Heavy Rain Chapter 46

Staring blankly at the photo inside his wallet, Haejin moved his fingers gently.

Even with his eyes closed, his brother’s face still came to mind clearly. However, his parents’ faces kept appearing only as the gaunt faces they had while lying in the hospital.

He wanted to remember them by their faces from the best of times if possible. So, whenever Haejin had a moment, he would softly stroke the photo tucked in his wallet and take it in with his eyes.

After the day the “accident” occurred due to the heat cycle, Haejin had looked for his wallet belatedly upon regaining consciousness. Fortunately, the one he had wedged between the bedframes was placed on the bedroom nightstand. They told him a servant had guessed it was Haejin’s after seeing the photo inside and kept it safe. The servant who found it while cleaning seemed to think Haejin had simply dropped the wallet and it had gotten stuck between the bed.

Unlike before, the bedroom sheets and duvets were changed every day. The scope of cleaning had also become extremely meticulous. Thanks to this, Haejin, who could no longer find a place to hide his wallet, had to keep it inside his worn-out suitcase. Still, he was relieved because it seemed no one would steal it now.

While he was staring blankly at the photo, there was a knock again. Haejin, who squeezed the wallet once as if the family photo would protect him, answered. Soon, a tray with food on it was brought into the room.

It was a repetition of the same daily routine. Sometimes, when he snapped out of it, two days would have passed in a flash. Even in that dazed state, mealtimes were an ordeal. The gaze watching him from over there still felt as sharp as a needle.

Nevertheless, Haejin forced the food into his mouth. If his pathetic physical condition was the problem, he just had to solve it. If the condition was showing that he could walk out properly, there was nothing he couldn’t eat.

As he forced himself to swallow all the food, the servant who had been waiting quietly approached quickly and gathered the tray. Looking at the clean plate, the servant gave a bright smile.

A kind tone without malice poured toward Haejin without restraint.

“You are eating well these days.”

“…”

Whether the servant realized that he felt burdened by someone being in the room together, they usually left as soon as the work was finished. It was the same today. The servant who collected the tray did not linger and stepped out of the room immediately.

Haejin, who had been pinned on the bed unable to say anything, tapped his chest. Perhaps because he had swallowed it by force, he felt so stifled he couldn’t stand it.

Then, he suddenly remembered the butler in black who used to force a fork into his hand.

“Ugh.”

Bolting upright, Haejin rushed to the bathroom as if tumbling. He felt a stinging pain in his ankle, but he had no time to worry about it.

As soon as he grabbed the toilet, nausea surged up. The food he had barely swallowed came out as if it were the tears he had been holding back.

“He-heck, ugh.”

Haejin still found those burdensome gazes overwhelming.

“The CCTV installation has been completed.”

“Was it done thoroughly without exception? Make the server automatically back up to the headquarters here as originally intended.”

He felt more at ease having the surveillance system set up dually. Lyle felt unpleasant because he felt like he was following his late father’s precedent without realizing it, but he ignored it. He didn’t want to see CCTV records being concealed in a place he didn’t know about again.

“Yes. Would you like to take a look?”

The secretary, manipulating a tablet to bring up the screen, handed it to Lyle. One of the hallways inside the mansion appeared on the screen. A servant holding bedsheets was moving busily.

After watching it for a moment, Lyle gave an impulsive instruction.

“…Turn on Jin’s room.”

“Yes.”

The secretary, without much to say, brought up the sitting room attached to Haejin’s room on the screen. Naturally, cameras were not installed in Haejin’s bedroom or bathroom. He had been told without exception that CCTVs would be installed everywhere else. He was also informed that the closet in the guest room was a major subject of surveillance.

It was a measure he had to take because there was a precedent, but it was also true that it was uncomfortable. However, they said Haejin had no particular reaction even after hearing that.

While he was staring blankly at the screen of the motionless sitting room for a moment, black hair suddenly entered the screen.

“…”

Flustered for a second, Lyle quickly reached out to turn off the screen. However, as the boy’s image filled the screen, his body froze for some reason.

Haejin, seen from above, looked strangely smaller. They certainly said he was eating reasonably well these days, but his thin body seemed the same as ever.

Whether he had business in the dressing room, Haejin walked out with a slow gait. Lyle watched the scene without even being able to breathe until the dressing room door clicked open. Looking at this, it was as if he had installed CCTVs everywhere just for the sake of surveillance.

The moment he realized that, Lyle turned off the screen reflexively. The secretary, who had been watching his mood, quickly took the tablet.

“…You say he’s eating well these days?”

“Yes. I was told he finished his lunch without leaving anything behind.”

“…”

Haejin’s image, remaining like an afterimage, kept floating before his eyes. It was strange, as he certainly still looked excessively thin.

Lyle now thought of suspicion like a habit. Could it be that something had happened again?

Unlike the previous criminal bastard, the butler Lyle had invited this time was a trustworthy person. If he hadn’t resigned due to the matter with his late father, he would have likely remained in the butler position until now.

However, Lyle had thought the previous butler was trustworthy as well. Why had he not doubted the man who always bowed flat before him even for a second?

“…I will visit Jin’s room in the evening.”

“Yes, then I will pass the word to the butler.”

“No. Don’t inform them.”

He felt he had to go and check for himself. To see if someone was deceiving him again.

It was just around dinnertime when he left work. Assessing the time with the watch on his wrist, Lyle thought it was well-timed. It was just when Haejin would be having dinner.

He only intended to check if the boy was truly eating well. With that thought, Lyle moved his steps busily toward him.

In various places throughout the old mansion, cameras installed inconspicuously were glinting. They said they had made an effort to go in a direction that did not ruin the appearance of the mansion and minimized damage as much as possible. Not that the preservation of the mansion mattered to Lyle at all.

Passing through the quiet hallway, he encountered a few servants. They were all unfamiliar faces, but he had picked them after seeing their backgrounds clearly. He hoped there would be no more problems.

Letting his thoughts flow, Lyle knocked on Haejin’s room. Since there was no response, perhaps because there was no servant inside, he entered the sitting room first.

As he approached Haejin’s bedroom, Lyle had to snap his head up at the loud voice heard from inside.

“Mr. Bright! Are you alright?”

The moment he heard the servant’s urgent voice along with Haejin’s name, Lyle rushed into the room without realizing it.

The servant was knocking on the door of the bathroom located inside the bedroom. Unlike the main bathroom connected to the sitting room, it was a space with only a small sink and for simple business.

The tightly closed door showed no sign of opening. Inside the room, the meal tray had been pushed roughly to one side and was lying on its side, and the half-eaten food was spilled everywhere, making a mess.

“Mr. Bright!! Please try to open the door! Shall I call a doctor?”

“What is going on!”

The servant looked startled upon seeing Lyle suddenly appear. When an angry Lyle asked again, the servant looked back at the inside of the bathroom worriedly.

“Mr. Bright suddenly ran inside as if he felt unwell. But he hasn’t come out even after a long time…”

“Jin. Open the door.”

As soon as he heard that, Lyle took the servant’s place and knocked on the door again. Unlike the servant who had been knocking cautiously, he used a hand that was quite forceful.

Only a chilling silence flowed from inside. It might have been that he just felt a bit unwell as the servant said, but a crazy anxiety consumed Lyle. As he was knocking on the door for a while, he suddenly felt Haejin’s pheromones.

Remaining very faint and like a tiny speck, they were harboring fear.

“Jin!”