Passion Raga Novel (Completed) - Chapter 67

He felt that unstable feeling. Yes, as if — though not as fiercely obvious as back then — just like immediately after he moved from Serengeti to Berlin in the past.

Yuri silently watched him. But the instability was only a vague feeling; he couldn’t find any distinct differences.

The only thing different from usual was that Ling Xinlu wasn’t looking at Yuri.

It wasn’t that he was completely ignoring him; he would talk to him when necessary, and occasionally their eyes would meet by chance when he looked around, but the frequency of their eye contact had significantly decreased. Not completely, but enough to make Yuri feel certain he was intentionally avoiding looking at him.

Even today, since coming to the office, he had only met his gaze once or twice, only when their glances briefly brushed.

However, it seemed that only Yuri, and his uncle who looked briefly puzzled but didn’t pay much attention, noticed Ling Xinlu’s subtle attitude.

“Is there something good happening today? You keep smiling, it looks like something good happened?”

One of the men talking, the one in the black jacket sitting diagonally from Ling Xinlu, suddenly spoke. Ling Xinlu looked at him and, with a crescent-eyed smile, said, “Really?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, it’s true. Are you perhaps going on a date today? Did you get a girlfriend?”

“Hey, why a date on a day like today of all days! We’re about to go down to the basement to catch a pig soon, then your clothes will get ruined, no. If you really made plans to meet a girl, reschedule it for another day. I’m not saying this because I’m jealous that our youngest master is meeting a girl, but for the youngest master’s sake. If you go covered in blood, what girl would want to stay?”

“Being covered in blood is a bit of an exaggeration, since you’re not going to be directly involved. Though, yeah, some might splash. But did you really get a girlfriend?”

The shaggy-haired man sitting next to him also craned his neck, looking intently at Ling Xinlu with great interest. Ling Xinlu smiled and shook his head.

“No, nothing special. I guess I was just laughing because what you were saying was funny. I didn’t even realize I was laughing.”

“Really nothing special? But our youngest master looks like he’d have a lot of girls.” The black jacket deliberately glanced at Ling Xinlu, winking mischievously. Ling Xinlu smiled and said, “No!”

“Hey, no, actually, if someone’s too charming and handsome, girls don’t follow them. Look how pretty our young master is, what girl would be shy to stand next to him!” The shaggy-haired man playfully chided the black jacket and threw a mock punch.

“Hey, but you don’t know, maybe he’s not just using his looks to charm girls. How do you know our young master isn’t skilled in other ways?” They exchanged jokes among themselves and chuckled.

Yuri frowned slightly as he watched them. But he quickly suppressed his expression, showing nothing. Ling Xinlu, who was with them, looked at them with an unperturbed expression.

As if he had little interest in whatever they were talking about, he responded perfunctorily, yet with enough of a smile to chime in appropriately.

Those who worked under the third uncle were mainly called in for what was known as “rough work.” Since they also did general business, going around to client companies, they often met daily, but for rough work, they were almost always called.

These men, who had already been working in this line of business for ten or twenty years, called Ling Xinlu “youngest master” and treated him respectfully in their own way, even though Ling Xinlu had only recently started learning under the third uncle. However, there were times when their words and actions subtly showed they considered him beneath them.

They called him “young master” because of his good family, but they seemed to consider him a naive, ignorant youngster who had been raised delicately, occasionally dropping unpleasant jokes depending on how they were heard.

It had gotten much better recently.

For the first few days after Ling Xinlu first came under the uncle, they only used honorifics in speech, but their attitude was no different from how they treated subordinates.

However, after a few more days, Ling Xinlu, despite it being his first time, finished the work quite cleanly and even showed a firm demeanor depending on the situation, so their attitude had softened considerably now.

Just recently, their true feelings were revealed when they shook their heads in admiration, saying, “The youngest master is unexpectedly not an ordinary person; in a few years, we won’t be able to handle him.”

They acknowledged his admirable skill but still considered him below them.

Despite clearly noticing their sentiments, Ling Xinlu didn’t react much. He seemed to consider them not worth his attention.

Piles of tasks to conquer and learn were heaped before him, and they were more trivial than flying insects.

So even now, Ling Xinlu simply smiled calmly and let their chatter pass, whether they were talking or not.

Or perhaps, whatever they said didn’t even register.

Yuri stared blankly at Ling Xinlu.

He seemed to be looking at them somewhat perfunctorily, as if he were thinking of something else.

Amidst that, every now and then, a very brief, fleeting hint of instability. That bothered Yuri. “Even so, why, even the woman at the reception desk on the first floor blushes every time she sees the young master. That woman you said you liked before.”

As the black jacket chuckled, the shaggy-haired man glared at him with wide eyes.

“What do you mean I liked her, that fat woman!” he bellowed, then clicked his tongue. Then he glanced at Ling Xinlu.

“But our young master is a bit too charming and pretty… If someone is too innocent, they don’t get ahead. They need to have a bit of a harsh side too.”

“Why are you saying that? The youngest master is firmer than he looks. Didn’t you see Section Chief Samhyeop get chased out without a peep the other day?”

“Hey, bickering with men is not the same as charming women! Isn’t that right, young master?” The shaggy-haired man turned to Ling Xinlu.

He smiled and said, “Of course. How can you know people beforehand? You don’t know until the time comes.”

Ling Xinlu’s calm voice seemed to subtly deepen. But perhaps it was just a feeling, as Ling Xinlu looked unperturbed.

“Right, right. But when I see the young master, he seems too kind, so he should be careful when choosing a woman. If someone is too kind and nice, they don’t get ahead; people suck them dry and then leave for someone else.”

The shaggy-haired man clicked his tongue and shook his head, as if he wasn’t talking about someone else entirely. “He was so kind and got attached first, gave his all, but then later she denied it, saying it was just brother-sister talk.” He then cursed a certain woman, implying it was something his close younger brother had experienced.

Ling Xinlu said nothing. He just listened quietly to his words, then at some point, he gave a faint smile and merely said, “Really?”

“Yes, really. And now she’s supposedly living well with some other guy.”

“My brother was just made a fool of,” he clicked his tongue, and Ling Xinlu gave him a silent look. As if thinking something, his gaze, still smiling like a mask on his face, became faintly blue as he rubbed his chin.

His pupils fluttered slightly. Something that had been settled inside seemed to ripple and sway unsteadily.

Yes, unstable, just like back then, long ago, when he couldn’t control himself —.

But it was the moment Yuri slightly frowned. The uncle, who had been sitting at his desk rummaging through documents, suddenly shouted.

“Stop with the useless chatter and get up. By now, they should have the pig tied up down below, so let’s go down. Shinru, you come too. —You, stay here!” The uncle stood up from his desk, put on his coat, and then, seeing Yuri sitting neatly beside him, issued a brief order of exclusion.

It seemed today was going to be a particularly rough situation.

The uncle almost always brought Ling Xinlu with him for most tasks, and Yuri followed Ling Xinlu. And the uncle tacitly allowed it.

But occasionally, when they had to deal with illegal matters — especially when they wanted to avoid being seen by outsiders — he would sometimes leave Yuri alone in the office.

And it seemed this was one of those times.

If they went down to the basement of this building, Yuri could roughly guess what would happen. They were going to “handle” someone.

He had heard whispers that it wasn’t just flimsy threats or examples, but actual cases of “handling” people.

Just how far would it go today?

Yuri watched the men and Ling Xinlu get up from their seats to follow the uncle, thinking.

Once before, Yuri had followed Ling Xinlu down to the basement. And that day, someone there was half-dead.

Until that person was carried out, bleeding and probably with an injury that would make them limp for life, Yuri had to stand side by side with Ling Xinlu and watch those men brutalize the victim.

In such matters, the uncle didn’t physically intervene; he would simply throw a few words to the victim, explaining why he was suffering this, what his situation would be like in the future, and what he needed to do.

And that, in the distant future, would also be Ling Xinlu’s role.

Yuri sighed soundlessly.

He wouldn’t interfere with anything as long as Ling Xinlu himself wasn’t in pain. But it wasn’t particularly pleasant. What did it matter anyway? If there’s no end above and no end below, it might be more peaceful to look below. Fortunately, Yuri knew one human being who, in terms of inhumanity, had descended to the deepest bottom.

Compared to that person, anyone committing even the most evil deeds would seem human. And even that individual, who was internationally wanted and had outwardly hit rock bottom, was currently living perfectly well.

More than those things, what was occupying a corner of his mind now was that inexplicably unstable feeling. Wavering, wavering, appearing nonchalant, but with no knowing when or what might go wrong.

Yuri shook his head, driving the thoughts from his mind. For now, he had to take the ledger, which the uncle’s secretary had taken out of the desk drawer, down to the basement.

The man standing at the entrance to the first basement floor opened the iron door and told Yuri to go in when Yuri asked for Yunan. The glance he gave the ledger Yuri was holding indicated that he had already received a call from inside. Following the direction the man pointed, Yuri walked along the narrow path on the basement floor, which connected several spacious rooms.

The basement floor was not that large.

About four or five rooms, each about ten-odd pyeong (approx. 33 sq m). When he occasionally peeked into an open room, it was either completely empty or had only a single iron bed, giving it a desolate feeling.

However, even more chilling than the visible scenery was the low sound coming from the innermost room on the narrow path of the basement floor.

In that room, where the disorderly presence of a few people emanated, sounds of metal scraping on the floor with a clang, and the tearing of tape with a jiiik mixed together. These ordinary sounds, which wouldn’t be particularly notable if heard separately, were eerily grating on the ear, perhaps because he anticipated the scene unfolding inside.

Another man stood guard in front of it, and from the moment Yuri entered the passage, he had been watching him. Seeing the ledger, he soon acknowledged Yuri with a nod.

“You’re going to give it to Yunan, right? But let’s see… you’ll have to wait a bit. They just started.”

“Let’s see,” the man said, looking into the room through the long, rectangular hole cut at eye level in the iron door, then clicked his tongue and said, “It would’ve been better if you came a little earlier.” Yuri thought he could hand the ledger to this man and leave, but the man didn’t seem to hear such a thought and didn’t ask Yuri for the ledger.

Thinking Yuri was a subordinate of the third uncle, he didn’t tell him to wait outside either.

Yuri wondered if it would be better to wait outside, but the guard gave no indication. As if it were natural to wait there until the work was finished, he made casual remarks like, “Ugh, I’m hungry. I haven’t even had lunch yet.” It seemed that in such cases, anyone sent on an errand had always waited there until the work was done.

Yuri handed the cereal bar from his pocket — which he always carried one or two of for Ling Xinlu, who sometimes got buried in work without time to eat — to the guard and decided to wait beside him.

Through the long, eye-level hole in the iron door, the scene inside the room was visible.