106 – VCR

At my attitude, Joo Min-hyeok let out a sigh, as if resigned. That Alpha, pretending to be pitiful in front of me, had plunged me into countless worries and delusions. To what extent were his sincerity and the kindness he showed me actually real? Was I, in fact, merely a tool he intended to use from beginning to end?

I tortured myself by fabricating all sorts of scenarios for things that had never even happened. My days were spent falling asleep amidst an exhaustingly infinite number of delusions. Now, I wanted to end it all so I could escape from this endless cycle of fantasy and victim mentality. It had been dragged on for far too long.

“Your Majesty seems to enjoy watching me be anxious. You keep dropping hints one by one, knowing full well they’ll surprise me. When did you find out about my work? I assume you saw it through the cameras.”

Even in this situation, Joo Min-hyeok maintained a stoic expression. I wondered what on earth I would have to do to see that noble face completely crumble. I felt an impulse to grab the skin of his face and rip it off.

“Oh, speaking of cameras… was the purpose surveillance from the very beginning? Approaching me in a friendly manner and helping me with my grandfather. Was it a planned approach just to install cameras in the Imperial Pavilion?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

It was a soft yet firm answer, as if providing assurance. Joo Min-hyeok gave an immediate response without a moment’s hesitation on that point.

“You might not have known… but I was always interested in you. Where you were, what you were doing, whether you had come back to the palace after playing outside. I witnessed and intervened in the matter between you and the Prime Minister purely by chance. There wasn’t a shred of calculation in that situation.”

I knew well enough that Joo Min-hyeok had been interested in me in some way. It wasn’t just once or twice that I’d spotted the Emperor’s court ladies and the Sang-seon scouting my Imperial Pavilion. He had been so obvious about it; I wondered how he thought I wouldn’t notice.

“The more I learned about you, the more curious I became. I felt like you were hiding something. The way you spoke was like someone who had attained enlightenment about life, and you always treated me like someone watching a play from the audience. As if it were something that had nothing to do with you, as if you didn’t belong here—you just observed. Does ‘observer’s perspective’ make sense?”

Ah, so this man had sensed even that side of me. At the time, I believed everyone around me was unrelated to me. They were stolen contentclass="wm-strong" style="position:relative;display:inline;">[Read on Read BL Novels]simply people of the Grand Imperial Concubine in a novel. Because I only wanted to escape that situation, I didn’t mingle with them. Joo Min-hyeok had seen right through to my essence.

“It felt as though something was missing from you. When I saw you meet Kang Hyun-wook, that confusion only intensified. The relationship between the two of you was so puzzling and intriguing. It didn’t seem like love at first sight, yet you showed emotions beyond that—how do you think I felt?”

At the mention of Hyun-wook’s name, a tiny crack appeared in Joo Min-hyeok’s expression. Seeing his emotions shift subtly and his brow furrow slightly, I could tell how much he had been bothered by us back then.

“I wanted to know. How on earth those deep emotions, shown by people who had just met, were formed. I kept groping for a hole I might have missed. It was also absurd that both of you seemed to be hiding something in common.”

Sigh… I thought I was being careful, but it seems the natural emotional communion that leaked out unconsciously couldn’t be hidden. Especially not from someone with the instincts of a beast. That’s why I had been puzzled at the time too. I had once suspected that he might know something.

I remember Joo Min-hyeok saying this: ‘Is there really nothing you’re hiding from me? Did you tell me everything?’ At the time, I wondered if he was asking because he knew something, and as it turns out, he had indeed thrown those words out knowing something.

“I was curious because I was sure there was something. After that, it’s as you said. Those cameras… I didn’t watch them all the time. I didn’t at first. Then, thinking I couldn’t stand it anymore, I checked the times you were with Kang Hyun-wook, avoiding your private time as much as possible… and I found out. I only drove the final nail in when I heard about the connection from a past life during the investigation into Kang Hyun-wook.”

A past life… Hearing this, I became certain that Joo Min-hyeok currently did not know that we had possessed characters in a novel. He seemed to vaguely believe our situation was simply a matter of a past life. Since we died and came back to life, it wasn’t technically wrong. We finished a previous life and lived again, so ‘past life’ and ‘current life’ were accurate.

Regardless, there was no lie or scheme visible in his concise and clear answer. He was confident in his words. Though installing cameras wasn’t exactly something to be confident about.

“You must have been very surprised. In truth, it’s a story that’s hard to believe.”

“…Yes. Beyond surprising, it’s true that I was quite shocked. But once I knew everything, I understood. What it was you wanted to hide. Your behavior, your bond with Kang Hyun-wook, and even the way you called for Seo-joo to visit you every night. It all made sense in an instant.”

“Knowing all that, what were you planning to do? You must have wanted [unauthorized [visit our site]copy]unauthorized copy -->something. Weren’t you curious about Seo-joo or my father? Well, I’m sure you looked into them, of course.”

“I wasn’t planning anything. I was just curious. What would I do just because I knew about a past life? Understanding it was enough. Of course, I’m the only one who knows this fact. So you don’t have to worry about anything else. The same goes for your family; I won’t touch them unnecessarily.”

Joo Min-hyeok’s attitude was so clean that I felt confused about whether it was really okay to end it like this. His demeanor was so nonchalant it was almost absurd, considering how hard I had struggled. Of course, that was partly because Joo Min-hyeok didn’t know everything.

What I had hidden wasn’t simply the events of a past life. To be precise, I had hidden the fact that I knew the future. I had tried my best not to follow that path, and I tried to hide the fact that the situation had changed because of it. Joo Min-hyeok did not know the most fundamental problem I had been trying to conceal.

When I was alone with Hyun-wook, I had mentioned a few times that this was like a novel or a movie, and that I didn’t want to be killed by him. Seeing that he didn’t know that, it seemed his claim that he didn’t watch the cameras often was true. It was a huge relief that he hadn’t checked the cameras during those conversations.

“I originally intended to pretend I didn’t know. It’s not an easy story to bring up, and there’s no need to force it. That’s why I planned to pretend I didn’t know until the end. But seeing you rush over just to ask about Kang Hyun-wook’s well-being, it made my stomach turn, so I did it.”

“…What?”

He had no plan to tell me, but his stomach turned? So he’s saying he just blurted it out impulsively because he was feeling petty? Truly absurd.

“I apologize for bringing it up and making you anxious. I am sincerely sorry for everything else as well.”

Of course, I didn’t feel like readily accepting that ‘sincere’ apology. Approaching his heart had become a frightening and difficult task. I wondered what the point of it all was now. We were a relationship that was about to end soon anyway.

“…Why did you come here dressed like that? What were you doing with the village elders and the nets earlier? Don’t use things like that as an excuse to linger around me.”

“That’s a different matter. I happened to help with some work, and there was a promise made in the process. It’s a personal matter, so don’t worry unauthorized copystyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit [unauthorized copy]our site]about it. I told you then. Whatever I do here has nothing to do with you.”

I have no idea how he thinks he helped with work he knows nothing about. The work done here is almost entirely physical labor. And the Emperor, who isn’t some idle person with nothing to do, helped with spreading nets?

“And I received this for working, so I brought it for you.”

With an awkward face, he pointed to the large styrofoam box he had brought earlier. When I looked at Joo Min-hyeok with a bewildered expression, he answered cautiously.

“It’s octopus and abalone, and they gave me especially large ones. They said it’s good for your health, so I brought it for you.”

“I’m fine. My health isn’t bad and I don’t need things like that, so just take it back.”

Do you think I’d want to prepare and eat octopus given by you in this situation?

“They gave them to me because they were fresh and good.”

“Then you eat them, Your Majesty. Take it.”

“No, I…”

It wasn’t bad watching him fluster as I snapped that I didn’t need it. I wanted to see more of that powerless side of him, but I couldn’t because Joo Min-hyeok had to answer a phone call. Why was he checking my reaction while answering the phone? He’s doing things he never used to do.

I clicked my tongue and turned my head. Joo Min-hyeok repeatedly told the person on the unauthorized copyphone to wait before hanging up. It seemed unauthorized copypeople were looking [unauthorized copy]for him everywhere. Which made sense, as it was strange for the Emperor to be here in the first place. He has so much busy work to do, so what on earth is he doing?

“I think our conversation is finished, so please leave quickly. Now that I know why you’re on the island, I won’t worry about it anymore. If anything happens, contact me through my lawyer.”

“Then this…”

Joo Min-hyeok hurriedly pushed the box toward me, but I remained consistent in showing that I had no intention of taking it.

“Your Majesty, are we the kind of relationship that sweetly exchanges things like this? If you don’t plan on eating it yourself, sell it somewhere. Or you could give it to the Queen Dowager.”

I brushed away his hand, which was trying to pass over the octopus until the end, and pushed his back hard to shove him out of the cafe. Joo Min-hyeok, pushed out awkwardly, stood there blankly for a moment before slowly turning around. My chest felt tight, as if a boulder were lodged inside.

∗　　∗　　∗

As Min-hyeok walked a few steps, a burly man appeared as if he had been waiting. He took the styrofoam box from Joo Min-hyeok’s hand and opened the car door for him. Soon, Min-hyeok sat in the back seat, feeling fatigued, leaned his head against the seat, and closed his eyes.

While his eyes were closed for a moment, he felt a slight movement beside him. Sensing the movement, Min-hyeok snapped his eyes open as if remembering something he had forgotten. Ah, right. He was here. In the seat next to where Min-hyeok looked, there was Jin-su, fidgeting and not knowing what to do with himself.