F95

Kim Joongseok. Woo Siyeon.
Siwoo stared blankly at the gold nameplates hanging side by side at the gate. If you combined his father and mother’s names, you got Kim Siwoo.
He thought about the name he’d been called since birth. His mother had given him part of her own name. She’d even fought his father and the family over it when Kim Yeonho came into the picture.

He had once believed that she did it because she saw him as precious. He had wanted to believe that.
But now, he had to admit that wasn’t the case. He had to let go of it all.
Her fight had been a symbolic assertion of her stake in the family, not an expression of love.

Siwoo had chosen a time when he knew both parents would be home. It had been a long time since he’d shown his face to them, and as soon as he stepped inside, a storm of verbal abuse erupted.

“You crazy bastard, where the hell have you been wandering around? We finally managed to make you half-human and now you’re off doing god knows what. Still going around killing people?”

Why didn’t he respond immediately to their calls? They’d tried to reach him, found out he’d quit the resort. Was he even salvageable? What kind of filth like him could have been born into their family?

Siwoo calmly caught his father’s raised wrist. Then, looking down at the man who had tormented him all his life, he spoke with an utterly even expression.

“Father, I used to want to believe everything you did to me was for my own good. That it was some form of tough love.”

There had been a time when he tried to believe that violence was love. Probably before he met Yeonho. He’d been so starved for affection back then.

“But now, I know. I know you’re just repeating what your own parents did to you. That you suffered trying to compete with your older brother. And that you couldn’t stand the idea of me enjoying the things you had to fight so hard for. So you made me go through the same hell. I can’t take that anymore.”

His father looked stunned, it seems like Siwoo had struck a nerve. He opened his mouth to yell, but Siwoo cut him off and turned to his mother.

“Mother. I know you treated me like you had to match Father’s harshness. You didn’t want to lose ground as the head of the household. I’ve known since I was a baby that I was just a tool in your struggle for dominance. Even little kids can feel that.”

A cascade of angry shouting came his way. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Siwoo pushed past his father and checked the intercom, then casually opened the door. Movers began pouring into the house.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Of course, his father wouldn’t lay a hand on others or curse in front of strangers. He always played the gentleman when it counted. Siwoo ignored him and directed the movers to the second floor, where his things were. It was time to erase every trace of himself from this house.

Just then, someone poked a pretty face through the open front door.

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

Yeonho walked in beaming, just like he had at twenty, cheerful and radiant. He stepped right into the house and gave Siwoo’s parents a polite bow.

“My name is Joo Yeonho. I’m sure you’ve heard of me, though you probably don’t recognize my face. But who I am isn’t really important right now.”

“Who are you? What is going on?”

Siwoo’s father kept his tone low and formal, as expected, pretending to be dignified in front of a stranger. But Yeonho had studied this man’s habits thoroughly. He wasn’t fooled by the act and continued speaking without hesitation.

“I have something to tell you. Would you prefer to sit, or should I just say it standing?”

“Just get to the point!”

At last, the man lost his temper. Yeonho shrugged and began.

“Mister. Ma’am. You’re about to be served for the abuse you’ve inflicted on your son. We’re also filing for restricted resident record access and a restraining order, so take a good look at your precious son’s face while you still can. This is your last chance.”

He raised a hand and placed it gently under Siwoo’s chin. Siwoo rubbed his jaw affectionately against Yeonho’s palm. Yeonho tickled his chin slightly, then shoved a lawyer’s business card into his father’s hand.

“From now on, please communicate with your son through his legal counsel. If you contact or approach him directly, we’ll be seeking immediate police enforcement. And if you send anyone after him unofficially, we’ll respond in kind.”

There was a sharp edge in Yeonho’s voice, something almost cinematic in its menace. Siwoo covered his mouth with his left hand, trying not to laugh. His now-free fingers glinted with a ring.

On the same day Yeonho finalized the notarized property transfer with his parents, he had formally proposed to Siwoo. The condition he’d whispered as he slipped the ring on his finger was this:

I’ll hire more lawyers than your parents. Just trust me once.

“If you’d like to calculate the cost of raising your son, feel free to send an invoice. I’ll pay what seems reasonable. But either way, you’ll end up repaying him far more in the long run. So let’s not make things unnecessarily complicated.”

Having said all he came to say, Yeonho bowed one last time.

“Thank you for giving birth to such a beautiful son. I’m sure your hands and feet must’ve hurt from all the times you beat him. Please, rest now. I’ll be taking this son you hate so much with me.”

He took Siwoo’s hand and looked up at him. Siwoo’s face was light and unburdened. At last, Yeonho, too, let go of the weight he had been carrying.

Siwoo turned his back on his parents without regret. As they left the house together, he kept repeating in his heart: this isn’t a dream. Escaping from this place wasn’t a fantasy. Until now, he had believed that completely cutting ties with his parents was something that could only happen in dreams.

And in those dreams, he had never once succeeded. Sometimes he’d run, only to be dragged back. Other times he’d leave, only to return on his own and accept the violence all over again.

But in reality, Siwoo had made it out, holding Yeonho’s hand. As they got into the car, Siwoo looked at Yeonho beside him in the passenger seat, overwhelmed with emotion.

“Yeonho.”

“Yeah, Yeonho hyung.”

Yeonho’s eyes were filled with tears. Siwoo reached up and touched the corners of them with his fingers. If Yeonho hadn’t forcibly pulled him out of that house, he would have remained trapped, reliving the same nightmare.

Yeonho didn’t want to cry, so he changed the subject with a joke.

“Hyung, seriously, don’t feel pressured. I mean, your bank account is huge. I saw the balance. Why do you have so much money?”

“Oh, that. Just in case something happened to me, I invested the inheritance from my grandma over four years. Real estate, stocks. I still have it all. So don’t worry about me being a financial burden.”

Siwoo answered shyly. Hearing that, Yeonho pouted with exaggerated disappointment.

“What! I was expecting you to show up with nothing but a toothbrush. I’m really upset.”

Right on cue, a tear rolled down Yeonho’s cheek. He waved his hands, insisting the tears had nothing to do with Siwoo’s wealth, but then burst into laughter. Siwoo laughed too, and soon they were crying together.

Just as he had once told Yeonho to endure the burden of guilt, Siwoo now decided to accept the weight of Yeonho’s love without resistance. If they were tied together through business, even better. It would create a legal bond stronger than anything else. And he believed his own skills could genuinely help with Yeonho’s plans.

Looking at him tenderly, Siwoo reached over and tugged at Yeonho’s cheek.

“Do whatever you want with me. I’ll take all of it, no complaints.”

Yeonho beamed and nodded.

“Thanks for letting me repay everything you’ve given me.”

He couldn’t stop caressing Siwoo’s once-broken hand. For Yeonho, Siwoo’s parents had always been bitter rivals. He hated them far more than Siwoo ever realized. That was why he hadn’t been afraid or nervous in front of them. If anything, it only fueled his determination.

They didn’t need to dream sad dreams anymore. No more nightmares of Siwoo getting beaten, hanging himself, dying. No more visions of Siwoo being stolen away in front of him.

“I’ll protect you forever. I swear.”

He meant it. He had no doubt.

He could protect Siwoo, and no one would ever take him away.