Desires Chapter 7.2 - Forgetful Game

It was the early morning of Cha Woojin’s engagement ceremony day.

Cha Wooseon had deliberately chosen this time just after dawn. It was the best time to avoid the eyes of the bustling mansion staff, not to mention Cha Woojin himself, who would be too busy to breathe, what with attending an emergency board of directors meeting and getting through his engagement ceremony.

Cha Wooseon secretly infiltrated Cha Woojin’s private residence through a back entrance. It was a top secret that even her brother, Cha Woojin, didn’t know, but she had a separate spare key to this house.

This mansion was originally built by renovating her marital home. During the extension, there wasn’t a corner that her hand hadn’t touched. Cha Wooseon received a report on Song Yeongin’s location and movements from one of the staff members she had personally planted in the private residence.

When she received the report that Cha Woojin had placed as many as two guards in Song Yeongin’s studio, she couldn’t hide her deep suspicion.

After receiving the report that Song Yeongin was living under strict security and surveillance, she had to act like a stray cat, something she had never done in her life.

This was because she judged that Cha Woojin would never welcome, nor permit, her to visit Song Yeongin officially. If she acted without a plan, there was a high possibility she would be turned away at the door.

Being able to secretly enter and exit this grand mansion through the back door without leaving a single trace was her secret privilege and also her long-standing method of surveillance for monitoring her younger brother, Cha Woojin, the heir of Woosung and an executive director.

She had to personally take the initiative to do things that she would normally have her executive secretary do. This was because she had to see Song Yeongin’s face in person.

James Han’s message echoed in her ears.

‘Would you believe it if I told you he traded the exclusive export profits of Woosung Electronics for Song Yeongin? It seems Director Cha has perjured him with a plausible excuse and packaged it nicely… He voluntarily gave up the exclusive rights to the Asian semiconductor supply to protect that kid.’

‘I put in some effort and dug into his background a bit. Wooseon. I’m worried that your immature younger brother, who’s gotten a late start on love, might just call off the engagement with Representative Shin Hwacheol.’

It seemed this crazy mess had happened while she was neglectful of the information war, so Cha Wooseon was once again feeling the necessity of this stray cat act on her skin.

If her brother were to go through with breaking off the engagement with the daughter of the next president, he would be completely ignored by their father, and the succession would be as good as gone. If Cha Seokhyeon gained the upper hand in the succession and took over the holding company, she would be finished as well.

The thought of becoming a kite with a broken string was the most terrifying thing in the life of a chaebol family member who had lived only looking forward to inheritance, and Cha Wooseon had to shudder at the thought.

Cha Wooseon passed through the secret bunker dug in the basement.

She instructed her executive secretary to manipulate the power of the alarm system and CCTV from the electrical room. The only people who knew the existence of the secret bunker and the organically connected passages throughout the house were her and her executive secretary of 20 years.

She secretly infiltrated like a stray cat and headed for Song Yeongin’s studio.

She had always considered secretly installing wiretapping devices in Cha Woojin’s study while he was away from home or monitoring Cha Woojin’s investments and business secrets as her own secret privilege as the only blood relative and ally within the Woosung Group.

He never consulted her on anything, and he was so inscrutable that if she didn’t grasp his movements and acquire information in this way, there was no way she could sit on top of her younger brother’s head and act as regent.

Cha Wooseon had no intention of harming her younger brother, who was her ally. Because that was clear, she was well aware of the fact that Cha Woojin was turning a blind eye to her interference to a certain extent.

At fifteen, she too was just a young teenage girl. It was no different from when she protected her younger brother from Cha Seokhyeon, staying by the side of her younger brother who was seven years her junior. This was her means of managing Woosung without letting go of a strong lifeline, and a contingency plan to protect her younger brother from danger.

Coming up from the secret bunker, she touched the power device in the electrical room. She turned off the internal alarm switch of the residence and infiltrated Song Yeongin’s studio through the balcony of the first-floor garden at the back of the mansion.

To evade the guards watching the studio entrance, there was no other option but this slightly tiresome method. She touched up her elegantly set curled hair as if nothing had happened. After brushing the dirt off her shoes, she went straight into Song Yeongin’s studio on the first floor.

The first thing that caught Cha Wooseon’s eye was an impressive finished piece hanging in the middle of the spacious studio.

“I see… it’s really just as Han Juhyeok said.”

Cha Wooseon was instantly captivated by the contrast of the intense, seemingly fragile, and devastatingly primary colors hanging in the middle of the desolate studio. She was fiercely overwhelmed by the enigmatic painting, which exuded a strange sexual aura, and found it impossible to tear her eyes away.

What was painted on the canvas was the back of a violent and sensual man, who appeared to be on the verge of violating another person.

Thanks to the destructive and intense color contrast, the man’s back seemed as if it were engulfed in flames reddened with blood. The contrast of the startlingly brilliant primary colors also looked like a red sun devouring the darkness and shadows of the night, and like a desperately burning flame.

Cha Wooseon gave a faint, scornful smile. It was because she could easily guess that it was the image of her younger brother, Cha Woojin.

“This isn’t even a shunga… what is this, an advertisement for sodomy?”

The face of the cultured woman let out a haughty, scornful laugh.

Chairman Kang Hoeryeong was a giant in the cultural and arts world of this country. As befitting a family that had supported independence activists and artists since the time of her great-great-grandfather, she too had been educated by her maternal grandfather and mother on how to view and evaluate art.

This painting, which blatantly expressed the nuance of a sexual affair, ironically did not feel obscene or materialistic at all.

The desire of the angry tyrant, expressed through the savage and fierce back muscles, emanated a sexual and sensual aura. Yet, it simultaneously contained a religious reverence for an absolute being, almost reminiscent of Mars, the god of war, and even gave the impression of a sacred religious painting.

It was exactly as James Han had said. It was devastating, beautiful, pure, and strange. The bizarrely sacred style of painting even immersed her in a pure and spiritual edification. She keenly empathized with what James Han meant when he said the painting resembled the person who painted it, as if it were a carbon copy.

She had asked James Han what the boy’s charm was, but Cha Wooseon had an intuition from the moment she first saw Song Yeongin. Everything Cha Woojin yearned for was in that boy.

Perhaps due to the aftermath of the poisoning in his childhood, Cha Woojin particularly distanced himself from greedy or cunning people. Cha Wooseon was by no means unaware of his disposition to keep only honest and transparent people without greed by his side.

On Song Yeongin’s face, pure and clear like a child’s, not a single trace of wicked greed or the stain of worldliness could be found. The noble and transparent impression, which did not even reflect the ordinary and simple greed that common people have, rather aroused a primal sense of rejection in Cha Wooseon. It was because he didn’t seem quite human.

Cha Wooseon was certain that this was precisely what had brought about the obsession of not only her younger brother but also James Han. Why those who have everything become intoxicated with boiling greed in front of that insignificant boy.

There was a certain justification for why the pinnacles of desire, who hold everything in their hands and cannot let go, covet that kid. It was because everything that those who have everything can never have, was all in that kid.

They said he had a strange face that bewitched men and made their guts churn. Seeing Song Yeongin’s sexually charged face again, she thought it wasn’t an incorrect statement.

“Your face has gotten much thinner than the last time I saw you.”

“……”

The face, like a tranquil dawn without a single trace of disarray in the early morning, politely bowed its head towards the unfamiliar intruder who had appeared without a sound.

Song Yeongin seemed quite surprised, but upon realizing it was Cha Woojin’s older sister, he seemed to quickly acquiesce.

Cha Wooseon scanned the bright red bruises revealed between the white and slender nape. The miserable marks, which at a glance were clearly teeth marks and signs of being viciously sucked on, hinted at the aftermath of a fierce sexual encounter. Every time she saw it, it was indescribably promiscuous.

However, Song Yeongin did not pull up his collar or hide from her gaze like last time. His transcendent eyes, which were reddish and moist even though he wasn’t crying, merely stared blankly at Cha Wooseon. Song Yeongin’s complexion was very pale.

“Is it because you devour men, your whole body is overflowing with sex appeal…”

Even at the mischievous and malicious remark, the transcendent eyes looking at Cha Wooseon were merely neat and transparent. He seemed so otherworldly that he didn’t feel human, making her want to be a little mean.

“Not satisfied with my younger brother, now James Han too… How does it feel to go around bewitching this man and that man? Do you feel like a queen bee?”

“……”

Song Yeongin replied calmly with a strange expression.

“Your trespassing without permission and the words you are saying to me now… The director will confirm all of it. Everything is being wiretapped and will be transmitted to Mr. Cha Woojin via CCTV.”

Cha Wooseon snorted as if she found it ridiculous.

“I know. Why wouldn’t I know. Who do you think taught him to do such things?!”

The aristocratic woman’s face, whose age was hard to guess, gave Song Yeongin a mysterious smile. She looked chilly enough to create a cold wind, but at the same time, she had a very bold and magnanimous impression.

“Why do you think I came to see you on the day of the engagement ceremony, when he is at his busiest? Wiretapping and surveillance… he can only look into that kind of stuff when he has the time.”

Cha Wooseon took out a beeping LED lamp from her handbag and began to check the surroundings. It was a bug detector.

“There are no wiretapping devices nearby. I’ve taken care of the CCTV, so don’t worry. There’s no time, so sit down quickly.”

Song Yeongin’s eyes shot up in a circle, surprised by her words.

She had once again entrusted the alarm system and CCTV in the electrical room to her executive secretary who had followed her, and had taken care of it, but she couldn’t drag on for long. If it took too long, it would arouse suspicion. It would be 5 minutes, 10 minutes at most. She quickly sat down on the sofa.

“Was this what you wanted? To take your place in his private residence and act as the mistress of the house?”

Cha Wooseon recalled that this house was once her and her husband’s marital home. Now Cha Woojin was essentially playing house with Song Yeongin.

Giving that kid a 2.7 billion won wedding gift watch and creating a nice-looking studio for Song Yeongin could only be seen as setting up a household in this grand mansion.

“I heard through James Han. Do you have any idea how much trouble your existence is causing Director Cha Woojin right now?”

“……”

“What he built with his blood and sweat, dedicating his entire twenties, is the current Woosung Electronics. To shamelessly drag the vision of such a Woosung Electronics through the mud…! If I report this fact to the chairman right now, Woojin might have to give up his position as heir and be kicked out of Woosung Electronics.”

“……”

“How furious do you think the chairman would be if he found out it’s all because of you?”

“……”

“Our father is a really heartless man. He’s the type to stand by and watch even at the moment his child is dying, saying that the strong survive… If he found out that Woojin committed such a foolish and pathetic act because of you, he would be more than just kicked out.”

“……”

“If he doesn’t go through with the political marriage with Shin Hwayeon as the Chairman wishes, Woojin is really finished.”

A sense of guilt sorrowfully settled in the clear eyes that trembled in the silence. Song Yeongin hung his head low like a guilty person.

“I have heard… that he suffered a great loss because of me. I am sorry. I have no excuse.”

“……”

Song Yeongin repeatedly bowed his head and apologized. Then, Song Yeongin began to appeal to her.

“I am not here because I want to be. I have tried with all my might to leave…. I don’t want to cause any harm to the director. I don’t want to be a burden to the director.”

To figure out just what this kid was spouting to her, Cha Wooseon narrowed her eyes and just listened intently.

Cha Wooseon turned her head to check her surroundings. She seemed to be checking the locations of the CCTVs all around.

“You speak as if my younger brother is forcibly confining you.”

Song Yeongin neither denied nor affirmed. Cha Wooseon could guess from Song Yeongin’s desperate expression that it was an affirmation.

His resolute eyes, red and wet, sparkled.

“I don’t want to be an obstacle in the director’s life. I wanted to leave for a place where the director couldn’t find me… I tried to escape but failed several times.”

Song Yeongin knew that this was the last chance given to him. He subtly took a gamble with her.

“Please get me out of here.”

Cha Wooseon looked at Song Yeongin with surprised and curious eyes. She was silent for a while.

“Haha, this is interesting…. So, Mr. Song Yeongin, you don’t want any of this? You want to leave Woojin’s side for good?”

Song Yeongin nodded his head without a word.

“I would appreciate it if you could persuade the director.”

“If my persuasion worked on him, do you think I would have done something like sneaking in like a thief on the day of his engagement ceremony?”

She didn’t ask Song Yeongin why. Song Yeongin looked extremely desperate, and his plea to be taken out was imbued with an unwavering, resolute will. He was artless and upright, so it was easy to understand without needing to ask again.

Cha Wooseon rummaged through her handbag. Then she checked for the existence and location of any other CCTVs she might have missed. Rising from the sofa, she approached him with her back to the view and whispered in his ear.

“Oh, and in case you don’t know, Mr. Song Yeongin… wiretapping is not his specialty, it’s mine.”

In that moment, a heavy metal object entered the pocket of his work apron, which was stained with oil paint. Cha Wooseon, who had taken the object out of her handbag, put it into Song Yeongin’s apron pocket so quickly that her hand was invisible, and whispered quietly in his ear.

“If you need my help, check this while sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, which is a CCTV blind spot. I’m hoping he’s not enough of a pervert to install CCTVs even there.”

Cha Wooseon checked her wristwatch. The time, which she had expected to be about 5 minutes, had long passed.

Cha Wooseon, who was whispering closely, clicked her tongue as she examined the miserable state of Song Yeongin’s chest and neckline revealed through his collar.

“Tsk tsk… does he hit you or torment you?”

“What?!”

“You’re going through a lot too. He must have bitten and sucked you so much, your whole body is red and blotchy, not a single spot is unscathed…”

“……”

Song Yeongin’s face flushed red with embarrassment at her sympathetic meddling. Cha Wooseon hurriedly packed her handbag like someone pressed for time.

The face, pure and clear like a child’s, naively blushed at a single lewd joke from Cha Wooseon. Since he was a kid that the sharpest and most astute person she knew kept by his side and cherished, there was no doubt that he was good-natured and kind at heart.

Cha Wooseon smiled as if she found the innocent face that blushed from moment to moment cute, and offered her final words of farewell.

“Ah…! And, I enjoyed the painting. It was worth the fussy pervert James Han getting all worked up, praising it and coveting it… You, your painting is good.”

The woman with the cheerful face opened the balcony of the back garden through which she had entered earlier and walked out of the studio with confidence.

‘If you need my help, check this while sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, which is a CCTV blind spot. I’m hoping he’s not enough of a pervert to install CCTVs even there.’

After she left, Song Yeongin immediately headed to the bathroom toilet as instructed.

He took out the heavy metal object she had secretly slipped into the pocket of his oil-stained apron earlier and checked it. It was not a smartphone, but a black, old-fashioned feature phone. While searching the empty phone, Song Yeongin checked the messages.

「This is a secure phone that can avoid wiretapping and surveillance. Please check the message box.」

Then, a single text message arrived urgently.

「This is the executive secretary of CEO Cha Wooseon. To avoid wiretapping and tracking, please contact us via text through this secure phone from now on. If you need help, our side can assist Mr. Song Yeongin.」

Song Yeongin hesitated for a long time, and belatedly sent a text that he had written and deleted several times.

「Please help me leave Mr. Cha Woojin.」

After she left, Song Yeongin had to hold his breath anxiously. His slender neck, white like a deer’s, trembled with anxiety. It was even difficult to swallow saliva down his throat.

However, Jang Haeseong and the other guard seemed completely unaware that she had visited him and had trespassed into this studio.

It was right then. A call came to Song Yeongin’s phone, who had been anxiously waiting.

The caller was Cha Woojin.

He had heard from Jang Haeseong that the ceremony would begin at 1 p.m. It should be about time for the engagement ceremony to start. Why would he call me at a time right before the ceremony?

‘Could it be that my conspiracy with his sister has been discovered?’

Song Yeongin recalled the image of the ghost-like man who had found Na Hangyeol’s house, broke down the door, and stormed in. Cha Woojin knows everything. There was nothing that couldn’t be done with the power and authority he possessed. At the thought that everything might have been discovered by him, Song Yeongin’s hands trembled anxiously with fear and dread.

He thought this was his last chance to leave him. If he blew this one too, he was finished.

Last night, Cha Woojin had held me until I was a wreck, all night long. He persistently violated me until I wanted him myself, making me tremble in pleasure. He licked my swollen genitals and asshole as if licking the wounds of an injured animal.

As if he couldn’t tolerate any untouched skin, he sucked my neck and chest, and bit my whole body as if branding it as his own. All night, my nipples, sucked and kneaded until they were swollen, were so sore that even the brush of my collar sent shivers down my spine.

Like a stallion in heat, he arched his back and rutted against me wantonly. As if not satisfied, he made me sway my own waist and buttocks like a prostitute. In the end, I had to cling to his neck, crying and begging. He kept teaching me that there was something lewd inside me. Through the pouring moans, Cha Woojin made me call his name several times.

My body had become too weak to handle that greedy man. With the unbearable shocks that Kang Hajong was his biological father and that Cha Woojin was his cousin, Song Yeongin was not even in his right mind now. Cha Woojin cornered me as if trying to violate not just my body, but also my unsound mind.

He knew what he wanted. Nevertheless, Song Yeongin never gave him the words “I love you” until the very end. That was the last revenge Song Yeongin could have on him.

“Yes…”

When he answered the phone, the man’s hesitant, tired voice flowed from the other side.

— Your body… how is it?

The voice of the beast-like man who had violated me all night long was as gentle and affectionate as could be, as if nothing had happened. The saying “give the disease and then the medicine” must refer to something like this.

— You keep… flashing in my mind.

“……”

— Yeongin… after the ceremony is over, shall we go on a trip, just the two of us?

“……”

— How about Saint-Barthélemy in France? All this time, I’ve been worked to the bone, so the vacation I had to return to the company… I’m going to make sure I get it this time.

He chattered about a place I had never even heard of. He said his winery and villa were there. The man’s voice was extremely weary. I remembered him whispering between my legs that he was having a fucking hard time and to look at him.

“……”

To me, who was still silent, Cha Woojin apologized politely with a sincere voice.

— I’m sorry….

At that one word, everything almost collapsed.

“Congratulations… on your engagement.”

— …….

“I hope things go well for you, Mr. Cha Woojin. I hope you have much more, as much as you desire… you deserve it.”

— Are you being sarcastic? Or are you being sincere?

Cha Woojin found it very strange that Song Yeongin’s voice was calm and composed, devoid of any emotion, unlike last night when he had thrown a tantrum, hit him, and expressed his childish anger.

Every time Song Yeongin’s pitiful and beautiful breath was transmitted over the phone, Cha Woojin’s lips burned with the desire to hold him.

“All night, I thought about where we went wrong…”

From where did this chain of ill-fated connection begin. Was this really your fault. Song Yeongin simply couldn’t believe the fact that even the innocent Father Kang Hajong was connected to this twist of fate.

He had played the bloodline card to keep me tied down, but because of that, Song Yeongin felt even more desperately pushed to the edge of a cliff.

The priest must never know that I am his biological son. Even if I were to die, I wouldn’t want that. Perhaps, for the priest’s sake as well, I had to leave for a place where his hand could never reach. By any means, no matter how wicked.

“Actually, I…”

— …….

“I knew it would turn out like this for us from the very beginning.”

— …….

“That day, from the moment we first ran into each other at the gallery….”

The day I fell for you at first sight. The very day I had to frantically sketch you in my notebook as if I were stealing, inside the shaking bus on my way home.

“I… I knew, but I kept wanting to catch your eye, so I hovered and loitered around you, Mr. Cha Woojin.”

— …….

“I wanted you to notice me. I wished that among the countless people looking at you, you would only see me.”

— …….

“It was all my own doing from the start. So, I don’t have any regrets.”

It was I who wanted him, knowing it would end up like this. It was I who confessed that I liked him. It was I who swayed a perfectly fine person. Therefore, it was my responsibility to put things back the way they were.

As the self-blame continued, a dizzyingly deep breath was heard from the other side of the phone.

— …It wasn’t just you.

“……”

— Should I explain, one by one, every time I lost my mind and made a move on you?

“……”

— So, the person I love is not the woman who is here right now, but you. Yeongin-ah… Just, think only of that.

If that is your way of loving, then I will love you in my own way. Just as you have your way. We all have our own ways.

Not bringing harm to my precious people, not causing them damage, that is my way of loving others. To the priest, to you, to your child and your family.

You and I are fundamentally different. I had thought that several times. If I had been shameless enough to pursue my own greed, if I were the kind of person who could endure these things without a second thought… you would not have even glanced at me in the first place.

Last night, I dreamed of a foolish woman who turned her back on the world, shouldering everything. It was a dream of my pitiful mother.

In the dream, the one standing at the scene of the accident was not my mother, but me. I saw myself overlapping with her. Standing where my mother had stood, I had a sudden realization. In the dream, I had no choice but to weep miserably and feel it to my bones.

My mother must have loved Father Kang Hajong until the very moment she died.

She must not have wanted to be a burden on his future. I know my mother better than anyone. If my mother, who was mute and deaf, had known about Kang Hajong’s background, she would never have coveted that man with a bright future ahead of him. She would not have blocked a perfectly fine priest’s path. That was my mother’s way of love.

In the dream, I had to keenly realize that I was terribly similar to my frustrating and foolish mother.

My mother and I were identical, from our appearances to the fact that we loved a man from that family we should not have coveted… even this decision to leave because I did not want to be a burden to the other person and obstruct his future was a spitting image.

So, even if this frustrating me resembles my mother, there is nothing I can do about it. One cannot change a person’s form and station. I was born to be like my mother this way.

What must my mother have thought while raising me, the child of the man she loved? Why did the priest and my mother circle each other so tragically for such a long time?

I thought about my mother’s atonement. Looking back, my mother never desperately stopped my father when he beat me. I had thought it was only because of Seoyoung, who was younger than me. I only thought that as a boy, I should take more of the beating in place of Seoyoung, who was a girl and younger.

‘You are not my kid.’

My father would always beat me like a dog until his anger subsided, and at the end, he would always shake his head, saying I was not his kid. But why did I never even suspect anything? Why did I have to feel relieved, confirming a cheap sense of paternal love in the fact that my father only beat me as much as my fragile body could endure, picking spots that would not be visible so I could go to school?

My mother, who committed suicide while in debt, was not in her right mind at the time, suffering from deep insomnia and depression to the point where she could not sleep a wink without taking medication.

My mother failed in her atonement. Perhaps she was not shameless enough to live her whole life embracing a secret. And then, in the end, she could no longer bear it, not even for a minute, not even for a second.

Just like me, right now….

“I hope Mr. Cha Woojin will be happy.”

Saying congratulations on the engagement was a lie, but that alone was sincere. I hope that you will be a dazzling sun even when I watch you from afar. Only then can I feel reassured of your existence, wherever I may be.

— I have to go in.

Along with his voice, through the names of the groom-to-be and bride-to-be being announced over the phone, I knew that the engagement ceremony had begun.

The time had come for him to solemnly promise marriage to that woman in front of everyone, the time for him to fulfill the deep-rooted duty of that family, the time to receive everyone’s blessings. Things like people’s blessings or a child who resembled him were things I could not give that man, no matter how hard I tried.

Within the phone call that had not yet been disconnected, amidst the thunderous applause and celebratory fireworks that flowed out, Song Yeongin was finally able to cleanly give up on that man. Song Yeongin quietly murmured into the receiver.

May blessings like these always be with your future….

After his call with him ended, Song Yeongin, as Cha Woosun had instructed, sent a text message from the blind spot in the bathroom again, using the anti-wiretapping burner phone she had given him.

「There is no other opportunity than now, at the start time of the engagement ceremony. Please get me out of here right now, while the Director is off his guard.」

A reply came back almost instantly.

「Right now?」

「Yes, please get me out of this house right now.」

Song Yeongin had to think carefully.

Cha Woosun, being Cha Woojin’s blood relative, his sister, would not be able to completely block and separate me from Cha Woojin. If Cha Woojin ever threatened or used force, she might use me as a hostage and hand me over to him. Such a reckless gamble was out of the question. This escape had to be perfect.

We should not want each other anymore. We had to break this chain of ill-fated connection that was driving us both to ruin.

I do not need anyone’s help. If she just helps me slip out of this house secretly, past the guard’s security, I will make a proper deal on my own terms with my own strength, without receiving one-sided help. With a powerful opponent that Cha Woojin cannot possibly touch, an opponent so formidable that he convulses just hearing his name.

This was the conclusion I reached after several failed escape attempts.

Escaping Cha Woojin is impossible. He can find me anywhere like a ghost with the power and immense authority he possesses. Therefore… only that was the one and only way to completely escape Cha Woojin.

「I have only one demand. Please let me meet James Han. I want to make a deal with him.」

Instead of taking my own life like my mother, instead of tragically hovering by his side for a lifetime, I will choose a different method. I will disappear completely. I will erase my existence.

So that he can never find me.

Song Yeongin had no baggage to speak of. Without even needing to pack, this one simple bag was the entirety of his luggage.

However, Song Yeongin had to hesitate for a long time in front of the watch that Cha Woojin had gifted him.

He recalled the night of his last birthday.

Cha Woojin had said it was a wedding gift and fastened a watch identical to his own onto my wrist. It was at the end of a long night of languid, wet lovemaking. I was teary-eyed and my shoulders were trembling, without an ounce of strength to even lift a finger. On our naked bodies, not wearing a single thread, only a matching pair of cold, platinum metal watches were fastened.

Every time the metal touched my skin, goosebumps prickled down my dry back. Cha Woojin held Song Yeongin’s wrist, where the watch matching his was fastened, and kissed the watch he had put on himself and the wrist in turn.

‘I hope you like it.’

His handsome, thick, masculine eyebrows twitched as if begging for my reaction. His sexy lips drew a fine arc. Cha Woojin laughed lowly and said.

‘You’re really so weak. You can’t get a hold of yourself just because I fucked you a little.’

It seemed he did not consider that his physique was robust enough to make a person faint.

As his hand intertwined with mine, our watches touched. With the clanking metallic sound of them connecting, the man’s body, like a ball of fire, overlapped mine. The feel of the watch on my skin was chillingly cold, yet the man’s firm body was so very hot. My skin tingled as if I would be burned by the flames he emitted. When the man moved away from his embrace, Song Yeongin held onto him and whined.

‘It hurts… heueuk…! I’m scared. Hold me. I’m scared.’

It had been quite a while since he had seen hallucinations.

Whenever that ominous shadow that had swallowed his mother revealed itself before him like a hallucination, Song Yeongin would faint as if he had lost his mind and could not even breathe properly. Scared, Song Yeongin clung to Cha Woojin’s hard neck and cried. He cried like a child, saying he was afraid, that he was scared of that vicious and sinister shadow.

In his embrace, with the hand wearing the watch, he fumbled around, searching for Cha Woojin’s eyes. The eyes that met his rushed in and kissed me passionately. The blazing flame swallowed the shadow as if it were a lie.

Song Yeongin had never seen such a thing in his life.

That wicked shadow that had encroached upon Song Yeongin and made him tremble in sorrow for all these years was endlessly powerless, so very powerless, in front of that man who blazed as brilliantly as the sun and as explosively as a flame.

Song Yeongin burrowed deeper into his embrace. He could not bear the fear otherwise. At the child-like gesture of him digging into his arms, Cha Woojin just gently patted his back and laughed lowly with his manly voice.

‘Isn’t it okay to keep just one token of having loved him?’

However, Song Yeongin, who had abruptly returned to reality, soon reproached himself and carefully placed the platinum watch he had been clutching into its case.

He had to leave all lingering feelings behind. He had to steel his heart. So that he would not be held back again by his lingering attachment to him.

Song Yeongin took the canvas he had wrapped up after Cha Woosun had visited in the morning. This bag and that one painting were enough for his luggage. He did not need anything else.

Song Yeongin continued to make contact with Cha Woosun’s executive assistant through text messages on the anti-wiretapping burner phone from the blind spot in the bathroom.

「As you requested, we will immediately move Mr. Song Yeongin’s nephew and sister-in-law to a separate, safe location from our side.」

It was the time when the ceremony was in full swing. It was impossible for Cha Woojin to receive a report from his subordinate during the engagement ceremony, or to storm out of the ceremony midway through. Now was the one and only chance for Song Yeongin to shake him off and escape.

The private residence’s gate was guarded airtight by private security guards. Jang Haeseong and another guard stood watch at the entrance to the studio and bedroom for most of the time. The two men took turns entering the studio once every hour to check on Song Yeongin’s status.

A few minutes ago, Jang Haeseong had looked around the studio and left, so the guard coming to take over his shift would not make his way here for quite some time.

The promised time drew near. As I waited, looking out endlessly, the figure of an unfamiliar man appeared behind the pond and garden. The middle-aged man had a stoic appearance and a nonchalant impression. He came into the studio by climbing over the balcony, just as Cha Woosun had done in the morning.

The window, opened from the outside, did not set off a single noisy alarm, unlike usual. The unfamiliar man looked around and spoke to me urgently.

“I have tampered with the CCTV and alarm systems for a moment. I have instructed our people inside to buy some time… We do not have much time. Hurry, follow me.”

Song Yeongin handed over the canvas first.

“As I said, I must take this painting with me.”

Cha Woosun’s executive assistant took the large canvas from Song Yeongin.

“Follow me. We do not have time.”

Song Yeongin glanced around and hurriedly followed the man.

The lush garden on the other side of the pond, with its overgrown landscape trees, was adjacent to a small, wild hill. Between the groves of trees, when he pulled a handle on the ground that had a faint mark engraved on it, the entrance to a large bunker, perfectly disguised as the ground, was revealed.

The executive assistant opened the lock with a special key and entered through the hidden door on the ground. Song Yeongin’s jaw dropped. But there was no time to be surprised.

Song Yeongin quickly climbed down the ladder after the man. He had to closely follow the man who was urging him on while holding the canvas.

The underground passage that unfolded in an instant was extremely long. After walking in the darkness for a long while, an exit appeared. It was near the wild hill of the garden, on the complete opposite side of the mansion’s entrance.

After getting out of the exit and walking for some time more, a car was waiting for the two of them.

Cha Woosun’s executive assistant, who had been wearing a nonchalant expression, put the canvas in the trunk and said. As if this was not a special event, with a familiar and nonchalant face.

“Get in.”

The private residence of Cha Woojin, which had felt like a place he could never escape, was getting farther away.

He had always been in the palm of Cha Woojin’s hand. It had been a wall as high as an impregnable fortress, yet Song Yeongin simply could not believe the fact that he had escaped his grand mansion so easily.

The executive assistant, holding the steering wheel, looked at his watch nonchalantly and said.

“Soon, people sent from our side will also arrive for Mr. Song Yeongin’s sister-in-law and nephew.”

Inside the moving car, Song Yeongin began to make a call with the anti-wiretapping burner phone. In order to not fall into Cha Woojin’s hands again, the evacuation of his nephew and sister-in-law was just as urgent as his own.

“…Sister-in-law.”

— Brother-in-law, what is it?

“Please follow my instructions from now on. We can no longer stay in that house.”

— …S-suddenly… why…?

“I am sorry…. I know this is sudden, but my life depends on it, so please follow me. Do not worry, because I will absolutely take responsibility for you and Yun’s livelihood until the very end.”

There was no time for a long explanation.

“Quickly pack only the important things and move with Yun, following the people who will arrive now. You can follow the people who state the name of Department Head Kim Iljoong.”

— What?! …R-right now?!

“Right now. There is no time. The movers will come and pack the luggage separately later.”

Song Yeongin relayed to his sister-in-law exactly what the executive assistant had told him.

— Brother-in-law…. I… I’m so flustered right now…. So suddenly….

“Sister-in-law, please just do not ask any questions, and trust me just this once…! Please… I can only live if you help me. I am asking you like this.”

His sister-in-law seemed flustered, but she noticed the urgency of the situation from Song Yeongin’s desperate and earnest plea, which she had never heard before, and finally showed her consent.

— You have helped me and Yun so we could live until now… no, you took in the two of us, mother and son, and saved our lives, so if it is that urgent, I must follow.

It was an unfortunate thing that his sister-in-law and nephew had become entangled in his life, but there was no other way. It was not an option to leave the two of them in the apartment that Cha Woojin had provided.

If his nephew and sister-in-law fell into Cha Woojin’s hands, Song Yeongin knew that this escape would once again end in failure.

“Where am I going?”

The straightforward voice holding the steering wheel answered nonchalantly.

“We are leaving Seoul and going to James Han.”

The horizon beyond the fog-shrouded bridge was distant.

Inside the car that had been driving for quite a while, Song Yeongin, who had been hesitating, clutched his cell phone again. He had to make one last call.

To none other than his biological father.

“…Father…, it’s me, Yeongin.”

He tried not to be conscious of it, but he could not help the unusual trembling in his voice.

— Oh, Yeongin-ah, you called at a good time. Ever since you visited, the children have been making a fuss every day, asking when the art teacher is coming. The children are clamoring that they want to see you, so I’m being pestered by the little ones every single day….

He would not be able to keep his promise to the children. They would be very disappointed. To those innocent little ones with sparkling eyes, I will once again become a lying adult and hurt them.

His heart broke with guilt. If I had known it would be like this, I should not have promised a next time, just as the nun had said….

— Yeongin-ah… are you listening? Please answer me.

Song Yeongin felt a deep sense of relief at the warm and benevolent voice, which was just like any other day. He had always respected the noble life of that man, who consistently served from the lowest place.

The fact that the priest he had only ever respected was his biological father still felt unbelievably like a lie.

“……I am sorry. I do not think I will be able to visit the children for a while.”

At those words, the priest said it was okay and added that he should drop by whenever it was convenient, then laughed gently. At that kind voice, Song Yeongin hesitated and was only able to continue speaking after a long while.

“…Father…, please grant me just one last request.”

— There is no need to feel awkward. It is alright, so do not hesitate and please tell me.

“I… I might be away from here for a long time. Until then, Seoyoung… please take good care of her….”

— …….

“If any problems arise, please protect her, Father. Please be sure to protect that child. It is shameless of me, but I ask this of you… for the last time.”

He did not think that Cha Woojin would reach out even to his deaf-mute younger sister, who did not even know his current well-being or whereabouts. That man would not harm his younger sister. He was confident that he was not that much of a terrible human being.

Even if the worst-case scenario were to happen, he had faith that the priest would protect her. Just as the priest had been a father to him, the priest was no different from a father to Seoyoung as well.

— I know that your disposition, Yeongin, is good, and that you cannot lean on anyone for fear of being a burden… but if you need help, do not feel awkward and please rely on this priest.

It was difficult for Song Yeongin to continue speaking.

“…Father… for a while… no, I do not know how long it will be… but I think I will be leaving for a very distant place. That is why I called like this… to say my final goodbye….”

— There must be a reason for your decision. How can a person know the will of heaven… Yeongin-ah, still, I hope you would not say it is the last time.

“…Please tell the children… that I am really, truly sorry I could not visit.”

— Yes, do not worry about Seoyoung or the children, and have a safe trip.

As he always did, the priest did not ask him anything more. For fear that I would get scared and run away. He was barely holding back from prying.

“…Thank you for everything until now.”

— You can tell me the rest of the story when you come back.

Will there be a next time? The reason he was leaving was because he was worried about the possibility of becoming a burden to the priest who had lived his life as a clergyman.

Even if the fact that I am the priest’s biological son were to be revealed, if my existence disappears to a place where no one can find me, the priest will not get into trouble because of a biological son who has vanished.

“I am sorry. Please take good care of Seoyoung….”

— You foolish boy, there is nothing to be sorry for…! Do not say such disappointing things. Seoyoung, Yeongin… you two siblings are like my own children to me. Even if you do not ask, I am taking good care of Seoyoung on my own, so do not worry and have a safe trip.

“……”

— I will wait. I will always be in this place, so come find me whenever you want to come, like the wind in an empty field, come here whenever you please, and rest.

He had to swallow the bursting tears down his throat.

Cha Woojin had said that the priest was completely unaware of his existence, but Song Yeongin thought that perhaps the priest might have a vague idea about the truth.

Even before I knew that he was my biological father, you were more of a father to me than my own father when I had nowhere to turn. When my sister and I were wandering through a dark, empty lot at dawn to escape our drunkard father, the only person who held the hands of us two siblings was the priest.

Perhaps he had to choose a life of pretending not to know for my sake, for me who knew nothing.

Just like me, who cannot call you father until the very end even though I know you are my father… perhaps the two of us, under the pretext of doing what is best for each other, were inwardly swallowing each other’s real names along with sobs that rose to the back of our throats.

Leaving Seoul, James Han’s luxurious mansion, located in an area adjacent to the international airport, required driving down a long and secluded unpaved road. His private residence was hidden away from people’s eyes, as if intentionally concealed in a place that could not be found.

On a large plot of land in the forest, a magnificent American-style building, the kind one might see in a Hollywood movie, had been built.