Then and now, those pure and clear eyes touched somewhere inside Ganghyuk’s heart. Was it because they reminded him of before his hands were stained with blood? Or was the little kid prettier than expected, so he was drawn as if enchanted?
Other people’s omega pheromones were only nauseating, but Ian’s approached him attractively, so that aspect was also fascinating.
Clearly his feelings had only been to that extent, so when had they grown like this?
Ganghyuk laughed like a sigh while caressing the soft earlobe. If told to express the emotions he felt now, his mind would turn into a blank white sheet of paper.
His chest just felt heavy. If Ian wanted, he could even give him his heart. If he would open his eyes again and smile brightly while looking at him, it seemed it would be okay to lose everything he had.
“I’m sorry.”
Right now, the only words he could say were an apology. He couldn’t even remember when he’d last apologized to someone saying he was sorry.
This small child had at some point become Ganghyuk’s everything. He was grateful just for being alive. If he’d discovered Ian’s corpse, just imagining what he might have committed made him dizzy.
He’d already crossed a river he couldn’t turn back from. He’d nearly beaten Tae Minjae half to death. And from now on, he would make it so he couldn’t live a normal life. Tae Nayeon couldn’t escape either.
No matter how much trust he received from Chairman Tae, no matter how much the directors followed him, this matter would certainly grab Ganghyuk’s ankles. Even so, it didn’t matter.
If Tae Minsu also rose up in rebellion, he could just deal with that bastard too. That’s how completely Ganghyuk had lost his cool rationality.
Perhaps Tae Minjae also hadn’t anticipated that Ganghyuk would be this deeply fallen for Ian. That’s why he’d pulled such an absurd stunt.
Ganghyuk suddenly curled his fingertips. Continuing to touch Ian with the hands that had killed Gal Hongdo felt like sacrilege.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Ian’s eyelashes finally fluttered. At the twitching eyelids, Ganghyuk froze with his hand stopped awkwardly.
The thick eyelashes lifted and hazy pupils appeared. Blink, blink. For a while, Ian only repeated opening and closing his eyes.
“Hiuk!”
Then suddenly making a choking sound, he tried to curl his body. The needle that had been inserted in his vein twisted, and the IV line was stained with a reddish color.
“Ian-ah.”
Ganghyuk urgently grabbed Ian’s shoulder with his hand. Then Ian’s trembling became even more severe.
“No, I don’t want to. Huk, no, I don’t want to……”
Ian didn’t recognize Ganghyuk. His unfocused pupils wandered, filled with terror. Large teardrops flowed down his gaunt cheeks.
At the sight of him crying while trembling all over, Ganghyuk ground his teeth. His jaw muscles bulged and some pheromones flowed out. At that moment, Ian’s movement stopped abruptly.
Ian, who had been covering his face between his arms, carefully raised his head. Tears dripped down, and his vision brightened.
“Ah, aah……”
Ganghyuk was properly captured in Ian’s pupils. Ian parted his lips and only let out moans like a beast caught in a trap.
Unable to tell if this was reality or a dream, he only moved his lips vaguely. The person he’d really wanted to see was right before his eyes. But he was so afraid this might be a fantasy.
“Hueu, ah……”
His chest hurt as if it had been crushed to pieces. The pain felt in his mouth, the throbbing wounds all over his body told him this was reality, but he was scared.
“I’m here. It’s okay now.”
Ganghyuk lowered his body to match Ian’s eye level. He waited without touching him, afraid Ian would be startled if he touched his body.
“Dre… dream……”
Still anxious, Ian barely uttered a single word. Ganghyuk slowly extended his hand toward Ian. And he released his pheromones a bit more thickly.
He realized Ian had instinctively responded to his pheromones. It was an animal-like sense.
Indeed, releasing pheromones had an effect. Ian looked at Ganghyuk with a tearful face and very carefully touched Ganghyuk’s hand.
The finger that had first touched the tip of his index finger soon passed the knuckle and rested on his palm. Ganghyuk slowly closed his hand and grasped Ian’s hand.
At the warmth transmitted from skin to skin, Ian’s face contorted. The fear he’d experienced all this time collapsed at once, and tremendous relief flooded in like the tide.
“Uwaang……”
Ian cried out loud like a child, gripping Ganghyuk’s hand as if it were a lifeline. At the desperate force, as if he’d die if they separated even for a moment, Ganghyuk sat on the bed and pulled Ian into his embrace.
Ian raised his other arm and wrapped it around Ganghyuk’s body. He buried his head in Ganghyuk’s nape and desperately inhaled his pheromones, trying to accept this moment.
The fact that he was safe and had returned to Ganghyuk’s arms.
“Kkeuuk, why, why did you… come so late, huk……”
How much had he waited for Ganghyuk. One minute felt like a day. Every time Hongdo laid hands on him, it was so terrible he couldn’t bear it. The touch of anyone other than Ganghyuk gave him goosebumps to the point where he thought being beaten would be better.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Ganghyuk whispered while stroking Ian’s head. He could tell just by looking at his trembling body how scared he must have been.
By nature, Ganghyuk didn’t really know the emotion called fear. Even when he was abused by his parents as a child, it was only briefly. After following Chairman Tae, learning many things from him, and getting his hands dirty with so much blood, he became even more numb.
But when he lost Ian, he was engulfed in a sense of despair as if the ground beneath his feet had all collapsed.
Ian must have been even more scared than me. He must have trembled in fear every hour, worried that I might not come to rescue him. At that thought, hot breath scratched his lungs.
“That person, hikeuk, tried to… me again……”
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t keep my promise.”
He could immediately tell who the person Ian was talking about was. After boasting that he’d make sure he never appeared before him again, he hadn’t noticed until Ian disappeared.
He’d been planning to drive Gal Hongdo out of Korea soon. The miscalculation was that Gal Hongdo had moved first. And he’d targeted Ian. Everything was his fault. It was a misjudgment to believe it would be safe with Sucheol attached to him.
“He really won’t appear again now. Because I killed him.”
“Hueuuk……”
Ian raised his head in surprise at the terrifying words. At his face, a mess with tears and snot, Ganghyuk gave a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry I should have killed him more painfully.”
Every time he blinked, his tear-soaked eyelashes gleamed pitch black. Ganghyuk wiped away the tears forming at Ian’s eyes with his thumb.
“What did that bastard do to you?”
Ganghyuk’s voice lowered as if sinking to the floor. At the flash gleaming in his pitch-black eyes, Ian bit his lips.
Pain was felt from his severely injured tongue. What would have happened to him if the boat hadn’t shaken violently at that time?
Hongdo had definitely tried to rape Ian. Ian had suffered extreme fear and despair at the time, to the point of even thinking about biting his own tongue.
After Hongdo left, he thought he should escape but ended up fainting. When he opened his eyes again, it was pitch dark all around.
Like the basement he’d been trapped in before, in a space where not a single ray of light entered, there was a musty smell and the fishy smell of the sea.
After that, Hongdo and his subordinates took turns opening the door to the place where Ian was confined. Ian despaired seeing that the only door was attached to the ceiling.
Only when someone came down did the door open and a ladder appear. Except when giving water and food, the door remained constantly closed.
Fortunately, although Hongdo would hit Ian, after the location changed, incidents of him touching his body gradually decreased.
Instead, Ian was consumed by suffocating fear. The confined space was stifling like a square box. When left alone, forgotten memories and emotions would revive and choke his breath.
His heart pounded and his pulse quickened, bringing hyperventilation. His chest ached heavily. The more he inhaled, the more his breath was blocked, and even though he frantically groped around, it was useless. Only his hands hurt from hitting the hard boxes.
The intervals between door openings also lengthened. As his consciousness blurred to the point where he couldn’t tell how much time had passed, his physical condition rapidly deteriorated.
Cold sweat poured out like rain at all hours. His body, which was as good as naked, lost body temperature rapidly. His hands, feet, and lips all trembled.
