VI | Chapter 4

Bound hand and foot, Taehwon was beaten until his bones broke, and he permanently lost hearing in his left ear when his eardrum burst. Yet, seeing people scurry out of the smoky gambling house like cockroaches was satisfying enough for him.

Even as he coughed up blood, looking like he was about to die, a middle-aged man in a sharp gray suit intervened.

“Alright, that’s enough. You’ll kill the kid at this rate.”

In third-rate movies, the person who steps in at times like this is usually a big shot from the underworld, and that was exactly the case. The head of the Gyeongjeong faction, the “Dark Ghost” Chairman Kwon Jung-il.

“What’s your name?”

“…Ugh, your father.”

“Is that so? Haha. I meet my late father on the streets like this.”

Chairman Kwon laughed heartily as he stuffed a business card into Taehwon’s blood-filled mouth. His imposing presence and the aura of authority were undeniable. Despite his small stature, he exuded an overwhelming atmosphere.

“When you reach my age, you tend to judge people by one criterion.”

Chairman Kwon muttered contentedly as he held Taehwon’s chin and forced the business card into his mouth.

As far as Taehwon could remember, that voice still had the fervor of a young man in his prime.

“Eyes. Everything else is an illusion.”

“Gah, ugh…!”

“If you ever want to escape the bottom, come find me.”

With that, Chairman Kwon Jung-il left the scene, followed by his subordinates. Behind the sleek foreign car, the owner of the gambling house, possibly President Kim, hurriedly ran out, bowing deeply and shouting his farewells.

“Please, take care, Chairman!”

At the time, Taehwon couldn’t afford to go to the hospital, so he worked at the gas station and suffered through three weeks of illness. He lost hearing in his left ear, but fortunately, his broken bones healed correctly, and over time, he was able to move as he had before.

And that night.

Taehwon once again took a gas can and lighter and went to the gambling house he remembered.

He set it on fire again.

Naturally, he got caught again.

This time, he was beaten just enough not to die. There was no Chairman Kwon Jung-il among the patrons to intervene and stop it. This happened when Taehwon was sixteen, during the winter of his third year in middle school.

After that, his father, unable to quit gambling, continued to wander from gambling den to gambling den until he disappeared without a trace.

Taehwon, who didn’t go to high school, got a job at a factory with a middle school diploma. He worked like a dog at a place that provided room and board, moving from place to place whenever creditors came after him for his father’s gambling debts. He endured like that for three years.

At the time, Taehwon was twenty.

The debt, which had grown exponentially, quickly surpassed 200 million won. It was an amount he couldn’t keep up with, even if he worked his entire life. After months of wandering and contemplating, he went to his late mother’s hometown, reminisced about faded childhood memories, and made a final decision he would never make again.

He decided to knock on Gyeongjeong’s door.

Not that he had high hopes. It was unlikely that a young, blue-eyed kid would be let in just because he claimed to want to meet the chairman. But Taehwon had nowhere else to go. There was no lower bottom than this. It was a do-or-die crossroads, and he had no choice but to charge forward recklessly.

Or maybe, he thought, he could set fire to Gyeongjeong’s headquarters this time. Surely, even the chairman would be startled and come running out.

Having no money for travel, Taehwon walked for days and hitched rides on trucks to return, kneeling in front of Gyeongjeong’s gate in a filthy, bedraggled state.

At the tender age of twenty, Taehwon ended up joining the underworld organization. The rumors spread from somewhere, and being known as someone personally taken in by Chairman Kwon, he faced intense hostility from those who saw him as a thorn in their side. Visible bullying, invisible ostracism, constant disregard, and harassment were common. He was often hit with ashtrays and burned with cigarette butts.

The place he was driven to, where he was so disliked, was the secluded annex.

The child cast out from the family. The illegitimate child brought in from outside. Unlike the three legitimate sons born of the main wife, the thorn in the side, the son of a concubine, the youngest, Kwon Rae-i, was there.

Young Rae-i was often sick and bedridden, so Taehwon was sent to take care of the weak, seemingly useless child.

‘Yes, that’s how I came to take care of young master Rae-i.’

Up to that point, the memories were vivid.

He could recall it as clearly as if it had happened just yesterday.

At first, the white, doll-like, beautifully featured young master Rae-i was unfamiliar and difficult to approach, but at some point, Taehwon began to care for him. The young master’s situation, abandoned by his family at a young age, was similar to Taehwon’s own family circumstances.

Is this what they call shared suffering? Taehwon saw his younger self in the young master. The loneliness of that time, the sorrow of having no protector to rely on, the resignation learned from a distorted environment and countless scars.

‘He was pitiful.’

Indeed, that’s why the two who were so similar eventually clicked.

Kwon Rae-i, who didn’t follow anyone in Gyeongjeong and stayed locked in his room, eventually opened his heart to Taehwon. He only allowed Taehwon to take care of him, only ate the food Taehwon brought, and eventually clung to Taehwon, acting spoiled. Gradually, he became more lively, sometimes smiling slightly, and eventually, he smiled brightly…

Ah.

That face, as bright as a star, comes to mind.

The pure face of a child, without a speck of dust.

The warmth that could only come from being ten years old. The strong bond between protector and protected. Firm and complete trust. It was something that couldn’t be bought with 200 million, let alone a thousand gold.

To Kwon Rae-i, Taehwon was the only adult he could trust and follow, and to Taehwon, Kwon Rae-i was a mirror reflecting his own childhood.

Through Rae-i, Taehwon filled the void he thought could never be filled from his childhood, and through Rae-i, his pain was healed. He could recover and move forward. Just seeing young master Rae-i smile at him made the day feel vibrant, like a plant absorbing water and nutrients.

In a sense, their meeting was salvation for both of them.

‘But why. Why…’

What on earth happened in the ten years that had passed?

Even if ten years is enough for the landscape to change.

Why is Woo Taehwon now a traitor to Gyeongjeong, and why is Kwon Rae-i confessing love and kissing Woo Taehwon?

‘It was enough as it was. I wanted nothing more.’

Embarrassingly, though he never told anyone, Taehwon thought of young master Rae-i as his own child.

Children are so small and fragile. It felt like their wrists would break if handled wrong, and they would be deeply hurt if treated roughly. He couldn’t help but cherish them.

Cute and adorable, young, weak, needing protection… a presence that placed an absolute responsibility on Taehwon’s shoulders.

Isn’t that what the world calls family?

So even though Woo Taehwon was only twenty, young master Rae-i felt like his son. Even if they weren’t connected by blood, he treated him that way in his heart. And young master Rae-i, surely, ten years ago, followed Taehwon like a father.

Back then, it was like that… It surely was.

Kwon Rae-i and Woo Taehwon were like father and son, more like family than family…

✧✧✧

When Taehwon woke up again, he was alone in the dark, quiet bedroom.

It seemed he had lost consciousness once more. This time, he didn’t know if it had been hours or days. His physical condition was truly the worst.

‘…It’s night.’

A sliver of moonlight seeped through the gap in the closed curtains.

The light drew a long line across his face and upper body, as if dividing Taehwon’s body in half. Perhaps not just his body, but his entire life.

The ten years of life cut away from Taehwon, along with his lost memories, weighed heavily on him. It felt like he was being crushed under a massive weight.

“Sigh…”

Taehwon slowly pulled back the blanket covering his body. His entire body felt shattered, making it difficult to move, but he had to move nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, Taehwon got off the bed.

Creak.

His stiff muscles screamed in protest.

Taehwon limped, as if he might collapse at any moment, taking slow steps. His vision, adjusted to the darkness, gradually brightened, revealing his surroundings. It was a sophisticated bedroom with a high ceiling. The wallpaper was a light gray, and the floor was black marble, exuding a luxurious restraint.

Next to the king-size bed in the center were a nightstand and drawers, and across from them were a table and sofa, with a passage leading to the bathroom on the opposite side.

Taehwon slowly made his way to the bathroom. Feeling along the wall, he turned on the switch, and the lights came on brightly, blinding him.