Passion: Diaphonic Symphonia Novel - Chapter 27

Finally, Ilay stood before Jeong Taeui. He stood close enough to touch, looking down at Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui only lifted his gaze to meet his.

“Jeong Taeui,” he suddenly said softly. The moment he realized the faint smile had completely vanished from his voice, that smooth voice brushed chillingly past his ears.

“Do you truly want to die?”

“No. Not in the slightest.” Jeong Taeui answered the moment his words ended. If he fumbled his answer now, he felt he would die at the hands of this man right before him.

“Then never intervene between Christoph and Richard. Whatever you’re mistaken about, if Richard could have died from a commotion like that just now, he would have died hundreds of times over by now.”

“…Christoph has had hundreds of seizures like the one just now?”

“If you don’t want to relate it to Richard, it’s a number that’s a few less than that.”

At Ilay’s answer, Jeong Taeui stared at him dumbfounded. The number being a few less than hundreds might not be literally true, but it seemed Ilay had seen it quite often.

“From the looks on the people in this house earlier, it didn’t seem to happen that often…” Jeong Taeui muttered, and Ilay narrowed his eyes, stared at Jeong Taeui, then opened his mouth.

“He probably didn’t have many opportunities here. He entered T&R not long after becoming an adult, and since then, he’s barely returned to Tarthen. He probably only saw it a few times before that.”

“You said it was a few less than hundreds.”

“I saw it hundreds of times at T&R.”

Ilay muttered slowly, as if recalling the past, and seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then shrugged carelessly and raised his hand.

“Indeed, the rumors about that special forces madhouse must be true; such things happen there…” Jeong Taeui nodded, somehow feeling like he understood.

Ilay perched on the bedside table right next to the bed. It was more like a chest of drawers than a mere side table, quite tall, so perching on it was almost the same as leaning against it.

It was good that he had come threateningly close, then pulled back, but this time, his foot touched Taeui’s. At the subtle pressure gently pressing down on his slipper, Jeong Taeui flinched for a moment but didn’t show it.

“So don’t ever get involved between this guy and Richard again. No, if possible, don’t stick your nose into anything related to this guy. There’s nothing good that comes from getting caught between people who aren’t in their right minds.”

Ilay spoke as if he didn’t care about his foot at all—no, as if he didn’t even know their feet were touching. However, Jeong Taeui, whose foot was completely covered by Ilay’s foot pressing down on his slipper, lowered his head as if lost in thought, glaring at that foot.

Just step on me openly now.

But before he could argue that, a part of what this man had said just moments ago bothered him endlessly.

To be called “not in his right mind” by you, Christoph, you really are at rock bottom.

He desperately wanted to say that, but he rephrased it slightly.

“I thought you and Christoph were friends.”

He said it, recalling the memory of Christoph grimacing and insisting they weren’t friends. Come to think of it, Ilay seemed to dislike it too.

Sure enough, Ilay frowned, thought silently, then shook his head.

“I don’t know what you consider a friend, but it’s probably not a friend in the sense you’re thinking of.”

“What’s so special about friends? If I think someone’s a friend, they’re a friend.”

Jeong Taeui muttered as if spouting nonsense. And then he glanced down at his foot again.

Ilay, who had taken off his own slipper and stepped directly onto Jeong Taeui’s instep, was slowly sliding his foot into Jeong Taeui’s slipper. The slipper, too narrow for two male feet, was now snugly filled.

His toes slowly brushed over Taeui’s instep. The subtle sensation of them slowly tracing down from the instep to the hollow of the sole was somehow strange.

Jeong Taeui lifted his gaze from his foot and looked at Ilay with disapproval. But even as their eyes met, Ilay seemed unaffected.

“…”

Am I too twisted? Why does it feel so weird even though he’s just playing with my foot? …But I haven’t trained my mind enough to openly say, ‘Just leave my foot alone, it’s suggestive in a way.’

Jeong Taeui pulled his foot out of the slipper. It simultaneously came out from under Ilay’s foot, which had been pressing down on his instep. And he subtly moved his foot back, scratching his head.

“Even if you’re not friends, you’re still colleagues, right? You said you worked together. In T&R’s mobile unit.”

“It’s only correct to call someone a colleague when your interests align.”

Ilay said succinctly. Jeong Taeui looked up at him again with a strange expression.

Working as colleagues within the same organization fundamentally meant that their external interests aligned. However, delving into minor personal details, it was very common for internal power struggles to exist even when people worked towards the same goal within the same group.

In short…

“Indeed, they said Tartan had incredible solidarity when it came to external matters. Even if they’re baring their teeth at each other internally.”

Jeong Taeui nodded, signifying his understanding. But Ilay gave no reply.

As Jeong Taeui watched his silence with a puzzled look, Ilay’s gaze shifted to Christoph, who lay unconscious on the bed. Suddenly, he clicked his tongue. If anyone else did that, it would feel like pity or compassion, but when this man did it, it felt annoying or troublesome, which was truly strange.

Thinking that, Jeong Taeui shook his head inwardly.

It’s natural to think that way, given all he’s done, he muttered spitefully.

“Shall I tell you about this guy’s nasty side?”

Ilay suddenly opened his mouth. As if telling a funny past mistake, he lightly, with a slight chuckle, leaned back slightly. And then he stretched out his leg. Jeong Taeui, who had been momentarily off guard, had his foot stepped on again.

“The private mobile unit I was in operated on individual free contracts, unless there was a special reason. Simply put, when I was contracting with the Montagues, occasionally a colleague in the same unit would be contracting with the Capulets.”

Jeong Taeui thought about kicking Ilay’s foot off his instep, but hearing those words, he momentarily forgot that thought and frowned.

“What a terrible system.”

The implication that colleagues might point guns at each other didn’t sound good, even if it was sugar-coated with the pleasant phrase “free contract.”

In fact, wasn’t that verging on a violation of the double-contract clause, which was a major prohibition in most private security organizations?

“Many say so, but as long as it’s our system, we just have to accept it. If you don’t like it, don’t contract.”

Ilay said lightly, shrugging his shoulders.

“In the first place, people of such excellent character that they’d refuse a more skilled person just to protect a colleague’s loyalty wouldn’t seek us out anyway.”

He added that, chuckling. Jeong Taeui couldn’t help but agree bitterly with his words.

“Under that system, there was a time I went to the Montagues and this guy went to the Capulets. Well, this wasn’t uncommon within our mobile unit either, but I ended up facing him.”

“So, you and Christoph fought?”

“Simply put, yes.”

Ilay said, smiling subtly. Even without that subtle smile, Jeong Taeui could well guess that the two hadn’t just lightly bickered, easy enough to dismiss as a “fight.”

“At that time, due to my mission, there was something I absolutely had to extract from his mouth, but he, too, had his own mission, so he wouldn’t easily tell me. In such cases, some coercive and violent means are inevitably involved—I was really troubled. I was very troubled then.”

“It was so hard,” Ilay added, shaking his head.

Jeong Taeui placed his other foot on Ilay’s foot, which was grinding down on his instep, and pressed down hard—of course, his own foot underneath felt heavier, but there are times when humans are willing to endure their own pain just to step on another—and narrowed his eyes, saying,

“You wouldn’t lie that you were troubled because you couldn’t bring yourself to be rough with a colleague, so, I guess Christoph just wouldn’t open his mouth?”

“Ah… indeed, you know me well.”

Ilay chuckled.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head vigorously. Then he turned his head to look at Christoph, who was lying right behind him.

“Ultimately, I grabbed someone else and made them spill the information, but by then, this guy was already in bad shape and had to lie in a hospital for several months.”

“Now I understand why Christoph grimaced and hated it when I asked if you were friends…”

As Jeong Taeui mumbled, Ilay let out a soft laugh. Then, with the same narrow eyes full of laughter, he leaned slightly towards Jeong Taeui. His voice lowered just a little.

“This guy, you see, when he was in a state where he couldn’t resist and I was unilaterally inflicting a certain amount of violence on him, he never screamed once. No, he didn’t even make a sound. He didn’t budge, with that same uninteresting face.”

As Ilay finished his sentence with a subtle smile, Jeong Taeui’s expression also became subtle.

Ilay wasn’t the type to go easy, soft enough for a scream to be suppressed. Jeong Taeui knew well how painfully rough his hands could be. His cheek, which had been hit earlier, was still burning and aching like fire.

If so…

“Does he perhaps have no pain sensation…?!”

Jeong Taeui muttered, frowning.

If that were the case, it would be fatal for someone doing this kind of work. Not feeling pain was the same as not feeling danger.

However, Ilay shook his head. Then, as if he’d thought of something, he nodded. He gave two completely different answers simultaneously, then smiled again.

“Later, when I visited his hospital room with a get-well gift, he said indifferently, ‘I held it in because if I said even one word about being in pain, I clearly wouldn’t be able to stop complaining about the pain afterward.'”

Jeong Taeui’s expression vanished. He frowned slightly and opened his mouth to say something, but it took a moment for the words to come out.

“That, that could be thought of as…”

But he stopped mid-sentence.

It wasn’t a situation one would normally imagine. It was a position where one had to endure unilateral and overwhelming pain and damage.

He stopped speaking and just looked at Ilay, who then opened his mouth.

“This guy has no pain sensation in his mind. Even if he does, his perception is messed up. He’s the kind of guy who vomits because his stomach is churning but doesn’t realize his stomach hurts, only that his throat is sore.”

“…”

Jeong Taeui quietly lowered his head. He stared blankly at his intertwined hands. After a long while, he muttered like a sigh,

“That’s not exactly a light story to hear.”

His mouth tasted bitter. Very bitter. So bitter that he couldn’t taste anything else.

He squeezed his intertwined hands tightly. He rubbed his exposed knuckles until they ached. Still, the bitterness showed no sign of fading.

Looking down at such Jeong Taeui, Ilay narrowed his eyes. As if amused.

“Yes, I thought you’d be like that.”

At his slow, faintly smiling voice, Jeong Taeui’s eyes snapped up fiercely.

“Then why did you even tell me?”

He was always a man of bad taste, but he wasn’t the type to enjoy such stories with a laugh. No, he wouldn’t even show any interest in these kinds of stories in the first place. The fortunes and misfortunes of others held no interest for him. And yet, he deliberately told Jeong Taeui.

Ilay tilted his head. And slowly, he slid his foot that had been on Jeong Taeui’s foot. The gently brushing foot felt warm yet terribly cold.

“Because your ideal type is a kind guy, I thought I should show that side of myself sometimes too.”

Jeong Taeui looked at him with a bewildered expression, as if he’d been hit on the back of the head by a rock that had flown in without warning.

The first thing that struck him was the fact that such words came out of this man’s mouth, but even before that, he questioned the content of the words.

“How is that a kind side?! That you tortured someone else? Or what, that you visited someone you tortured yourself in the hospital?!”

Even after living together for quite some time, there were times Jeong Taeui couldn’t understand this man. No, in fact, it happened quite often. Sometimes, he even thought that the moment he understood this man would be the rock bottom of his life.

When Jeong Taeui suddenly shouted at that incomprehensible remark, Ilay chuckled. By the time that laugh faded from his lips, his icy black eyes were already looking down at Jeong Taeui.

“To a guy with a problem in his head like this, no matter how much I appeal with every trick in the book, it means I can’t let you go.”

As he finished speaking, Ilay stared at Jeong Taeui blankly. Facing his chilling gaze, Jeong Taeui blinked his eyes, his mind momentarily blank.

Staring blankly at Ilay, as if caught off guard, Jeong Taeui frowned slightly. He tilted his head and looked at him askance, opening his mouth. But no suitable words came out of his parted lips.

Innumerable things he wanted to say rushed through his mind, but he couldn’t pick which one to start with.

Whether Jeong Taeui goes to anyone or not, whether to let him go or not is not for you to decide… Should I say that first?

Then will you gently let go of someone who doesn’t have a problem in their head? Should I say that first?

More than that, the audacity of assuming that there’s no problem in your head and developing the conversation from there… Should I say that first?

Such thoughts mixed chaotically, rushing through his mind. Jeong Taeui mumbled only the beginnings of sentences, “Who, then, more than that,” before finally bending over, sighing, and resting his forehead on his intertwined hands, muttering in a tired voice,

“To call that a kind side… I really don’t understand you after all.”

Guess I haven’t hit rock bottom in my life yet.

Suddenly, fatigue washed over him, making him want to just collapse sideways and lie down.

Physical fatigue and mental fatigue mixed.

It had been a tough day. He had taken in far too much that he didn’t want to know, didn’t want to hear, and didn’t want to see.

He wanted to end the day like this, soak in a warm bath, and then just burrow into bed without thinking about anything.

Yes, let’s go back to my room, Jeong Taeui thought as he slowly lifted his heavy eyelids.

His eyes met with the gaze that had been silently looking down at him.

Even though he knew Ilay was sitting there, when their eyes met with that unwavering gaze, he unconsciously flinched, his shoulders hunching.

Ilay was slowly tapping on the bedside table. He looked down at Jeong Taeui silently, his eyes devoid of emotion, and Jeong Taeui couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

“Ilay—”

Just as Jeong Taeui opened his mouth.

Ilay’s foot, which had been slowly drawing circles on Jeong Taeui’s instep, brushed against his ankle. That foot slowly moved up, caressing his shin and calf. Slowly, deliberately.

“Alright… most of what needed to be said has been said. Now, shall we properly get to it?”

The low tone of his opening words was somehow extremely ominous.

Jeong Taeui frowned sharply. Ah. Come to think of it, he had forgotten.

“Why are you here, hmm? Mr. Jeong Taeui, who said, ‘I’ll leave for sure before you come back in a month.’ Yes, you certainly did leave Berlin as you said.”

And I made him promise to stay quietly at home, Ilay added, narrowing his eyes.

Damn it. I’ve been properly caught. No wonder he kept stepping on me earlier.

Jeong Taeui tried to slowly, slowly pull his foot out from under Ilay’s. But he couldn’t, due to Ilay’s rough foot pressing down hard just below his ankle.

“Were you planning to run away?”

Ilay asked. But even as he asked, he didn’t seem to genuinely think so, merely tapping Jeong Taeui’s instep with his toes.

Of course, he had no intention of running away, but since he asked like that, he wanted to affirm it. …But thinking of the trouble that would follow, Jeong Taeui gave the best answer he could, brusquely.

“No… I came here because you were here. I followed you.”

“…”

Jeong Taeui said it shamelessly, looking straight at Ilay without even wetting his lips. His face was a very serious blank slate.

Ilay, who had been silent for a moment as if caught off guard, finally let out a hollow, bewildered chuckle.

“Followed me here?”

“Of course.”

“Then I must have misheard my brother’s call the other day. He said you were being tormented by Chris trying to get back the stolen book, and told me to help you.”

Kyle. You’re not on my side this time.

He briefly resented Kyle in his heart, but Jeong Taeui hadn’t actually thought that his impromptu lie would work. He just wanted to somehow gloss over it.