Seringe Island [Seringe I.]
Area approximately 840 km². Population about 150,000. Located off the coast of the Indian Ocean, about 45 km from the shore of Lake Tanganyika. A flat island made of coral limestone, with a tropical monsoon climate. April to May is the rainy season; June to October is a cool dry season with the southwest monsoon winds; November to December is another rainy period; December to March is a hot dry season with the northeast monsoon winds. The annual average rainfall is around 1,500 mm, and even during the hot dry season, the wind makes it relatively pleasant.

The main crops are coconut palms and clove trees (used as spices), and rice farming takes place in the low-lying wetlands. Other food crops and fruits are also cultivated, and together with fishing, they enable the residents to be mostly self-sufficient in food.

Jeong Tae-ui stared intently as if he could memorize the entire paragraph at once, then closed his laptop.

What does it matter how many square kilometers an island floating in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa is, how many people live there, what the climate is like, or what industries it has? It would have been more useful if there was a map or something, but even digging through various map services, nothing like that came up.

They said it was a small island. Even if it is small, the area is just a bit less than half of Jeju Island, so finding one person inside it wouldn’t be easy, but according to Kyle’s brief explanation, which was more useful than the shallow encyclopedia description, the places where people mainly live are divided into three or four areas. Among them, the places where mainly outsiders—mostly wealthy people from the Middle East—have villas are some parts of the southeast coast.

Somewhere there, Jeong Jae-ui is. No, there is a high possibility he is there.

Jeong Tae-ui limped and flopped down on the bed. The sun was already high overhead. Though the shade blocked the sunlight from entering the room, it shone dazzlingly on the window frame, which was wide enough to be used as a door.

He rested one arm carelessly on the large window, barely a span above the bed, and cast his gaze outside. A pool that looked refreshingly blue was just a few steps ahead. Lying on the bed, Tae-ui looked at the pool while lightly moving the heavy leg in the cast, as if regretful. And then at the empty beach bench next to the pool.

On the bench, as if proof that someone had been there until a moment ago, a book lay open, face down. Now that he noticed, there was also a half-finished can of beer on the small wooden table beside it. He just saw that can now.

“......”

Jeong Tae-ui smacked his lips and glared at the can. It was Schultheiss. Damn it. I know how to drink beer too. Did you drink it all by yourself?

He grumbled inwardly, thinking about the man who had been sitting there until just a moment ago.

After having a somewhat late lunch, while Jeong Tae-ui was lounging in the room, the man, Ilay Riegrow, brought an old worn-out book from the study and sat by the pool to read. When it got hotter, he jumped into the pool and swam a lap or two, then picked up the book again. He looked like he was enjoying a truly leisurely vacation.

For Jeong Tae-ui, it was very fortunate, but surprisingly, Ilay did not interfere with whatever Tae-ui did. Whether Tae-ui took a nap in the room, snacked in the dining hall, or flipped through books in the study, Ilay did not meddle. He just enjoyed his own leisurely time, swimming in the pool or reading.

Well, maybe it wasn’t so surprising. It had been the same when they were at UNHRDO. Outside of official duties, Ilay did not care about what Tae-ui did. Not just Tae-ui, Ilay Riegrow was a man indifferent to everyone. Though it was sometimes frightening that, while indifferent to anyone, he seemed to see through everyone.

Yet, despite that, sometimes his intuition about the person beside him was so animalistic it could make one shudder. Perhaps that was connected to the facet of seemingly seeing through everything.

For example, like this:

Earlier, when Jeong Tae-ui, sitting by the window fiddling with his laptop, stood up to ask Rita for a snack, he glanced outside. Ilay had just come out of the pool, shaking water off his body with a beach towel, then sat on the bench and opened a book.

Looking at Ilay, who paid almost no attention to Tae-ui’s movements, Tae-ui briefly pondered. If he pretended to go to the store to buy ice cream and then ran away right then and there, would he succeed or not? He thought this with about 50% sincerity. If it had been an ordinary opponent, Tae-ui would probably have tried. In a one-on-one situation, it’s hard to defend but easy to escape. He was fairly confident he could flee safely.

But that bastard is definitely not ordinary......

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue silently and sighed as he watched Ilay turn the pages of his book.

At that moment.

“The success or failure is mostly determined by judgment. This premise applies to most areas....... The wisdom that seems ordinary but is essential is just a sentence like this. Isn’t it so?”

Ilay read aloud quietly as he tapped the page with his fingertips. Startled, though showing no expression, Tae-ui rubbed his chest inwardly, pretending nothing was wrong, and tilted his head, thinking “Well?” Ilay glanced indifferently at Tae-ui from the book.

“That doesn’t seem wrong.”

But adding “So what?” Tae-ui shrugged his shoulders. Ilay returned his gaze to the book and muttered meaninglessly.

“For example, choosing your best condition before a dangerous adventure... even that alone counts as decent judgment. Leaving aside whether the adventure is realistically possible or not.”

“......”

Jeong Tae-ui lightly tapped the floor twice with his casted foot. His body, heavy and sluggish like a wet rag from the waist down since morning, seemed fixed to the spot, unable to move.

Damn it. What kind of bastard is he?

Jeong Tae-ui cursed silently as he headed toward the dining hall. He had considered buying ice cream but the thought fell flat without any particular motivation.

After getting an egg tart from Rita and quietly returning to his room, Jeong Tae-ui frowned displeasedly at Ilay, who was reading a book calmly by the pool outside the window. Around that time, Rita came to call Ilay. It seemed there was a message from Hong Kong, and Ilay was told to check the study.

Upon hearing about contact from ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Hong Kong, Ilay briefly showed an annoyed face, as if he had been disturbed at work during his vacation, but he left without protest.

Well, it would be annoying to be bothered by work while resting so comfortably...... Tae-ui muttered inside as he looked at the laptop. Only after Ilay disappeared from sight did Tae-ui furrow his brows.

But when he thought about it, Ilay hadn’t gotten a call during vacation. He was actually on unauthorized leave. Receiving a call then complaining would be nothing short of shameless.

“A message from Hong Kong. Probably urging a swift return. Something like that...... When will he go......”

Turning over halfway on the bed, Jeong Tae-ui muttered, staring at the painfully bright blue sky.

But what he really wondered wasn’t when Ilay would return to Hong Kong. It was how Ilay would decide his own whereabouts. Unless he quit UNHRDO, Ilay must return to Hong Kong. Then, at that moment, what would he do with Jeong Tae-ui?

Let him go quietly, drag him to Hong Kong, cleanly dispose of him, or break his legs and lock him somewhere.

Listing the possibilities one by one, Jeong Tae-ui shuddered and quickly withdrew his fingers. The last option was the worst. The third option might be better. No chance at all of the first. Judging from the situation overall, the second was the most probable, but......

“I don’t like that either.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered with a sigh.

If only it had happened yesterday, he might have given up, thinking “If I’m with that bastard, it’s the same wherever I go in the world,” but now, Jeong Tae-ui had a place he wanted to go.

Seringe.

Where his older brother was.

The place where his brother’s whereabouts had been discovered after trying everything and everywhere without success.

 

The place where his older brother had been found, after all the efforts to search everywhere had failed. Even Jeong Tae-ui himself had not seen his older brother for a long time.

Jeong Tae-ui squinted against the dazzling sky. He covered his forehead with the back of his hand to shield himself from the light and muttered softly to himself.

“Kidnapping and confinement...”

It sounded unfamiliar.

Jeong Jae-ui and kidnapping and confinement. It seemed like a perfect match, yet in reality, there were few combinations less fitting.

There had always been many people and organizations coveting Jeong Jae-ui. Countless individuals willing to resort to forceful means like kidnapping. However, there had never been a single successful attempt.

If Jeong Jae-ui really had been kidnapped and confined...

“Unless the culprit is someone luckier than my brother...”

“I don’t think such a person exists, but even if there was, if they were that lucky, they wouldn’t have needed to kidnap Jeong Jae-ui in the first place.”

Suddenly, a low voice sounded nearby.

Damn. Who can’t take a joke?

Jeong Tae-ui closed his thinly open eyes completely. For some reason, his leg suddenly seemed to ache even more.

He clearly remembered closing the door, and as far as his memory went, that door had stiff hinges that creaked faintly when opened or closed. But somehow, that man was now leaning against the doorframe silently without a sound.

“Peaceful. The sunlight makes it easy to fall asleep, huh.”

“...Mm... I hardly slept last night.”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered as lazily as possible, and in fact, he was truly lethargic, so it didn’t take much effort. He wanted to keep his mouth shut while his eyes were closed, but he already knew that silence would not work with that man.

“Is the bed uncomfortable? Your older brother is especially particular about guests’ rooms. The bed you’re lying on now was specially ordered and took months to get.”

Ilay stepped silently into the room like a cat. The wooden floor creaked faintly. Tae-ui’s temper flared instantly. His fist clenched involuntarily.

Uncomfortable bed? Is that a joke, you damn bastard?

But Ilay—known by men who call him ‘peculiar’ in a very mild way—surely said that knowing full well. Looking at Ilay lightly tapping the white protruding joints of Tae-ui’s clenched fist with gentle fingers, it was obvious.

“Why clench your hand... You could even beat a bear like that.”

There was a faint smile in that voice. Tae-ui opened his eyes slightly again. He saw the long, white fingers gently tapping as if tracing his hand’s back and joints. The glassy nails shone in the light. Certainly, compared to those white and beautiful hands, Tae-ui’s plain and ordinary hands seemed more suited for wielding weapons or making fists.

However, Tae-ui slightly pulled his hand away from those white fingers and muttered.

“I swear to heaven, if I beat a bear, it won’t be with my hands, but with yours.”

Ilay laughed. Then he sat on the edge of the bed. Even as the blanket covering Tae-ui’s body was slowly pulled back about a span, the mattress barely shifted.

For a moment, Tae-ui thought of Ilay as a feline beast. But what kind of feline beast is capable of beating a bear...?

Burying his face in the blanket, Tae-ui shook his head and fidgeted. His condition was really bad today. Since morning, his mind had been drifting. He couldn’t focus on a single thought.

He had heard that even if the body is unwell, concentration remains good, but it seemed that human Tae-ui was now past that point.

With a short sigh, Tae-ui suddenly turned his head. Since sitting on the bed, he hadn’t sensed Ilay’s presence at all. When a predator is this quiet, it’s unnerving.

The moment Tae-ui’s gaze shifted to Ilay’s direction, something flew toward his face. Tae-ui barely caught it with his casted foot just in time, narrowly avoiding a severe blow to the bridge of his nose. It was a can of beer.

“I just took it out of the fridge, so it should be cold.”

“...Thanks.”

Jeong Tae-ui thought it would have been nicer if it had been given gracefully, and carefully tore open the poolside can so he wouldn’t spill it. If he hadn’t caught it or dodged it, his nose might be broken now.

Muttering under his breath, Tae-ui gulped down the extremely cold beer in one go, letting out a long sigh. Even he didn’t realize it, but he was thirstier than he thought.

After finishing the beer, a slight thirst returned. Shaking the empty can regretfully, Tae-ui thought about getting another, but suddenly looked at Ilay.

He was staring at Tae-ui. His eyes were sharp as blades but indifferent. Watching Ilay’s fingers tapping on the sheet, Tae-ui guessed he was thinking about something again.

“......”

Tae-ui slightly frowned.

Let me see... He doesn’t look particularly upset, so what could he be thinking while looking at me like that?

Tae-ui pulled an enameled kettle from the bedside table. He bit the short spout sharply and tilted the kettle. Rita would hate it, but he had no choice—the cup was right behind Ilay, on the bookshelf.

He was thirsty, but not enough to absolutely need water. However, staring blankly without saying anything felt awkward.

At this moment, the only thing that might cause that man to be lost in thought was probably the recent message from Hong Kong.

Thinking about it, Ilay had gone on unauthorized leave without even applying for vacation, and had almost hijacked a private jet without following procedures. Even a layman like Tae-ui could tell Ilay had seriously messed up.

Well, it wasn’t even a matter involving human lives, and compared to the numerous accidents he had caused before, this was minor. Whether he wrote a stack of reports, was demoted, or sent to the basement, Ilay wouldn’t bat an eye.