VI | Chapter 1

A torrential downpour on the new moon.

Amidst the towering buildings shining like glass boxes, a man stood in a secluded alley, drenched in rain. He didn’t look neat at all. The seam of his black Versace shirt was torn, and a button was missing. His right shoulder was deeply pierced, and his arm hung limp, possibly dislocated. His thigh, slashed horizontally, was bleeding heavily.

“Ugh…”

The man swallowed a harsh curse and limped down the alley. The path he walked was littered with bodies amidst puddles of sticky blood.

Five men in black suits lay dead, their necks, heads, abdomens, and chests brutally stabbed, looking grotesque and horrifying. White bones protruded from twisted arms, and fresh blood oozed from torn wounds.

The dazzling city nightscape, neon signs, and car lights made the grim scene even more chaotic. Taehwon’s eyes, empty like the darkness, scanned the alley. He spotted a bag buried under a fallen body.

Inside the leather bag, soaked with blood, were bundles of 50,000 won bills, enough money to last a lifetime. There were also cleanly laundered fake IDs, a forged passport, and a plane ticket. If he left for the airport and boarded any flight, he would never set foot on Korean soil again.

‘That was the plan.’

Taehwon limped over to the body, pushed the flesh aside, and tore off the bag’s handle. A tracker, smaller than a pinky nail, rolled out.

“Ha.”

A bitter laugh escaped him.

Taehwon stared at the tracking device for a while before smashing it with his shoe. Despite the pouring rain, the pungent smell of blood lingered. His right arm was numb and wouldn’t move anymore.

Now.

This very moment was the end of the story.

It had been a truly dirty and arduous journey to reach the end.

>10 years. While the landscape changed, Taehwon was submerged in a dark mire, wielding an immoral and ruthless blade. It was a savage life where it wouldn’t be surprising if he died at any moment. There was no inevitable retribution or downfall for the villain. The ending Taehwon faced today was so bland it was almost disappointing…

‘Is it finally over?’

It had been so long. To reach the final moment of this wretched life.

His vision gradually blurred, and strength drained from his limbs.

Eventually, his heavy body slumped. Like a great tree falling, Taehwon toppled forward and collapsed onto the ground.

He desperately wanted a cigarette.

But then, at that moment.

Screech… A Maserati slid into the alley and stopped. The strong headlights illuminated the scene, even revealing the raindrops falling. Soon, the front door opened, and an umbrella bloomed like a flower.

A man with an umbrella approached the fallen Taehwon.

“Taehwon-ssi. It’s been a while.”

The face smiling brightly as if he had missed Taehwon stood out. He had white hair and blue-gray eyes that were unforgettable, having suffered from albinism since birth.

‘…Young master?’

Kwon Rae-i.

The illegitimate child of Chairman Kwon, the head of the Gyeongjeong faction. The youngest son born late.

When Taehwon was young and newly joined the organization, he had once taken care of and looked after this young master closely. It was a distant past, long faded and discolored, hardly a memory. Now, it was a memory he should have let go of long ago.

“It’s strange. I thought I’d be angry when we met, but seeing your face, I’m just worried.”

“…”

“Why are you so badly injured? You only faced a few people… Has your blade rusted?”

With his elegant eyes curved, he approached Taehwon, squatted down to meet his eye level, and covered him with the umbrella. The sight was unfamiliar. The small young master in his memory had grown into a man, and even crouched, his massive frame didn’t look small at all. He seemed taller than Taehwon now.

His face, as captivating as ever, seemed unchanged.

‘Of all faces to see for the last time in my life, it had to be his…’

His face was as flawless and remarkable as ever, without a single rough spot.

Pearl-white eyelids. Clear and cold blue-gray eyes like a serene winter lake. Deeply set eyes and a well-defined nose resembled a breathtaking snowy landscape frozen over a quiet mountain ridge in the forest. His unique cool and mysterious aura made him seem more like an enigmatic spiritual being than a person with a warm heart.

“I’ll give you one chance. Try to make an excuse.”

Taehwon didn’t answer anything.

He just let out a heavy breath.

“Why did you betray Gyeongjeong? Why did you kill my father? Did you want to run away?”

“…”

“Was it because you were 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?”

“…”

“Ha… Haha. I thought I heard the report wrong. Right? Taehwon-ssi shot a hole in my father’s head and fled. They said his brain matter dripped down and soaked his lower body… It’s absurd. Taehwon-ssi wouldn’t do that. Why. Why would Taehwon-ssi!”

Kwon Rae-i’s shoulders trembled as he panted. His rough breathing made him look more pained than the severely injured Taehwon. There was an unprecedented dangerous scent about him.

His face, as innocent and pure as ever, was distorted. Twisted emotions were visible in his blue eyes.

An overwhelming, chilling madness was clearly present in him.

“If you were going to do that, you should have killed me first.”

Taehwon’s muddled mind had thoughts that came and went sporadically. Red blood stained the asphalt and flowed into the sewer. His body, heavy as a rock, was growing cold.

The rain pouring through the night sky intensified. It seemed ready to swallow and scatter the world completely.

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

Darkness.

Blackness.

It went completely dark.

✧✧✧

Have you ever washed a palette squeezed with paint?

If you have, you would know. The sight of vibrant, colorful hues dissolving in water, mixing together, and eventually becoming black ink that gets sucked into the drain. That was exactly what was happening in Taehwon’s mind now. Various colors were mixing chaotically and being swept away into a dark pit.

Rainwater, blood, knives, the sensation of tearing flesh, dazzling neon signs, and car lights speeding down the road…

Fragmented memories flashed by and were sucked into the darkness.

<I’ve never seen a bastard as despicable as you.>

<You should have looked in the mirror. You’d have been right there.>

They were trivial memories.

<I’ll follow you forever, hyung-nim! Forever!>

<Shut up. Who told you to shout without permission…>

Mostly about tearing, messing around, breaking, stabbing. Just things like that.

Confronting rival organizations, taking territory, doing what was told, barking when ordered, ordering ganjajangmyeon, cursing about the taste of cigarettes, getting drunk, being a hitman…

In the end, it was blood. Blood.

All that remained in his hands was the color red.

Endless red water poured into the drain. No matter how much he washed the palette, the bloodstains on his hands wouldn’t come off. Taehwon’s scarred and calloused hands were entirely dark red from his elbows to under his nails. He wondered if the grudges clinging to him were this much. It was a dirty and cruel price for his sins that could never be washed away.

‘…’

Taehwon could only remain silent, staring at the endlessly flowing red. His mind was being swept away more and more. The water kept rising, and the pouring stream grew stronger.

At some point, even the red blood that seemed impossible to wash away began to fade. The red gradually lightened to pink, and eventually became transparent.

‘I am…’

Taehwon furrowed his brow. The palette, with all the paint washed off, was clean. His arms, once stained with sticky blood, regained their original skin tone and became clean. Yet the water flow didn’t stop.

Taehwon’s past and memories, even his will and muddled self, were being swept away into the dark pit. In the end, it was all washed away and emptied. As if there was nothing from the beginning, it was all wiped clean.

‘…Who am I?’

Memory loss.

The clockwork of Taehwon, who stood at the end, rewound to the beginning. To the initial moment of the starting point.

A whole 10 years of time was completely erased.

Only then did the water flow stop. The last few drops dripped, dripped, and then it went completely dark.