Chapter 61
“Th-this…!”
As I glared at his smiling face as if I were about to devour it, Dosihyu quickly set down the teacup without making a sound.
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
“Kidding?”
I got up abruptly and walked briskly towards Dosihyu. Then I reached out and slapped his shoulder with a loud smack.
“Ow! That hurts!”
Jumping up with a start, Dosiyou pretended to wipe away tears.
“You’re really, I mean, really mean…”
Continuing the act, he walked to the desk and pulled out my hairpin from the drawer.
“With your bare hands?”
With a smirk that seemed to say ‘are you crying?’, Dosihyu teasingly waved the hairpin.
My precious hairpin. It looked even more radiant today.
“Give it to me.”
I approached with determination, but the hairpin deftly moved away before I could grab it.
“Not gonna happen.”
“Hey!”
“Not gonna happen!”
Dosihyu ran around, avoiding me, inside the spacious office. I pursued him, feeling like I was in a race.
Finally, as I grabbed his back, his large frame suddenly leaned back, leaving me no room to evade.
“Huh…?”
Just before he fell over.
A cold hand firmly grabbed mine. I was pulled abruptly and collided with a solid chest.
Thanks to that, Dosihyu fell flat on his back with a thud.
“Be careful.”
I raised my head in the direction of the trembling voice.
When our eyes met, Angel let go of my hand immediately. I alternated my gaze between his emerald eyes and my hand that had been pushed away.
“Am I that annoying?”
The answer came a beat late.
“Yes.”
Huh. When I first saw him, his tendency to cry at the slightest thing was cute, but now…
“I got hurt just now, Angel. Show some remorse.”
I laughed loudly at him lying on the floor, pretending to be hurt. He let out a loud groan as if advertising his pain. I laughed loudly at him, a little belatedly.
“You got what you deserved for being naughty.”
I sat down in front of him, who was lying on the floor. Dosihyu stopped pretending to be hurt and looked at me.
I smiled and reached out my hand.
“Give it.”
Dosihyu hesitated, staring at my outstretched palm, then smiled mischievously.
And a cold fist was placed on my outstretched palm. Like a dog giving its paw, thump.
I tried to withdraw my hand in surprise, but it was immediately caught.
“If I grant you one wish.”
“…A wish?”
I stared at his face, which was smiling with suspicion.
“What is it?”
Dosihyu leaned closer, his face full of mischievousness.
“Cha Yeonbyeol.”
Under the light coming through the glass ceiling, his eyes sparkled like rubies.
I had always wondered about his original color beneath the constant dyeing and contact lenses.
“Don’t go back to being a hundred thousand.”
As he added that, the words I had intended to ask were forgotten.
“Until next week.”
“Next week? Why?”
Still not letting go of my hand, Dosihyu pulled me up with a jerk and shook my clasped hand up and down. My body shook along with his, making me dizzy.
“Let’s go to the casino!”
His voice was excited, like that of a child asking to go to the amusement park. The problem was that it wasn’t a place filled with dreams and hope.
“Why go there? Are you going to gamble?”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically and stepped back, keeping my distance.
“Hey, I don’t do that kind of thing.”
Dosihyu pouted playfully, as if saying, ‘do you really think I would?’
I backed away a step further without hesitation.
“The biggest casino owner in Macau is changing this time. They’re going to open a big game to celebrate. Do you know what it’s like to bet on that?”
I don’t know what to bet on, though.
I listened to Dosihyu’s words with one ear, focusing on the timing to snatch the hairpin from his hand.
As if sensing where my mind was, the hairpin flew up just as Dosihyu’s hand moved. Following that movement, our eyes met.
Dosihyu smiled confidently.
“Utopia.”
It was a perfect defeat.
“What do you think it means?”
I couldn’t help but think of someone every time I heard that word, no matter how hard I tried to forget.
—
As the car folded onto the bridge, jazz music flowed from the speakers.
After going back and forth a few times, I was already familiar with this scene.
As I rolled down the window, the wind tousled my hair. The twilight over the sea overlapped with the black night sea shimmering below.
“Why did you help me?”
I turned my head slightly towards Angel, who had lowered his chin.
“Isn’t it weirder not to help?”
Angel gnashed his teeth as if his throat was blocked. Maybe he misunderstood because he saw me from the side. I turned back and looked out the window again.
“To be honest, your sister came to mind.”
The young blonde girl.
“She looked like her.”
In that blurry picture, the face came to mind for some reason. The reason became clearer as I remembered the figure shielding her like protecting a child.
“What if it was all for nothing?”
It’s always frightening to think about impacting someone else’s life.
Even if my intentions were good, the other person might not have wanted it. And maybe they’ll end up even unhappier because of me.
So, I have no choice but to do my best, as fearful as it may be.
I hope I can take responsibility for the end of this journey I’ve started.
“Do you know who the new owner of the casino hotel is?”
I asked Angel abruptly. He still kept his gaze forward.
“I don’t know.”
“The previous owner was someone the lady knows.”
As the evening approached and the traffic continued, we still hadn’t left the bridge. Angel brushed his hair back and turned his head.
“The man who harassed the lady at the party.”
The golden blonde hair shimmered under the twilight. Even with an expressionless face, the juxtaposition of the soft lines of his face and the black suit emitted a strange atmosphere.
“That man was found dead the morning after the party.”
For a moment, my mind went blank.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and blinked slowly.
“…Why?”
It was only a few days ago that we had talked. The idea of someone dying still felt too unfamiliar to me.
“Well, they say it was a murder due to losing all his money at the casino and getting angry, but who knows on this street.”
Angel said with a smirk as he spoke. It was hard to understand the meaning behind his smile.
“How was the culprit caught?”
The car started moving again. Angel held onto the steering wheel with one hand as he spoke.
“He was in his forties and was found dead the next day, having left a suicide note saying he couldn’t live with the guilt.”
“Using suicide to cover up a crime is a common tactic.”
To say that someone committed suicide because of guilt on this street. It was a story even a child wouldn’t believe. It made me doubt the sincerity of the story even more.
“Well, what can you do? The dead can’t speak.”
Or maybe they have enough power to write a script without having to try hard.
“Whatever the case, the person who took that position should be careful.”
He stared at me with his light green eyes.
In the original work, the episode set in the casino background was right before the storm hit, but ‘casino’ itself didn’t play a significant role.
I denied my feelings for Baek Hawon, but Yu Gyeom eventually handed over false information about Baek Cheon to the leader of Utopia, Yoo Ho-beom.
And with the gold ingot he received as a reward, he heads to Yuhwa’s casino.
Yu Gyeom originally had funds several times greater than the money he needed to use. Later, he encountered Baek Hawon near the casino.
If the original owner of the casino is dead, the person who takes his place is most likely Yuhwa, considering the circumstances.
It might be that he wants to reinforce his image himself, rather than just being a figurehead.
In that case… I shouldn’t go to the casino under any circumstances.
I couldn’t help but be curious about the meaning of building Utopia.
I looked out over the rippling waves beneath the bridge, trying to see if there was anything I missed.
“How’s the situation with Utopia these days?”
But my thoughts kept straying from my goal.
In the original, as Baek Hawon wavers because of Yu Gyeom, Yuhwa climbs to the highest position in Utopia. And she actively cooperates in Yu Gyeom’s murder by Kang Taejun.
This time, Yu Gyeom won’t be swayed by Baek Hawon, right?
Sad endings are so dangerous like this. They leave lingering regrets, and if I can change that ending, I feel like I can do anything.
What I did may have been a wrong path, but…
“It wasn’t for nothing.”
At that moment, a low voice cut through my dizzying thoughts. My heart fluttered as if someone had read my mind.
“That child really reminded me of my sister when she was young.”
I tried to deny the humorous sense of relief that I wasn’t being read like a book.
It seemed like a response to my question about whether helping Ivy was pointless.
“My sister also committed suicide.”
