# Chapter 115
It was when Kay got up to leave after finishing what he had to say. Kane urgently grabbed him.
“I’m… sorry for getting you involved.”
He had been feeling guilty from the moment he woke up until now. So given this opportunity, Kane offered a sincere apology with gratitude.
This wouldn’t forgive his wrongdoing, but it was better than doing nothing. Kane kept his waist bent as if he would stay that way forever.
Momentarily taken aback, Kay spoke in the gentlest tone possible.
“It’s alright. It was unavoidable.”
Kay didn’t understand Kane’s reaction. Anyone could clearly see it wasn’t his will.
Yet he apologized with such a voice full of guilt. He really was too kind. To the point of ruining himself.
Kay’s gaze briefly rested on Kane’s hands covered in wounds. Wounds that were once familiar to himself.
“Still, I’m really sorry.”
Though he finally raised himself up, he still bit his lip hard as if blaming himself.
And soon after, Kane began to scratch the back of his hand.
* * *
Haylen and I can now have normal conversations. It was a newfound development.
While talking with him, I suddenly had a question and tilted my head slightly as I asked Haylen.
“Boss, why did you call Alice your younger sister?”
Haylen’s past was everything he had been hiding. The more I went over it, the more questions naturally arose. So I would ask right away whenever something came to mind.
This time it was about Alice. I had figured out she wasn’t his real sister, but I still hadn’t heard why he needed to pretend that way.
Of course, I could make any number of guesses, but I wanted to hear it from his own lips.
“It seemed easier that way.”
“Is she still precious to you?”
I asked again after his immediate answer without hesitation.
“…Yes, though it’s late, I’d like her to be happy.”
Fortunately, it seems Alice is still precious to Haylen. His smile filled with sincerity allowed me to feel relieved.
I had been worried that maybe Alice was no longer important to him. If that were the case, it would be sad for Alice, who believes Haylen to be her brother.
“The same goes for Kay.”
“Is… that so.”
Unable to hide my surprise, my body stiffened. I should be used to it by now, but it still gets to me every time he shows his affection. I lowered my head to hide my flushed cheeks.
“More importantly, how do you plan to persuade Ben?”
Haylen naturally brought up a different subject. His gaze was intense, as if it was something he’d wanted to ask.
“…I’m going to try to contact him.”
“If you use a phone, there will be a record, right?”
“There’s another way.”
Instead of explaining the plan to Haylen, who was slightly furrowing his brow, I asked him to call someone first. After thinking briefly, Haylen soon brought him.
“Why this child?”
Un, who entered hesitantly, widened his eyes when he saw me. With an expression of disbelief and shock, I gestured to guide him over.
“Since I can’t go out recklessly, I’d like to ask you a favor instead.”
Having seen how loyal he was to me in the underground prison, asking Un would be the safest option. But Haylen, knowing that Un had tortured me, seemed tense, perhaps wondering if I would show any abnormal symptoms.
However, I didn’t find Un resentful or frightening. The reason I had shown such an intense reaction to Haylen in the first place was because he was special.
Because he was my everything, my resentment toward him was also bound to be great.
Un was nothing more than a simple organization member to me. There was no need to feel hatred about the fact that he tortured me. I could just think, “That happened,” and move on.
“Hyung!”
Un, who had been blankly standing for a while, hurriedly walked over with tears welling up in his eyes. His scars contorted, making his impression even more fierce.
I had wondered if he would fit the plan due to the scars on his face, but I thought it would be fine if he wore a hat.
“Do you have time right now?”
Once Un starts talking, it would be difficult to interrupt him. I preemptively spoke first. Quickly wiping away his falling tears, he nodded vigorously.
“Yes! Of course!”
It seems what I’m asking for doesn’t matter to him; only the fact that it’s my request is important. I momentarily lost my words at the blind trust he showed, his eyes shining.
Un didn’t miss that gap. Staring intently at me, he opened his mouth.
“By the way, how did you—”
“…”
“I misspoke. What is your request?”
But unexpectedly, as if realizing his mistake, he shut his mouth obediently without asking further. It wouldn’t be because of his intuition…
Noticing Un’s face turning pale, I looked toward where his gaze had momentarily lingered. There stood Haylen with an indecipherable smile.
From just looking at the current situation, it didn’t seem like Haylen had done anything particular to Un. Then had Un realized that I didn’t want to waste time with unnecessary conversation? It was hard to believe, given how unperceptive Un usually was.
“It’s just something simple.”
Erasing the uneasy thoughts, I got to the point. I explained the plan slowly, but as I spoke more, both Haylen and Un began to look at me with expressions of incomprehension.
But since I had already anticipated they wouldn’t accept it readily, all I hoped for was that Un would carry out the plan well.
* * *
Ben, who had been making frequent mistakes lately, was entering the headquarters after achieving a perfect victory for the first time in a while. Naturally, people recognized him and swarmed like bees.
Ben stopped in front of them with a troubled expression. He couldn’t ignore those who had been standing there for a long time. Then voices of people asking for autographs and expressing gratitude began to mix.
“Just one autograph, please!”
“Thank you so much! Thanks to you, my younger brother is safe!”
Though all the words were nice to hear, even the nicest words turn into noise when shouted all at once by people of this scale.
His lips began to harden, and eventually, Ben entered the headquarters, unable to handle them. And at that moment, there was a man giving Ben a gift, somehow breaking through the crowd to get here.
The man, who had pushed his hat down low and handed over the shopping bag combatively, disappeared gracefully without even looking at Ben.
Ben stared blankly at the black shopping bag in his hand. He often received gifts. Sometimes there were people who sent dangerous items, but since gifts were first reviewed in the lab anyway, it wasn’t a big problem.
Could this be one of those? Recalling the man who didn’t seem friendly, Ben slowly moved his steps.
* * *
The inspection was completed in less than a minute after entrusting the item to a researcher. The inspected item turned out to be nothing out of the ordinary.
It was just a music box that could be seen anywhere. The music box, which showed nothing on device inspection, was returned to Ben without being discarded.
Keeping gifts creates a good effect for image-making. Therefore, Peace would not throw away gifts confirmed to be safe and would give them to him. Ben felt a sense of déjà vu from that ordinary music box.
And only after entering his room could he realize why.
“Kane…”
It was the same product as the music box Kane had gifted him. A small box that plays music when opened. It could be seen as a simple coincidence, but Ben began to examine the music box thoroughly.
After examining it for a long time, Ben finally discovered letters written behind the battery. It was in very small handwriting, so Ben read the letters stumblingly.
[To where the music box is.]
It was an abstruse sentence. There were countless places where music boxes could be. But Ben could immediately identify where that place was.
“What should I do…”
Ben began to sink into deep contemplation. Is the person who sent this really Kane? He couldn’t see the man’s face clearly, but his build made it hard to believe it was him.
But even if it was Kane, why would he want to meet him? Could this also be a trap?
In deep anxiety, Ben couldn’t easily decide. Of course, one wrong move could lead to danger.
“Still…”
Ben soon clenched his fist and rose to his feet. Even if this was a trap, he had to go.
The very fact that someone knew about the music box Kane gave him and the place indicated a connection to him. So if he went there, he might learn Kane’s whereabouts.
If Kane is alive, it would be an immensely joyful thing. Even if a trap awaits, he was partly responsible for Kane’s death, so it couldn’t be helped.
Though the anxiety hadn’t completely disappeared, for Ben, this was the best answer.
* * *
Unlike the clear location written in the music box, time wasn’t written anywhere. After thinking for a long time, Ben finally had no choice but to head to the location late at night when no one was around.
It was the same path he had walked with Kane, but it felt cold and dark. In a space without bright lights or bustling sounds, Ben hurriedly moved his steps. His feet only stopped when he reached the store where Kane had bought the music box.
No one existed around the closed store. It was the same even after looking around diligently here and there. Ben muttered with a perplexed expression.
“Is it not today?”
But if that’s the case, shouldn’t there be a hint about when? Could it be that he hadn’t noticed something? Just as Ben thought he should examine the music box once more—
