VI | Chapter 3

Kwon Rae-i wore a beautifully painted smile. His pale pink lips curved softly into an arc. His eyelashes, long and dense like a bird’s feathers, lowered towards Taehwon, and his cheeks were faintly flushed, slightly rosy.

He narrowed his eyes and bent down to press his lips against Taehwon’s parted ones.

“Mmph.”

His tongue invaded deeply, as if claiming the inside of Taehwon’s mouth. Unlike Taehwon’s dry lips, his tongue was soft and moist.

Taehwon raised his left hand, the only one he could move, to push Rae-i’s shoulder away. But no matter how hard he tried, Rae-i stood firm like a cliff, not budging an inch. His aching muscles throbbed. Even when he tried to turn his head away, his chin was pulled back by Rae-i’s grip.

“Hmm.”

“Haa…”

Taehwon’s expression crumpled visibly. Everything was a mess and utterly confusing.

Rae-i was fiercely wild and savage. It felt like being devoured by a predator. He teased with his tongue, making sure to produce a sticky sound, and exhaled warm breaths through his teeth. Now, his lips were wet with saliva, and his breath was heavy and ripe. The foreign sensation of his tongue being sucked and rubbed gradually transformed into pleasure.

Rae-i was quite good at kissing.

To be precise, he knew exactly where Woo Taehwon felt it and what his weaknesses were.

Pushed to his limits, unable to endure any longer, Taehwon bit down hard on Rae-i’s lip. Only then did Rae-i finally pull away.

“Gasp, gasp…!”

While Taehwon struggled to catch his breath, Rae-i casually wiped the blood seeping from his torn lip with his thumb. His eyes still curved prettily as he smiled. His unrealistically white face, like that of a living person, seemed inexplicably dangerous.

“Wow, now I’m even better at kissing.”

“Rae, Young Master Rae-i. What on earth is this?”

“Ever since you started serving my father, you’ve been entertained countless times here and there. You couldn’t help but gain experience, right? So you were really skilled.”

“Entertained…? No, wait. Are you saying I served Chairman Kwon?”

“Yes, well. But now you’re really bad at kissing. Haha, maybe you were too surprised. Anyway, wow… You’re so cute. I shouldn’t be finding this cute, but Taehwon-ssi has become so adorable.”

“Hold on, young master. Are you making a bad joke? How could I serve the chairman? And why, how did we end up kissing, huh?”

“Did that look like a joke?”

Rae-i asked gently. His voice was as sweet as honey, but for some reason, it sent chills down Taehwon’s spine. It was terrifying.

“Even if you’ve lost your memory, you should know with your twenty-year-old brain. At least how I look at you.”

Taehwon’s black eyes wavered. His head throbbed as if drilled into, and his battered body was hard to control. It was difficult to grasp the nonsensical, jumbled situation.

His breathing quickened, and his pulse raced.

“I’m only interested in Woo Taehwon. No matter how broken your body is, whether you become a fool, are cruelly abandoned, or betrayed… I don’t care about that. I just like you, Taehwon-ssi.”

“…”

“I love you. Even if you used to scoff at such words, it’s okay. None of that matters now. It’s over.”

Love? Over…?

Rae-i leaned in again, his face so close it seemed like a dream. His demeanor, kissing Taehwon’s cheek, was natural and bold, as if he’d done it countless times before.

His gaze deepened.

The tension in the air rose, and the room’s temperature seemed to increase.

It was impossible not to notice the fierce sparks flying whenever their eyes met. Rae-i was burning his soul for Woo Taehwon.

“Four days ago, Taehwon-ssi shot and killed my father.”

“W-What are you saying?”

“It was assassination and betrayal. Thanks to that, Gyeongjeong is in chaos. My three brothers are frantically searching for the traitor Woo Taehwon, causing a ruckus, and people are swarming like bees everywhere.”

Startled, Taehwon forced his injured body to sit up. He gritted his teeth as if to chew through them and glared at Rae-i.

“That can’t be…”

“What do you think will happen if Taehwon-ssi is discovered by Gyeongjeong? You won’t die easily.”

“…”

“You’ll be subjected to horrific torture as revenge, your nails pulled out, your skin peeled off layer by layer, your soft insides nibbled away by bugs, and your manhood cut off and shoved into your mouth. You can’t die so miserably, can you?”

His body, which wouldn’t move as he wished, was frustrating, and everything Rae-i said sounded like lies. To Taehwon, who only had memories of being twenty, the reality was so absurd he couldn’t help but deny it.

“The only way for Taehwon-ssi to survive now is to stay by my side.”

Taehwon’s face turned pale. His lips trembled, and his head ached as if it would explode. It was painful.

A flash of light burst like a flash, revealing the pitch-black night sky. A narrow alley where torrential rain poured. Dazzling neon signs. A blood-soaked street…

“Ugh…”

It hurt.

In the midst of his jumbled mind, Rae-i’s voice overlapped.

“Recover your body and find your memories in this hideout where I’m hiding you, and live with me.”

<I’ll give you one chance. Try to make an excuse.>

“No… Even if your body is ruined and you can’t recover any memories, it’s okay. I’ll take care of you until the end.”

<Why did you betray Gyeongjeong, Taehwon-ssi? Why did you kill my father? Did you want to run away?>

“You don’t have to be Gyeongjeong’s hitman anymore. There’s no need for that. I’ll give you everything you want, Taehwon-ssi.”

<Were you sick of it? Disillusioned? Did you want to take a share and leave this world, live a normal life? Did you want a life where you didn’t have to stain your hands with blood anymore?>

The smile gradually faded from Rae-i’s eyes, which had been gracefully curved like a sacred figure depicted in an ancient cathedral mural. Soon, his face turned expressionless, and the temperature dropped.

He stared directly at Taehwon without blinking.

There was no hint of wavering emotions in his cold eyes. His white face and white hair seemed like a tidal wave rushing towards Woo Taehwon.

It was a disaster that would soon sweep over and suffocate him.

“I’m the one saving Taehwon-ssi.”

<If you were going to do that, you should have killed me first.>

“Taehwon-ssi is going to live with me.”

<If you were going to leave me like this, you should have taken my head first…>

He slowly placed his hand on Taehwon’s shoulder and laid him back down.

He adjusted his position so his head rested on the pillow and gently patted his chest to soothe him. Yet Taehwon’s heart continued to beat wildly.

Woo Taehwon, a traitor to Gyeongjeong, assassinated the chairman who took him in.

If it were a joke, it would be a ridiculous, unfunny lie. It should be a blatant falsehood that deserves anger. But Taehwon’s instincts and intuition kept screaming loudly. To get a grip. Not to turn away or ignore the cruel truth that had been revealed to him.

Dazed, Taehwon closed his mouth in silence.

He wanted to refute or deny it, but he couldn’t find the words. Everything was sudden and horrifying. It felt like the blood in his body was draining away and growing cold.

‘Ten years of memories…’

He had lost a whole ten years…

Ah…

Ah…

✧✧✧

200 million. Back then, Woo Taehwon’s debt was 200 million won.

The principal was 70 million won, and the interest was 130 million won. Of course, it wasn’t a debt Taehwon himself had incurred.

His father, who couldn’t quit gambling even after losing his thumb for cheating in gambling houses, had dragged Taehwon, then sixteen, to the gambling den, claiming he would redeem himself as soon as his severed finger healed.

“This is my son, and he’s already grown up. Look at his size. He’s as good as any grown man, right? This time, it’s real. No more cheating, just the truth, huh? Ah, President Kim. I’ll win big and pay off all the overdue principal and interest!”

Taehwon watched silently with his black eyes as his deranged father dragged him around as collateral, spouting nonsense.

They were turned away at three gambling houses, and his father was beaten up.

And that night.

Taehwon retraced his steps to the gambling dens he had memorized in his mind. He carried a gas can from the gas station where he worked for less than minimum wage, with a lighter bearing a Chinese restaurant’s phone number in his pocket.

He set them on fire.

Naturally, he got caught.