Chapter 86
…But what if this is the case?
“You really can’t hide your expressions.”
Kang Tae-Jun suddenly burst into loud laughter. He laughed uncontrollably, looking genuinely amused.
“Don’t worry, there’s no poison.”
Realizing that my thoughts had been perfectly read, I tried not to show my embarrassment. I composed my expression, which kept shifting uncontrollably, and sat down at the table.
He sat down across from me, his face still smiling.
“Eat up.”
What could I possibly eat here?
No matter how indifferent a person might be, they wouldn’t readily accept food from the man who kidnapped them and killed their favorite person.
“Is there anything you can’t eat?”
His gaze, observing me, was blunt. It seemed like his eyes were urging me to eat quickly.
Unable to pretend any longer, I grabbed a fork.
I poked at the steak directly in front of me.
Blood oozed out from the undercooked piece of meat.
“Your neck’s all messed up.”
At his admiring comment, I looked up.
Kang Tae-Jun scrutinized my neck closely. It felt like I was a frog on a dissection table.
“Of course, I think you’re prettier now.”
What a madman. Watching his smiling face, I cursed inwardly.
Though I hadn’t touched anything, the bruised part of my neck ached from the lingering gaze.
I flicked my lips a few times and ultimately put the fork down. I hadn’t taken a single bite of the food.
Although he said there was no poison, one never knows, and I felt like I would vomit the moment I put anything in my mouth.
Kang Tae-Jun poured wine into a glass. The deep red wine filled the glass. After taking a sip, he looked at me.
“I prepared this because I’m sorry and grateful.”
I wanted to cover my ears with both hands.
“Really, I’m grateful.”
“……”
“For meeting Yugyeom.”
I was willing to do anything to avoid listening to his words if it meant escaping from this situation.
“Thanks to you, it seems like I’m going to get the best gift today.”
He whispered like a child revealing a precious secret to a friend. There was a hint of excitement in his snake-like eyes.
It was definitely a good decision not to eat anything. If I had taken even one bite, I would have vomited in front of that smiling face.
At that moment, my phone, which was placed on the table, vibrated.
Now that I think about it, my phone must have been completely broken. I had smashed it with such force that it wouldn’t be surprising if it were shattered inside and out.
“……Really, you’re always the same.”
Kang Tae-Jun muttered to himself as he checked the caller ID.
The smile that spread across his lips seemed somehow different from what I had seen before.
“That’s why I can’t get rid of you.”
It was almost close to madness. His unmasked excitement overflowed from his dark eyes.
Kang Tae-Jun placed his finger on his lifted lips. I remained silent, keeping my mouth shut as he instructed.
“Yes.”
Still keeping his gaze fixed on me, he spoke into the phone. I was trapped by that gaze, unable to move.
A deep sense of unease began to rise from my toes.
“I’ve been waiting.”
It didn’t take long for me to realize the reason for my unease.
“Yugyeom.”
The moment Kang Tae-Jun spoke that name, I felt my insides churn with nausea.
“Shall we meet?”
* * *
Tae-Jun was born as the so-called third-generation chaebol.
His grandfather’s company, a trading firm, had maintained a close relationship with Baekcheon since the time of his grandfather.
It was well known that the TO Group rose to its current position through drug and arms trafficking disguised as international trade.
There was no one who would dare to touch them, backed by Baekcheon.
And normally, Kang Tae-Jun should have been the third head of the TO Group. He was born for that position.
“Ah, this kid is really sharp.”
“The future of the TO Group looks bright, haha.”
As he grew up as a successor, he excelled in intelligence, eloquence, social skills, and appearance. He had no deficiencies.
Everyone cherished and loved him.
However, there were unsettling moments when he was around.
Laughing at a funeral.
Casually uttering chilling words.
Moments where he veered off from ordinary understanding.
The moments that seemed like delusions turned into certainty during a snowy winter.
“Ahhhhh!”
An employee working at Tae-Jun’s house ran out in terror. His father was on his way home at that time.
He passed by the terrified employee without speaking and headed to the third floor where Tae-Jun’s room was.
Thinking it was just an overreaction to something trivial, he opened the door to his room.
“Oh, Father!”
Nine-year-old Tae-Jun rushed over and hugged him.
“Father, I did something good.”
The clothes were stained red wherever his little hands touched. But mesmerized by his angelic smile, I thought it was just an illusion.
Until he proudly led his father to the desk and showed him.
“You…… What is this!”
“The kitten abandoned by its mother finds it hard to survive.”
He spoke clearly, as if boasting about what he learned at school.
“Since it’s hard to survive anyway, it’s meaningless to keep living.”
I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
The moments that had seemed off before now seemed to overlap with his innocent smile.
The deviation from common sense was beyond what could be comprehended with ordinary thinking.
“So I sent it to heaven myself.”
Moments stained like black paint on a white shirt.
The very next day, he went to the hospital.
“It’s a dysfunction of the frontal lobe. He cannot empathize with others’ pain and emotions at all. Therefore, forming deep relationships is impossible.”
“So, are you saying my son is not normal?”
“It’s not entirely impossible to treat. With ongoing attention and treatment, the symptoms might alleviate as he grows, and if that’s not possible, we could try to implant emotions……”
That was the end of it.
Like a beast that abandons a newborn that’s unlikely to survive, Kang Tae-Jun was discarded.
And a year later, his younger brother was born.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Executive Director! No, I should say Director now!”
The younger brother, born eight years later, was advancing up and up……
But he was only a department head.
A position that was nothing more than a name.
Despite the fact that there was no one left to replace him, he could never return to his original position.
His biological father had no interest in anything defective. Whether it was an object, a person, or even his own child. Once something was out of his favor, that was it.
The position of department head was precisely that line.
One day, pushed out without knowing why, the red line drawn at his feet.
The fact that he could not step even a foot inside that line, right in front of his eyes, was enough to drive a person insane.
Amidst this, he met Yugyeom.
“Department Head Kang Tae-Jun?”
A face that smiled brightly without a single blemish. The name “love child of a utopia” seemed entirely unfitting for him.
The beginning might have been a sense of commonality that was quite ordinary.
Both you and I, regardless of our faults, are outside the line drawn.
* * *
“Long time no see?”
Fire flared up and then subsided in the open kitchen located in the middle of the restaurant.
“You surprised me. It’s been so long since you called me first. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.”
The man in the bright red suit, who looked like a flame himself, sliced a steak. His form, holding the fork and knife, was almost as if he had been specially trained in dining etiquette.
“This is our fourth time eating together. Including just entering a restaurant together, it’s the fifth time.”
He seemed to have no intention of hiding his obsessive recall of the number of meetings, as much as he did his excited voice.
“I missed you, Yugyeom.”
Tae-Jun gently placed the steak, cut into bite-sized pieces, in front of me.
His face, with its warm and bright smile, was radiant. He observed my reaction as if savoring the sight at the end of his gaze.
“I’m glad to see your face.”
Noon sunlight poured over him. His hair, appearing almost white under the light, was dazzling.
Yugyeom, sitting across from Tae-Jun, showed no notable change in expression.
He merely maintained a seemingly painted smile.
“Do you know? I always thought you’d call me first again someday.”
“Department Head Kang Tae-Jun.”
The soft voice was layered over the sound of wine being poured.
Tae-Jun’s face oddly hardened and then relaxed again.
“Today’s meeting is for business reasons.”
Yugyeom smiled, his eyes sparkling in the light like the red-filled glass.
“Oh, really? I’m looking forward to it.”
Excitement was bubbling beneath his calm exterior.
Tae-Jun, unable to sit still, playfully scraped the edge of his knife.
“Your boss has commissioned me.”
In the bright sunlight, they stared at each other. Their gazes clashed, neither willing to give way.
“Cha Yeonbyul.”
Tae-Jun’s finger halted sharply at the end of the knife.
“So I need that woman.”
Yugyeom’s voice was emotionless.
There was no sign of worry about losing something precious; he merely treated it as a business matter.
