When someone you’ve never met knows all about you, it’s quite an unusual experience. It’s one thing if they just say: “I’ve heard a lot about you!” But when they look at you with shining eyes and exclaim: “It’s really you!”—the experience becomes far more unforgettable.

Taeui was sure that this moment would be etched in his memory for many years to come.

“Aha—Tay? Jeong-Tae-Ui? It’s really you!”

The man in front of him smiled as if greeting an old friend, but as far as Taeui could recall, this was the first time they had ever met. The way the man pronounced his name – hesitant but clear – was somehow peculiar.

“It’s really you—so, what’s next?”

Taeui glanced at the man in front of him and asked Christoph. Christoph, who had been opening the curtains and looking outside, muttered nonchalantly.

“No. 1—The person always by Rick’s side; No. 2—The one who embarrassed Rick; No. 3—The unlucky one who got tangled up with Rick. There are more versions, but one of those three is probably right.”

“Aaah…… so that’s what ‘It’s really you!’ means.”

Taeui nodded. Though it wasn’t pleasant, he now understood the man’s reaction. However, it didn’t make him feel any more comfortable.

The man, who introduced himself as Alain, always wore a bright smile. At first, Taeui didn’t think much of it, but after some time, he noticed something wasn’t quite right. So, he spent almost half an hour closely observing the man’s face. His conclusion was that the muscles in the man’s face seemed to be stuck in a permanent smile.

It wasn’t unusual for people to smile often, but meeting someone who was “always smiling” like this was rare.

Initially, Jeong Taeui thought the man seemed cheerful and carefree, but at this point, the constant smiling started to make him feel uneasy.

“Those other guys are too obvious, though.”

Alain stepped behind Christoph, who was still standing by the window, glanced outside through the crack in the curtains, and smirked.

“If I had to teach those newbies the basics, it’d be like teaching children to tell right from wrong.”

Alain laughed heartily and winked at Christoph. Understanding the implication, Christoph frowned in annoyance.

“What?”

“Mr. Al Faisal already asked you to train his soldiers, didn’t he? Just imagine teaching those guys from scratch, starting with ABCs—it’s too funny.”

“Hmph, you’re well-informed, huh. Did you also hear that I never accepted that offer?”

“Well, I didn’t know that. Rick said he’d reduce their numbers to make things easier for you, so I assumed you had agreed.”

Alain chuckled, then returned to the sofa. He glanced slyly at Taeui and grinned. Whether that smile was natural or simply a result of his perpetually smiling face was unclear.

“What’s so funny to you?”

Alain suddenly mumbled. Taeui was resting his chin on his hand while glancing at him and replied bluntly.

“Ilay already planted a beehive on me.”

Alain was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“Haha, that’s a good one, Tay…… But it looks like calling you by your real name is the right move.”

The man was still scrutinizing Taeui’s face with a strangely curious look, but Christoph, who had just returned from the window, smacked him hard in the back of the head. The man let out a pained – “Ack!” – and doubled over. Christoph sat down next to Taeui and extended his hand.

“Hand it over.”

“I don’t have it. Call him yourself.”

Alain shrugged. Christoph frowned and grumbled: “He’s not the type to stay hidden; why wouldn’t he leave a way to contact him?”

“So, if Ilay doesn’t reach out first, we can’t get in touch with him?”

Taeui tapped his fingers against his temple and asked.

“Yeah——more or less.”

The man smiled. This time, Christoph kicked him hard under the table.

“When are we supposed to contact him?”

“At 2:30.”

Christoph narrowed his eyes, and Alain answered immediately.

Even after being kicked, Alain still smiled…… which only further solidified Taeui’s conclusions about him. Taeui scratched his head.

“Is the atmosphere always like this?”

Taeui hesitated before asking, and Christoph looked at him, puzzled by what he meant.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean——Is the atmosphere always this chaotic?”

“Absolutely not. It’s just because this guy is a madman.”

At first, Christoph didn’t understand the question, but when Taeui gently rephrased it, Christoph quickly shook his head and replied. Even though Alain had been called a madman, he giggled as if it were the funniest thing, leaving Taeui to wonder what was so amusing as he mumbled: “Yeah, I see.”

It was now 2:00 PM.

If Alain’s words were correct, Ilay would be in contact in about 30 minutes.

Taeui had arrived in Frankfurt about three hours earlier.

Kyle had lent him a car, and he’d driven here from Kyle’s house without any trouble—a quiet house located outside the center of Frankfurt.

As expected, the network of information was impeccable, because barely 10 minutes after he entered the house, suspicious figures had started appearing outside one by one, surrounding the place.

“It looks like it’ll be a bit tricky to leave here.”

As Jeong Taeui mumbled, Alain tilted his head, not understanding at first, but then quickly caught on and gave a sly smile: “Ah.”

“You mean those guys outside? Don’t worry, don’t worry. Leave it to me. It’s our first time meeting, so I’ll help you out a bit as a gift. ――I know this sounds a bit boastful, but this gift isn’t cheap. With just the lift of a finger, people would have to pay me at least tens of thousands for my services.”

The man spoke with a wide grin. It was becoming increasingly clear that Alain was one of their associates.

Although Taeui had been here for over two hours, he had yet to receive a formal introduction. However, from the conversations, it was clear that Alain knew both Christoph and Ilay. This might be the legendary place known as the ‘Lair of the Madmen’……

“How’s everyone else doing?”

Christoph glanced at the clock, feeling a bit restless with 30 minutes still left, and stretched out on the sofa as he mumbled.

“I’m not sure about the others, but in Frankfurt, there’s Mark, Ivan, and Julian. They’re all bored, but when Rick showed up, they got all excited. The three of them have been calling nonstop since yesterday, saying to let them know if anything exciting happens.”

“Hmph. If they’re so bored, they should stop being lazy and get to work.”

Christoph grumbled irritably, shifting around on the sofa as if trying to shake off his boredom.

Listening to the conversation, Taeui asked curiously:

“Are these the same people who were involved in the Riyadh attack last time……?”

“Only Julian. The other two were busy with other matters, so they couldn’t participate. But when they heard about it, they were disappointed.”

“……So are they all going to gather here again this time……?”

Jeong Taeui asked with growing suspicion. He wasn’t exactly doubting the situation, but the thought of handling it unnerved him. If there were three more people like Alain—even if just temporarily – he definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it.

But fortunately, Alain shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so. This time, he only asked me to bring him a knife. I guess he plans to settle things quietly.”

Ah. So, he was the one providing the weapons.

“What kind of knife?”

When Christoph asked, Alain smiled, got up, and rummaged through a box behind the sofa. After searching for a while, he pulled out a large bundle.

The long bundle, wrapped tightly in thick, wine-colored fabric, was unwrapped to reveal the knife Alain had mentioned.

However……

The massive and serrated blade, nearly the length of a person’s arm, looked horrifying as though it could sever the neck of a bear. It was entirely unsuitable for the notion of ‘settling things quietly.’

“……Where did you get this illegal thing?”

“I bought it on the borderline between legal and illegal, then made a few upgrades myself. Pretty cool, right? If you ever need something like this, let me know. Since fate has brought us together, I’ll give you a special discount. Not to brag……”

Taeui only half-listened to Alain’s words as he glanced briefly at the terrifying weapon before turning away. A vague sense of darkness and dread began to cloud his mind.

“But what does he plan to do with this?”

Alain asked, seemingly unsure of the intended purpose for the weapon he had just provided. Christoph took the knife, swung it lightly to test its weight, and then tilted his head in thought before responding.

“Maybe he’ll take care of two people who have completely lost his trust…… though I’m not sure if he’ll stop at just those two. His personality is unpredictable. You’d have to be a madman to act like that.”

Listening to Christoph’s words, Taeui thought that Ilay was indeed on the verge of something extreme. (Though, even without hearing this, Taeui had already sensed that Ilay was walking the tightrope of life.)

In front of them, Alain nodded in agreement with Christoph.

“That’s right. Isn’t there that guy named Juan who gutted him with a knife? Strangely enough, instead of killing Juan, he let him live and only dealt with the person who helped Juan.”

“Yeah, exactly…… The one who should have died was Juan, but he only slashed Juan’s belly and then shoved the face of the helper into Juan’s exposed guts.”

Jeong Taeui slowly turned away upon hearing this casual conversation. He felt like he had just heard a story he wished he hadn’t.

……Don’t dig too deep into the past. It’ll only bring more trouble.

Taeui reminded himself and decided to block out the conversation, taking a moment to rest and make up for his 30 minutes of lost sleep. Just as he closed his eyes, Alain started chattering excitedly, asking if he was planning to sleep. Taeui replied shortly, “Mm-hmm,” and ignored the following questions.

The most important thing now was to get in touch with Ilay.

Even if Ilay was brewing some kind of terrifying plan, Taeui could come up with a way to respond. In the worst case, if there was no way to resolve the situation, he could figure out how to get Ilay to run and hide.

If he had to make a reasonable guess, Ilay probably wanted revenge against either Richard or Raumaan. But the problem lay there……

As for the grudge Ilay had against Richard – or more accurately, against Tarten – that bloodshed from the previous incident had probably settled the debt in full. However, there was no way to settle things with Raumaan.

How did Ilay plan to take revenge on a man always surrounded by bodyguards and henchmen? Was Ilay planning to blow them all up……?

At that thought, Taeui realized this was no longer a laughing matter and quickly brushed the idea aside.

“I just hope I don’t get dragged into this to the point of becoming an accomplice……”

Taeui sighed. Upon hearing this, Alain burst out laughing again.

Taeui sighed. Hearing this, Alain burst into laughter once more.

“Now that I think about it, the man from Saudi Arabia does seem to be causing some trouble, doesn’t he? He brought along an entire entourage.”

It felt as if Taeui could now picture Alain’s smiling face just by hearing his voice.

“Ah, is Al Rashid targeting Al Faisal? Hmph. The old man lost the fight already, but if he’d admit defeat, at least he could enjoy his old age in peace.”

“Perhaps he believes that if he eliminates Al Faisal, the advantage will swing back in his favor.”

“He’s not that old yet, but he does seem to have lost his mind.”

Listening to their conversation, Taeui found it somewhat strange.

Alain laughed and joked with every word, while Christoph’s voice conveyed a perpetually grim and cold demeanor.

The contrast between them was odd, but perhaps that made their conversation even more interesting.

“In this situation, if it were me, I’d stay put in my harem and enjoy myself. I can’t understand why that guy would rush off to Germany in the midst of such political tension.”

“The Al Saud family has long wanted to recruit Jeong Jay. Even our Tarten, which isn’t much involved in military development…… actually, even we once considered trying to win over that genius. So, I imagine the Al Saud family is even more determined.”

“Jeong Jay…… I’ve heard the name a lot, but I’ve never met him. Does he look like you?”

It felt as though Taeui could sense someone pointing at his face, even though he wasn’t looking.

Christoph thought for a moment before mumbling, “I don’t know.”

Though the gestures were clear, the intense stares from the others made Taeui even more self-conscious.

“Even if we were twins, I don’t believe there could be two people who shine as brightly as he does.”

Before Christoph could finish his curt response, laughter erupted. It was genuinely funny, Taeui thought. If this situation weren’t about him, he probably would have laughed too.

“I heard that Christoph had his eye on ‘Jeong Tay’, but then Rick threatened him. That seems to be true, huh. Haha, did you really get involved with that honey jar? I just don’t understand it.”

Laughter filled the room, followed by a loud *Thunk*. It seemed Alain had been hit again somewhere.

“Ah, that’s right. And what about you? I heard Richard inherited Tarten. And there are some strange rumors……”

The vague, drawn-out way Alain spoke caused the atmosphere to become hazy and somewhat hard to grasp. Surely, a sly smile like a cunning cat’s must have appeared on Alain’s ever-smiling face at this moment.

“……Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet about certain things. Right now, I’m not in the mood to hear any of that, Alain Neuton.”

Christoph’s tone was a clear warning. And it seemed Alain recognized the danger, for while he still smiled, he said no more.

Taeui thought to himself that the remaining 30 minutes would probably pass before he managed to fall asleep. Just then, the phone rang, as if timed perfectly.

“Oh—our boss is right on time. Did you see that? Even the second hand matches up perfectly.”

Alain stood up, laughing loudly. At the same time, Taeui opened his eyes. He watched as Alain walked over to the phone.

Alain pressed a button, switching the call to the speaker.

“We’ve received the call, boss—. We have a guest today, too—.”

Alain dropped onto the sofa, stretching out his words. Immediately, a familiar voice came through the phone.

[“You’ve finally arrived, Taei. Looks like Christoph is there too.”]

“Ilay. I heard you stopped by Berlin.”

Rather than a greeting, Taeui immediately widened his eyes and asked directly. There was a brief silence on the other end before a soft chuckle came through.

[“Ah, that’s right. You were sleeping so soundly that I didn’t want to wake you, so I left.”]

“Don’t say you didn’t wake me and just left! If you wanted to wake me, you should’ve done it properly, had a conversation, and then left!”

[“Hmm……? You were still a bit drowsy and weak from the medication at the time, so I used a condom and cleaned up thoroughly. I thought you’d think it was just a dream. Turns out that wasn’t the case?…… Oh, right, you must have heard about it by now.”]

Ilay chuckled as if remembering the words Jeong Taeui had mentioned earlier – “You stopped by Berlin.” The moment Ilay finished speaking, Jeong Taeui felt trapped. Two pairs of eyes were glued to his face.

Taeui hurriedly rubbed his forehead and quickly changed the subject.

“Alright, so what are you planning to do?”

[“Hmm—are you here to stop me?”] – Ilay asked lazily, his tone playful as though he were pondering something.

“I’m not sure if I can stop you, but that depends on your answer.”

Ilay was silent for a moment. Taeui could imagine the man resting his chin on his hand with a faint smile before lightly tapping his chin with his finger.

[“Alain, is everything I asked you to do finished?”]

Suddenly, Ilay turned the conversation toward Alain.

Alain, who had been perched on the back of the sofa swinging his legs, raised an eyebrow and replied, “Yeah.”

“It was all done this morning. You made a sudden request, so I rushed to finish it. I’m not entirely satisfied with the results, but it should work.”

[“Got it. ――Christoph, I thought you’d stay at the house in Berlin, but you’ve come along. Seems someone is quite enraged and waiting to strike at you. You doing alright?”]

A soft laugh followed Ilay’s words, and Christoph’s face immediately darkened.

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Riegrow?”

Ilay let out a light chuckle.

[“Well, this time, I suppose I should thank you. You got Taei out of there and brought him back to Berlin.”]

“Yeah, it was a challenge getting him out of there. Now, because of some other idiot, he had to come all the way to Frankfurt. If you’re going to give up, do it sooner; we’re waiting.”

[“……Christoph, I’ve left you alone because I know you can’t do anything, but if you ever lay a hand on him…… I’ll kill you.”]

Ilay’s tone remained calm, even with a hint of laughter, but his threat was utterly serious. Christoph clicked his tongue.

“The moment we entered Frankfurt, three cars were already following us. This house is surrounded like we’re trapped by cockroaches. If you let your guard down for even a second, they’ll take him away.”

Realizing he was the focus of the conversation, Taeui felt rather awkward. The conversation was clearly about protecting him, but the phrase ‘take him away’ made him feel uncomfortable.

[“Exactly…… That’s why I left him in Berlin for so long. But now things have escalated, so I think I need to change my approach.”]

“How exactly do you plan to change it?”

Taeui asked, now that his safety was being discussed in a conversation he hadn’t been aware of initially.

[“I think it’s best to eliminate those targeting you.”]

“Those targeting me……? Besides the police, I don’t know who else that could be. And how exactly do you plan to get rid of them?”

[“The police aren’t the issue. Those can be handled. The real problem is the ones after Jeong Taei.”]

Jeong Taeui remained silent.

As expected, there were people out there who needed him. That was something he hadn’t considered before. However, it didn’t take long for him to figure out the answer. People who needed him. He’d dealt with this since childhood, so it wasn’t hard to understand.

As Jeong Taeui came to his realization, Ilay continued calmly.

[“As long as Jeong Jay is gone, it’ll be over.”]

“……”

Taeui stayed silent. He wondered if he had truly heard Ilay correctly and replayed the words in his mind.

It was, without a doubt, the correct statement. But……

“What? Are you planning to get rid of my brother?”

Taeui sighed. The thought seemed ridiculous, and he hoped Ilay would offer some other solution related to it.

But the answer was: [“Yes.”]

[“It’s been a while, so I’ll take this opportunity to test just how far Jeong Jay’s extraordinary luck can go. I’ll give it my best shot.”]

Ilay spoke with a tone of amusement, but it was clear he wasn’t joking. Taeui felt his face stiffen.

“Wait, hold on…… Don’t you think this is heading in the wrong direction? The person causing you trouble this time isn’t my brother. Why are you suddenly trying to kill him?”

Taeui’s voice was serious, now tinged with tension, and even a slight edge of threat. Ilay muttered softly – [“Aha……”] – as if feeling a bit conflicted and gently asked,

[“Do you think anyone out there would intentionally harm Jeong Jay?”]

“No, that’s impossible.”

Taeui answered immediately. If there was one thing he could say for sure about his brother, it was that no one could intentionally harm him. Ilay seemed to agree.

[“Yes, it’s highly unlikely. But the real issue is whether the people around Jeong Jay are as lucky. If Jeong Jay gets into danger, maybe one or two ordinary people around him will die in his place, right?”]

Taeui was silent.

“……Who is it? Who are you targeting?”

[“The one with too many people hanging around him.”]

It was a short answer, and Taeui didn’t need to think for long.

“Raumaan?”

Ilay didn’t respond. Instead, he laughed softly.

So that’s it. Jeong Taeui rubbed his forehead and temples, but the deep wrinkle between his brows only deepened, and his head began to throb.

Yes, if it was Raumaan, then at least he was connected to the current situation.

[“That guy is the toughest. If he disappears, then the others aiming at Jeong Jay won’t matter anymore.”]

As Ilay had said, if Raumaan were out of the picture – or at least stopped targeting Jeong Taeui because of Jeong Jaeui – life would indeed become much easier. But……

“Okay, fine. It all makes sense. We need to go after Raumaan…… but why is my brother involved in this?”

Taeui muttered with a sigh, and Ilay simply laughed.

[“Are you worried?”]

That wasn’t something someone planning to kill someone’s brother should say.

“Do you think I wouldn’t be?”

Taeui blurted out in disbelief, but Ilay responded as though Taeui’s concern was unnecessary.

[“With luck like Jeong Jay’s, I wouldn’t worry too much.”]

“YOU TRUST THAT LUCK AND STILL WANT TO TEST IT?!”

Finally, Jeong Taeui couldn’t hold back and shouted. But he knew it was pointless to try reasoning with Ilay.

[“It’s not exactly Jeong Jay himself, but those who hover around him. Targeting Jeong Jay will mean at least one of those people disappearing.”]

“Hey, that logic has a big flaw. Who says going after my brother will make Raumaan show up?”

[“Oh, he’ll show up.”]

Ilay’s reply was short and clear, leaving no room for further debate. Taeui could tell that arguing any further would be futile.

He let out a groan, rubbing the deep furrows on his forehead, and sighed lightly.

He’d heard before that Ilay was capable of surprising actions, but he hadn’t imagined things would take this turn. Targeting an innocent person completely unrelated to the situation…… It was absurd.

Taeui had complete faith in Jeong Jay’s luck. It was similar to the belief that even if Ilay were to fight special forces or be involved in an accident with three large trucks on the highway, Ilay would never get hurt.

But still, as a younger brother with a heart full of concern for his sibling, the idea of leaving things to luck wasn’t enough.

Even if the outcome would likely be fine, it was still his responsibility to prevent disasters before they could happen.

So, Taeui decided to set aside his pride and do whatever he could to handle the situation.

“About that debt…… Ilay……”

Taeui tried to speak as softly as possible, suppressing the pain in his voice. His tone dropped to a quiet murmur as he spoke. He looked up and glanced around. The other two were still sitting there, casually listening to the conversation. Taeui wished they would leave, but as always, life didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped.

“Is that more important than me? ……I’m begging you. Has your heart grown cold?…………..”

He couldn’t finish the sentence. Even as those words slipped out, they barely passed through gritted teeth, and an uncontrollable sigh followed.

Had he really said that? Or was it just a delusion, telling himself he had spoken those words when in reality, he hadn’t?

For a moment, Taeui thought he hadn’t spoken at all, but then he saw the expressions of the two men in front of him and realized it wasn’t an illusion. Christoph stared at him in astonishment, while Alain’s sly grin froze on his face for a few seconds before the reality of the situation dawned on him.

“……Oh, I get it…… So that’s how our boss lives his life, huh……”

Alain finally muttered, still clearly surprised. Hearing this, Taeui hung his head, wishing he could crawl into the ground.

“That’s not what this is about……” 

Taeui mumbled weakly, his voice sinking as if it were plummeting hundreds of meters underground, but it was clear no one believed him. Even Christoph looked at him with a hint of reproach.

A long silence followed.

When Ilay finally spoke, Taeui immediately realized things had taken a wrong turn, just from the first words.

[“Taei…… This time, I’m really angry.”]

Ilay’s voice, which had previously carried some lightness, now echoed with an ominous calm after a brief pause.

[“You were almost in serious danger. You could have truly been in a life-threatening situation.”]

“……”

[“So, Taei, this time, don’t try to stop me. I don’t want you to hold a grudge against me later, so I’m telling you in advance. I know how you are, and you’ll likely interfere, so I really didn’t want to mention this…… But this time, don’t get in my way.”]

“And what about Taei coming here and facing danger?” – Christoph, who had been silently listening, suddenly interjected with irritation. Ilay fell silent for a few moments.

[“Tomorrow is the forum, right? Even if it runs late, everything will be settled by tomorrow. If things go quickly, it may be finished sooner.”]

“ILAY!” 

Taeui shouted in frustration, but Ilay continued calmly.

[“As long as they are still targeting Jeong Jay, they can’t pose the biggest threat to Taei. If anything happens to Taei, it won’t just be his problem.”]

Ilay seemed to have said all he needed to say, bringing the conversation to a decisive close.

Ilay asked: [“Do you have anything else to say, Taei?”] though Taeui had countless thoughts swirling in his mind, in the end, he simply shook his head. He knew that any further argument would be useless.

“No, nothing more.” – Taeui murmured with a sigh, and Ilay, seemingly satisfied, concluded with a final farewell.

[“Alright, see you tomorrow.”]

The call ended. The room fell into a brief silence.

Although Alain stood up cheerfully and asked: “Are you hungry? Let’s eat something,” 

Taeui’s worries far outweighed any hunger he might have felt. He groaned, rubbing his forehead as the tension-induced headache intensified.

After all, the only thing he could do was try to protect his brother, even if it seemed like there was no need to protect him. The thought of protecting someone who didn’t need protection seemed ridiculous.

‘What if he ends up killing me while I’m with my brother……’  – That fleeting thought crossed Taeui’s mind, prompting him to shake his head vigorously to dismiss it. There were already too many complex problems, and he didn’t want to add more disturbing scenarios to the mix.

“Anyway, the first thing I need to do right now is……”

Jeong Taeui looked up at the ceiling, trying to organize his thoughts.

The top priority is to meet my brother!