Chapter 96
“Kill Father.”
That phrase clung to me like a devilish whisper, impossible to ignore.
“Right here, in front of everyone, kill Father.”
The blood coursing through my veins burned hotly. Reason blurred, while long-suppressed desires became sharp and clear.
The intention behind the trap was obvious. Though easily understood, Yugyeom instinctively touched the gun in his jacket pocket.
“Sister.”
Yugyeom whispered to Yuhwa, standing beside him, keeping his gaze fixed on the stage below.
His voice was so low it wouldn’t be heard even by those watching through phones.
“Do you think I could kill Father?”
At that moment, their eyes met. Yugyeom looked up at him, and the black eyes that gazed down at him were clear even from a distance.
“Could you kill Father yourself, Sister? I don’t think I could.”
Yugyeom spoke calmly. Yuhwa, watching him, maintained her composed expression.
“Who among us would dare to do that…”
In Yugyeom’s pale eyes, the color of a deep sky would momentarily rush in, only to retreat again.
“Dare to kill Father.”
Yugyeom turned his head to face Yuhwa. Seeing the smile on his lips, Yuhwa returned his smile.
“We can’t dare.”
Yuhwa stepped closer to Yugyeom, tilting her head slightly.
“A dog can’t break its own leash.”
Then, her gaze shifted back to the shattered glass wall. Yugyeom instinctively followed her gaze.
“But you might be able to.”
When their eyes met, Yugyeom’s reddened eyes hardened.
Throughout the trap, Yugyeom had been thinking. His thoughts were almost certain.
His sister, consumed by her desire to eliminate him, had gone too far this time.
It wasn’t about how far she could go in the face of Yeonbyeol’s death.
Although he couldn’t be sure of that woman’s intentions, he knew one thing for certain—he would never act on it.
No matter what happened, even if it meant becoming the woman he hated, bound by rage but unable to let go, he couldn’t abandon this path.
The burning desire he had clung to for over a decade—this yearning was something he couldn’t simply let go of.
The end of this journey, planned with countless variables, couldn’t be swayed by any event.
‘…Goodbye.’
Until Yuhwa raised her head, parted her lips, and aimed the gun at herself, he remained certain.
It was a fleeting moment.
But, before she pulled the trigger, the image of her face, faintly smiling in the slowly flowing time, was etched into his mind dozens of times.
And so, he couldn’t stop it.
At the same time, he realized something.
The endless longing he had clung to in life was, in fact, what?
“Are you here?”
There was a moment long ago, the most radiant, youthful moment of his life. A boy his age, who entered his world when everything else was absent.
Though he didn’t know the boy’s name, the brief winter they shared was unbearable.
“Now that boy doesn’t see you. If you’re part of Father’s bloodline, you should be able to do at least this much.”
The consuming flames were monstrous.
The gaze that once watched over him no longer existed. Frozen in front of him, unable to tremble, he died there.
That memory was too painful, so he chose to forget it.
So, for the longest time, the warmth of another felt unfamiliar. He thought he had forgotten the feeling of being swayed and elated by it.
But now, he knew.
The radiant smile, a person by his side, warmth that would ease this pain and loneliness. A gaze that didn’t avert itself.
‘I wish I hadn’t died.’
Since he knew it was something he could never attain, he didn’t even dare to dream of it.
No, actually, he yearned for it with every unconscious moment.
That end was down there.
“What will you do?”
Yuhwa’s whisper never reached his ear. Yugyeom simply let out a bitter laugh.
“I think her time alive is running out.”
There was no hesitation. As soon as the thought struck him, his body moved instinctively.
Yugyeom drew the gun from his jacket and aimed at the shattered glass wall.
Bang!
The glass wall crumbled like a storm.
Yugyeom met his own reflection in the shards pouring down. Clear and unhidden.
Nothing stood between the stage and the audience now, just the ground beneath his feet.
“If this is a nightmare…”
Yugyeom murmured softly as he walked forward. His voice echoed through the vast space, loud enough to be heard below.
He stopped at the very edge of the cliff.
In a place where only death could bring him closer, he found solace in knowing that. The face looking up at him seemed like it would vanish the moment he touched it.
“If this is just a dream I wake from…”
If this entire reality were just a fleeting nightmare.
“Then, maybe it’s better never to wake up.”
Because, if he woke from this dream…
“…then I’d rather end it all with a bullet to my head.”
Yugyeom took a quiet breath and raised his gun toward the chandelier shining brightly above.
For a brief moment, he hesitated. His desperate gaze, like countless stars in the night sky, shimmered as always.
But he didn’t falter.
“So, I’ve decided to drown in this dream and die.”
The stage went completely dark.
At the same time, a gunshot rang out from behind. Before anyone could react, the bullet flew toward him and lodged into his abdomen. For a moment, his vision turned entirely red.
Yugyeom swallowed a sharp gasp rising to his throat and shifted the gun’s aim.
And aimed at the target he had envisioned countless times.
His heart burned as if it were heated iron.
Was it excitement or fear that now consumed his mind? He couldn’t tell anymore; his senses were overwhelmed.
As he opened his mouth to speak, a sob burst from his lips. His vision truly seemed to be dyed crimson.
Yugyeom staggered, regaining his footing with difficulty. His arm holding the gun was steady, despite the tremor threatening to overtake him.
He wiped his mouth with the hand not holding the gun, brushing his lips. His fingers stained crimson like a rose soaked in blood.
Blood dripped from the gaping wound in his abdomen, hitting the ground with each drop.
A faint chuckle escaped from Yugyeom’s lips as he lifted his head. His gaze fixed on the end of the barrel.
“…Father.”
* * *
Hawon gripped Yeonbyeol tightly in his hands.
“Then what about me?”
He had vowed never to love again.
To never hold anyone in his heart again.
‘Hawon, my beloved sky.’
That one moment, when what he deeply cherished shattered in his hands, was enough.
He thought he had almost erased it all.
Dreams that came back to him only to be dismissed as mere illusions were things he believed he could brush off.
Even the face whispering love, which eventually turned into a gaze full of hatred as it choked him, was something he thought he could accept.
It was enough. Really.
To survive, he had to believe it.
“I can’t watch you die in front of me anymore.”
Yet, it was all arrogance.
The eyes wandered, and the heart moved—there was no controlling it.
He knew, in the end, he couldn’t just turn away.
Attachment to the organization. His father’s last words. The fleeting curiosity awakened by the changed figure.
Countless reasons piled up, but none could hold your name alongside them.
Perhaps it would be better to break my own hand before holding you properly.
“Don’t leave.”
No, he didn’t want to.
He didn’t want to let go.
He wanted to take you in fully, until there was no room left for you to disappear, until you were completely shattered.
“I have no intention of letting you go anyway.”
Hawon spoke with a bitter smile.
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
Yeonbyeol stammered involuntarily. His trembling black eyes could no longer contain the emotion building up inside him.
And in the next moment, another gunshot rang out, followed by the sound of something collapsing behind her.
The chilling sound of something hard hitting the ground made Yeonbyeol turn her head.
A dark shape lay motionless on the floor. Only from Yugyeom’s position could one conclude it had fallen.
“Stay here.”
Hawon released Yeonbyeol and stepped toward it. Though he commanded her to stay, she followed him, mesmerized.
“What… is that?”
The figure, up close, was unmistakably human. Face down, it was unrecognizable.
In the darkness, its colors blended, but the white shirt was soaked in blood, and its disheveled hair seemed a mix of gray and white.
Yeonbyeol’s heart pounded uncontrollably. She watched, paralyzed, as Hawon kicked the body with his foot.
When he flipped it over, the face was revealed.
Yeonbyeol’s heart skipped a beat as if it had stopped, and she stumbled backward, gasping.
“…Yuhobum.”
The boss of Utopia was lying there, dead, with a bullet through his heart.
