Kill Your X Chapter 82

“It’s true that your father was in the wrong, Sunbae, but at first, I was planning to just let it be. It was obvious that if he were arrested, the lives of his remaining family would be shattered to pieces, and no matter how little affection you felt, there was no way you, Sunbae, who grew up in a normal family, wouldn’t be affected by it.”

“……”

“So when I was first coordinating the scope of the data release with the Russian mafia, I had excluded anything related to your father, Sunbae. It might have raised suspicions of a minor collusion with the Kumto Gang, but I arranged it so that he would ultimately be cleared of all charges.”

“Then the thing you had the Jerome manager handle was.”

Seo Seunghan reached out and gently caressed my cheek. The ugly bruise had already vanished cleanly.

“That’s right. Before they distributed the data, I changed the plan to include the information about your father, Sunbae. Furthermore, I made it so the focus of the exposé would be your father, not the Kumto Gang. I knew Song Jeonggun was a scumbag, but seeing him treat you like that, Sunbae, I couldn’t stand it either.”

He said that he had been collecting various pieces of evidence for over twenty years in the organization. It wasn’t something he did alone; he was following the Kumto Gang’s internal guidelines for its members.

Because they never knew when or how the scales of power might tip, the Kumto Gang secretly recorded the situations on site with photos or videos whenever they handled important business. Other members often passed off the evidence collection to Seo Seunghan, citing it as a nuisance, and naturally, he came to manage almost all the data.

That was the decisive factor in the Kumto Gang’s defeat. In the end, it was like leaving the fish market in the cat’s care.

“I’m sorry for making you see so many harsh things, Sunbae.”

“……”

“Still, I’m glad it ended well.”

Could it be considered to have ended well? It was true that we were closer to the ending I wanted, but strangely, I didn’t feel any sense of relief. Instead, all sorts of residues floated around inside me. It seemed I would need more time for them to be completely washed away.

“Should I go out and get some other food?” he asked, looking at my lunch box, which was still nearly full.

“No. I just don’t have much of an appetite.”

“You should still eat. Sunbae, have you weighed yourself recently? I think you’ve lost too much weight.”

“I’ll eat a lot for dinner. By the way, Seunghan. I’m sorry to be a wet blanket before you’ve even had a proper rest, but is it really safe here? I’ve been hounded terribly by reporters these past few days. Those people’s persistence is really something else.”

The media, which had been busy maliciously tearing me down, changed its tune overnight. I was grateful that they were on my side now, but it was incredibly burdensome how they swarmed me, trying to get even a single comment about my father’s case.

Even if I had an opinion, I was the one declining to do any interviews. I had absolutely no desire to go on camera and plead about how unfair it had all been. Be it blame or criticism, even the absurd misunderstandings were all mine to bear. If I had been afraid of such things, I would never have started in the first place.

“I’ll take care of it and block them for you. If you’re not going to eat, Sunbae, you should go get some sleep first.”

“Are you going somewhere?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

As the tension that had seized my entire body loosened, I was hit by an overwhelming wave of drowsiness. He must have been just as tired, yet Seo Seunghan willingly took on the task of cleaning up after me.

While he cleared away the lunch boxes and checked the villa’s facilities, I sat on the bed, dozing off. A moment later, he approached and laid me down comfortably on the bed. In a daze, I pulled at the collar of his shirt.

“Mmm. You smell good….”

As I muttered while hugging him tightly, Seo Seunghan’s chest shook with a light tremor.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because I was just thinking, who are you to talk right now, Sunbae.”

“Oh, right. You’re a dog. Do I still smell to you now?”

“Yes. A lot.”

I sobered up instantly. It was only after I’d spoken the next words that I remembered the ‘smell’ Seo Seunghan had mentioned was the scent of a soul.

“I guess I should wash up properly before sleeping. I suddenly feel grimy.”

“I told you it’s not that kind of smell.”

As I tried to get out of bed, he restrained me this time. I ended my meaningless, brief struggle and burrowed into his arms as if I had no other choice. The insomnia that had tormented me until just yesterday vanished without a trace, as if it had never been. Sleep was sweet.

✽✽✽

I thought the poor condition was a temporary symptom, but it wasn’t. Ominous signs began to show, and on the third day at the villa, I was completely bedridden. My body was in such a terrible state that even after getting back the Seo Seunghan I had longed for, I couldn’t do anything with him.

My fever rose to nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and an unidentifiable neuralgia spread throughout my body. I would break out in a cold sweat even when lying still, so the bedsheets had to be changed frequently. The entire time I was delirious and sick, Seo Seunghan loyally stayed by my side. He was the one who had actually suffered in the detention center, so I was embarrassed that I was the one who was sicker.

“Sunbae. Wake up. You have to take your medicine before you sleep.”

Seo Seunghan half-forced me into a sitting position.

“Kkeung….”

When I couldn’t even open my eyes properly, he let out a faint sigh. I didn’t want to be a bother, but for some reason, my symptoms showed no signs of improving. Despite Seo Seunghan’s devoted care, they only seemed to get worse.

“Open your mouth.”

He, who had stepped out of the bedroom for a moment and returned, poured water into my mouth. Perhaps he judged that I wasn’t in a state to swallow a pill. He had mixed powdered medicine into the water, so I could taste the bitterness fully.

“Uweeegh!”

“Hm. This won’t do.”

“Cough, cough!”

It was agonizing when the undissolved powder touched my heavily swollen tonsils. In the end, I threw up more than half of the liquid that had entered my mouth.

“Ugh… Just, cough! Give me the pill. I’ll swallow it.”

There was no strength in my voice at all. Seo Seunghan pondered for a moment before mixing the powdered medicine with water once again. He swallowed the light pink liquid and then charged straight at me.

“Eup!”

The moment our soft lips touched, the bitter liquid flowed over. Like soothing a child, his large hand gently massaged the nape of my neck and my back.

I swallowed it in a daze and then my mind cleared. It’s one thing for me to take medicine because I’m sick, but Seo Seunghan had just tasted water mixed with powdered medicine while completely sober.

“Are you okay? Isn’t it bitter?”

“Open your mouth again.”

He commanded, holding another liquid he had placed beside him. I moved back, thinking it was medicine again. Rendering my effort to create distance useless, Seo Seunghan pressed his body against mine and pushed his way between my lips. I resigned myself and shut my eyes tightly, but strangely, I didn’t taste any bitterness. On the contrary, it was so sweet my tongue tingled.

Warm honey water gently enveloped the inside of my mouth. Wanting to taste more, I instinctively sucked hard on his tongue. When I pushed my eyelids open, I saw his face, which seemed to be somewhere between smiling and not, right in front of me. As I let him go, Seo Seunghan in turn sucked my tongue with a jjuup sound. In that instant, an electric current shot through my body.

“You can go to sleep now.”

He had succeeded in making me take the medicine after all that trouble.

I grabbed him as he was about to leave with the empty cup. My body had reacted faster than my mind.

“Not yet….”

His gaze looking down on me was sweeter than honey water.

“I think my mouth is still bitter. No, it is bitter.”

“So?”

I swallowed hard. I now know which is real between his affectionate gaze and his indifferent tone. And the fact that he has a more playful personality than he lets on.

“Feed me more. It’s not nearly enough.”

When I opened my mouth slightly first, he laughed ticklishly. He downed the remaining honey water in the cup, a little less than half, in one go and climbed on top of me. The sweet kiss continued long after the liquid had disappeared down my throat. The next day, and the day after that, Seo Seunghan willingly played along with my little schemes.

✽✽✽

When I woke up after sleeping for a solid ten hours, it was drizzling outside.

“Seo Seunghan?”

Like an imprinted duckling, I looked for him as soon as I opened my eyes.

The villa we were temporarily staying in was quite large, despite being a single story. I opened doors as I saw them and found him on my fourth try. It was a room equipped with a home theater system.

“You should have called me if you were going to watch a movie. Huh, huh?”

I was startled by the image displayed on one large wall. In the somewhat blurry video, two men were tangled in an explicit position.

I rushed at Seo Seunghan to make him stop the video immediately. By a hair’s breadth, he hid the remote control he was holding behind his back. His gaze remained frighteningly fixed on the screen.

“Hey, where did you get this video? Don’t tell me this was spread on the internet?”

[Hut! Ah, aheuk, eung! Good, there… ah!]

While he stubbornly refused to give me the remote, shameless moans continued to pour out from the speakers. Curses, most of the sounds were coming from my mouth in the video.

It’s not a movie theater, so why would a privately-owned villa be equipped with a 5.1 surround sound system? The unnecessarily clear audio quality doubled my shame.

Only when I slumped to the floor, exhausted, did his gaze, which had been fixed on the video, finally shift to me. My shoulders instinctively flinched at his murderous eyes. It was even more so because I had only seen his gentle side for the past few days.

“If that had happened, I wouldn’t have let you off the hook either, Sunbae.”

His voice contained only sincerity.

It was the very video that Yeojun had mosaic-ed, only over Seo Seunghan’s face and private parts, the one I had tried to leak to clear him of the murder charge. At the time, I thought it was the only way, but thinking back on it now, I wonder what kind of crazy thing I was trying to do.

“Before that, who did you get this video from?”

“Mr. Moon Yeojun contacted me and gave it to me directly. He told me to keep a tight leash on you from now on so you don’t do anything stupid, Sunbae.”

This is crazy. When on earth did those two exchange contact information? I hadn’t heard from him since the confirmation hearing, so I thought he had cut ties with me, but it seems Yeojun had just been grinding his teeth in wait.