Passion Novel - Volume 3 - Chapter 66

Jeong Changin spun a ballpoint pen between his fingertips. His nephew, who was incomparably luckier and more fortunate than his friend’s brother, who was strong against bad luck, couldn’t possibly be in danger somewhere, but a vague anxiety, different from worry, settled in.

The UNHRDO’s information network wasn’t shoddy. He was confident it was comparable to most intelligence agencies. And this friend of his was also not to be underestimated in that regard. Despite hands being deployed in all directions by two groups, which had overlapping areas but largely operated independently, there had been no trace of his nephew for several months. If his nephew didn’t want his whereabouts known, one might think his natural luck was helping him, but as far as Jeong Changin knew, his nephew wasn’t that delicate or neurotic in that respect. A few years ago, when UNHRDO headquarters contacted him, he had casually scratched his head and said, ‘They’re looking for me? It’ll be a hassle, won’t it? I don’t like it. Still, if they’re looking for me, I guess I should show my face.’ So there was no discernible reason for him to suddenly disappear without a trace now, as if he had grown weary of everything in the world. He’d thought he might have impulsively gone on a trip for a few months, but he hadn’t expected to hear absolutely nothing.

In such cases, besides the person not wanting to be found, there was only one other possibility…

“No leads from the place you said you’d look into before?”

‘It wasn’t Costa Rica. There are two places left, but news is slow coming from there. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything. —Don’t be too anxious. It’s Jeong Jaei, of all people.’

“It’s precisely because it’s Jeong Jaeui that it’s more troublesome.”

Jeong Changin clicked his tongue. If there was no news for this long, it could mean he was being held in a place beyond the reach of organizations or ordinary powers, or, in a worse scenario, he was being confined. He didn’t think that would happen, but if Jeong Jaeui somehow got involved in weapons development somewhere, the situation would become tricky.

“I’m already worried because he’s the kind of guy who teeters on the edge of violating treaties.”

When Jeong Changin grumbled, his friend laughed good-naturedly as usual.

‘Even if they wanted to pick a fight, they couldn’t. They’re all the type with a lot to hide.’

Jeong Changin smiled. Talking to this friend always put his mind at ease. It was because he could objectively assess the situation and draw the most suitable conclusions.

“Alright, anyway, I’ll leave that to you. Rick, I could have him escorted to Germany if he wants.”

‘No, no need for that. There’s no special solution if he comes here, and tell him to get back to work properly when he wakes up.’

“You mean, as soon as he gets out of bed, send him to Hong Kong to deal with company matters?”

‘Changin, why are you being so weak? You know full well that when I had surgery a few years ago, the first thing I saw when I woke up from anesthesia was Ilay’s gun pointed at me.’

“Right, that happened.”

Jeong Changin chuckled, recalling the memory he’d heard before. That guy was merciless even to his family. He heard that a few years ago, when Riegrow had to get involved with a certain group due to business issues, and that group was dismantled, his friend, knowing his brother would go wild, had gone to the hospital for a chronic appendectomy he’d put off. And when he woke up, bodyguards were sprawled around him, bleeding, and his brother was sitting in a visitor’s chair, spinning a pistol on his finger, staring at him.

‘If I hadn’t offered a compromise then, that guy would have definitely shot me and more.’

“He would have, wouldn’t he? Jaeui is probably the only one who’s survived after directly encountering that guy’s murderous intent.”

Jeong Changin nodded and mumbled. It was already well-known that Jeong Jaeui was lucky, but that madman had been involved when he had truly realized that fact once again.

A few years ago, a small pistol that Jeong Jaeui had casually developed for fun was commercialized by his friend’s company. Around that time, the man named Ilay Riegrow was at his most dangerous. His youthful recklessness hadn’t completely faded, and his intellect, unable to cover his true nature, couldn’t conceal his true self.

During the trial firing stage before commercialization, Riegrow, holding the gun, gripped the handle and pulled the hammer a few times, then laughed admiringly, “Hah.” In an indoor setting, not a shooting range, with several people present, he casually pulled the trigger and accurately hit and shattered a bell-shaped glass ornament on a chandelier. He then looked at Jeong Jaeui, who happened to be there—that was probably Riegrow and Jeong Jaeui’s first meeting—chuckles, and then pointed the gun at him.

—They say you carry Gilsangcheon with you. The rumors of your good fortune are deafening. So how about this?

No sooner had he finished speaking than Riegrow pulled the trigger, aiming at Jeong Jaeui.

There was no time to stop him.

He probably didn’t intend to kill him, as he didn’t aim for the head or heart, but it was an action that implied he wouldn’t care if Jeong Jaeui fell dead on the spot from the bullet.

And at that moment, the gun, which had fired without any problem just a few minutes before, exploded in Riegrow’s hand.

Jeong Changin still remembered the silence that filled the room. Jeong Jaeui, who had briefly looked surprised, then murmured with a blank expression, “There shouldn’t have been a problem with the machine…” Jeong Changin, his friend, and a few other relevant people, who already knew through precise inspection that there was nothing wrong with the gun, stared at him in astonishment. Riegrow, who had handled the gun beforehand and determined it had no issues, stared intently at his torn and bloody hand, then slowly raised his head and looked at Jeong Jaeui. Disbelief was mixed with exasperation in his gaze, and when he chuckled, Jeong Changin finally exhaled the breath he had been holding.

At that moment, Riegrow seemed to want to test something more, but when people rushed over to take him to the hospital, he seemed to give up and obediently followed. He laughed, saying, “Indeed, I can’t contend with this.”

And he had said something that was hard to tell if it was a joke or serious. He wanted to see this brother with Gilsangcheon once too.

“…Your family’s upbringing is all wrong.”

Jeong Changin mumbled, lost in thought for a moment, and his friend let out a hearty laugh on the other end of the phone.

‘That’s harsh. To talk about someone else’s family upbringing. As the family that produced such a troublesome guy, I’m in a position where I should apologize to the world, so I can’t argue, but if I had to make an excuse, Helena and I grew up normally.’

“Of course, your younger sister is undoubtedly a beautiful and faultless talent, but your judgment is flawed somewhere in entrusting the company to Rick.”

‘Haha, but that guy isn’t incompetent enough to ruin the company. He just has some personality issues.’

“He has serious personality issues.”

Jeong Changin sighed. He didn’t need to worry about someone else’s company, nor was he particularly worried, but for a moment, he felt like he had tasted the unfairness of the world.

‘Why? Thanks to him, the Hong Kong branch is growing smoothly. And since he’s family, there’s no need to worry about embezzlement.’

His friend, who was still trying to defend him as his brother, Jeong Changin muttered a scolding that wasn’t much of a scolding.

“Isn’t it a form of embezzlement to use company money to buy favors for colleagues?”

“…? Of course it is. But as you know, that doesn’t apply to him.”

His friend suddenly laughed as if he’d said something absurd. He added, “You’re getting old and saying silly things too.”

“Hmm… well, I guess he doesn’t necessarily use a company card. Even if he did, it would be while he was out for company business on the weekend.”

‘You’re saying strange things. It sounds like he bought something for someone.’

“Well, couldn’t he have?”

‘No, he couldn’t. That guy has never bought a single rose to woo a woman.’

His friend’s voice, as he said that the only thing that guy ever bought to woo women was a relaxant to put in their cocktails, was so utterly confident that Jeong Changin was momentarily speechless. He already knew his character and morals were at rock bottom, but…

Jeong Changin clicked his tongue bitterly and mumbled.

“Right, I must have misheard. Why would he buy my nephew a suit, anyway?”

‘…Your nephew? Oh. The second one?’

“Yes. Have you seen him?”

‘No, I haven’t. …Ilay bought your nephew a suit? Did he say that himself?’

“No, I heard it from my nephew. …Now that I think about it, I might have misheard.”

He didn’t want to be branded a liar by his friend, and re-thinking it, Jeong Changin himself didn’t quite believe it either, so he decided to doubt his own memory.

‘Now that you mention it, I remember him mentioning something in passing a while ago. That he saw Jeong Jaeui’s brother.’

“Not ‘saw,’ Rick’s adjutant is that guy. Did he say anything else?”

‘No, he didn’t. He’s not the type to talk about people around him. Why, did something happen?’

“No way. My nephew is very quick-witted and wise, so he knows how to take care of himself.”

Jeong Changin shrugged, even though it wouldn’t be visible over the phone, and said. In truth, aside from his luck and intellect, his second nephew was as outstanding as his first. At least, that’s how Jeong Changin saw him. However, luck truly was a crucial matter.

It was about something that happened recently.

He had met Riegrow separately for work to discuss some matters, and somehow the conversation about him meeting Jeong Taeui in Hong Kong came up. “Speaking of which,” Riegrow said, as if it had just occurred to him, even before Jeong Changin brought up the suit.

‘You know, how did you raise your nephew?’

Jeong Changin fell silent. First, he had to think for a moment which nephew he was talking about, second, it occurred to him that he wasn’t the one who raised his nephew, third, he had to guess what kind of ‘how’ he meant by ‘how,’ and fourth, it was quite unexpected that the man in front of him could laugh like that.

His face, suddenly chuckling as if something amusing had just occurred to him, looked remarkably normal. He thought, ‘Huh,’ at that unfamiliar expression. He had seen this man laugh many times. He had heard countless remarks like, ‘That guy is more dangerous when he laughs,’ and he agreed with more than half of them. He was a guy who calmly committed insane acts while laughing, so one couldn’t let their guard down just because he was laughing. However, after encountering him several times, those laughs would become distinguishable, but this laugh now was somewhat unfamiliar.

‘Taei? Why him?’

“Whatever he did, I’d appreciate it if you could be a bit lenient, if possible. He is, after all, my beloved nephew,” Jeong Changin added, chuckling along. He thought, ‘That smart kid wouldn’t do anything to carelessly throw his life away. What’s gotten this madman’s knickers in a twist again?’

Looking back, it had been well over 10 years since he first knew this man. ‘Knew’ might be a bit of an overstatement, though. While it had been over a decade since their first encounter, it hadn’t been that long since they started frequently crossing paths due to work.

However, through his interactions with his friend and occasional visits to his home, as well as through various rumors, Jeong Changin had a good grasp of what kind of person this man was. He was a lunatic, barely within the bounds of a normal person. No, to be precise, he was a madman who was far removed from normal standards but could easily deceive mental evaluations with a smile, pretending to be sane.

His understanding of concepts like friends and family also differed from that of ordinary people. Therefore, in front of this man, there was no room for anyone to be treated differently based solely on the time they had spent together, whether they had met yesterday or grown up together since birth.

It was best to avoid people like him unless there was a special reason. His nephew was smart enough to know that, but Jeong Changin couldn’t fathom how he’d been so unlucky.

He was surprised when he first heard that his nephew had spoken with Riegrow in his room, but he never imagined that Riegrow would take an interest in anyone after just a few phone calls. And it probably wasn’t just that reason that led to the current situation. They had also run into each other quite often by unfortunate coincidence. Jeong Changin had a sudden realization when Riegrow, while going through the procedures to be appointed as the new instructor and transfer here, casually remarked to Jeong Changin, “Your nephew would make a good captain.”

At that moment, Jeong Changin seriously thought, ‘Taeui, you unlucky fellow.’ Although he bore some responsibility for the situation, he never expected his nephew to be targeted to this extent.

“Isn’t that kid a bit… off in the head?” Riegrow murmured, rubbing his chin and lost in thought for a moment. Jeong Changin inwardly lamented that his nephew had truly hit rock bottom to hear such a thing from a madman like this, and he tilted his head.

“Why? Did he challenge you? If so, then yes, he must be off his rocker.”

“No, it’s not that. How should I put it… He seems to be missing a frontal lobe.”

“…You mean he seems to have no brain?”

‘I’ll have to tell Taeui later,’ Jeong Changin thought, covering his mouth with a slight smile. But surprisingly, Riegrow frowned slightly with a serious expression and waved his hand.

“No, no. It’s more like he has no sense of anxiety, or… he doesn’t seem to think much about the future.”

“He does live quite in the present, that one.”

As Jeong Changin replied, he nodded, thinking, ‘Ah, yes, that’s true.’ His nephew definitely had that side to him.

However, what surprised Jeong Changin in this situation was that this man was commenting on someone else’s personality.

Jeong Changin tilted his head and gazed intently at Riegrow. But he said nothing more, just chuckled to himself, lost in thought. For some reason, that unfamiliar laugh made Jeong Changin increasingly uneasy.

Thinking about it, his nephew had an unlucky streak in this regard. Bad apples always seemed to gravitate towards him. Although he didn’t hear the full details since he talked more often with his older nephew than his younger, his older nephew would sometimes stare blankly at the ceiling and occasionally mutter incomprehensible things like, “Taeui is in big trouble too…” He used to wonder why his friend worried so much about his younger nephew, who seemed like he could survive even if thrown into a desert, but lately, he was starting to understand a little. Whether it was due to his innate qualities or not, his younger nephew did tend to clash with problematic individuals.

“Indeed, he ran into Xinlu the very day he arrived here.” Jeong Changin muttered with a sigh. Suddenly, Riegrow’s gaze flickered over. His eyes, which seemed to float in the air for a moment as if lost in thought, settled coolly.

“To run into such a bad sort, of all people, that guy must be incredibly unlucky.” Riegrow clicked his tongue, muttering regretfully. Jeong Changin agreed with the statement itself, but he subtly averted his gaze from the speaker and said nothing.

“Well… anyway, Xinlu seemed to like him too, so at least…”

“That’s why it’s even worse.”

“…”

Again, Jeong Changin said nothing. Indeed, Riegrow’s words weren’t wrong in themselves this time either. Xinlu was smart and had a kind side, but sometimes he seemed a bit immature, creating an unstable impression.

Suddenly, Jeong Changin thought of a method that was both the best and had some potential for his nephew.

“Oh, that reminds me, wasn’t Xinlu quite to your taste? He’s quite handsome, isn’t he? Handsome enough to make Tae-ui fall in love at first sight.”

“Yes… he’s pretty. His face is pretty, and his body was quite appetizing. …Now that I think about it, your nephew saw us when we were in the middle of it.” Riegrow nodded as if recalling the past, muttering slowly. ‘This quick-handed fellow,’ Jeong Changin thought, grimly chuckling to himself, and commiserated with his nephew. However, he also felt that it was a good thing. If Riegrow reached out to Xinlu and both of them fell away simultaneously, Jeong Taeui would benefit from the squabble.

But then.

“But the way that guy looked at me then, I really didn’t like it,” Riegrow suddenly frowned and muttered. Jeong Changin sighed and said, “Who would look kindly at a rival when the person they like is sleeping with someone else? Don’t get angry, just laugh it off, that much.”

“No, it’s not that I was angry, but… it left a bad taste in my mouth. Besides, he still seemed to like that kid… What a foolish fellow.” Riegrow scoffed. Jeong Changin stared at Riegrow blankly. ‘This is… somehow not good.’ He feigned a smile and tapped the desk with his fingertips.

“He’s a poor kid who’s getting beaten up everywhere these days, so don’t be too rough on him, our nephew.” Jeong Changin supported his nephew, even as he thought, ‘I’m entrusting a fish to a cat.’ He didn’t think this guy would treat his nephew any better just because he said this, and he was the kind of person who would calmly shoot even his own brother if things went wrong, so he figured it was useless. But it didn’t cost anything to speak. Riegrow raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, then chuckled again.

“I haven’t been particularly rough on him. Sometimes he goes off the rails, but when I see that easygoing, clueless face, I lose all energy.”

“…You must be mellowing with age, too.” Riegrow laughed out loud, perhaps thinking Jeong Changin’s murmur was a joke. That sound of relaxed, cheerful laughter was also unfamiliar, and Jeong Changin had stared at Riegrow with a strange look.

Jeong Changin listened to his friend’s voice over the receiver and wondered if this man had ever seen his brother like that. This friend, who always lamented, “That guy is hopeless,” must have seen Riegrow’s human side as family. Although it was unimaginable for Jeong Changin.

Jeong Changin sighed and shrugged. He felt a little regretful now. He shouldn’t have brought Taeui here, that thought kept crossing his mind. It wasn’t for any other reason. The exhaustion from branch work, arguments with colleagues, or suffering injuries—these were all things he had anticipated when bringing him here. And he had brought him knowing he would endure them.

…But he didn’t expect him to fall into the hands of such a bad guy.

“Since Ilay is down, your nephew must be more comfortable,” his friend said from the receiver as Jeong Changin inwardly shook his head. ‘Well, not exactly,’ Jeong Changin replied, dismissing the memory.

He was his beloved nephew. Of course, how could he not love those children?

Jeong Changin smiled calmly. But he had other things to do.

***

The room was dark. As the door opened, the light from the hallway poured in, filling the room in a rectangular shape.

Other than the long beam of light shaped like the door, only darkness filled the room, and with it, a stillness lingered. As he stopped, a faint breathing sound was quietly heard.

“Looks like he’s not dead yet.”

Jeong Taeui muttered abruptly and stepped inside. Closing the door behind him, the darkness, making it hard to see even a foot ahead, enveloped him again, so he switched on the dim yellow light that only illuminated the doorway. Even that faint light was enough to survey the room.

On the bed, Ilay lay as if dead. It was an odd feeling that a man who would keenly sense a presence from hundreds of miles away remained motionless even when someone entered the room. Moreover, his appearance was no different from when Jeong Taeui had checked on him earlier. Not a single wrinkle on the blanket covering him was disturbed.

“…Is he perhaps dead?”

Jeong Taeui muttered seriously and took a step closer to the bed. He placed the bowl of gruel he was holding on the bedside table and bent down, bringing his ear close to Ilay’s face. As expected, a faint breath could be heard.