Passion: Diaphonic Symphonia Novel - Chapter 57

Then Christoph hummed and nodded.

“If something goes wrong and the bar gets into trouble, it’s Richard who’ll be in a bind. Feel free to spread rumors if you want.”

“…Uh.”

Even if he were to spread rumors, the only people he could tell were at most Ilay or Kyle, or perhaps his uncle or brother. But somehow, he felt they already knew everything. It wouldn’t be strange for them to find out about a peculiar bar.

What bothered him more now was something else.

“I thought only Tarten’s East Wing was ominous, but the atmosphere here is also very…”

Jeong Taeui muttered, emptying his glass.

He waved his hand at Erich, who was tilting the bottle to give him more, and asked for a beer instead. The liquor seemed to have a good aroma and feel, but beer was more to his taste. Judging by the look on Erich’s face, he seemed willing to give it for free, which was nice.

The only problem was that the atmosphere also made the beer taste bad…

“The atmosphere is incredibly hostile, somehow.”

Jeong Taeui muttered, shrugging his shoulders. Christoph nodded slightly but didn’t seem to care much.

Indeed, why would someone who was covered in blood until he roughly wiped his face and hands with the wet towel Erich had provided care?

But Jeong Taeui cared.

It had been like this from the beginning, but now, perhaps it was just his imagination, the countless gazes staring at them seemed even more hostile.

He had received countless harsh stares while at Seoyik, but now, perhaps because they were at Richard’s bar, it felt especially intense. It felt like they were ready to beat them up if things went wrong.

“Even if it’s Richard’s bar, isn’t the atmosphere here too bad?”

When Jeong Taeui grumbled, Christoph moistened his lips with a water glass and said nonchalantly.

“It should be about time for a call to come in.”

“What call?”

“News of those six guys, who are probably their friends, whom we left laid out on the mat.”

“…”

Ah, right.

Only then did Jeong Taeui understand. He nodded repeatedly, glancing at Christoph. Christoph, who didn’t care at all whether their gazes were hostile or not, was covered in blood except for his face and hands, which he had wiped with the wet towel. At least the indoor lighting was dim, so an unfamiliar person might think he was wearing black clothes, which was better, but if seen in bright light, he would look truly terrifying.

Of course. They had every right to be angry.

If their sworn enemy suddenly appeared, threatening to flip the bar over and demanding the owner come out, and then they found out that the blood covering him was all their friends’ blood.

…Those guys must have good tempers. They must feel like grabbing a mop and beating him up.

“Hmm, this is troublesome…”

Jeong Taeui sighed deeply and muttered. Next to him, Christoph asked, “What?”

“I’ve wanted to go to the restroom for a while now, but I feel like I’ll get into trouble if I go and come back…”

Jeong Taeui looked up, his face pitiful, and scanned the bar again. The path to the restroom in the corner looked strangely dim. It seemed like the path would be rough.

“It feels like I’ll easily be dragged off somewhere and beaten up on the way there or back…”

“…Shall I go with you?”

Christoph looked at Jeong Taeui, who was muttering heavily, with a bewildered expression, then said generously. But Jeong Taeui shook his head and waved his hand.

“No, it’s better if one of us stays here and immediately calls the police if the other doesn’t come back, rather than both of us getting beaten up at once.”

“If you put it that way, don’t you think that the moment you two separate, the hand of danger will reach out to each of you?”

At Christoph’s words, Jeong Taeui nodded, saying, “Ah, right.” He looked up at the dim ceiling lights for a moment, then came to his own conclusion.

“So the point is, it’s dangerous no matter what.”

Christoph didn’t answer. He didn’t think it was dangerous at all, but perhaps because, in the context of the conversation, the conclusion was the same anyway.

Jeong Taeui said, “Then,” and readily stood up.

“I’m going to the restroom. Please wish me a safe return.”

Lamenting the atmosphere that required such a dramatic declaration before going to the restroom, Jeong Taeui turned to leave.

This is no joke.

Jeong Taeui had thought that from the moment he stood up from the chair.

As soon as he stood up from the counter and took a step towards the restroom, piercing gazes instantly poured over his entire body.

Feeling the gazes piercing him like arrows from both front and back, Jeong Taeui walked, following the sign marked “restroom.”

He turned into the path, following the restroom sign that flickered subtly under the dim light—it was a restroom sign that was even lit!—The path turned again about 10 meters ahead, and at its end, there was another restroom sign.

Rather than the restroom being located very deep inside, the bar’s structure was indeed quite peculiar.

Jeong Taeui reached the end of that path and subtly looked around.

There was more than one path leading to the restroom.

One path was the one Jeong Taeui had walked, leading from the bar hall. And on the opposite side, another path led from a wide, sparsely populated alley, whose contents were unknown. And further inside, there was yet another path.

“The structure is strange, and it’d be easy to get lost.”

Jeong Taeui muttered, “I could even report this for violating building codes…”, and tilted his head.

Jeong Taeui, who had stopped on his way to the restroom, suddenly went a little way down the path leading to the opposite side. He was curious about what was there.

A few meters into the path from the hall that Jeong Taeui had walked, the interior decoration of the opposite path changed.

A thick, soft carpet was laid all the way to the end of the corridor. The lighting was subtle yet adequately bright, and the zigzagging doors on both sides of the corridor were made of heavy oak.

“Oh my goodness, it seems like they seat poor customers uncomfortably in the hall and serve them cheap liquor, while wealthy customers are ushered into these luxurious rooms to drink expensive liquor like water, oh dear, oh dear.”

Jeong Taeui muttered in a tone he had picked up from a cunning little girl among the children Christoph taught, whom he occasionally played with recently, and peered down the corridor.

There were probably people inside many of those doors, but it was impossible to tell from the outside. It was just a corridor that looked ominous at first glance.

Jeong Taeui shrugged and turned back.

It had nothing to do with him anyway. He had no reason to go into those rooms, and he wasn’t confident he could afford the liquor prices if he did.

Jeong Taeui, who had turned back from that corridor and started walking towards the restroom again, suddenly stopped.

“…Oh.”

A short sound involuntarily escaped his lips.

The corridor extended from the restroom further inside.

A man was opening a door and entering a room quite a distance inside. It was the innermost room in the corridor.

When Jeong Taeui had just turned back from the corridor, the man had already stepped into the room, and by the time Jeong Taeui said “Oh” and looked again, only his shoulder and back were glimpsed as he entered the room.

And soon, the faint sound of a heavy door closing echoed.

“…Oh…?”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head.

The man from a moment ago seemed familiar. No, he hadn’t seen his face, but his faintly glimpsed profile, his shoulders, his back, his walking posture—they all seemed very familiar.

Among the people Jeong Taeui knew, someone like that was…

“… … …No way…”

Jeong Taeui, who had been lost in thought, staring into the air for a moment, soon laughed “Haha” and waved his hand. There was no reason for that man to be here. That man should be comfortably lounging in the guest room of Tarten’s East Wing by now.

Jeong Taeui shook his head and entered the restroom.

The spacious restroom was empty.

Jeong Taeui thought that for a bar of this size, even considering timing, it was unusual for the restroom to be so empty, but then he nodded, saying, “Ah, right.”

For a place of this size, there could be one or two more restrooms. Moreover, each room would probably have its own, so it was understandable that there were no people.

Jeong Taeui nodded and approached the toilet.

“Indeed, one never knows what the future holds…”

He muttered with a sigh, and slowly began to relieve himself. In fact, he had wanted to go to the restroom since he was with Christoph in the study earlier. He had held it in for quite a long time.

“Just this morning, I thought I’d have a peaceful night, how would I have known I’d end up in some bar outside Tarten?”

Thinking that, Jeong Taeui then muttered to himself, Who knows if I’ll be able to go back to Berlin tomorrow, hugging my books, and live peacefully, one must always live with hope.

Just as he finished his business and was zipping up his pants.

Suddenly, the restroom door clunked open behind him.

Two men entered. One of them closed the restroom door and stood in front of it.

Jeong Taeui muttered as he zipped up his pants.

“When two men enter a restroom at the same time and even close the door, nine times out of ten it’s either gay or—”

His muttering words were cut short.

The man who immediately approached Jeong Taeui punched him in the head. —No, to be precise, he swung his fist, but Jeong Taeui quickly turned his head to the side and narrowly dodged it.

“Right, this is it, a group with ill intentions. But to suddenly do this without warning…”

Jeong Taeui quickly retreated from the man and moved towards the mirror.

The man, whose punch missed, scowled even more fiercely and turned around.

“You, you’re the guy who came with Christoph, aren’t you?”

Right, there’s only one reason to hold a grudge here.

“That’s right, but…”

“You bastard, then you’re with him, why are you pretending not to be!”

The man, who approached Jeong Taeui again, shouted menacingly and swung his fist. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue, easily dodging the punch again.

“You and that bastard made my brother into a bloody mess!”

The man roared like a beast, chasing after Jeong Taeui.

He didn’t know which of the six men the man’s “brother” was, but at any rate, they were the only ones he could infer from that statement.

“No, no. I just watched, Christoph did it all by himself. I’m innocent!”

Jeong Taeui thought of himself as a bit cowardly for shouting that out, but he wasn’t in a position to think about that now. He was busy dodging the man’s wild punches.

Moreover, even if Jeong Taeui shouted that…

“Don’t be ridiculous! How can one guy beat up six people like that!”

See, he knew they wouldn’t believe him.

Even Jeong Taeui, who had witnessed it himself, couldn’t believe it. A miracle where one person could defeat six in an equal situation without weapons.

“You coward, trying to get away with lying?!”

I knew I’d hear that too.

Jeong Taeui appealed, “It’s true,” with a somewhat unfair feeling, but it didn’t work at all.

Amidst this, seeing Jeong Taeui effortlessly dodging and moving around the bathroom, the man, perhaps thinking one wasn’t enough, was joined by the man guarding the bathroom door.

“Ah, if you step aside like that, I’m grateful.”

Jeong Taeui smiled faintly.

A miracle where one person defeats six doesn’t happen easily, but in a not-too-spacious area, one person skillfully taking on two was quite common.

First, before the man guarding the door could approach, he grabbed the man who had been chasing him. Dodging his punch, he simultaneously grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him into the wall. Thwack, a hearty sound accompanied by a single scream, and one was dealt with.

And as the other man, seeing this, twisted his face and was about to assume an attacking stance, Jeong Taeui punched him squarely on the bridge of his nose. The sensation of his nasal bone breaking was distinctly felt. Drops of blood splattered onto the floor.

“Why did you both come at me? If only one had come, I would’ve just dodged appropriately and left it at that.”

Jeong Taeui said, straightening his disheveled collar.

The man clutching his nose, unlike the one whose head was slammed into the wall, was conscious and yelled something, but the sound was unclear due to nosebleed running down his throat.

“My apologies, but I’ll take my leave first.”

Jeong Taeui even politely waved his hand in farewell to them, and was just about to open the bathroom door to return to the hall alone.

Just then, a large figure was about to enter the bathroom.

“Oh…”

“Hmm? …Oh?!”

The large figure, wearing a hooded jacket that reached his thighs, casually looked at Jeong Taeui and was about to step aside, but then saw the man lying on the bathroom floor and the other man cowering beside him, and he roared.

Jeong Taeui tried to disappear quickly before seeing anything worse, but the large figure glared ferociously and turned to him.

“Was it you?! This bastard, now that I look at you, aren’t you that guy who came with Christoph earlier?!”

Damn it. It seems everyone in this place remembers me.

“It’s a very kind establishment to remember every customer, but I’m not quite comfortable with that…”

Jeong Taeui mumbled some random words, racking his brain on how to deal with this large figure, when he heard the commotion. A few more people seemed to be approaching from around the corner of the hallway.

“What’s going on there?”

“A bit noisy, isn’t it?”

“Is there a problem?”

Muttering like that, they rounded the corner, and it wasn’t just one or two people. Four appeared right before his eyes. Meaning, there was every possibility of more joining them.

Jeong Taeui’s vision went dark for a moment.

Behind him, one man with a broken nose but still functional limbs, the large figure blocking his way directly in front, and beyond that figure, four more converging.

“Wow… they say if you see one, there are thirty in places you can’t see, and it seems that’s true…”

Jeong Taeui mumbled blankly, counting the men with his eyes.

There were exactly six, matching the miraculous number Christoph had shown earlier, but Jeong Taeui wasn’t confident in creating such a miracle.

Christoph had chosen to fight head-on as a way to escape the situation of confronting six people, but Jeong Taeui was different.

“My specialty has always been running away…”

Muttering this, he quickly surveyed his surroundings.

It didn’t seem difficult to avoid these men and return to the hall, but the problem would be what came after. From the looks of it, they would likely chase him all the way there, and a large-scale brawl inside the establishment would be a disaster. Moreover, if that happened, he would have no way to stop Christoph.

Then he would have to escape in another direction, but no matter where he went, as an outsider, he would stand out. He needed some kind of temporary solution, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to think of one right now.

“First, let’s just run. Hey, sorry.”

Jeong Taeui apologized briefly and lunged at the large figure who had approached him.

The large figure, who had been looking back at his approaching comrades, let out a surprised “Huh?!” at the sudden attack. But by the time he yelled and tried to punch Jeong Taeui, it was already too late.

With a leg sweep that would have been difficult to succeed unless the opponent was off guard, Jeong Taeui tripped the large figure. Leaving the heavy thud of his body hitting the floor behind him, he leaped over him and ran.

The men who had just been approaching from behind saw this and, startled, began chasing him frantically.

Fortunately, Jeong Taeui was fast, so the distance gradually widened, but the problem was what came next.

Damn it, I don’t know the way. I thought the path was a bit complicated earlier, but running blindly without properly checking my surroundings, I couldn’t tell where I was.

Without even knowing which turns he had taken, Jeong Taeui found himself back in front of the bathroom. In the meantime, he faintly heard the sounds of the men rummaging around, as if they thought it better to scatter.

Now what? Would it be better to just go back to Christoph? No, with his personality, there would definitely be blood.

“…”

For now, let’s just try to run wherever.

Jeong Taeui, who had been standing idly in front of the bathroom, began to walk aimlessly again.