“......”

‘The basement detention... If only he would stay locked up for a few months, that would be more than enough.’

Jeong Tae-ui parted his lips from the kettle and cautiously glanced at Ilay before speaking.

“You said you got a message from Hong Kong. From UNHRDO? Probably about why you came here... Or maybe it’s related to the military supplies connection.”

Only after opening his mouth did he realize the latter possibility was quite likely. But whatever the main point was, they wouldn’t let unauthorized absence from the post go unmentioned.

Ilay raised an eyebrow slightly, nodded with an ‘ah,’ then shrugged casually and said,
“It wasn’t anything special. Just telling me to return quickly. They said to be back by tomorrow. It was even a message signed personally by the Director.”

“By tomorrow? If by tomorrow...”

“Considering the time difference, I’d have to leave today.”

Ilay finished the vague trailing sentence Tae-ui had started. Tae-ui stared at him blankly for a moment.

“Today...”

He turned his gaze to the clock on the wall. It was the time when the sun overhead began to tilt substantially. Not much time remained in ‘today.’ Depending on perspective, it might be said that there was still quite some time, but at least it was certainly not enough time to immediately depart overseas.

Jeong Tae-ui closed his mouth and silently watched Ilay. For a moment he recalled the first possibility he had thought of earlier, but he quickly dismissed it. He knew well that life was not so easy.

“To leave today...”

Jeong Tae-ui spoke slowly, waiting for whatever Ilay might say.

Ilay still remained silent for a while. Perhaps lost in thought, he lightly tapped the sheets with his fingertips, then stopped.

“You want to go look for Jeong Jae-ui...?”

However, what came from Ilay’s mouth was somewhat unexpected. But at the same time, Tae-ui realized it was the most crucial keyword. Also, it was surprising in that it was not the typical way a reasonable human would anticipate another’s intent first. Tae-ui had thought that the man would simply assert his will regardless of Tae-ui’s wishes.

“...Yes. To help?”

Jeong Tae-ui asked with a forced smile.

This man must go to Hong Kong. Tae-ui wants to go to Africa. It was unlikely Ilay would easily let Tae-ui go. Here lay the difficulty.

Ilay’s gaze toward Tae-ui narrowed. Those thin, glass-like eyes, though Tae-ui had seen them many times, sent a chill every time.

Tae-ui sullenly stopped smiling and grumbled,
“Don’t glare at me. I’m not asking for help. Just don’t interfere.”

That last sentence was what Tae-ui most wanted. And it was also the future he hoped for himself.

Ilay’s lips curled just barely, a smile uncertain if it was one. He muttered briefly,
“To put it simply, Jeong Tae-ui, tonight you and I will take a plane to Hong Kong.”

“......”

Jeong Tae-ui frowned and glared at Ilay in displeasure.

Yeah, I thought so. That’s exactly how this man operates.

Muttering bitterly, “Then why ask at all?” Tae-ui sighed deeply. It was time to seriously consider what to do here.

In fact, if Ilay Riegrow decided without question to drag Tae-ui to Hong Kong, Tae-ui had no way to avoid it. With this man fully capable and watching him with both eyes wide open, there was no chance to escape. Nor did Tae-ui have the strength to directly confront, knock him down, and pass over him.

Then the only chance would be to catch Ilay off guard like before, spike his drink, and run... but if he did, unless he made a new ID, his neck would be caught before even reaching the airport gate.

It seemed faster to get a new identity. Whether it would be possible under Ilay’s watch was another question. Besides, he wasn’t the type to be fooled twice by the same trick. Tae-ui clicked his tongue and scratched his head, then glanced up at Ilay.

“Do I have the right to refuse?”

“No.”

The calm answer came immediately. Just as expected.

“Then what if I stopped somewhere else for a while?”

“Berlin to Dar es Salaam, switch to a small plane to Seringe, find Jeong Jae-ui there, then back to Dar es Salaam and Berlin—or rather, Johannesburg would be faster—fly via Johannesburg to Hong Kong. If you can arrive by tomorrow, that’s fine too.”

“......”

Tae-ui lost count of how many times he had silently wanted to rip that smug mouth open. Eventually, he gave up counting altogether.

He had mountains of things to say, but he knew well that none of it would gain any ground, so he remained silent as Ilay quietly watched him. Then Ilay suddenly spoke.

“Tae-i, you’ve probably thought about this at least once.”

“...?”

Ilay said simply. Tae-ui looked at him suspiciously. There was no teasing or testing tone. He seemed to be stating exactly what came to mind, calmly nodding.

“Well... Jeong Jae-ui is incredibly lucky. Though they say he was kidnapped and confined, no one believes that literally. If the kidnapper truly wanted him, it would have been nothing for him to return home without a scratch. But even so, there was no contact. Not even with you.”

“......”

“Have you ever thought maybe Jeong Jae-ui never really wanted to see you in the first place?”

Jeong Tae-ui quietly looked at Ilay. It was not mockery or probing, just an ordinary statement accompanied by a slight head shake.

“Well... that could be. If that’s the case, even if I go to Seringe, I probably won’t meet him.”

Tae-ui shrugged and muttered.

“Even if Jeong Jae-ui was right outside this door, if he didn’t want to see me, I’d never be able to meet him.”

“But I don’t think that’s likely. Just because he might not want to see me doesn’t necessarily mean he hates me.”

Tae-ui waved his hand carelessly.

Of course, he must have thought about it. Even on birthdays when they had tried to contact each other, he never reached his brother. So naturally, he thought maybe his brother was too absorbed in something to think of him.

“He hates me... that’s also possible. I never thought of that.”

Tae-ui muttered appreciatively, nodding. It was a premise he could reasonably propose but had never considered before. Still, even thinking about that possibility, he doubted it.

Ilay, quietly watching Tae-ui nod calmly, raised one eyebrow just barely.

“You two must be very close brothers.”

“Hmm...? Not really... Well... we never really had reasons to fight.”

Tae-ui added, “From the start, we weren’t the kind of personalities to clash. Not that we got along well, but rather we had no overlapping traits enough to cause conflict.”

He briefly recalled his older brother.

They certainly weren’t brothers who clicked perfectly. They never held hands going to arcades or played baseball or basketball together. Nor did they fight sharply over preferences.

Thinking about it, it might have been quite a bland relationship.

But still—

“I want to meet my brother.”

So, he didn’t want to go to Hong Kong with Ilay.

Ilay could not have missed the meaning behind Tae-ui’s words. He was a man who noticed even what Tae-ui did not want. Ilay’s gaze narrowed further. Tae-ui stared straight back at that unreadable look.

“Jeong Tae-ui. Do you think you have a choice?”

“...No?”

Tae-ui rolled his eyes briefly then glanced sideways, murmuring. He had been somewhat confident three seconds ago, but reality dragged him down.

As Tae-ui hesitated, Ilay broke the silence again.

“If not, will you take another chance to tie me up and run away?”

“Well...”

He did not dare say, “That might happen.”

Tae-ui thought he was quite good at vague or evasive speech, but he realized he might need to reconsider. It’s hard to deal with a sharp, unpredictable man like Ilay. Lies rarely work. And he didn’t want to just obediently follow him either.

Still, Tae-ui sighed and shrugged. After all the pondering, he already knew what he should do.

Not everything, but most things are solved by time. How much time, and whether he has the patience to wait, would affect the difficulty, but in the end, almost no problem remains unsolved by time. Whether it’s a few months, years, or longer, Tae-ui would eventually escape Ilay. Anger and obsession fade with time. Then, one day, Tae-ui would get another chance. He never believed he’d be without any chance for life.

...Though in Ilay’s case, once his mind cooled enough, he might just kill you without bothering. That was a bit troublesome.

Tae-ui scratched his cheek and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, then made a faint last attempt to resist.

“But still. Finding Jae-ui’s brother would surely be very welcome news for your company, right? They’ve been searching all this time.”

“Company? Well. It’s probably not such a damnable company. Besides, it’s not my concern.”

Ilay lightly waved his hand, saying that the company was clearly his brother’s jurisdiction, not his. Tae-ui tried again.

“Then UNHRDO—(although I don’t think you feel attached to it at all)—is still your organization. Don’t you think you could at least cooperate in finding a person they’re desperately searching for?”

“Me?”

Ilay’s answer was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} only that one word. And it represented the entire response.

Jeong Tae-ui inwardly smirked, thinking “I knew it would be like this.” He knew well there was no chance of hearing “Okay, then you go and find him” in response, so he wondered why he brought it up. Thinking about it, the most incomprehensible person was himself.

“Tae-i. Then I’ll just return your question.”

“...?”

Jeong Tae-ui looked at Ilay suspiciously at the sudden remark.

“Jeong Jae-ui, as you said, is without question a key figure in T&R, UNHRDO, and other related organizations. That means once a lead appeared, there are plenty of people ready to save him without you rushing. So why must you be the one to go?”

“Save? I’m not trying to save my brother. I want to see him.”

And he shook his head, saying that his brother was probably not in a situation needing saving.

Probably, his uncle’s urging to find Jeong Jae-ui was not purely for brotherly affection, but even knowing that, Tae-ui wanted to meet his brother. He was curious since there had been no contact. Also, in this situation, he still felt uneasy about that red thread his brother had cut off.

He grumbled that his fate had been twisted because his lucky brother had lost contact. Then, suddenly looking at Ilay, who silently watched him without reaction, Ilay slowly spoke.

“Want to go?”

The object of ‘where’ was unnecessary. Tae-ui was silent for a moment, then sighed.

“If I want to go, will you let me?”

“No. You must go to Hong Kong with me on the plane tonight.”

Tae-ui unconsciously frowned. It didn’t seem like Ilay was playing word games. What the hell was going on?

“Ilay. Think about it. You’re not the type to be fooled twice by the same trick. I know that. And you know I know that. So, even if I went alone to Africa to find my brother, you’d find him soon enough anyway. So there’s no need to bring me along to Hong Kong. You can find him and tighten the noose anytime you want.”

Tae-ui spoke very seriously. Ilay snorted quietly.