RB 121

“Is the setup complete?”

In response, President Kang raised his eyebrows. His expression confident.

Yeorok’s steps directed him into the hospital. The abandoned facility remained as he remembered, dim and shadowy whether day or night, still permeated by a musty mold odor.

The resounding clack of his shoes echoed through the empty corridor, penetrating deep inside. An eerie wail reminiscent of a ghost’s cry could be heard. As he ventured further, the bizarre sound took on a clearer form. A rusted door opened, and Yeorok finally confronted the source of the sobbing.

Seo Taehwa lifted his head. The appearance of his old friend, unseen for months, was quite pitiful. His under-eyes were hollow like a drug addict’s, and his sunken cheeks gave him a skeletal look. Though not from a chaebol family, he had once carried himself with comparable poise; now, Seo Taehwa sported matted, unwashed hair and ragged attire akin to a homeless person.

“Ye-Yeorok! Choi Yeorok!”

Upon spotting Yeorok, Seo Taehwa’s eyes widened as if he’d found salvation. As he scrambled forward desperately, one of President Kang’s subordinates swiftly kicked him in the side.

With a grunt, Seo Taehwa rolled across the bare floor, curling up in a ball. The pain was so intense that tears welled up in his eyes, but he mustered the strength to crawl forward. He looked like an earthworm exposed to sunlight.

“I-I’m sorry, I, hng, I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once.”

Seo Taehwa clasped his hands together, pleading fervently. Blocked by the thugs, he couldn’t reach Yeorok’s feet, but he thrust his face between their legs, begging repeatedly.

“Yeorok! Save me, please! I’m sorry! I really am! I won’t do it again! Just spare my life!”

From the moment he was captured by President Kang, Seo Taehwa instinctively knew his life was in danger. Yeorok’s reliance on President Kang’s hand meant something bloody was on the line.

To survive, he had to beg unconditionally. This was his only chance.

“…….”

Yeorok simply stared in silence. His impassive face showed no discernible change in expression. The chill in his gaze felt like a death sentence. A sudden wave of fear gripped him.

“Taehwa.”

A low voice cut through the air.

Seo Taehwa, who had been wailing and pleading, halted his sobs and swallowed the tears lodged in his throat. The monotonous tone of the call was frightening, but Choi Yeorok still called him by his familiar name. He felt a glimmer of hope.

“Have you seen me kill someone?”

But even as he called his name gently, Yeorok’s face remained devoid of emotion. No mercy could be found in his frigid eyes.

For a moment, his spine stiffened. His teeth chattered. Seo Taehwa had long known Choi Yeorok’s true nature. He had no regard for others, but he possessed a cruel nature that would retaliate double any harm done to him. In terms of purely ruthless character, he was even more vicious than Choi Yoonho.

That’s why he had gone into hiding. After committing the act in a fit of rage, he hadn’t slept soundly a single day. He lived in constant anxiety. He prayed endlessly to live like a rat in the shadows, as long as he never encountered Choi Yeorok again.

The declaration that he wouldn’t kill him was terrifying. It conjured fates worse than death. The premonition that he wouldn’t escape unscathed made his limbs rigid. It felt as if his blood were draining entirely from his body, though he wasn’t wounded v

In the end, Seo Taehwa played his final card.

“I… want to apologize to Eunho. Let me see him.”

He barely managed to muster up a voice. Clinging to Sim Eunho instead of Choi Yeorok was the only way to survive. He was different from Choi Yeorok, so at least he knew how to be forgiving and merciful.

“Who are you to mention Eunho’s name?”

A cold rebuke flew. At the mention of Sim Eunho, his emotionless face cracked.

“Why did you do it?”

Yeorok asked with bloodshot eyes.

“If you wanted to vent your anger, you should have done it to me. Why did you hurt an innocent child?”

Seo Taehwa stared blankly up at Yeorok. He couldn’t believe it, seeing Choi Yeorok empathize with others’ suffering and rage as if it were his own.

In that moment, Seo Taehwa forgot his own miserable state and realized something.

Ah, this is what I wanted to see.

I wanted to witness Choi Yeorok fall apart.

But faced with the very scene he’d desired, it brought no satisfaction. Instead, he felt greater resentment and sorrow.

“…Because you love Eunho. I hated the sight of you truly loving him.”

“…….”

“Why did you change your mind? You acted like you’d use and discard him at first, so why give him your heart and drive me to this?”

“…….”

“You told me not to show any signs. Why is it only possible with Eunho!? You should have given me a chance too!?”

Yeorok looked down at the floor and let out a brief laugh. Seo Taehwa’s excessive obsession always made him sick.

The ironic part was that Seo Taehwa’s resentment toward Eunho seemed so rooted, like it had been ingrained for a long time. It seemed like Seo Taehwa had already noticed his feelings, even though Yeorok hadn’t. Actually, he hadn’t experienced it himself, so he didn’t know it was love.

Would things have differed if he’d realized sooner?

Such hypotheticals were futile. The fact that he’d lied and deceived Eunho for so long wouldn’t change, and even if he’d revealed it in advance, the depth of the hurt Eunho would have felt would have been the same.

“You knew… that Sim Eunho wouldn’t be able to endure it.”

“But you found him right away! He was fine, unharmed!”

Seo Taehwa shouted, his eyes half-turned. He was now intent on defending himself, regardless of the consequences.

Yeorok looked up with empty eyes.

“He’s not fine. The time he spent there was hell for him.”

Eunho was consumed by betrayal and fear. How much pain must he have suffered that he would have chosen to go mad?

Sim Eunho was broken. The kind, honest, and more affection-hungry than anyone else, the Sim Eunho who tried so hard not to be hated, was now gone. He seemed so tired of Choi Yeorok’s reach that he had drifted far away, making it impossible for him to even reach him.

“Do you think I’d be comfortable? I had no intention of hurting Eunho! I just wanted to ruin your relationship!”

“…….”

“I only gave you a slight push to make you fall. You’re the one who dug that hole, Choi Yeorok! You brought this on yourself! Who betrayed him first and took advantage of him Why are you blaming me? Where are you putting the blame?”

Seo Taehwa cried out in a hoarse voice. He couldn’t stand the injustice and the indignation, and he poured out all his innermost feelings.

“You never dreamed it would turn out like this? You thought I’d lie to you my whole life and stick by your side? No way, you hypocrite!”

Seo Taehwa trembled and clenched his teeth. He couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

Then, suddenly, the corners of Seo Taehwa’s mouth split open. Things he’d been blind to because of his screams began to come into view. His own condition was already abysmal, but Choi Yeorok’s was also in a much worse state. His complexion, which should have been radiant, was slightly dull, and his jawline was chiseled, as if he’d lost weight.

That bastard… got dumped by Eunho.

“…Even if Eunho got to that point, I thought there was nothing I could do if he wanted to be with you. But, judging by the way you look, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.”

“…….”

“How does it feel to be abandoned? Do you feel anything?”

“It hurts.”

Yeorok answered briefly. His eyes, which had been clouded for a moment, became as cold as ice again. He no longer wanted to listen to Seo Taehwa vent his anger.

“Congratulations. You achieved your goal.”

Despite his calm tone, Yeorok’s gaze was cold. It wasn’t the gaze of someone looking at a longtime friend. Seeing his eyes, as if they were looking at a worm, less human than a human, Seo Taehwa realized he’d momentarily lost track of reality.

“Wai-wait! Yeorok!”

“Now it’s time to pay the price.”

Yeorok took a step back. Seeing him move away instead of approaching, Seo Taehwa looked around in shock. President Kang nodded toward him. Strong hands grabbed Seo Taehwa and lifted him up. “Ah,” he gasped, as if he were about to have a seizure.

“Ah! Aah! No! Save me, please! I don’t want to die!”

“I told you, we’re not killing you.”

President Kang clicked his tongue in disdain. He’d watched, expecting some venomous display, only to find a pathetic coward.

President Kang’s men dragged Seo Taehwa, who was struggling like a madman, to a room prepared in advance. Dragged into the dilapidated hospital room, he was placed in a straitjacket. He was tied to the bed, unable to move.

Seo Taehwa, terrified, wet himself. He was acutely aware of the situation. The windowless room was no different from a sealed chamber. This abandoned hospital had once been a psychiatric facility before its ruin. The space, eerie enough for ghosts to appear at any moment, still retained the fixtures used for confining patients.

“Ye-Yeorok! Namyeong! You’re not leaving me here, right? It’s scary…! Hng, I’m scared! Let me go. Fuck! Get me out of here, you bastards! Untie this! If you abandon me, I’ll kill you!”

Yeorok watched his friend’s throat-tearing screams with cold eyes. The revenge was only beginning. This wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by killing or inflicting violence.

He wanted Seo Taehwa to cry out for help in the abyss of nothingness, slowly sinking into fear and despair. He wanted him to experience what Eunho had gone through, to experience firsthand what kind of time he had endured, and to see if he was truly fine.

Squeak – The iron door closed with a squeaking sound.

Faint wails, like a screams, could be heard.

Yeorok left the abandoned hospital without a second thought. Just as he had arrived, his footsteps were as abrupt as they had been when he left. Secretary Hong, walking ahead, opened the car door for him..

“Check in three days.”

“…Yes.”

He answered in a low voice. To Hong Namyeong, Seo Taehwa was a longtime friend. He believed he deserved to pay the price for his mistakes, but it was uncertain whether he could endure the full three days.

As soon as Secretary Hong got into the driver’s seat, he turned up the car temperature. Even though it was supposed to be spring, the air inside the car was quite chilly, perhaps because of the rain.

He glanced at the rearview mirror. Yeorok’s expression, reflected in the small mirror, was frozen. His eyes stared into space, as if he was contemplating something. He guessed that seeing Seo Taehwa screaming must have brought to mind Sim Eunho.

“…Shall I take you to the mansion?”

Yeorok remained silent for a long time. He looked out the window, his eyebrows furrowed as he answered.

“No, to Doksan-dong.”