Chapter 30: Obsession
“Why…?”
Yeon looked up at Dohyuk, who was leaning over him, with evident confusion at his sudden action.
“Stop it.”
Despite Dohyuk’s command, Yeon’s expression showed he didn’t understand what he was being told to stop. Dohyuk turned on the bedside lamp and examined Yeon’s arm. Though faint, the black energy could be seen spreading. Dohyuk’s face contorted in a frown, and Yeon tried to pull his captured arm away.
“I don’t know what this is, but I don’t like it. So stop it.”
“It won’t have any effect on Kang Dohyuk-ssi, so it’s fine—”
“I told you to stop.”
It was little different from a child throwing a tantrum. Dohyuk was aware of this fact. But he disliked it. Though he couldn’t know exactly what effect that unsightly black energy had on Yeon, it was clearly nothing good.
Even if it was harmful to Yeon, strictly speaking, it wasn’t Dohyuk’s concern. No, that wasn’t true. Didn’t Yeon say that if he died, it would affect Dohyuk too? So whether Dohyuk liked it or not, this guy needed to stay alive and well by his side.
“It’s my job.”
Yeon responded firmly. He had come here to do this work, so being told not to do it was troublesome.
Dohyuk looked straight down at Yeon. Even in the dim bedside light, those blue eyes were clearly visible. Difficult-to-explain, strange emotions arose simultaneously, creating turmoil inside him. What did he want from this person? What did he want to do with him?
The longer he spent time with Yeon, the more moments there were when his own actions became incomprehensible to him. And now was one of those times.
“Not all severed malicious connections produce this phenomenon. So it’s probably when you touch one of those three most serious malicious connections you mentioned, there’s a backlash that affects you.”
Yeon didn’t deny Dohyuk’s speculation.
“You can do whatever you want with the minor ones. But don’t touch those. I’ll handle them myself.”
Yeon, who had been quietly looking up at Dohyuk, took a short, sharp breath.
“Have you forgotten that your mother hired me to resolve those very issues?”
“Your employer isn’t my mother, but me.”
“But Cha Seonyoo-ssi paid Muryeong…”
“I’ll return that money to my mother.”
The implication was that from now on, Yeon should follow his instructions.
“If I can’t sever those malicious connections, there’s no reason for me to be here.”
“Do other work. That’s reason enough.”
Yeon’s eyes flickered faintly. He seemed unable to accept Dohyuk’s demand because he couldn’t understand it.
“Do as I say.”
Time passed as they maintained eye contact. Dohyuk had no intention of backing down, and Yeon seemed to be struggling with what to do.
“Fine, please get off me.”
If he couldn’t do the job he was supposed to, there was no need to stay in this room. Dohyuk obligingly moved off him and lay down beside him. Yeon tried to get out of the bed, but Dohyuk was quicker, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him back.
“Just stay.”
Yeon stiffened in the confines of Dohyuk’s arm.
“Sleep here.”
“There’s no reason for me to be here.”
He tried to remove Dohyuk’s arm wrapped around his waist, saying he should be let go. But given their difference in strength, his efforts were futile.
“If I let you leave, I’ll be too worried about when you might sneak back in to get any sleep.”
“I won’t come in.”
“I don’t believe you. After spending a few days with you, I’ve learned how stubborn you are.”
“…”
Having no retort, Yeon stopped squirming.
“Let me go. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Dohyuk laughed derisively at Yeon’s response. He’d said he’d be worried if Yeon left, and Yeon’s solution was to sleep on the floor. Perhaps he was the strange one, insisting on having this person sleep in his bed.
“Stay within my reach. It’s better for keeping an eye on you too.”
As he spoke, it seemed increasingly far-fetched. Truly, he was finding it difficult to rationalize his own behavior even to himself. But he didn’t want to let Yeon go. It seemed better to keep him confined in his arms than to let him out and be on edge.
Whether he could sleep or not was a separate issue. He had no expectation of being able to sleep. Unlike his certainty that Yeon wouldn’t harm him, he wasn’t desensitized enough to fall asleep with another person in his room.
What was the reason he wanted to keep this person here, even at the expense of his own sleep? Though a clear answer didn’t emerge, he decided to think about it later. For now, he decided to move as his heart dictated.
He kept Yeon by his side because he wanted to. That was all.
“I don’t know what you’re expecting and tensing up for, but I won’t do anything. So just sleep.”
“Your arm…”
“I said just sleep.”
Making it clear he had no intention of removing his arm, Dohyuk’s insistence made Yeon exhale a “haa” sound loud enough to be heard. After that, he said nothing more. He seemed to realize that further protests would be futile.
After a long while without movement, Yeon’s breathing became even. Raising his upper body to check, Dohyuk found he was indeed asleep.
Though he had seemed to be on high alert and guarded, a hollow laugh escaped Dohyuk at how vulnerable Yeon actually was. Yesterday, though Dohyuk had moved him, Yeon had slept curled up on the floor, so he must have reached his physical limit in many ways. Dohyuk knew that unlike himself, who could go a day or two without sleep with no problem, ordinary people were different.
Looking down at the sleeping Yeon, he was dumbfounded. This was already the second time. Having someone else sleep in his bed. And not a woman, not a lover. Although there was absolutely no sexual intent, just having someone this close was unimaginable for him.
His guard was lowering. He was thinking that it might be okay to keep this person by his side.
Where did this groundless sense of reassurance come from? Was it really because their fates were intertwined that he felt this way? It was an emotion that couldn’t be explained by human reason or science.
“A red thread dyed with blood…”
The blood-dyed part didn’t matter. Even if it implied an unhappy future, he wasn’t particularly afraid. He just became curious about what would happen if Yeon was connected to him not only by a red thread but also a blue one.
If that were the case, would he have felt something from the moment he first saw Yeon? After thinking that far, he laughed wryly. What was he doing now? Having a shaman around seemed to be increasing his useless thoughts.
Regardless of whether he could sleep or not, he thought he should at least lie down and close his eyes. Tomorrow was Sunday, so even if he didn’t get a wink of sleep, it wouldn’t matter much. Afraid that Yeon might try to escape in the middle of the night, he never released his arm from around Yeon’s waist. As a result, their bodies naturally pressed together.
Yeon’s fine hair tickled the tip of Dohyuk’s nose. Though it must be the same shampoo used in his house, the scent felt different. A refreshing citrus scent mixed with what seemed like temple incense…
Strangely, his mind seemed to calm at that scent. Though he had only intended to close his eyes, Dohyuk soon fell asleep.
***
“Ah…”
Stirring awake, Yeon was startled to find Dohyuk staring at him from up close.
“If you’re awake, get up.”
At the brusque words, he hurriedly got up and out of the bed. Despite the fact that Dohyuk was the one who had forcibly kept him there last night, he didn’t know where to look due to the embarrassment of feeling as if he had intruded on someone else’s bed.
“Wash up and come out for breakfast.”
Leaving just those words, Dohyuk entered the bathroom adjoining the bedroom first. Yeon also wiped his face with one hand to drive away the remaining sleep and went out to the living room. Seeing the sun high in the sky through the wide-open living room windows, a groan escaped him involuntarily.
Even though Dohyuk had told him to just sleep, he hadn’t expected to sleep so soundly. He hadn’t realized he was such an insensitive person. He had always thought of himself as quite sensitive…
He couldn’t even remember when he had fallen asleep. At first, he had been tense, worrying that Dohyuk might do something. But as time passed and Dohyuk didn’t move at all, his tension gradually eased, and at some point, his consciousness had faded.
Even considering fatigue, this should have been impossible. He had never fallen asleep in front of other clients before. Yet in front of Dohyuk, he had crumbled multiple times already. No matter how guarded he tried to be, he faltered at crucial moments.
“This is really troublesome…”
He knew why he kept wavering only in front of this man. That’s why it was even more troublesome.
Dohyuk, who had gone to the bathroom leaving Yeon behind, stood under the shower. Cold water poured down, but he paid no mind. Deep furrows formed between his eyebrows.
Earlier, Yeon’s stirring in his arms had awakened him. Opening his eyes, he saw bright light streaming through the window. He was momentarily startled. It was quite a shock that he had slept until this late. He had thought he wouldn’t get any sleep, but when had he dozed off?
Do I trust him that much? Enough to fall into a deep sleep in front of him?
He could only laugh in disbelief. The very concept of trust was unfamiliar. For over thirty years, Dohyuk had never, not even once, not even for a moment, fully trusted anyone. It was for the same reason that he couldn’t sleep in the same room as others.
Yet with Yeon, that wariness had not just lowered but collapsed. How should he interpret this?
If he kept Yeon by his side like this, it seemed that someday Yeon would become his Achilles’ heel. Yet he didn’t want to send him back to Muryeong or keep him at a distance. If that was the case, there was only one answer. He needed to keep Yeon perfectly within his own boundaries so that he wouldn’t become vulnerable because of him.
It was obsession. This was a useless obsession that wouldn’t help him in his work at all. An obsession with a person, at that.
Until now, Dohyuk had never strongly desired to possess anything. He had just eliminated problems in front of him because they were problems, and handled company matters because they were company matters. Even owning Dragon Holdings wasn’t so much about desire as it was about a sense of entitlement—that it was naturally his.
“What a headache.”
Despite thinking it was an undesirable situation, a smile spread across Dohyuk’s lips. If he wanted something, he would take it. That was all. If he had a goal, there was no need to be picky about the means. He would simply find the fastest and most perfect method.
