Passion Novel - Volume 4 - Chapter 90

“So, it’s him you don’t want to be caught with…?”

That sticky, drawn-out remark—if he could just tear that mouth that uttered such words, the sound would be more refreshing than tearing silk. But before Jeong Taeui could act on that thought, Moro narrowed his eyes and mumbled in an eerie voice.

“That crazy bastard has been hurting people as he pleases lately, and he seems to be in a terrible mood. What did you do and run away, Taei?”

Jeong Taeui frowned at Moro’s clicking tongue and mumbling. He clicked his tongue in displeasure, then mumbled to himself.

“I don’t know. I didn’t do anything.”

Even to his own ears, his voice sounded like a pathetic lie. But Moro scratched his head, looking displeased, and mumbled to himself.

“Tch, if it were Xinlu, maybe, but that crazy bastard, you can’t just talk to him carelessly… What if he gets annoyed and rips your throat out the moment you talk to him? He’s been completely on edge lately.”

Moro clicked his tongue, as if regretting that he couldn’t relay the message to Ilay and put Jeong Taeui in trouble. Jeong Taeui felt a surge of anger upon hearing that, but at the same time, he felt relieved. At least this guy was too scared to talk to Ilay.

However, Moro saw Jeong Taeui’s relieved expression, scoffed, and sneered.

“Well, still, rumors spread pretty well if I just say a word to the guy in the bunk next to me. Even if I don’t say it directly, there are plenty of day birds and night rats to relay the message.”

Oh dear, he wanted to shove a towel into that bastard’s mouth, who was pretending to be overly dramatic and sneering, “Should I tell Tou as soon as I get back?” This damn bastard seemed to like it more when he knew Jeong Taeui was in trouble.

Jeong Taeui, who had briefly acted weak and servile by apologizing to Moro just a moment ago, now glared. He quickly composed his expression. With a wiped-clean, expressionless face, he looked down at Moro.

“Yes, that’s how it is… Are your precious darlings, hidden all over your room, doing well? Are they still sleeping in the dresser, under the bed mattress, in the duvet, inside the closet wall?”

As Jeong Taeui spoke slowly, Moro gasped and shut his mouth. Then he glared fiercely at Jeong Taeui.

“They’re not there, you idiot! I moved them all somewhere else because I was afraid someone like you would touch them!”

Moro’s voice, as he shouted that, was faintly tinged with anxiety. Jeong Taeui chuckled, “Aha.” They were still there. After all, even if he said he moved them elsewhere, if he hadn’t taken them off the island, there was nowhere else to hide them. At best, they were still in the room.

“You know personal weapons are prohibited in the branch, right?”

“You… you bastard, why are you bringing that up now, out of the blue? I know all that!”

He shouted, but Moro’s voice had significantly died down. Yes, this was more like it. Jeong Taeui inwardly rejoiced. At least now he had a way to not be unilaterally pushed around.

“Moro.”

When Jeong Taeui called him in a much lower, serious voice, Moro, as if guessing what he was about to say, paused for a moment and replied gruffly.

“Speak.”

“When you go back, don’t talk about me to anyone. Don’t act like you know me. Understand? Then I won’t make any unnecessary reports to the branch either. It’s best for everyone, you know that, right?”

“Fine. I’ll keep my mouth shut for now. But if anything happens to my darlings during an unannounced inspection of the male dorm, I’ll consider it your doing and spill the beans immediately.”

“…Do as you please.”

He didn’t know when it would happen, but by the time the unannounced inspection, which happened twice a year on average, occurred, he would already be gone from here. He might even be out of Europe entirely. By then, it would be too late for the monster’s fangs to turn this way.

The two looked at each other for a moment. Though not entirely satisfied, an agreement had been reached for now.

Jeong Taeui put his arms through the shirt he had merely draped over his shoulders, buttoned it, and turned around. It was time to head to the dining room. If he delayed any longer, Rita would undoubtedly glare at Jeong Taeui throughout the meal. Moro, who had visited this house several times before, seemed to have a similar thought and silently followed behind Jeong Taeui.

The two walked side by side towards the dining room. However, the necessary words had already been spoken, and there was nothing more to say between them. Neither had much desire to talk, nor the will to do so. As Jeong Taeui began to see the dining room door in the distance, he quickened his pace, and then, subtly, as if it had suddenly occurred to him, he casually asked.

“By the way, how’s the branch these days? Is everyone doing well? Nothing special? Like… has any instructor left their position, or has the branch itself issued a search warrant or something to find someone…?”

Moro looked at Jeong Taeui with a strange expression. His face seemed to be trying to figure out why he was asking such a thing. Moro tilted his head for a moment, then replied gruffly.

“You haven’t been gone that long, why are you asking? It’s the same. Well… if anything’s changed since you left, it’d be Rick’s adjutant. It changed for the fourth time last Monday. The fourth guy who changed was transported to an external hospital last Thursday, and only then did Rick say he didn’t need an adjutant anymore, so the casualties stopped at four.”

Moro paused there, then glared at Jeong Taeui with a very displeased expression.

“What the hell did you do before you ran off? Because of you, we innocent people are having a hard time! That crazy bastard seemed to be restraining himself a bit after becoming an instructor, but lately, he’s gone mad again. If he feels even slightly off, he just crushes people to pieces. It’s really brutal these days. I’ve seen him, and he looks the most precarious lately.”

Moro mumbled that he felt like anyone who got caught would genuinely die, then he pitied Jeong Taeui, saying, ‘When you think about it, you’re quite pitiful too, having to be the adjutant to such a guy.’ Then he added, ‘When you think about it, you’re quite a bad guy for pushing that guy’s adjutant role onto someone else and causing trouble before running away.’

This is why I don’t like this guy…

Jeong Taeui thought he should have just choked Moro when he had him by the collar earlier. He looked regretfully at Moro’s neck, then smacked his lips and opened the dining room door. Kyle was already seated in the dining room, and from a distance, Rita was glaring at Jeong Taeui with terrifying eyes.

Muttering, “Sorry I’m late,” and quickly sitting down, Jeong Taeui looked at Kyle with grateful eyes as Kyle warmly said, “I just arrived too. Don’t worry about it, help yourself.” In moments like these, he always thought it was unbelievable that such a normal and humane man was Ilay’s brother.

Jeong Taeui picked at the vegetables served as an appetizer and sighed silently.

He was already a brutal guy before, but now he’s even more brutal? Was there even a further evolution from that? It was simply amazing that he could become even more brutal. Surely he wasn’t saying something like, ‘I still have two more transformation stages left,’ was he…? Jeong Taeui thought of it jokingly, but once the thought surfaced, it somehow felt real, and he shivered.

He must have been really angry. His uncle’s short phrase, “Don’t get caught,” took on a very significant meaning. The unspoken words behind it were, ten times out of ten, “If you get caught, you die.” But fortunately, he wasn’t directly taking action or attempting a full-scale search. He wasn’t very angry… well, that couldn’t be true, but it seemed he wasn’t angry enough to absolutely have to find Jeong Taeui.

“…Now that I think about it, I feel a little disappointed… Should I have provoked him a bit more before leaving…?”

Jeong Taeui mumbled while eating. Even though he mumbled quietly, Moro and Kyle looked at him with puzzled expressions, as if they had heard him. Jeong Taeui quickly shut his mouth.

***

He felt a sense of regret leaving this house.

Although he hadn’t stayed long, he had grown somewhat familiar with the people, and for the first time in a long while, he had been able to relax and enjoy a leisurely vacation. However, since that damn Moro had discovered him, even if he had managed to silence him for now, he had to leave quickly. That guy was absolutely not to be trusted, in a different sense than Ilay.

Jeong Taeui, who had packed his few belongings back into a single sports bag, just as he had arrived, stared intently at the wall connecting to Moro’s adjacent room. If it weren’t for that guy, he could have rested a bit longer in this comfortable place. But thinking about it, he wouldn’t be able to find his brother if he stayed put here. Not that he could find him by wandering aimlessly, but he felt he should at least make an effort. Moreover, as he was ostensibly moving to find his brother, he genuinely started to want to meet him.

He wanted to see that indifferent but not cold face, and hear that quiet but not cutting voice.

“Which way should I go, east, west, north, or south? Surely he hasn’t ended up in a place like North Korea. I can’t go there… It’s completely blocked off.”

Jeong Taeui thought about spitting to tell his fortune, then patted his packed bag. It was getting late, approaching evening, but the sun hadn’t set yet. If he was going to leave today, it would be better to leave before sunset.

Jeong Taeui abruptly stood up. Once he decided to go, his heart felt regretful but also settled. All he had to do was say a brief goodbye to Kyle, Rita, and the others before leaving.

Fortunately, Kyle was home. Kyle, who had dropped Moro off at the house in the afternoon and returned to the company, came back within a few hours. He had brought some work with him, and Jeong Taeui, wondering if an owner could really work that leisurely, looked at him skeptically. Kyle, sensing his gaze, smiled and said, ‘I was originally on vacation until today,’ then went into the study. Jeong Taeui mumbled to the closed study door, ‘What’s the point of a vacation if you’re going to carry work into the study?’ and thought that being an office worker wasn’t a good job either, then returned to his room.

Jeong Taeui stepped out into the quiet hallway, which now felt even more regrettable as he thought of leaving. He wanted to kick Moro’s door once, but it was Kyle’s house. He shouldn’t do anything rough to Kyle’s house, which he was grateful for, just because of Moro.

Walking through the hallway and living room towards the study, Jeong Taeui saw no one. He took a deep breath, recalling Rita’s presence from the kitchen, the gardener’s shadow moving in the outside garden, and the other guests probably resting in their rooms.

Sometime in the past, Ilay had also been here. But even with that ominous man present, this place would have felt the same. It felt somehow detached from everyday life.

He hoped he could rest here again someday. Jeong Taeui chuckled like a sigh and moved his steps.

Beyond the living room, ascending the stairs directly in front of a small room, was the study. There was only the study, and those stairs led nowhere else. To reach the other rooms on the second floor, one had to use the stairs located between the dining room and the living room. The study seemed to be a cherished place within the house. And rightly so. Of a rare scale for a private study, it was filled with books Kyle treasured like his life. And it was also Kyle’s second office. While Kyle was present, one could enter the study and read books with his permission, but when he was absent, it was always kept tightly locked. One couldn’t even take books out.

He really was quite the bookworm, Jeong Taeui chuckled, climbing the stairs.

He knocked on the thick wooden door of the study, and a faint voice from Kyle could be heard inside. Confirming the invitation to enter, Jeong Taeui opened the door. Even after he opened the door and entered, Kyle, who had been looking at documents through his thin, silver-rimmed glasses without lifting his head for a while, finally looked up after writing something short at the bottom of the document.

Jeong Taeui didn’t show it, but he was slightly surprised. It was the first time he had seen Kyle working. His appearance was quite different from his usual demeanor. Come to think of it, the first time he saw him in Hong Kong, it had been a similar feeling. As if he was wrapped in a thin, permeable membrane. Engaging familiarly with his surroundings, yet clearly distinguishing himself from others, perhaps. Jeong Taeui felt as if he had just realized another aspect of Kyle, and for a moment, he watched him silently. Kyle, seeing Jeong Taeui, smiled almost unconsciously. Like he would to anyone familiar. He put down the pen and file he was holding and took off his glasses.

“Kim. What brings you here? Is there a book you want to read?”

Jeong Taeui shook his head at Kyle, who pointed to the bookshelf, saying, “You can read whatever you want in here.”

“No, I have something to tell you. …You seem busy. It looks like you have a lot of company work.”

Jeong Taeui looked at the stack of files, which was exaggeratedly a span thick, placed on the opposite side of where Kyle had just put down the paper he was writing on, and mumbled with a look of dismay. Kyle rubbed his forehead tiredly and chuckled.

“I’m not usually this busy, but in the past few days, two troublesome things have happened consecutively.”

“…If there’s anything I can help you with, would you like me to?”

Jeong Taeui hesitated for a moment before asking. He didn’t think there would be anything he could help with, but he felt he should ask out of courtesy, and he would gladly help if he could. However, Kyle shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. It’s not a problem that can be helped, and it happens occasionally.”

Kyle gestured for Jeong Taeui to take a chair. Jeong Taeui sat in the chair across from Kyle, with the desk between them, and nodded ambiguously, “Hmm.” He glanced at the work on the desk, wondering if “occasionally” referred to this mountain of files, and Kyle, noticing his gaze, chuckled.

“Not this. This is always ongoing work, and the troublesome issues right now are a chronic problem that inevitably arises when dealing with weapons, and a problem with my brother.”

Jeong Taeui shut his mouth. Inwardly, he flinched and pricked up his ears, but outwardly, he maintained a completely nonchalant facade. He didn’t want Kyle to know that he and his brother were acquainted. It would be awkward if it reached his ears through Kyle, and if he asked Kyle to keep a secret and Kyle asked why, that would also be difficult to answer. Indeed, pretending not to know was the best option.

As Jeong Taeui silently watched Kyle, Kyle sighed and mumbled, half to himself and half as a complaint.

“It sounds nice to say ‘defense contractor,’ but in fact, to put it simply, we’re arms dealers. So, naturally, we get attacked a lot. Not to mention human rights organizations or religious groups, and sometimes we even receive threats from rebel groups or armed terrorist organizations. In these cases, they’re not asking us to stop selling weapons, but to hand over weapons to their side.”

Kyle, as if the document directly above him was related to that, sighed, rustled the papers, and then put them down.

“That must be annoying.”

Jeong Taeui nodded and mumbled. Of course, they couldn’t sell weapons to rebel groups or armed terrorist organizations. If they sold to them, it wouldn’t be arms dealing but arms smuggling. If word of that got out, they’d have to shut down their business immediately. In truth, arms dealers rarely operate cleanly and tend to profit through illegal means. So, even rebels, if they had enough money and good connections, could obtain any weapons they wanted. But if they resorted to demanding arms smuggling, that showed a complete lack of savvy. Nine times out of ten, they were clueless amateurs.

Jeong Taeui suddenly gave a bitter laugh. It was because he thought of UNHRDO. And then he remembered. This man’s connection to UNHRDO. An unpleasant memory surfaced. It was something he didn’t want to dwell on. A memory that offered no solution, only a dark heaviness. Kyle probably didn’t want to talk about it for long either. He couldn’t be proud of anything related to arms smuggling. It wasn’t a topic worth discussing.

He changed the subject.

“The company I’m with now, since it’s the kind of work it is, has a pretty good intelligence network. It’s probably as good as any decent intelligence agency. So, I get a lot of requests to look into various things.”

Having said that much, Kyle, as if remembering something, added, “About that person you’re looking for, feel free to tell me whenever you feel like it. I can’t guarantee I’ll find them, but I’ll look into it.” Jeong Taeui smiled awkwardly and said, “Thank you for even the offer,” politely declining again.

He didn’t really want to tell this man his brother’s name and ask him to find him, but thinking about it, Kyle probably wouldn’t be able to find him anyway. His uncle wouldn’t have failed to mention it to Kyle. And if Kyle had found out, his uncle wouldn’t have wanted him to find his brother’s whereabouts.

“But a while ago, my brother started pestering me to find someone.”

Flitch.

Jeong Taeui said, “Oh, really?” with an indifferent smile, but his heart felt cold, and he secretly took a deep breath. His palms felt clammy, so he casually rubbed them on his pants.

“What kind of person is it?”

“Hmm… well.”

For some reason, Kyle looked troubled. He frowned and thought for a moment, then sighed and said.

“I can’t go into detail, but after looking into it a bit, it turns out to be my friend’s nephew. I don’t know why, as he wouldn’t answer when I asked, but that nephew seems to have quite upset my brother. My brother, as I might have mentioned before, has a rather… unique personality. He’s not the type to overlook someone who bothers him.”

I know that very well. That temper, which can be very mildly called “unique,” I probably know it best, apart from his family.

Jeong Taeui mumbled that to himself, then grew depressed, realizing it was nothing to be proud of. It might be enough to earn sympathy, but not pride.

“Hmm… So, did your brother find the person he was looking for?”

Jeong Taeui asked nonchalantly, pretending not to know. He suddenly recalled a ghost story of the “Yes… it’s you!” variety and rubbed his goosebump-covered arms, feeling it wasn’t just someone else’s problem.

“No, I couldn’t find any trace. There was no trace left after the last time my brother met him. He probably forged his identity at a skilled place, so I’d have to find and ask the person who helped with the forgery.”

Kyle stopped talking there. Jeong Taeui nodded perfunctorily, looking as if it was someone else’s business. Indeed, he seemed to have figured out that the person who helped Jeong Taeui obtain his new identity was his uncle. In reality, even Ilay could have guessed that much, though he had no concrete evidence. However, he couldn’t very well grab his uncle and ask him—or rather, interrogate him.

Jeong Taeui inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Ilay, even while in the Asia branch, was mobilizing his connections to find Jeong Taeui’s whereabouts. However, his uncle, in addition to giving him a new identity, seemed to have erased Jeong Taeui’s traces.

Uncle, thank you. I’ll try hard to find Jae-ui hyung. No promises, though.

Jeong Taeui thanked his uncle, who couldn’t hear him, and rubbed his heart, which had turned cold. Hearing news of Ilay had deepened his anxiety. Could he really leave this house? Wouldn’t staying in this house, which Ilay would never visit even if he came close, be safer than anywhere else?