RB 14

“Sim Eunho-ssi is kind.”

Seo Taehwa said it while swallowing his coffee. The wide study was filled with the deep aroma of the coffee he drank. Yeorok was flipping through a book in front of the bookshelf and only half-listened.

“He is kind. Too kind, it makes me worry.”

“Anyone can tell he will listen well. His sincerity shows.”

After speaking without hesitation, Seo Taehwa gave a faint bitter smile.

“It hurts me that we have to make someone like that do things he shouldn’t have to do.”

Choi Yoonho had been a monster. He was trash without humanity or morality. Eunho had been chosen by Choi Yeorok just because he resembled the shell, and from now on he had to become a monster. Seo Taehwa found that pitiful.

“Well, he has quite strong determination. I think he will do well.”

Yeorok spoke as if it was only natural. When he lifted his eyes from the book, Seo Taehwa met his gaze as if he had been waiting.

“I agree with that too…. But don’t we have to revise our plan? We were supposed to put Choi Yoonho in a mental hospital after the trust ended. But the body has already been cremated, we can’t put him in, so should we cancel it?”

“No. Keep it as it is.”

Yeorok shut the book with a snap. His face was extremely calm as he looked at Seo Taehwa’s widened eyes.

Originally, once the trust’s condition was met, Choi Yoonho was to be placed in a psychiatric ward. Yeorok had planned to abandon his nephew without hesitation. Leaving Yoonho alive would only harm him.

At the time Yoonho was already receiving continuous psychiatric counseling every month, and Yeorok had long secured the specialist’s opinion letter. Locking Yoonho away forever in a psychiatric ward where no one could find him would have been easy.

Seo Taehwa swallowed and asked.

“…No, right? Not the thing I am thinking.”

“I would prefer if you said it clearly.”

“If we don’t change the plan, doesn’t that mean you will put Eunho-ssi in there instead?”

“The contract has an added clause. Sim Eunho wants to live as Choi Yoonho even after the work is done.”

Seo Taehwa’s lips parted. His pale face was full of shock.

He had not expected it at all.

“…Crazy bastard. You allowed that?”

“Yeah, I don’t even know why I did.”

Yeorok laughed, but he didn’t look like he regretted his mistake much.

“He wants to live as Choi Yoonho, and I have to cover everything I planned. So what else can we do? We each can only act as we wish.”

“You… at this rate you will really be punished by heaven. Yoonho will be waiting for you in hell.”

Only then did Yeorok smile softly. For a man planning to ruin someone’s life in an instant, the smile was captivating.

“That’s why don’t get too attached. When it ends, you might get hurt.”

“…What are you trying to do with all this?”

Seo Taehwa muttered, covering his forehead with his hand. He was already immune to Choi Yeorok’s knife-like nature, but at times he was still shocked at how inhuman he could be.

It was probably because Choi Yeorok too lacked humanity, like Choi Yoonho.

It was like a curse rooted in the Choi family.

***

Antisocial Personality Disorder.

ASPD for short.

Choi Yoonho fell under the sub-category of sociopath. The main trait of sociopaths was that they could not empathize with other people’s emotions. Yoonho went further, with impulsiveness and aggressiveness that made living in society difficult.

There were many types of sociopaths. Not everyone with the disorder became a criminal. Some hid their flaws thoroughly and lived pretending to be ordinary.

Unfortunately, Yoonho had no thought of hiding his nature. On top of that, he was an impulsive type who needed help and supervision for life.

He was first diagnosed as a sociopath at age ten. From then, Yoonho received drug treatment and counseling. One year later, he lost his parents, and perhaps because of that he showed an even more violent nature.

His sudden impulses peaked in adolescence. He stuck a mechanical pencil into a classmate’s ear, and Yoonho was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward for a week.

That experience seemed to have been a shock, because after that he did not directly commit violence against people. Instead, he found sly ways to relieve stress. There was no one who could control him. He became a little tyrant.

After he became an adult, alcohol, drugs, and excessive sex became his whole life.

“Ha….”

Eunho put down his highlighter and rubbed his tingling left hand. Using the hand he was not used to for underlining quickly gave him cramps.

Reading through Yoonho’s psychiatric counseling records he had obtained a few days ago made his own head spin. He was trying his best to understand Yooho, but it was not something that could be done overnight.

Even though Yoonho was born into wealth and lacked nothing, his life had not been smooth. That was the only conclusion Eunho could reach. What made him so angry and dissatisfied, only Yoonho himself would know.

“… I wish I could embody him..”

His gaze drifted to the desk mirror. The face in the reflection had almost no wounds.

It had already been fifteen days since he came here. With daily careful care, the blue bruises disappeared without a trace, and his rough skin now had a shine it never had before.

But in the mirror it was still Sim Eunho, not Choi Yoonho. He looked far from enough to be a replica.

He sighed again, and at that moment, there was a knock at the door. Seo Taehwa opened it and came in, smiling at Eunho.

“Eunho-ssi, could you step out for a bit?”

“Ah, yes.”

Eunho carefully pushed back his chair and stood up. He followed Seo Taehwa downstairs to the first floor and saw a terrace through the open glass wall of the living room. A chair and a large mirror were set up there.

Today was the day Seo Taehwa was going to cut Eunho’s hair.

Eunho’s hair was no different from a bird’s nest. The strands stuck out in uneven directions, and the lengths were all different. Whenever it got too long, he had just cut it roughly with kitchen scissors.

Snip snip–the sound of scissors moving tickled his ears. Even without looking, Eunho could tell that Seo Taehwa’s skill was good. He sat quietly, letting him work, but soon he could not hold back his curiosity and asked.

“Hyung, were you a hairdresser?”

Then he heard him laugh behind him. Seo Taehwa kept cutting as he spoke.

“No, I just got better with practice. I was in charge of Yoonho hair. He always insisted on one style…. There’s no one who knows Choi Yoonho’s hairstyle better than me.”

“…Hyung, you said you were a secretary, right?”

“Secretary sounds too fancy. More like a gofer? No, maybe an emotional trash bin would be more accurate.”

Seo Taehwa answered with a self-deprecating tone. Then he told his own story.

“Our family has served the Haegang line for generations. My father was Chairman’s aide, and my eldest brother was secretary to Choi Ilho, that is, Choi Yoonho’s father. They both died suddenly in an accident.”

Hearing his tragic family story, Eunho opened his lips in surprise but said nothing. He wanted to look back, but he could not move for fear of messing up the scissors.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t ask, I said it myself. And it’s an old story, so it’s fine.”

Seo Taehwa pressed down on the crown of Eunho’s head. While trimming the back, Eunho had to lower his head and listen.

“It was like a family business. I knew I would have to serve Haegang once I grew up. I wanted to help Yeorok if I could, but I ended up being assigned to Yoonho.”

“You said you’ve been in charge of Choi Yoonho for a long time?”

“Yes, since I turned twenty.”

Seo Taehwa lifted Eunho’s head straight again. Even while talking, his hands stayed busy.

“Well… taking care of Choi Yoonho was also a way of helping Choi Yeorok. The title was secretary, but it was like watching him. Yoonho knew I was on Yeorok’s side too. That’s why every time he saw me he was dying to kill me.”

“That must have been hard.”

“It was hard. But it was bearable because I thought there would be an end.”

Eunho blinked slowly. He did not fully understand the words he just heard.

“An end?”

The nonstop sound of scissors suddenly stopped. The chatter from Seo Taehwa also ceased. For a moment, it felt like even his breathing had stopped.

Then, snip–the sound came as another strand of hair fell.

“Yes, I only planned to stay by him until Yoonho’s trust ended. You know too, right? Yeorok’s guardianship has a set term.”

“Ah, yes.”

After that, silence continued. Seo Taehwa did not speak again, and only the snipping of scissors echoed on the quiet terrace.

Eunho stayed still under the gentle touch combing through his hair. He had never been the type to pry into other people’s lives. It also felt like Seo Taehwa didn’t want him to.

“All done!”

Seo Taehwa removed the cape from Eunho’s neck. He even set the mirror for him. Eunho awkwardly touched his shortened hair.

“How is it?”

His ears and nape, always hidden, were now fully exposed. His facial features were clear too. Feeling almost stripped bare, Eunho’s ears turned red.

“Uh… thank you.”

“Soon I’ll dye it and adjust the tone. Also, always sweep the bangs this way. You need to train the parting.”

Seo Taehwa brushed Eunho’s hair once more with his hand. He smiled brightly in the mirror, clearly satisfied with his work.

“You shouldn’t cover such a pretty face. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to fix your hair?”

“……”

“Eunho-ssi, you have no expression. Try smiling sometimes. If you keep such a stiff face, your pretty face loses its value.”

He kept saying pretty, pretty, and Eunho thought the praise was too much. He twisted his waist slightly and looked back at Seo Taehwa.

“Hyung, you don’t need to compliment me.”

“Why, because you’re embarrassed?”

“No, because I know it’s not true.”

Seo Taehwa blinked. His face showed exactly what he was thinking: What is he even saying?

“Eunho-ssi, don’t you know what your own face looks like?”