1.3 Riegrow and Kim Young-soo

The problem was the books.

No matter what storm broke out in this household, or how bleakly the handsome young men competed in a sparking atmosphere, it was, in reality, none of Jeong Tae-ui’s business.

He simply had to leisurely find what he desired—Kyle’s books—and bid them farewell. To exist within the mansion like a ghost, searching for books with the heart of a bystander; that was the plan Jeong Tae-ui had harbored.

However, from the very start, there were signs that this wish would not be smooth sailing. Perhaps the moment the guard at the iron gates told him, “There is no such person,” was the last chance he had to turn back.

Regardless, by the time he realized that fact, the opportunity had long since passed, and Jeong Tae-ui had no choice but to fulfill his assigned duty within this pit of discord.

“Where on earth are these damn books…?”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered with a sigh.

The number of books Christophe had taken from Kyle was a dozen or so.

Not a single one of them was visible on Christophe’s small bedside bookshelf.

As Jeong Tae-ui had already seen in Kyle’s library, each of these was an old book. Their appearance was fundamentally different from commonly seen books, so there was no way they could be indistinguishable while mixed in with others.

Jeong Tae-ui stared blankly at the bookshelf, which consisted of only a few shelves, then slowly shifted his gaze. Within arm’s reach of the bookshelf was a massive bed. Inside it, Christophe lay with the duvet pulled tight up to his neck.

When Jeong Tae-ui had knocked on the bedroom door and entered, Christophe seemed to open his eyes slightly to look at him, but then frowned as if annoyed and closed them again. Seeing the wrinkles in his brow disappear after a few seconds, it seemed he wasn’t just pretending to sleep, but had actually fallen back asleep.

It was only a short while ago that he had flatly told Tae-ui that while he could stand at the threshold, he was not to enter the bedroom. Yet, last night, on a whim, he had suddenly called via the internal line to say, “Wake me up at seven tomorrow morning.”

Staring at the receiver that had clicked shut after those words, Jeong Tae-ui had agonized for a moment over whether it was truly okay to enter this guy’s bedroom and wake him up the next morning. However, even if he wanted to call back, he had no way of knowing the internal extension. Consequently, he had reached the current situation: knocking on the bedroom door, receiving no response, and entering of his own accord.

“Chris. You told me to wake you at seven. It’s seven.”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke, but Christophe [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]our site">visit our sitegave no reaction, as if deep in sleep. Only the sound of steady breathing could be heard.

Taking this opportunity, Tae-ui scanned the bedroom, but the items he was looking for were nowhere to be seen.

In fact, there weren’t many books in the bedroom to begin with. Aside from the small bedside shelf, no books could be found. He had heard that there was a separate study, so he wondered if they were there.

He glared into every corner of the room while the owner slept, but as expected, the books he needed to find were not visible.

Then again, it would be stranger if I found them this easily.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head and sighed. Yet, even as he did, anxiety and unease surged in his chest.

He had to find them and go back quickly. He didn’t have much time.

No, he could no longer accurately gauge how much time he had left. Or perhaps gauging it was already a futile effort.

“…Good grief…”

Jeong Tae-ui groaned as he pulled over a stool placed neatly at the foot of the bed and flopped down onto it.

The tragic news had arrived last night, immediately after Christophe’s sudden phone call.

While Jeong Tae-ui was staring at the phone, wondering what change of heart had led the man to permit entry into his bedroom, the phone had rung again.

He had wanted to call back and confirm, “Do you mean for me to enter the bedroom you forbade me from entering to wake you up?” but since he didn’t know the extension, he had been agonizing over it. When the phone rang again less than a minute later, he didn’t doubt for a second that it was Christophe.

‘Yeah, what?’

Responding with the implication of Did you change your mind again and decide you don’t want me coming in?, Jeong Tae-ui heard a short silence followed by a voice asking, “Were you waiting for a call?” to which he could only stammer, “Uh.”

‘No, no. Christophe just hung up a moment ago, so I thought it was him. But what’s up, Kyle?’

Jeong Tae-ui answered brightly. He heard Kyle laugh, sounding surprised.

‘I see you’re getting along well with Christophe.’

‘Ah—well—.’

Even if he wanted to answer, he couldn’t.

Considering those indifferent, cold eyes and that frigid tone of voice, he couldn’t gauge if they were “getting along well.” Should he answer, Well, I haven’t had my life threatened yet, so I guess we’re on good terms?

‘How are the books? Did you find any?’

‘Ah, not at all. But I’m going to wake him up tomorrow morning, so I’ll scan his bedroom to see if they’re there.’

‘…Aha, so you’ve become close.’

Regardless of which part was “close,” Jeong Tae-ui just nodded, thinking If he says so, then I guess so. He scratched his head, thinking briefly about Kyle’s interpersonal copy -->unauthorized copyrelationships, before another thought occurred to him and he changed the subject.

‘By the way, has there been any word from Ilay? Surely he didn’t contact you again while you were away…’

‘…Ah. That.’

Again. Once again, an ambiguous answer returned.

His heart, which had been quiet, began to throb ominously.

‘He called while I was out, and it seems Rita answered.’

‘…’

Kyle’s troubled voice tickled his ears in a strange way.

No. Rita would have been on [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL Novels -->my side. Even if she seems extremely strict and cold, I know she’s actually kind.

Jeong Tae-ui pressed down on his aching heart and urged him to continue. After a brief, lingering pause, Kyle finally spoke.

‘I think she told him, not knowing any better, that you were out. And told him to try contacting you via your mobile phone if he had business.’

‘…’

He had left his mobile phone in Berlin.

Imagining the phone ringing futilely by his bedside, Jeong Tae-ui felt the blood drain from his face.

‘So… did Kyle tell Ilay…’

‘I tried to contact him, but I couldn’t get through. So I haven’t been able to deliver the message yet…’

The receiver slipped from his ear. The blood drained from his hands as well. Perhaps [visit our site][Read on Read BL Novels]visit our site -->it was just his imagination, but his fingernails looked bluish.

Noticing Jeong Tae-ui’s silence immediately, Kyle quickly added.

‘No, I’ll try contacting him again. Don’t worry. I’m telling you it’s fine; he’s not stupid enough to think you’ve run away.’

To be precise, he would think that Jeong Tae-ui wasn’t stupid enough to run away from him.

Suddenly, the world turned bleak. Jeong Tae-ui felt as if he had become a loner. There was no one on his side in the world. He even spiraled into a baseless paranoia, wondering if Kyle and Rita, whom he trusted, had actually been waiting for an opportunity like this.

While Kyle tried to comfort the suddenly depressed Tae-ui, repeatedly promising to contact him, Jeong Tae-ui barely listened and hung up.

Currently, one fact was certain.

Ilay had told Jeong Tae-ui, “If you leave, you die,” Jeong Tae-ui had left Berlin, and Ilay had found out that Jeong Tae-ui had left.

He had been prepared for it, but it was a situation he wanted to avoid as much as possible.

He had planned to find the books and return quickly, pretending nothing had happened.

Since it had come to this, there was only one conclusion.

He had to return home before that man and just play dumb.

If he was just sitting normally at home, the man wouldn’t harass him asking why he had gone out, would he? It might get a bit grueling, but still.

Jeong Tae-ui tore at his hair.

Yes, thinking about it again, the problem was the books. Regardless, he just had to find the books first. Then, whether by stealing or extortion, he could just bolt back to Berlin.

Jeong Tae-ui shifted his gaze from the bookshelf and stood by the bed again, kicking the bed leg harmlessly.

“It’s past seven. Aren’t you getting up?”

He looked down at Christophe, who was buried deep in a thick down duvet, sleeping peacefully even in this season where it was becoming more hot than warm.

His white cheeks were tinged with a slight reddish hue. The sound of his regular breathing was peaceful. Every now and then, his eyelashes fluttered.

“You should just sleep for the rest of your life…”

With the feeling of looking at a Sleeping Beauty in the woods, Jeong Tae-ui muttered, lightly tapping his chest, which was fluttering for no reason.

Looking at him again, he was like a sculpture. It felt wondrous that he was even breathing. His hand twitched, wanting to stroke that face, but he forced himself to suppress it. He already knew all too well about the man’s haphephobia—the quirk of never tolerating others touching him.

“Aren’t you getting up? …I’m shaking you awake. Can I touch you?”

Jeong Tae-ui made a gesture of poking him near the arm through the duvet. Surely he won’t throw a fit just for being touched through the blanket…

But then, the moment the weight of Jeong Tae-ui’s finger pressed [Read on Read BL Novels]visit our sitestyle="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">unauthorized copyRead BL Novels -->onto the duvet, as if by magic, Christophe opened his eyes.

Blinking like a doll, he stared straight at the ceiling. After staying still and blinking a couple of times for a few seconds, he slowly shifted his gaze to Jeong Tae-ui, who had quickly withdrawn his hand.

“…Wake up. You told me to wake you at seven. It’s past that.”

“…Shut up…”

“You’re the one who told me to wake you…!”

The first thing he says after someone went through the trouble of waking him up is “shut up.”

Fighting the urge to pull those soft, smooth-looking cheeks with all his might, Jeong Tae-ui frowned.

Christophe sat up in bed. Breathing heavily as if suffering from low blood pressure, he sat up sluggishly and pressed his hand to his forehead as if he had a headache. A low groan escaped him.

“Ah… shut up… be quiet…”

“…?”

Jeong Tae-ui raised an eyebrow with a puzzled expression, looking down at him askew. As if unaware that Jeong Tae-ui was even there, Christophe held his head in one hand and muttered, grinding his teeth softly.

“It’s noisy… my ears hurt…”

No outside noise leaked through the closed doors and windows. The only sound in the room was Christophe’s low mumbling.

Looking down at Christophe, who let out a thin breath—whether a sigh or a groan, it was hard to tell—Jeong Tae-ui suddenly frowned slightly and whispered lowly.

“…Christophe. …Chris?”

His shoulders flinched.

As if hearing a sound for the first time in his life, or as if something had suddenly popped its head into a void, Chrivisit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]stophe looked at Jeong Tae-ui.

His eyes were vacant.

They were unfocused eyes, like someone who had lost their mind.

Eyes so deep blue they looked black, like a crushing deep sea, looked at Jeong Tae-ui.

“…Chris.”

Jeong Tae-ui instinctively reached out to him.

Even in his dazed state, Christophe instinctively shrank back. Jeong Tae-ui stopped his hand.

When he called “Chris” once more, the man blinked. The eyes that closed and opened were already back to normal. Indifferent and expressionless eyes.

“I can hear sounds.”

The sunken voice muttered like a monologue.

“What sounds?”

“They keep… mumbling here. Constantly. Small and incessant, like ants were put in my ears…”

Jeong Tae-ui remained silent. Then, he spoke quietly.

“I can’t hear any sound.”

“… …Ah… it’s noisy…”

This time, it was a monologue.

Christophe clicked his tongue and muttered anxiously, then suddenly [unauthorized copy]our site">visit [visit our site]our sitekicked off the duvet and got out of bed. He went straight into the bathroom. The sound of rushing water followed.

“…”

Jeong Tae-ui stared at the open bathroom door for a while.

He frowned slightly for a moment, but soon relaxed his expression with a sigh.

Thinking that since he had woken him up, he might as well go back, he picked up the duvet that had half-slid off the bed and neatly made the bed. Soon, Christophe emerged, looking as if he had only lightly splashed water on himself.

Leaving his dripping body as it was, Christophe walked out while drying his hair with a towel and stood immediately in front of the wardrobe.

“You usually don’t get out of bed until late; what’s with you waking up so early today?”

It had only been a few days since Jeong Tae-ui arrived, but during that time, Christophe had woken up late every day, nearly at noon.

In contrast, Richard, who was opposite him in many ways, woke up at the crack of dawn every day and lived a diligent [Read [unauthorized copy]on Read BL Novels]life. Whenever Jeong Tae-ui woke up around 5 or 6 AM and opened the window to ventilate the room, he could already see Richard returning from his jog below.

—Even before they were chosen as succession candidates as children, those two were completely different types. Christophe was the genius type, but Richard was the hard-working type.

He recalled the words Johan had muttered.

Just as he said, Richard seemed to be an incredible hard worker; there was a credible rumor that he slept only a few hours a day.

Even Jeong Tae-ui, who hadn’t been there long, could tell he was a man diligent in all things.

Today, as well, by the time Jeong Tae-ui came to wake Christophe, Richard was already neatly dressed and leaving the West Wing. He heard that Richard was going on a business inspection with a VIP staying in the East Wing. There were malicious whispers that he was surely trying to win the favor of the VIP, who could influence the succession decision, but Jeong Tae-ui didn’t pay them any mind. He didn’t seem like that kind of man. One can fake a personality, but one cannot fake diligence.

Thinking of Christophe, who didn’t leave his bed until the sun was high in the sky despite having given up on the succession, Jeong Tae-ui unconsciously sighed, then flinched upon realizing he had sighed.

It seemed that after facing him a few times, he had unconsciously started rooting for Christophe. He had vowed to remain neutral and just find the books.

Jeong Tae-ui looked at Christophe, who was lost in thought while staring at the underwear basket in front of the wardrobe. While waking up at this hour was surprising, stolen visit our sitecontentconsidering Richard had already finished all preparations and gone out, it was hard to praise Christophe for being diligent, even as a white lie.

“I have to teach the children.”

“…What?”

Jeong Tae-ui wondered blankly what he had just said, and upon realizing it was an answer to his question, he doubted his ears.

Regardless of who had said it, such an abrupt statement would have been puzzling, but coming from this man’s mouth, it was beyond baffling.

He said he was teaching children. Christophe Tarten.

“What children?”

“The children of this house.”

“Children of this house? Who are… no, visit our sitewhy are you teaching them? No, before unauthorized copythat, what are you teaching? No, more importantly, who on earth entrusted you with such a thing?”

Having carefully selected his underwear, Christophe stared blankly at Jeong Tae-ui. His gaze was bleak.

“What is it you want to say?”

“I want to tell you that there are tasks suited for a person, and tasks that are not.”

“If there is anyone in this house who knows more about the history of information warfare and cryptanalysis than I do, I would gladly hand it over to them at any time.”

As he spoke, Christophe put on his underwear with a face of clear displeasure, showing that this was not his intention at all. Then, he glared at the trouser hangers.

“…Does the Tarten family provide that kind of education to children?”

“Not to all of them. It’s a service provided only to children who show potential to inherit this house in two generations.”

Jeong Tae-ui opened his mouth to say something, but soon nodded in understanding.

He had heard about it. The story that a few succession candidates were chosen in childhood and given maximum education and support.

However, even while nodding, he still felt something was suspicious and didn’t quite accept it, so he looked at Christophe with wide eyes.

Come to think of it, did the uncle say that? That this man surpassed Jeong Jae-ui in certain aspects.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head. Truly, one can never know a person.

“Don’t teach the kids anything weird…”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke jokingly, yet with a hint of sincerity. Christoph, who had been contemplating which shirt to wear after picking out his trousers, flicked his eyes toward Jeong Tae-ui as if giving him a sidelong glance. Suddenly, a glimmer of amusement seemed to dance in those eyes.

“If they can’t understand even one thing properly, I’ll have to give them a lesson they won’t forget until they’re in tears.”

As if some idea had struck him, he suddenly began to hum a tune, sounding quite excited.

The way the expression of a man who, just moments ago, looked bored to death suddenly brightened was rather unsettling.

“Why are you trying to torment the kids?”

“Because there’s a brat in there who looks exactly like Richard.”

At those words, laced with a wicked smile, Jeong Tae-ui was left speechless for two reasons.

First, he was surprised by the childish spite of a grown adult wanting to pick on someone just because they were the son of a man he disliked. Second, he was surprised by the fact that Richard had a son. He had assumed all the young people living in the west wing were unmarried.

“He’s married?!”

“Not only married, but divorced as well.”

Speaking of another’s misfortune in a very mundane tone—though it felt, perhaps just as a trick of the mind, as if he found [visit our site[visit our site]le="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]it satisfying—Christoph selected a wine-colored knit shirt.

Jeong Tae-ui stared at him blankly, like someone who had lost their soul.

Not just social status and diligence, but life experiences including marriage, divorce, and children…

Jeong Tae-ui wasn’t exactly a competitive person, but for some reason, as a fellow man, he felt terribly behind. He stood there with his mouth agape before suddenly muttering under his breath.

“Still, I bet he hasn’t experienced being targeted by a lunatic like me, becoming a terrorist, and then ending up in long-term confinement.”

After speaking so confidently, Jeong Tae-ui slowly curled up into a crouch exactly one second later.

Now that he had said it, he felt an even deeper sense of frustration.

He felt the sting of Christoph’s gaze as the man looked down at him. He thought it was the look one gives an absurd fool, but surprisingly, it seemed to be a look of pity and consolation.

“It’s still much better than a reason for divorce like ‘my wife couldn’t visit [Read on Read BL Novels]our sitestand my extreme perversions and ran away.’”

“…What on earth is that…”

Muttering without even lifting his face from his knees, Jeong Tae-ui’s heart had already turned cynical. The idea of the well-mannered and diligent Richard being an ‘extreme pervert’ was so far-fetched that it wouldn’t even register in his mind; instead, his twisted heart loudly protested, ‘I’d have to risk my life just to run away from those extreme perversions!’

Whether he was aware of Jeong Tae-ui’s agony or not, Christoph spoke nonchalantly as he dressed and gave his clothes a final adjustment.

“Cheer up and live your life to the fullest. Rick, well, if you think about it, his conditions are good. He’s handsome, rich, strong, and besides, if you spend enough time with him, you become able to laugh off almost anything, right?”

“…Please think about the hardships one has to endure to get to that point…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered gloomily. Suddenly, his life felt bleak. No, it had always been bleak, but it was a fact he had forgotten for a while, and now it had come rushing back.

As he lamented his reality, scratching the floor with his fingernails, Jeong Tae-ui suddenly realized there was no sign of movement beside him and looked up.

A statue, dressed impeccably without a single crease, was looking down at him.

“…Do you want to come to me?”

“Huh?”

Not knowing what he had heard or what it meant, Jeong Tae-ui blurted out a confused sound.

With his face remaining expressionless, Christoph only frowned slightly at the corners of his mouth. However, rather than being displeased, he sounded somewhat awkward. After a brief silence, he spoke.

“Rick isn’t the type to be particularly obsessed with things or people. In the past, there were a few times he readily handed over people who had stayed with me for a few days to his colleagues. So, if I put it the right way, he’d probably send you to me. …I could do that if you wish.”

Jeong Tae-ui just blinked blankly at him. Christoph gazed back steadily, then opened a drawer in the wardrobe and took out cufflinks. Fiddling with his sleeves, Christoph muttered, “If not, then forget it,” sounding perfectly composed.

Jeong Tae-ui watched him silently for a moment and let out a short sigh. Then, with a start, he stood up. A sigh of “Good grief…” escaped him as he scratched his head vigorously.

“Before you teach the kids, you should first…”

Christoph looked at the muttering Jeong Tae-ui with a puzzled expression and frowned faintly. Seeing this, Jeong Tae-ui sighed again.

He felt he now understood the identity of the subtle dissonance he had been sensing.

This man didn’t know. He didn’t know how to express his kindness. Perhaps he simply hadn’t had many opportunities to do so, while existing alone, unable to blend in with anyone.

“Sure, just put in a good word for me later.”

Jeong Tae-ui shrugged. He hadn’t particularly thought about or hoped to leave someone to go to someone else, but he felt as if he were looking at a cat that had caught a cricket and was waiting for praise.

For a moment, he wanted to reach out and stroke that shining white hair, but the memory of how the man’s expression instantly turned cold whenever someone else touched him flashed through his mind, and he stopped himself.

Christoph muttered, “Hmm,” and let go of his cufflinks.

A man whose looks would shine even if he wore rags stood there, perfectly dressed.

He looks like an angel, Jeong Tae-ui almost muttered, but realizing how embarrassing that expression was, he quickly shut his mouth.

 

* * *

 

People sometimes harbor doubts about their own past.

Looking back, it’s something the current version of themselves could never imagine—how on earth could they have said such things back then? How could they have acted that way? How could they have thought that?

Jeong Tae-ui was feeling that doubt, which usually arrives accompanied by regret, at this very moment.

“How on earth could I have once thought that face looked like an angel?!”

The rough monologue that burst out of him echoed emptily in the room, along with dancing specks of dust.

The dust danced even at his breath, floating up from the books into the air and settling on Jeong Tae-ui’s eyebrows and lips. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand to brush the dust away, but it was worse than doing nothing. The layer of dust already on his hand simply created smudges on his face.

“Ugh, my eyes sting…”

A speck of dust must have gotten in his eye. Jeong Tae-ui pretended to sob, wiped his hand on his trousers, and then wiped his eyes. But that, too, was worse than doing nothing. There was no one in the room but him anyway. He only ended up feeling awkward after pretending to cry.

The only things in the room were Jeong Tae-ui and bookshelves filled with books.

Just the two of them.

However, those two—or more accurately, the bookshelves—filled this room, which, to exaggerate, was as wide as a playground.

In the middle of those numerous bookshelves, where books were inserted haphazardly without [stolen content]class="wm-strong" style="position:relative;display:inline;">[unauthorized copy]any rule, Jeong Tae-ui was organizing the books. In his hand, he gripped the memo on the Dewey Decimal Classification system that Christoph had handed him.

“The connection between the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses… that would be 900 History. So, here. Next, The Mystery of Myths. This must be Religion, 200… no, if the author is Will Clandler, it would be Humanities, so is it 300 Social Sciences? Dammit, I’d have to read it to know.”

Jeong Tae-ui flipped through the pages irritably, glaring at the lines of text. “This is Social Sciences,” he muttered grumpily, sliding it into the 300s.

He did this all afternoon.

“I thought the only insane people in this regard were my uncle and Kyle, but this guy takes it a step further… Freud’s Understanding of Religion and Aesthetic Considerations of Psychoanalysis… I’m going crazy. Where do I even classify this?”

Jeong Tae-ui slammed his head against a thin hardcover that was more of a collection of papers than a book. He wished he could just knock himself unconscious against the corner of the hard cover.

There weren’t that many books. Compared to his brother, who had once practically wallpapered his entire house with bookshelves, filling a spacious room with a few bookshelves could be considered relatively light.

But from the perspective of someone who had to organize each book according to library classification codes, it was not light at all.

“Dammit, just tell me to classify them by author. Or just put them in alphabetical stolen contentRead on Read BL Novels -->Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="display:none;" aria-label="unauthorized copy">unauthorized copyorder by title… I might as well just throw everything into Generalities.”

Complaining incessantly, Jeong Tae-ui shoved the books in haphazardly and looked out the glass window beside him.

This private study on the second floor of the west wing faced a hill connected by a path. A forest was visible not far away. And from that quiet, green forest, a pure white horse without a single stain was walking toward him with a cheerful pace. Atop the horse was a figure as dazzling as the white horse itself.

It seemed he had gone out to the forest on horseback for a light ride after lunch and was only now returning.

He leaves me to do all the work while he enjoys a peaceful ride…

His fist clenched instinctively.

In the west wing, this study located on the west side of the corridor received almost no sunlight in the morning, but as afternoon arrived, the light poured in through the window.

The late afternoon sunlight was shining from the forest toward the mansion. As Christoph rode toward him, the sun hanging diagonally over his shoulder, his white cheeks and bright hair were dyed golden.

“…Looking at him again, his face really does look like an angel’s…”

His cheeks, which had been pale to the point of being white, seemed to have a bit of color due to the sunlight. However, his expression remained as blue and cold as his eyes. Yet even that cold expression suited his sculpturally beautiful face terrifyingly well. As if he had worn that expression since the moment he was born.

…Come to think of it, he mostly saw that cold and chilly face.

At that moment, their eyes met through the glass window.

Christoph, who had come quite close to the mansion, saw Jeong Tae-ui and, with that same desolate face, moved only his lips to speak.

Are you done?

The moment he recognized those lip movements, Jeong Tae-ui remembered the task he had momentarily forgotten while being mesmerized by that dazzling appearance. The book organization that he wondered if he could possibly finish today.

“Ah… truly the face of an angel and the mouth of a devil.”

Jeong Tae-ui stepped back from the window. He sighed as he [stolen content]Read on Read BL Novelswm: stolen content -->looked at the mountain of unclassified books still remaining.

He had certainly asked to see the books, but he had never wanted this. Why did it turn out like this?

While Christoph was in the main building to teach the children, Jeong Tae-ui had wandered aimlessly through the west wing, and various thoughts had crossed his mind. Perhaps it’s because worries surface when the body is idle, but the fact that there was no contact from Ilay—he had tried calling Berlin again, but they only told him there was no contact from Ilay and they couldn’t reach him either—felt extremely ominous.

With every pacing step, the thought that returning as soon as possible was the best option circled his head.

That was why he had caught Christoph upon his return from the main building and spoken seriously. Asking for the books.

But if Christoph were the type to just hand them over because someone spoke seriously, Kyle would never have had his books taken away in the first place.

Christoph had looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a face that seemed to ask where the dog was barking. However, when Jeong Tae-ui stared back at him without budging, Christoph frowned slightly and said:

‘Try to find them on your own.’

‘I have to at least see where the books are to find them.’

‘…’

Christoph looked at Jeong Tae-ui in silence. Then, with a light sigh, he said, ‘Fine, then,’ and began to lead the way.

And the place he led the expectant Jeong Tae-ui to was here. Christoph’s private study on the second floor.

‘This works out. I was just thinking I needed to organize some books. You’ve memorized the decimal classification system, right? Then I’ll leave the organizing to you.’

Speaking calmly as if assigning a trivial errand, Christoph pointed to the study, where a vast amount of books—so many it felt like one couldn’t read them all in a lifetime—were lined up haphazardly.

‘What? No, I didn’t memor… wait. Why am I organizing this!’

Jeong Tae-ui, who had almost fallen for it in a daze, shouted in protest. At that, Christoph frowned.

‘You didn’t memorize it? Why stolen contentwouldn’t you stolen contentmemorize that?! Tsk. I’ll write it down for you. Don’t forget to do the sub-classifications by author name.’

‘Listen to me until I’m finished!’

Jeong Tae-ui yelled again at Christoph, who had taken out a piece of paper and begun writing the classification system, but Christoph didn’t even glance at him until he was finished.

‘Why am I organizing this, and when will I ever finish! I can’t do it, I won’t do it!’

‘Don’t you want to find the books?’

Having written down everything up to ‘900 History/Geography,’ Christoph looked up as he tore off the memo and spoke nonchalantly. The words ‘If not, then forget it’ seemed to echo as a hallucination.

Christoph held out the memo to Jeong Tae-ui, who had instantly become as mute as a fish. Jeong Tae-ui looked down at the memo in silence.

He really didn’t want to accept it. The moment he did, a time of hardship would begin.

‘Can’t do it?’

‘…’

‘Won’t do it?’

‘…I can’t take responsibility for the result.’

Jeong Tae-ui muttered gloomily and grabbed the memo. The sound of the paper crumpling in his hand was exceptionally clear. It was the sound of his comfort being crushed.

“But… dammit, where are those books hidden?”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered curses and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. A dark smudge of dust remained.

Picking up a few books with weak movements and dividing them according to the classification codes, Jeong Tae-ui suddenly thought of a certain person. A man who wasn’t as extreme as the one currently heading toward the stables after finishing his ride, but who possessed a personality that betrayed his looks in his own way.

Jeong Tae-ui knew one more such man.

A man who looked tall, handsome, and sophisticated just by watching him walk around the house, but who was a species one should never even associate with once the veil was lifted. A human he hadn’t seen for about two months, but who could never fade from memory. A breed that, once you experience their true nature just once in your life, you can never forget.

He didn’t know where he was or what he was doing now. Since there had been no contact for about two months. …No, to be precise, they had contacted each other not long ago. If you could call that contact.

Recalling the memory of the last contact made his head feel hot again. Then, Jeong Tae-ui let out a sigh.

Regardless, he had to return home as quickly as possible, or at least sooner than that man. Otherwise, he didn’t know what kind of atrocity that man would commit after hearing an answer from Rita that left plenty of room for misunderstanding.

Surely he wouldn’t appear like a ghost, telling him not to think about running away a second time like he did once before, and threatening to kill and swallow him whole. If that happened, he feared the man would just snap his neck without even giving him time to explain. In truth, what he feared more was how easily he could imagine Ilay chewing on his corpse, but Jeong Tae-ui tried his best to erase that gruesome image from his mind.

No. He had absolutely not run away. Although Rita hadn’t explained it to that extent, Jeong Tae-ui could present the words he had told Kyle in advance as evidence. He had no intention of repeating the foolishness of risking his life over a trivial misunderstanding.

‘It’s okay. I guarantee you, there’s no way that guy would think you left with the intention of running away. He’s not so stupid that he can’t tell front from back.’

Kyle had told him that, perhaps feeling sorry for him. Jeong Tae-ui knew it too. He already knew well that the man called Ilay Riegrow, though he was an unpredictable [stolen content]lunatic visit our siteoften called ‘Mad Rick,’ was actually a human with terrifyingly rational and logical thinking skills.

Just as Jeong Tae-ui knew him, he knew Jeong Tae-ui, so he would know that Jeong Tae-ui was not a person who disregarded his own life to that extent.

So, no matter what, he wouldn’t just suddenly tell him he’d kill and swallow him.

…However, he figured that even if there were no misunderstanding about him having run away, a whirlwind would still blow through the house. Given that he had been told repeatedly to stay put and not go anywhere, there was no way that man, with his personality, would simply accept it with an “Oh, really?” upon finding out that Jeong Tae-ui had vanished. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be hunted down like a rat again…

“Ah, whatever. Who cares. Whether that guy gets angry or throws a fit, let him do whatever he wants. It’s not like I can die twice. … … … If I find the book quickly and get back home before he returns, I can probably get away with it without any trouble…”

After shouting with bravado, Jeong Tae-ui fell into a brief moment of contemplation. Muttering to himself, he began shelving the books while mourning his own fragile reality.

It had only been a few days since he arrived at this house.

To be in this state already—his path was truly fraught with hardship.

Jeong Tae-ui sorted the books almost mechanically—developing a knack for shortcuts, such as tossing books he couldn’t Read on Read BL Novelsdistinguish into visit our sitethe general category—and after finishing a pile, he let out a groan and stretched.

Checking the clock, he saw it was nearly five.

Despite working all afternoon, a mountain of unsorted books still awaited him. Still, he felt he had completed more than a third of the total.

Unsure whether to feel bleak or proud that he had only managed a third despite working so hard, Jeong Tae-ui stared at the piles of books and wiped the beads of sweat forming on his forehead and the bridge of his nose, suddenly realizing his clothes were drenched.

“I’ve practically bathed in sweat…”

Jeong Tae-ui fluttered the chest of his damp shirt.

Well, it made sense; he had been scurrying around carrying books in a closed room packed tightly with them, even if it wasn’t exactly small.

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue as he looked down at his hands, which had turned black from a mixture of sweat and dust. Among these books, there were surely some worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and if he touched them with these hands, he’d leave black fingerprints.

“This won’t do, this won’t do… Maybe I should go take a shower.”

Habitually rubbing his palms against his pants, which were just as dirty as his hands, Jeong Tae-ui stepped out from between the bookshelves.

He walked toward the door, pushing through the dust dancing in the diagonal shafts of golden sunlight, and paused to look back once.

The dust dancing quietly in the shimmering yellow light, and the books scattered haphazardly within it. If one didn’t know the blood, sweat, and tears hidden within, it looked quite picturesque. Suddenly, his heart felt a bit lighter.

Maybe he should tidy up Kyle’s study when he got back. That place was just as vast as this one, but since Rita’s touch had reached it, at least there was no dust. Yes, he’d ask Kyle, and if it was alright, he’d invest a day to organize it neatly.

Anyway, he had to find the book to go back.

Jeong Tae-ui looked at the piles of books with a troubled expression.

The book Kyle mentioned had not been among those Jeong Tae-ui had already sorted. He had skimmed through the remaining unsorted books, but it wasn’t there either. Then again, it seemed unlikely that it would be left out so carelessly.

Where could it be? If not here, it would likely be in the bedroom. But based on visit our sitecopy">unauthorized copyhis previous sweep, those books weren’t in [stolen content]Christoph’s bedroom. Unless they were hidden in a drawer, they weren’t visible.

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head vigorously. At this rate, he might end up looking like a thief sneaking into the bedroom to rummage through dressers and closets.

Regardless, Jeong Tae-ui didn’t have much time.

Though he had spoken boldly, he wanted to return home as quickly as possible.

Ilay, who had left home two months ago and vanished—though they had contacted each other once in a blue moon—would be returning soon. He needed to be home before Ilay arrived to minimize the fallout. The only problem was that he didn’t know when the man would return.

“But, you know… human personalities rarely change for no reason…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, tilting his head.

Actually, that wasn’t what was truly weighing on his mind.

Of course, to put it hyperbolically, his life and physical safety were at stake, so it would be a lie to say he wasn’t Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[unauthorized copy]concerned, but there was something else subtly bothering him.

Jeong Tae-ui himself didn’t go out much, and even when he did, it was usually just a stroll around the neighborhood, but Ilay had never heavily interfered with his movements.

Jeong Tae-ui wasn’t a prisoner confined to the house under surveillance; he didn’t face significant restrictions on his activities, much like how Ilay went out and about. It was simply that Jeong Tae-ui hadn’t felt the need to go far.

However, two months ago, just before leaving home without any warning, Ilay had looked him straight in the eye and said, almost in passing, to stay put and guard the house well for a while.

When days and weeks passed without his return, he had assumed it was just a casual parting remark.

But Jeong Tae-ui still remembered the subtle sense of dissonance he felt the moment he heard those words.

“…”

Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head slightly.

But even after standing still for a moment, his mind didn’t clear.

“Sigh… I don’t know. It’s not like my life can sink any lower than this.”

Muttering that there was nowhere left to fall, Jeong Tae-ui stepped out of the study.

Right, what more could possibly go wrong? Externally, he was a wanted man; internally, he faced a daily encounter with a “disqualified human.”

But to think that the person he faced at home was a disqualified human, and the one here was—though in a different direction—also a disqualified human… where on earth was his life heading?

Lamenting, Jeong Tae-ui walked toward his room. He let out a sigh as he headed toward the central staircase to reach the guest room at the far end of the third floor.

Anyway, the priority was finding Kyle’s book. Then he could quickly return home before getting caught by Ilay…

Swallowing a continuous stream of sighs, Jeong Tae-ui shook his head. The best course of action was to set aside worries that couldn’t be solved by thinking. For now, the task at hand was to return to his room, shower, eat dinner—since it would likely be dinner time by then—and return to the study to finish sorting the books.

It was when he had a few steps left until the central staircase covered in red carpet.

He sensed someone coming up from the floor below. Judging by the faint sound of conversation, there seemed to be about two people.

The first thought that crossed Jeong Tae-ui’s mind upon hearing that was, ‘Awkward.’

Although it had been less than a few days since he arrived, he had already grasped the dynamics of the young people in this house. It was a gang war split exactly in two.

While they were said to have incredible unity against outsiders, in Jeong Tae-ui’s eyes, they seemed almost obsessed with fighting among their own factions.

And they perceived Jeong Tae-ui, who was being tormented by Christoph, as someone on Christoph’s side. Despite the fact that Jeong Tae-ui had not the slightest interest in their gang war, he had somehow been swept into it regardless of his will.

“I really shouldn’t have flipped the table…”

Having drawn all their attention by flipping the table at a dinner some time ago, Jeong Tae-ui had been branded by the youth hostile to Christoph as an ‘unbearable bastard who flips tables without a second thought,’ a label tinged with a bit of malice.

Even if he grumbled that he had only tried to calm the fighting, it was already too late.

In reality, whenever Jeong Tae-ui crossed paths with Richard’s people while moving through the house, he received unpleasant glares and curses.

“It’s not like they look at me for long, and it doesn’t hurt to be glared at, nor do the curses physically wound me, but it’s still not exactly pleasant.”

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue, feeling the presence approaching from below.

It was fine if the people he encountered were the older adults. Generally, the elders only moved between the main building and the east wing, so he rarely met them in the west wing; and when he did, those who were actually the culprits inciting the fights would smile benevolently and encourage him to keep trying. But the story changed as soon as the age group got younger.

Jeong Tae-ui didn’t care for either side—whether they were allies or enemies of Richard, or Christoph.

For one, gang wars didn’t suit his personality, but even those who felt friendly toward Christoph made him uncomfortable by staring at him with curiosity and pretending to be close. Those on the opposite side were uncomfortable because they glared at him with hostility.

The only saving grace was that they didn’t openly pick fights with him, as he was essentially an outsider.

Regardless, he didn’t want to run into either side…

Savoring the feeling of ‘awkwardness’ that flashed through his mind, Jeong Tae-ui slowed his pace. Meanwhile, the sound of voices coming up from the floor below was drawing closer.

When the sound reached the landing between the two floors.

Just as he was about to turn around and head back into the study, Jeong Tae-ui froze. As if possessed by a ghost, the expression vanished from his face in an instant.

Eh…?

The voices approaching from below were becoming clearer; they were low and quiet, so he couldn’t quite make out the content of the conversation, but the voice itself registered clearly in his ears.

A voice he could never possibly mistake.

Low and calm, with a distinct, ice-like coldness hidden within—it was a voice Jeong Tae-ui knew all too well.

“Uh… …?”

It was then, as Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head slightly and blinked.

Two men appeared as they turned the landing and came up.

He first saw a man who was a few steps ahead, saying something to the man standing behind him.

It was a face Jeong Tae-ui recognized.

Though they had hardly spoken, it was a face he had seen a few times since arriving.

Richard Tarten.

The man whom Ilay had mocked after Jeong Tae-ui commented that he had a pleasant face. He was also the one who had helped Jeong Tae-ui enter the mansion smoothly.

Perhaps having just returned from outside, he was dressed in a neat suit, wearing black today as well. With a freshness that didn’t seem the least bit gloomy, Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">[[visit our site]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]he was ascending with a soft smile on his pleasant face.

Although Ilay had harshly criticized him as a total pervert—and Christoph had said the same, though his words weren’t particularly trustworthy—he still maintained a neat and sophisticated aura today. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out which part of this gentlemanly man was a total pervert.

But right now, none of that mattered to Jeong Tae-ui.

Richard Tarten, who stopped his gaze in slight surprise upon seeing Jeong Tae-ui standing there as he stepped onto the second floor, was insignificant.

The man following a step or two behind him.

Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze locked onto the man who had been occasionally shaking his head or responding with a few words while conversing.

With a tall, broad-shouldered build wrapped in a deep navy suit, the man naturally exuded a confident demeanor that felt almost arrogant, as if he held a high-ranking position in some major corporation.

His hair was neatly groomed, and he wore narrow horn-rimmed glasses. Silver cufflinks glinted on his sleeves, and a silver pin sparkled on his straight tie. In some ways, he looked like a high-level professional in the fashion industry, but for that, his atmosphere was far too sharp and eerie.

Aside from that atmosphere, which was like a well-honed blade, the man looked like he could be a competent Read on Read BL Novelsyoung lawyer; he [unauthorized copy]was ascending behind Richard, habitually pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses.

Staring at the man as if entranced, Jeong Tae-ui met the gaze of the man who slowly looked toward him, sensing the stare.

Their eyes met.

“…”

He tried to call the man’s name, but the words wouldn’t leave his tongue. Jeong Tae-ui realized anew that when a person encounters an entirely unexpected situation without any warning, both speech and thought come to a halt.

The expression also momentarily vanished from the face of the man who had been talking with Richard.

He had been wearing something akin to a languid sneer, but in that moment, he looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a face completely devoid of expression. As if he were seeing something that shouldn’t exist.

“Uh…”

Jeong Tae-ui opened his mouth, still feeling dazed as if in a dream. However, no words came from [unauthorized copy]our site]wm: unauthorized copy -->the tip of his tongue, which felt as if it should have spoken any second. His lips only twitched slightly.

Then, Richard, who was standing between the man and Jeong Tae-ui, spoke first.

“You were the guest who came to see Christoph. No, did you say Christina?”

Only then did Jeong Tae-ui shift his gaze and give a blank look to the man who was speaking with a soft smile.

“Is he treating you well?” Upon hearing that warm voice continue, Jeong Tae-ui slowly regained his senses.

This man had truly become human. While everyone thought Jeong Tae-ui was on Christoph’s side—and the man himself likely thought so too—he maintained such a polite and courteous attitude.

No, but that wasn’t the immediate problem.

“…”

What is this?

How did this happen?

Why is this man here?

It felt like he was being haunted. And at the same time, a feeling of disaster washed over him. A chill ran down his spine.

Then, seeing Richard raise an eyebrow slightly, looking a bit awkward at Jeong Tae-ui’s lack of response, he quickly answered.

“Yes, thanks to him…”

Maybe he had seen wrong. Maybe he was seeing things because he had overworked himself today. It made sense; there was no way that man would be here. Especially not looking like some polished businessman.

Jeong Tae-ui rubbed his temples. While he was at it, his eyes felt dry, so he pressed his eyelids a few times. He felt that would bring his vision back to normal.

“I saw him on my way in; it seems he is in the masa.”

“Ah, yes… I think he went for a walk toward the forest.”

Jeong Tae-ui answered half-heartedly and glanced up at Richard. He clearly saw the kind smile on the handsome face. Fortunately, it seemed his eyes hadn’t failed him due to fatigue.

Jeong Tae-ui slowly shifted his gaze. Over the man’s shoulder, slowly, as if just glancing away, as naturally as possible.

And their eyes met again.

The gaze of the man looking down at Jeong Tae-ui was cold. The expressionless look close to surprise from a moment ago was gone. At that indifferent gaze, as if looking at a pebble rolling on the road, Jeong Tae-ui’s spine turned cold in a different sense than before.

Even if the man before him weren’t the person he knew, a sensation as cold as ice would have surely run down to his toes.

That numb gaze that didn’t see a person as a person.

Jeong Tae-ui’s eyes wavered slightly, but he still looked at him straight on. He felt he shoul[Read visit our sitevisit our siteon Read BL Novels]dn’t avoid the gaze.

Facing the direct stare, the man narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps he was annoyed, or perhaps he was intrigued.

Seeing Jeong Tae-ui’s unwavering gaze extending over his shoulder, Richard looked back. Realizing the man behind him was also looking at Jeong Tae-ui, he stepped aside and smiled.

“This is the guest who came to see Christoph. We’ve crossed paths a few times since briefly meeting in front of the main gate a few days ago, but we haven’t had a chance to talk. Ah… so your name was…”

Only then did Richard ask for Jeong Tae-ui’s name. Standing his ground, Jeong Tae-ui shifted only his eyes to look at Richard and opened his mouth.

“Ah. Jeong—.”

“A guest of Christoph. For such a thing, he is excessively ordinary. So ordinary that it’s almost bizarre.”

However, just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to say his name, the man standing behind Richard stepped forward and spoke slowly.

He took another step. And with one more step, he was within arm’s reach of Jeong Tae-ui.

The man slowly raised his hand. A thin, dark blue leather glove approached Jeong Tae-ui’s chin. That gloved hand, seen for the first time in a very long while.

Just before that hand touched Jeong Tae-ui’s chin, Richard’s voice of restraint was heard from behind.

“Rick. Stop. He is Christoph’s guest.”

“Stop? You’re talking nonsense. As if I’d actually do something to harm this man.”

The man scoffed.

No, it wasn’t nonsense at all. If I knew even a little bit less about you, I would have been watching closely to see when that hand would snap my neck.

Soon, his hand gripped Jeong Tae-ui’s chin. The cold sensation of leather rubbed against his jaw.

“I didn’t know Christoph associated with someone like this.”

The man spoke with a low laugh.

The translation was too clear. How do you know Christoph?

“Chris borrowed some books from someone I owe a favor to, so I just came to get them back. …I don’t think it’s a reason to glare at me like that.”

Answering in a vague tone that was neither formal nor informal, Jeong Tae-ui prayed that his face didn’t look too pale.

Man… he’s going to kill me with his eyes. …No. Come to think of it, I’m the one who got caught red-handed after sneaking out while he was gone.

He wanted to collapse onto the floor right then and there, but he barely managed to stand his ground and face him. It was a struggle to maintain a poker face when his natural instinct was to laugh awkwardly to smooth things over.

Suddenly, the hand gripping his chin stroked his lips. A thumb slowly traced his lower lip, seemingly dipping slightly into his mouth before pulling away.

“I see… I was wondering whether I should head straight to Korea after finishing this matter, or visit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]where I should start digging.”

Very softly. Like a fleeting breeze.

A faint voice brushed past his ear, one that Jeong Tae-ui wouldn’t have caught if he hadn’t been tense with anxiety.

But before the meaning of those words could fully register in his mind, the man took a step back. Jeong Tae-ui looked up at him, his eyes shifting upward.

Looking down at Jeong Tae-ui with his head tilted, a hint of a smile played in the man’s cold eyes. It was the smile of a cat that had caught a mouse.

“Well… fine. I’ll be introduced to you properly later.”

The man spoke as he turned toward Richard. With a nod of his head, he urged him to continue on their way.

“What’s this? You’re actually showing interest in someone else.”

Richard spoke in a joking tone, as if witnessing something quite unusual, as he walked away.

He looked as if he had more to say, but as if deciding to save it for next time, he left a nod of greeting for Jeong Tae-ui and followed behind. The man, who left a subtle smile with his eyes just before turning around, soon ascended the stairs again.

Jeong Tae-ui stood there blankly, staring at their retreating backs until they disappeared around the landing.

 

* * *

 

From the moment he returned to his room, showered, changed clothes, and stepped back out, Jeong Tae-ui moved mechanically with a mind as hazy as a puppet’s.

Is this what it feels like to dream while awake?

The feeling of suddenly encountering an unthinkable person in an unthinkable place without any warning—even though he had exchanged words and felt the man’s body heat—felt [Read on Read BL Novels]wm: Read on Read BL Novels -->like a waking dream when he thought back on it a moment later.

“…Maybe I really am dreaming with my eyes open? I might have pushed my body and brain too hard today and just fallen asleep while standing.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered to himself, casually shaking the remaining moisture from his hair with his fingers.

Then, he suddenly fell silent and stood blankly in the middle of the room, burying his fingers in his hair, before shaking his head violently with a groan and sitting in a chair.

Then, he formed a hypothesis.

I had a dream.

In other words, that wasn’t Ilay.

“…Then where the hell is that bastard now?”

Before he could reach a proper conclusion, a sudden [unauthorized Read on Read BL Novelscopy]question escaped his lips. His own voice reached his ears. In that instant, he went blank again.

It was then. Like an auditory hallucination, a reliable voice that had comforted him brushed past his ear.

—Don’t worry too much, Tae-yi. There’s no way he’d ever think that you ran away to avoid him.

“…….”

He had thought it was comfort. He thought Kyle was pitying his pale state and offering words of solace. But thinking about it again at this point, was that really comfort?

—There’s no way he’d ever think that you ran away to avoid him…

“…He wouldn’t think that, would he?”

As he added, As if he would, Jeong Tae-ui realized.

Those words were neither comfort nor solace. They were merely a sign, [Read on Read BL Novels]copy">unauthorized copya precursor that laid bare the current reality.

“Wow… I really have no one on my side in this world.”

Jeong Tae-ui collapsed onto the table. Along with a bitter sense of betrayal, resentment toward Kyle welled up.

Of course, Kyle probably didn’t deceive him on purpose. He might not have even thought of it as deceiving.

He didn’t know why Ilay was here, but if it was something that wouldn’t be good to let the outside world know, Kyle might have been reluctant to say it himself. He might have thought lightly of it, thinking Tae-yi would find out once he encountered him there anyway.

I’ll tell him in advance so he isn’t flustered when they meet unexpectedly—perhaps that was what Kyle meant.

“No… still, this is definitely something I can resent him for.”

This time, he truly wanted to sob. Since he was already slumped over the table, he buried his face in his arms. Then, he tried making a sobbing sound. He felt like a few tears might actually fall.

Sob, sob. After muttering this for a while, Jeong Tae-ui eventually fell silent.

“……. ……Does this mean I shouldn’t act like I know him?”

Muttering to himself as the thought suddenly occurred to him, Jeong Tae-ui stared blankly out the window for a while before standing up.

His head still felt dizzy and hazy, as if he had been struck hard on the back of the skull, but even then, he was hungry. The memory of the hard labor he had performed in the library all afternoon flashed through his mind. And the fact that the work was still unfinished.

“Anyway, let’s eat first, finish the work, and then think about it….”

Jeong Tae-ui left the room, rubbing his temples which had begun to throb faintly.

As he took a step, the energy drained from his entire body. It felt as if fatigue was rushing back several times over, and he let out a sigh, massaging the back of his neck and shoulders.

Strolling sluggishly down the stairs, Jeong Tae-ui intended to go down one more floor to the dining hall, but seeing the library door open, he dragged his feet toward it. Through the gap in the open door, he saw a familiar and irritating face.

Christoph was standing there.

Standing in the middle of the bookshelves with his arms crossed, scanning the shelves, he gestured with his chin toward the books as soon as Jeong Tae-ui entered the library.

“What is it? The organizing isn’t finished yet. Why is this side—”

“Why didn’t you tell me that bastard was here?”

Ignoring Christoph’s words, Jeong Tae-ui spoke while glaring at him menacingly. Christoph looked at him as if wondering if he had eaten something wrong.

“Who is ‘that bastard’?”

Christoph countered sharply, frowning.

At that moment, as if his brain, which had been slumbering in a dream, suddenly woke up, a vivid sense of reality hit him, and Jeong Tae-ui shrieked.

“Ilay! Ilay Riegrow! I saw him! Just now! In this house! On those stairs!”

Shouting as if claiming to have seen a ghost, Jeong Tae-ui’s face was as pale as if he had actually seen one. It was because the blood had drained from his face again at the thought.

Christoph’s eyes widened slightly as he watched Jeong Tae-ui suddenly fly into a frenzy. His expression clearly said, I don’t know what he ate, but I didn’t know this guy could act like this.

“……. You didn’t know?”

At Christoph’s question after a brief silence, Jeong Tae-ui collapsed on the spot.

Although the reality had hit him and he had derived a plausible cause and effect for the situation in his head, he had still hoped it wasn’t true.

He hoped it was a daydream. He hoped Christoph would tell him that Rick’s ghost occasionally appeared in this house. He had held onto a shred of hope.

As Jeong Tae-ui sat on the bare floor, staring blankly while leaning on the ground, Christoph looked down at him and, with his usual indifferent expression, pulled over a nearby chair and sat down.

“He’s been in this house for two months.”

“…….”

“And here I thought you followed him here to find the books. Did you really come here without knowing?”

“Who the hell would come if they knew!!”

He wouldn’t have come even if he were beaten to death. Especially right after boldly claiming to that man that he was leaving. No, even if he had known and come, the moment he heard Rita had informed Ilay of his outing, he would have fled a hundred miles away from this mansion immediately.

Jeong Tae-ui took a deep breath, his shoulders heaving as he gasped for air. When Christoph asked from the side, “Are you crying?”, he yelled back, “I’m not crying!”

Two months ago.

That meant he had been here ever since he left home.

From the start, when he saw Richard here, he should have checked what unauthorized copystolen content-->unauthorized copy -->unauthorized copykind of request Richard had made of Ilay.

“……Why is he here?”

“Because the date for deciding the successor is not far off.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked up. He asked sullenly, glaring at the innocent—though not entirely innocent, if one dug deeper—Christoph.

“What is that about?”

“The elder is retiring soon, so it’s time for the next successor of Tarten to be named. When choosing a successor from among the candidates who have competed for over twenty years, it is custom to hear the opinion of someone from the Riegrow family, a long-time ally. Well, it’s mostly a formality, but a custom is a custom.”

“Don’t make me laugh. That guy would diligently take on such a tedious and annoying task just to help with family affairs?!”

“I know. I thought Kyle would come, or if necessary, Helena would be brought over from the US, but he came instead. It was quite unexpected….”

Christoph stopped talking and stared into space for a moment. He chewed on his finger as [stolen content]if lost in thought, then [Read on Read BL Novels]suddenly glanced at Jeong Tae-ui.

“?”

“…….”

Jeong Tae-ui met that silent gaze with confusion. Christoph soon looked away.

Something felt suspicious. Jeong Tae-ui leaned toward Christoph with narrowed eyes. He silently urged him with a piercing gaze to speak up if he had something to say.

Christoph thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“By the way.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you commit some crime against him? Why are you making such a fuss? If you didn’t know he was here and ran into him, [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]you ran into him. Is there a reason to turn that pale?”

This time, Jeong Tae-ui fell silent. Looking down at him, Christoph leaned forward deeply while still sitting in the chair. He brought his face close to Jeong Tae-ui’s and stared intently as he continued.

“Did you steal a book he treasures?”

“Am I you?!”

“Or, ……ah.”

Suddenly, Christoph muttered shortly as if remembering something. Jeong Tae-ui stared anxiously at his lips, wondering what would come out. Those lips suddenly curved into a very loose arc and stopped. It was as if he were attempting a smile he wasn’t used to.

“That’s it. Come to think of it, you did say something like that. Karma from a past life. ……Did you get your ankle grabbed while trying to run away from your karma….”

“I didn’t run away,” Jeong Tae-ui replied sullenly.

At that, Christoph muttered, “Aha,” as if he understood. [stolen content]stolen content -->copy">unauthorized copyThe corners of his mouth curved slightly again along with his eyes.

Looking at that subtle expression, Jeong Tae-ui suddenly had another thought.

This man really can’t smile. Even a sneer is this difficult for him.

“……You….”

Jeong Tae-ui stared blankly at his mouth. He wanted to reach out with his index finger and push the corner of the mouth up, but as soon as he extended his finger, Christoph frowned and straightened his back.

Jeong Tae-ui withdrew his finger and smacked his lips.

Christoph stood up from the chair, the smile gone. He pulled out a book that had been placed horizontally on the shelf, glanced at the title, walked to the opposite shelf to put it back, and shrugged slightly.

“There’s no need to worry that much. Well, I don’t know about after you return to Berlin, but at least while he’s here, he won’t be able to do anything to harm you.”

Pulling out a book right next to the one he had just [stolen content]inserted, Christoph Read on Read BL Novels -->Read on Read BL Novelsfrowned. “You put this in the wrong place; this is philosophy,” he nagged coldly before putting it in the shelf in front.

Jeong Tae-ui momentarily stuttered. He was torn between saying that it would be much faster and more efficient if Christoph just did the organizing, asking if he was basically telling him to worry once he returned to Berlin, and asking why he couldn’t be harmed while he was here. His tongue got twisted.

Looking back at the stuttering Jeong Tae-ui, Christoph made a serious face. It was the look one gives a deficient person.

Jeong Tae-ui shut his mouth, took a deep breath, and then spoke slowly. He decided to resolve the most puzzling part first.

“Why not while he’s here? Is there some kind of surveillance?”

But he wasn’t the type of person to hold back just because someone was watching.

Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head slightly. Seeing the puzzled look on his face, Christoph ghost-like found a book that Jeong Tae-ui had categorized ambiguously and put it in its new place. In other words, all the books that had been placed haphazardly due to ambiguity were in the wrong spots.

“Because you are currently by my side, and he is currently by Richard’s side.”

“……Huh?”

Christoph clicked his tongue in frustration. He put a book back with a sharp thud.

“Whether you like it or not, you belong to me here. Do you think otherwise?”

With those final words, Christoph gave him a sidelong glance. Jeong Tae-ui shrugged, muttering self-deprecatingly, “I’m telling you, dividing people into sides isn’t my style.”

However, as he said, realistically, Jeong Tae-ui stood on Christoph’s side within this house. While Jeong Tae-ui wanted to believe he stood right in the middle of the line, others didn’t see it that way.

“Then, is Ilay on Richard’s side?”

Jeong Tae-ui added absurdly, recalling Ilay talking quite familiarly with Richard.

“He’s not the type of person to take anyone’s side.”

As far as Jeong Tae-ui knew, Ilay Riegrow was stolen contentcontent">stolen contentalways Read on Read BL Novelson his own side. He moved for himself, according to his own judgment.

“Rick is neutral. As long as he is here in the position of judging the successor, he cannot take anyone’s side.”

Christoph shook his head and spoke decisively.

“You said he’s by Richard’s side.”

“Correct. From the position of observing Richard, a succession candidate. ……In other words, it means he must be fair to all succession candidates and those around them.”

Pulling out a book buried in the deepest, least visible part of the shelf, Christoph concluded by tapping the spine of the book with his other hand. Meeting that steady gaze, Jeong Tae-ui eventually nodded slowly.

“I see… then he certainly won’t be able to rashly harm me, since I belong to you.”

I wonder if he actually won’t, Jeong Tae-ui thought to himself, but he still nodded. Then, he glanced up.

“But judging the successor… no matter how deep the friendship, that’s a bit much, [Read on Read BL Novels[Read stolen contenton Read BL Novels];left:-9999px;">]between Tarten and Riegrow.”

“Hmm? Ah—it’s not like that. There are ten people whose opinions are asked. This is a person who will inherit this small yet giant kingdom; one person cannot decide alone. Though, not all ten have equal speaking power.”

Christoph waved his hand. More accurately, the book in his hand.

“Since only two of those ten are not of our bloodline, you could say they have no practical decision-making power. I told you, bringing someone from the Riegrow family is a custom. It didn’t necessarily have to be Rick. It could have been Kyle, Helena, or the elders of that house—anyone from the direct line would have sufficed.”

Though I doubt anyone expected Rick to come, Christoph added with a smirk. It was merely a breath of a laugh.

“Anyway, for that reason, given his position, Rick cannot do any harm to you while he is here. Of course, he cannot give you any help either.”

“Help……. What kind of help would I need from that guy here?”

“Perhaps something trivial, like recovering books that need to be returned from someone in Tarten.”

“……Ah.”

“I see,” Jeong Tae-ui nodded blankly, only then recalling that fact.

He wasn’t sure if this man would actually return the book just because Ilay stepped in—and it was highly unlikely Ilay would go through the trouble of getting involved for the sake of Kyle’s book—but still, Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue, regretting the loss of that possibility.

Then, something suddenly occurred to him, and he glared at Christoph.

“By the way, what is this? There are no books here.”

He had spent the entire afternoon sweating and scouring this study for Kyle’s book, but he couldn’t find a single trace of it.

“What do you mean there are no books? What do you think all these things filling the room are?”

Christoph let out a short huff and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb toward the numerous bookshelves housing a vast collection.

“I mean Kyle’s books.”

“Kyle’s books? Those are kept elsewhere. Those books require careful preservation. The temperature and humidity must be precisely controlled, and they even need protection from light; I can’t just leave them here. …Are you truly confident you can keep the book safe until you return?”

Christoph looked at Jeong Tae-ui with genuine concern.

This bastard makes me do all the hard work and now he’s talking nonsense…

“Stop talking nonsense and just give me the book quickly. I need to get back home as soon as possible…!”

Jeong Tae-ui started to shout, but stopped mid-sentence with his mouth still open.

“You need to get back home as soon as possible? Why?”

Christoph asked, tilting his head. Jeong Tae-ui just blinked with his mouth agape.

That was it. Now that he thought about it, the reason to rush home had vanished. Since he had [Read [unauthorized copy]on Read BL Novels]come face-to-face with the very person he wanted to avoid most, he was already a lost cause.

“…”

In front of him, Christoph continued to tilt his head, wondering why, asking “Why? Why?” repeatedly, but the sound didn’t even register.

Jeong Tae-ui simply collapsed flat on the floor.

Perhaps it wasn’t a matter of karma from a past life. He wondered if there was some fundamental problem with this situation where hardships never ceased, even if they were sporadic. To solve that fundamental problem—.

“I think I need to go back to Korea for a while…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered like a groan. Christoph managed to catch that tiny voice and leaned down toward him.

“Do you miss your hometown because you’re mentally and physically exhausted?”

“…I need to look into getting a shamanic ritual…”

“A ritual? What’s that?”

“…”

 

* * *

 

As he had been told on the day he arrived at the mansion, Jeong Tae-ui rarely had reason to go to the main building. He had never been to the east wing.

He had a rough idea of the layout.

Most functions involving external affairs—ranging from receiving guests to business matters—or the general [unauthorized copy]BL Novels" style="display:none;" aria-label="Read on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsmanagement of the household were handled in the main building. Almost everything, except for the private spaces where the residents slept and rested, was located there.

On the other hand, the east and west wings were where the bloodline members, regardless of whether they were direct or collateral descendants, stayed and rested. They were living spaces for sleeping, relaxing, and bathing. The only difference between the east and west wings was that one was used by the older generation and the other by the younger; their functions were identical.

When he heard that distinguished guests were given rooms in the east wing while others were placed in the west wing, Jeong Tae-ui had grumbled for a moment, but since the guest room in the west wing was comfortable enough, he had no intention of complaining.

“Still, we were people living mixed together in the same house until just a while ago, yet one stays in the east wing as a VIP and the other stays in the west wing as an errand boy. That’s a bit insulting.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered to himself while sitting on a bench in front of the west wing, overlooking the main building and the east wing.

Just then, several men in suits emerged from the central entrance of the main building. Seeing them chatting as they walked toward the cars waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Jeong Tae-ui instinctively leaned his body, hiding behind an ornamental tree that reached hip-height.

There was no reason to hide, but one of the men was tall with a commanding build, and from a distance, he looked similar to Ilay. Even though he knew it wasn’t him, his body reflexively sank down.

“No, it’s better that I’m staying in the west wing. Imagine if I had a room in the east wing. Would I even be able to walk around the building properly?”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered again.

Christoph was right.

On the day he encountered that daylight nightmare, he had curled up in his room, prepared for the worst, but Ilay did not come looking for him for the rest of the day. The next day was the same, as was the day after.

Or rather, to be precise, they rarely even crossed paths. Since then, he had seen him a couple of times from a distance, but they never passed close enough to exchange words.

As if standing in perfect neutrality without any connection, observing without leaning toward either side, Ilay did not approach Jeong Tae-ui, nor did he approach the other people in the west wing. The same applied to Christoph, who was not a succession candidate.

In such a situation, there was almost no chance for Jeong Tae-ui, who wandered the west wing, to run into Ilay, who stayed in the east wing and primarily moved between the east wing and the main building.

Though it was born of anxiety, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been waiting with a pounding heart, wondering if he would barge in today or tomorrow, felt almost deflated.

“I guess it wouldn’t be great to run into him anyway?”

Jeong Tae-ui looked up at the sky, arms draped over the back of the bench.

Perhaps it really wouldn’t be great to meet. Not just for Jeong Tae-ui, but for Ilay as well.

He recalled the face that had momentarily gone blank when they met. The face that had faintly frowned along with the surprise. That look, as if someone who shouldn’t be here was present, hadn’t appeared only on Jeong Tae-ui’s face.

Even when seeing him from a distance afterward, every time, not only Jeong Tae-ui but also Ilay looked this way. Even though their eyes clearly met, he showed no reaction.

“Hmm—. …I don’t know. Since when did I ever know what that guy was thinking?”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, scratching his head vigorously.

It was then.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

A voice approached from behind Jeong Tae-ui, from the stolen content[stolen content]direction of the left entrance of the west wing.

Having been spacing out, Jeong Tae-ui hadn’t noticed someone approaching and jolted upright.

Though there was still some distance, Richard was already close enough that they could exchange words without raising their voices.

“…Ah.”

He should have greeted him, but Jeong Tae-ui only managed a short, startled sound.

He had seen him leaving early this morning in perfect attire—of course, before that, when Jeong Tae-ui had woken up rubbing his sleepy eyes, he had also seen him returning from a morning run—but he hadn’t expected him to be here at this hour, before lunch.

Moreover, he wasn’t wearing the usual suit. He had clearly seen him leave in a suit a few hours ago, but now he had changed into a light shirt and cotton trousers. It was as if he had never left in a suit this morning.

“I thought I saw you leaving earlier… you’ve returned early today.”

Come to think of it, despite knowing that Jeong Tae-ui was on Christoph’s side—though Jeong Tae-ui was the unauthorized copyonly one in the house claiming Read on Read BL Novelsnot to be a person of Christoph’s faction—this man was the only one who treated him with consistent politeness and courtesy.

He’s truly become human, a wonderful person of character, Jeong Tae-ui thought, nodding to himself and speaking with a smile, but in the next moment, his smiling face froze.

Because he spotted a man just emerging from the left entrance of the west wing, a short distance behind Richard.

The man he had just been muttering about, saying it wouldn’t be great for them to meet—Ilay. He tapped the floor with the toe of his shoe as if gauging the condition of the footwear atop the stairs, then slowly descended.

His eyes met Ilay’s as he approached behind Richard, but Ilay showed no sign of recognition. Jeong Tae-ui also looked back without much reaction, though he muttered internally, What a piece of work.

“You two seem to… go around together quite often.”

Jeong Tae-ui said, shifting his gaze to Richard. Richard looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Not particularly. He has his work and I have mine… Occasionally our work overlaps and we share opinions; you must have seen us then.”

Richard said with a shrug. Ilay, approaching leisurely behind him, must [[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">unauthorized copyhave heard them, but he only flicked an eyebrow and said nothing.

“I see,” Jeong Tae-ui muttered, nodding.

Indeed, they had just happened to meet like this; in reality, this was only the second time he had seen them together.

Today, too, Ilay was approaching in a neat outfit that would look right at home in some financial district. Those horn-rimmed glasses, hiding the chilling glint of his black pupils, felt extremely unfamiliar.

If you go out, you die.

The mouth that had said those words was certainly that mouth, but now it was closed, and no words came out.

Danger on standby, Jeong Tae-ui muttered internally, forcing his gaze back to Richard. If he kept staring at Ilay, it felt like they would end up in a staring contest.

“But I think I saw you leaving just a few hours ago; you’re back already. You’ve even changed your clothes.”

“Ah. Because I have to teach the children soon.”

“Children—ah. Do you teach something, Richard?”

“Rather than teaching, it’s more like playing with them. They are clever and lovely children, so it’s enjoyable.”

As he spoke, he gave a soft, smiling look with his eyes; he was undoubtedly a man of character. He was a stark contrast to someone who had headed toward the main building a couple of hours ago, radiating a vibe of being annoyed and bothered.

Checking the clock, it was almost time for Christoph to finish with the children. It seemed Richard took over for the next slot.

“What do you teach them?”

“Haha, there’s nothing so grand as to call it ‘teaching,’ but we discuss topics like interpersonal relations, negotiation, and diplomacy.”

Indeed, those were topics this man was fit to teach. Whoever chose him had picked well.

Jeong Tae-ui quietly looked at Richard, who was smiling genially in front of him.

Looking again, they really do look incredibly alike. Not just the features, but the expressions seemed as if they were stamped from the same mold.

“? Is there something on my face?”

Jeong Tae-ui must have been staring too intently. Richard opened his eyes slightly and rubbed his face with an awkward smile. Jeong Tae-ui quickly waved his hand.

“No, it’s just that I thought you and your son look very much alike.”

“Ah. Have you seen Oliver?”

Richard smiled without a hint of surprise. He had probably heard it countless times and was used to it. Thinking that made sense, Jeong Tae-ui recalled the son he had seen a while ago.

While Christoph went to the main building to teach the children, Jeong Tae-ui had been sitting in his room with beer and books, enjoying that short respite that occurred twice a week, when a sudden phone call dragged him to the main building. It was to deliver some book titles Christoph had said he needed.

They were in a small, cozy room at the west end of the second floor of the main building.

As he entered the room Christoph had indicated, ten eyes—six pairs, including Christoph—all poured onto him at once.

Jeong Tae-ui stopped in his tracks.

Perhaps because they had grown up in a good household, eating well and playing happily, the children were all beautiful. Christoph was standing, leaning against the table in the center of the semi-circle, looking this way.

This looks like something that should be captured on a canvas.

Thinking that the scene itself was already a painting, Jeong Tae-ui handed the books to Christoph.

The children looked as if they were dying of curiosity about this strange person who had suddenly appeared, but they sat politely and said nothing.

Feeling it would be awkward to just hand over the books and vanish, Jeong Tae-ui decided to praise the children. While keeping his eyes on them, he spoke to Christoph.

“The kids are all so pretty and handsome. visit our siteI [unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy]guess it’s because they’ve been raised so preciously.”

“It’s because the family has a lot of money, so they all picked beauties as spouses.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked at Christoph with a shocked expression at the blunt, matter-of-fact answer.

Even if that statement might be valid in its own way, he hadn’t expected him to say it so openly right in front of the children.

This guy is truly extraordinary; his framework of thought regarding general common sense is just extraordinary, Jeong Tae-ui thought. He turned and frowned, shouting “Hey!!” with his lips so only Christoph could see.

“How can you say such things in front of the children!”

Even though he shouted in a voice as quiet as a crawling ant, Christoph looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a face that seemed to be pondering something. He eventually let out a sigh and spoke in a calm voice—one that didn’t care whether the children heard or not.

“Jeong Tae-ui. You have a serious misunderstanding about these children. Look, how old do they look? They’re over ten. At this age, children who are receiving early education in such specialized fields here… do you really think they are the ‘children’ you imagine?”

Christoph spoke slowly, as if he were tired of even explaining, and his words sounded valid in their stolen unauthorized copycontentstolen content -->own way this time too. Still, Jeong Tae-ui signaled him to shut his mouth and glanced back at the children.

However, seeing those cute faces behind him, exchanging glances and wearing broad smiles, Jeong Tae-ui realized Christoph was right.

These children, though they differed slightly, were frighteningly intelligent. They already knew how to be perceived favorably by others and how to smooth things over without trouble even if the other person realized it.

Perhaps it was an instinctive survival skill of children who must receive the love of adults to survive.

“Are you a friend of Christoph’s?”

The first child to speak in a cute voice was a girl sitting on the far right, who had been observing Jeong Tae-ui most intently.

Thinking she was just like a sweet and savory butter cookie, Jeong Tae-ui nodded. Then, Christoph looked at him with a strange expression. Seeing that, Jeong Tae-ui looked back at him strangely. When he asked “Why?” with his eyes, Christoph simply turned his head away with a blank face.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a friend of Christoph’s.”

“Me too, me too.”

“I know many people who are on bad terms with Christoph.”

“I know too! Oliver’s dad!”

“What do you mean Oliver’s dad? It’s Richard.”

As if a dam had burst, the children, who until a moment ago had kept their mouths shut and just stared at Jeong Tae-ui with bright eyes, began pouring out words.

“Don’t pretend to be curious when you’re not. It won’t reduce your study time. Time will be added for as much as you play now.”

But as soon as Christoph muttered indifferently, the children shut their mouths instantly.

Jeong Tae-ui looked around at the children again with a shocked heart. Then, his gaze stopped on the face of one child.

Before the thought He looks familiar could even fully [Read visit our siteon Read BL Novels[unauthorized copy]ition:absolute;left:-9999px;">]form, he realized first. Whose face it looked exactly like.

I see. Richard, Oliver’s father. Oliver, Richard’s son.

A young boy who looked exactly like Richard was sitting there quietly. The appearance, the expression, the atmosphere, and even—perhaps it was just his imagination—the way he held the book looked identical. He looked exactly as Richard must have looked at that age.

“Wow…”

Jeong Tae-ui couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

They say blood doesn’t lie, but when they look this similar, it’s almost baffling to wonder where the mother’s blood went.

The child himself seemed to notice why Jeong Tae-ui was surprised and smiled calmly. That expression was also exactly like his father’s.

Their personalities are completely different. That guy is obnoxious, but this kid is a bit better.

Christoph, the other person who visit our sitehad noticed visit our sitewhy Jeong Tae-ui was admiring the boy, also spoke. Jeong Tae-ui found those indifferent words surprising.

Considering they came from a man who had been thinking—though his outward words were slightly different, this was the inner meaning—that he should give the boy a piece of his mind because he looked exactly like Richard, the words were remarkably mild. Given that the speaker was Christoph and the listener was Richard’s son, it felt safe to interpret “he’s a bit better” as “he’s very sweet.”

However, as Christoph had spoken openly enough for everyone to hear, Jeong Tae-ui scolded him with a look and stroked Oliver’s hair.

‘I like your father, too.’

As he added inwardly, whether that jerk badmouths him or not, Oliver gave a gentle smile. The voice he used to say “Thank you” was also quite mature.

Christoph, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, grimaced. “Just go back,” he spat out, his voice chilly. “I told you I’m neutral between you and Richard,” Jeong Tae-ui replied, pretending to frown, but Christoph’s expression remained cold.

Just then, the boy suddenly found something funny and lowered his head slightly, laughing. Seeing that glimpse of boyish shyness, Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘If you like my father, then you must like Christoph “too.”‘

It seemed the boy was already well aware of the contrasting dynamic between his father and Christoph.

Jeong Tae-ui fell silent at the boy’s gentle words. Beside him, Christoph also shut his mouth.

Jeong Tae-ui glanced at Christoph.

‘Well, of course I do.’

Though he added inwardly, even if he does pick on me a bit, the words came out of his mouth easily.

At that, Christoph suddenly frowned and patted Jeong Tae-ui’s shoulder. The blow was quite sharp.

‘I don’t. Just go back. You’re eating up all the time. You’re in the way.’

At those words, so cold there was no room to even start a conversation, Jeong Tae-ui grumbled, “What a temper…” and turned to leave. However, his mood quickly improved as [unauthorized copyunauthorized [stolen content]copystyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]he received soft farewells from the cute children.

Children. Children are great, too.

Jeong Tae-ui liked children. Whether he was visiting a friend’s or an acquaintance’s house, or happened to step into a playground during a walk, he always played happily whenever he had the chance to interact with kids. Watching them laugh, cry, play, and fight was heartwarming.

However, he had never thought that he wanted a child of his own. Now that he consciously thought about it, he felt that having two or three wouldn’t be bad, but it wasn’t something he had ever desperately longed for. Above all, it had already become an impossible story.

Still, seeing those cute children gathered together like that made him feel they were lovely; it was a heartwarming feeling.

Moreover, if a child looked exactly like him, just how cute would they be?

“You must be happy.”

Without realizing it, Jeong Tae-ui murmured while staring intently at every detail of Richard’s face. Richard smiled, delivering the line of a doting father, “Yes, I am.”

“He’s a healthy and kind child. Although we are separated now, I’m [Read on Read BL Novels]always [Read on Read BL Novels]grateful to my wife. …Come to think of it, have you not married yet?”

Jeong Tae-ui felt a hiccup coming on and rubbed his chest with his fist, answering, “That’s right…” He couldn’t help but steal a glance at Ilay behind him.

Ilay, as if noticing the gaze, arched an eyebrow. Suddenly, something resembling a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but that expression looked very similar to a sneer.

Huh? Is he mocking me? He suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

Of course, Jeong Tae-ui had a sexual orientation that had never been compatible with the institution of marriage to begin with, but it was only human nature to feel prickly when mocked like that.

“Is the gentleman behind you not marrying?”

When Jeong Tae-ui asked abruptly and crookedly, Richard’s eyes widened, as if he had never imagined such a question would fly his way. He then looked back at Ilay with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“Ah, he already has a partner.”

“…. Ah, really?”

Jeong Tae-ui almost blurted out “What?!” but barely managed to suppress it. He then stared blankly at Ilay with disbelieving eyes. Even though Ilay wasn’t the type to be burdened by such a gaze, he frowned with a face that said, What is this guy looking at?

For about a second, he wondered how someone with a partner could keep a person pinned down at home like that; for another second, he wondered when a man who was always at home—except for the rare few days he went to work—had managed to get a partner; and for one more second, he considered his life plan of where he would go and how he would live if that partner and Ilay got married.

Ilay, looking down at Jeong Tae-ui who was nodding and lost in deep thought, suddenly narrowed his eyes. At that moment, the three seconds of contemplation passed, and a moment of realization struck.

…Ah. Could that be.

At the same time, he saw Ilay open his mouth.

Wait, stop, don’t say it, there’s no need to say—

“I’m not sure if they’re actually a partner, but anyway, since we’re already living together, I don’t think you need to worry about my marriage.”

He tried to stop him in a hurry, but Jeong Tae-ui’s desperate signals were in vain.

Ilay’s words fell coldly from his lips.

A storm of desire to suddenly stand up from this bench and flee a hundred miles away surged within him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it and instead shifted back an inch.

“That’s certainly something to congratulate,” Jeong Tae-ui murmured, lowering his head.

He suddenly wondered if this was something the partner he lived with would actually find congratulatory. Then, a feeling washed over him as if he had sacrificed his own body to save someone. He felt a bit proud, but it soon turned into emptiness.

In the midst of this, Richard, seemingly unaware of the strange silence, continued to bask in the glory of his fatherhood with a smile.

“I was very worried because he was the youngest among the children who became succession candidates this time, but fortunately, he seems to get along well with the other children. He was always a child who got along well with friends, but still, I’m relieved.”

He seemed warm and affectionate, but I didn’t think he was a total doting father… Jeong Tae-ui thought to himself while nodding along to his words.

However, he felt he could understand the feeling of being proud of one’s child.

After all, they say children are the apple of their parents’ eye, so it must be even more so if the child is that kind and clever.

Jeong Tae-ui nodded, then suddenly thought of Christoph.

Since he was so beautiful and intelligent, he must have been a proud son as well—no, looking at his personality, he had some doubts, but at least when he was young, he probably was. And if he were to have a child in the future, that child would undoubtedly be unbearably lovely.

And yet.

Even while thinking that, he always seemed to be alone.

Always like that, with an expressionless face that looked as if everything was futile and boring.

“…If there were a child…”

Would it change then? That somehow precarious and anxious feeling.

But it didn’t seem like it would. He was different at a more fundamental level. In what way, and how?

Jeong Tae-ui silently looked down at his feet.

“Do you want a child?”

Then, a low voice suddenly dropped from not far away.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been spacing out for a moment, snapped back to his senses and looked up.

A few steps ahead, Ilay was looking down at him.

Jeong Tae-ui waved his hand, saying, “No.” He had been thinking about Christoph, and his thoughts must have drifted there before he knew it.

“Not really. I don’t dislike children, but—”

“It depends on the person, but I would recommend it.”

Richard joined the conversation. A smile played around his eyes, as if just thinking about his son brought him joy.

“I take it you don’t have much thought on the matter?”

Only after asking Ilay did Richard briefly look as if he wondered if he had spoken unnecessarily. He seemed unable to imagine Ilay as a father.

Yeah, I can’t imagine it either, Jeong Tae-ui thought, glancing at Ilay. Ilay shook his head, saying, “Not particularly.”

“Hmm. Is it the same for the person you’re living with? It would be troublesome if your thoughts on children didn’t align.”

While Richard was talking to Ilay, Jeong Tae-ui was immersed in a kind of profound emotion.

He wondered when he would see Ilay having such an everyday conversation with someone again. Most of the conversations he had heard Ilay have Read on Read BL stolen contentNovelswith others were about work or social affairs. They were quite bleak and dry conversations.

But a life-oriented, everyday conversation like this was so fresh it was almost touching.

Because of that, Jeong Tae-ui didn’t realize for a moment that Ilay’s gaze was lingering on his face.

“A child… Well, even if that person wanted one, not really…”

“Haha, what if they go to someone else to get one? I actually have a friend who had such a case.”

“Go to someone else to get a child? …I don’t like that.”

Ilay murmured slowly.

Only then did Jeong Tae-ui’s mind gradually return to the content of the conversation.

Child or no child, as long as they didn’t find other partners, it was a story that had no connection [unauthorized [unauthorized copy]copy]to either of them. As for marriage, if it were absolutely [Read on Read BL Novels]necessary, they could go to a country where same-sex marriage was permitted—though the mere thought of Ilay marrying someone brought a massive sense of incongruity—but as for children, it was impossible from the start unless they adopted.

And in truth, even if Jeong Tae-ui liked children, it didn’t mean he specifically wanted a child of his own.

Whatever, Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head. However, since he felt he would only look ridiculous if he stepped in and said something here, he decided to stay quiet.

“Rather than going somewhere else to get a child…”

Ilay trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. His wandering gaze dropped back to Jeong Tae-ui’s face, and Jeong Tae-ui rubbed his arms, which had suddenly grown chilly.

“I don’t know how long it would take, but it would be better to keep trying until a child is conceived.”

Ilay concluded simply. The moment he finished those words without batting an eye, Jeong Tae-ui froze on the spot.

Keep trying what?

Even if we did it relentlessly for a lifetime, there’s no way one would be conceived.

A disturbing imagination suddenly sprang to mind. That man approaching him, saying let’s keep trying until a child is conceived.

In an instant, the blood drained from his head to his toes.

“No, but—you should at least ask about that first. Who knows, the partner might be someone who absolutely doesn’t want children.”

Jeong Tae-ui quickly intervened in their conversation.

Richard looked somewhat puzzled at Jeong Tae-ui, who had been listening quietly and suddenly jumped in with such fervor, but he soon nodded in agreement. Beside him, Ilay, who had been staring at Jeong Tae-ui, smiled faintly.

Jeong Tae-ui, stroking his chest which was pounding with anxiety and fear, nodded vigorously, saying, “Right, right.”

Richard, looking at Jeong Tae-ui with a puzzled face once more, spoke to Ilay as if mentioning it since the topic had come up.

“But I was surprised that you’re living with someone else. I really never thought such a person Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]would appear for you.”

“Coincidence. I didn’t think so either.”

“Right, come to think of it, I forgot to ask to see their face when I visited last time. Introduce me next time.”

“I will.”

Listening to the friend-like conversation passing between them, Jeong Tae-ui felt as if needles were sprouting from the bench beneath his buttocks. Moreover, he was anxious about what other terrifying topics might pop up. In the end, unable to bear it, he slid up to stand.

“Then I’ll be going… Please give my regards to your cute son later.”

“Yes, I’ll do that. Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t been able to ask. Your name is…?”

Only after hearing Richard’s words did Jeong Tae-ui realize he hadn’t introduced himself. Uh, as he traced back, he realized he hadn’t told him his name. He wondered why he had no memory of saying his name despite having talked a few times—

“Father!”

Ah, right, right, that’s why he couldn’t. Every time he tried to speak, an interruption like this always occurred.

Jeong Tae-ui turned his head toward the direction of the voice that had suddenly cut in. The boy who looked exactly like Richard, whom he had seen earlier, was running toward them. Behind him, three or four more children were coming out of the entrance on the west side of the main building. The last one to emerge was Christoph, with a dissatisfied look on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

Christoph approached, looking straight at Jeong Tae-ui without even glancing at Richard. He briefly shifted his gaze toward Ilay, but even that was momentary.

Come to think of it, weren’t these two friends as well? Former colleagues.

“Hmm? Just resting for a bit.”

“For two hours, just like this, after bringing me the book?”

Jeong Tae-ui fell silent for a moment. If he said he had been sitting [[stolen content]style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]here for two hours watching the sky and the ground, he didn’t even want to imagine what words would fly back, so he gave a vague excuse.

“No, I went into the room and read the book for a bit, and I just came out a moment ago.”

“…. From the second floor of the main building, this spot is fully visible.”

At the words that flew with a cold gaze, he flinched and looked at the main building; indeed, the room at the end of the second floor on the west side of the main building, where Christoph had been with the children, almost directly faced this spot.

“Uh… you saw me?”

“I was watching to see when you’d disappear. You sat there spacing out until the very end. Even with your shoelaces undone.”

Why were you watching that? No, more importantly, what’s wrong with spacing out for a bit, Jeong Tae-ui muttered under his breath, then tilted his head.

“You sure looked closely…”

Only then did he notice Read unauthorized copy[unauthorized copy]on Read BL Novelshis shoelaces were undone, and he crouched down, grumbling as he retied them.

Then, suddenly feeling a stinging sensation above his head, he looked up to find Ilay staring down at him. The fingers of his crossed arms were tapping, tap, tap, against his forearm.

I find it scary when that guy does that, Jeong Tae-ui thought while tying his laces, as Christoph’s icy gaze shifted toward Richard.

“Why are you messing with this guy? What’s your angle?”

He spoke calmly, but his tone was rough. Behind him, Jeong Tae-ui muttered, “No, we were just greeting each other…” but Christoph didn’t even pretend to hear.

“Is asking for a name also an ‘angle’?”

Richard answered nonchalantly. However, for once, the smile that always graced his face was gone. His face was still quiet and soft, but his eyes were cold.

Indeed, they really don’t get along, he realized once again.

“It is an angle. Why would you need to ask for his name when you have no re[[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]ason to call him?”

Christoph spoke decisively, but Richard seemed to have decided to ignore him. He turned his head to look at Jeong Tae-ui.

“So, what should I call you?”

Jeong Tae-ui remained silent for a moment.

Richard had turned his head completely away from Christoph toward Jeong Tae-ui, and over his shoulder was Ilay, looking this way as if lost in thought, and beside him, Christoph had a vein popping on his forehead.

The atmosphere was incredibly chilly, but since he couldn’t make the other person look ridiculous by not answering, Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips and scratched his head.

“Ah… I am—”

“Unlucky.”

Christoph spat out. He spoke in the same tone as when visit our sitehe had said that name was unlucky, looking at Jeong Tae-ui [stolen contentclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]with the same face. Jeong Tae-ui glared at Christoph with his mouth open.

He really finds a lot of fault with other people’s names.

Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips again with his open mouth. A very bitter taste lingered.

“I’m… Kim Young-soo.”

While saying that name, Jeong Tae-ui tried desperately not to look at Ilay’s face. He didn’t want to think about or see what thoughts he would have or what expression he would make upon hearing that name. It was because bitter memories of the past resurfaced.

Right, there was a reason I used this name. But come to think of it, this name wasn’t particularly lucky either. I got caught in the end.

However, although he kept his gaze fixed on Richard without looking directly at Ilay, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Ilay was tilting his head. He could also see his shoulders shaking slightly, as if he were chuckling. Damn it.

Christoph walked over to Jeong Tae-ui in silence. Then, he turned around to face Richard and Ilay.

In a composition that looked like a unauthorized unauthorized visit our sitecopycopystandoff, Jeong Tae-ui alone felt extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

As desolate gazes crossed in the silence, Jeong Tae-ui wondered where to look, then suddenly noticed Ilay standing a step behind Richard.

He was lost in thought. With an expressionless face, he gazed blankly at Christoph, his fingers slowly tapping against his arm as he stood with his arms crossed. It was impossible to tell what thoughts were crossing behind that expression.

But a confrontation this solemn felt just like…

“It’s like some kind of 2-on-2 deathmatch.”

He muttered it without realizing.

Two men facing each other in a direct standoff. And two other men standing slightly apart to the side and behind them, taking their respective sides.

In the silence, the voice seemed to ring out louder than expected, and the expressions of the men who had been glaring seriously became peculiar.

Christoph looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a face that looked as if he had taken a gulp thinking it was water, only to find out it was alcohol. Richard looked at him with a similar, though not quite as distinct, stolen [visit our site]contentexpression. Only Ilay had turned his head away. Even so, his shoulders could be seen shaking slightly.

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue and shrugged. Since the words were already out, there was no point in trying to take them back now.

“Rather than blushing every time you meet, why don’t you just have one massive fight and settle it once and for all… sir.”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke the first part looking at Christoph and the final honorific looking at Richard, then added, “Would that not work?”

Silence followed.

He wished someone would say something, but everyone kept their mouths shut. Jeong Tae-ui rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“—Fighting right before the selection of a successor wouldn’t be good for Richard. Even if Christoph says he’s given up the succession, Richard hasn’t.”

The one who chimed in with a slow drawl was Ilay.

Taking a step to stand beside Richard, he glanced at Christoph. For [stolen contentstolen contentclass="wm-strong" style="position:relative;display:inline;">[visit our site]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]some reason, Christoph remained silent.

“If they were to fight, it should have been over that. Over who would succeed. But Christoph was the one who gave up that fight first. Until he declared he would renounce the succession, the two of them were evenly matched.”

Ilay spoke calmly and nonchalantly, then stopped. He looked up at the sky, lost in thought for a moment, before looking at Christoph.

“Thinking about it again, I’m curious. Why did you do it? Well, thanks to you coming to T&R, things have been relatively comfortable for me.”

“It was my choice. None of your business,” Christoph said coldly.

Ilay didn’t seem particularly offended. Nodding as if to say ‘I see,’ he suddenly asked again.

“And the fact that you, who haven’t visited Dresden once since then, decided to return specifically at this point… ah, I think I might know why.”

“Shut up, Riegrow.”

“It’s not me who’s noisy, but the inside of your visit Read on Read BL Novelsour siteears. Or maybe your head. You lunatic.”

Jeong Tae-ui simply rolled his eyes at the hostile words exchanged in such a casual tone.

He had heard that these two were friends and colleagues and thought they were extremely close—which is why he had been so shocked not long ago—but seeing them like this, it didn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps incorrect information had been circulating.

Then again, neither of them has the personality to have friends, Jeong Tae-ui thought to himself, only to grimace a moment later.

The expression had vanished from Christoph’s face. It wasn’t his usual blankness. Even his typical boredom and lethargy were gone. It was simply a ghost-like void.

But it was only for a moment.

After glaring at Ilay without expression, Christoph slowly closed and opened his eyes. Then, irritation settled over his face. Eventually, harsh words burst out.

“Why are you loitering around the west wing when you should be shoved away in the east wing? I told you I hate it when I talk to you because it feels like I’m still in that damn mobile task force.”

Before he could think that they really weren’t friends, Jeong Read stolen contenton Read BL NovelsTae-ui looked at them with a skeptical gaze. If so, was the atmosphere of that damn mobile [visit our site]task force—referring to the private task force that used to be at T&R—always like this?

He felt like he finally understood what people meant when they said it was a gathering of people who should never be dealt with.

Jeong Tae-ui contemplated whether he should just bolt from the scene right now.

Just then, he felt a gaze on his cheek.

On a bench about a dozen paces away, five children were sitting huddled together, watching them.

Teaching them or not, showing them this kind of scene was a disaster.

“Can you guys stop while the kids are watching?”

When Jeong Tae-ui shifted his position to block the children’s view and spoke, all eyes flew toward him.

“Maybe you just like children.”

The one who spoke to Jeong Tae-ui was Ilay. Jeong Tae-ui momentarily fell silent.

Come to think of it, this was a taboo subject. This was a topic that should not be mentioned in this place.

After enjoying the sight of Jeong Tae-ui breaking into a cold sweat and struggling for an answer for a while—a move that was clearly intentional—Ilay slowly curled his lips. The white canine tooth visible between his lips was somehow eerie.

“To set the record straight, you have a significant misunderstanding about those children. I doubt those children are the kind of ‘children’ you think they are.”

“…You two must be really close. Your way of speaking is so similar,” Jeong Tae-ui muttered, sounding exhausted.

At that, Christoph clicked his tongue. A slight wrinkle formed on his usually expressionless face.

Frowning, he turned his body as if he no longer wanted to be there.

“Do as you please. Since your reason for coming here is likely Richard, don’t interfere with me. I’ll stay quiet as long [[visit our site]unauthorized copywm: visit our site -->class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]as he doesn’t touch me. There’s less than a month left anyway.”

Christoph turned and headed toward the west wing. Watching his back as he walked away with a straight posture without looking back once, Jeong Tae-ui also shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

“Well, then, since I seem to belong to Christoph’s side for now, I think I should disappear. —I’ll see you again later if the opportunity arises.”

Greeting Ilay and Richard with an ambiguous mix of casual and formal speech and a slight wave of his hand, Jeong Tae-ui lightly turned away. He wanted to escape this not-so-great atmosphere as quickly as possible. He wanted to go back to his room, drink some beer, and read a book…

“Kim Young-soo—?”

Just then, before he had even taken a few steps, a voice called out to stop him from behind.

Startled, Jeong Tae-ui stopped in his tracks, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly turned around. The person who called him—while he wore a reluctant expression that clearly said I really want to leave—was Ilay.

Their eyes met.

Behind the glasses, pitch-black eyes of unfathomable depth were staring at him.

“…”

Jeong Tae-ui started to say something but stopped. He simply gazed back at him.

The time their eyes met wasn’t long. Only a few seconds. Yet, that time felt impossibly long.

Eventually, the black eyes behind the glasses narrowed. The corners of his mouth curved gently.

“Let’s see each other again later.”

 

* * *

 

The anomaly occurred that very evening.

As usual, after spending the entire afternoon suffering through all sorts of hardships in Christoph’s study, he was finally able to leave around evening, feeling as if his body had turned to jelly.

He had asked a hundred times when he would get his book back, but no answer came. The only response he occasionally received was, “If you want it back, just do the work I tell you to do well.”

Actually, the work he was told to do wasn’t that significant. After one bone-breaking session of organizing the study, things had become relatively easier. He only suffered physically when Christoph decided to change the layout of the study or reorder the bookshelves.

Other than that, it was just simple errands or organizing ledgers.

However, as with most things, hope without a promised date of fulfillment only makes a person more exhausted.

“Sigh… I don’t know. He’ll give it back eventually.”

Jeong Tae-ui sighed and brushed off his clothes.

He had no idea where this damn dust kept coming from every single day, even though he had already wiped everything clean.

Whenever he moved around the study, his hands were blackened by the time he left.

As he was closing the study window before leaving, Jeong Tae-ui locked eyes with Christoph, who was slowly approaching from outside.

As part of his routine when there was nothing special in the afternoon, Christoph had just returned from enjoying a ride on horseback.

As he headed toward the stables located behind the west wing and the main building, he brought the horse to a halt upon making eye contact with Jeong Tae-ui.

Jeong Tae-ui was impressed to see the horse stop obediently without Christoph moving his hands or appearing to apply any particular force to the reins.

“Do you talk to the horse?”

When Jeong Tae-ui muttered with his chin resting on his arm draped over [visit our site]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen [visit our site]content]the windowsill, Christoph only shrugged his shoulders slightly.

Jeong Tae-ui closed the window, roughly washed his hands in the restroom, and left the study.

After brushing off his clothes, he decided to go straight to the dining room, thinking there was no need to change. He felt that since the atmosphere there wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy anyway, it didn’t matter if his clothes were a bit messy.

As he went downstairs, Christoph happened to be entering. Removing his riding gloves as he walked in, he raised an eyebrow upon seeing Jeong Tae-ui standing on the stairs.

“Did you finish changing the layout?”

“Yeah, mostly. I just need to organize the order of the bookshelves a bit.”

“Right. Then finish it after dinner.”

You devil, he grumbled inwardly, glaring at Christoph. Christoph simply walked forward with an indifferent face.

“It’s torn. Throw it away.”

Jeong Tae-ui easily caught the gloves he tossed and examined the dark brown leather. The leather was slightly torn, perhaps from being scratched by a rose thorn.

“Hmm… what a waste.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, clicking his tongue. Christoph glanced at him.

“Then fix them and use them.”

“No, I don’t really wear gloves. Besides, I’m used to throwing gloves away.”

Jeong Tae-ui folded the gloves and put them in his pocket, thinking he would throw them away when he saw a trash can later.

It hadn’t happened in the last few years, but back when he served as Ilay’s adjutant at UNHRDO, he threw away gloves almost every day. There were countless perfectly fine gloves that Jeong Tae-ui had thrown away on Ilay’s behalf. The problem was that they were all stiffened with soaked-in blood.

At first, he thought about washing them to reuse, but he gave up. Even if he tried to be frugal, the number of gloves thrown away daily unauthorized copywas too high, and since he didn’t know whose soul’s [unauthorized copy]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">visit our sitegrudge might be lingering in them, he just tossed them.

“…Come to think of it, he was wearing gloves again.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered as if he had just remembered.

He had been so surprised by Ilay’s unfamiliar, polished and sophisticated style that he hadn’t realized it, but he noticed it belatedly. The fact that he had been wearing gloves on his hands.

“I suppose he takes them off at home,” Christoph said, hearing Jeong Tae-ui talking to himself.

Jeong Tae-ui shrugged.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen those gloves.”

So he had almost forgotten, but it seemed Ilay still wore them when he went out to work.

He thought that personality might have been corrected, but it seemed it hadn’t.

“With his personality, there’s no way he’d go easy on someone just because they’re blood-related, but it seems he’s been living peacefully lately,” Christoph suddenly muttered.

Jeong Tae-ui let out a hum and cautiously gauged his reaction. Noticing the gaze, Christoph asked with his eyes why he was looking at him.

“I heard you’re friends with Ilay. Childhood friends.”

“Who said that?”

Christoph immediately frowned. Even though he frowned, his facial expressions were generally faint, so it wasn’t very prominent, but compared to his usual blankness, a very unpleasant light was explicitly revealed.

“You’re not? I heard you played together often when you were young.”

“We didn’t play. We just happened to run into each other when the adults gathered for family matters. —Ah, right. If hacking a bothersome human with an axe is considered playing, then I suppose we played.”

“…”

He had heard Kyle say solemnly that Ilay had a peculiar personality since he was young, but…

Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head and smacked his lips.

“Well, not everyone you call a friend is actually a friend. I can’t say you’re friends just because you hung out as kids. By that logic, you’re friends with Richard too.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Christoph frowned fiercely again. His eyes shot up sharply as if he had heard something he truly detested.

“I said we’re NOT friends!!”

“…Listen carefully. That’s what I meant, that you’re not friends.”

Jeong Tae-ui quickly spoke, instinctively taking a step back. Christoph glared at him with a deeply distorted face, clicked his tongue, and started walking again.

It was a more violent reaction than Ilay’s. To be a person who hates being considered a friend even more than Ilay [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL Novelswm: Read on Read BL Novels -->does—Richard must be a person of quite significant meaning to Christoph, albeit in a negative way.

Then again, is there a difference between a friend and an enemy? If you build good feelings over a long time, you’re friends; if you only build hatred, you’re enemies.

“You’ve known each other since you were around Oliver’s age, right?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked, counting on his fingers. That would make it a relationship of about twenty years. If they had only accumulated unpleasant memories during that time, it wouldn’t be strange if they were sworn enemies by now.

Christoph, walking about half a step ahead of Jeong Tae-ui, spoke bluntly without hiding his displeasure.

“Since we were even younger.”

“Wow… then you’ve known each other for a very long time. …Oliver looks so much like Richard’s childhood self that I wondered if he was a carbon copy.”

Christoph glanced at Jeong Tae-ui. His face, which looked fierce enough to cause serious injury with just a slight brush, softened very slightly. His lips twitched for a moment as if he didn’t want to praise the son of a man he hated with his own mouth, but eventually, he clicked his tongue and spoke.

“The face is quite similar, but the personality is different. The nature is different. That son is decent [[unauthorized copy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]in his own way. …He resembles the younger sibling more.”

The last part was low and hard to hear.

Jeong Tae-ui thought he heard something about resembling a younger sibling, so he rolled his eyes and asked.

“Did Richard have a younger sibling?”

It wasn’t particularly surprising for someone to have a sibling. Jeong Tae-ui had an older brother, and Ilay had both an older and a younger sibling.

Seeing how much the son resembled him, the blood must run thick, so a sibling who resembled him would also be a handsome man or a beautiful woman.

However, as he imagined a woman who resembled Richard—assuming it was a younger sister—Jeong Tae-ui suddenly realized Christoph had stopped walking and hurriedly stopped as well. He almost lost his balance from the sudden stop, but fortunately, he managed to stand still without bumping into Christoph.

Even if he had inevitably touched him, he felt that Christoph would have glared with axe-like eyes and thrown a punch immediately.

Stopping just a few centimeters away and slowly backing off, Jeong Tae-ui tilted his head to look over Christoph’s shoulder. He [Read [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novels]wondered why he had stopped so suddenly, but there was nothing blocking them in front.

“Christoph?”

Jeong Tae-ui called him curiously. But there was no answer.

Christoph stood blankly before the central staircase. He stared intently at the middle of the empty stairs, as if seeing a memory of the past reflected there.

Suddenly, his lips turned pale. They trembled once, a thin spasm. Perhaps he wasn’t even conscious of it, as his expression was not a bit different from usual, but only his lips trembled intermittently.

“Chris!”

Jeong Tae-ui called his name slightly low, but clearly.

When he shouted his name right in his ear, Christoph slowly turned his head to look at Jeong Tae-ui after a short pause. His lips were no longer trembling.

“…Shut up.”

“I’m hungry.”

Jeong Tae-ui said, looking straight at him. He hadn’t intended it, but perhaps because he lacked energy, his voice sounded a bit defeated.

Christoph, who had been looking at Jeong Tae-ui with a faint frown, looked at him with a face that seemed to have forgotten everything else for a moment, as if Jeong Tae-ui’s sudden words were completely unexpected.

That sudden expression on Christoph’s face suddenly became funny, and Jeong Tae-ui burst out laughing without realizing it. As Tae-ui laughed, Christoph’s expression turned fierce again.

“You can just go to the dining hall.”

Snapping back with a click of his tongue, Christoph began to climb the stairs. “Oh,” Tae-ui exclaimed, grabbing the railing and shouting after him.

“What about you?”

“After I wash up.”

“You’re not even that dirty, so what does it matter?”

Christoph stopped for a moment, turning around at the landing. As Tae-ui looked up at him and his frowning face, his gaze fell upon the riding gear Christoph was wearing.

“……. Right. Go wash up. I’ll start eating first.”

Tae-ui wondered what the problem would be with eating in riding gear, but he felt that Christoph would absolutely never do such a thing. He was the kind of man who wasted—to exaggerate—an hour every morning staring into his wardrobe.

Only after the presence of Christoph had vanished up the stairs did Jeong Tae-ui head toward the dining hall.

He really was hungry. Having spent the entire afternoon hauling boxes of books, it was only natural.

“If I keep building muscle like this, I could just go work for a moving company if things ever go south…….”

Tae-ui massaged his arms, which no longer suffered from muscle pain after several days of hard labor. stolen [visit our site]contentHe felt a slight sense of satisfaction, thinking his muscles had become a bit firmer.

“Yeah, I’ll build a great physique and become the center of everyone’s attention…….”

Massaging his arms and giving his thighs a random pat, Tae-ui stepped into the dining hall. Sensing an unusual atmosphere, he muttered, “It’s kind of quiet today,” and looked up.

He wondered if there were fewer people than usual, but that wasn’t the case. The number of people was the same as always, moderately filling the hall. Though the faces he encountered daily varied slightly, they were mostly the same people, sitting in mostly the same seats as yesterday.

The only empty seats were those of Christoph and Richard, which were always empty unless they were physically present…….

Tae-ui scanned the dining hall, where an exceptionally quiet and mild meal was taking place, and finally let his gaze land on the empty seat at the very front. In that instant, the hand massaging his arm dropped.

Richard was there.

Across from Christoph’s empty seat, in the spot where he always sat, Richard was eating while engaging in brief, intermittent conversation with the person beside him.

However, Richard didn’t matter to Tae-ui. The only person who entered [unauthorized Read on Read BL Novelscopy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]Tae-ui’s vision was the one talking to him.

Because of the sophisticated suit—which still felt unfamiliar even upon seeing it again—he almost overlooked it, but those gloves, worn even in this setting, caught his eye instantly.

Ilay.

He was there.

Unable to believe it, Tae-ui blinked and kept his eyes fixed on him as he walked toward his own seat, nearly tripping over a chair and a flowerpot a couple of times.

Eventually, after knocking over a flowerpot, Tae-ui regained his composure and sat down. He felt as if Ilay had glanced his way, but he deliberately avoided looking in that direction and stared intently at his own plate.

“I heard you completely rearranged Christoph’s study today. There must have been a ton of books; you must have suffered.”

Yohan, who had arrived first and was already halfway through his plate in the seat next to him, spoke with a sympathetic tone instead of a greeting.

No, it was actually okay because it was good exercise… [[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]As Tae-ui began to ramble, he suddenly fell silent. After staring at his plate for a long while, he poked a pea with his fork and muttered.

“By the way, the one sitting up there, next to Richard…….”

“Oh, ah. Madman Rick.”

Yohan answered after a brief pause, as if he were reluctant to even utter the name, and shrugged with a grimace.

“He said he’d be eating dinner here starting today.”

Tae-ui poked a split pea firmly with his fork and glared at the innocent Yohan.

“I mean, a precious guest should obviously eat in the east wing! Why come here and ruin the cozy dining atmosphere!”

If he were to reflect on these words with a calmer mind, he would realize that the part about a “cozy dining atmosphere” was an absurd lie, but right now, Tae-ui didn’t have the luxury to analyze that.

This was like sitting on a bed of needles. A path of thorns.

He would rather have the man barge into his room right now and threaten him, saying, ‘I told you to stay put at home, yet you had the audacity to go out?!’ Since that was something he had prepared for, he could brace himself and accept it.

But for some reason, that man was merely smiling meaningfully with a chilling glint in his eyes, showing no sign of saying anything to Tae-ui. No, he was pretending not to know him at all. That was precisely why it was scarier.

It was as if he were trying to bleed him dry of his nerves. ……Or perhaps that was exactly his intention.

Tae-ui thought with a serious face while crushing the pea.

—I’ll see you again later.

Was that what he meant when he said those words with that subtle smile earlier?

“Maybe I should just sneak into his room tonight and settle this once and for all…….”

It might be more peaceful for his future to just stick his head out and tell the man to kill him if he wanted. Rather than flinching constantly with a guilty [Read on Read BL Novels]conscience, it visit our sitearia-label="stolen content">stolen contentfelt like it would be much more relaxing to offer himself up and pay the price for his sins first.

“But what on earth did I do to deserve death…….”

Suddenly feeling sorrowful, he let his fork clatter to the table. Yohan, who had been intently observing Tae-ui while tearing into some meat, spoke calmly.

“What on earth did that pea do to deserve death?”

“This one is already dead!”

Tae-ui shouted, pounding the cooked pea, which had been mashed beyond recognition. Yohan clicked his tongue while meticulously picking every scrap of meat off the bone.

“Even if it committed a mortal sin, isn’t preserving the corpse the final courtesy to life?”

“I think it would be better if you vomited out the meat in your mouth before saying that.”

As he retorted, Tae-ui looked at the large bone moving in and out of Yohan’s mouth.

Someone sitting up there had once said that if necessary, he would kill him and eat his corpse. Recalling those words, the bone Yohan was crunching on suddenly looked ominous.

Feeling a sense of mourning for the animal that must have been walking around alive a week or two ago, Tae-ui picked up his knife.

“Since you know Rick too, that guy really is famous.”

“Of course, he’s notorious.”

When Tae-ui answered bluntly, Yohan began to laugh hysterically. He laughed wildly with the bone still in his mouth, as if something were incredibly funny. This guy occasionally laughed like a madman over such trivial things.

“Hey, you might not know, but he’s actually become quite human. Because of the family relationships, he’d often visit or be visited whenever there was something big to celebrate or mourn. Back when he was a kid, you couldn’t even talk to him……. Look at him now, he looks perfectly normal on the surface.”

Yohan leaned toward Tae-ui, giggling. Pointing at Ilay with the tip of the bone, he suddenly sighed deeply and shook his head, as if remembering a bleak past.

“When he was young, why didn’t he just walk around with ‘I stolen contentam a dangerous person’ written on his forehead? stolen content……That would have been better. A madman who looks like a madman is at least manageable. You can recognize them and avoid them.”

Tae-ui muttered gloomily.

If he had been able to recognize him at a glance, he wouldn’t have answered the phone call from that man while in his uncle’s room—the very beginning of this whole situation. No, if he had recognized the ominous nature of those white hands upon answering, he would have hung up immediately and never stepped foot in his uncle’s room.

Though it was too late to talk about it now.

(However, when he murmured these belated regrets, his uncle had scoffed and dismissed them. ‘You were already finished the moment you pointed a gun at Rick’s head in the dining hall on the first day of joint training. You already knew he was a madman then, so why did you do it?’ He remembered the bitter feeling of having no rebuttal.)

“No, from what I remember, back when he was younger and couldn’t control himself well, he always lived in blood-stained clothes. So he looked like a dangerous person to anyone. Then, as he matured and his skills developed to be more vicious, he started handling things so blood wouldn’t splatter on his clothes.”

“…….”

Tae-ui suddenly lost his appetite and stopped his fork midway through lifting the mashed pea.

He must have reached the conclusion of wearing gloves as those vicious skills Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">Read on Read BL Novelsevolved. It was certainly more economical to throw away gloves than to ruin clothes every day.

“Anyway, he looks normal. It’s just the people who approach him without knowing anything who end up pitiful.”

“Hmm…….”

Tae-ui had nothing to say, so he quietly swallowed his soup. Beside him, Yohan muttered while picking up a new piece of meat.

“They say the more toxic something is, the more colorful and eye-catching it is; I guess it’s true. Dressed up like that, he has the kind of face women would flock to.”

Yohan appealed in a jealous voice, saying that people these days shouldn’t date based on looks because you never know if you’ll end up with a guy like that. Tae-ui half-ignored him and muttered bluntly.

“Really? I don’t know. A man who pays that much attention to his appearance from head to toe might actually be a turn-off.”

“No way. I conducted a localized survey of my three girlfriends, and with a 100% probability, they said they liked men who dress well. Isn’t that an amazing probability?!”

“The fact that you’re [stolen content]discussing [unauthorized copy]100% based on three people is what’s amazing…….”

Tae-ui muttered, half-dumbfounded and half-impressed, but Yohan didn’t care at all.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he felt a stinging gaze flying toward him. He was too scared to turn his head in that direction, but the feeling was incredibly distinct.

Damn it, I really should just barge into his room tonight and tell him to just eat me up already…….

Thinking that he should make a phone call to Kyle instead of writing a will—and pour out all his resentment to Kyle—before going, Tae-ui drank his tomato soup straight from the bowl.

The thought that even if he luckily survived, he wouldn’t be able to walk properly for three or four days made Tae-ui instantly lose heart.

“Furthermore, with another 100% probability, the conclusion was that they like something reliable.”

Yohan, who was still rambling, suddenly lowered his voice and whispered, “I’m telling you this specifically as a favor.”

“66.6% said they liked something big and sturdy, and 33.3% said they weren’t particularly concerned with size, but they preferred something reliable over [stolen content]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">Read on Read BL Novelssomething meager. In other words, it’s practically 100%.”

Before he could scold him again for discussing 100% based on three people, Tae-ui, who hadn’t been listening closely for a moment, couldn’t follow the conversation.

As he blinked and looked at Yohan with a face that asked what he meant, Yohan clicked his tongue in frustration and said again.

“The thingy! The thingy!”

Only after seeing Yohan’s thumb gesture toward his crotch did Tae-ui finally understand what he was talking about.

“Ah, that……. Right, I guess that’s the general perception. But why is that relevant?”

Tae-ui asked back, wondering how the topic had shifted to the requirements of a man popular with women. Because Yohan was staring at him with narrowed eyes, Tae-ui instinctively flinched and went on the defensive.

“Just so you know, I’m not small.”

Occasionally, when having these kinds of [[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsconversations abroad, he encountered their prejudices. Asians are smaller than Westerners.

From what Tae-ui had seen, it didn’t seem entirely wrong on average, but as a man, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of indignation when faced with a gaze that asked, ‘Are you small?’

However, it seemed Yohan wasn’t talking about that. He waved his hand, saying, “No, no, that’s not it.”

“I’m talking about that guy. Rick. It’s not just his face that would make women flock to him. I mean his thingy.”

“…….”

Now that the direction of the topic was clear, his appetite vanished completely.

Tae-ui, who happened to be picking up a grilled pine mushroom at that moment, stared at the mushroom in silence. Very fiercely.

“I heard his thingy is huge. Absolutely incredible. And this is a reliable rumor because I have a cousin in the UNHRDO European branch. Rick was there until a few years ago, and they have communal bathrooms. My cousin saw it personally; he said it was almost like a forearm. The rumor became legendary within the branch. ……Hey, but that mushroom looks really big and delicious.”

“……. ……. You eat it.”

Tae-ui handed the grilled pine mushroom to Yohan, fork and all. Yohan, who was tearing into a piece of meat with one hand, widened his eyes and asked, “Oh, really?” before happily accepting it.

Tae-ui drank only water, looking enviously at Yohan, who was biting into the grilled mushroom with pure joy and no ulterior motives.

Yohan, who was now arguing in a very jealous tone that people should date based on personality rather than looks, or else their lives might be ruined in an instant, had a history of boldly claiming just the other day that ‘When picking a lover, first is looks, second is looks, and third is looks,’ nearly getting stabbed by the women sitting nearby.

Watching Yohan mutter with satisfaction that well-grilled pine mushrooms are delicious no matter when or where you eat them, Tae-ui sighed and stood up.

“……. I think I’ll go up and rest.”

With his appetite gone and several days’ worth of fatigue suddenly hitting him all at once, Tae-ui decided it would be better to go up and lie down, leaving his seat with sluggish movements.

He wondered why humans lacked the ability to concretely imagine a reality they already knew. For example, when a deadline is approaching, one knows perfectly well that they will suffer later if they don’t finish the work diligently now, but because they cannot concretely imagine that suffering, they end up grinding their teeth and weeping in misery as they are chased by the work at the last minute.

Even though he knew perfectly well that sticking his head into that mouth [stolen content]tonight to settle things with Ilay would be excruciatingly unauthorized copyRead on Read BL Novelspainful, Tae-ui realized he had been unable to recall ‘exactly how painful’ it would actually be.

No, I’ve gotten somewhat used to it. Now, when I’m in good condition, it doesn’t feel like I’m absolutely going to die.

……But today, he was not in good condition. Moreover, it had been a while.

Tae-ui decided that since the man was pretending not to know him, he would just keep playing the fool for a while longer.

“The pine mushrooms are so big and fresh today; the quality is great. They really melt in the mouth.”

“…….”

“Why aren’t you eating this delicious stuff? Huh? Leaving already?”

Tae-ui turned his back on Yohan.

It was a matter of timing, but [[Read on Read BL Novels]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]he felt that if he talked to him any longer, it would be no different from mental torture.

Staggering and bumping into things here and there, just as he had when entering the dining hall, Tae-ui headed toward the door. At that moment, his eyes met those of Richard, who had turned his head to say something to a waiter.

“I thought you just came in; have you finished your meal already?”

He spoke with his usual kind smile. Admiring how Richard’s attention to detail naturally made him well-liked by those around him, Tae-ui nodded. In truth, he hadn’t even eaten a quarter of his meal because of the man beside Richard, who was only then giving him an indifferent glance.

“Yes. You don’t look very well; go get some rest.”

Tae-ui bowed his head to the kind man who even worried about him and slinked past him toward the door.

It was just as he passed directly behind Ilay.

“Your complexion is indeed poor. You seem to get along well with Yohan; why not ask him to support you?”

That voice felt like a hand reaching out and suddenly grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.

Tae-ui turned to look at Ilay, his eyes widening.

“You…… no, how do you know Yohan?”

This time, Ilay cast a bewildered glance at Tae-ui.

“Just as this man seems to know every detail about my family, I know the members of the Tarten family quite well. Besides, I ran into Yohan a few times and spoke with him when we were children. Though it has been over twenty years.”

Come to think of it, that was true.

In a broad sense, most of the young people in this dining room were friends. Among them, there were likely a few who would firmly insist, ‘I never want to be called friends with that bastard.’

“Indeed, Christoph seemed to take a liking to him, which is rare, but he isn’t visible right now.”

Ilay added as if talking to himself, glancing at the empty seat across from them. Beside Read on Read BL Novels[visit our site]copy">unauthorized copyhim, Richard looked at Ilay with a peculiar expression and a subtle smile.

“Seeing you hold onto someone and spout such nonsense, it seems you’ve taken a liking to him as well, which is rare for you.”

“Did it seem that way?”

Ilay let out a short, cold laugh—a brief sound as if he had heard a ridiculous joke. He looked at Jeong Tae-ui with a fresh sense of curiosity.

“Well… it is quite novel to see an Asian staying and wandering around this house. It reminds me of someone I left behind.”

Had Jeong Tae-ui heard those words from someone else, he would have immediately shouted, ‘Don’t lie! There’s no way you’d say something so human and emotional!’ But since it concerned himself, he had nothing to say.

Richard widened his eyes slightly as if witnessing something strange, wearing a fascinated smile, but he seemed to accept it, noting, ‘You’ve changed a bit in the few years since I last saw you.’

While they conversed, Jeong Tae-ui, who had been unintentionally left standing awkwardly in the center of the conversation, eventually let out a quiet sigh and massaged his stiff neck.

“If you’re done talking, I’ll be going now.”

Thinking that if they tried to hold him back again, he might just flip the table once more—Alta was right, it was only hard at first—Jeong Tae-ui spoke. Richard bid him a polite farewell, telling him to go rest, but Ilay didn’t even look back.