"Damn it, why is his personality like that?!"
"Don't delve into fundamental issues that have no solutions."
A lethargic and indifferent voice responded from behind.
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue and mumbled, "Maybe before judging that guy's personality, I
should judge my own first." He tried to turn on the car's fog lights but accidentally turned on
the high beams. Taeui quickly turned them off and stared at the dashboard. Driving someone
else's car was not easy.
Jeong Taeui wasn't sure of the way home and wanted to hand over the wheel to one of the
other two.
But to whom?
One was unconscious in the back seat—he even handcuffed him to the handle and padded the
headrest in case he woke up—and the other was sitting next to him, staring at Richard to
ensure he didn't act up. Blood from his body stained the seat.
Jeong Taeui glanced in the rearview mirror. Christoph was leaning his head against the
window, looking even paler in the darkness of the car. Normally quiet, he was now even more
silent. Although he still responded to Jeong Taeui, he didn't say anything beforehand.
"How are you doing? Can you still hold on?"
Jeong Taeui asked, and Christoph was silent for a moment before replying, "Yes, more or
less."
"Compared to the worst pain I've felt, this is nothing, not even a scratch."
"What was the worst pain?"
"Well... Generally, memories either get reinforced or fade. But yes, I was quite hurt when
Rick hit me."
"That guy is used to hitting people the right way," Christoph added, then fell silent again.
Jeong Taeui hoped that the mouth that usually spouted venomous words wouldn't close at this
moment. Seeing Christoph bleeding profusely and silent with a ghostly pale face made him
worry. It wouldn't surprise Jeong Taeui if Christoph passed out at any moment.
"Did Rick hit you?"
"Yeah... There was a conflict over work. We were hired by completely opposing sides and
fought for a while. I even shot him in the stomach and then ran away."Jeong Taeui remembered hearing from Ilay that Christoph had been tortured by him.
Shooting in the stomach, torture... No one would want to be friends in such a situation.
However, recalling how they still interacted normally, Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.
When he looked at the digital clock on the dashboard, the numbers were moving
indifferently. It had been five minutes since they left. Now was the time for things to really
get tense.
Jeong Taeui only glanced at the clock, but Christoph in the back seat seemed to know and
suddenly muttered.
"Hmph... being chased by him is really bad (as hell)."
Jeong Taeui looked at him through the rearview mirror. In his ears, that sentence sounded
like, –
"If caught, we're dead"
– but it seemed Christoph didn't think that way.
"Have you been chased before?"
"Yes, twice while working. I escaped safely once and got caught the other time. ...The bad
thing about being chased by him is that even if you escape, you never feel safe. Just when
you breathe a sigh of relief, he can appear out of nowhere like in a horror movie."
Christoph muttered with a grim face. Jeong Taeui chuckled lightly and turned his head
slightly.
"Oh right, I felt the same way when he chased me. Even when I got back to the hotel, took a
shower, and opened the bathroom door, he'd be standing there saying, 'Long time no see, old
friend.'"
"...But how did that happen?" - Chris
The question sounded curious or somewhat sympathetic, making Jeong Taeui stop laughing.
He clicked his tongue again, his face showing a bit of bitterness.
"That's true......… but it's not too bad."
Jeong Taeui reflexively answered and then fell silent for a moment before adding.
Thinking back, that's true. Jeong Taeui had never really regretted it.
Maybe in another dimension of this vast universe, there's a Jeong Taeui who graduated from
the Military Academy in his hometown, had a smooth military career, and is now a high-
ranking officer. Living a stable life without knowing dangerous people like Ilay Riegrow. But
if given the choice again, he wouldn't give up his current life for that one.
Even though the survival instinct and avoidance of danger sometimes made him want to take
a few steps back from Ilay, living with him wasn't bad. No, sometimes even...Oh?
Jeong Taeui tilted his head a bit. Then he gently rubbed his chin with his thumb.
For some reason, talking like that made him feel like he actually liked him.
As soon as that thought appeared, he jumped up. The headlights of another car flashed
through the rearview mirror. The dreamy thoughts in his head vanished in an instant, and his
instincts returned.
Although he knew that unless the other party had the ability to teleport, he couldn't
immediately appear behind him right after leaving. But it felt like his heart was dipped in
cold water. Being chased was really stressful.
When he saw the car turning onto another road, Jeong Taeui gently stepped on the gas and
spoke.
"Hey Christoph, still alive?"
"Uh... Cold..."
"Don't sleep! Sleeping is dying! Don't sleep, say something! Stay awake!"
"This isn't a snowy mountain..."
Hearing Christoph's mumbling voice, Jeong Taeui increased the heater's temperature.
Although it was night, it couldn't be cold this season. He glanced at Christoph's wound at his
waist through the occasional dim light from the streetlights, seeing the dark red glow.
Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue, thinking that as soon as they got home, he had to wake up the
family doctor immediately. It was better to call ahead to prepare. When planning to take
Christoph to the hospital, he insisted on going home, claiming that the family doctor could
handle the wound.
Jeong Taeui thought of Tarten's elderly family doctor, who seemed to be over sixty, and
mumbled.
"That doctor must be very skilled to have been with Tarten for so long, right?"
"Huh...? Dr. Albert? Yes, he came from France and has worked at the mansion for about 35-
36 years...?"
"35-36 years? So he's been here longer than you!"
Even if he got his doctor's degree right when he arrived, how old would he be now? Jeong
Taeui exclaimed, feeling impressed in a different way.
"Yes. From what I remember, he's been in the mansion for a long time. Whenever I fell and
scraped my knee, he was always the one to apply the medicine."Jeong Taeui thought that was more of a mother's job than a doctor's but remained silent.
Maybe Christoph's mother wasn't the type to do such things.
"When kids of the same age gather, they often get hurt... So was it from then that you got hurt
fighting with Richard?"
Jeong Taeui joked, but Christoph suddenly turned to look at Richard angrily. He stared at the
unconscious Richard, then mumbled irritably.
"What are these handcuffs? Don't you have anything better?"
"Huh? I just used what was in the car. Don't tell me Richard has superhuman strength to
break the handcuffs."
Jeong Taeui laughed and said, "If Richard had that strength, he could be a strongman
performer," Christoph looked at him for a moment with a displeased expression and then
turned away.
"With this guy, I've rarely had fights worth getting injured."
Christoph muttered, and Jeong Taeui silently watched them reflected in the rearview mirror.
He thought about the reasons why these two were so severely injured—one bleeding
profusely and sweating coldly, and the other unconscious with blood-soaked wounds all over.
As if reading Jeong Taeui's thoughts, Christoph continued with a displeased expression.
"Unless we're in an official sparring match during training, we don't usually clash like this."
"I heard you two don't like each other. Hate each other a lot."
"Hating each other doesn't mean fighting every time we meet."
Jeong Taeui nodded, understanding. Well, thinking back, that's true. When he was at the
Military Academy, he also really hated Kim—now probably at a high rank—but didn't fight
with him every day. Unless there was a reason, causing trouble for no reason brought no
benefit.
"Yes... In fact, those who fight every time they meet might be closer than anyone else."
Jeong Taeui nodded and then tilted his head, thinking.
Although he knew that relationships between people sometimes had no clear reasons, it
wasn't easy for these two to hate each other so much given their personalities.
"Why do you hate Richard so much?"
Jeong Taeui asked, and Christoph's face became even more displeased. His pale face now
looked more lively, at least more bearable. Maybe this was the right topic.
"To be precise, he hated me first.""... Richard?"
No matter what his true nature was, with such a polite appearance, Richard hated him? Jeong
Taeui looked doubtful, making Christoph even angrier, looking at Jeong Taeui through the
rearview mirror with cold eyes.
"If he hated straightforwardly, it would be better. But he hated others insidiously."
Jeong Taeui mumbled, "Insidiously... like sneaking up and hitting the back of the head, then
running away?"
"No, it's more like... how should I put it. Hmm..."
Christoph frowned, thinking like a child unable to express himself, sighing many times
before speaking.
"When we were young, our relationship wasn't that bad. I mean, we weren't close, but we
weren't that distant either. We trained in hand-to-hand combat countless times. Although his
family and mine didn't get along, people thought we had a bad relationship, but in reality, we
didn't hate each other... at least I didn't."
But how did things turn out this way? As if he heard the silent question in Jeong Taeui's
mind, Christoph continued irritably.
"One day, I realized he hated me. Am I an idiot? If someone hates me, how can I let it be?"
"... Normally, if someone hates you, you just ignore it."
"How can I ignore it! That pervert...!"
Christoph suddenly shouted as if remembering something. He sat up abruptly and then
collapsed back into the seat in pain.
Christoph's unusual and overreactive response startled Jeong Taeui, making him frown.
Wait a minute. Thinking back, how did Christoph know such personal and private things
about Richard? How did he know... Jeong Taeui shivered slightly.
"Could it be..."
He was about to say something but stopped.
No, it couldn't be. First of all, he couldn't even imagine Richard doing something depraved to
Christoph—if not, who were the two blood-soaked men behind him?—and if that happened,
the atmosphere couldn't be just this tense.... Moreover, if it really happened, Christoph
wouldn't keep an innocent face in front of everyone tonight.
Looking at Christoph clutching his waist and grimacing after saying, "That pervert...," Jeong
Taeui clicked his tongue. He was curious about the rest of the sentence but didn't really want
to hear it.At that moment, the car's headlights flashed in the rearview mirror again.
Maybe because it was late and the road was deserted, there weren't many cars passing by.
When he saw a car approaching from behind, he became alert.
Given the time, it couldn't be. Although only a few minutes had passed since they left the bar.
Even for Ilay Riegrow, it wasn't enough time to catch up.
Nevertheless, Jeong Taeui focused on the car in the rearview mirror, calculating how far they
had to go in the coming time.
Maybe this was the right road, but why did it feel so unfamiliar? Whenever unsure, he asked
Christoph, but it still felt unfamiliar.
Hearing a soft sigh from behind, he glanced into the mirror. Christoph was leaning his head
against the seat, looking out the window. His pale face looked like a statue.
There was no real sense of danger, but it was still fine. It hadn't reached the point of racing
against time.
However, the smell of blood made Jeong Taeui more anxious.
"Already grown up and still fighting... Since you gave up your inheritance rights, everything
should be over. No need to meet and make each other suffer like this."
"There won't be any more of that. I won't return to Dresden again. In fact, since I gave up my
inheritance rights, I had no intention of returning. This time, it's because the old man is about
to retire, so I had to."
Christoph's voice was slow, as if sleepy.
Jeong Taeui drove and spoke indifferently. His eyes didn't leave the car he was watching from
afar.
"But do you have to give it up? I heard you're in debt to the family because of that. Why not
try? Who knows, you might become the heir."
In terms of personality, Christoph clearly had no advantage. Jeong Taeui glanced at him.
Christoph still looked out the window, mumbling without emotion.
"Whether I become the heir or not doesn't matter. From the beginning, I never wanted to
inherit Tarten and had no interest in it."
"Ah ha, ability is certainly a very important issue."
"Besides, I'd rather be in debt for life than be bound to this family."
"Huh?"Christoph closed his eyes, looking tired. His lethargic voice sounded like he was whispering
in his sleep.
"I'm not stupid enough not to realize who will be chosen as the heir in ten years. I don't want
to bow to that person, whoever it is."
His voice grew softer, like someone drunk or sleepy. Perhaps he was no longer fully aware of
what he was saying.
"...Hey Christoph. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. This is the thirty-something time I've been injured like this, and there were times I
was hurt ten times worse."
His somewhat annoyed voice showed he was still quite alert.
"Even so, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." – Jeong Taeui mumbled and slowed the car a bit.
The distance between him and the car behind gradually narrowed, and the image of the driver
behind started to become clearer.
It was dark, so it was hard to see clearly, but just a little more... a little more...
"I'm fine. Pain is easier to endure."
Christoph mumbled from behind. Yes, he could endure pain well, but also knew how to
complain when needed, Jeong Taeui thought and looked in the side mirrors of the car. Yes,
now he could clearly see the face...
"Riegrow."
Taeui's heart sank.