His lips, which had been gradually approaching, finally touched Jeong Tae-ui’s forehead. Although it was a sensation once so familiar it could have been called second nature, because they had kept some distance for a while, or perhaps because his voice was creepily smooth, Jeong Tae-ui flinched and hunched his shoulders. Realizing that, Ilay twisted the corner of his mouth upwards.

“In that dream… no, well, that dream doesn’t matter anyway. After waking up from that dream, opening my eyes inside the dark aura, I suddenly thought. I need to get a grip. If I kill someone without even knowing it myself, to the point where I can’t remember it, then when I finally get a grip, it would be after I killed someone I shouldn’t have killed. That would be problematic, right?”

He laughed. The slow sound of laughter descending from his forehead reached Tae-ui’s ear chillingly before sliding down to his cheek.

Tae-ui neither tried to avoid the lips pressed against his face nor moved at all; he sat silently as he was.

“…If it’s the kind of hatred that makes you want to kill someone but you think it’s better to torment than kill, and so you keep them alive, Ilay, I’m telling you this for your sake, it’s better to kill.”

When Ilay’s lips moved closer to his own, Tae-ui quietly spoke. The lips that overlapped his own paused briefly. Even if it was said with himself in mind, Tae-ui spoke to Ilay. For his sanity. That was advice Tae-ui sincerely gave him.

The lips parted. His white face, without even a trace of a smile left, stared coldly at Tae-ui. Tae-ui met his gaze. Then at some point, he sighed and muttered.

“Well, as for me… if you try to kill me, I’ll think of a way to survive somehow, whether by running, fighting, or begging.”

Adding, I don’t want to die, Tae-ui muttered gloomily. At that, a cold laugh flickered in Ilay’s eyes.

Ilay got up from the bed. Then, as if his business was done, he walked toward the door and said to Tae-ui,

“When you get up, Rita told me to tell you to come to the dining room. After finishing your meal, my brother also said to come to the study.”

“Uh...?”

Watching Tae-ui blink dumbly, staring at Ilay with a dazed face, Ilay raised his eyebrows, looking as if to ask if there was more to say. Tae-ui shook his head no, but suspiciously looked at Ilay.

“I thought you were just going to leave.”

“Hm?”

“No… I thought at least one eyeball would be left.”

Ilay stared at him for several seconds after hearing Tae-ui’s muttered words, tilting his head. A look of disbelief flickered across his face, then his gaze turned icy cold.

“I can do that if you want.”

“No, I don’t really want that. I was just wondering if that wouldn’t happen, hmm.”

Undoubtedly, he thought that if he met Ilay again, the moment they met, his leash would be cut. Otherwise, as Ilay said, even if he didn’t kill him, some part of his body would be left damaged to keep tormenting him.

So the moment he opened his eyes, he was secretly steeling himself to part with one eyeball, or an arm, or a leg.

Tae-ui muttered inwardly, grateful for his intact body, and looked at Ilay with a deliberately cheerful face.

Ilay’s cold gaze returned. He was about to say something but closed his mouth again and clicked his tongue a couple of times.

“Hurry up and go to Rita. The later you come, the worse the soup tastes, and Rita keeps nagging about it.”

Only then did Tae-ui remember the reason Ilay wouldn’t be coming back to this house. Indeed. His face quietly muttering about Rita’s nagging was quite a sight.

Still, thinking there was someone who endured dealing with that bastard, Tae-ui struggled to get up from the bed.

Kyle, who was reading the evening paper thoroughly, suddenly felt strange and raised his head, startled. Ilay was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, silently watching him.

“Why are you standing there like that? Come in.”

Kyle gestured for him to enter and continued reading the article. In the corner of the social news section of the newspaper, there was a small report about a forest fire that had occurred this morning. The newspaper in his hands suddenly crumpled as his grip tightened unconsciously.

He folded the newspaper the other way around so that the article was on top and placed it on the desk to be clearly visible. But the person who should see that article was sprawled on a single-person couch a little away from the desk.

Kyle rested his chin on his clasped hands and stared blankly at Ilay. Ilay, indifferent to whether Kyle was looking or not, seemed lost in thought.

It was his younger brother whom he hadn’t seen in months. Normally, seeing him after months would have brought joy, but he didn’t feel glad at all. They used to live in the same city and see each other almost daily at work. Back then, even though they were family living nearby, he thought he wasn’t particularly happy to see him. Now, even after months apart, he still didn’t feel glad. It wasn’t a matter of family or time.

Kyle clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

“That made the social news. Luckily, they aren’t calling it arson.”

Ilay looked confused as if not understanding what he meant, then shrugged with an ‘Oh well’ expression. Kyle sighed lowly. In fact, he didn’t know how much nagging he’d received from James today to cover it up. Moreover, after the article was published, firefighters who had been on site argued based on evidence left behind that it was arson, and the editorial office had received several calls questioning the article’s facts. Kyle had to apologize repeatedly to the editor-in-chief, who usually had bad relations with James, and James had been furious. For a while, Kyle would have to appease James’s temper.

Ilay’s younger brother had caused «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» trouble more than once. The hardest to cover up was murder, but even then, this younger brother kindly told him, “I won’t leave evidence, or if I do, I’ll make sure it doesn’t get out, so don’t worry.”

That was before he became an adult.

Actually, when Ilay caused trouble, it wasn’t Kyle who cleaned up after him. It was James, Kyle’s chief secretary. When Ilay was young and reckless, unable to hide evidence properly, James had to the point of receiving psychiatric treatment from excessive work.

After Ilay became an adult and started handling things on his own, James’s workload greatly decreased. Sometimes James nostalgically muttered, “I used to wonder how to quit my job.”

Knowing that if James, a competent secretary, left, the company wouldn’t run well, Kyle thought he’d rather give up protecting Ilay.

Ilay still seemed to kill and ruin people without Kyle’s knowledge, but at least he managed it on his own so Kyle didn’t have to intervene directly.

So Kyle felt safe (complacent).

But today, Ilay caused a massive accident.

Killing people was fine. Today, he slaughtered a dozen or so, but that was easier to cover up. As soon as he contacted him, Kyle quickly sent people waiting nearby to clean the corpses and other obvious traces.

However, he made the hardest kind of mess to cover up. Kyle actually fainted for a second upon hearing the news.

Ilay arrived in Berlin at 6:30 a.m.

At that time, Kyle would usually be lightly exercising and then skimming the morning paper.

But today he didn’t exercise. He had slept poorly due to last night’s kidnapping and felt heavy-headed. He was pacing slowly around the yard, breathing in the dawn air, and then headed to his study.

The kidnapping case had been tentatively resolved.

Last night, after hearing from Morrow, Kyle called his brother after realizing that Kim was the young man Ilay had been desperately looking for—Jeong Tae-ui. After several calls, his brother finally answered, annoyed by the repeated calls, saying, “Why do you keep calling?” Kyle said, “One of the kidnapped people today is the young man you were looking for.” The line suddenly went dead.

“…What?”

Ilay’s voice lowered slightly when he asked again. Hearing that cold, chilling voice, Kyle clicked his tongue. Even Kyle, who had lived with him for a long time, found it spine-tingling. Kyle wondered how the people near Ilay felt.

Kyle recalled Kim—or rather, the young man named Jeong Tae-ui.

Indeed, that young man was Jeong Chang-in’s nephew, Ilay’s assistant instructor, and now a friend being chased by Ilay. Kyle finally found the answers to the strange things he’d wondered about from Kim. At the same time, he sincerely mourned that good young man. How had such a good young man become Ilay’s assistant instructor? How had such a decent young man earned Ilay’s wrath and gotten targeted?

He wanted to protect him, but if it was Ilay, Kyle could not protect him. Having weathered countless life hardships and dealt with people, Kyle had never found people difficult to deal with, but in a somewhat different sense, he absolutely did not want to confront Ilay.

“Well… I just heard from Morrow, so I’m not sure.”

Kyle answered the suspicious Ilay carefully, expressing uncertainty about the truth but believing Morrow wouldn’t lie. Morrow was a peculiar but very smart friend. Knowing Ilay was involved, Morrow wouldn’t be foolish enough to lie and shorten his own life.

Ilay seemed to think the same. He said nothing for a moment.

“So, I want your help. You don’t have to get directly involved, just contact the mobile unit…”

“I’ll help, so secure their location.”

Before Kyle could finish, Ilay cut off the call with just that brief reply. Kyle stared blankly at the ended call without any chance to say more. When two people looked at him curiously, he shrugged and said ambiguously, “Seems like it’s resolved.”

(Shortly after, Morrow said something unintelligible about evacuating the pretty girls quickly, packed up, and left for Hong Kong last night.)

Although he couldn’t be sure, since Ilay had promised to help, Kyle decided to trust those words. Although unpredictable, Ilay kept his word once he spoke.

Still, thinking about the precious guests held hostage and their discomfort, he couldn’t sleep well.

At exactly 6:30 a.m. the next day, while reading the newspaper, the doorbell rang outside the study. Kyle wondered who could be visiting at such a time. Thinking Rita would call if needed, he returned his gaze to the paper.

Exactly one minute and thirty seconds later, Kyle looked up suspiciously as someone strode into the study. Less than 12 hours after the phone call, his younger brother, who had been on the other side of the globe just hours ago, was standing there. Ilay paid no mind to Kyle’s shocked gaze and extended his hand immediately.

“Rewako. Three Panzerfausts. Their location.”

No greetings. He cut straight to the point as soon as he saw the face. Kyle, before preparing the items, gave a questioning look.

“How did you get here at this hour?”

Even as he asked, he already knew the answer. Considering the time, even if he left the airport right after the call and took the fastest flight, the timing wouldn’t work. That left one option.

“The UNHRDO private jet.”

Ilay only said that briefly and waved his hand as if demanding the supplies. Kyle clicked his tongue at those who appointed such a bastard as UNHRDO’s instructor.

Kyle handed over the keys to the three-wheeled bike that had been bought and modified but was rarely used and parked in the garage. He also gave the note with the location of the targets, which capable James had obtained last night. However, Kyle fell silent for a moment over the weapons Ilay requested.

“Three Panzerfausts? What do you need three for?”

“No time to waste.”

Ilay answered shortly and waved his hand, signaling to hurry up and deliver. Kyle stared at him for a moment, sighed, then contacted James to procure the items from some warehouse immediately, fulfilling the last request. While the weapons were being prepared, Ilay checked the locations in silence, then demanded a drum of gasoline. Kyle suspiciously considered the request but assumed it was to increase firepower and provided it. That was his mistake.

Just a few hours later, when his brother reported swiftly, “The hostages are all safe—though some need hospital visits—, the others are all gone, and the lodge is destroyed,” Kyle praised him. Judging by his tone, it was handled harshly but at least the matter was settled.

However, just before his brother hung up, he added something that made Kyle faint for a second.

“Oh, and I poured gasoline in the forest and set a fire. The fire spread quite a bit but it’s still controllable, so don’t worry too much—put it out.”

Kyle already knew his brother was reckless. That boy had shown signs since childhood.

But Kyle had never so deeply realized that fact before. He glared at the article decorating the corner of the newspaper and sighed.

Anyway, it was mostly resolved—James deserved a special reward—and the matter was concluded, but many tasks remained. Thanks to that, Kyle spent the whole day being hassled by James and buried under a pile of work.

Only after that did he barely return home, wash up, and finish eating. Kyle intended to have a meal together since it was a rare day home, but Kim—no, Jeong Tae-ui—who had entered his room and hadn’t come out, stared vacantly. Seeing him lost in thought, Kyle asked the most pressing question first.

“Kim—no, Tae-ui—, have you gotten up yet?”