Passion: Diaphonic Symphonia Novel - Chapter 79

He recalled him touching his chest, touching his head, wondering where he was empty, tilting his head like that.

“Who says I don’t really like Taei? I like that guy.”

Christoph’s voice followed. His voice was faintly trembling.

Jeong Taeui suddenly felt a gaze on him. Ilay was looking at him with his head tilted slightly.

Jeong Taeui merely shook his head bitterly.

He knew. The extent to which he could reach out.

“So, you’re going to interfere?”

Richard’s slow voice followed. His voice soon changed to a low, chilling tone.

“If you try to interfere anyway, I’ll make sure you can’t.”

It was right after that.

A heavy thud. A tumbling sound. Loud yet dull noises were transmitted through the earphone.

“—…!”

Jeong Taeui unconsciously looked at Ilay. He met his eyes as Ilay glanced back, sensing his gaze.

“They’re fighting again, it seems.”

Ilay said calmly.

As he said, the brief curses, shouts, and heavy thuds were nothing but sounds of fighting.

“Should I go stop them?”

When Jeong Taeui frowned and muttered, Ilay let out a light laugh, “Hahaa.”

“That’s wonderful. ‘I was listening quietly, and it sounded like you two were fighting, so I came to stop you,’ is that what you’re going to say?”

He became speechless.

No, I’ll just pretend I had something to do and just… he muttered, then stopped. It felt too obvious.

“Oh dear, well, it’s not like these guys fighting is a one- or two-day affair.”

The problem was that once they started fighting, they were almost prepared for a catastrophe, but at least it was safer if they did it indoors. Surely, it wouldn’t escalate to a point where the police had to be called, and it was easier to deal with emergencies.

“They’re both still not fully recovered, so there must be a limit to their fighting.”

He added that, then waited for the sounds of fighting coming from the earphone to subside.

It’s like listening to a fighting game, just hearing the sounds, Jeong Taeui thought, then suddenly looked around.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he had properly entered Ilay’s room. He had visited a few times when being run on errands, but he had never come inside and comfortably occupied the bed like this.

“Even if it’s a room prepared for distinguished guests staying in the East Wing, it’s too much of a comparison to my room.”

When he grumbled, feigning annoyance, an indifferent answer came back: “Then you can stay here from today.”

Gasp, Jeong Taeui immediately flinched. He had almost dug his own grave again.

“No, no, many of the elders of this family stay here, so it’s not good to upset them unnecessarily. I think the West Wing is better for me. Hmm.”

When Jeong Taeui quickly shook his head, Ilay raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled.

“There are people lining up who want to live in the East Wing, so that’s a peculiar wish.”

“Hmm?” Jeong Taeui muttered, then looked around the room anew.

This room was clearly excellent. He didn’t know if the other rooms in the East Wing were the same, but the furnishings and interior structure were superb. It wasn’t overly flashy but had a subtle grandeur.

He wouldn’t dislike living in a place like this, but there were plenty of other good houses of this caliber. People who would line up to live here…

Jeong Taeui’s question was soon answered.

“Only those with the Tarten name who are direct descendants of Tarten, those at the center of power, can live in the East Wing.”

Or stay as a distinguished guest like me, Ilay added, and Jeong Taeui finally understood. He seemed to have heard something similar before.

“So, just staying in the East Wing can be a mark of authority for some people.”

“That’s right. In fact, among those who stayed here and then left, there are cases where they suffered from depression after leaving. …”

Ilay paused for a moment before closing his mouth. Jeong Taeui looked at him in confusion.

“It sounds like you were about to say something, then stopped?”

Jeong Taeui pressed, puzzled, but Ilay merely shrugged slightly.

“Why? Is there someone you know who was actually kicked out of here and got depressed?”

“Well… for now.”

Ilay spoke vaguely.

It was rare for this man to be vague. Jeong Taeui looked at him suspiciously for a moment but didn’t ask further. Anyway, it wasn’t a topic that would lead to good conversation even if he pressed.

Moreover, the sounds of fighting coming from the earphone were gradually subsiding.

Curses and rough breathing were occasionally heard, but the sounds of something breaking or colliding were now infrequent.

And soon, Christoph’s low growl was heard.

“Don’t touch me…!”

Finally, the brawl seemed to have ended, at least for a moment.

“I told you before. You’re deadly in close combat. And now you don’t even have a proper weapon. So, what are you going to do now?”

Richard was also breathing heavily, as if his stamina had been severely depleted from the hand-to-hand combat. However, the sound, tinged with a faint smile, indicated that he was somewhat in control now. Jeong Taeui frowned.

“Get out of the way…! Don’t touch me!”

“You can’t do anything but growl like that.”

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. He yanked the earphone out of his ear and glared fiercely at it, as if the earphone itself was the owner of that voice.

“Do these guys do nothing but fight when they’re together? Surely they’re not always like this even when they’re out during the day?”

“At least not in situations that could disrupt Tarten’s business.”

“…So, during their private time, they are.”

Jeong Taeui flopped back onto the bed. He twirled the earphone cord with one hand. The cord wrapped around his fingers. After wrapping it completely, he unwound it several times, staring at the ceiling.

“While I was in Berlin, you know.”

Jeong Taeui suddenly blurted out, as if talking to himself. Ilay only turned his eyes to look at him.

“I’ve been living peacefully at home for several years, and it seems my adaptability has dropped a lot. If I stay like this for a few more years, won’t it really become difficult to live elsewhere…?”

If he left Berlin and started a new life elsewhere, it would be a disaster if he couldn’t adapt and struggled then. He wouldn’t be young anymore by that time.

However, Jeong Taeui, who was muttering such words, suddenly noticed Ilay’s eyes narrowing as he looked at him, and quickly muttered, “Ah, right, right, what are those guys doing?” and put the earphone back on. Whatever it was, it seemed to be another topic that displeased him.

“You are despicable and cruel. As far as I know, there will be no one as ruthless as you, now or in the future.”

The first sound he heard after putting on the earphone was Christoph’s trembling accusation.

To openly denounce someone like that in front of them, it wasn’t his place to say, being an eavesdropper, but it made the listener uncomfortable.

If Jeong Taeui felt that way, the person hearing it couldn’t have felt good.

After a brief pause, Richard’s low murmur was heard.

“I never thought I’d hear such words from you. No, no one else thinks of me that way. Only you see me like that. …I am like a mirror; I fulfill the expectations of those who look at me.”

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

Something, he couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but that low, chilling voice felt as if it was crawling over his heart, then piercing him like a dagger.

It was a strange feeling.

Even though the voice was very gentle and kind, his chest felt cold.

At that moment.

“You don’t need to listen anymore.”

Suddenly, the earphone was pulled out of his ear.

Ilay, who had pulled the cord and snatched the earphone from Jeong Taeui, put it back into the bag.

Jeong Taeui was momentarily stunned, then, as the cold feeling in his heart subsided, he frowned.

“What? You just suddenly take it when someone’s listening.”

He hadn’t necessarily wanted to eavesdrop, but having it suddenly snatched away like that didn’t feel very good either. Moreover, after hearing such chilling words, his heart felt unsettlingly heavy for no reason.

Ilay, still with the earphone in his own ear, said calmly.

“It’ll just be them fighting again anyway, so what’s the point of listening more? You stop listening. Instead, why don’t you continue the conversation we were having earlier?”

“What about?”

“You said something about living somewhere else in a few years.”

Suddenly, Ilay bent down. He leaned over Jeong Taeui, who was lying sprawled on the bed, his upper body overlapping him diagonally.

“No, why suddenly again—”

But as soon as Jeong Taeui opened his mouth, a familiar tongue entered it.

However, this time, as if he had no intention of suffocating Jeong Taeui, the tongue lightly stroked Jeong Taeui’s tongue, gums, and lips a few times before withdrawing.

“Why? Are you getting tired of Berlin already? Do you want to move and live somewhere else? Tell me if there’s a place you want.”

Jeong Taeui instinctively flinched as Ilay’s tongue left his lips and approached his earlobe.

He still wasn’t used to this. Sometimes Ilay would whisper in a very soft voice, whether he was conscious of it or not.

Jeong Taeui felt a little awkward, as if those words, which sounded like he would grant anything he wished, were somehow embarrassing.

“No, that’s not it, I just suddenly remembered what I was thinking about earlier…”

The sensation of his lips returning from his earlobe to his cheek was no longer unfamiliar.

Yes, this was also a problem. How had he come to accept such things as natural and feel accustomed to them?

He truly felt that if he were to leave Berlin someday and start a new life, his life would undergo an enormous transformation.

“What you were thinking about earlier.”

“I suddenly thought I’d been in Berlin for quite a long time. Now, that place is like my home.”

“And?”

“And I wondered what I’d do if I left there. So I just thought about that for a moment…”

Suddenly, the lips that had been teasing his cheek paused for a moment.

Ilay, who had raised his head slightly, looked down at Jeong Taeui silently with an unreadable expression—it seemed a bit strange—as if deep in thought. Then he said nonchalantly.

“Why? Did your brother tell you to leave while I was gone?”

“No, rather…”

Jeong Taeui paused to collect his thoughts.

Ilay patiently looked down at Jeong Taeui, who was staring at the ceiling, tilting his head one way then the other, waiting for him to continue. Meanwhile, his gaze occasionally shifted, as if he was still listening to the sounds coming from the earphone.

“After some time, you know, if I were to be separated from you for any reason, it would be hard to keep living in Berlin. If I went back to Korea, I’d have friends, but it would be hard to see them often, and my brother’s in UNHRDO, so it would be hard to live with him. Surprisingly, I have nowhere to go.”

“…Hmm… Right, so? What would you do then?”

After a few seconds, Ilay asked, seemingly curious. Somehow, his lips touching Jeong Taeui’s earlobe and his voice seemed softer. Jeong Taeui didn’t realize then that it was like the voice of a devil trying to coax out an important secret from a child.

“Well… In that case, if I just stayed at that house as Kyle’s guest, unrelated to you… would that be a bit much?”

It was a house where guests constantly came and went, but long-term guests usually stayed for a month or two at most. He had never seen a guest who stayed for years other than himself.

“Hmm…”

With a low murmur, Ilay slowly raised his hand and began to rub Jeong Taeui’s cheek with his thumb. Only then did Jeong Taeui look at Ilay. Their eyes met, Ilay looking at Jeong Taeui as if lost in thought.

Jeong Taeui winced, “Ouch,” frowning sullenly as Ilay pinched his cheek hard, as if something was twisting inside him. But Ilay continued to rub his cheek, pinching it a few more times.

He wondered if this guy was upset about something again, but Ilay’s thoughtful expression showed no signs of displeasure or annoyance. He just muttered, “Hmm,” as if something slightly troubling had come up.

Then, he suddenly muttered something incomprehensible to himself.

“That would be difficult…”

“Huh?”

Jeong Taeui asked back, puzzled.

The conversation didn’t make sense.

Or perhaps, was he saying it would be difficult to stay at the Berlin mansion as Kyle’s guest?

However, Jeong Taeui’s guess was beautifully off the mark due to the words that followed.

“Your friends in Korea aren’t a problem at all, but Jeong Jaeui, that guy. It seems hard to get rid of him. Even if I shoot him in the head, I’d be the one getting hurt. What to do…”

His words were not a joke. He was speaking in a joking tone, but Jeong Taeui had spent several years with this man. These words, spoken like a joke, were serious.

His heart suddenly sank. He gasped, completely unprepared for such words, and coughed several times.

Cough, cough, his lungs felt like they would burst from inhaling wrong.

He pushed Ilay away and coughed for a long time, bent over, until the coughing finally subsided. Ilay then pressed Jeong Taeui down again, his upper body overlapping him.

Jeong Taeui pushed him away once more as he overlapped his lips as if nothing had happened, and looked at him with a serious expression.

For some reason, if he made one wrong move, his friends and family might all die at once, so nothing else could enter his mind right now.

“Why, why, why, why get rid of them…”

He was so flustered that he couldn’t even speak properly.

Jeong Taeui patted his chest a few times with his palm. Then he asked seriously again.

“What deadly sin have my friends, whom you’ve never met, and my brother, whom you’ve met for millions of years, committed against you that you want to get rid of them?”

“Why, you ask?”

Ilay said in a still calm voice, taking Jeong Taeui’s hand that was pushing his chest away and dropping it.

“You have to eliminate their destinations so they don’t even think about it in the first place. Taei, you sometimes think too much about useless things.”

Damn it, he wondered what he had stepped on, and that was it.

Jeong Taeui quickly said to Ilay, who was slowly licking his cheek.

“No, no! I’ll never think like that! I was firmly resolved to bury my bones in Berlin!”

Just a second ago, he added to himself.

He, who had been lightly biting and licking his cheek, suddenly chuckled.

This guy was playing with me again.

Jeong Taeui sighed, letting the strength drain from his body.

“Go ahead and play, play all you want.”

“Hmm. To avoid misunderstanding, I’m not joking.”

He was smiling as if joking, but as he said, Jeong Taeui already knew his words weren’t a joke.

Jeong Taeui sighed and nodded.

And from Ilay, who had been stroking and kissing his cheek for a while, he flinched slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

He was somewhat used to the act of simply pressing someone down and satisfying desire frantically—or rather, at such times, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking anyway—but sometimes, for some whim, he would lightly touch him like this, and Jeong Taeui never got used to it. Even after repeating it many times, it felt somewhat embarrassing.

However, this man, who seemed to enjoy Jeong Taeui’s embarrassment without explicitly saying so, had been doing this occasionally for some time now.

Jeong Taeui opened his lips to the man who was tapping his lips, and suddenly, as if remembering something, asked.

“How about them? Have they stopped fighting yet?”

He pointed to the earphone in Ilay’s ear with a gesture, and Ilay asked “Hmm?” in return, then smiled with a hint of satisfaction.

“You don’t have to worry,” Ilay muttered to himself, then pressed his lips against Jeong Taeui’s.

Hearing that, Jeong Taeui was relieved, thinking that the other two had finally entered a calmer phase, and lightly touched Ilay’s tongue, which had entered his mouth, with the tip of his own tongue.