Passion Novel - Volume 6 - Chapter 147 - Not bad

He couldn’t tell if he had truly done the right thing. Jeong Taeui silently stared at his feet inside the elevator, never stopping until he reached the first floor. Perhaps he regretted it. This stinging, thorn-like unease faintly stirring within his heart, it might be called regret.

“Looking after… can I really do it?”

The moment he uttered “looking after,” the words suddenly felt incredibly heavy. It wasn’t simply ‘looking after’ in the sense of unilateral care. It was a bidirectional meaning; for one person to truly look after another, it required immense energy. He hadn’t realized how much continuous and multifaceted energy it took to be with someone.

Other people were fundamentally different beings from oneself. They possessed entirely different ways of thinking and entirely different patterns of behavior. Even people who seemed similar at first glance were no exception. Everyone was decisively different. Even if one resolved to endure and stay with such ordinary people for a long time, it would undoubtedly require an enormous amount of effort.

It wasn’t about being ‘difficult’, it was about having to ‘exert effort.’ Exerting such effort could be easy or hard. Perhaps that’s how people distinguished between those they suited and those they didn’t. To even handle ordinary people required such a difficult resolution, let alone…

“Why do I suddenly feel so lacking in confidence…?” Jeong Taeui mumbled gloomily.

Ilay Riegrow. He was officially a madman. Anyone who knew him would undoubtedly say so. Perhaps it would have been better to follow Xinlu’s words. To escape him and live a more stable life.

But.

Jeong Taeui knew. Even if Xinlu were to stop him now and offer him choices again, he would make the same one. He was going to Ilay Riegrow.

The elevator reached the first floor. Jeong Taeui walked out into the lobby. It was still early dawn.

In the end, Jeong Taeui had spent the entire night watching Xinlu, who never opened his eyes once. He’d occasionally get lost in other thoughts, then look at him again, think various thoughts, then look at him again. Eventually, without getting any sleep, he left the room. A sudden urge to return had struck him.

It was still before dawn, and the lobby was sparsely populated. The moment he encountered people, Jeong Taeui recalled a thought he’d had last night, a thought he’d forgotten until now.

“Hmm… I need to buy a hat first…”

Jeong Taeui put his hand in his pocket. Xinlu’s card, which he had taken from Xinlu’s wallet, brushed against his fingertips. He traced Xinlu’s name, etched on the card, with his fingertips. Since Xinlu had arbitrarily brought Jeong Taeui, who had recovered nothing, all the way here, he thought he should at least take this much responsibility. Besides, he intended to pay him back later.

In the middle of the lobby, Jeong Taeui suddenly stopped. Thinking about it now, the problems weren’t just one or two. He could do nothing at all. Although he had a valuable card in his pocket—which wasn’t even his own—he had nothing else. Without a passport, he couldn’t leave this place. Even if he had a passport, he was currently wanted as a terrorist, so he couldn’t rashly try to leave through the airport. He had to be careful just showing his face in public.

“This is the first time I’ve been in such a hopeless situation…” Jeong Taeui scratched his head. In such a situation, all he could do was…

Jeong Taeui spotted a public phone in a corner of the lobby and paused before walking towards it. Only the card was in his pocket. The method of finding a bank, withdrawing money, changing it to coins, and then making a call felt incredibly cumbersome. If only he had taken some cash…

Regretting it belatedly as he pondered, Jeong Taeui turned his gaze to the business center adjoining the lobby. It was open 24 hours, and given the time, only one person was sitting there, keeping watch. Various card logos were stuck on the glass door. Jeong Taeui nodded, a light bulb moment, and walked over.

As he opened the glass door and stepped inside, the man who had been yawning continuously straightened his posture and sat up. Then, a smile spread across his face. Jeong Taeui handed him the card and picked up the phone receiver. Click. He glanced at the numbers displayed on the screen, indicating the passage of time, and dialed the number he remembered.

Listening to the phone ring, he calculated the time difference. It would be close to lunchtime there now. He was a little worried that if the persistent ringing meant they were already in class, it would be troublesome. Just as Jeong Taeui was thinking this, clack, the ringing stopped. And a familiar voice was heard.

[Yes, this is Jeong Changin…]

“Uncle. It’s Taeui.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Jeong Taeui spoke. After a brief pause, his uncle laughed as if bursting out.

[Oh, isn’t it our family’s proud terrorist second nephew?]

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue bitterly. That label would probably stick with him for a while. No, before that, he’d be lucky if he wasn’t actually caught.

“Uncle… please help me.” Jeong Taeui mumbled weakly. Though usually, his uncle would reply with a joke, sensing the exhaustion in his tone, he chuckled for a moment before answering.

[If it’s something I can help with, gladly. What do you need? A fake passport? A corrupt cop to help you avoid being taken in at the airport?]

Jeong Taeui let out a short laugh. His uncle’s words seemed like a joke, yet weren’t. And this quick-witted man’s words accurately pinpointed what Jeong Taeui needed.

“Both.”

[Alright. When do you need them?]

“Now. I’m trying to go to the airport right now, is that possible?”

His uncle paused for a moment. He seemed to be thinking, then he readily answered.

[A corrupt cop is possible, but a passport might be difficult to get so quickly. If it’s just for a temporary use this time, not long-term, it’ll be easy to get.]

“Ah. Then that’s fine. I’ll just use it for a moment right now.”

[Alright. Then I’ll contact someone right away and send them to the airport. I’ll give you the contact number, so call them when you arrive at the airport.]

“Yes. …Thank you, Uncle.”

[You’re welcome. …But Xinlu could handle something like this.]

Jeong Taeui fell silent. He hesitated for a moment, but it wasn’t something he wouldn’t tell his uncle anyway. Besides, he also had something to ask his uncle.

“I’m separate from Xinlu. I have somewhere to go, so I can’t go with Xinlu.”

There was no sound from the receiver for a moment. But soon, as if surprised, yet not explicitly expressing that doubt, his uncle asked.

[Somewhere to go… where are you going?]

“I have to ask you about that too.” Jeong Taeui opened his mouth, a little sheepishly. His uncle waited for his words without saying anything, as if telling him to speak. Jeong Taeui hesitated a little longer before answering.

“Do you happen to know where Ilay is right now?”

The answer didn’t come quickly. For a long while, until Jeong Taeui murmured, “Hello?”, there was no sound from the other end. Only after Jeong Taeui said again, “Hello, Uncle, did the call drop?” did his uncle reply, “No, it didn’t.” But after another period of silence, his uncle spoke heavily.

[Are you perhaps, going to that guy?]

“Yes.” Jeong Taeui answered without hesitation. Then he gave a wry laugh. “It’ll be fine. …Though I am a little worried.”

[A little worried…] his uncle mumbled ambiguously. Not ‘very worried’ but ‘a little worried’? A mumble like a soliloquy was heard from the other end of the phone.

Jeong Taeui suddenly recalled what his uncle had said last night.

—Jeong Taeui. You need to take good care of your life. Do you know? You made that Rick guy a dog chasing chickens.

Jeong Taeui’s face clouded. For whatever reason, Jeong Taeui had clearly turned away from Ilay, who had come looking for him. Even if he returned to that situation now, Jeong Taeui would act the same way. In that situation, Ilay was not Jeong Taeui’s priority. But now, belatedly, Jeong Taeui thought of Ilay. What Ilay must have felt when Jeong Taeui, who had thrown so much away to find him, was pushed away right in front of him.

“…It would have been good if his inhumanity had remained intact for a little longer.” Jeong Taeui mumbled regretfully. If only. If only, he might not have seen that anxious face stiffen instantly, as if taken by surprise. Then his heart wouldn’t be clenching like this.

Jeong Taeui’s heart throbbed as the memory returned, and he tapped his chest a couple of times with his hand. Then he cautiously asked his uncle.

“Is he very angry, they say?”

[Well, it’s hard to say since I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but Taeui, if I were you, since things have come to this, I’d rather plan to escape Rick forever than go back. That’s better than dying the moment you return, isn’t it?]

Jeong Taeui frowned. “You keep saying that, it’s scary… I’m already scared, trying not to think about it.”

His heart thumped. Undoubtedly, if he went back, it wouldn’t end well. But surely he wouldn’t kill him right away. Or if he did kill him, he’d at least beat him senseless first.

Jeong Taeui was, in his own way, firming his resolve. While Ilay threw punches, there would be no way to avoid them, so he would just take them all, but he figured he’d have to explain himself before he was beaten to death. The thought of explaining himself while being punched and groaning was a bit bleak, but he calmed his thumping heart, thinking he wouldn’t die.

“So, where is he?”

When Jeong Taeui asked, his uncle mumbled, “Are you really going?” Jeong Taeui smiled wryly, feeling his uncle’s worry almost palpable.

“Still, I have to go back. Because I said I would.”

That guy probably didn’t hear it, though, Jeong Taeui sighed.

[I don’t know right now. I heard he caused trouble in Saudi and went to Seringe, but after that, I’ve been too busy cleaning up that mess here.]

“Cleaning up…? Wasn’t it just a dismissal for Ilay?”

[There are seven reports to write just for that incident.]

His uncle’s voice, which had probably barely slept since the terror attack, had a faint edge to it. Ugh, I shouldn’t provoke him any further. Jeong Taeui quickly backed off.

[I’ll find out soon, so call me when you get to the airport.]

“I have a lot of people to call when I get to the airport. A fake passport broker, a corrupt cop, and you, Uncle…”

[I’d rather not be mentioned in the same breath. But the passport will be taken by the police. You only need to make one call regarding that.]

“…If the police are involved in fake passports, isn’t that a serious problem?”

[That’s why they’re corrupt police.]

His uncle laughed. Jeong Taeui was momentarily dumbfounded, then chuckled too. Soon, his uncle reminded him once more to call when he arrived at the airport, then hung up.

Jeong Taeui, stepping out of the business center, stood there for a moment, lamenting the world. Police helping a wanted man evade capture, police dealing even in fake passports, and an international organization official arranging such police. Well, corruption isn’t limited to just that, Jeong Taeui thought as he left the hotel.

The bus to the airport stopped right across from the hotel. The front desk had said that an average of three buses came per hour, but this early, it would probably be only one per hour. Hoping he wouldn’t have to wait a full hour at the stop due to a subtle timing mismatch, Jeong Taeui walked to the bus stop and, after checking the schedule that said the bus would arrive in 30 minutes, sat on a bench.

Just imagine if it arrived lucky 5 minutes later, that would have been nice, but he decided to be humble. Wasn’t it much better than the bus having already left a minute ago?

He aimlessly looked around and saw a card service booth and a beverage vending machine side-by-side in front of the bus stop. Jeong Taeui gazed fixedly at the beer inside the vending machine, then, using Xinlu’s card, withdrew enough cash and pulled out a can of beer.

It was early dawn, so there were hardly any people passing by. The sky was changing from pitch black to navy blue dawn light, but the streets were still steeped in quiet stillness. Drinking beer while waiting for a bus in such a blue, quiet dawn had its own unique charm.

“If I leave now, when will I get there…? …I need to know where that guy is to decide a destination and calculate the time.” Jeong Taeui mumbled, chugging his beer.

But.

He was going back. Jeong Taeui was sitting here to return to Ilay Riegrow.

He felt a fresh, strange, and even bleak sensation. I was uneasy about this since the first signs of my schizophrenia. As his uncle had said, it might have been wiser to try to escape forever. Just as Xinlu had said.

But still, even with such advice, his heart was set in one direction.

“That thing he lost, I have to pick it up for him. …I’ve already given up on picking up his humanity, but I just hope his inhumanity drops a bit.” Jeong Taeui sighed.

Then, a sudden practical thought occurred to him. What if he went to the airport, then to whatever country that guy was in, found where he was hiding—surely a terrorist wouldn’t just stroll around brazenly—and faced him? He imagined it. And it wasn’t hard to imagine.

That moment would undoubtedly send shivers down his spine. There was no way he wouldn’t be afraid facing that monster. And he’d probably be in a foul mood.

“I guess the best strategy is to explain myself as quickly as possible while getting hit, and get hit one less time.”

Even though the thought of “getting hit” saddened him a little, Jeong Taeui shook his head. The thought of not going back didn’t occur to him. That voice, those unfamiliar expressions, stuck to him and wouldn’t let go.

“…I’ll be back soon.” He murmured the words again, words he had already spoken but which hadn’t been heard. His heart suddenly settled, and a faint, calm smile appeared.

Just then. He was checking his watch, thinking the bus would arrive in about 10 more minutes.

Suddenly, a car pulled up a few steps away. He casually looked up and saw a taxi stopping in front of Jeong Taeui. Jeong Taeui, wondering if the driver thought he was a customer, waved his hand. But that wasn’t it. The back door clicked open, and a person got out. It seemed the taxi had stopped to drop off a passenger.

Getting out in front of a hotel this early? Did they come straight from the airport? Jeong Taeui casually looked up.

And at that moment.

The beer can in his hand clattered to the ground. The man who had just gotten out calmly closed the taxi door and straightened his back. Slowly putting on a pair of clean gloves he had just taken from his pocket, he tilted his head slightly and smiled vaguely at Jeong Taeui. It was a chillingly cold smile.

“Taei, with your good intuition. You must have known I was coming and were trying to escape.” The man said.

His leisurely voice approached, one step, two steps. Jeong Taeui looked at him with a ghost-seeing, half-dazed expression. The man walked past Jeong Taeui to the scheduled timetable a couple of steps away. Then he let out a short laugh.

“Looks like if I’d been 10 minutes later, I would have missed you again.”

He laughed pleasantly and looked back at Jeong Taeui. The tall man, looking down at Jeong Taeui from up there, glanced around Jeong Taeui, as if finding something strange.

“Why are you alone? Where’s that little kid?”

Jeong Taeui, still dazed and staring at him, shook his head blankly. The man raised an eyebrow slightly and clicked his tongue, but soon nodded.

“Well, fine. I’ll deal with that little kid later. He’s not the important one anyway.”

The man smiled broadly and bent down. Bending low enough for his forehead to almost touch Jeong Taeui’s, he brought his mouth close to Jeong Taeui’s ear. His lips, twitching a couple of times, whispered pleasantly.

“Got you, Taei.”

Jeong Taeui felt that low, wind-like sound penetrate his ear and felt his body freeze.

Ilay. Ilay Riegrow. The man he had never imagined seeing here was now beside him.

Chills ran down his spine. His back felt icy, and his tongue stiffened, making it hard to speak. It was unexpected. Or perhaps, the prediction had been uncannily accurate.

He had thought he would be afraid when he actually faced him. He had thought he might be so scared he’d want to run away immediately. He had thought that moment would send shivers down his spine. And indeed, it did.

The moment they met, his feet froze. The moment he saw that faint smile, his tongue also froze, and he couldn’t speak. He had thought, as if it were a joke, that he should take the hits and explain himself in between. But only now did Jeong Taeui realize how rash that thought had been.

—If I were you, since things have come to this, I’d rather plan to escape Rick forever than go back. That’s better than dying the moment you return, isn’t it?

Suddenly, his uncle’s words brushed past his ear. It belatedly occurred to him that perhaps his uncle had been right. Jeong Taeui had never seen Ilay so fiercely cold. No, it was subtly different from just being fierce. Rather than fierce, he was… deranged.

With a smiling face, he was distinctly different from usual. When a gloved hand brushed away the messy bangs from Jeong Taeui’s forehead, Jeong Taeui thought he was going to faint.

“W-wait, I-Ilay—” Jeong Taeui opened his mouth. He had to say something.

But words wouldn’t come out fully from his open mouth. With a slow smile, he spoke. “No need to speak.”

With those words, a white hand reached out. That hand grasped Jeong Taeui’s jaw. His words were choked in his mouth by the unforgiving grip that held his jaw tightly.

“Words deceive the mouth, deceive the ears, and eventually even deceive oneself.”

Just a handspan away. Just a handspan in front of his eyes, his face was there.

Ilay whispered chillingly smoothly, then suddenly smiled. The soft touch of the glove on the hand that gripped his jaw was terrifying.

No. That’s not it. I was just about to go to you. Jeong Taeui grabbed the hand that gripped his jaw. Just a moment, if he just let go for a moment, he would speak. That he was just about to go to him. That he was heading to the airport to go to him now.

—…So just let go for a second, you bastard!

Perhaps Ilay read Jeong Taeui’s desperate wish in his eyes. He slightly raised an eyebrow. Something akin to a smile flickered across his eyes.

“Why? Do you want to speak?”

“—…”

“Do you think if you scream here, someone will help you?”

Ilay let out a dry laugh. At the early dawn bus stop, where hardly anyone passed by. Yet, a person or two occasionally passing by glanced at this strange standoff.

Suddenly Ilay smiled. And then he slowly released Jeong Taeui’s jaw. As soon as his hand moved away, Jeong Taeui, clutching his aching jaw, immediately shouted at him.

“I’m going to the airpor—” He was about to say, I was just about to go to the airport to see you. But his mouth was sealed again.

Ilay, who had been looking at his own hand for a moment, seemed to hesitate slightly, but then he took off his glove. And he shoved that glove into Jeong Taeui’s mouth. Then, with a wide smile, he punched Jeong Taeui in the solar plexus.

“—!!” It was clean and precise. Just enough to keep him from fainting.

A surge, a feeling like his insides were reversing, and a dizzying sensation of the world spinning around him hit him simultaneously. Jeong Taeui bent over, almost collapsing. His mind went blank.

He recalled that he had been properly hit by this guy before, sometime recently. It had been excruciatingly painful then too, he thought. Yes, at least it hurt as much as it did now. But it hadn’t hurt more than this even then.

He tried to vomit, but the glove in his mouth prevented it. Jeong Taeui, vaguely collapsing, struggled to gather his fading consciousness.

Ilay easily picked up Jeong Taeui.

“It’s useless no matter where you scream or who you call, but it’s annoying.”

As he swayed and drooped, only Ilay’s voice was clear. The moment he entered the room, he threw Jeong Taeui onto the bed.

When he carried Jeong Taeui and entered the hotel closest to the bus stop—where Jeong Taeui had stayed yesterday—all eyes in the lobby were on him. Though there weren’t many people given the time, the hotel staff’s gaze, which had been staring at Jeong Taeui, who was practically slung over Ilay’s shoulder, with a very strange expression, clearly pierced him.

Inside the elevator going up to the room, Ilay spoke in a light, pleased tone. “If you’re going to run, you should have done it properly. Last time was cleaner. It’s bad enough you tried to hide your name and flee overland, but how could you just cancel the ticket from Johannesburg to Hong Kong like that, Mr. Jeong Taeui?”

He tapped Jeong Taeui’s leg, lightly draped over his shoulder, and chuckled contentedly. Jeong Taeui, who felt like he would vomit if he opened his mouth—though in reality, his mouth was completely stuffed—kept his mouth shut and desperately tried to maintain consciousness through the pain that still enveloped his entire body. He only fully came to his senses after entering the room. The moment he was thrown onto the bed, a sharp throb of pain shot through the injured spot, and a groan escaped, but the sound was muffled by the glove in his mouth.