Chapter 68
Yu Dohyun paused for a moment, saying nothing. Then, slowly, he stepped out of the Gate and began walking toward me. Hyunjae seemed unable to believe the situation, but he didn’t say anything more to me.
“Become my sustenance.”
“Okay.”
“Become my flesh and blood.”
“Okay.”
“Become my strength, as much as you hate me.”
“Okay.”
The form of Yu Dohyun began to crumble into smoke, dissolving as it entered my body. As soon as half of it seeped inside me, I couldn’t hold back the surge rising from within and coughed up a lump of blood. Seeing the blood, Hyunjae paled and rushed toward me.
“Chanhee, stop.”
I slowly turned my head to look at Hyunjae.
“Hyunjae.”
I coughed again. Now, blood was also dripping from my nose. The sensation of something hot surging up and out of my body wasn’t pleasant. I wiped the blood away with my hand and waited for Hyunjae’s answer. He responded quickly.
“Yeah, Chanhee. Yeah.”
“Do you know why I did this?”
I clung to my fading consciousness and kept talking. Hyunjae looked at me with an anxious expression.
“To beat me.”
“Huh?”
“No, to kill you.”
Hyunjae seemed shocked by the unbelievable words. After a moment of hesitation, he forced a smile and replied.
“There was a time when that was true.”
“A time?”
“Yeah. A time.”
“Then can you forgive me?”
“I already told you…”
“Can you forgive me for going this far to kill you?”
Blood poured from my mouth and nose, but I smirked. I didn’t even think about wiping it away anymore. The blood from my mouth splattered onto the ground, and the blood from my nose dripped back into my mouth, only to be coughed up again with every word I spoke.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
When all of Yu Dohyun’s lingering will had entered me, it felt as if someone inside my head was commanding me to say these things.
<What’s so great about that love?>
“What’s so great about that love?”
<Do you think someone like you can forgive me?>
“Do you think someone like you can forgive me?”
<How long can you love me?>
“How long can you… love me?”
As I repeated the words echoing madly in my head, I finished absorbing the last of the lingering will. The Gate disappeared, and the wind died down. The thoughts that had dominated my mind vanished cleanly. I could immediately feel the Mana inside me growing stronger. I had succeeded.
Hyunjae stood motionless for a while after hearing my words. I… yeah, I understood him all too well.
“You can go.”
Hyunjae still didn’t move, staring at me. Annoyed, I wiped the blood smeared all over my face with my sleeve. My face was covered not just in blood, but in other fluids too. As I buried my face in my arm, I heard Hyunjae approaching.
“Get away.”
“Chanhee.”
Hyunjae slowly wrapped his arms around me. His heartbeat, right against my ear, was still pounding hard.
“Don’t cry…”
Was I crying? Why? Only then did I realize the other liquid on my arm was tears. The moment I became aware of it, I sobbed even harder. I began to cry out loud. Hyunjae didn’t say anything, just patted my back as I wept bitterly.
“Why are you crying after saying things like that?”
Hyunjae’s front was soaked with my blood and tears. The dampness spread across my face. I kept crying. Hyunjae didn’t say a word. He just kept holding me.
“You always cry in secret.”
Hyunjae whispered.
“I wished you’d cry in front of me, and now you finally are.”
I shook my head and buried my face deeper into Hyunjae’s embrace.
“But I never thought you’d cry like this. It’s sadder than I expected.”
The word sad pressed harder into my mind.
“It’s sad, Chanhee. Seeing you cry. But from now on, I hope you only cry in front of me.”
Wasn’t it strange? At Hyunjae’s words, I shook my head again. When I finally pulled my face away, it was already burning with heat.
“Cut out the melodrama, will you?”
Han Jaemin’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Who are you?”
Hyunjae finally asked the question he should have asked earlier. Han Jaemin, still wearing that annoying smirk, pointed a finger at Hyunjae.
“I know you well.”
“You know me?”
“Yeah. Of course. But you still don’t know me?”
“How would I know you?”
“Wow, looks like I’ve got more work to do. I’m on the news all the time, you know.”
Hyunjae frowned slightly, as if he’d just remembered something.
“Wait… Han Jaemin? From the Hansung Group?”
“Ding ding ding. Correct.”
“Why are you here…?”
“Well, I’m here as a kind of sponsor. A supporter, you could say, for Chanhee.”
“Supporter? Sponsor?”
Hyunjae seemed to have figured out the situation. I wiped the last of the blood from my face and walked toward Han Jaemin.
“It’s over now.”
“Why? It’s just the beginning.”
Han Jaemin placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You’ve been using me all this time. Now it’s my turn to use you, right? What, now that you’ve got love and power, you’re backing out? Having second thoughts?”
Hyunjae’s grip on my hand tightened.
“Chanhee, if you don’t want to, don’t do it.”
“Wow, look at you, Mr. Love.”
“Don’t force him to do something he doesn’t want to.”
“Kids these days.”
Han Jaemin called us that in a mocking, coaxing tone. Hyunjae scowled at him, clearly disgusted.
“You might still be kids, but the adult world is pretty cold, you know?”
“…”
“It’s really annoying when you only take and don’t give anything back.”
“…”
“Why make things harder when they can be easy?”
Han Jaemin patted Hyunjae’s shoulder a couple of times.
“You get it, right? You’re smart. Smarter than he is.”
“Don’t touch me.”
“I know you better than you think.”
The focus of the conversation had naturally shifted to Hyunjae. I furrowed my brows at Han Jaemin. It was obvious he’d looked into Hyunjae’s background, but there was no reason to provoke him like this.
“Han Jaemin, stop…”
“You’re good at playing innocent, huh?”
Hyunjae reacted to that. I looked at him, puzzled.
“Stop it.”
“You’re a damn good actor. Really.”
“It’s not an act.”
“Wow. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Whatever you saw, stop digging into my past.”
“Ooooh, I’m so scared of your threats.”
“Stop joking around.”
“Who said I’m joking? You think I’d joke around in front of someone like you and risk losing my head?”
Hyunjae’s teeth ground audibly.
“Chanhee, what do we do? You have to absorb Yu Dohyun to even stand a chance against him.”
“Stop it.”
At Hyunjae’s threat, Han Jaemin finally raised his hands in a who, me? gesture. I tried to calm Hyunjae down.
“He’s always like this. Don’t engage with him.”
Hyunjae nodded.
“Still, I guess you’ve trained him well. He listens to you like a damn charm.”
Han Jaemin grumbled as he headed toward the car.
“Not getting in, kids?”
He opened the passenger door instead of the back seat.
“No taxis come out here, you know.”
***
Hyunjae said he had come here after worrying about me not answering my phone, and had taken a car sent by Han Jaemin. It was reckless of Hyunjae to just get into a stranger’s car, but I couldn’t understand why Han Jaemin had brought him here in the first place.
“Why? Isn’t it fun?”
Typical Han Jaemin nonsense.
“I thought Hyunjae would dump you after seeing this, but turns out your love is pretty damn real. Guess that’s just how kids are.”
Hyunjae just sighed at Han Jaemin’s bullshit and provocations. He adapted faster than I did.
“Anyway, it’s good. You two getting along is more profitable for me than I thought.”
“Who said I brought Hyunjae here?”
“Wow, Chanhee. You still don’t get how much Hyunjae loves you?”
Han Jaemin clutched his chest dramatically, as if he were the one hurt.
“Hyunjae would follow you even if you stormed the National Assembly right now, wouldn’t you?”
Hyunjae didn’t answer.
“Ignoring me, huh?”
Han Jaemin said, feigning awkwardness. It was anything but awkward.
“Your whole life is just one big joke, isn’t it?”
“Nonsense.”
Han Jaemin looked at us in the rearview mirror.
“Where do you find someone as serious as me in this world?”
The car stopped in front of a mansion instead of my house. I looked at Han Jaemin suspiciously as he smiled and said,
“This is my place. You gonna go home in those blood-soaked clothes?”
I looked down at my jacket and T-shirt. The amount of blood was enough to make my mom pass out. Hyunjae’s clothes were also ruined from my blood.
“Wouldn’t want you to be misunderstood and investigated, so I’m doing you a favor. Get out.”
I reluctantly opened the door and stepped out. Han Jaemin’s house was as big as mine. It was obvious, but seeing his residence up close felt odd. Did Han Jaemin even show his house in the original story? Well, it wasn’t like the background of a minor character who died early would be detailed, but still.
