Passion Novel - Volume 6 - Chapter 143

Xinlu gazed steadily at Jeong Taeui, who had spoken quietly and then fallen silent. Xinlu suddenly seemed to smile faintly. But his eyes weren’t smiling, making his expression strangely unbalanced.

“Taei Hyung. I know you won’t give me what I want.”

Xinlu’s voice reached Jeong Taeui’s ears. Xinlu seemed to be contemplating for a moment, muttering “Hmm,” as if unsure how to put it into words. Or perhaps he wasn’t contemplating, but merely hesitating to speak.

“I need something definite, Hyung. Something definite that you are not mine.”

Jeong Taeui listened to Xinlu’s sigh-laden words with an unexpressive face. He felt like he understood what he was saying, yet he also didn’t. What Xinlu saw in Jeong Taeui’s expression, he suddenly laughed.

“And one more thing.”

He approached Jeong Taeui. He came right up to Jeong Taeui, who stood frozen in place, unmoving, and quietly whispered into his ear.

“I hate that man so terribly. It gives me chills.”

He ended his sentence with a low chuckle. Xinlu, who had whispered in a voice that would be better suited to a confession of deep affection, took a step back. And then another step, and another step, slowly retreating.

“At first, I started hating him because he broke his promise to me and took you away, but now, regardless of those memories, I simply abhor the very human being that is Ilay Riegrow. To the point where my vision turns red just thinking about him.”

Xinlu pointed at his eye with his index finger. His dark eyes smiled like a cat’s.

Xinlu slowly retreated step by step, now quite far from Jeong Taeui. And with that distance, he drew closer to the iron-barred gate. Outside the outer gate, a black sedan was parked, ready to depart at any moment.

Xinlu stopped right beside the gate. From there, he looked at Jeong Taeui. They were only about ten meters apart, but it felt like such a vast distance.

“Taei Hyung. Come this way. By your own feet. Otherwise, I might want to test just how far Jeong Jaeui’s luck goes, even if it costs me my life.”

Jeong Taeui silently stared at Xinlu.

Just then, Xinlu’s gaze shifted slightly over Jeong Taeui’s shoulder. His eyes seemed to fix on something, then softened.

And at that moment.

“Taei!”

From behind him, from somewhere still far away, a loud, rough voice calling Jeong Taeui echoed. Jeong Taeui flinched. Instinctively, he involuntarily recoiled.

He slowly turned his head. From a spot where he could barely make out a figure, a motorcycle with a roaring sound was approaching at terrifying speed. The face of the rider, who had quickly mounted the motorcycle, drew closer.

Ilay.

Ilay Riegrow.

That man was there.

Approaching, looking straight at Jeong Taeui.

The light mortar slung over his shoulder seemed cumbersome; he tossed it aside carelessly, as if it was no longer needed. The barrel plunged into a small pond nearby. Splash!—A loud splash erupted, and a corner of the pond, carved from polished stone, shattered into pieces.

Jeong Taeui couldn’t take his eyes off him.

The moment their eyes met, a shiver ran down his spine. It was an instinct beyond emotion. That overwhelming man was bearing down on him at a terrifying speed.

Jeong Taeui just stared at him, unable to move a single finger. Then, his eyes widened.

He was smiling.

Ilay Riegrow was looking straight at Jeong Taeui and smiling. It wasn’t his usual faint, cold smile. That smile, yes, it was like a smile just before bursting into a loud laugh.

As if he was happy. —Unbelievably, as if he was glad to see him.

He was staring directly at Jeong Taeui with narrowed eyes.

“Il—…”

“Taei Hyung!”

It was the moment Jeong Taeui tried to call his name. From behind Jeong Taeui, Xinlu called out softly.

Jeong Taeui instinctively looked back. Xinlu, with an expressionless face, but resolutely, was looking at Jeong Taeui. He silently offered a choice. It was a choice Jeong Taeui had no other option but to take.

Xinlu glanced at Ilay. There was something chillingly frozen in his gaze.

Xinlu slowly exited the gate and got into the waiting car. It was a relaxed gesture, not fleeing but merely avoiding.

Jeong Taeui looked back at Ilay.

He seemed to have seen Xinlu. The smile had been completely wiped from his face. His expressionless, icy face silently gazed at Jeong Taeui. A slight raising of an eyebrow seemed to question Jeong Taeui, asking for an explanation.

Jeong Taeui looked straight at Ilay, who was closing the distance in an instant. Their eyes met. Neither he nor Jeong Taeui turned away their gaze. As if time and space had frozen between them.

“Ah…”

Jeong Taeui opened his mouth. He knew Ilay wouldn’t hear him, but he felt like he had to say something. But what could he say?

The distance was closing rapidly. And Jeong Taeui knew.

If he was caught by Ilay now, he couldn’t go to Jeong Jaeui. And Xinlu would leave, and he would lose the chance to pursue Jeong Jaeui. He wasn’t worried about Jeong Jaeui’s safety. But Jeong Taeui had to go to Jeong Jaeui. Perhaps at any other time, but now, fresh out of that small paradise.

“Damn it… If that guy was someone you could talk to, how good would that be…”

Then he could exchange a few words and leave.

But if he was caught in Ilay’s arm now, no matter what Jeong Taeui said, he wouldn’t let him go. He wasn’t the kind of person who would understand if Jeong Taeui said he had to go to Jeong Jaeui, that he’d just go for a moment and be right back.

Jeong Taeui took a step back.

Ilay’s eyes changed. In an instant, his gaze turned cold.

“Taei. Come here.”

Even though Jeong Taeui hadn’t said he would go, that single step seemed to have made him understand everything, and he called out softly. His growling shout mingled with the roar of the motorcycle.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jeong Taeui shouted. But the roaring engine of the motorcycle he was riding and the terrifying speed of the wind whistling past his ears drowned out Jeong Taeui’s voice.

He shouted again, as if anxious.

“Taei. Come here. …Damn it, if you don’t want to come, just stay there!”

He exploded, shouting. With the motorcycle already right in front of him, Jeong Taeui turned and ran.

Damn it.

He cursed under his breath.

But he ran. The speed of the motorcycle and his running speed. The distance between the motorcycle and him, and the distance between him and the car. The difference in distance and the difference in speed, barely meshed together.

“Taei Hyung!”

Xinlu, leaning out of the open car window, shouted.

Jeong Taeui, running, glared resentfully at Xinlu. But Xinlu was smiling. Smiling, he looked behind Jeong Taeui.

“I feel really terrible…”

Jeong Taeui muttered through clenched teeth.

Vroooom!—The ear-splitting sound of an engine erupted right behind him. A shiver ran down his spine. His hair seemed to stand on end.

If he was caught now, he would die.

He thought so instinctively.

“Taei!!”

His voice, shouting from close by, was filled with rage. It was a terrifying roar, as if he would rip him apart the moment he snatched him.

Damn it. Damn it—!

Jeong Taeui leaped into the open car door.

By a hair’s breadth.

The car started before he could even close the door. The car, which had slowly begun to roll when Jeong Taeui approached, rapidly picked up speed as Jeong Taeui got into the back seat. And behind it, the motorcycle that had caught up to Jeong Taeui just a few steps back, followed closely.

An ear-splitting roar clung tightly to the side of the car. Thud, a loud sound echoed. Thud, thud, crunch!—Cracks radiated from the closed back window. On top of it, the monstrous man from outside was pounding on the car window with his elbows and fists, he didn’t know how many times. It seemed like the glass would shatter with just a few more hits.

That sight entered Jeong Taeui’s vision as he was almost thrown into the back seat, crumpled up. A chill ran down his spine. This man was a monster. This guy was truly a monster, there was no other word to call him.

On a motorcycle moving at terrifying speed, to throw a punch with enough force to smash a car window, no human being could possibly do such a thing.

“Taei! Get out!!”

At that shout, Jeong Taeui felt a moment of dizziness.

He needed to rethink things. How he got tangled with such a monster, he really needed to seriously reconsider that. He fleetingly thought that his mind, which had recently shown some signs of fragmentation, might just clear up completely.

If he hadn’t left that spot in the first place, maybe, but now that he was in this car, Jeong Taeui would be dead if he got out. Probably everyone in this car—even those Chinese men he had just met—would think so.

“No, I mean, that’s not it—.”

But his stammering words of excuse would not reach Ilay’s ears.

Then, Jeong Taeui saw Xinlu, who was sitting in the front seat, pull something out from his embrace.

At that moment, Jeong Taeui’s expression hardened.

The object Xinlu pulled out with an expressionless face was a sleek, gleaming silver pistol. Small enough to fit in one hand, but large enough to harm a person.

“Open the window.”

Xinlu said briefly to the man in the driver’s seat.

“Xinlu! Don’t!”

Jeong Taeui cried out, his face changing. But Xinlu didn’t even glance at Jeong Taeui, as if he hadn’t heard his words. The front window rolled down, and a click—the sound of a hammer being cocked—was heard.

“Xinlu!!”

It was simultaneous: Jeong Taeui shouted and urgently reached out his hand. Xinlu, aiming directly at Ilay, pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!—Cutting through the ear-splitting roar of the motorcycle for a moment, the muzzle spat fire. At the same time, the large body clinging tightly to the side of the car fell away.

“Ilay!!”

The motorcycle tumbled onto the road. Right beside it, Ilay rolled onto the dirt path beside the road.

His figure quickly receded to the rear of the car. Jeong Taeui stared with wide eyes out the rear window. As his figure grew distant, he saw him getting up. Soon the car rounded a corner, and his figure vanished from sight.

He couldn’t tell if he was injured or not, but it seemed he hadn’t died. Jeong Taeui clutched his heart, which had suddenly gone cold. After catching his breath a little, he felt a throbbing pain.

Yes. Come to think of it, wasn’t he a monster who had survived even in the dance hall where the Cluster was thrown? There was no way his body would be damaged by something like that.

“Somehow, this feels like the same kind of belief as how Jaeui Hyung would never be in danger…”

Jeong Taeui muttered to himself with a long sigh, patting his stomach which had started to ache. At this rate, he might not live a natural lifespan.

Suddenly, all strength drained from his body.

If, like in a monster or alien thriller movie, he were to turn his head and find that guy plastered right on the back window… Well, no character appearing in such movies ever comes to a good end, so I should just die quickly.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. He rubbed his sweating forehead with his fingertips, letting out a low groan.

He glanced at Jeong Jaeui, who was sitting beside him, unconscious. He looked as if he was quietly asleep.

“It missed.”

Xinlu’s quiet voice was heard. There was no hint of regret. And certainly no hint of relief. It was just a calm tone, stating the observed fact.

“Xinlu. …Were you really trying to kill him?”

“I wasn’t necessarily determined to kill him, but I thought it wouldn’t matter if he died. It might sound like I’m bragging, but I was quite good at shooting, so I thought I could hit him. He was right next to us too. But still… I still can’t quite get the distance right.”

“And there’s the blind spot,” Xinlu muttered, sighing lightly. Jeong Taeui looked at Xinlu, who was putting the gun away back into his embrace, with peculiar eyes. He tilted his head slightly. What he had just said bothered him somehow. It was as if…—

“Xinlu. You…”

“Ah. That’s right. Taei Hyung doesn’t know yet.”

Xinlu finally seemed to remember and looked back. His large, beautiful almond-shaped eyes looked at Jeong Taeui. His eyes curved slightly into a smile. A faint, distant sense of unease flickered in those dark eyes.

“My right eye, I lost my sight. I was lightly injured when Rick attacked me the other day.”

Xinlu said calmly. He smiled lightly as if telling a pleasant story, adding, “It’s still a bit inconvenient, but there’s no big problem with daily life.”

Faintly, he saw that right eye, seemingly covered by a transparent film that was almost imperceptible over the dark pupil. And then, Jeong Taeui finally understood the source of the faint unease that had been lingering.

“…”

His eyelids were unusually heavy. He tried hard to think why his eyes wouldn’t open, but his mind wasn’t working properly.

Was he lacking sleep lately?

He couldn’t quite remember, but it seemed possible. Considering he rarely remembered waking up feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep, perhaps he was indeed sleep-deprived.

But the heaviness in his eyelids now wasn’t that kind of sensation. Rather than being too sleepy to open his eyes, it felt as heavy as if something were pressing down on them. He raised his hand, as heavy as his eyelids, and fumbled over his eyes, but of course, there was no stone resting there.

He tried to recall his memories again. His head wasn’t working properly at all. Let him try to find his last memory before closing his eyes.

It wasn’t that he went into the inner courtyard, looked at the night sky, and then fell asleep. It wasn’t that he went to Hyung’s room, read a book, and then fell asleep hunched over. Sleeping while eating mangoes in the backpacker’s hammock… that seemed too distant a memory now. After a long search through more recent memories, only one finally came to mind. It was medicine.

“When Hyung wakes up, I’ll just greet him and then I’m leaving. After that, I don’t know. After that, whether you catch Hyung or confine him, I’ll leave once I’ve properly said goodbye to him.”

As he grumbled sulkily, looking at his Hyung, who was sprawled out and sleeping so deeply that he didn’t know when he’d wake up, Xinlu laughed and said,

“Taei Hyung, why have you become so impatient? This won’t do… You must be tired, Hyung, so take this and get some rest.”

Saying that, he forcibly shoved a tablet the size of a pinky fingernail into his mouth, even as he widened his eyes and shook his head. He tried to spit it out quickly, but the medicine melted as soon as it entered his mouth. He tried to spit it out anyway, but failed as water was continuously poured into his mouth.

Yes. And then, he probably lost consciousness while demanding what kind of medicine this was.

“Opium, isn’t it, opium…?”

He had never heard that opium had a sedative effect, but now, any medicine or cigarette Xinlu offered didn’t seem ordinary. Hmm, he sighed. And then he raised his hand again and rubbed his heavy eyelids. His mind had pretty much returned to normal, but the heaviness of his eyelids made him feel sleepy.

Jeong Taeui forcibly opened his eyes and sat up. And with a slightly dazed mind, he blinked, looking at the room that came into view.

It was a hotel room.

He didn’t need to think about why he was here. Xinlu must have moved him while he was asleep. What he wondered was where he was, and why he was alone.

Jeong Taeui got up from his spot. His head felt a little heavy, but otherwise, he was fine. He had worried until the moment he lost consciousness from the medicine, but it seemed to have just been a sleeping pill. He went to the window, pulled back the curtain, and opened the shutters.

Outside, deep night had already fallen, making it dark. And below the window, cars drove far below, and tall and short buildings lined the street across the road.

At the typical urban scenery, Jeong Taeui just blinked blankly for a moment. He thought it felt like a very long time since he’d seen such a view, and realizing it, it truly had been quite a while.

After leaving Hong Kong, he hadn’t gone to any places that could be called big cities. After that, he was mostly confined in Serengeti.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head vigorously and looked around. What he was looking for was across from the bathroom. It was the mini-bar. To be precise, the beer in the mini-bar.

He took out a beer and returned to the window. Then he sat on the windowsill and gazed blankly at the panoramic view below.

With a mind that wasn’t quite working, he popped the top of the beer and quickly emptied half the can. After a while, his mind seemed to clear up a bit.

“Am I going to become an alcoholic at this rate…? Nah, beer’s hardly alcohol, not enough for alcoholism.”

Besides, if he thought about it carefully, he hadn’t even seen beer since going to Serengeti—or more precisely, since being confined in Raman’s villa. Was it because it had been a long time since he had it? It tasted surprisingly good. He picked up the beer can, but it was an unfamiliar brand. Jeong Taeui soon placed the empty beer can on the windowsill and moved on.

If it was a hotel in a big city, there was no need to wonder where it was. No need to call the front desk and ask.

“Where…”

Jeong Taeui unfolded the brochure neatly placed on the desk in the room. His gaze followed the lines of text printed on the very first page of the brochure. Then, he paused at the very bottom.

“…—road rosebank Johannesburg, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA…”

Jeong Taeui, who had been mumbling to himself, fell silent.

He had clearly fallen asleep in Serengeti, Tanzania, but woke up in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa.

“…The hotel brochure couldn’t possibly be misplaced…”

Jeong Taeui flipped the brochure over. The hotel’s name was elegantly embossed in gold on the back of the leather binding. He put the brochure down and stood idly, his head bowed. He saw his bare feet. He thought he had seen slippers near the bathroom when he went to get beer earlier, but he didn’t feel the urge to wear them.

The person who brought him here could only have been Xinlu.