Codename Anastasia Novel (End) - Chapter 53

Kwon Taekjoo instinctively started to answer, then closed his mouth again. He couldn’t bring himself to utter ‘Zayinka’. As if to humiliate him further, Zhenya consistently used that endearment. It had been like that from the beginning. Telling him to hide well in the dugout, to perk up his ears.

Olga’s eyes gleamed with intense interest. Her upper body was already leaning towards Kwon Taekjoo. It was annoying.

“If you’re not going to help, why are you prying so much?”

“I can’t help you. I’d be scolded if I got caught.”

It seemed that ‘scolded’ wasn’t within the usual realm of an elder admonishing a younger person. The violent man probably wouldn’t go easy on a woman, but he had never seen him treat a woman roughly either.

Well, that was that. If Olga wasn’t going to help him, further conversation was useless. With a bored expression, he left the kitchen. Olga trotted after him.

“Which room should I use?”

“There are more than enough rooms, so just use any of them.”

“Hmm, I wonder if that room would be good.”

Olga strode past Kwon Taekjoo. She crossed the living room with the fireplace and headed for the innermost bedroom. Kwon Taekjoo watched blankly, then suddenly flinched and darted forward. He quickly caught up to Olga and blocked her path. Olga looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Huh? Why?”

“This room is taken.”

There was no other suitable excuse. Olga peered into the bedroom through Kwon Taekjoo’s arm and nodded.

“It does look like his room.”

He tried to rationalize that unless someone looked closely, they wouldn’t know it was a bedroom they shared. But his pounding heart wouldn’t calm down. He worried if there might be anything in the room that reminded them of their lovemaking. He even broke out in a cold sweat.

Despite Kwon Taekjoo’s dissuasion, Olga, who had been looking around the room, let out a strange laugh. She also made an explicit sound, “Ah, ah.”

“So, your bodies match well, even if your hearts don’t?”

She snickered mockingly, then moved to another room before Kwon Taekjoo could even explain.

Kwon Taekjoo quickly turned his head. On the bed, the impression of someone having slept there remained distinct. Two bathrobes lay tangled on the floor, and the bedsheet was half-slipped off with a cushion. His own briefs lay abandoned, inside out. None of it looked casual at all.

He sat blankly in the chair. He had been like that ever since Olga left the bedroom. What was he doing here, anyway? Eating, sleeping, and letting Zhenya take him from behind. It was an everyday routine for most people. The difference was that they used those actions as motivation for productive activities. At least they didn’t lounge around, eating food given by others, without any will or thought.

Why wasn’t he trying harder to escape? Had he adapted to Zhenya because there was nowhere else to adapt? He didn’t feel lust for Zhenya. He swore he had never been aroused by him.

But when their bodies intertwined, it was a different story. His body faithfully reacted to Zhenya, and now, even with sex that was close to violence, he melted every time. At some point, he even stopped resisting. That was because he had learned that doing so would only incite Zhenya’s excitement and lead to worse outcomes.

He seemed to have become lazy, rationalizing his resignation to being unable to escape Zhenya as an inevitable situation. He had given silly excuses like ‘there’s nothing I can do’ and had simply sought comfort. That’s why, even after being raped, he heard nonsense like ‘how is that rape?’ It was pathetic.

He irritably shook his head. Something was seriously wrong. He had denied it to Olga, but his actions over the past few days were no different from living with a lover. He stayed in a mansion visited only by Zhenya, shared the same bed with him, and had sex whenever Zhenya desired. He sustained himself on food Zhenya provided and spent time with him under the pretext of games. Being in the same space as Zhenya, waking up with him, was no longer new or tense. It was no wonder Olga had laughed wryly when she noticed these traces.

The appearance of a third party had objectified his hazy thoughts. The contradictory relationship, which he hadn’t fully recognized when he was alone with Zhenya, was now starkly revealed. Come to think of it, Zhenya’s actions too had subtly changed from the beginning.

Zhenya, who used to pick a fight with any game he proposed, had somehow become docile. He would often laugh out loud, and their sex, which used to be only penetration and withdrawal, now included more subtle touches. When he returned from outside, he would always bring Korean food, and the number of times he looked serious had noticeably decreased. Not only that, but today, before going out, he even reported when he would return.

Suddenly, his face and neck flushed. His heart began to pound unpleasantly. It wasn’t like they were playing house at this late stage. He was unknowingly going along with Zhenya. He clenched his fist.

This couldn’t go on.

“Good morning.”

Olga appeared in the kitchen well past noon. Her face was puffy, as if she had just woken up. She approached Kwon Taekjoo as usual, pointed her chin at the ramen, and asked, “What’s that?” Then she suddenly clutched her nose and shuddered.

“You can’t eat that, it’s rotten!”

A person was eating it just fine, and she called it rotten. Kwon Taekjoo quickly fished out some kimchi from the bowl, which Olga was trying to take away, then demonstrably picked up a piece and crunched on it. Olga’s face contorted each time he chewed.

“You had the presence of mind to bring something like that?”

“He bought it.”

Kwon Taekjoo replied indifferently, then slurped down the remaining broth. Olga looked surprised. It was unbelievable that he would bring food he liked after being kidnapped, but it was even more absurd that Zhenya would buy food for someone. He wondered if his head had been affected without him knowing. It was a reasonable suspicion.

He needed to confirm it, but Zhenya was still nowhere to be seen.

“Anyway, where did that man go?”

“How would I know?”

It wasn’t like Zhenya meticulously informed him of his whereabouts, nor was he obligated to, and Kwon Taekjoo himself had never asked. He just assumed Zhenya was on official business, given his FSB affiliation. Of course, this time, for some reason, he had informed him he’d be back in two days. But there was no need to relay that information.

At Kwon Taekjoo’s consistently indifferent response, Olga said, “By the way,” and changed the subject.

“I was really curious. How did you know there was a blueprint in that room?”

Her eyes sparkled, indicating that if he didn’t tell her properly, she would persistently pry. He had no choice but to explain that he had combined Zhenya’s cryptic stories with various circumstantial evidence.

“Koschei…”

Olga stroked her chin, repeatedly muttering that word. Then she quickly gave a strange smile. Her sneaky grin, as if she had an ulterior motive, resembled Zhenya’s. Kwon Taekjoo ignored her and stood up. He moved the dishes to the sink and started washing them.

“Don’t you have anything to ask me?”

“Not at all.”

“Are you normally not interested in women?”

“Now that you mention it, I’m curious. Why do women ask such things?”

Kwon Taekjoo looked at Olga with an incomprehensible expression. Even after being asked the question, she just smiled and grinned. Like Louise before, women’s psychology was always difficult.

Soon, Olga took something out of the refrigerator and brought it to the table. Around that time, Kwon Taekjoo also finished washing the dishes. He wiped the water from his hands and was about to leave, but Olga called him back.

“Don’t you want some fruit?”

Olga was slicing an apple into pieces. With so much peeling, there wouldn’t be much left to eat. Kwon Taekjoo sighed deeply and snatched the fruit knife. He might as well do it himself; if Olga cut herself, dealing with the aftermath would be even more troublesome.

He handled the knife skillfully. The apple was peeled thinly, and cut into uniform pieces. Olga, who had been watching with bated breath, quickly snatched the pieces from the bowl and ate them. She said they would eat together, but she pushed all of it into her own mouth. Then she stared intently at the empty bowl.

He peeled another apple. This time, too, it was quickly devoured as soon as it was put in the bowl. It seemed she was substituting it for breakfast.

Since he had started, he peeled all the apples Olga had brought. Olga only asked, “Why aren’t you eating?” after she was full. He chuckled in disbelief and took a bite of a yellowed apple. How long had it been since he had eaten fruit?

While he was dealing with the rest, the sound of helicopter propellers suddenly reached his ears. It seemed Zhenya had returned. The unique noise grew louder, then faded, and soon Zhenya came down from the rooftop. He was expected late in the afternoon, but he had returned more than half a day early. Zhenya’s arms were full of luggage as he entered the kitchen.

“What brings you here?”

That was all he said to his sister as soon as he saw her. Olga, accustomed to such treatment, didn’t seem hurt at all. Instead, she asked nonchalantly, “Where have you been, coming back now?”

Zhenya shifted his gaze from Olga to Kwon Taekjoo. It seemed he was asking Kwon Taekjoo to explain why she was there, but Kwon Taekjoo had no way of knowing. He just shook his head and shrugged.

“I need to finish unpacking.”

Olga, sensing she might hear something unpleasant, cleverly made her exit. Zhenya watched his sister with displeasure. After she went upstairs, he turned his head back and stared at Kwon Taekjoo. Kwon Taekjoo chewed his apple crunchily and asked, “Why?”

“When did that one arrive?”

Both the brother and sister referred to people as objects. Kwon Taekjoo shook his head and replied that she had suddenly appeared yesterday afternoon and seemed to be here for recuperation. Then he picked up the knife, bowl, and fork and went to the sink.

While he was tidying up, Zhenya boiled water. He seemed to pour the water somewhere, and soon a familiar smell wafted through the air. Kwon Taekjoo turned his head in confusion.

His gaze fell on a retort bibimbap. It was a product mainly supplied as military rations. After staring at the Russian instructions for a long time, Zhenya mixed the heated rice. Then he took a large spoonful and offered it to Kwon Taekjoo.

“I ate.”

“Oh, really?”

Zhenya nodded. Yet, he didn’t lower his hand. Instead, the spoon was pressed firmly between Kwon Taekjoo’s lips.

This bastard, is he deaf?

“I said I ate!”

Zhenya nodded calmly. Then, taking advantage of Kwon Taekjoo’s open mouth, he pushed the spoon in. Kwon Taekjoo’s cheeks immediately puffed out. He stared blankly at the empty spoon leaving his mouth. What was this guy trying to do now?

He chewed the rice that had entered his mouth and protested.

“I said I ate, you bastard!”

“Don’t pick up just anything to eat.”

Kwon Taekjoo’s brows furrowed involuntarily. Was Zhenya acting like this just because he had eaten a few apples? It was unbelievable. The moment he opened his mouth to retort, a spoonful full of bibimbap plunged in.

Having two breakfasts in a row made his stomach feel bloated. He felt like he would regurgitate with the slightest movement, so he lay around all afternoon. It seemed like a luxury to do nothing but wait for digestion, but for Kwon Taekjoo, it was tormenting. He even thought it might be a new form of torture.

What was Zhenya’s problem, anyway? Why was his face so stiff? Even if Kwon Taekjoo had indeed eaten something he shouldn’t have, it was none of Zhenya’s business. “Don’t pick up just anything to eat.” How could he say that to a person? Did he think Kwon Taekjoo was his dog just because he overpowered him?

His mood plummeted. He finally understood why he had felt so unpleasant during his entire stay here. It was because he was constantly controlled by Zhenya. He had no choice in what to eat, what to do, or how and where to sleep. Even when he went to the bathroom, Zhenya’s surveillance followed him. Moreover, a tattoo symbolizing subservience had even been carved onto his waist.

“Haha… hahahaha…”

A hollow laugh escaped him as he reflected on his situation. He had denied it, but he was no different from a domesticated animal. Looking back, his sex with Zhenya was in the same vein. The more violently he resisted, the more Zhenya seemed to enjoy it. In Zhenya’s eyes, there was a glimpse of the euphoria one feels when breaking the spirit of a wild beast and taming it.

“What are you doing by yourself?”

Olga’s voice suddenly emerged. He hadn’t felt her approaching; he must have been too engrossed in his thoughts.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Playing dead?”

“Wrong. I’m playing ‘pig in a cage’.”

He replied indifferently, then sat up. Olga took the seat next to him without being asked.

“Are you really bored? How did you usually spend your time?”

“Lying down, sitting, eating, washing, sleeping…”

“…I’ll lend you my book. Give it a read. It’s a masterpiece like no other.”

The book she handed him with a sympathetic expression was, at first glance, a romance novel. He’d rather read Buddhist scriptures. He casually flipped through the pages.

“The protagonist here. A little rustic, no money, doesn’t know how to have fun, but has had a desperate dream since childhood, right? Believing that if they work hard and trust their convictions, they’ll achieve that dream even in the gutter of reality. Their strength is being diligent and positive, but that’s also their weakness, so they’ll often be stabbed in the back. They’ll meet a man fatefully at a small gathering and fall in love unconditionally. Later, they’ll find out the man is a famous athlete, or a successful lawyer, or one of the second-generation chaebols. He’s a workaholic who’s never been interested in women his whole life, but he’ll be captivated by the protagonist’s bright and pure nature and love only her forever. And with the man’s support, the protagonist’s dream will be easily achieved. Am I wrong?”

Olga’s eyes widened.

“Have you read this?”

“Even if I haven’t, it feels like I have.”

He returned the book with an unenthusiastic expression. Olga, saying that predictable things were fun, dove back into her world of fervent reading. She seemed poised to bury herself in the book.

“It’s unlikely, but does that bastard… perhaps like raising animals?”

Olga didn’t answer the question immediately. She seemed to have not heard properly, engrossed in her book. Her delayed response was also an irrelevant one.

“Of course! Birds, dogs, cats, I like them all.”

“…No. Not you.”

“Not me, who…?”

Olga snapped her head up. Her eyes were filled with shock.

“You don’t mean that man, do you? Is that even a question?”

“That’s why I prefaced it by saying it’s unlikely.”

“If you know that, why are you asking? I’ve never seen that man raise a single blade of grass in my life. It’s a miracle if he doesn’t just kill poor animals when he’s bored, isn’t it?”

Perhaps humans don’t deviate from expectations. He couldn’t understand why a man who wasn’t interested in a single blade of grass, let alone animals, suddenly found an interest in raising humans. And why was Kwon Taekjoo himself the target? Even if it was just for fun, wasn’t it annoying for Zhenya too?