Story Of A Villain

Because it rained a lot, all the maple leaves have fallen.Dowonhyang is a place full of yin energy. It’s a mountain, yet there’s a lot of moisture. In places where there’s much dampness, relationships tend to get entangled and sticky.The annex village of Dowonhyang was designed based on the Gu family’s ancestral home in Yangpyeong. I heard that the mother, who owns more than half of Dowonhyang’s shares, appointed Jung as the manager and participated from the design phase along with the family’s long-served shaman. At that time, Gu Wonjae was a university student.The reason why Dowonhyang’s energy is particularly special is because the standing Buddha statue, which had protected the land for a thousand years, was naturally absorbed into the environment after fulfilling its role decades ago.— Your energy matches well with that Buddha statue. It’s quite strange. The moment you were born, the Buddha melted away.A sound of a lighter sparking came from the phone, like a murmur to oneself.— Did you put up the talismans I sent last time on every window frame you stay near? With time, you’ll have more problems because of the pesky spirits.Gu Wonjae slowly inhaled the cigarette smoke, looking up at the talisman on the window frame, then casually flicked his cigarette into the ashtray.“I found the rainwater instead.”— Well, you’ll have to go and see for yourself.

“…”— From the strength in your voice, it seems you’ve taken good care of your health.“I’m in the middle of healing.”The call ended with the shaman’s scoff.Gu Wonjae put away his cigarette case and turned around leisurely. He saw a small, trembling back, crouched on the floor in the reception room.Red spots where the fever hadn’t subsided yet dotted the pale skin. The blue aura was slightly faded. In other words, his energy was depleted.Gu Wonjae asked generously,“What do you like?”Even at such a simple question, Cheongwoo, startled, slowly lifted his head.“Me, me…?”“Food. What do you like?”Cheongwoo hesitated, lowering his head and hugging his knees tighter.“I eat anything.”Then, Gu Wonjae called a subordinate to order nutritious food from the Dowonhyang kitchen.The conversation was loud enough that Cheongwoo could hear the mention of ingredients like eel, mountain yam, and oyster. He felt a chill down his spine for a moment.After the call, Gu Wonjae came and sat next to him.“Come here.”Cheongwoo hesitated before uncurling his body and crawling to sit beside the man.He felt the strong arm around his waist pull him closer. As if it were a habit, a large hand slipped inside his waistband, gripping his buttocks roughly. It hurt a lot.He couldn’t remember how many times he was hit in the bathroom earlier. Gu Wonjae said he needed to get something out, and while holding Cheongwoo with one arm, he kept spanking him. It was clearly an excuse; it seemed he just enjoyed hitting someone’s buttocks.‘Is this what normal sex is like?’Such a thought suddenly crossed his mind. Gu Wonjae would find any slightly protruding part of Cheongwoo’s body and bite or hit it, which was so bizarre that he wondered if other spirits were treated the same way. However, he didn’t have the courage to ask anyone.As he lay there, dazed, dinner was brought in by the kitchen staff.They often glanced at Cheongwoo’s face as they moved about. The bruises on his delicate skin must have made a colorful pattern. Anyone would feel sorry to see a spirit who had served through the night looking like that.Cheongwoo endured the humiliation with his lips tightly shut.Gu Wonjae forced Cheongwoo’s mouth open and stuffed warm grilled eel inside. As Cheongwoo chewed on the meat in confusion, Gu Wonjae’s breath warmed his lips, sucking the sweet sauce off them.‘Disgusting…’Cheongwoo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, where the man’s saliva was instead of the sauce. Gu Wonjae then took that hand and bit down painfully on the wriggling fingers, making Cheongwoo’s small nose wrinkle slightly with involuntary affection.“Mr. Chairman… please stop.”He couldn’t even eat in peace.Even while chewing, the man’s hand kept sneaking under his clothes. Cheongwoo felt like his body was being kneaded like dough under the man’s hands. When he came to, he was already sitting face-to-face on Gu Wonjae’s lap.While the table was being cleared, Cheongwoo rested his cheek against Gu Wonjae’s chest, quietly held. He couldn’t move because any slight movement would result in a slap on his buttocks.The steady heartbeat made his eyelashes droop time and again.Lying limp in the man’s firm embrace, Cheongwoo wondered where he was. Where am I, here, in this place where I am now?He looked out into the distance.The small balcony in front of the reception room was bathed in the colors of sunset. As winter approached, all the maple leaves had fallen, leaving only the chrysanthemums burning red. The contrast between the beautiful scenery of the mountain village and his bleak reality made Cheongwoo feel even more dazed.“Your face is a work of art.”The man, who had his hand in Cheongwoo’s pants, fiddling with the buttocks, muttered silently.Feeling that gaze, Cheongwoo looked up with his round eyes. The still too-handsome face filled his vision. You made me like this.Regardless, Gu Wonjae scanned Cheongwoo’s body here and there with an indifferent look.“Your face should only be this size.”“…”“Why is your skin so tender?”“You sucked hard, Mr. Chairman.”“Should I stop sucking?”“Yes…”When Cheongwoo nodded, Gu Wonjae added,“Just the face.”“…”Meaning, he would continue to suck everywhere else as before. The part of him that had been bitten all night felt tingling.Cheongwoo thought that at least there weren’t ugly marks left on his face, and he responded quietly, “Yes.” Gu Wonjae’s large hand lifted Cheongwoo’s delicate chin. When their gaze deepened, a whisper rang out.“Except for the lips.”Cheongwoo looked up hesitantly. His soft eyes, like they were covered with down, stared at the man. Gu Wonjae, meeting his gaze, slightly furrowed his brows.Is this really the right thing to do? Since finding the rainwater, an even worse thirst seemed to grow.“…”The brief doubt quickly vanished from his mind. Gu Wonjae swallowed the cute lips in one bite.Late at night, a modest drinking setup was arranged in the tea room.As employees served simple fruit snacks and warm traditional liquor, they placed something else on the tea table. Cheongwoo, who had been blinking sleepily, suddenly looked surprised.“…Isn’t this my acorn?”“Yes.”What the employee left was a small glass jar, filled with tiny acorns. These were the ones Cheongwoo had gathered from the mountain, which Gu Wonjae had playfully thrown away, and Cheongwoo had eventually dropped while trying to pick them up before running away.Hesitating, Cheongwoo first opened the cork stopper of the glass jar. Next to it lay a long tweezer with a handle and a bundle of blue thread. Seeing this, Cheongwoo’s cheeks slightly flushed.While Gu Wonjae lay half-sprawled on a silk cushion, sipping his drink, Cheongwoo began to make a bracelet.First, he spread the acorns on the tea table and carefully pierced their bodies with the tweezers. It required a delicate touch since the shells were fragile and could break easily. The piercing had to be precise in both location and direction.“Interesting?”While he was concentrating, he suddenly felt a touch on his toes.The fingers were pressing one by one on the toes supporting his buttocks as he kneeled. Especially when touching the smallest, roundest pinky toe, there was a light chuckle. Cheongwoo subtly curled his toes under his buttocks and responded in a mosquito-like voice.“It’s interesting…”In truth, it reminded him more of his grandmother than it was interesting. He hadn’t been able to make bracelets even though he had gathered so many because of being busy. Not having contacted her for days, he wondered how worried she must be by now.Cheongwoo paused his threading to fiddle with the light blue thread for a while, then decided to ask questions he had been holding back.“Mr. Chairman.”“Yes.”“My grandmother’s hospital bill…”“It’s paid.”The reply was succinct. Cheongwoo reflexively bowed his head.“Th-thank you!”“Sure.”A short silence followed.Cheongwoo, who had been hesitating, cautiously looked up.“Um, but what about you, Mr. Chairman.”“Yes.”“How long will you stay at Dowonhyang?”A subtle smile rose in Gu Wonjae’s eyes.“Why do you ask that?”“Huh? Oh… just curious.”“Why would you suddenly be curious about that?”The man tilted his head as if amused. Meeting those dark eyes that seemed to see through him, Cheongwoo felt a slight pang in his chest. His words came out stuttering.“Um, well… because young guests rarely stay more than a month here in Dowonhyang. Since everyone has work to do, and people to meet.”“Why. Do you think I have no work or people to meet?”“…Do you?”Cheongwoo asked with a blank face.Well. Gu Wonjae murmured an ambiguous answer while reaching for a cigarette from the case on the tea table. Soon, with the bluish smoke, his low voice dispersed.“Cheongwoo.”“Yes?”“Do you have someone like that?”He hadn’t expected the question to be turned back on him, so he paused for a moment, then shook his head slightly.“I… don’t have one yet.”Gu Wonjae raised one eyebrow slightly.“Yet?”“Yes… I don’t have one now, but someday I might.”Cheongwoo smiled blandly with a thoughtless look while playing with the acorns.“I’ve never dated anyone before, but I think it would be nice if I had a lover. Hmm. Someone my age or just one or two years older? That would be good. Because then we could communicate easily and be comfortable like friends…”Cheongwoo stopped speaking unnaturally. There was a strange silence around them.“…”What’s this. Did I talk too much? Feeling suddenly intimidated, he shrank his shoulders. At that moment, a large hand reached out and pinched his already swollen cheek.“Ugh! Ah.”“This liquor-soaked thing…”Gu Wonjae, holding Cheongwoo’s swollen cheek, smiled coldly.🧸Thanks to that, the bruises on his face became even worse.The next day, Cheongwoo went out to the garden to check on the koi in the pond, wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a hat to cover his face. All of Gu Wonjae’s clothes were loose on him, but they hid his face well.Sangseob, who was leaning against the gate smoking, sneered at his appearance, asking if it was the first day after plastic surgery. Just then, Gu Wonjae, well-dressed, came out of the entrance and muttered.“Don’t tease the kid.”“I’m sorry, Mr. Chairman!”Sangseob immediately bowed at Gu Wonjae’s one word.Cheongwoo, who was scooping fallen leaves out of the pond with a net, secretly pouted his lips hidden by the mask. Why apologize to Gu Wonjae? Anyway, both of them were strange people.At that moment, Gu Wonjae approached him. Cheongwoo reflexively flinched and stepped back.“What are you doing?”“I’m going to feed the koi.”Quickly putting down the net, Cheongwoo picked up the koi feed container with both hands. Then, Gu Wonjae, who had been looking down at the sunglasses covering half of his face with an amused look, suddenly reached out and removed them. Cheongwoo’s eyes, tightly shut, were revealed.Looking down with a quiet gaze, Gu Wonjae playfully hooked his finger on the string of the white mask and slowly pulled it down. Cheongwoo’s face, with its visible downy hair, was still red and splotchy.“Why hide it? You have a pretty face.”“…The marks are ugly.”Cheongwoo muttered, his expression stiffening as if he had heard something strange.It was quite a sight, but not unbearably bad. In fact, from Gu Wonjae’s perspective, he liked seeing Cheongwoo adorned with his marks all over his body. It gave him a satisfaction similar to stepping on pristine snow for the first time.Though he considered himself a scoundrel, he felt no real guilt. Gu Wonjae was that kind of person. Suddenly, a cold smile formed on his lips.“I have some business today, so I’ll be back in the afternoon. So, don’t invite misfortune upon yourself.”The comment was laden with multiple meanings. Cheongwoo’s eyelashes slowly rose, revealing his clear eyes, trying to understand the implication.“It means behave and don’t cause trouble.”“…Yes.”He nodded obediently in response. Then, he felt a large hand gently wrap around the back of his head. A faint smile seemed to spread across Gu Wonjae’s cold eyes.“You’ve become well-behaved.”He had deeply realized that any backtalk would only harm himself.Cheongwoo shyly turned his head away, avoiding eye contact.After Gu Wonjae left with his entourage, Cheongwoo sat quietly in the gazebo where the warm sunlight came in, finishing the bracelet he had started making the day before yesterday.Somehow, he ended up making two bracelets. Cheongwoo pressed his lips to the acorn rosary-like bracelet and thought of his grandmother for a moment. He would be able to see her soon, perhaps if he asked Gu Wonjae…‘Would he listen?’The more time he spent with him, the more he realized how selfish the man was. He never cared about Cheongwoo’s thoughts, treating him like an object devoid of feelings. So, it seemed like he wanted Cheongwoo to always be within reach, like an item to use whenever needed.‘I should have listened to my grandmother back then.’Cheongwoo’s face suddenly darkened.In fact, even while she was sick, his grandmother had strongly advised against him working at Dowonhyang when he told her. She was once a shaman and knew of Dowonhyang in Jirisan. She said that since the guardian spirit of the land had disappeared over thirty years ago, even the most revered shamans had stopped visiting.‘Child, the energy there is exceptionally dangerous. Especially for someone like you, with all four pillars made of water, everyone will be eager to muddy you.’‘But grandma, there’s no work elsewhere right now… Here, they say you can earn a lot depending on how well you do because it’s a tipping system.’‘Then, always be careful about who you mingle with. You must keep those who covet your energy as far away as possible.’Coveting energy. It was a hard concept to grasp, but now it reminded him of Gu Wonjae.Cheongwoo shrugged briefly. Perhaps Gu Wonjae was possessed by all sorts of spirits. After the sleep ghost and the land ghost, there might be a lust ghost.When he was young, a man possessed by a lust ghost had visited his grandmother’s shrine, and Gu Wonjae’s symptoms were similar. He would do it all night, in the bathroom, during work, he’d have Cheongwoo sit on his lap and harass him whenever there was a chance, even while eating, he’d reach for Cheongwoo’s buttocks.If he were human, using that much energy would leave him drained, but Cheongwoo could barely walk, while Gu Wonjae seemed to get healthier and more vibrant the more he did it. That was even more unsettling.They say the dusk ghost feeds on human fear, and the lust ghost strengthens by consuming human yang energy. At this rate, Cheongwoo might die young at twenty-one from having his vitality sucked out. Should he carry red beans and salt?Lost in these thoughts, Cheongwoo carefully wrapped the bracelet meant for his grandmother in nice hanji paper and packaged it neatly.Then, he immediately got up from the gazebo and headed to the back garden behind the main house. There were many empty jars there for decoration, and he planned to hide the bracelet in one of them.The back garden, where sunlight hardly reached, seemed darker and colder than the front garden. The water in the nearby private hot spring was dry; it was only filled with fresh water when Gu Wonjae used it.Cheongwoo walked straight to the large wall where the jars were placed. He opened the lid of one jar to check if it was empty, then placed the acorn bracelet inside. He paused, slightly furrowing his brows.“…Huh?”Beyond the wall lay rugged mountains, but he noticed a crack in the high wall behind the jar he had just touched.Curious, Cheongwoo gently pulled the large jar forward. His face went blank for a moment.There was a previously unseen hole in the wall where the jar had been covering. Through the hole, he could see a faint, narrow path leading into the mountains. If he went through there, escaping Dowonhyang would be relatively easy.Who made this path? Suddenly, he was convinced that even Gu Wonjae didn’t know about this hole and the path. Perhaps it was a route created by monks when this place was a temple, to easily move between prayer sites in the mountains.The path hadn’t seen footsteps for years, so it was overgrown with bushes and fallen leaves, but it still felt like a glimmer of hope. He swallowed dryly. At that moment, a low voice echoed in his tense mind.‘Don’t invite misfortune upon yourself.’Cheongwoo bit his lip anxiously and slowly returned the jar to its original position.Then, he cautiously scanned the surroundings to see if anyone was watching.‘…No. Let’s not even think about it.’If he tried to escape and got caught this time, he’d surely break a leg.Moreover, the thought of navigating through the mountains via that hole seemed daunting. Beyond the wall lay the dense slopes of Jirisan, like an endless sea, vast and deep.‘Besides, Gu Wonjae already knows where grandma’s hospital is.’Paying the hospital bill meant he had investigated Cheongwoo’s background. He probably knew Gyujin’s contact information and address too.Even if he escaped, he had nowhere to go.Cheongwoo trudged out of the back garden, feeling defeated.🧸“What’s this?”“Um, a rosary made from acorns.”In the evening, Hwang Seongyeon came to serve dinner for the first time in a while. This was when Gu Wonjae had not yet returned from his outing.Cheongwoo, who also did server work, knew it was customary for guests to directly give tips to servers from the annex. However, Gu Wonjae was so stingy that Cheongwoo had never seen him give tips to kitchen staff who served the meals. Of course, he hadn’t given any because he had no money either.So, instead of money, he gave Hwang Seongyeon the acorn bracelet he had made with care, timidly adding that it was handmade. Hwang Seongyeon smiled broadly, showing his neat teeth.“Wow, really… this is so damn cute.”“Huh?”Cheongwoo looked up with a dazed expression. Hwang Seongyeon cleared his throat, took the acorn bracelet, and put it on his left wrist.“No, not you, this one. This rosary. It’s so damn cute.”“Oh, right. It’s cute, isn’t it? I picked out the smallest and cutest ones to make it.”Cheongwoo, pleased by the simple compliment, lowered his eyelashes with a slightly flushed face.“When I was little, my grandma made one like this for me. She said it would protect me from strange people… Of course, this one I made casually doesn’t have any protective effect.”“I’m not expecting that. But you made this… to give to me?”“Yeah. While I was making one for grandma, I thought of you too. I felt bad for not being able to give you tips every time you served.”“…”Hwang Seongyeon had never seen a peer who spoke so softly and awkwardly. Perhaps that’s why he found Cheongwoo interesting and his eyes kept being drawn to him.In fact, the tips for serving at the 7th annex were consistently given by the thugs guarding the gate, at 50,000 won each. However, Hwang Seongyeon didn’t mention this fact.After staring at Cheongwoo’s face in silence for a while, Hwang Seongyeon spoke with a rather heavy voice.“Cheongwoo.”“Yeah.”“Should I report it?”Cheongwoo’s face showed shock.“…Huh, what?”Cheongwoo’s eyelids were red with bruises, and his lips were split and bleeding, with bite marks and bruises scattered across his cheeks, ears, and neck. Hwang Seongyeon couldn’t help but frown at the sight.“You’re getting beaten. By the guest you’re serving.”“…Oh.”Cheongwoo quickly lowered his head and hurriedly grabbed the mask beside him. He had forgotten, but he suddenly realized the state of his face. He felt the heat rush to his face.Hwang Seongyeon took a sharp breath.“Ha, really. He’s supposed to be older, why does he do that? Is he some kind of pervert? Does he get off by hitting a kid?”Cheongwoo, alarmed, looked around to see if anyone might overhear.“Shh, shh, keep your voice down. It’s not like that, it’s not…”“What do you mean it’s not? Then what are these bruises?”“…”Cheongwoo bit his lip, unable to say that the marks were from being bitten and hit during their encounters.He felt so embarrassed he could die. To think he was living being beaten.Cheongwoo lowered his flushed cheeks and rubbed his swollen lower lip with the back of his hand. Reflecting on it, he had been spanked during their interactions, and he had been slapped before, so saying he lived being beaten wasn’t entirely wrong.“The rumors have already spread around Dowonhyang.”Hwang Seongyeon’s furrowed brows didn’t relax as he muttered this.Hwang Seongyeon didn’t know exactly who the big guest Cheongwoo was serving was. He couldn’t gauge the person’s identity from just hearing they were VIP, but he seemed to be some kind of mafia boss. Even the manager of Dowonhyang seemed to tread carefully around this guest. It was rumored that Cheongwoo had tried to escape a couple of times but was caught and brought back, and since then, he had been confined to the annex, serving day and night.“Anyway.”Cheongwoo spoke in a red, flustered manner.“If you get involved, you might get into trouble too. Don’t ever report it.”At that moment, a rough voice came through the slightly open gate.“What are you doing, not coming out after serving the food?”Sangseob was peering inside with his narrow eyes, muttering some curses. Hwang Seongyeon swallowed his words and adjusted his throat.“Yes, I’m coming out now.”He stood up from where he was sitting at the table, put his hand into his apron pocket, and secretly handed Cheongwoo a small walkie-talkie he always carried as a spare.It was a life walkie-talkie recently distributed to servers at Dowonhyang, capable of transmitting and receiving signals within a 5km radius.“…”Cheongwoo looked blankly at Hwang Seongyeon’s retreating figure.🧸“What were you talking about inside?”“Nothing, really.”“…Go on then.”Sangseob, standing at the gate, gestured towards the outside with his chin.Hwang Seongyeon, feigning ignorance, silently pushed the tray and started walking down the path of the annex village.Clatter, clatter. The acorn bracelet Cheongwoo had given him jangled on his wrist as he pushed the empty tray. Glancing at his wrist, Hwang Seongyeon felt his cheeks warm up for no reason.Are all spirits like this?Thinking of Cheongwoo’s face, always adorned with a gentle smile, made his mouth dry. The pure white skin, the pretty eyes crinkling into a smile, the red outline inside his plump lower lip.The innocent atmosphere, strangely mingling with the bruises all over his body, seemed to enchant men even more. He had never been this drawn to anyone before. Unconsciously thinking of Cheongwoo, Hwang Seongyeon gripped the tray handle with more force, his emotions becoming complicated.At that moment, two large sedans entered the entrance of the annex village.Since the road was narrow and there was a risk of collision, Hwang Seongyeon, who was near an intersection, moved his tray to the side. He stood there waiting, but the sedan didn’t move further and stopped below the intersection.After stopping, large men in black suits got out of the car behind first. Then, one of them quickly ran to the front car and opened the back door. A pair of shoes, clearly expensive, stepped onto the road at a neither slow nor fast pace.Hwang Seongyeon swallowed a deep breath and stepped back, feeling the wall against his back.The young man stepping out of the large sedan’s back seat was very tall and had a straight posture.Except for a slightly loosened tie, he was perfectly dressed in a classic vest suit. His chiseled appearance exuded a cool yet languid dignity, and with a cigarette slightly in his mouth, he wore his coat over his broad shoulders, walking leisurely with no sign of haste.“Please go in, Mr. Chairman.”“Rest well, sir.”The man didn’t reply, just walked with his entourage following at a steady pace. He definitely looked like a mafia boss. There was nothing good about catching the eye of such guests. Hwang Seongyeon walked quietly, sticking to the edge of the road.But in the brief moment when his indifferent, serene gaze met Hwang Seongyeon’s, he stumbled. The tray’s wheel had caught on a large stone. As he tried to steady the shaking tray, the bracelet on his left wrist got caught on the handle and fell off.Hwang Seongyeon inadvertently stopped, letting out an “Ah” sound.The fallen acorn bracelet hit the ground. At that moment, the man who was passing by also stopped.“…”A strange silence enveloped the surroundings. The cigarette smoke dispersed slowly.The man was looking directly at Hwang Seongyeon, and up close, his towering height made it feel like facing a giant wall. A peculiar glint passed through the man’s pitch-black eyes for a brief moment. A cold sweat broke out on Hwang Seongyeon’s back.“Server?”A chillingly low voice came from between his lips holding the cigarette.Before Hwang Seongyeon could reply, the man tilted his head slightly. His intense gaze was now fixed on the acorn bracelet that had fallen to the ground. A short, mocking laugh seemed to escape from the man’s lips.“How old are you?”Raising his head again, the man brought his large hand with the cigarette to his mouth and asked calmly. There was no hint of emotion in the way he asked such an abrupt question, which made it even more disconcerting.Hwang Seongyeon tried to hide his fear as he slowly answered.“I’m twenty-one.”For a moment, the corner of the man’s mouth subtly tilted.“Ah, we’re the same age.”Whispering this, he deliberately stepped on the acorn bracelet lying on the ground. The sound of the fragile fruit’s shell cracking under his shoe echoed.🧸Not long after Hwang Seongyeon had left the annex, Cheongwoo was tilting his head, looking at what Hwang Seongyeon had given him.‘Why did he give me a walkie-talkie?’…Because he thought I might get bored?Whatever the reason, Cheongwoo thought it wasn’t something he should show to Gu Wonjae, so he quickly stuffed the walkie-talkie into his pants pocket. It was an item that could easily lead to misunderstandings. He decided to return it next time he saw him when, suddenly, a rough voice echoed from afar.“Hey, show me that.”Cheongwoo’s shoulders instinctively hunched.Sangseop entered the garden and immediately extended his hand.“Hand it over.”“…What, what do you mean?”Cheongwoo, with his face already half-drained of color, stood up from the porch, feigning ignorance.Sangseop was under Team Leader Jung. That’s why he knew well about Team Leader Jung’s misfortune where he had to pull out his thumbnail without anesthesia for neglecting Cheongwoo’s escape attempt. In Sangseop’s eyes, there was a suspicious situation. He had clearly seen two young men exchanging something.Not wanting to make the same mistake and end up like Team Leader Jung, Sangseop made an even more menacing face. He spat on the grass, gathering saliva in his mouth. Cheongwoo’s expression noticeably stiffened.“Give me what you got from the male server who just left.”“…”His mind was in turmoil. If he showed it now, it seemed like innocent Hwang Seongyeon would also get into trouble.But if he kept holding onto it, wouldn’t this man report it to Gu Wonjae? That would make the situation even more irreparable. He concluded it was better to take the initiative.With a calm expression, Cheongwoo first took the walkie-talkie out of his pocket.“This, I was going to return it to Seongyeon. It’s a gift in return…”“A gift?”Sangseop, who scoffed, snatched the walkie-talkie roughly and swung it back and forth. Cheongwoo was startled again by the rude behavior. He couldn’t understand why this man always acted this way towards him.Sangseop looked Cheongwoo up and down with a sneer.“Why, have you found yourself a new protector? Planning a secret rendezvous or an escape with this? Wanting to mess with someone else’s fingers?”“What are you…”“True to your kind, always looking for a chance to mess around. I should just turn you inside out.”His ears doubted what they heard. His eardrums throbbed with the vulgar insult. His breath became short, and his cheeks flushed red.“…Please give it back.”Cheongwoo, with his lips tightly shut in a firm voice, reached out for the walkie-talkie. There was a sharp glint in his round eyes. Sangseop stepped back, grinning mockingly.“I don’t want to.”“Give it back, quickly. It’s not yours!”Cheongwoo, holding onto the railing, shouted as if he might jump over it if needed. The absurdity of the situation brought tears to his wide eyes. Facing him with a smirk, Sangseop suddenly grabbed Cheongwoo’s thin wrist.“Why, are you going to cry now?”“…”“You little shit, from the start…”Sangseop licked his dark red lips once. A sticky, ambiguous gaze scanned Cheongwoo’s frail body from top to bottom. Cheongwoo, trying not to cry, clenched his teeth, and his breath came out in short, angry bursts.“It hurts, let go.”“…”“Let go…”It was the moment Cheongwoo was twisting his captured wrist with a slight frown when a sound came from the gate. Sangseop’s face lost its smile instantly as he let go of Cheongwoo’s wrist and turned around in haste.“Mr. Chairman, you’re back!”Gu Wonjae, who had just crossed the threshold with his entourage, looked at Cheongwoo, who was awkwardly standing on the porch surrounded by a railing. Cheongwoo, holding his own wrist, wore a frightened expression.Gu Wonjae, with both hands in his suit pants pockets, slowly tilted his head.“What are you doing?”“Ah, that…”Sangseop, who was supposed to be guarding the gate, belatedly ran towards Gu Wonjae and immediately showed him the walkie-talkie.Gu Wonjae raised one eyebrow slightly as he took the small walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, words like ‘collusion’, ‘signs of escape’, and ‘detected’ came out of Sangseop’s mouth several times.“…”While Sangseop was ranting, Gu Wonjae remained silent.He listened to Sangseop’s words with his ears while his eyes were on Cheongwoo. Cheongwoo’s face was paler than pale.Without taking his eyes off Cheongwoo, Gu Wonjae slowly took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Team Leader Jung lit it for him. The light briefly illuminated the sharp contours of his face, time seeming to pass slowly.After Sangseop handed over the confiscated walkie-talkie, he fell silent. The annex garden was enveloped in a strange silence.“Now, he even knows how to lay pumpkin seeds behind my back.”This was murmured a long moment later.Gu Wonjae, who had by now approached the porch, silently threw away the half-smoked cigarette onto the grass. He then leaned forward, resting his arms on the wooden railing around the porch. As the distance closed and their eye levels became similar, Cheongwoo’s eyes wavered.“Cheongwoo.”“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”“I told you not to invite misfortune.”“…”I’ve never done that.Cheongwoo wanted to say he had never done such a thing. Who would want misfortune? He remembered struggling alone to resolve the weight of misfortune that kept piling up. Just by himself, diligently…But he couldn’t voice it easily; his words were blocked, and he was starting to breathe harder.“Should I give it back?”Gu Wonjae, who had been watching silently, asked while flicking the hand holding the walkie-talkie. Cheongwoo shook his head.“No.”The silent gaze stretched on. He just wanted to hide from the dagger-like eyes that seemed to know what he was thinking, wherever he might flee.But if he retreated inside now, there would be no chance to clear up the misunderstanding. Of course, it was obvious whose words Gu Wonjae would trust more between his subordinate and Cheongwoo…Cheongwoo mustered his last bit of courage to steady his breathing.“I, I didn’t do it.”“…”“I didn’t, Mr. Chairman…”His voice grew smaller, and Gu Wonjae let out a soft chuckle.“What didn’t you do?”“I didn’t lay any pumpkin seeds.”“You did.”“No, I didn’t…!”Cheongwoo, without realizing it, looked up with a pained expression.“He misunderstood. I really didn’t do anything wrong.”“If you did nothing wrong, why are you trembling so much?”To the low counter-question, Cheongwoo rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. If he wasn’t trembling and calm in such a situation, wouldn’t that be more abnormal? He didn’t want to whimper in front of so many men either.“I was just surprised… because he suddenly got angry and threatened to turn me inside out…”Cheongwoo, just wanting to escape this situation, mumbled incoherently until his voice trailed off. Then, a fleeting look of curiosity passed through Gu Wonjae’s previously indifferent eyes.“What did he say he would turn inside out?”“…”Did I say something wrong?Cheongwoo, only moving his lips a few times, inadvertently glanced at Sangseop standing behind. Gu Wonjae, quick to catch that look, also turned to look at Sangseop. An odd silence pressed down around them.“Speak.”“…Yes?” Sangseop, who was usually quick and sharp, asked back with an unusually dazed expression. He was questioning Gu Wonjae.A smile of disbelief spread across Gu Wonjae’s lips. He straightened from leaning on the railing, put his hand in his suit pants pocket, and looked down at Sangseop impassively. The silence around them grew denser, the air chilling further.“You. You tell me.”Gu Wonjae ordered one of the other guards who had been guarding the gate with Sangseop all afternoon.Feeling suddenly like a gun was pointed at him, the guard’s body jolted. Just as he was about to slowly open his mouth, saying, “That is…”“No, I will tell you, Mr. Chairman.”Eventually, Sangseop stepped forward with his hands behind his back. He moistened his dry lips with saliva and mumbled in a voice a tone lower than usual.“That is… I said I would turn his butt inside out.”Thud. Before he could finish, a solid shoe sole struck Sangseop’s shin. With the sound of bone being hit squarely, his large frame toppled forward.Sangseop, swallowing a scream from the intense pain, rolled on the grass clutching his left leg. The next moment, the shoe sole landed on his throat.“Where do you get off…”Gu Wonjae recited calmly, stepping on Sangseop’s Adam’s apple. His tongue came halfway out of his forcibly opened mouth.“How dare you…”In Sangseop’s fear-filled eyes, the face of the man looking down like a deity was reflected.The weight was firmly applied to the shoe pressing down on the throat. Sangseop, unable to grasp the high-priced shoes crushing his windpipe, writhed, clawing at the grass like a fish speared and flapping.“Sangseop.”“Ugh!”“You should have spoken more gently. The kid is easily scared.”Gu Wonjae slightly moved his foot to press down on Sangseop’s mouth.“Sorry, mmph… urk, gack…”“Know your place.”“…Yes, gack, gasp.”When he finally removed his foot, blood was spreading from Sangseop’s nose and mouth, which had turned dark red. He immediately knelt, gripping the grass with both fists. His mouth was in such a mess that a large amount of blood dripped down, staining the grass.A chilly wind blew.At the cruel sight, Cheongwoo sat on the porch, holding onto the railing, his mouth agape. He was almost out of his mind.By the time Gu Wonjae had finished smoking another cigarette, his subordinates moved in unison. They lifted Sangseop from where he was rolling on the grass and helped him out of the garden.After observing the situation for a moment, Gu Wonjae suddenly lifted his eyes.“Cheongwoo, come down.”“Yes, yes…!”Cheongwoo, who had been slumped until then, scrambled in panic but had to cling to the railing for a while as his limbs felt weak.He practically rolled down and managed to stand before Gu Wonjae with trembling knees. His face, drenched in cold sweat, was as white as a sheet.Gu Wonjae narrowed his eyes, scanning Cheongwoo from head to toe.He was barefoot. His delicate feet were pitifully planted on the grass. Tilting his head to look at him for a while, Gu Wonjae then tossed the walkie-talkie in front of him, as if inviting him to say something.“A friend gave it to me.”Cheongwoo, trying hard not to stutter, gathered his courage. He managed to explain clearly through his short breaths.“He’s a friend who came to serve here, and I gave him a bracelet as a gift instead of a tip, and he gave me the walkie-talkie in gratitude. I never thought about collusion or escape. Really…”