By Zephyria 
Hae-jun kicked Lee A-gon away again with a weary motion. He was like a tick that kept clinging no matter how much he shook him off.
“I’ll give you back your words. Get lost, Lee A-gon.”
The bag was almost full. As Hae-jun went to the bathroom to pack his toiletries, Lee A-gon had already rummaged through Hae-jun’s bag.
When Hae-jun returned, he cursed and started packing the bag again. When Hae-jun put things in, Lee A-gon took them out. They repeated that action about ten times.
“Shit.”
Hae-jun cursed and threw the bag down.
Fine. He didn’t need the bag. Nothing was irreplaceable. He only took his laptop, wallet, and phone.
“Hyung, Hyung, no. Please, Hyung.”
Lee A-gon ran, howling like a dog that knew it would be abandoned. He blocked Hae-jun’s path, then knelt down with a thud.
The pupils in his eyes, looking up at Hae-jun, were wide open. Bruises were already forming around them. They were from where Hae-jun had hit him earlier.
A surge of emotion overwhelmed him. Hae-jun turned his head. Even at this point, Lee A-gon made his chest ache. He felt sorry seeing the bruised face from being hit. He pitied him.
He pitied him, yet he wanted to kill him. While feeling sorry, he also wanted to stomp on him with the heel of his foot. The feeling wavered back and forth, and in the end, hatred won.
Hae-jun picked up the poker of his heart and stirred his anger. This made his own fury burn even brighter.
He deserved to be hated. He was a man he should never love again. He wanted to leave this man with only hatred left in his heart.
The sound of footsteps heading towards the entrance echoed. He didn’t look back at the desperate cries from behind. But with one last step remaining, his foot wouldn’t move. It was as if his foot was physically stuck to the floor, refusing to budge.
Hae-jun, twisting his body in confusion at the incomprehensible situation, looked back. From a distance, a pale Lee A-gon, with fearful eyes, was watching his expression.
He had used his ability.
“Hahahaha. Hahahahaha.”
Hae-jun laughed out loud. Is this it, in the end? Are you trying to hold my feet again with your ability?
This bastard is doing this to me again?
“Let go, Lee A-gon.”
Lee A-gon shook his head. Hae-jun felt his rage boiling up to the top of his head.
“Let go, right now!”
“Hyung, please.”
Lee A-gon knelt. He knelt countless times and cried endlessly. He placed his palms flat on the floor and bowed his head. Still, Hae-jun’s anger did not subside.
“Let go, you son of a bitch!”
A roar like a lion’s burst out. Only then did his foot come free. Hae-jun strode to the entrance and reached for his shoes. Then, his foot was nailed to the floor again.
“…You!”
His fists trembled. He wanted to grind that bastard into powder right now. Hae-jun stood in the same spot, spewing all sorts of curses. He didn’t hesitate to say he would kill him if he didn’t let go immediately, or to disparage Lee A-gon’s looks and education. He knew these words would dig into Lee A-gon’s wounds.
“Can’t you hear me? Or are you so uneducated you can’t understand what I’m saying? Huh?”
“Damn it, I don’t want to date someone as ugly as you! You can’t even understand that?”
“I hated you from the moment I first saw you. Because you’re so dirty and ugly!”
“Let go. Are you really not going to let go? Do you really want to die so badly?”
Despite all these insults, Lee A-gon remained silent, clenching his teeth. Only tears… tears that soaked both his cheeks and pooled on the floor, spoke of his feelings.
Finally, after spewing every curse he could think of, Hae-jun pressed his forehead. The familiar sense of emptiness that followed a long bout of anger washed over him.
“Is it because of my ability?”
Breaking the long silence, Hae-jun asked. Lee A-gon looked up at the question, not an insult.
“Is it because there’s no one else to assist you if it’s not me?”
“No. I, I…”
As he opened his mouth to speak, tears were sucked into his mouth. Lee A-gon wiped his face with the back of his hand. Then, noticing his snot, he wiped his hand on his pants.
Even in this situation, he wanted to look good for Hae-jun. Not wanting to show his dirty face stained with tears and snot, he quickly bowed his head and tried to compose himself.
For a moment, a feeling of pity for him surfaced amidst his anger, but the instant he realized his legs wouldn’t move, that emotion melted away faster than tears.
He would never let anyone control his body again. He wouldn’t let anyone take it away. Hae-jun savored his hatred.
“Hyung… I love you.”
Lee A-gon stammered.
“I really… love, you. You can’t leave, you can’t. My… my lover.”
My lover.
At that moment, with a thud, a corner of Hae-jun’s defenses crumbled. Hae-jun bit the inside of his mouth. Like someone facing a terrible moment, exhibiting regressive behavior, Lee A-gon had regressed to the time when he lived alone with Hae-jun in the red brick house.
He stammered and used illogical words. My lover. The moment he looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and said that, a bucket of cold water was doused over the flames of anger stirred by the poker. The fire didn’t go out, but it was half-evaporated.
“You son of a bitch.”
He cursed, but it wasn’t as sharp as before. The other party also realized the tip had been broken off. Lee A-gon crawled almost on his hands and knees to Hae-jun’s feet and grabbed his leg. Only then could Hae-jun lift his foot from the floor.
Even a slight movement towards the entrance made Lee A-gon grip his hand with all his might, struggling. He sobbed heartbrokenly, begging not to be abandoned.
Hae-jun was completely exhausted. For several hours, he had been repeating this with Lee A-gon. Not just his body, but his mind was so weary he couldn’t fight anymore.
He slumped to the floor and stared blankly at Lee A-gon, who was clinging to him, crying and begging. They spent quite a long time like that.
“If you do this one more time.”
Hae-jun spoke, his voice raspy, as if coated in soot.
“Next time, no matter what you say, I won’t see you again.”
The eyelashes of the prostrate Lee A-gon fluttered. His long eyelashes stretched over his forehead, trembling finely, shaking up and down.
“Never, never, use your ability on my body without permission again. Understand? Promise me you’ll never do it again. No, swear it.”
Slowly, Lee A-gon nodded.
“Say it, Lee A-gon. Can you swear it?”
“Yes.”
Lee A-gon answered hastily. He too seemed drained from crying for so long, his voice cracking. He coughed, then answered again.
“Yes, Hyung. I will never do it again.”
“Good, then.”
Hae-jun nodded, then put strength into his weary legs and stood up. Lee A-gon, who had relaxed his grip slightly, was startled and clung to Hae-jun’s leg.
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes?”
He extended his hand to Lee A-gon. Lee A-gon dazedly took his hand and stood up.
“I said I’d grant you anything you wanted for your birthday gift. I want you to break my hypnosis.”
“For a birthday gift… you want to break the hypnosis? Is that what you want, Hyung?”
Lee A-gon looked bewildered.
“Yes. Break the hypnosis. You can find a hypnotist right now, can’t you?”
The reason Lee A-gon couldn’t meet other assistants.
It was because of the hypnosis he had placed on him.
The words of hypnosis he had placed half-jokingly in his childhood. Lee A-gon only likes Park Hae-jun. Lee A-gon only wants to continue with Park Hae-jun. We are a team. We are partners. Lee A-gon will never betray Park Hae-jun.
He hadn’t specified what he wanted to continue, or what kind of team they were, because he had his own agenda.
As a result, Lee A-gon only wanted to perform assistance with Hae-jun, and could only form a team with Hae-jun. His brain interpreted receiving assistance from anyone other than Hae-jun as an act of betrayal against Hae-jun.
“Call Secretary Yang too. I have something to ask.”
Lee A-gon nodded dazedly. He immediately made the call and conveyed the request, and Secretary Yang readily prepared what Hae-jun wanted.
Soon, a car arrived. The driver was still 2 Meter. It was nearing midnight. Hae-jun and Lee A-gon got into the car.
∞ ∞ ∞
In front of a plausible-looking building, a plaque read “Korea’s Hypnosis Master” along with a name. Below it, in slightly smaller print, was a biography, which included the names of American schools and certification marks, lending it an air of credibility.
A man with a friendly demeanor greeted them. Before beginning the treatment, the man had a consultation with Hae-jun. This process alone took nearly an hour.
Hae-jun told the man everything. About falling into a pit due to an accident in his childhood, the hypnosis he had placed then, and Lee A-gon’s subsequent obsession.
“Please break the hypnosis I cast in my childhood. Please remove Lee A-gon’s abnormal obsession with me.”
Hae-jun’s request was clear. It was to nullify everything he had said back then.
Afterward, the man also had a consultation with Lee A-gon. That consultation was so brief it felt like it ended almost as soon as it began.
“Then we will begin the treatment now. Please wait outside, guardian.”
Hae-jun went to the waiting room. Lee A-gon glanced at Hae-jun with anxious eyes. He was afraid Hae-jun would disappear while he wasn’t looking.
Just then, Secretary Yang appeared. Only after seeing him sit next to Hae-jun could Lee A-gon follow the hypnotist into the treatment room.
“It’s been a while.”
“It has been a while, Secretary.”
The two exchanged a light bow.
“You asked to be called?”
“Yes. I have something I want to know.”
After a slight pause, Hae-jun asked directly.
“What did you do to Seo Ji-hoon?”