Boy Monster Chapter 57

The kicks aimed at Jang Hwonwoo sent dust rising from the road. Jae Eunho pushed himself off the ground, barely managing to get up. The spots hit by the heavy fists ached so much that his arms and legs trembled.

Jae Eunho tried to approach the boy, who had been pushed to the back of the car by the Head of the House’s assault. As he crawled on the ground with trembling arms, blood dripping down, he saw an object come rolling vigorously towards him from under the car, as if in flight.

It was a dark navy notebook. Jang Hwonwoo had taken it out of his pocket and thrown it under the car.

Jae Eunho reached out and picked up the notebook. It seemed Jang Hwonwoo had thrown it to prevent the Head from finding out about his mother. The fact that he threw it toward Eunho seemed to mean he wanted him to keep it safe. With a trembling hand, Jae Eunho gripped the notebook and managed to hide it inside his overcoat.

A terrifying impact shook the car. A dizzying fear washed over him that the boy might be beaten to death.

Jae Eunho pushed himself up, intending to reveal the truth. He didn’t know why Jang Hwonwoo had suddenly done this, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch a child get beaten.

“Wait…. Lord Head….”

Leaning on the car’s body, Eunho managed to approach the Head. As he was about to call out to him, his eyes met those of Jang Hwonwoo, who was curled up on the ground. He was at a loss for words. The bloodied boy was glaring fiercely at Jae Eunho.

They were ferocious eyes, the likes of which he had never imagined seeing from the boy. The boy shook his head violently.

Don’t do it.

The boy’s eyes, glittering amidst the crimson blood, were saying as much. Jae Eunho was so startled by the boy’s eyes that he couldn’t move. In that moment, when even his voice wouldn’t come out as he wished, the Head of the House shoved Jae Eunho’s shoulder forcefully.

“Get this one in the car, what are you doing!”

Jae Eunho collapsed onto the ground and was dragged into the car by an attendant. The car departed for the mansion first, leaving the Head, Jang Hwonwoo, and the manshin behind.

:･⚜️⊹.️

That day, the Sashimcheon family mansion was somber.

The young Hwelju and Yeonri couldn’t bear to hear the sounds of the beating, covering their ears and crying.

―The Head’s beatings are too much. He made him count the numbers himself while striking him with a club. I just can’t listen to the sound of it….

―It’s because he has the power of a Fire Hwelju, who can regenerate even if a bone is broken….

The servants working at the mansion also whispered among themselves with mournful faces.

―Why would Lord Hwonwoo do such a thing? Why would he cause harm to Lord Sa Yeonri like that.

―He may seem mature, but he’s still a child. He probably didn’t know his curiosity would bring such great harm.

―Even if he did play a prank with Sa Yeonri’s pill, to beat his own son like that….

―Can’t you see? He doesn’t think of him as a son. He’s a means to continue the family line. If he thought of him as a son, would he be shouting in the middle of the street that he’s the child of a whore who deserves to die?

―They say he cut the back of his hand, too. He slashed it several times, telling him to properly show how well he’d practiced his Fire Hwelju abilities. Hmph… even if the child weren’t his own blood, if he saw him as a person, he wouldn’t do that.

―That young hand….

Kneeling in his room and listening to people’s words, Jae Eunho stared rigidly into the darkness.

The lights that had illuminated the main courtyard were extinguished late that night.

He had considered revealing the truth, but in the end, Jae Eunho decided against it. As time passed, it became more difficult to tell the truth. If Jae Eunho confessed the truth now, the boy would have to pay an additional price for having lied, and he would also be interrogated as to why he lied. In addition, if Jae Eunho were to receive the beating he should have originally received, it would render Jang Hwonwoo’s actions completely meaningless.

The terrifying glare of Jang Hwonwoo as he shook his head completely occupied his thoughts.

Looking in the mirror, his lip was split and a blue bruise had formed on his cheek. One eye was swollen more than halfway shut. It had been a fearsome fist. Having lived his entire life as a Hwelju and done rough work, the Head of the House was hardened to violence.

In the middle of the night, Eunho extinguished the flame of his paper lantern and quietly left his room, making his way to the warehouse where Jang Hwonwoo was locked up. It was where jars full of foul-smelling insects, which the Head kept for his incantations, were stored.

Suppressing his presence, he walked to the most remote corner of the mansion. As he neared the warehouse, Jae Eunho hastily hid himself. There were two small figures loitering in front of the warehouse where Jang Hwonwoo was confined.

“Serves you right, acting all high and mighty.”

“……”

“I knew you’d come crashing down like this one day. This is just the beginning, you losing the Head’s trust.”

“……”

“The place you belong now is the slave girl’s house where you originally were.”

It was his older half-brother, who was usually jealous of Jang Hwonwoo, who had brought a servant along to taunt him.

Jang Hwonwoo didn’t deign to reply to his brother at all. Jae Eunho waited quietly until Jang Hwonwoo’s half-brother left.

After finishing their mockery, the two soon returned to the main building. Eunho slowly approached the warehouse. As he neared the door, he heard a voice tinged with a smile.

“It’s Lord Jae Eunho.”

Eunho stood on his toes to peer inside through a high window. On a cold winter day, the boy was barefoot. Jae Eunho dropped a towel boiled in hot water through a crack in the window.

“When it gets cold, start a fire to heat it up and use it.”

“Thank you.”

Standing before the door, Jae Eunho maintained his silence for a while before his lips parted.

“It’s my fault. I apologize.”

“It’s not.”

Eunho resolved to completely cut ties with the boy. This was a terrible thing to do to this child. How great would the shock be if the person he trusted and followed were to murder his father. Jang Hwonwoo’s future would soon follow in his father’s footsteps, so he wouldn’t be unhappier than Jae Eunho. Even so, he didn’t want to needlessly add the wound of betrayal to a child who had been abandoned at birth and was living a harsh life.

“This is the last of the love advice.”

Jae Eunho pushed a letter written in Hangeul under the door.

“Write your love letter like this. Be sure to follow the format and incorporate nature. Read it now, memorize it, and then burn it with your power.”

“…Yes.”

“You just need to change the last word of the sentence to ‘I adore you.’”

The boy unfolded the piece of paper. The sample love letter Jae Eunho had written contained the following content.

𝓣𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓗𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮….

𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓷 𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓼, 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓼 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻,

𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓷 𝓼𝓮𝓽𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓽, 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮.

𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓶, 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵, 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓶𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

𝓜𝔂 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓸𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓸𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾…

𝓞𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓮𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾,

𝓕𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓙𝓪𝓮 𝓔𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓸.

Cutting ties coldly was the last affection Jae Eunho could show the boy. He heard the sound of Jang Hwonwoo burning the love letter. Leaning his forehead against the warehouse door, Jae Eunho expressed his sincere feelings one last time.

“I’m sorry.”

“Lord Sa Yeonri.”

The boy asked in a calm voice.

“Why is it your fault that my father has earned your hatred?”

“……”

“He is a man who has earned deep hatred from his son as well.”

Right. You may hate your father now. But you will soon inherit the power, wealth, and authority he possesses.

Jae Eunho let out a small, derisive laugh. Jang Hwonwoo, who had sat down right by the door, spoke.

“Lord Sa Yeonri, by the way… what I just said, it’s a secret, okay? You can’t tell the Head what I just said, you’ll promise, right?”

“……Alright.”

“To be honest, I’m scared being locked up in here… Can you stay with me through the night…?”

Finding it hard to refuse, Jae Eunho sank to the ground. He planned to just watch over him until he fell asleep and then leave.

“Did you, by any chance, read my notebook?”

The boy asked, lowering his voice. The notebook Jang Hwonwoo had thrown earlier was hidden in his room, unopened. Since Eunho didn’t answer, the boy said no more, only breathing softly.

He had no intention of asking why the boy had done it. He was resolved not to ask this one thing—why he had protected Jae Eunho—so Jae Eunho brought up a different question.

“Why don’t you ask why I skipped the pill?”

“Because I know the reason.”

“……?”

“It must have been hard for you. To have to take it.”

It was a simple, child-like idea. In front of the boy who had first understood his inner turmoil—his attempt to control the Head’s mind and lead him to ruin—a deep emotion welled up, making it hard to bear. It was a different kind of sadness from when he had heard that his parents had met a gruesome death at the hands of the king and the Head. He felt melancholic, and it was as if his chest was swelling up, a swelling that felt hopelessly drenched from within.

It was a flood of emotions he was experiencing for the first time in his life. To suppress this feeling, Jae Eunho had no choice but to speak even colder words.

“Don’t pity me so easily.”

“…Pardon?”

“I am not the kind of person you think I am. You have nothing to gain or learn from me. Cut ties with me early. I came to tell you that.”

“Why…?”

“You see, I am a foolish person who grows more heartless each day, still not knowing the reason why I, of all people, was born a Sa Yeonri. No matter how many books I search or Buddhist teachings I hear, I cannot understand why I, of all people, came into the world as this kind of being. I just resent how many sins I must have committed in a past life to be reincarnated as the Sa Yeonri of this family and live like this. I am a person with nothing to learn from, with only malice left. Stay away from me from now on. This is the last time.”

“Uh… I…,”

The boy replied in a cheerful voice.

“I want to learn Lord Sa Yeonri’s malice.”

“For what?”

“Because… I get scared easily.”

With those words, the two spoke no more. Jae Eunho stayed in place for a long time. The faint light that settled on his knees was cold.

A while later, Jae Eunho stood up. The problem wasn’t being caught visiting the boy, but wanting to prevent his heart from weakening further.

His mind made up, Jae Eunho prepared to leave. As a final act of consideration, he sent two butterflies into the warehouse. So that he wouldn’t be lonely in the terrifying warehouse filled with objects of curses and incantations…. He heard the boy’s innocent, admiring laughter.

Jae Eunho walked through the mansion, quieting his footsteps. Walking through the dark mansion, Eunho stopped abruptly and stared into the darkness. There was still a long way to go to reach the inner building. But his feet wouldn’t move. Feeling as if his heart was still back at the warehouse, Eunho lingered where he stood.

A lingering attachment that just wouldn’t leave held his feet, and in the end, Jae Eunho turned back the way he came. Even at the sound of Jae Eunho’s approaching footsteps, the boy remained silent.

Jae Eunho grabbed the door and let out a sharp breath.

“Hwonwoo.”

A trembling voice followed.

“Why did you do it?”

Silence lingered beyond the door for a while. After a sound of “Hmm…” as if choosing an answer, the boy recited his reply calmly.

“Because the Head said he would ruin Lord Sa Yeonri’s fingers and mouth.”

”…….”

“Because Lord Sa Yeonri’s hands are so very beautiful.”

Jae Eunho laughed, feeling empty. A weak laugh escaped from the stinging tip of his nose.