That bastard found another excuse again. He kept waiting for an opportunity to catch me in a
mistake, and finally, he succeeded.
"What... lips are just lips anyway."
"Unnecessary closeness leads to such outcomes. Choose your friends more carefully."
Jeong Taeui felt suffocated when he heard Ilay's words.
Who does this guy think he is to tell me to choose my friends...
Jeong Taeui stared at Ilay with surprise and anger, but Ilay maintained a displeased
expression, grabbing another can of beer from the box and downing it in one gulp.
Ah, the special beer that Kyle brought back for me...
Jeong Taeui felt a bit regretful but, feeling guilty—even though it wasn't his fault—he could
only stare at the beer can in silence.
Behind them, Christoph lay on the bed clutching his stomach, not moving for a long while
before slowly getting up. His steps seemed unsteady and shaky.
"I don't want to fight with you…"
Christoph mumbled weakly.
As soon as he heard those words, Ilay's eyebrows twitched while he was setting down the
beer can. His cold gaze turned towards Christoph.
"What a coincidence. I don't want to fight with you either. I don't want a fight that will cost
me dearly."
Ilay said gently.
He tapped the table with his finger, remaining silent for a while before asking again.
"But you still crave it...?"
"Yes."
Christoph answered without hesitation. His voice was quieter and deeper than usual, but still
cold and emotionless.
The tapping on the table became more pronounced. Ilay's sharp gaze did not leave Christoph."Christoph. Don't misunderstand. You're just placing unreasonable expectations on him.
You're hungry and want to satisfy that hunger, but you see him, so you reach out for
something that isn't yours. He doesn't belong to you. He's mine."
"Rick. You said you wanted to live peacefully during your time here. And you didn't want to
clash with me."
Christoph said quietly, staring at Ilay's tapping fingers. A faint smile appeared on Ilay's lips.
"Yes. So what?"
"Then I will take him during that time."
Christoph said calmly. Ilay did not respond.
A silence stretched as if all sound had been swallowed...
Meanwhile, Jeong Taeui looked back and forth between the two while drinking beer.
The special beer Kyle sent had a unique but wonderful taste, but now he couldn't taste
anything. These two bastards had ruined the flavor of the beer.
He wanted to say – 'What about my opinion?' – but the atmosphere was not right for that.
Jeong Taeui had no choice but to let the two talk as they had before. Let them talk, and he
would make his own decision.
Jeong Taeui only regretted that the beer's taste had dulled due to the tense atmosphere as he
watched them and thought.
However, the peaceful silence didn't last long.
In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
The faint smile remaining on Ilay's face vanished completely. His cold, glassy black eyes
filled with icy stares at Christoph.
Jeong Taeui knew this face well.
Even when tearing someone apart with his bare hands, he kept that face.
"Il..."
But even trying to call him, the chill in his chest kept the words from coming out.
The gaze he hadn't seen in a long time.
The atmosphere that hadn't been present for a while.
In a brief moment.It was 'Crazy Rick'.
It seemed his hand was moving. His white, beautiful hands slightly twitched.
Then, immediately after.
A small, clear clink echoed in the silence.
*Clang*
It was the sound of the beer can in Jeong Taeui's hand accidentally hitting the corner of the
bed.
Ilay's eyes glanced briefly in that direction. He looked directly into Jeong Taeui's eyes.
Jeong Taeui looked at 'Crazy Rick' with an emotionless face.
"...―."
Ilay frowned slightly. At that moment, his expression calmed. The explosive emotions from a
moment ago left a cold and angry look on his face.
Finally, Ilay spoke softly as if a terrifying beast was restraining its breath.
"Christoph. Making enemies is not a good choice."
"Making you an enemy is an even worse choice." Christoph responded with equal calmness.
Ilay raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Yet you still desire?"
"Yes. I am greedy. I want...I also want to have it."
Christoph said with an emotionless face.
Hearing his words, Jeong Taeui remained silent without showing any emotion.
Although he didn't understand much, one thing Jeong Taeui knew was that what Christoph
desired was not here.
And perhaps the only one who didn't know that was Christoph himself.
"Alright then. ...Then I will have to remove you from my obstacles in my own way."
Hearing Ilay's words, Christoph merely shrugged as if accepting whatever came.
Ilay said nothing more. He simply raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly.
The following days were truly awful.Christoph constantly massaged his temples, cursing at the varying loudness of the noises that
made his ears and headache unbearable.
Some days were less noisy, allowing Christoph to spend the day peacefully. But on some
days, from early morning, he had to chew on painkillers.
However, in recent days, Christoph continuously complained of severe headaches every day.
Every morning when Jeong Taeui woke him up, his pale face was covered in sweat, and he
would whisper:
"It's so noisy, please be quiet, please be quiet...!"
The hoarse, pained voice kept echoing, not knowing who he was pleading with.
Today was no different. Christoph sat with a pale face, clutching his ears and groaning all
morning. By afternoon, feeling a bit better, he decided to go horseback riding. But shortly
after, he returned to his room and said the horse had injured its leg.
Then he sat in the study room, opening a picture book, resting his chin on his hand, staring at
the pictures in front of him. Chris didn't turn the page but kept looking at a single picture.
Maybe he wasn't even really looking at the picture...
"Maybe you should try to sleep a bit. You don't look well."
Jeong Taeui looked around the tidy study room, seeing there was nothing more to clean, then
turned to Christoph, who seemed to want to sleep while staring at the picture book.
Christoph shook his head without taking his eyes off the page.
"No… I don't want to sleep. I only have strange dreams."
"What kind of dreams?"
Jeong Taeui frowned, asking back. He took a bottle of water from the minibar instead of beer
and approached Christoph. He placed the small bottle of water in front of Christoph and sat
down on the chair opposite him at the table.
"Don't know. Something white and hazy just moves back and forth. That's all."
"That's all? …Then why not ignore it if it doesn't harm you?"
"The feeling is so uncomfortable when it passes by... because it feels like something is
touching my body, I want to vomit."
Christoph shook his head.
Jeong Taeui sighed, then drank from the bottle. The bottle was small enough to finish in one
gulp."But in your case, it seems you can endure it if you want. When I touch you – even though
you grimace – you still bear it."
"That doesn't mean the feeling is any more pleasant. I have no reason to endure and touch
other things."
"Ah, right," Jeong Taeui mumbled, then focused on drinking water.
If explained differently, it would mean – 'You can endure my touch, but that doesn't mean you
like it'.
Jeong Taeui sighed silently and tried probing.
"Why don't you talk to Ilay again and make peace? If things are tense, it's not good for either
of you, and you are his friend."
"Not friends. That's a misunderstanding, nothing fun about it."
"Ah, right, that's how it is," – Jeong Taeui said, looking at Christoph. If it were any other
time, Christoph would have been angry by now, but today he seemed unwell.
At that moment.
The phone on the study desk rang.
Christoph had no intention of picking up the phone even though it rang many times; he didn't
even look at it. Looking back and forth between the phone and Christoph for a while, Jeong
Taeui scratched his cheek and picked up the receiver.
"Hello."
"Christoph? ...Oh, it's not."
A gentle and delicate voice.
The person called Christoph and then spoke uncertainly. Maybe they weren't familiar with
Christoph.
"I'll transfer the call to him." Jeong Taeui said, handing the phone to Christoph.
Christoph, who was staring blankly at the picture, glanced at the phone with a displeased
look. He took the phone with a slightly annoyed tone. – "Yes" – he said just one word.
Standing next to Christoph, Jeong Taeui, holding the empty water bottle, stood up.
It was quite late. Maybe he should return to his room.
He threw the empty bottle into the trash can and planned to arrange a few books he had taken
earlier before heading back.But while walking to the bookshelf to put back the books, Jeong Taeui suddenly turned
around.
Although Christoph had taken the phone for a while, the room was strangely quiet. It seemed
like he hadn't hung up.
Jeong Taeui glanced at the desk while putting away the books. He thought Christoph had
hung up, but Christoph was still holding the phone.
In fact, he hadn't hung up. The sound was too faint to hear clearly, but Christoph was giving
short answers on the phone. – "Yes yes no yes. Yes..."
Hearing those short, broken answers, Jeong Taeui walked toward the desk, looking at
Christoph curiously. Then he realized.
Christoph's face was pale. He looked like a finely crafted wax statue, only his lips moving.
His face was white as a sheet. His wide-open eyes slightly trembled, as did his lips.
Jeong Taeui unconsciously stopped. He stood still, looking at Christoph with disbelief.
He had never seen Christoph like this.
A pale face, frozen like a doll, only able to respond with weak, mechanical answers.
Trembling eyes, lips, and hands, quivering with fear or anxiety.
A weak voice, like a whisper, barely audible.
"Yes. ...Yes....Yes, mother....Yes..."
If voices had colors, this one would surely be the color of fragile, trembling clear glass.
Delicate and breakable, it could shatter at any moment.