That bastard found another excuse again. He kept waiting for an opportunity to catch me in a mistake, and finally, he succeeded.

“What… lips are just lips anyway.”

“Unnecessary closeness leads to such outcomes. Choose your friends more carefully.”

Jeong Taeui felt suffocated when he heard Ilay’s words.

Who does this guy think he is to tell me to choose my friends…

Jeong Taeui stared at Ilay with surprise and anger, but Ilay maintained a displeased expression, grabbing another can of beer from the box and downing it in one gulp.

Ah, the special beer that Kyle brought back for me…

Jeong Taeui felt a bit regretful but, feeling guilty—even though it wasn’t his fault—he could only stare at the beer can in silence.

Behind them, Christoph lay on the bed clutching his stomach, not moving for a long while before slowly getting up. His steps seemed unsteady and shaky.

“I don’t want to fight with you…”

Christoph mumbled weakly.

As soon as he heard those words, Ilay’s eyebrows twitched while he was setting down the beer can. His cold gaze turned towards Christoph.

“What a coincidence. I don’t want to fight with you either. I don’t want a fight that will cost me dearly.”

Ilay said gently.

He tapped the table with his finger, remaining silent for a while before asking again.

“But you still crave it…?”

“Yes.”

Christoph answered without hesitation. His voice was quieter and deeper than usual, but still cold and emotionless.

The tapping on the table became more pronounced. Ilay’s sharp gaze did not leave Christoph.

“Christoph. Don’t misunderstand. You’re just placing unreasonable expectations on him. You’re hungry and want to satisfy that hunger, but you see him, so you reach out for something that isn’t yours. He doesn’t belong to you. He’s mine.”

“Rick. You said you wanted to live peacefully during your time here. And you didn’t want to clash with me.”

Christoph said quietly, staring at Ilay’s tapping fingers. A faint smile appeared on Ilay’s lips.

“Yes. So what?”

“Then I will take him during that time.”

Christoph said calmly. Ilay did not respond.

A silence stretched as if all sound had been swallowed…

Meanwhile, Jeong Taeui looked back and forth between the two while drinking beer.

The special beer Kyle sent had a unique but wonderful taste, but now he couldn’t taste anything. These two bastards had ruined the flavor of the beer.

He wanted to say – ‘What about my opinion?’ – but the atmosphere was not right for that.

Jeong Taeui had no choice but to let the two talk as they had before. Let them talk, and he would make his own decision.

Jeong Taeui only regretted that the beer’s taste had dulled due to the tense atmosphere as he watched them and thought.

However, the peaceful silence didn’t last long.

In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

The faint smile remaining on Ilay’s face vanished completely. His cold, glassy black eyes filled with icy stares at Christoph.

Jeong Taeui knew this face well.

Even when tearing someone apart with his bare hands, he kept that face.

“Il…”

But even trying to call him, the chill in his chest kept the words from coming out.

The gaze he hadn’t seen in a long time.

The atmosphere that hadn’t been present for a while.

In a brief moment.

It was ‘Crazy Rick’.

It seemed his hand was moving. His white, beautiful hands slightly twitched.

Then, immediately after.

A small, clear clink echoed in the silence.

*Clang* 

It was the sound of the beer can in Jeong Taeui’s hand accidentally hitting the corner of the bed.

Ilay’s eyes glanced briefly in that direction. He looked directly into Jeong Taeui’s eyes.

Jeong Taeui looked at ‘Crazy Rick’ with an emotionless face.

“…―.”

Ilay frowned slightly. At that moment, his expression calmed. The explosive emotions from a moment ago left a cold and angry look on his face.

Finally, Ilay spoke softly as if a terrifying beast was restraining its breath.

“Christoph. Making enemies is not a good choice.”

“Making you an enemy is an even worse choice.” Christoph responded with equal calmness. Ilay raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Yet you still desire?”

“Yes. I am greedy. I want…I also want to have it.”

Christoph said with an emotionless face.

Hearing his words, Jeong Taeui remained silent without showing any emotion.

Although he didn’t understand much, one thing Jeong Taeui knew was that what Christoph desired was not here.

And perhaps the only one who didn’t know that was Christoph himself.

“Alright then….Then I will have to remove you from my obstacles in my own way.”

Hearing Ilay’s words, Christoph merely shrugged as if accepting whatever came.

Ilay said nothing more. He simply raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly.

The following days were truly awful.

Christoph constantly massaged his temples, cursing at the varying loudness of the noises that made his ears and headache unbearable.

Some days were less noisy, allowing Christoph to spend the day peacefully. But on some days, from early morning, he had to chew on painkillers.

However, in recent days, Christoph continuously complained of severe headaches every day. Every morning when Jeong Taeui woke him up, his pale face was covered in sweat, and he would whisper:

“It’s so noisy, please be quiet, please be quiet…!”

The hoarse, pained voice kept echoing, not knowing who he was pleading with.

Today was no different. Christoph sat with a pale face, clutching his ears and groaning all morning. By afternoon, feeling a bit better, he decided to go horseback riding. But shortly after, he returned to his room and said the horse had injured its leg.

Then he sat in the study room, opening a picture book, resting his chin on his hand, staring at the pictures in front of him. Chris didn’t turn the page but kept looking at a single picture. Maybe he wasn’t even really looking at the picture…

“Maybe you should try to sleep a bit. You don’t look well.”

Jeong Taeui looked around the tidy study room, seeing there was nothing more to clean, then turned to Christoph, who seemed to want to sleep while staring at the picture book.

Christoph shook his head without taking his eyes off the page.

“No… I don’t want to sleep. I only have strange dreams.”

“What kind of dreams?”

Jeong Taeui frowned, asking back. He took a bottle of water from the minibar instead of beer and approached Christoph. He placed the small bottle of water in front of Christoph and sat down on the chair opposite him at the table.

“Don’t know. Something white and hazy just moves back and forth. That’s all.”

“That’s all? …Then why not ignore it if it doesn’t harm you?”

“The feeling is so uncomfortable when it passes by… because it feels like something is touching my body, I want to vomit.”

Christoph shook his head.

Jeong Taeui sighed, then drank from the bottle. The bottle was small enough to finish in one gulp.

“But in your case, it seems you can endure it if you want. When I touch you – even though you grimace – you still bear it.”

“That doesn’t mean the feeling is any more pleasant. I have no reason to endure and touch other things.”

“Ah, right,” Jeong Taeui mumbled, then focused on drinking water.

If explained differently, it would mean – ‘You can endure my touch, but that doesn’t mean you like it’.

Jeong Taeui sighed silently and tried probing.

“Why don’t you talk to Ilay again and make peace? If things are tense, it’s not good for either of you, and you are his friend.”

“Not friends. That’s a misunderstanding, nothing fun about it.”

“Ah, right, that’s how it is,” – Jeong Taeui said, looking at Christoph. If it were any other time, Christoph would have been angry by now, but today he seemed unwell.

At that moment.

The phone on the study desk rang.

Christoph had no intention of picking up the phone even though it rang many times; he didn’t even look at it. Looking back and forth between the phone and Christoph for a while, Jeong Taeui scratched his cheek and picked up the receiver.

“Hello.”

“Christoph? …Oh, it’s not.”

A gentle and delicate voice.

The person called Christoph and then spoke uncertainly. Maybe they weren’t familiar with Christoph.

“I’ll transfer the call to him.” Jeong Taeui said, handing the phone to Christoph.

Christoph, who was staring blankly at the picture, glanced at the phone with a displeased look. He took the phone with a slightly annoyed tone – “Yes” – he said just one word.

Standing next to Christoph, Jeong Taeui, holding the empty water bottle, stood up.

It was quite late. Maybe he should return to his room.

He threw the empty bottle into the trash can and planned to arrange a few books he had taken earlier before heading back.

But while walking to the bookshelf to put back the books, Jeong Taeui suddenly turned around.

Although Christoph had taken the phone for a while, the room was strangely quiet. It seemed like he hadn’t hung up.

Jeong Taeui glanced at the desk while putting away the books. He thought Christoph had hung up, but Christoph was still holding the phone.

In fact, he hadn’t hung up. The sound was too faint to hear clearly, but Christoph was giving short answers on the phone. – “Yes yes no yes. Yes…”

Hearing those short, broken answers, Jeong Taeui walked toward the desk, looking at Christoph curiously. Then he realized.

Christoph’s face was pale. He looked like a finely crafted wax statue, only his lips moving.

His face was white as a sheet. His wide-open eyes slightly trembled, as did his lips.

Jeong Taeui unconsciously stopped. He stood still, looking at Christoph with disbelief.

He had never seen Christoph like this.

A pale face, frozen like a doll, only able to respond with weak, mechanical answers. Trembling eyes, lips, and hands, quivering with fear or anxiety.

A weak voice, like a whisper, barely audible.

“Yes. …Yes….Yes, mother….Yes…”

If voices had colors, this one would surely be the color of fragile, trembling clear glass. Delicate and breakable, it could shatter at any moment.

Christoph’s whisper suddenly echoed in Jeong Taeui’s ears.

“Mother.”

That weak and fragile voice clearly said that.

Christoph’s complexion became increasingly pale. Eventually, he seemed unable to breathe, his hands tightly gripping his neck, his knuckles turning white.

Jeong Taeui began to move slowly. His steps quickened, almost running towards Christoph.

With a face turning blue as if he were about to faint, Christoph panted heavily, but his voice remained very soft. Just by listening, one wouldn’t think it was trembling or shaking; it simply became quieter as if speaking normally.

But Christoph was trembling violently, his empty gaze staring into the void.

“…Chris.”

As Jeong Taeui got closer to Christoph, the call ended.

Christoph slowly lowered the phone, still with a pale face, he curled up. In the cool, air-conditioned library, he looked pale as if cold, shivering with a blue-tinged face.

“Chris…”

Jeong Taeui called again, gently placing a hand on Christoph’s shoulder. As expected, Christoph’s shoulder trembled violently and shrugged off Jeong Taeui’s hand.

Christoph slowly raised his head. Chris’s clear blue eyes finally met Jeong Taeui’s.

The trembling gradually subsided. His shoulders, body, lips, and hands also slowly stopped shaking.

He sat like that for a long while, then looked down at his clasped hands, staying silent. Even as time passed, his pale complexion did not return to normal.

Finally, he stood up. Somewhat abruptly, Chris left the library, seemingly without looking back. Jeong Taeui hesitated for a moment, then followed.

“Christoph, where are you going?”

“Horseback riding.”

Christoph answered curtly. The cold and brief tone was no different from usual. He seemed to have returned to being the usual Christoph.

Jeong Taeui frowned and shook his head in frustration.

“Riding in the forest at this time of night? It’s too dark to ride a horse.”

“I can.”

Christoph answered without turning back, descending the stairs.

Jeong Taeui followed him. Outside, it was pitch black. Even though there were lights in the forest, riding a horse at this hour was still very dangerous. However, Christoph didn’t seem to care about what Jeong Taeui said.

…Ah.

“The horse’s leg! You said the horse’s leg was injured!”

Earlier, when he returned from riding, Christoph had said his horse seemed to have an injured leg.

Christoph seemed to remember this right after stepping out of the house, slowing down a bit as he walked towards the stable.

“If you want to go out, just take a walk in the forest. The trail is well-lit.”

Jeong Taeui suggested an alternative, but Christoph only hesitated for a moment before continuing towards the stable.

“I always go with that horse in the forest. If I can’t ride it, I’ll walk it.”

Jeong Taeui wanted to say something but then sighed and remained silent. Given Christoph’s current state, anything he said would fall on deaf ears.

However.

“Christoph.”

Jeong Taeui called out to him.

Christoph, walking a few steps ahead, turned back with an irritated expression. Jeong Taeui gently asked him.

“Can you see clearly in front of you?”

Are you alert? Is your body okay? Are you overwhelmed with worry and anxiety making it hard to move?

Christoph stared at Jeong Taeui for a moment without saying anything. Then he slightly frowned. It seemed he had calmed down a bit.

“Of course.”

He said coldly, then turned and continued towards the stable.

Jeong Taeui hesitated but slowly followed. Anyway, Christoph couldn’t ride a horse, so Jeong Taeui could follow him while he walked the horse. Maybe he would observe Christoph going out, take a stroll on the lit trail, and then come back.

Jeong Taeui followed Christoph into the stable, thinking he might take this chance to have a refreshing walk.

At night, the trail in the forest usually only had one lit path. Occasionally, he would meet a few people walking at night, but generally, not many ventured into the forest at night.

He sighed lightly, thinking he could enjoy the starry sky in the forest, then walked into the stable. The chair near the entrance was empty; it seemed the stable guard had temporarily left.

The stable was U-shaped with two wide entrances to accommodate over a dozen horses.

The horse Christoph usually rode was in the far corner of the stable. That place was out of sight from the entrance.

Christoph was walking towards the inside but stopped right before the turn. He stood there, staring inside.

“…? Christoph.”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head in surprise, calling out to Chris. But Christoph seemed not to hear Jeong Taeui’s call and just stared inside.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head and approached him. To lead the horse out, one needed to go deeper inside, but Christoph’s sudden stop and refusal to move forward were strange.

Jeong Taeui called again – “Chris” – as he got closer to Christoph, but then fell silent. From inside the stable, there were faint voices talking. Laughter mixed with the low voices of five or six people could be heard.

“That’s why I said not to injure the horse’s leg. If its leg is injured, it can’t be ridden, and naturally, there’s no danger.”

“But still, he can’t ride the horse he loves, so his face is long and gloomy all day. He’s a real nutcase.”

“Look, let’s put a few thorns under the saddle. When the horse runs, the saddle will slip, and the thorns will poke into the horse. No matter how good a rider he is, he will be in trouble.”

Hearing those vile words, Jeong Taeui gradually frowned. He understood the meaning behind those words, which were mean and filled with malice.

He clicked his tongue in discomfort and looked at Christoph worriedly. Then he stopped.

Christoph stood there silently, listening to those words. From Jeong Taeui’s position, he couldn’t see the people, but from Christoph’s position, he could.

A thought flashed through Jeong Taeui’s mind: would Christoph turn as pale as before?

But Christoph did not turn pale or tremble. He simply looked at them with a cold gaze.

“…Alright. Good job.”

Christoph said softly.

But his cold voice rang sharply in the stable, causing the voices inside to suddenly fall silent.

The men inside turned around, their faces changing color. When they moved, Jeong Taeui could finally see them clearly.

Six men were gathered there, all followers of Richard. Although Jeong Taeui had never talked to them personally, he often saw them in the dining hall and remembered them because they usually muttered curses at him or Christoph when passing by.

“Did Richard tell you to do this?”

Christoph asked. His gaze carried a hint of disdain as if looking down on those men.

The men immediately glared angrily, realizing the meaning in Christoph’s eyes.

“It has nothing to do with Richard! We just can’t stand seeing a nutcase like you wandering around Tarten!”

“Nothing to do with Richard…? Fine, even if this isn’t related to him, you guys are still associated with him.”

Christoph said softly. He glanced at Jeong Taeui, who was standing a few steps behind with a displeased face, then said briefly – “Don’t interfere.” – Then he turned back to the men and spoke.

“Just in time. I needed something to change the atmosphere. Today, I’ll deal with you guys and him.”

“…You madman…!!”

The men quickly rushed up together.

Christoph, with an expressionless face, also stepped forward to face them.

Jeong Taeui did not know exactly what kind of person Christoph Tarten was.

He had only heard bits and pieces about how Christoph fought and survived many battles.

Jeong Taeui did not know about Christoph’s ruthlessness and brutality, nor did he know the face and eyes he had when defeating opponents.

He could only guess from the stories.

An expressionless face, an unfocused gaze, precise and unwavering movements like a pre-programmed machine.

This was the first time Jeong Taeui witnessed Christoph coldly and calmly tear apart other people’s bodies without any violent spasms or superfluous movements.

At this moment, Christoph was like a machine.

A beautiful machine like a finely crafted glass statue, but without hesitation in tearing apart other people’s bodies.

Where Christoph passed, fragments of flesh lay in pools of blood, unrecognizable to whom they belonged.

The time didn’t last long.

Just a few minutes.

Covered in blood, Christoph stood silently where only weak groans remained in place of the painful screams that had ceased to ring out.

Christoph looked around, wiping the blood off his shoes with dry grass as if it made him uncomfortable.

No one was left there to attack him anymore. The six men lying on the ground couldn’t harm him any longer.

“You guys must have heard many rumors about me, but you’re truly foolish…”

Chris muttered as if feeling pity, then sighed and looked up. But his face showed no expression, no sighs or pity.

He looked up slowly, then suddenly his gaze stopped at Jeong Taeui, who was standing on one side.

Jeong Taeui hadn’t had time to intervene, or even if he wanted to, he couldn’t because the men blocked him. By the time he realized, it was already quiet.

“Oh… you’re still here?”

Christoph mumbled vaguely.

His voice and the slight raising of his eyebrows made it seem like he thought Jeong Taeui had left long ago.

“Christoph, these people…”

“Are still alive. I didn’t kill them. This isn’t a battlefield, so I can’t kill.”

Chris’s voice was clear and slow, as if he were reading from a textbook or someone had forced him to memorize the rule that killing was not allowed off the battlefield.

Jeong Taeui looked at him with a tense face, then sighed softly.

It seemed like someone had indeed taught Christoph this rule: don’t kill people where it’s not permitted. For this dangerous man, it was as if he remembered and followed instructions like an innocent child.

Christoph wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. But since his sleeve was already soaked with blood, it was ineffective.

Christoph didn’t look tired. He wasn’t panting heavily either.

It seemed his rational mind was still intact. Aside from the strong smell of blood, he was no different from usual.

“So then… let’s catch that guy.” – Christoph mumbled, lightly twisting his neck to stretch.

“Who is ‘that guy’?”

“The one above them. He must take responsibility for not managing his subordinates properly. I’ve thought that I should clean him up once and for all. This is the perfect opportunity.”

Jeong Taeui quickly realized who he was talking about.

Richard.

Jeong Taeui shook his head. If they clashed again, things wouldn’t end easily.

“Chris, you can’t cause trouble in the house…”

“Oh, don’t worry. He’ll be at the bar tonight.”

“Bar?!”

“He owns a large bar… And today is Tuesday, so he’ll be there.”

Christoph added, explaining that Richard usually had others manage the bar, but on Tuesdays, he personally checked it. He flicked his hand to shake off the drops of blood from his fingertips.

“He has a suspicious bar with many private rooms. No one knows what he does inside. Going there to confront him is perfect. And if I get to drink a cocktail, that would be great. As long as there’s no poison in it.”

Christoph shrugged.

Then he quickly turned and walked straight out of the stable.

Jeong Taeui frowned, watching Chris’s back, feeling that things would get very troublesome. No, they were already troublesome.

“What to do with these guys first…”

The men lay scattered on the ground, their bodies occasionally twitching. If they weren’t quickly taken care of, they would become actual corpses. So he had to do something about them first…

“Damn it. I have to follow Chris to stop him… He really will turn someone’s bar into a bloodbath.”

Jeong Taeui worriedly watched Christoph’s fading figure. As he fumbled in his pocket for his phone, the stable guard returned from the bathroom.

Seeing the stable turned into a scene from hell in just a moment, the stable guard stared at Jeong Taeui in horror, clearly suspecting him. He stammered something, but Jeong Taeui had no time to listen.

“Can you contact the hospital and the house? I’ll leave it to you.”

Jeong Taeui gently patted the shoulder of the trembling, pale stable guard, who looked like he was about to faint from the bloody scene behind him, then quickly ran out of the stable. Behind him, the stable guard was still stammering, but Jeong Taeui had no time to listen.

Christoph had turned the corner of the mansion and was heading straight for the garage.

With the thought that – ‘I can’t lose track of Christoph’ – Jeong Taeui ran like crazy to catch up.

Damn it, why is this happening? Why did things turn out this way? I just want to live peacefully, so why do I have to deal with this?

Jeong Taeui cursed under his breath as he ran. Then he saw Christoph inserting a key into a sedan parked silently in the garage, so he mustered all his strength and sprinted towards it.