Passion: Suite

Only after the name left my lips did the pain of the blade gouging deep into my shoulder strike me. I flinched, and even opening my mouth to speak felt like it would echo through the wound, so I stayed silent.
“Because of you. You bastards planned this together. From the start you two were scheming to bring me to this state…!” Grinding my teeth, my voice was unnaturally sharp. Maybe I’d overused the painkillers. Hogan’s glossy eyes looked different—there was no trace of reason in them.
“What the hell are you doing!! Hey, are you okay?!” Kim Jeong-pil’s face went pale as he shouted, staring at me with a distorted expression. He looked between Hogan and me over and over, apparently at a loss from the sudden turn of events. It pained me to see him panicking like that—right now I should be mocking him mercilessly, but I couldn’t.
My head felt detached from reality. For such a dire situation, thinking like that…
Hogan swung his knife wildly at the advancing Kim Jeong-pil and yelled, “Move!!” Kim Jeong-pil barely slipped back as the blade grazed him. Even in agony, I clicked my tongue at that sight. Rotten fish still stinks, but Hogan swung that knife with the precision of a military man. His basics were solid—even as an administrative officer.
A man holding a weapon who knew how to use it properly. And two people with empty hands, one of them already bleeding. The situation stank. Thank God Hogan hadn’t stabbed my back, but the blade had cut deep across my shoulder, and blood gushed out like a fountain. Keep this up a little longer and I’d pass out. I clenched the bleeding shoulder, blood spurting without sign of slowing, and clicked my tongue. My hand felt scalding.
I really overdid it yesterday. I should have paced myself. My unwell body lost balance in an instant—I felt it. If I fell now, I’d never get up on my own, so I forced my weakening legs to hold firm.
Hogan ignored Kim Jeong-pil and turned back to me. His eyes, expression, and twisted mouth were no different from a demon’s. “You—I’m killing you first. After I see your face twist in death, I’ll kill him too…!!” I knew whom he meant: the man who’d just vanished down the stairs at the corridor’s end.
“He’ll be here soon anyway. When he comes, I’ll show him your corpse.” Hogan’s eyes flashed as he smirked. He knew Ilrey had been just above us. No doubt he’d seized the moment the moment Ilrey left.
Dammit. Earlier the stairs at the end of the hall had felt too near; now they were miles away. How long would it take him to reach us… plenty of time to swing that knife dozens of times, I bet.
“I can handle that…” I gritted my teeth and squared off with Hogan. But the instant I stepped forward, the ground shook beneath me. My vision blurred in and out. A heavy weight pressed onto me.
Wobbling, I barely stayed on my feet. “Taeui?!” Kim Jeong-pil shouted, bewildered as he stepped back two, three paces and braced against the wall. Only after blinking did I realize—

“Hogan smeared something on the blade.” I forced my hazy eyes open and glared at him. I saw a flash of dismay cross his face, and Hogan bared his teeth in a laugh. “I just dulled that rat’s quick reflexes. Ah—your head may feel foggy, but the pain’s still sharp, so don’t worry.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than he lunged with the knife. I narrowly dodged the blade aimed at my heart. It scraped my collar and tore my tunic.
“Stop it! You bastard, what are you doing! Are you mad?!” Kim Jeong-pil charged behind Hogan, but Hogan’s knife kept him at bay again. In that moment Hogan showed a brief opening—but under the weight that spread through my body, I couldn’t move properly.
“Who are you, anyway? Oh right, you’re that guy who’s his rival. You stay back—I’ll gut him soon enough; you can watch and wait.”
“What?! You son of a bitch!! You want to die?!” Kim Jeong-pil kicked Hogan’s side perfectly. Hogan’s eyes widened in pain, but he clutched the leg and drove the knife into Kim Jeong-pil’s thigh. A short, horrible scream split the air.
“Kim Jeong-pil, get back…!” I forced my spinning vision open and shouted. This wasn’t his fight. Watching someone else get hurt because of me stung worse than my own wound.
At my shout, Hogan turned to me. His glossy eyes laughed, and he strode forward as though to say how admirable. “If you hadn’t been here, this wouldn’t be so hard. If you hadn’t interfered with him, I’d already have gotten that data. Why block me…? You should’ve asked your precious brother to make another dataset instead of messing me up over that one little file…!” Hogan stomped closer and raised his fist as if to punch before slashing.
Despite knowing it was useless, I let rage drive my numb body. I rammed him with my shoulder and, at the same time, swung at his face. “You’re the bad one, stealing and selling what belongs to others!” I tried to wrest the knife away, but Hogan swung at my arm, leaving a shallow cut. His next fist caught me in the gut. I gasped and slammed against the wall.
My punch must have landed cleanly, for Hogan staggered back and glared at me with murderous eyes. “Jaeui’s work… what’s so great about it…!”
“Then stop stealing it, you bastard!” I snapped back, tongue clicking. Damn it, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) my vision danced again. My head spun wildly.
Hogan, as if seeing through my state, gave a twisted smile and took another step. “Don’t drag this out—just—”
“You bastard—”
But at that moment, Kim Jeong-pil, dragging his blood-soaked leg, lunged into Hogan’s back. “So you’re not an instructor but a thief, huh? Huh?! You son of a bitch!!”
“He…!!” Hogan swung the knife. Kim Jeong-pil, unable to evade, was slashed deeply. Another agonized scream echoed.
Ilrey, hurry. I prayed. Until just now I’d wanted him later—but I was wrong. Before Kim Jeong-pil dies in your hands, he’ll die by Hogan’s.
I rubbed my blurring eyes, forcing my lids open. At the far end of the hall I sensed a large shadow. Probably startled onlookers gathering after the noise. I willed myself not to lose consciousness—there was one reason I had to stay awake.
“Hey… don’t kill him…” My voice was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz, and Hogan’s gruesome screams might have drowned it out—yet eerie Ilrey seemed to hear. Moments later the sound of flesh tearing and bones crushing stopped. Only Hogan’s agonized moans remained.
“That’s right. That’s not the urgent matter now.” Ilrey’s footsteps approached, discarding the leather bag that had sounded like it was full of water. His calm voice trembled oddly—unlike him, I thought—yet I shut my eyes, unseeing.
I regretted it. At this moment he must have had a rare expression, but I couldn’t see it. He flung Kim Jeong-pil’s body aside—Kim Jeong-pil’s groan as he rolled made me realize he’d survived—and carefully scooped me up. His arms were strangely warm and familiar. I felt relief.
“You just can’t look away…” Ilrey clicked his tongue. His tone blamed me entirely for this chaos.
“You….” He tried to shout, then slumped. He sounded weak. Worse, that unsteady voice sounded so unfamiliar I doubted it was really his. Yet this body, this warmth was undeniably Ilrey’s.
So I let go. His arms were so secure and comforting that I felt no fear of falling. And I knew he wouldn’t drop me. Ilrey carried me toward the elevator—probably the aid station. I clung to consciousness, whispering my lingering worry.
“Kim Pil got cut too…”
“He’ll live. And the onlookers will carry him off. You have nothing to worry about. Also…” Ilrey’s words faltered as if weighing what to say, then continued bitterly.
“If Hogan hadn’t shown up, I planned to snap his neck. But since you got cut instead… he can thank you that he’s alive.”
Right… I recalled the moments before Hogan appeared and snapped my mouth shut. Now pretending to be dead looked like my best chance. Or maybe I’d really die—I was in agony, as if my shoulder were on fire. My consciousness flickered.
“Don’t kill him, Hogan?” I mumbled, half-unconscious. He mustn’t die. Ilrey faces months in the tribunal otherwise. Killing him would only make things worse.
Months… not long, but I’d feel strange not seeing him. Yes. I’d feel lonely. He’s thoroughly soaked into my life, I realized between waking and sleeping. My mind slipped toward darkness, perhaps soothed by relief.
Hey, don’t kill him… don’t kill him… I never heard Ilrey’s reply. I fell fully into unconsciousness before he could speak.
So I missed his quiet murmur—as if aside—
—It’s not just your toes that you can do without.
That soft whisper, coupled with a tender kiss on my forehead, I never heard it. Perhaps that was a blessing, for otherwise I couldn’t have let myself drift so peacefully into oblivion.