Side Story Chapter 2
Gayeon followed Sarin, who was wiping spilled tea off her hand.
She felt like she might find something genuine in her among people who never showed their true feelings. So she couldn’t let go and kept obsessing over her.
She wasn’t someone who deceived others. Even if she did deceive, it wasn’t to harm others, but rather to protect them with clumsy lies. She understood not wanting to let go of something you didn’t want to be separated from.
The man who deceived others best in the world would never let go of a woman who was the opposite of him.
“He saved you once. Actually, he didn’t really save you.”
“You’re not the romantic person who falls in love just because someone saved you. You just needed a starting point.”
A starting point to justify clinging to him.
That’s how Gayeon saw it. Even if Sarin misunderstood something, she misunderstood it for a long time, so she sighed briefly. Then Sarin’s cell phone in her pocket rang. It wasn’t the usual time for him to make a call, but since there was only one person he would call, she quickly took it out.
“Yes.”
– Who are you with?
He asked slowly with a voice he already knew. Sarin looked at Kirill and Gayeon alternately.
“I ran into Mr. Kirill and Ms. Gayeon by chance.”
– By chance?
There was a hint of laughter in the voice. A low, somewhat chilling laughter that made a corner of her heart sink.
– Go straight home. Don’t make a fuss.
“Now?”
– Don’t let anyone into the house.
Owen said, as if advising a child. He whispered in her ear. It was hard to tell if it was a joke or serious, as laughter mixed with it.
“When will you come?”
– Well. I’ll know when the work is done.
He didn’t say what work it was. Sarin couldn’t ask anymore and said goodbye after a moment of silence.
“Why? Don’t you want to hang out with me?”
Gayeon asked casually when Sarin hung up. She shook her head, not because she believed her, but because she had no reason to, and put the half-empty teacup back to her lips for no reason.
“If you want to see him that badly, just go.”
“What?”
“Just go see him.”
“I don’t even know where he is.”
She wasn’t curious about that. Owen hadn’t set a line, but because his relationship with her wasn’t ordinary, Sarin couldn’t cross it.
“Hmm….”
Gayeon took a short breath and then lowered her voice to talk to Kirill about something. Sarin, who thought it might be about him, quickly opened his mouth.
“Oh, he’s coming soon after he finish something.”
“He’d like it if you went.”
Gayeon smiled subtly as she checked something on her phone. Then she stood up, taking Sarin with her. Kirill was also there.
Moscow wasn’t a place with good memories for Sarin. But because Gayeon and Hayan were together, she tried to bury those memories.
“Just going to see his face.”
“Why don’t you stay a little longer?”
The child’s face, now regained its color, was no different from other children. He was excited about the flight journey, unable to keep still. He hadn’t been able to enjoy flying when he came to Eden City, so this was practically the first opportunity for Hayan to enjoy a flight.
“We have to go to the hospital.”
“Umm….”
The child’s face drooped at the mention of the hospital. But she didn’t say she didn’t want to go to the hospital anymore. Sarin quietly held the child’s hand.
The first room he used became Hayan’s. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she quietly looked into the child’s room. It was just amazing to be able to see the child’s comfortable face at home instead of in the hospital.
As she held Hayan’s hand, who playfully touched Gayeon’s shoulder with one hand while holding her hand with the other, the child suddenly laughed as if asking when she became so chubby.
“I’ll take the child and go straight to the mansion, so go see Owen.”
Sarin nodded her head.
It felt strangely nerve-wracking just to go see his face, rather than facing each other every time. She couldn’t tell if her impulsive decisions always resulted in bad outcomes. Still, she wanted to see those dry eyes.
She missed the dry flame that appeared every time their eyes met.
She swallowed dry saliva.
Hayan trembled without realizing it, her small body tense. She was about to absentmindedly touch her necklace but then realized that Owen’s ring wasn’t there and withdrew her hand.
***
Tap.
Someone nearby flinched at the sound of the zip lighter opening. Owen, who sat arrogantly in the chair with his chin in his hand, closed the lighter’s lid again with the hand hanging casually on the armrest.
Tap.
“They say he took the flight to Moscow.”
It was Gayeon’s voice, not Sarin’s. The woman he still didn’t like was extending her hand of truce like this. She had something she couldn’t refuse and held onto it. If that was evil, it wasn’t bad. Owen twisted his mouth slightly at Gayeon’s words rather than at Kirill’s stone-like figure.
The newspaper spread over the table was featuring the divorce of the century.
The divorce of the First Lady Karlena and President Bellov. The divorce of the current president was unprecedented, and the newspapers were constantly talking about it. However, the two had already reached an agreement. There were many who doubted her abilities, who had lived as the first lady modestly until now. They constantly tested and provoked her. It was natural for those who wanted to climb up after the death of the ruler of the night. How much loyalty would anyone give to the deceased?
Karlena and Bellov also knew that things had changed a lot since the days when Nikolai was alive. Many questioned the night of Russia and the death of Nikolai. Those who had followed for a long time had one by one raised their flags. In the end, it was a matter of wanting independent independence.
Owen found this situation quite interesting. His amusement was accompanied by irritation. This one thing was not resolved, and Karlena, who was not the owner of the house, and Bellov, who called her every day to reconsider the divorce, were all beyond his area of interest.
He was only going back and forth between Russia and Eden City to finish what he had started.
A faint smell of blood permeated the sealed space.
All the windows were tightly closed to prevent any secrets from leaking out. Inhaling inevitably brought a pungent smell. No one among the standing people reacted to it.
Owen’s gaze casually swept over the body of Nikolai, who was lying cold.
To the dead, it was an indifferent gaze.
Tap.
The lid of the zip lighter in his hand opened again.
The tip of the shoes was soaked with thick blood. Owen closed the lighter’s lid again with the hand holding the zip lighter. The blood had already dried and hardened on the hand holding the zip lighter.
He turned his eyes to the old-fashioned wall clock. It was almost 7 o’clock. It was almost time for the dinner party to begin.
“Turn on the lights. The guests will be surprised.”
With a softening of his eyes, Owen said. Yuri nodded, and someone turned on the lights in the reception room. Then the chaotic scene unfolded in a miserable way. The marble walls were a mess with bullet marks.
Dozens of people lost their lives in one place. Owen was among them without even clearing the bodies.
And soon after, the sound of car engines coming to the mansion for the dinner party was heard from a distance.
People other than the owner of this house, Owen’s subordinates, opened the gates widely for them.
There were still uneaten dishes and wine on the table.
As he continued to open and close the zip lighter, Yuri took out a cigarette from his bosom. But Owen shook his head after he brought it out and put a candy in his mouth from his pocket. The sweetness overflowed to the tip of his tongue.
He clicked his tongue as he carelessly threw the lighter on the floor.
The sound of cars parked in a row from outside, as the guests who were supposed to come to this mansion got off, could be seen.
