By Zephyria 
Butler Do paced the living room hurriedly, nearly colliding with Da-hye as she passed by. He had never walked through the house so recklessly, but Butler Do had just received a call from Seo Yi-kyung.
That alone made it impossible to think of anything else. Until now, Seo Yi-kyung’s phone had been off, leaving Butler Do with no way to contact him. He had simply waited, hoping that he would return here.
Butler Do rushed into the painting studio. His hands fumbled over the shelves with anxiety, searching for what Seo Yi-kyung had requested over the phone moments ago.
“Where is it… the thing he mentioned?”
Butler Do’s hands brushed past baby supplies and various gift items. Finally, he moved a shopping bag aside and exited the studio holding a long sword that had been resting neatly on the shelf.
Just then, Min Ra-hyeon opened his door. He tried to call out to the hurried Butler Do to ask for some coffee, but the butler had already vanished into the distance.
Watching that retreating figure, Min Ra-hyeon turned around with his phone to his ear.
“So, did you tell him?”
Min Seon-woong’s voice came through the phone.
[They’ve probably met by now. Dong-hu Hyung said he missed his younger brother that much.]
* * *
“Go outside and talk.”
Seo Yi-kyung, who had finished his call with Butler Do after turning his phone back on, repeated the same words. However, Seo Dong-hu, whose eyes were bloodshot, seemed to have no intention of listening to him.
“Fuck, where are you planning to slip away to this time? Are you going to run outside and beg Director Han for help?”
Seo Dong-hu was wearing a suit, but he looked pathetic. His tie had vanished somewhere, and his shirt buttons were undone. His suit, wrinkled all the way to the collar, looked as if he had worn it for several days.
Furthermore, Seo Dong-hu’s eyes were congested as he stared at Seo Yi-kyung. Every time he opened his mouth, a foul stench of alcohol wafted out.
Watching the scene from a short distance, Jin Seon-yu spoke to the assistant beside him.
“I told you to let me know when the car arrived. How could you just let someone in like this?”
“He said he was family. I thought he had come to pick him up, so I let him in…”
Unable to finish the sentence, the assistant fidgeted anxiously. In Jin Seon-yu’s hand was the coat he had draped over Seo Yi-kyung’s shoulders.
Having just come down the stairs, Seo Yi-kyung handed the coat back to Jin Seon-yu the moment he saw Seo Dong-hu and stepped away from him.
Jin Seon-yu had never experienced Seo Yi-kyung treating someone so coldly. Hadn’t Seo Yi-kyung always smiled so much in front of him?
Seo Yi-kyung was always full of smiles and spoke softly and gently. He was the type of person who listened intently to everything Jin Seon-yu said. He had never once said anything mean, such as implying that Jin Seon-yu was clueless.
Even with a cracked arm, he hadn’t shown any sign of pain. He was a man who could endure even such agony throughout the night. However, looking at the sudden change in Seo Yi-kyung’s gaze, it was hard to believe that Seo Dong-hu was his family. They seemed more like strangers than kin.
Moreover, the atmosphere between the two was ominous. Standing face-to-face, Seo Yi-kyung looked precarious, while Seo Dong-hu, as he spoke, habitually raised his hand. He sneered at Seo Yi-kyung.
“Fuck, that’s why I told you it would’ve been better to meet me while I was being nice. Why do you make me so exhausted? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find you and come all the way here?”
Even as Seo Dong-hu raised his hand, Seo Yi-kyung never avoided his eyes. He felt as if he had already said it dozens of times, but Seo Dong-hu refused to listen to a word he said.
“Hitting me won’t bring any money.”
Eventually, Seo Dong-hu grabbed Seo Yi-kyung by the collar and yanked him up. The phone Seo Yi-kyung was holding dropped to the floor.
Since his left arm was in a cast, Seo Yi-kyung struggled with his right arm, pushing against the man’s chest to create distance, but he couldn’t stop his heels from lifting off the ground.
Even if his arm weren’t injured, he couldn’t match Seo Dong-hu in strength. Nevertheless, Seo Yi-kyung continued to push against Seo Dong-hu’s chest, trying to tear himself away.
It was a tenacious, wretched ill-fate.
Simply because they shared blood, ‘Seo Yi-kyung’ had been dragged around by Seo Dong-hu until he was on the verge of death. Knowing that path, he could not walk it again.
“Yi-kyung.”
Unable to watch any longer, Jin Seon-yu stepped forward. That alone distracted Seo Yi-kyung. He turned his head and spoke coldly.
“Don’t come to me.”
Jin Seon-yu froze, his feet feeling as if they were nailed to the floor. Seo Dong-hu’s gaze turned strange. Just as he was about to swing his hand at the easily hoisted Seo Yi-kyung, a scuffle broke out between someone trying to enter the house and someone blocking them.
“Young Master!”
Butler Do pushed through the people blocking him and leaped between the two. Without even catching his breath, he rushed forward and held out the long sword toward Seo Dong-hu.
“Here it is. Please take this.”
“Ha— Fuck. When did I tell you to bring the sword? I told you to bring the value of this sword!”
“Please, let go of him first.”
The three bodies tangled and swayed. Gritting his teeth, Butler Do shoved the long sword toward Seo Dong-hu.
He used all his strength to violently tear Seo Dong-hu’s hand away from Seo Yi-kyung’s collar. In the process, a long scratch was carved into the back of Seo Dong-hu’s hand.
Seo Yi-kyung’s heels hit the ground, and he staggered. He barely managed to steady himself by grabbing a nearby decorative pillar to avoid falling. However, Butler Do collapsed at his feet.
“You little piece of shit, seriously.”
Seo Dong-hu swung a fist at Butler Do, and as if that weren’t enough to sate his rage, he stomped violently on the man’s chest.
Jin Seon-yu whispered to the people around him to quickly pull him away. Meanwhile, he dropped the coat on the floor and tried to approach Seo Yi-kyung.
“I’m killing you first today.”
Seo Dong-hu drew the long sword held in his hand. The blade slid out of its scabbard. The antique was sharpened to a lethal edge, making the traces of time irrelevant.
Seo Dong-hu looked at the sword. The flash emanating from the tip of the blade reflected long in his narrowed eyes. Seo Yi-kyung shouted quickly.
“Stop it. He’s an innocent person.”
Seo Dong-hu looked at him.
“This all happened because of you.”
Everything had changed after Seo Yi-kyung got married. It was as if Seo Dong-hu’s world had been turned upside down.
Until then, everything had gone according to Seo Dong-hu’s will. Seo Yi-kyung had moved easily as he desired.
Therefore, he believed it would be the same even after the marriage. Rather, he didn’t doubt that having Han Seung-jae added to the mix provided a reliable backing. However, Seo Yi-kyung had cut ties and abandoned his entire family. All so he could live well on his own.
With a face colder than ever, Seo Yi-kyung replied to Seo Dong-hu’s words.
“This has nothing to do with me.”
“How could you do this!”
Seo Dong-hu’s face distorted grotesquely. At the same time, Butler Do pushed himself up from the floor. He hurriedly blocked Seo Yi-kyung, but Seo Dong-hu pointed the sword at him. Seo Yi-kyung pushed Butler Do aside and stepped forward.
Jin Seon-yu, who had been watching the confrontation from a distance, put his phone to his ear with a pale face, as if seeking help. Without even having time to check the name of the person he had most recently spoken with, he pressed the call button.
From the voice coming through the phone, Jin Seon-yu realized he had called Kwon Gwi-jun. Jin Seon-yu’s pupils trembled incessantly. Gwi— Gwi-jun.
“Whether your family goes bankrupt and you end up on the streets or not, it no longer concerns me. Never look for me again.”
Everything happened in an instant.
As Seo Dong-hu swung the sword, a bloodstain appeared on the shirt Seo Yi-kyung was wearing. Jin Seon-yu dropped his phone and stepped forward. Seo Yi-kyung’s lips parted, and his knees buckled weakly, hitting the floor.
Seo Yi-kyung looked down at the bloodstain painting a vivid line across the marble floor. His own reflection looked pitiful upon it. His limp eyebrows made him look as if he were crying.
‘I left that house because I wanted to live…’
But no matter what he did, it seemed it was a fate he could not avoid.
“Young Master!”
Butler Do wailed as he grabbed Seo Dong-hu’s sword. And Jin Seon-yu, who had rushed over in a single bound, opened his arms to cradle Seo Yi-kyung. Even though he didn’t apply much strength, Seo Yi-kyung’s body collapsed into his embrace, going limp.
“Someone, please help.”
Jin Seon-yu’s lips trembled. In an instant, people crowded around Seo Dong-hu. Amidst them, Jin Seon-yu, slumped on the floor, saw the people passing before his eyes as a blur. Tears welled up until he could no longer see.
“We have to get to the hospital quickly. Yi— Yi-kyung.”
Bright red blood soaked Jin Seon-yu’s palms. It stained the chest of the shirt he was wearing red before flowing long down to his knees.