Chapter 13: The Red Thread of Fate
Dohyuk remained motionless while lying down. Since Yeon had his eyes covered, there was no need to keep his eyes closed pretending to sleep. He breathed quietly and regularly, suppressing all signs of his presence. He even withdrew the usual murderous aura he maintained around Yeon.
Though his eyes were open to observe what Yeon would do, he stayed completely still, appearing to anyone as though he were asleep. After about 30 more minutes, Yeon finally moved from his position. His patience was truly exasperating. It’s easy to say 30 minutes, but standing still without doing anything is practically torture, yet he hadn’t moved a muscle. This was why he sometimes didn’t seem like a living human.
Slowly, Yeon approached the bed where Dohyuk was lying and raised his hand, moving it above Dohyuk. He seemed to be selecting something and then picked it up. Dohyuk had wondered if Yeon was only putting on a show in front of him, but apparently, he behaved the same way even when he thought Dohyuk was asleep.
Yeon frowned and let out a long sigh. Something seemed to displease him. He moved his hand again as if searching for something else. Dohyuk had no idea what he was doing.
Could he really see something invisible to others? If, as he claimed, colorful threads hung from everyone… The mere thought made Dohyuk grimace. If not just one or two people, but everyone he saw had dozens or hundreds of threads attached to them, his field of vision would be a complete mess.
That explains why he covers his eyes.
“In this lifetime, I hope…”
Yeon muttered quietly. Curious about what he was saying, Dohyuk focused his attention more intently.
“That this thread will finally be severed. So that you and I no longer…”
Yeon flinched and froze. He withdrew his arm that had been suspended in the air and lowered his head, turning his face toward Dohyuk.
“You weren’t asleep?”
Though it was a question, he already seemed certain. How did he know? Dohyuk hadn’t moved at all.
Since Yeon had already noticed, there was no point in pretending. Dohyuk raised his upper body to a sitting position and stared at Yeon.
“So there’s a thread connecting you and me as well?”
From what Yeon had just said, there seemed to be something between them. And Yeon wanted that thread to be cut.
Yeon couldn’t answer and his lips tightened into a straight line. It was frustrating not being able to see his expression with his eyes covered. As Dohyuk got off the bed, Yeon took a step back as if avoiding him.
Human psychology is strange. When someone tries to escape, you inexplicably want to catch them. That’s exactly how Dohyuk felt at that moment.
He strode forward and reached around the back of Yeon’s head to untie the cloth. He wanted to see his face and eyes properly, to see what emotions flitted across them. Yeon turned his head as if trying to avoid Dohyuk’s gaze. In a sudden surge of anger, Dohyuk grabbed Yeon’s hair and yanked it, forcing him to look up.
“What are you hiding?”
Beyond saying that there was an unfortunate connection between them, or that there was no fated marriage partner for him, Yeon was hiding something else. The occasional unnatural behavior from Yeon might be because of that.
“Nothing—ugh!”
When Dohyuk tightened his grip on Yeon’s hair, Yeon let out a brief groan of pain. His eyebrows contorted from the pain, but his eyes staring at Dohyuk remained unwavering.
Why did these eyes irritate him so much? Was it because of their unusual color? Or because they seemed so calm, as if nothing that happened mattered? Either way, Dohyuk didn’t like it.
“Did you know me from before?”
Dohyuk growled, bringing his face close to Yeon’s. For the first time, Yeon’s eyebrows trembled slightly.
He knows. This guy definitely knows him.
“When did we meet before? Or did you investigate me?”
It wouldn’t surprise Dohyuk if Yeon had investigated him and deliberately approached through his mother. He wasn’t the first to try to get close and benefit in a similar way.
“No.”
“No? Then why do your eyes seem so suspicious? What are you plotting?”
Dohyuk didn’t raise his voice. Instead, he pressed in a quiet tone, even lower than usual. Yeon stared at him without blinking. Those doll-like eyes, impossible to read for emotions, were driving him crazy.
“Tell me what’s going on. If you want to leave this place alive.”
He could break Yeon’s neck right now if he wanted to. If someone annoyed him, he could simply get rid of them, but he was exercising patience to figure out what this Muryeong organization was about.
Yeon didn’t speak. He stubbornly stared at Dohyuk with an expressionless face, and Dohyuk also maintained a deadly aura while staring directly into Yeon’s eyes, waiting for his answer.
Yeon’s eyelids slowly lowered and then rose again.
“There is a connection between you and me, Kang Dohyuk-ssi. That’s why I’m here right now.”
Dohyuk snorted at Yeon’s answer. He hadn’t been looking for such a fundamental and simple answer.
“I see how little you think of me.”
While dismissing him as a con artist, Dohyuk had kept open the possibility that, given Yeon’s strange behavior and words, he might actually be immersed in a world Dohyuk couldn’t understand. But with Yeon’s current answer, he didn’t care anymore whether Yeon was a fraud or a genuine shaman with supernatural powers.
Clearly, this guy was hiding something from him. Until that became clear, Dohyuk couldn’t keep him around. Despite his mother’s request.
Dohyuk grabbed Yeon’s arm and dragged him to open a door connecting to a room adjacent to the bedroom. It was a room he never used normally, but a secret space prepared for emergencies. He pushed Yeon into that room. The rough force threw Yeon to the floor.
“Let me know when you want to tell the truth. I’ll listen anytime.”
Despite Dohyuk’s cold voice, Yeon remained unperturbed. He simply looked up at Dohyuk with that same calm face. There wasn’t even a hint of confusion at the sudden situation.
“Really…”
He couldn’t believe this guy. Looking at him made Dohyuk’s blood boil, so he slammed the door shut with a bang and turned away.
He waited a moment by the door, thinking Yeon might beg to be let out or scream for his life, but no sound came from inside.
Returning to sit on the bed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Neither men rushing at him with knives threatening to kill him nor Kang Sunhyuk picking fights whenever they met had irritated him this much. If someone bothered him, he could just get rid of them; if someone was annoying, he could just ignore them.
But why did this shaman make him feel like he was gnawing at his nerves?
Ha. A realization dawned on him belatedly, making him laugh bitterly.
It was because the other side was trying to disregard Dohyuk. Despite coming here for work after being paid, despite looking him straight in the eye, he was completely dismissing Dohyuk. That’s why it felt like his own face, reflected in those eyes, was being thrown back at him.
***
After looking around the empty room, Yeon took a deep breath. How did it come to this? He honestly didn’t understand why Kang Dohyuk suddenly became angry.
Because he was hiding their connection?
If there was a reason, that was the only one. But even if he told the truth, Dohyuk wouldn’t believe it. Instead, he’d probably consider him even more of a madman than now, accusing him of deceiving people.
He must have disliked that.
The late realization only made Yeon sigh. He himself didn’t know what he wanted to do. Could he pretend not to know, finish this job, return to Muryeong, and live without ever meeting Kang Dohyuk again? Probably not. Because of this unbreakable red thread, he would meet him again someday.
Still, he wanted to pretend not to know. If Dohyuk didn’t realize it, he wanted to keep his distance and live like a complete stranger. But contrary to his reason, his heart kept stirring. All kinds of memories surged, creating ripples on the calm surface.
Contrary to his will, the situation seemed to keep repeating the past.
‘Please… please stop. Harm will come to the Elder. Only a bloodbath awaits at the end of this path.’
He had pleaded desperately, but ‘he’ had coldly shaken off Yeon’s hand.
‘If you interfere with my affairs, I will cut you down as well.’
The sharp sword touched his neck. He knew that person would cut him down without hesitation. It wasn’t that he feared death, but he couldn’t die by his hand because he knew that after cutting him down, that person would surely regret it.
But all of his choices eventually drove Yeon to death. Despite knowing, he couldn’t stop anything.
How could he break this persistent cycle of reincarnation? Sitting in the corner of the room, hugging his knees to his chest, he thought and thought, but couldn’t find an answer. He gently pulled on the red thread wrapped around his right index finger.
Kang Dohyuk had asked if there was a marriage fate between them. Yeon knew it wasn’t out of genuine curiosity, but just a question to test him. Still, he couldn’t give a casual lie as an answer. There was no other fate for him besides this red thread connecting them.
Ah, I did lie after all. I didn’t even mention this red connection.
“But this is a connection worse than none at all.”
Yeon muttered self-deprecatingly.
If only there had been a different fate that tied him to Dohyuk. Then he wouldn’t have clung to this red thread.
Fated lovers were bound to each other with red and blue threads twisted together. Red represented positive energy, and blue represented negative energy. When the two energies harmonized, they could be called a perfect destiny, supporting each other.
However, only this red thread connected Kang Dohyuk and himself.
It had always been like this. Always… this red thread had only brought bloodshed.
