However, he did not deny Ju-wan’s uncertain answer.

Baek Do-un gazed vaguely into the air, searching his memory. The story he began to recount was about how Jaguar came to be named ‘Su-nam’, or more accurately, how it ended up living with Kwon Su-hyeok.

“Two years ago, there was a container Su-hyeok was supposed to acquire. But something went wrong somewhere, and it seems the container that arrived on the promised date contained something completely unexpected. Animals caught by poachers. Since they had been treated as inanimate objects until they reached Korea, it seemed none of them were alive. There was no choice. Since decomposition had already begun, they had to pull them all out and burn them. While moving them one by one, a jaguar that had been lying limp as if dead suddenly twitched. Even while panting as if it were about to die, it bared its teeth and growled whenever someone tried to touch it. That’s this fellow.”

It was surprising. Looking at the current Kwon Su-hyeok, it was hard to believe he had taken in a near-dead jaguar and raised it so well. He felt that if a beast bared its teeth at him, he would have thrown it into a fire even if it were still breathing.

Baek Do-un chuckled as if he had read Ju-wan’s thoughts. It was a smile tinged with a bit of bitterness.

“Beasts that walk on four legs are at least honest. At least they don’t deceive people.”

Suddenly, he remembered Kwon Su-hyeok’s words about not trusting those who walk on two legs.

“He won’t say thank you even if he’s about to die, but Su-hyeok probably feels indebted to you in his heart. The two of them are very close. Their personalities seem similar, too. Sometimes I really wonder if he’s not a real younger brother.”

Ju-wan smiled faintly, looking at Baek Do-un’s playful face.

“…Doctor. A younger brother… is usually such a precious existence, right?”

Though it took the form of a question, it was closer to a resigned self-mockery. As if completely detached, no intense emotion could be felt in his voice.

I also had someone I could call a younger brother. He was a year younger than me, and since we only shared a mother, our surnames were different. I lived in the same house with him from the age of eight, and at first, I was just excited and happy. Because I had gained a younger brother I never had.

His father lived in that house too. Yes, that’s right. He was the husband to my mother. I called that man ‘Ahjussi’. The word ‘Father’ simply wouldn’t come out. So we vaguely became a family, but life there was completely different from my expectations.

Ahjussi was a violent man. The strange thing was that he never hit me or my mother. Instead, he swung his fists at his own child—that brat—every single day; no, several times a day. There didn’t seem to be any particular reason. Every time, the brat just took the beating without a word. You’d think he would have fought back at least once, but he endured it steadfastly.

The brat? No. He didn’t have such a weak personality. On the contrary, he was destructive. He was the kind of person who wouldn’t be satisfied until he broke everything that caught his eye and annoyed him. If he was in a bad mood, he always tried to take it out on something.

The brat mainly bullied things smaller and weaker than himself. At first, it was just breaking things in the house, but at some point, he started destroying all the flowerpots, then it shifted to the birds my mother raised, the carp in the garden, and eventually the puppy that was the only one who followed me.

Ah, of course, he had done all sorts of harm to me before that. But that was just at the level of severe pranks.

For a while, I had no friends to play with. The neighbors could tell the origins of my mother and Ahjussi just by looking at their appearance, speech, and atmosphere. It didn’t matter how nice the house was, how fancy the clothes were, or how luxurious the car was.

Whenever I happened to go outside, I was met with stinging glares. I was almost always alone at school, too. I understand. No parent would want their precious child associating with just anyone. There were probably bad rumors, too. Because that brat of a brother caused trouble at school almost every day. My mother and Ahjussi, far from stepping in to solve the problem, took an attitude of indignant reversal. It was a waste of effort for me to try alone.

Then, was it during the summer break when I was eleven? A new family moved into the house opposite ours. There was a boy my age in that house.

I don’t remember exactly how we became close. We just both had no one to play with, so we kept bumping into each other while wandering around, and after one greeting, we became best friends in no time. We spent the whole day together. His parents ran some kind of shop and were very busy. So busy they’d leave early in the morning and return late at night. That’s probably why they hadn’t heard the bad rumors about my family.

Every day felt too short. Every time I parted with him and returned home, I felt gloomy. Perhaps it wasn’t simple regret. I felt a certain precariousness. Thinking back now, I believe it was a kind of anxiety. A nervous feeling that the opportunities to meet him were decreasing by one day each. Such ominous premonitions rarely missed the mark.

After summer break ended, we could only meet after school. There were two elementary schools near the house, and unfortunately, we attended different ones. I can’t tell you how restless I became as class ended. The moment the teacher said we could leave, I ran home without looking back.

Then, one time, I arrived home later than usual. I tossed my bag aside and went to his house, but there was no answer no matter how much I rang the bell. I thought he might have stepped out and would be back soon. I waited in front of the door for a long time. In the end, he didn’t come.

It got too late, so I went back home, and the brat of a brother was smirking at me. At first, I didn’t know why. I thought he’d played some prank, but strangely, the room was clean. There was no sign that he’d touched my things. There was just a game pack my friend had said he’d lend me sitting on the desk.

I only found out what happened after my mother returned. She said she was on her way back from the hospital. She said that while she was trying to go out that afternoon, he was lying collapsed on our stone steps. Startled, she called an ambulance, and since they requested a companion, she had no choice but to follow him to the hospital. He had apparently slipped while going down the stone steps and hit his head on a rock. The hospital said his brain was slightly swollen, but fortunately, his life was not in danger.

But then, who on earth had opened the door for him? My mother said she didn’t even know he had visited our house. And I had come home later than usual that day.

When I looked at the brat, he had a look of regret on his face. A mere ten-year-old.

It was obvious he had pushed him. He might have tripped him like he did to me, or he might have shoved him hard from behind. And then he had smirked.

I couldn’t stand it. I lunged at him immediately, and we pushed and fought. My mother just screamed for us to stop, and just then, Ahjussi walked in. Like a miracle, the hand that was scratching me was ripped away.

Ahjussi beat the brat mercilessly for making a noise in the house. He left me alone and dealt one-sided violence only to the brat. Even as he took the beating in silence as usual, he glared at me with watery eyes. As if all the beating he was taking was my fault.

As he grew older and bigger, the brat’s tyranny only worsened. In middle school, he would find me every lunch break, pour sand into my food, and sometimes provoke me by spitting phlegm.

I’d rather starve than eat that. Whenever I ignored him and went to clear my tray, his vilely smiling face would instantly distort. For some reason, he particularly couldn’t stand that. The fact that the opponent didn’t simply submit.

I wonder now where that bastard is and what he’s doing.

If you press down on an ant dragging a crumb, it struggles desperately, its thin legs trembling. The ant’s resistance, which grew more violent the more pressure was applied to the finger, gradually, slowly dulled. Then, usually, it stopped moving completely. If you let go slowly, thinking it was dead, it would be so overwhelmed that it would leave the crumb behind and scurry away.

But occasionally, there were some fearless ones that bit the finger. Foolish and reckless creatures that attacked without knowing their place. Those were the ones that were the most satisfying to catch and kill. If you drove a sharp needle into their body and burned their antennae and legs one by one, even the most spirited ones eventually became docile. Every time that happened, his body burned with an inexplicable euphoria.

If you’re going to be subdued anyway, it’s more beneficial not to resist. Because if you rashly bite the finger, only greater pain follows.

That was a truth Woo Hyeong-seok had learned firsthand since he was young. Bowing the head, stifling the breath, erasing one’s presence as if hearing nothing and seeing nothing. It was a survival instinct from childhood. Not once had he felt ashamed of such a life. Until he met that man, Park Ju-wan.

“…….”

Woo Hyeong-seok downed a shot of vodka while thinking of Ju-wan. He was like something that felt within reach but remained elusive. For a long time, he had made Woo Hyeong-seok feel a strange craving. He held on steadfastly as if he were about to collapse, and the more he was tormented, the more indifferent he became.

The more that happened, the more Hyeong-seok wanted to crush him. He wanted to engrave into him that no matter how noble he pretended to be, he was a weak being who had no choice but to succumb to pain. Only then did it feel like the long-standing congestion inside him would clear. And only then would his own life, which he had endured steadfastly, not seem pathetic.

He threw the innocent glass. The glass flew toward the wall and shattered without fail. Following the sharp sound of the crash, a knock sounded from outside.

“…Come in.”

Soon the door opened, and the store manager entered and bowed deeply. Then, he presented a woman who looked exceptionally young in front of Woo Hyeong-seok.

“This is the new hire who will be working at our shop starting today. I heard it’s her first time in this line of work, so please, CEO, break her in.”

The manager beamed, bowing excessively. Woo Hyeong-seok raised his head and looked down at the woman. The woman kept pulling up her shoulder strap, as if bothered by how it was slipping down. Her eyes were fixed meaninglessly on the floor.

Woo Hyeong-seok waved his hand, telling the shop owner to leave. The owner whispered to the woman to be good to him and bowed once more. Even after he closed the door and left, the woman stood there awkwardly for a long time. She stubbornly avoided Woo Hyeong-seok’s gaze. Suddenly, he yanked her arm. When she reflexively resisted, he immediately raised his hand.

With a sharp slap, the woman was thrown back. Collapsing to the floor, she whipped her head around and glared at Woo Hyeong-seok. Her eyes were brimming with resentment and malice.

A smirk escaped Woo Hyeong-seok’s lips. In one swift motion, he grabbed the woman by her hair and slapped her cheeks repeatedly. Eventually, the mucous membrane inside her mouth must have burst, as red blood beaded along her lips. Despite this, the woman didn’t shed a single tear and continued to display her hostility toward him.

Woo Hyeong-seok’s sinister smile deepened.

“You fucking bitch, you’ve got quite the spirit.”

Just like someone else.

Looking at the woman, Woo Hyeong-seok slowly rolled up his shirt sleeves.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the volume of the music flowing through the shop suddenly surged. As if to ensure that those outside the room could not know what was happening inside.

Baek Do-un laid Ju-wan on the bed and pulled the duvet up to his neck. Ju-wan’s eyes remained wide open, as if sleep wouldn’t come. Looking at him, Baek Do-un’s eyes were filled with pity.

He had lived entangled with people who weren’t even worth calling family, and the place he had barely escaped to was a psychiatric hospital. Of course, that hadn’t been Ju-wan’s own will. He had simply been abandoned by his mother. Furthermore, the price for the freedom he finally attained after ten years was to provide blood to Kwon Su-hyeok.

Ju-wan accepted his situation with indifference. Had he wanted to escape the psychiatric hospital so desperately that even a half-freedom was welcome? If so, what had his life been like there? He couldn’t even bring himself to imagine it.

“For now, get some deep rest today.”

Baek Do-un urged him while tidying the duvet once more. Ju-wan silently nodded.

Getting up from the bed, Baek Do-un packed his bag and headed out. He was about to close the door out of consideration for Ju-wan when Jaguar trotted over from the living room. The beast glanced at Baek Do-un, then passed him by nonchalantly as if he were of no consequence. Then, Jaguar pushed the nearly closed bedroom door open with his head and stepped inside.

Wondering what he was up to, Baek Do-un peeked in to watch. Having entered the bedroom, Jaguar sat his backside down in front of the bed and stared up at Ju-wan. Was he worried too?

Baek Do-un chuckled and closed the door firmly. He then went to the long sofa in the living room and flopped down. Immediately, Kwon Su-hyeok’s gaze pierced through him. He still hadn’t changed his clothes. Jeon Mi-nam, who had been standing stiffly to one side as if he had committed a mortal sin, also stared intently at Baek Do-un.

“His condition isn’t as serious as I feared. That fellow Su-nam didn’t seem to keep his mouth shut even in that urgent situation. If he had, we wouldn’t be talking about sutures; we’d be talking about reattachment. Still, just in case, make sure water doesn’t touch the wound. Disinfect it regularly. I’ve given him a prophylactic antibiotic and a tetanus vaccine just in case. If he develops a fever or a headache, it’s a bad sign, so keep a close eye on him.”

“…….”

“Kwon Su-hyeok. Are you listening to me?”

“The guest is certainly acting like the host.”

“Well, of course. Because Ju-wan saved Su-nam in your stead. If a transfusion had been necessary, I would have drawn your blood to use. That would be fair, wouldn’t it? You owe Ju-wan.”

Kwon Su-hyeok glared at Baek Do-un in silence. Even in the face of that murderous gaze, Baek Do-un did not back down. Instead, he simply teased him with a sly smile.

“Why? Is it that hard to say thank you?”

Kwon Su-hyeok’s brow furrowed. Baek Do-un’s face was still full of amusement. Amidst the tense confrontation, only Jeon Mi-nam looked back and forth between the two anxiously. The unnecessary tension made him clench his fists. When Kwon Su-hyeok suddenly stood up, Mi-nam’s body reacted first, and he nearly jumped.

However, the feared situation did not occur. Kwon Su-hyeok headed toward the bathroom without touching Baek Do-un. His jaw was clenched tight. As he walked, he ripped off his shirt and threw it irritably onto the floor. Then, the bathroom door slammed shut violently. Baek Do-un giggled as if he were enjoying himself.

Jeon Mi-nam, letting out a sigh of relief, took the opportunity to go get some clothes. He had been bothered by Baek Do-un’s pants, which were soaked in saline and blood.

When he carefully opened the bedroom door, he saw Ju-wan with only his face peeking out from under the duvet. He seemed to be in a light sleep, eyes closed, breathing in thin, steady rhythms. Jaguar was pressed tightly against his side, watching him intently. At some point, the cat had even wrapped its tail around Ju-wan’s waist.

Jeon Mi-nam completely forgot why he had entered the bedroom and watched the scene for a long time. Without even realizing it, a gentle smile had spread across his face.

A powerful stream of water drenched Kwon Su-hyeok’s black hair and flowed down his smooth forehead and the bridge of his nose. Water droplets that had gathered on his sharp jawline fell far down, sliding along the deep groove of his chest.

The moisture gave his thick pectoral muscles and rugged abs an even more polished sheen. His prominent external obliques further emphasized the line of his straight waist and the curve of his buttocks falling along his deep spinal groove. His long limbs were well-proportioned, ensuring his muscles didn’t look excessive. From head to toe, Kwon Su-hyeok looked like a creature meticulously crafted by God.

He turned off the water. The steam filling the room like a fog made it hard to breathe. Kwon Su-hyeok took a deep breath, his shoulders and back heaving. Water droplets clinging to his loose black hair and earlobes fell mercilessly onto his shoulders, flowed quickly down his spine, and pooled in the prominent hollows. Transparent crystals beaded on his eyelashes and the bridge of his nose.

He reached out and grabbed a large towel. He roughly wiped the moisture from his hair and face and stepped outside.

Outside the door, the clothes Mi-nam must have brought were laid out neatly. Even though Mi-nam knew he didn’t wear anything after a shower or when sleeping, he went through the useless effort every time. Once again, Kwon Su-hyeok simply threw on a robe and moved to the living room.

Jeon Mi-nam, who had been peeling an apple with a utility knife, quickly stood up. Baek Do-un, who was still lingering and chatting, also turned his head. The moment their eyes met, a look of annoyance became evident on Kwon Su-hyeok’s face.

“Go home already.”

“You call me whenever you need me, but as soon as the business is done, all you think about is kicking me out?”

“I don’t have the generosity to let a man sleep in my house.”

“I have no intention of sleeping in the same house as you either.”

Baek Do-un responded without backing down and picked up his coat and bag. Jeon Mi-nam, still holding the half-peeled apple and the knife in both hands, hesitated, unsure of what to do. He seemed unable to decide whether he should see Baek Do-un out or stay to attend to Kwon Su-hyeok.

Baek Do-un snatched the half-peeled apple from his hand.

“I’ll go on my own, so you should get off work as soon as possible too, Mi-nam.”

“I’ll enjoy this,” he said, waving the apple. Then, without giving Kwon Su-hyeok a second glance, he left the house.

Only then did Kwon Su-hyeok start walking toward the bedroom. He didn’t say a word or even glance at Jeon Mi-nam. It was a habitual action, signaling that he was going to sleep and that Mi-nam should leave. Jeon Mi-nam bowed his head behind his back.

Just as he was about to open the door and enter, Kwon Su-hyeok suddenly stopped. As if something had occurred to him, he let out a low “Ah.”

“There is something you need to do.”

“Please tell me, President.”

“It seems there’s someone poking around and digging into my background lately. Find out who it is.”

Jeon Mi-nam reflexively looked up because Kwon Su-hyeok’s instruction was unusually vague. Sure enough, Kwon Su-hyeok added while staring toward the inside of the bedroom.

“I heard that person is looking for that.”

Looking for someone who had been abandoned in a psychiatric hospital and imprisoned for ten years. Whoever it was, it didn’t feel like a good omen.

“Understood. Please rest.”

Jeon Mi-nam bowed deeply once more. Kwon Su-hyeok entered the bedroom without any further greeting.

Jaguar suddenly lifted its head. It seemed to have woken up at the sign of someone entering. The beast’s body was still pressed tightly against Ju-wan. Kwon Su-hyeok simply looked quietly into the cat’s eyes, offering no particular reprimand regarding today’s events.

He started to take off his robe to hang it on a chair, but then he saw the handcuffs lying on it. They were the ones used to bind his wrist to Ju-wan’s.

But for today, he left the handcuffs as they were and climbed onto the bed. He had no intention of being cruel to someone whose arms were covered in bandages and gauze. Moreover, there would be no handcuffs as sensitive and firm as Jaguar’s tail, which was faithfully wrapped around Ju-wan’s waist.

“……,”

Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, he was lost in thought for a moment. Soon, Jaguar nudged its face toward him. He turned on his side and gently scratched the area around the cat’s neck. At this, Jaguar narrowed its eyes, unable to hide its ecstasy.

After some time, Jaguar suddenly turned its head the other way. As a result, the view that had been filled with the cat’s face opened up halfway. Through that gap, his eyes met those of Ju-wan, who had woken up.

“…….”

“…Uh.”

It seemed Ju-wan had tried petting Jaguar, following Kwon Su-hyeok’s lead. No wonder Jaguar’s purring had been louder than usual.

As the two of them stopped their hands at the sudden situation, Jaguar’s joy vanished. The cat opened its narrowed eyes and stared at its owner. It was a dissatisfied look, as if its moment of pleasure had been interrupted. The beast stuck out its long tongue to lick its nose, then dropped its head indifferently.

With that, the view was blocked again. Kwon Su-hyeok immediately turned his back to Ju-wan. Even so, he could feel Ju-wan’s steady gaze hitting his back. He tried to ignore it, but because his senses were naturally keen, it wasn’t easy.

Ju-wan watched the motionless Kwon Su-hyeok for a long time before slowly closing his eyes.

“Good night.”

He murmured in a weary voice. It was a greeting he had wanted to say to someone, at least once, over the past ten years.