"Saying things recklessly isn't something you can tell to Riegrow."
The car was on the bridge.
A deep and calm voice sounded next to Christoph.
At that moment, the expression on Christoph's face disappeared. Replacing the blank face
was a stone-cold expression (Frozen).
"Richard..."
When did he wake up!?
Jeong Taeui looked into the rearview mirror and met Richard's eyes. Looking at his cold
eyes, Jeong realized that Richard had not just woken up.
He slightly shook his cuffed wrist. The chains made a small clinking sound.
Hearing that sound, Christoph reflexively extended his hand before Richard tightly grasped
his thumb. Then Jeong heard a terrible
*
Crack*
right behind his head. At the same time, he
realized Richard had escaped from the handcuffs.
"You're so careless, Christoph. Losing so much blood, your brain's not functioning
anymore?"
Richard mumbled in a worried tone as he easily dislocated his thumb and pulled his hand out
of the cuffs.
"When did you wake up?"
"When? Well, perhaps since I started 'hating viciously'."
Richard smiled faintly.
Jeong Taeui frowned slightly. So, he had been awake for quite a while. Christoph's eyes also
became sharper.
"Really? I thought you were sleeping well, but it seems you didn't get much rest."
"No, but I feel quite refreshed. Enough to finish the unfinished business."
Richard smiled calmly and spoke softly. And simultaneously, as he was speaking, he
suddenly slammed the car door with his elbow.
"WAIT–...!"However, before Jeong Taeui could finish his sentence, the rear door of the car violently
swung open and hit the iron pillar on the edge of the bridge. Sparks flew.
They were in the middle of the bridge where there was no guardrail. Half of the car door was
flung open.
There, Richard grabbed Christoph's shoulder. He dodged Christoph's punch aimed at his face
by hugging his waist.
Then Richard leaped outside.
"―…!!"
Jeong Taeui had no opportunity to say anything.
Richard, with a relaxed smile, pulled Christoph out of the speeding car down to the river
below. The loud sound of water echoed behind.
Jeong Taeui instinctively slammed on the brakes. The screeching sound of friction tore
through the tires. He quickly turned his head to look outside.
It was too dark to see the river.
The bridge wasn't very high. It was only one or two stories above the water. Jumping from
this height wasn't too dangerous.
Perhaps someone like Richard didn't jump to commit suicide, but the issue was their physical
condition now. Especially Christoph!
The damp feeling of blood still lingered on the seat where the blood had clotted and dried.
Jeong thought - 'I need to go back and save them right away'
- as he stepped on the brake.
Suddenly, there was a light impact from behind. Jeong instinctively looked into the rearview
mirror and was startled.
[Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.]
Under the small engraved text on the mirror, Ilay was waving his hand. He was tailing closely
behind the car.
"HEY, SOMEONE JUMPED DOWN!"
Jeong shouted to Ilay; he must have seen everything. But at this speed, the sound couldn't be
heard.
It seemed Ilay only saw Jeong Taeui yelling; he pretended to be surprised and somewhat
confused. Jeong Taeui slowly and clearly mouthed the words while pointing to the riverbank.
It seemed Ilay understood, as he said - "A ha" - then smiled with his characteristic smile.Seeing Ilay shrug lightly as if nothing concerned him, Jeong Taeui became angry and bent
down to search in the passenger seat. He immediately grasped the phone Christoph had
thrown.
Pressing the call button twice, the signal rang once or twice, and then a familiar voice echoed.
["Hello, Taeil."]
"Did you see it? They fell into the water."
["Oh, of course. I've confirmed you're not the one who fell into the water."]
"So, you know, we don't have time to play around. Slow down!"
["Ah ha... So you're 'playing around', huh?"]
"You're the one playing around! YOU!!!"
Jeong Taeui angrily shouted into the phone, then suddenly remembered.
Thinking back, this guy was following to ensure the 'precious heir' didn't end up in the worst-
case scenario.
"Now your 'precious heir' is in the worst-case scenario. Are you going to leave him?"
They were past the bridge. The opportunity to turn back was missed; Jeong Taeui turned onto
the riverbank road. He decided to go back to the previous spot.
Laughter and the sound of wind echoed from the other side of the phone.
["Worst-case scenario? Taeil, do you think those guys are so easy to kill?"]
"I don't know. But if they die, it wouldn't be too surprising."
["Ha ha, is that so? If you think so, then go fish them out. But before that, Taeil."]
"What now!"
Jeong Taeui grumbled in annoyance and suddenly thought.
But why am I running away? Thinking back, I have no reason to run away. In reality, the
important person had already drifted along the river, so I could stop the car...
["While I was in the bathroom earlier, you hurriedly fled. Was there a good reason for
that? Was your only purpose is my body? Are you playing with me?"
]
Jeong Taeui's hand slipped off the steering wheel. The car swerved for a moment before he
quickly grabbed the wheel again.
Jeong Taeui's face turned pale as he realized this guy was getting better at teasing others."No, the purpose was just your body, and playing with you?... Even if my mind is not clear, I
still feel that's not something you should say. Ilay, don't joke at this moment."
["Oh, I'm quite serious. You think that's a joke?"]
The voice had a hint of jest, but Jeong Taeui recognized a slight underlying anger in Ilay's
words. (Ilay sulked 🙂)
It was only now that he realized it.
"... No one is running away, so why are you..."
["Currently, I see you running away from me."]
There was no place left to retreat. Jeong Taeui was truly cornered.
Jeong Taeui hesitated, unsure whether to step on the gas or brake. But Ilay ended that
hesitation.
["Now, if you go over the bridge ahead and turn right after the bridge, you can return to the
previous spot. It will take about ten minutes to get back to where those guys fell at this
speed."]
"...?!"
["If from now until then, at any point our cars get more than a meter apart, consider it a
playful addition to 'our fun' tonight."]
"If not apart, then what?"
Ilay responded after a few seconds.
["If not apart... Then good..."]
********************
The first time Christoph almost had intercourse with a woman, he vomited.
He needed to learn.
No one said he had to learn how to have intercourse with women. But everyone who taught
him said: Out of hundreds of things in the world, ninety-nine would be better with experience
- practical experience.
So, although he wasn't yet an adult, he wasn't a child either. When a girl he had met a few
times before approached and seduced him at the end of a party, he didn't refuse despite
having no interest.
He couldn't stand others touching him, but he could touch others. And that girl, although
seemingly dissatisfied, liked him enough to overlook that dissatisfaction. So Christoph couldhave intercourse with her if he wanted.
But he failed.
From the moment he saw her naked body, he felt uncomfortable. When he stroked her arm,
that discomfort turned into nausea, and when he kissed her chest, he couldn't endure it
anymore.
Christoph kicked her out. And as soon as he closed the door, he ran to the bathroom and
vomited.
Chris thought he could touch others, but it turned out not to be the case. He didn't know if it
was due to the level of affection or the level of contact, but at least he couldn't have intimate
contact with someone he didn't like.
Christoph thought about his limits.
He didn't want anyone to know that even touching others made him vomit. To avoid that
happening again, Chris had to understand his limits. But he had no intention of trying again
with someone to find out those limits.
A part of him also thought the problem was with that girl.
Maybe he didn't like her. Maybe he just didn't like her. Yes, he certainly wasn't that sensitive.
Otherwise, it would be like having a mental illness. Chris wasn't that sensitive.
Christoph thought so and ignored it.
He knew he was sensitive, but not to that extent.
And not long after that, during a summer vacation, a relative who had worked in North Africa
for over ten years visited the villa. They said they would return to Germany next year and
wanted to spend the vacation at the villa to get acquainted with the situation. They had a
daughter a few years older than Christoph.
The girl sweet as honey was named Christina.
As soon as they heard her name, Christoph's peers fell silent during the introduction.
Christoph realized they were watching his reaction.
When Christoph was very young, the relatives who first met him thought such a beautiful
child must be a girl and misheard his name as 'Christina'. At first, Christoph remained silent
and ignored it when called that. He didn't care what people thought of him. And for a short
time, quite a few people called him Christina.
However, the following year, when birthday gifts [for Christina] included dresses and
jewelry, he couldn't ignore it anymore. Especially when his mother, who had never caressed
or smiled at him, whispered - "If you were a girl, it might be better".She had never caressed Christoph. She had never smiled at Christoph. But Christoph liked
her gentle and calm voice whenever she spoke to him.
No, he wasn't sure he liked it. Every time he heard that voice, his blood seemed to freeze, his
heart beat lightly, and his fingertips trembled. But even so, Christoph still wanted to hear her
voice.
Those memories had become blurry in his mind.
However, now he no longer cared about those things until the girl named Christina appeared.
Since then, whenever someone mistakenly called him Christoph, they encountered such
terrible situations that no one dared call him 'Christina' anymore. That name became almost
taboo.
When Christina, with a shy smile, introduced her name, everyone fell silent and looked at
Christoph. He glanced at her indifferently and turned away.
The name didn't matter. As long as they didn't call him by that name, it was fine.
Throughout the summer at the villa, Christina quickly blended in with everyone. But she
never heard her name correctly called. Everyone called her Tina. The name "Christina"
became taboo as if it belonged to someone else.
Only one person, Richard, called her 'Christina'. Especially when Christoph was present, he
pronounced it very clearly.
Saying that Christoph didn't feel uncomfortable every time he heard that name from Richard's
mouth would be a lie.
But Christoph didn't react. What was wrong with calling Christina by her real name?
Moreover, Richard had never called him Christina. Not even for fun.
Mid-summer, Christoph heard rumors that Richard and Christina had become closer than
ordinary relatives. But that had nothing to do with him.
Richard had a lover, and therefore, he was more attractive than Christoph, the malicious
children whispered, but Christoph didn't care.
The only thing that concerned him was his own weakness in dealing with others.
He didn't consider it a serious problem. He thought he could endure it if necessary. Just that
there was no need to endure it, so he didn't.
Although he didn't want to have intimate relationships, he wasn't ignorant of male-female
relationships or sexual contact. And Christoph had never failed to perform things he knew
theoretically.
It's fine. No problem. When needed, he would do it. No need to try with someone he didn't
like - the reason he felt nauseous last time was surely because he didn't like her.Christoph thought so and didn't care.
Then a few days before Christina returned to North Africa.
It was an especially hot night.
Despite lying in bed, the stuffy air made Christoph unable to sleep. He got up, opened the
balcony window, and leaned against the door, waiting for his body to cool down. Chris
thought that riding a horse might help him sleep better.
While closing his eyes and feeling the cool breeze blowing through his neck, he heard a faint
sound.
"... ris ..."
It sounded like someone was calling his name. Christoph opened his eyes and turned towards
the sound.
The sound came from below. It could be from downstairs or the room next door.
Christoph frowned as he identified the direction.
It was Richard's room.