Chapter 54
“You’re alone, aren’t you?”
A face clearly of Chinese descent. The Hong Kong English accent flowed effortlessly through the bright red lips.
The bartender seductively fluttered her eyes while offering a cocktail.
Instead of answering, the man smiled back and brought the cigarette to his lips. The glass in his other hand tilted, and the red cocktail shook as if about to spill.
Despite being in a dimly lit alley far from the neon lights of the bustling city, the place was surprisingly crowded for a small shop tucked away in a corner.
Then a hand reached out from behind and snatched the glass from the man.
“You consistently have terrible taste in choosing venues.”
Lips touched the clear glass. But before taking a sip, the lips parted, and with a clank, the glass found its place again.
Tomato juice. It tasted embarrassing to even consider it a cocktail.
“You always have to drink something like that.”
Under the blue lights, the burgundy-colored hair stood out. Taejun exhaled a long stream of smoke through his lips.
“It has a pretty name.”
Leaning against the bar table, Yuhwa tilted her head towards him.
Bloody Mary. There’s a superstition that if you say that name three times, a ghost will appear in the mirror. It’s quite eerie despite sounding pretty.
“Your taste is really something.”
Taejun’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s.
“And it had to be that taste.”
His indigo eyes, illuminated by the light, searched the face before him closely.
He sighed. Half of the flowing blood between them was undoubtedly the same.
“Have we met before?”
There was envy in the face as he tapped the ash off his cigarette. Yuhwa reached into Taejun’s jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
“I wonder.”
As if it were his own, she took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth, bursting into laughter unexpectedly.
Stupid kid. Despite spending over ten years in this environment, nothing seemed to have changed since they first met.
Could it really be because of that day?
“I’m glad it was me who was there.”
An associate standing beside Yuhwa approached and lit the cigarette. Amidst the smoke dispersing from their breath, the focus of their gaze blurred.
If it hadn’t been Yuhwa waiting for Yugyeom at the square, but Taejun, and if Taejun had seen Yugyeom taking the woman to the underground parking lot. He would have chased after them and killed her.
Even though the prearranged plan was simply for confirmation, he couldn’t help but long for Yugyeom’s collapse in front of the woman’s death.
Holding hands with her was solely for those moments.
“Anyway, that hacker’s words turned out to be all true, huh?”
Yuhwa stretched her lips into a long smile as she swallowed the gin and tonic as if relishing it.
“Baek Hawon’s schedule was spot on. It’s all solid information as if we saw it with our own eyes.”
They had gained certainty.
Yuhwa could read emotions from the gaze meeting hers through the car window, emotions that seemed to have no intention of being concealed.
“Quite impressive for someone who’s just been sitting in the corner of their room… but still, it’s unsettling.”
Yuhwa, placing down the glass with only ice left, chuckled softly.
“How can you trust someone who doesn’t even show their face? And the name is strange from the start. What’s ominous about ’44’?”
A snicker burst out from under the hand covering her mouth.
“Don’t worry. It’s less weird than you believing in such superstitions.”
Her elbow lightly tapped Taejun’s forehead, stabilizing his body that had almost lost balance due to the high chair.
“It hurts.”
Taejun groaned as he wiped his mouth. He still had a smile in his eyes as he stood up.
“It’s fortunate if it hurts.”
Yuhwa chuckled lightly. Taejun knelt down beside her, one knee touching the ground.
As he rolled up his pants, a wound etched above his knee was revealed. Dried bloodstains extended down to his ankles.
Her cold fingertips traced along the bloodstains like drawing a line.
“I hoped no one would be there with her, but it turned out like this in the end.”
Taejun muttered softly.
“Are you jealous?”
“Jealous?”
Taejun brushed his hair back and lifted his head.
“I wouldn’t be.”
Underneath his dilated black pupils, the scar beside his mouth twisted.
Excitement and madness intertwined above his face illuminated by the red lights, sending shivers down the spine as he burst into chilling laughter.
“I’ve never been this happy in my entire life.”
Taejun stood up from the ground.
“What expression do you think she’ll make if I kill her?”
He whispered lowly, gripping Yuhwa’s shoulders uncontrollably in excitement.
“Will she cry this time?”
His unfocused pupils flashed.
Thud! At that moment, Taejun’s face turned sharply as his cheek was struck by a fist.
“You need to sober up, Teo.”
Yuhwa laughed as she twisted his wrist, still holding the clenched fist. Taejun, looking up at her, still had a smile on his face.
“It’ll be troublesome for me if you mess up because you’re crazy.”
She took off her leather gloves and bent down to match Taejun’s eye level.
“Do you know how I got to this position?”
Her long fingers lightly tapped the swollen cheek.
“But you know better than anyone else.”
Her white hand was tough with calluses and scars.
“Did you get anything from Lee Chan? Oh, did he catch you?”
Yuhwa, who occasionally smiled, straightened her body.
“That was a bait from the beginning.”
It was perfect timing as if it had been planned. Their gaze shifted towards the direction of an unfamiliar voice.
Underneath the deeply pulled black hat, the corners of the man’s mouth curved.
The man swiftly approached right in front of Yuhwa.
“Why.”
Yuhwa raised her hand to stop the organization member who was coming up behind belatedly. In her remaining hand, a revolver was gripped, her finger on the trigger.
In the next moment, the revolver struck the man’s hat upwards.
The shadows receded, and the light fell straight down.
“As expected, you don’t look like someone who’s been stuck in a corner of a room, gloomy.”
—
The platform was quiet. Cars simply passed by, and the noisy world felt distant.
Yugyeom, sitting on the railing, lifted his head buried in his knees.
“You’re here?”
And he gladly smiles brightly.
“I felt dizzy and couldn’t drive. Can I give you a ride?”
Hee-chan, getting out of the car, strides over to Yugyeom. His clenched fist trembled faintly.
After taking a deep breath, he tossed the phone he was holding to Yugyeom. On the phone screen that fell in front of Yugyeom’s feet, there were several CCTV photos.
Kang Taejun and Yuhwa walking through the department store lobby. Kang Taejun receiving something from Yuhwa. And Yugyeom.
“Are you really crazy?”
The words he spat out wavered with anger and anxiety.
Yugyeom, still wearing a smile, picks up Lee Chan’s phone and hands it back to him.
“You didn’t use my card at the department store today.”
“Ha.”
Lee-chan chuckled with his head bowed. His shoulders, covered by his hands, trembled for a while.
Eventually, Lee-chan lifted his head with a sigh mixed with laughter.
“Based on your reaction now, does that mean you want me to kill instead?”
Their clashed gazes deeply scrutinized each other for a moment.
“Cha Yeonbyeol.”
“…”
“Can I kill her?”
It was an indifferent tone without a hint of emotion. But Yugyeom understood.
Just as Lee Chan noticed the moment when the lines were drawn above his light-colored pupils, he couldn’t help but notice.
It wasn’t just words spoken to test him.
“Chan-ah.”
Yugyeom rested his head on the railing.
“Do you really want to know?”
His wind-blown hair brushed over his delicate eyes. His eyes were reddened from the heat.
“You’re a smart guy.”
In Lee Chan’s light eyes looking up at him, Yugyeom saw the line drawn between him and Lee Chan.
“Don’t worry. There won’t be any mishaps.”
“…”
“That woman is just a pawn. You know that.”
Lee Chan wanted to ask.
Are we not just cards to be written and torn apart, but jokers holding the key?
But the question, which had swelled up to the tip of his tongue, had to be swallowed without ever being asked.
“Yeah. I don’t really want to know why you suffer every year, why you collapse from looking fine.”
Lee Chan turned his head. Once again, he chose not to face him.
“Get up.”
“…”
“Tell me about what happened today. About Kang Taejun and Cha Yeonbyeol…”
At that moment, a heavy weight pressed down on his shoulders.
“…Surely you’re not asleep, are you?”
Instead of a reply, a ragged breath reached his ears. The hand that gripped Lee Chan’s arm tightened like clinging onto something.
Even without touching his forehead, he could guess the body heat. His whole body was so hot it was surprising that he could stand on two feet.
“You crazy bastard. Why did you crawl out in that state?”
Yugyeom chuckled as if the wind had been let out.
“You might really be crazy.”
Blinking. The world repeatedly went dark and bright.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the figure of a child. Only the black pupils in the blurry, flame-like face were clear enough to be eerie.
He considered it fortunate. Because he could recall the moment when those eyes rolled on the ground.
Though his body burned black from the relentless heat, he was willing to endure even that pain.
Don’t you dare forget.
Throughout the fever, he engraved each whispered word into his chest, one by one.
“Sorry.”
The whisper was accompanied by a smiling face that seemed about to cry.
“I know how terrible I am like this.”
Why? Why are you smiling like that?
The scene before him became indescribably distant, but it was only for a moment.
“Still, I’m sorry.”
It was simply because of the relentless fever.
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Editor : Red
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is Sid. I hope you liked it<3
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