✽021

Ju-wan stared at him with his mouth slightly open, then scoffed.

“Wow… You said it so casually, I almost believed you.”

“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, stick your finger into the sunlight and see. Nothing will happen.”

This time, Ju-wan gave him a full, mocking laugh.

“Would you believe something like that if you were me?”

Hwi-kyung shrugged nonchalantly.

“Believe it or not, I don’t care. But I’m not the kind of guy to bet my life on an uncertain hand.”

“…….”

For a moment, Ju-wan felt thrown off. What Hwi-kyung just said made a surprising amount of sense. Ju-wan recalled how, back at their office, everyone had been looking at him with bare eyes, completely unbothered by his abilities. It had left him feeling slightly uneasy.

To be fair, Ju-wan had thought it odd at the time. He’d already hypnotized Son Chan-hee and Gu So-min, yet they had introduced him to the rest of the team like it was no big deal. It had seemed reckless—something Ju-wan himself would never do in front of an enemy. Because of that, he had underestimated Ahn Do-young and the group, chalking their actions up to stupidity.

But what if it wasn’t stupidity? What if they’d prepared for him in advance?

‘Could it be true?’

Ju-wan’s gaze drifted to the streak of sunlight cutting across his black pants. Pretending to shift his posture, he cautiously slid a finger out from his sleeve toward the beam. Normally, sunlight didn’t set his skin ablaze instantly but would cause a mild burn—enough to test Hwi-kyung’s claim.

Still, the idea of intentionally inflicting pain required serious nerve. Ju-wan clenched his eyes shut and bit his lip before curling his finger toward the beam of light.

‘Hup…!’

But to his shock, nothing happened. The familiar sting and the rising heat on his skin were nowhere to be felt. Ju-wan stared in disbelief, thankful that his sunglasses and mask hid his reaction from Hwi-kyung.

Opening his eyes wide, he extended his pinky fully into the sunlight. Still, there was no reaction. His skin remained untouched.

‘Am I dreaming?’

He pushed his entire hand, palm up, into the light. No burning, no itching, nothing. His skin stayed completely intact.

For a brief moment, a horrifying image of Theodore burning in the sunlight flashed before his eyes. Panicked, Ju-wan yanked his hand back and took a deep, shaky breath.

“H-how is this possible?” he stammered.

Hwi-kyung glanced at Ju-wan’s exposed hand and chuckled.

“See? Told you I wasn’t lying.”

A shiver ran down Ju-wan’s spine.

“You really have something like that? A drug that can do this?”

“Told you we do.”

Ju-wan felt like he’d been struck on the back of the head.

“So earlier… when you barged into my house and shoved me back…”

Hwi-kyung smirked knowingly.

“Yeah, that was thanks to the same drug. Makes dealing with vampires a whole lot easier, don’t you think?”

“It must have had some effect,” Hwi-kyung replied, shrugging casually. “But honestly, I’m just naturally strong.”

Ju-wan’s expression grew serious. He thought back to when he was hurriedly packing to escape and had tried to drink blood—only to vomit it all out, feeling sick.

So it wasn’t because the blood was bad… it was because something was wrong with me?

He had already been puzzled when he arrived at Eden this morning, realizing two days had passed since escaping the hotel in Songdo. Normally, even with a strong sedative, his vampire physiology would have allowed him to recover far more quickly than a human. It didn’t make sense that he had been unconscious for a whole day unless…

It was because of that Blue-5 drug they injected me with alongside the sedative…

Ju-wan suddenly shouted, “Then you didn’t even need to chain me up back then!”

“That was just because I felt like it. What kind of vampire gets to lounge around comfortably in front of me?” Hwi-kyung smirked.

Ju-wan clenched his fists, wishing he could strangle Hwi-kyung on the spot. Then he remembered something and asked, “What if I’d hypnotized Ahn Do-young when I was escaping from the Songdo hotel?”

“It wouldn’t have worked, of course. But Do-young would’ve pretended it did. Lucky for him, you knocked him out before he had to fake it, so his cover didn’t get blown. I guess we should thank you for that.” Hwi-kyung chuckled.

Ju-wan’s face went pale.

“…Who are you people? Why do you have a drug like that? Are you some secret government agency? A vampire extermination squad?”

“I already told you, it’s nothing like that. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Hwi-kyung’s nonchalant laughter only deepened Ju-wan’s unease. His eyes darted toward the car window. Should he jump out and run? Would he even make it if he tried? His mind raced with calculations until Hwi-kyung spoke again.

“Relax. That stuff costs a few million won for just 0.5 milliliters, so we don’t use it recklessly. Plus, it only lasts 48 hours, so it’s not exactly efficient.”

“…Why are you even telling me this?”

“We have a contract, remember? No harm, no threats. I’m just following the rules.”

For a moment, Ju-wan felt like a mouse caught in a trap. Hwi-kyung clearly didn’t trust the contract itself. His casual attitude about it only meant he was prepared to force Ju-wan to abide by its terms no matter what.

Hwi-kyung didn’t trust anyone—not Ju-wan, not his teammates, not even himself. Realizing this, Ju-wan understood that trying to figure out how Hwi-kyung had caught onto his escape plan was pointless. Hwi-kyung had never trusted him from the start.

With a bewildered tone, Ju-wan asked, “…How old are you?”

“Me? Twenty-nine.”

Ju-wan’s jaw dropped.

Hwi-kyung chuckled. “What? Did you think I was younger?”

Ju-wan sprang to his feet in the car. “You… You’re only 29? Why do you act like you’re 290 years old?”

“Mm, wisdom beyond my years?”

“Don’t make me laugh! It means your personality and mental state are completely messed up!”

“Kids these days are just like that, old man.”

Ju-wan fumed, while Hwi-kyung hummed a cheerful tune, clearly enjoying himself.

Behind his mask, Ju-wan’s face twisted in despair. How did it come to this? All he’d done was drink blood from some random people like usual, and now his life was in shambles.

Not that he doubted his ability to win the gambling tournament. The real issue was that he didn’t trust Hwi-kyung, just as Hwi-kyung didn’t trust him. Even if Ju-wan secured first place and brought back the VIP ticket, there was no guarantee they would let him go afterward.

Desperately, Ju-wan made one last appeal.

“I swear I won’t run away. Can’t we at least respect some personal boundaries?”

“If you’re not planning to run, why are you so worried? Don’t mind me. I won’t ask you for money or anything. I’ll just stay out of your way,” Hwi-kyung replied with maddening indifference.

It was hopeless. Ju-wan sighed deeply, the sound muffled by his mask.

Cheerfully, Hwi-kyung said, “Hey, got any good restaurant recommendations? If not, I’ll just take us to one of my usual spots.”

Ju-wan crossed his arms and didn’t reply. At this point, the only option was to hope that Shin Hwi-kyung would eventually wear himself out and give up. No matter how exceptional Hwi-kyung might seem, he was still human and bound to hit his physical limits.

Or maybe Ju-wan could bore him into submission.

If a guest on I Live Alone spent the entire day lying in bed, viewers would switch the channel in an instant. Even in <The Truman Show>, the protagonist’s inactivity right before his escape had made his watchers lose interest.

If I stay quiet and do nothing for a few days, he might get bored and leave on his own.

It was a slim chance, but it was all Ju-wan could cling to for now. The moment Hwi-kyung let his guard down or stepped even slightly out of reach, Ju-wan would make his move. There was no way he would let this opportunity slip by.

* * *

They arrived at Eden later than expected because Shin Hwi-kyung insisted on stopping by a local gukbap (rice soup) restaurant, where he devoured two bowls. His appetite was insatiable. To make matters worse, he bought a ridiculous amount of bread on the way, carrying a giant bag stuffed with baked goods. Ju-wan walked a few paces behind him, trying to maintain some distance from the absurd sight.

As Ju-wan descended the stairs to Eden’s basement, he heard Choi Gyu-hyuk’s booming voice coming up from below.

“Hyung-nim! I was just—”

Unfortunately, Gyu-hyuk was in the middle of packing his things to escape, following Ju-wan’s earlier instructions. The sight of Ju-wan immediately brought relief to his face, but that relief turned into sheer panic when he noticed Hwi-kyung appearing behind him, lugging a massive sack of bread like Santa Claus. Gyu-hyuk awkwardly hid the large suitcase behind his back and stammered.

“Uh… uh… th-this… Ju-wan, what’s going on?”

Hwi-kyung’s amused gaze zeroed in on Gyu-hyuk. His eyes drifted to the poorly hidden suitcase before he asked, “So, Choi Gyu-hyuk sajang-nim, were you about to go on a trip?”

“No! This is… it’s for something else…” Gyu-hyuk trailed off.

“Oh, not a trip? Then perhaps you were trying to run away? Maybe on orders from Kang Ju-wan here?” Hwi-kyung said with a sly smile.

Gyu-hyuk’s pupils dilated as he shot a desperate glance at Ju-wan, silently asking, What the hell is going on? Normally, when Ju-wan said he’d “handled it,” it meant he’d erased the person’s memory. But this was the first time Gyu-hyuk had seen someone who still remembered everything.

Ju-wan let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“Forget it. Just speak freely. It’s fine.”

“…Excuse me?”

“There’s no need to keep pretending to be the boss in front of this guy.”

“Uh… what?”

“Oh, and he’s going to be sticking with me for a while.”

Gyu-hyuk’s face morphed into one of utter disbelief. He glanced back and forth between Ju-wan and Hwi-kyung several times, as if trying to confirm some horrible suspicion. Finally, with a look that begged to be proven wrong, he cautiously asked:

“A-are you two… dating?”