Jeong Taeui didn't respond. Instead, he flicked away the spent cigarette and put another in his
mouth. While he lit it, he didn't look at the man standing beside him. Then he lit another. By
the time the third cigarette was halfway done, he suddenly spoke up.
"When I feel this bad, even looking at you makes me feel somewhat reassured. That alone
proves how far downhill my life has gone."
Ilay looked down at Jeong Taeui with a curious expression. It was as if he had heard
something incomprehensible or utterly unimaginable. A trace of confusion crossed his face.
But Jeong Taeui kept his eyes fixed forward.
"…But?"
Ilay slowly and gently urged Taeui to continue by repeating the word. Jeong Taeui took a
long drag from his cigarette before mumbling.
"But he doesn't even have that. He doesn't even have that."
"Aha."
Ilay nodded as if understanding something. When Jeong Taeui was about to take out his
fourth cigarette, Ilay snatched the pack from his hand.
Finally, Jeong Taeui turned to Ilay with an unhappy look.
"Well... Anyway, he's been expelled. So when he leaves, I'll go back to Berlin too."
"Hmm. When Christoph leaves, you'll go back to Berlin too?"
"Yes. I only came to collect the book from him. There's nothing else to do here."
"Is that so..."
Ilay took a cigarette from the pack, placed it in his mouth, and returned the pack to his vest
pocket. He quietly blew smoke out the window and mumbled to himself.
"Then perhaps he'll stay here a bit longer."
"Huh?"
"Christoph will leave after the final decision on the successor has been made."
At Ilay's words, Jeong Taeui stared at him. Then he frowned slightly. Ilay just smiled
amusingly at Taeui.
"It's already decided that he must leave Tarten immediately.""He won't leave right away."
Jeong Taeui looked at him with a puzzled expression. Then suddenly, he glanced towards
Christoph's room.
The old man had entered the room after Jeong Taeui finished smoking three cigarettes and
hadn't come out yet.
…Ah.
"Has the decision been changed? Did the old man cancel it himself?"
"No, it wasn't the old man. You heard it too. Richard said he would take back what belonged
to him from Christoph."
But Christoph refused.
"If the old man himself persuades Christoph, then maybe. But just by Richard's words, I
don't think he would act on it."
"The old man didn't ask Christoph to stay to help Richard."
Ilay spoke as if reading Jeong Taeui's thoughts. He seemed to enjoy blowing smoke out as if
savoring a snack.
"But he didn't ask him not to come back to Tarten either."
"What does that mean?"
"
Always follow your heart. Don't forget the name Tarten
. That's always been his words."
Jeong Taeui watched the smoke Ilay exhaled outside the window. As the gray smoke
dissipated in the air, he sighed softly.
"How did someone raised under his care turn out this way?"
"Why do you think that?"
Faced with Ilay's counter-question, Jeong Taeui didn't answer. Even if it was just speculation,
he didn't want to say it out loud.
"...I need to rest. If Christoph leaves tomorrow morning, I'll go back to Berlin with him. It's
best to rest early."
"Tomorrow morning... I don't think so."
Ilay only said that and narrowed his eyes slightly.
When Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay with surprise and was about to say something, the door to
Christoph's room opened. The old man came out with the same calm and composed
demeanor as when he went in.Upon hearing the door open, Ilay tossed the cigarette butt out the window. Ilay walked
towards the old man, leaving Jeong Taeui to look down at the flower bed below, checking for
any fire.
"Are you done? Let me escort you back to the main building."
"No need. You still have unfinished business. Continue your conversation and rest well
tonight. I will go downstairs to check on my grandchildren."
The old man waved and smiled. Then he looked at Jeong Taeui, who had turned around, and
smiled awkwardly.
"You must be busy. However, enjoy your time at Tarten. If you can't avoid it, enjoy it as you
said."
The old man left those words and smiled before turning away. Ilay followed him, but the old
man said a few words over his shoulder and waved him off. Ilay, seeming not to insist, bowed
and stepped back after a few polite attempts.
The old man walked slowly down the hallway, turned the corner, and disappeared from sight.
Jeong Taeui stood there for a moment before heading towards Ilay – more precisely, towards
his own room.
"I used to think the old man was quite amiable."
"Oh, now?"
Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay with a puzzled expression but didn't ask further. Ilay didn't answer
what wasn't asked either.
Yes, to build such an empire, he couldn't have just seemed amiable and kind. Surely he had
his negative traits as well. It wasn't necessary to know if there wasn't a deep relationship. It
was better not to know.
Jeong Taeui scratched his head.
"Well, I'll go back to my room... Should I say goodbye to Christoph?"
He mumbled, recalling Christoph's sad face, then headed towards Christoph's room and
hesitated before knocking on the door.
There was no response from inside.
Taeui knocked again, more carefully this time. Ilay, without hesitation, opened the door wide.
"Christoph, are you asleep?"
In Ilay's straightforward manner, Jeong Taeui put his hand to his forehead and thought – 'Yes,
he's always like this.' –The scene inside the room slowly revealed itself.As expected, Christoph wasn't asleep after the old man left.
Perhaps still in the same position as when he spoke with the old man, he sat properly at the
desk, staring at the empty chair opposite where the old man had sat.
Jeong Taeui looked at Christoph in confusion, while Christoph stared into space as if deep in
thought – or like a lifeless doll.
"Christoph, are you okay?"
When Jeong Taeui asked, it took a while before Christoph slowly raised his head.
Chris suddenly stood up and walked straight towards Jeong Taeui. The sudden approach
made Taeui pause and say, "What's wrong?" – but Christoph didn't come closer.
Christoph brushed past Jeong Taeui without even glancing at him. He didn't look at Ilay
standing right behind Taeui either.
Christoph flung the door open and stepped into the hallway. His tense footsteps gradually
faded away.
"Huh...?"
Jeong Taeui looked around in confusion. But Christoph was gone, leaving only Ilay staring at
the door.
"Where… did he go...?" – Jeong Taeui mumbled. He wondered if he should chase after
Christoph, but seeing Ilay nonchalantly heading towards the window calmed him down.
"Maybe he remembered something suddenly."
Ilay stood by the window, back turned, and mumbled softly. His voice sounded happy. It
seemed his mood was quite good tonight.
Jeong Taeui stood there for a moment, then scratched his head and sat down on the stool near
the bed.
Should I go back to my room? Yes, I should. Wash up and go to sleep, that's the best thing
now. A can of beer before bed would be even better.
But as Taeui was about to get up and head back, the image of the room's owner popped into
his mind.
"Hope he's not out horse-riding in the dark, that's dangerous."
The other day, Christoph had rushed out dangerously wanting to ride a horse. It could happen
again now.
"Well, even in that case, Christoph won't be in danger. …But hey, Taeil."Ilay's voice suddenly dropped. Jeong Taeui lifted his heavy head to look at him.
"Before worrying about him, don't we have some unfinished business?"
Ilay turned around, placing his hand on the frame and leaning against the window, looking at
Jeong Taeui. His face had a faint smile, looking quite pleased.
"...?"
Jeong Taeui tilted his head.
Do I have some unfinished business?
Ilay slowly approached Taeui. The gradual, slow approach felt like a predator stalking its
prey, instilling a primal sense of threat.
Strange. Despite Ilay maintaining a calm expression and smiling, Jeong Taeui felt a chill run
down his spine.
As he was pondering the reason, Ilay spoke.
"So let me ask again. What did you do with Christoph?"
"Um...?"
Jeong Taeui replied naively, prompting Ilay to remind him.
"Yes, precisely. The look in your eyes. A faint smile on your lips but eyes that slightly
squinted as if laughing, yet contained something chilling."
"Christoph... huh?"
Jeong Taeui couldn't immediately grasp the context, so he asked Ilay directly. Ilay, now
closer, willingly pointed it out.
"When I came to call Christoph, you stopped talking. Now continue. What did you do with
Christoph?"
At that moment, Ilay's words hit Jeong Taeui like a bucket of cold water. All his fatigue
vanished instantly.
But as Jeong Taeui widened his eyes and became alert, Ilay had already closed the gap,
standing just a few steps away.
"Wait! Wait! You've got it all wrong!!"
"Got it wrong, huh..."
Ilay stopped, standing before the stool-bound Jeong Taeui.Jeong Taeui scooted back on the stool, but it was futile. Sitting on the stool, he could only
move a few inches.
"First of all, let me tell you, nothing happened. I've never done anything like that with
anyone other than you – meaning, since meeting you, I've never done it with anyone
else. Not even once!"
"Really? Coincidentally, I feel the same! Since I slept with you, I haven't slept with
anyone else!"
Ilay's statement almost as if declaring – 'I've always been faithful to you'
– truly surprised
Jeong Taeui. He didn't think Ilay would fool around with others, but hearing it directly felt
oddly surprising.
"Yes... really? Me too..."
Jeong Taeui awkwardly scratched his neck out of embarrassment. Ilay also smiled. Seeing
that smile, Jeong Taeui felt relieved. Anyway, hearing those words temporarily shut down his
brain.
While still in a daze, Ilay leaned in and whispered softly into Taeui's ear.
"Then what did Christoph's words mean?"
"Ah, that... As you know, he's quite naive. He once touched my private area, that's what he
was talking about."
"Ah ha. Your private area? Christoph? ...How did that happen?"
"Well, that..."
Jeong Taeui, naively confessing everything, suddenly paused when he saw Ilay removing his
gloves.
Ilay discarded the gloves carelessly, the same gloves he usually wore to ruthlessly kill and cut
throats, revealing his white hands.
This wasn't a bad sign. If Ilay removed his gloves, it meant nothing terrible would happen. If
he wore the gloves, it would be more worrying.
However, as the gloves fell to the floor and those white, beautiful hands were revealed, Jeong
Taeui's heart leaped.
"No, you see, he didn't know anything. S-so..."
"Huh? So after touching your private area, he called it sex? Ha ha ha, that's odd... Does that
mean in his mind, his relationship with you is similar to yours with me?"
"Uh? Uh―is that―what it means...?"Strange. The conversation was veering off course. While the statement wasn't wrong, it was
deviating from Jeong Taeui's intention and desire.
"In other words, he thinks his relationship with you is similar to your relationship with me!"
"No! N-no way..."
Jeong Taeui quickly denied, waving his hands. However, Ilay had already unbuttoned his cuff
and gently kicked the stool Jeong Taeui was sitting on without hesitation.
"...!!!!!"
The stool was pushed back, hitting the bed hard. Jeong Taeui lost his balance slightly when
the stool hit the bed.
Although he didn't fall and his upper body only shook 2-3 times, when he regained his
balance and stood upright, the situation had become serious. One of Ilay's white hands was
on Jeong Taeui's collarbone, pushing him down.
Jeong Taeui instinctively tried to resist but to no avail. Despite his beautiful exterior, behind
it lay unimaginable strength.