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Chapter 7
It wasn’t as if I hadn’t thought of this moment while painting the worst-case scenario. But seriously, this was the worst.
Just a few days before leaving Baekcheon, I had never considered I would see Yu-gyeom smiling leisurely in front of me like this.
“How did you know?” The soft voice tickled my ears. Light-colored eyes and a soft smile used to make you think he was a mild person, but I knew.
“Do we have some rats?”
The beauty surrounding him was just a mask to hide his dark nature. Yu-gyeom was the illegitimate child of his father, the head of Utopia, and a prostitute with whom he had a one-night stand.
Gyeom. It was a name given to him to live humbly and holding his breath like the illegitimate child he was. So it was obvious without any close examination what kind of environment he was raised in. Growing thirsty for affection he had never received before, he might be a scarier person than Baek Hawon.
A person coveting what they can’t have might turn unsightly and pathetic, but when one desires what they had never had, they can become infinitely cruel. In the case of Yu-gyeom, he was the latter. He was a man who would eventually be cruel even to himself.
“Tell me, mh?”
Yu-gyeom swept his hair back and smiled, and I instinctively took a step back.
‘What do I do?’ I remembered Ji-woon guarding in front of the door. If I scream here, will Ji-woon hear me?
“Oh, even if you scream, no one will come.”
Just at the moment when I got goosebumps at Yu-gyeom’s speech as if he had read my thoughts.
Kwang–! The cruise ship shook with a loud explosion, and all the lights inside went out.
Crazy, crazy, crazy. I didn’t know all my efforts to change the story a bit would pave my road to the underworld.
As Yu-gyeom said, it was clear that Ji-woon would not come even if I shouted. According to his character settings, as soon as the lights went out, he would have already run to Hawon. Even if it looks like I’m going to die though, I can’t help but try.
“…!” The moment Yu-gyeom looked away at the sound of another explosion, I threw a handkerchief at his face and ran away. I thought I heard a chuckle behind my back, but I couldn’t stop regardless. I ran down the stairs and cried out inwardly.
‘Please, please!! Had I known this would happen, I would have been carrying something like pepper spray!!’
“Ugh!”
The way to the door was too far, and as expected, Yu-gyeom wouldn’t be hindered with just a handkerchief; as soon as I grabbed the doorknob, he grabbed my shoulders. As if thrown away, I banged hard against the door and a moan came out due to the shock that rang throughout my body.
“…Haha.”
Though, I was aiming for this moment.
“I didn’t know your hand could reach that.”
Yu-gyeom burst out laughing as he looked at the gun stuck into his chest. ‘I still can’t hit a single mark on the target, but aren’t I really lucky? Practicing day and night how to load a gun after thinking I should possess a gun to survive in these noir waters.’
“Isn’t it your turn to answer now?”
It was important to take the lead. I smiled widely as I was afraid to remove my gaze from his eyes shining like a wild beast.
Yu-gyeom crookedly raised the corners of his mouth and I was slightly flustered, but I tried to manage my expression by giving strength to the hand holding the gun.
“You didn’t answer any of my questions.”
Even in a situation where a bullet might pierce his heart if I pulled the trigger, he was still calm, and the calmer he was, the more nervous I became.
‘Can I really get out of here, just holding a gun?’ As I was roiling my brain in complicated thoughts,
“…”
A ray of moonlight came in with the wind and shone over his face. Our eyes met, and in that moment, my heart stopped, and I inhaled sharply.
Excruciating pain radiated from Yu-gyeom’s face, which was half-hidden in darkness and showing a broken smile. It felt as if a large boulder flew over calm water and threw the surface into a complete mess.
Why.
Why do you have such eyes?
Like a person pushed to the edge of a cliff.
“I’m really curious.”
As if he’s going to let go of everything at any moment.
“Even my biological father doesn’t know.”
As I read his life countless times, my heart that sincerely hoped for his happiness poured down. The size of that heart was like a waterfall that could not be covered with the palm of my hand, so I had no choice but to get wet.
He was a very unfortunate person. Knowing who he was better than anyone else, I couldn’t possibly pull this trigger.
Whether it was the sharp wind or the colorless eyes, my head dried up. And the sincerity that came out of the gap between my lips flowed without stopping.
“…Because–”
Because the one I met is really a person, not just a character inside a plot. It was only now I had realized it and couldn’t think of anything anymore.
The moment I met the eyes that had always been parched, a desperate desire that felt sorry for his life and hoped for his happiness in his life came out.
Words that no one had ever told you. The words I said to you countless times while reading.
“Because I liked you.”
“Because I liked you.”
I hissed the words, and right then the words flowed back into my ears. At that moment, I came back to my senses.
The emotions that were too overwhelming to express in words quickly cooled down.
‘Just now, I, now way–’
“…”
‘Did I say it out loud?’
As if trying to confirm that the truth I was denying was real, Yu-gyeom, who should always be smiling, was looking at me with a stiff face as if he had been hit with a hammer. The moment I saw those eyes, I had a very clear intuition that I was doomed. Yu-gyeom’s normally emotionless face was filled with embarrassment. And his mouth twitched as if to say something.
‘No! Don’t say anything!’ I realized as I covered my own mouth that it was a problem that couldn’t be overlooked easily.
‘I can’t say that I saw you in a book, and that you were my favorite till dead.’
Yu-gyeom, who appeared to be suffering a mental breakdown, seemed unable to notice the gun in his chest or my movements. I hurriedly found the doorknob, grabbed it, and opened the door.
Bang-!!!
And as it was, the gun I was holding bounced and was fired toward the sky. I gave up my gun and chose to run based on instinctive judgment. Gunshots seemed insignificant in front of the huge problem I was facing.
“Huh, huh!”
‘Why isn’t anyone here?!’ Although I was in a relay race from elementary school until high school graduation, I felt like my ankle was about to break because of the high heels. There was no time to look back, but the sound of approaching footsteps was more and more terrifying.
‘If you come all the way here, Baekcheon will destroy you! Why are you doing this to me?!’
“Baek Hawon!”
It was a name I really didn’t want to call but was the only one name I could call. That was why I shouted to death.
Like the common male leads in romance novels, I didn’t want him to notice the crisis and appear like some ghost. Rather, faithful to the genre, I hoped they would fall in love the moment they met. Thus I would be able to disappear as an extra.
I ran with all my might out of that horrible hallway. And the moment I reached the stairs leading up to the deck, I had no choice but to stop.
Breathtakingly thick murderous aura. It was something I had never felt properly, but I knew it instinctively. The moment my eyes met those bloodshot eyes, goosebumps ran down my spine.
“…Crazy.”
The sparkling white marble was dyed red. Not only the marble floor, but also the ornaments, picture frames, and even the chandeliers were covered with blood.
And in the middle stood Baek Hawon.
“Ji-woon.”
Baek Hawon, who uttered only two syllables in a low voice, wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand holding the gun. His neatly groomed hair was sweaty, and his neat tie was only a shirt full of red stains. Still, I didn’t lose my breath.
I couldn’t describe it in words. He didn’t look human.
“Miss.”
Ji-woon reached out to me from the bottom of the stairs. In fact, I was confused about who was the enemy and who was the ally when I saw Baek Hawon’s appearance, but I went down the stairs either way.
‘Yeah, he’s crazy too, but he won’t kill me. The cause of my death is over there!’
As I hurried down the stairs to get out of here, I didn’t even feel the presence that held my wrist tightly.
“Ugh!”
In a blink of an eye, when I realized what was happening I was already trapped in Yu-gyeom’s arms pulling me from behind as if hugging me. I screamed and tried to escape, but the arm that gripped my body didn’t budge.
When Ji-woon aimed his gun at Yu-gyeom, Yu-gyeom held me like a shield and burst into laughter.
“I didn’t think that the head of Baekcheon would use his own hands.”
‘What? This isn’t it?’ It wasn’t the line he said with a mysterious atmosphere surrounding just the two of them. ‘Nah, Yu-gyeom was ambiguous at first. It was Baek Hawon who blindingly fell–’
“Kill him.”
…In love…?
The moment I saw Baek Hawon’s face, the contents of the book flew out of my mind. All the things I was proud of knowing better than anyone else became irrelevant, and my head went blank.
“But, Boss, Miss…” Ji-woon said to Baek Hawon with a puzzled face. A cold blade touched my neck. The feeling was so terrifying that I couldn’t even breathe. All I had in my mind was the same thought.
‘Cha Yeonbyeol, who died during their first meeting!’ No one wanted her to live, so she died even though she could live.
“Now,”
“…”
“Kill him.”
At Baek Hawon’s words, tears mixed with anger and regret filled up my eyes and rolled to the tip of my chin. It wasn’t that I didn’t know that he was someone who, within a second, would have thought it would be more beneficial to kill the child of the head of Utopia than to protect me, but my anger grew.
I’d rather it be a dream. I tried to deny the situation, but the cold touch was very vivid.
“Uuk…” The sharp blade dug into my flesh, and a moan came out of its own accord. Ji-woon looked at me, neither lowering nor shooting his gun. Baek Hawon’s face was so dull that I had no hope.
“…Yu-gyeom.”
Looking into that face, instead of hope, I felt headstrong desperation rising inside.
The will to never die.
Yu-gyeom’s body trembled slightly at the name I called. I felt his sword digging deeper, but I held it in and turned my head toward him. Even without effort, tears fell. In a way, it wasn’t a lie, so the truth came out naturally. I thought as I looked at Baek Hawon’s face and moved my gaze in a flash.
‘I’m not sorry at all.’
It was a pity that I couldn’t smile and tell you like last time.
“I liked you.”
I don’t have a prince or family to come to rescue me.
“But this is too much.”
The only way to survive is by stealing the Boss’s man, right?
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I really sincerely hoped for it from the bottom of my heart.
What made me add a touch of romance into the craziest noir story, and ruin the BL love flag to the point of twisting my own fate–
It wasn’t because of me, but Baek Hawon.
I wish I could say it was because of you.
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