Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 46

Yuri shifted his attention from his phone to Ling Xinlu, who was leaning against the wall right beside him.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll hear it out next time. ……It’s been a while, Mr. Jeong Taeui. How have you been?”

“……Uh. ……Ah. Mr. Gable?”

After a brief, awkward silence, Jeong Taeui, who recalled the owner of the voice only after a moment’s pause, called out Yuri’s name with embarrassment.

“Ah. Sorry. That bastard kept calling so I turned off my mobile, and this time he called the house, so I thought it was him……”

He didn’t bother asking who Jeong Taeui’s ‘bastard’ was, as he babbled on about how Rita had started glaring at him, and so on. He felt like he knew even without asking.

“Mr. Riegrow seems to be out.”

“Yes, he’s been gone since the day before yesterday. He said he’d be back in about a week.”

“I see. But by constant calls, is something happening at your place by any chance?”

“Ah, no, absolutely not. That guy sometimes plays with me when he’s bored, and it’s that again now. He’s been calling dozens of times since earlier, asking if I’ve had breakfast and hanging up, asking what book I’m reading now and hanging up, asking what beer I’m going to drink today and hanging up, and when he finally ran out of things to say, he’s now spouting nonsense like asking me to sing anything…”

Jeong Taeui seemed to be muttering curses, as if he choked up while speaking. And just as if on cue, the call waiting tone rang. Someone seemed to be calling—in the flow of this conversation, Yuri felt he knew who was “constantly calling” right now. He could hear Jeong Taeui grinding his teeth.

He must have been tormented quite a bit. But could a man who plays such childish pranks, to the point of being utterly unbelievable, truly be the man he knew? Yuri doubted his own hunch.

Even as they both fell silent, the call waiting tone continued to ring, persistently.

“Ah… but Mr. Gable, Kyle isn’t here right now.”

His tone, when he spoke belatedly, hinted at an intention to hang up. He probably planned to hang up on Yuri’s call and immediately bellow into the phone that was ringing on call waiting.

Yuri instinctively glanced at Ling Xinlu. His eyes met with Ling Xinlu’s, who was watching him with a blank expression, arms crossed. At that moment, Ling Xinlu faintly narrowed his eyes and glared at Yuri.

“…Yes. Then please tell Kyle that I called.”

Yuri said that and slowly put down the receiver. Only after the click beneath his slowly lowering hand did he turn back to Ling Xinlu.

Ling Xinlu was silently staring at Yuri. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he was glaring.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ling Xinlu spat out in a voice as cold as his gaze. Yuri slowly shook his head.

“I thought it would have been better if we had said something.”

He had that kind of face, as if deliberating whether to say something, whether to exchange a greeting, whether to address him as ‘Tae-yi hyung’.

Then Ling Xinlu scowled fiercely and raised his eyes.

“Can’t you just not read my expression sometimes?”

He muttered in a distorted voice, then let out a humorless, empty laugh.

“Besides, for some reason, I’m even more annoyed with you right now. Why are you reading my mood?”

“I apologize.”

When Yuri apologized without hesitation, Ling Xinlu looked at him even more harshly, as if dumbfounded.

“Why are you apologizing there?!”

Ling Xinlu roared, then sharply turned his back and entered the room. Kwang! The door slammed shut with a rough sound.

Yuri stood stiffly in front of the door, staring at the closed door. He stared at the door with a difficult-to-pinpoint, unpleasant feeling, and it wasn’t long before the door burst open again Ling Xinlu, seeing Yuri standing in front of the door, glanced at him as if he’d expected it, then strode into the living room and sat on the sofa. He picked up the book he had been reading and flipped through the pages with a rough gesture.

After turning about one or two pages, he suddenly mumbled without taking his eyes off the book.

“I’m not angry.”

As if deliberately demonstrating that he was no longer bound by the past, Ling Xinlu only lifted his gaze from the book. And he stared at Yuri. Although his eyes seemed a little unpleasantly subdued, the intensity in them softened slightly. And at that moment, Yuri realized.

This man was far more stable than before.

He no longer fluctuated emotionally, becoming unstable, agitated, or sinking, as he did back then. Within a certain boundary a boundary within which he could sufficiently control himself—he expressed anger, distress, and sadness.

…That’s right.

Yuri suddenly felt a sense of relief. That’s right. He’ll be okay now—when that thought came to him, strength drained from his mind, and consequently, his body. Yuri pulled over a dining chair nearby and sat down. However, when he did, Ling Xinlu, who had been watching Yuri, put strength back into his gaze.

“Why are you sitting there? Are you angry?”

Yuri looked at him bewilderedly at the sudden question, then shook his head, saying, “No.”

“If you’re not angry, come sit here. Why are you sitting so far away, as if you don’t want to sit next to me?”

Even while looking at Ling Xinlu with suspicion, wondering if he wasn’t really angry despite saying he wasn’t, Yuri silently got up and went to the sofa as he indicated, sitting beside him. As soon as Yuri sat down, Ling Xinlu said, “Turn your back. Don’t look at me.” Seeing this, it seemed he was indeed angry.

When Yuri obediently turned his back and sat, a heavy weight soon settled on his back. Ling Xinlu, who was leaning back as if Yuri were a backrest cushion, had put his full weight on him. He seemed to be reading the book like that, as the rustling sound of pages turning could be heard after a short while.

Then at some point.

“Don’t be angry. Mr. Gable, you’re scary when you’re angry.”

Far from scary, his voice, which sounded sulky as if he were about to pick a fight when angry, muttered softly.

However, hearing that voice didn’t make him angry or upset; instead, he suddenly chuckled warmly, and Yuri quietly shook his head.

“I am not angry.”

A short silence followed the quiet, calm voice. After a moment, a brief reply, “Then it’s fine,” came along with a slow relaxation of the body leaning against his back. As if leaning comfortably.

That weight, that warmth, felt like it was saying “It’s okay,” making him feel like truly everything was okay.

“No, I’m serious. I’m genuinely surprised and grateful that Xinlu seems to have calmed down a lot thanks to you. I don’t think I’m the only one. Indeed, everyone close to him was surprised from the very beginning when he said he would bring you in and keep you by his side. Didn’t you know?”

Ling Tangyun spoke with a subtle tone, as if revealing a secret he was just now sharing, and smiled. However, even he wouldn’t truly consider it a secret, and Yuri already knew.

“No, I would have been surprised too.”

Yuri replied calmly, shaking his head. Even if Ling Xinlu always treated people with a lovely smiling face, Yuri knew that he found people bothersome on one hand. Moreover, living in the same house with someone who wasn’t in a family-like, unavoidable relationship would be very rare.

However, they wouldn’t have known there was a reason for it.

Yuri casually opened his mouth.

“Originally, Ling Xinlu found me unpleasant. To the point where he would get angry every time he saw me at first. He said he wanted to make a contract to learn to control those feelings himself. …Of course, that wouldn’t have been the only reason.”

A person whose deepest feelings had already been fully revealed, whose pride was torn to shreds, so he no longer had to struggle to hide or conceal them, and who also had a certain degree of ability. Yuri Gable was the result, but he had never been regarded unfavorably.

“Haha, he must have just been joking. Xinlu is a child who would never keep someone he truly dislikes by his side. He’s the kind of child who would rather kill them off entirely to never see them again in his life, and you’re the first person he ever wanted to keep by his side himself.”

Ling Tangyun let out a hearty laugh. Yuri felt a little awkward but soon said briefly, “Is that so?” and fell silent.

Either way, it was fine.

Regardless of how it started, he knew that the current Ling Xinlu wasn’t as bothered by Yuri as he used to be. No, as Ling Tangyun said, he was even more open with him than with others.

Then it was fine. Even if he still occasionally felt a surge of anger when looking at him, it was also true that he was incomparably more stable than before. To the extent that Ling Xinlu himself could control his own emotions.

So it was okay. He felt as if he had accomplished what he could do.

“Why are you talking bad about me when I’m not here, big brother?”

At that moment, a disapproving click of the tongue was heard from beyond the sliding door.

Soon, the sliding door opened, and Ling Xinlu, frowning, poked his head in.

“When did I ever kill off people I dislike to never see them again? To say such gruesome things when no one’s around, you’re being too much.”

Saying so, Ling Xinlu entered and stood beside Yuri in the middle of the room, where the conversation had briefly paused due to the sudden appearance of the person who had been the center of the discussion, though no serious badmouthing had occurred.

Ling Xinlu, perching on the armrest of the sofa instead of properly sitting on it, seemed not to intend to stay long.

“Did you drink? Why are you drinking water in a wine glass?”

Ling Xinlu tilted his head, looking at the small glass Yuri was holding. “I only had about two glasses. It shouldn’t affect my driving much.”

“Driving can be done by someone else, so it doesn’t matter, but I was curious why you drank since you don’t really like alcohol. Did some good wine come in?”

Ling Tangyun pushed a few of the bottles towards Ling Xinlu, who was scanning the many bottles lined up on the table.

“Take a few bottles while you’re at it. These are what our family is considering for distribution this time. Some will be distributed as is, and some will be adjusted before distribution.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ling Xinlu nodded obediently, without any surprise in his expression.

It seemed that the talk of him starting to participate in family affairs wasn’t just circulating among the elders. At the very least, Ling Xinlu himself seemed to have been informed in some way. Perhaps even about his involvement in the liquor business.

Yuri silently took the liquor bottles that Ling Tangyun offered on his behalf. Next to him, Fei quickly stood up and offered, “I’ll help you, Uncle.”

Ling Xinlu, who had been idle beside Yuri as he packed the bottles, briefly shifted his gaze to look at Fei. A hint of displeasure flashed across his eyes, but he soon walked away as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s go, Mr. Gable. Then I’ll see you again later, big brother. Thanks for the help, Fei.”

Ling Xinlu, who interrupted Yuri’s intended farewell and spoke instead, snatched the bottles Yuri was holding and left the room.

He slowly savored a sip of the pale yellow liquor.

Just like when he drank it at the main house, it was fragrant and subtle. Even when it lingered in his mouth, it seemed to create a thirst again after he swallowed it, wrapping around his tongue.

He couldn’t remember how many glasses he had poured and drunk; it was already quite a few. Perhaps six or seven glasses.

“You seem to really like that liquor. Is it tasty?”

Ling Xinlu, who came out after changing his clothes, saw Yuri with the bottles in front of him and spoke with amusement. Yuri belatedly asked him while watching him tear open a disposable eye drop and put a few drops in his eyes, as if his eyes were tired.

“By the way, how were your eyes?”

“Huh? Ah, that therapist Mother called? A waste of money. She dug up some common weeds from God knows where, crushed them, put them on my eyes, and chanted some unheard-of spell. I swear, I was speechless. Mother herself didn’t seem to know that a ‘renowned’ therapist would do such things; her expression was priceless.”

People say they’ll grasp at straws when they’re desperate, and it was exactly that, Ling Xinlu said nonchalantly. He didn’t seem particularly displeased. Rather, he even seemed somewhat pleased to see his mother, who had constantly bothered him with mysterious medicines, talismans, and incantations every three days, looking dumbfounded.

Yuri nodded, saying, “I see.”

Like Ling Xinlu, Yuri didn’t seriously expect his eyes to dramatically heal from such folk remedies, but still, he felt a little relieved.

“I think I’ll officially start learning the ropes next month. That’s why Mother seems anxious. She seems to think that if my eyes are in this state, I won’t be able to work properly, so while we’re together, she keeps crying, ‘What about work with your eyes like that? What about work with your eyes like that?’ and I really…”

“It’s more tiring than running a full marathon,” Ling Xinlu sighed and shook his head.

But work. It meant Ling Xinlu was entering the path that Fei had been constantly complaining about, saying he was “dying” from learning work lately.