Jeong Taeui had just turned to leave when he suddenly whipped his head around. He hadn’t seen wrong. It was clear as day that someone was lying face down on the rock, moving with great caution. The person didn’t seem to notice Jeong Taeui’s presence, as they were fully focused on the person beneath the rock––likely Riegrow.

And Jeong Taeui saw it clearly. In the dim light coming from within the rock, he saw the arm of the figure. In their hand was a large, heavy crossbow.

Jeong Taeui swallowed quietly.

Holly Zone*…… or maybe Steck. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but the crossbow that figure was holding was more than enough to kill a person, perhaps even with excess power. Especially since the crossbow bolt was aimed directly at the target’s head from above, as it was now.

Immediately, Jeong Taeui recognized the figure. It was the man he had briefly seen in the forest earlier. The one he had felt something was off about but eventually decided not to follow. Now, that person was aiming at Riegrow from above.

The man’s index finger was already on the trigger of the crossbow. Just a slight pull, a few millimeters, and the heavy, sharp arrow would pierce straight through Riegrow’s head.

There was no time to think or act. Almost instinctively, or perhaps as a deeply ingrained habit from childhood, Taeui grabbed a rock the size of his fist and threw it. The sound of the air being torn apart shredded the quiet night, followed by the crack of the man’s hand bones breaking as the rock struck him.

“OOH!!”

A scream of pain echoed through the night. In his sudden shock, the man’s finger jerked, and the arrow was loose, flying wildly off course. Ironically, the arrow shot straight toward Jeong Taeui.

“HNNGH……!”

Jeong Taeui took a deep breath. As soon as the crossbow pointed in his direction, reacting from the impact with the rock, he instinctively dodged to the side. However, the arrow was just as fast. It grazed Jeong Taeui’s elbow, whizzing past and embedding deeply into the spot where he had just been standing.

Jeong Taeui broke out in a cold sweat. If he hadn’t reacted in time, he would probably be in the afterlife right now. He was just trying to save someone, but he nearly lost his own life in the process.

Looking at the arrow quivering in the ground, his mind finally started to regain some calm, though it was accompanied by a rising sense of regret. If he hadn’t intervened, he could have witnessed the disappearance of that vicious, extremely dangerous person from this world. Why had he stepped in to help? Moreover, what if the guy with the crossbow was actually doing the right thing? When he thought about it, there was a good chance that Riegrow was even more of a villain than the man with the crossbow.

But no matter how many times the situation repeated itself – no matter who the target was – Jeong Taeui would have done the same thing. After all, he wasn’t the kind of person who could just stand by and watch someone die in front of him.

In the brief moment when Taeui was overwhelmed with regret and inner turmoil, Riegrow immediately reacted. Without hesitation, he shoved the young man cowering between his legs aside, picked up a random rock from the ground, and stood up. Then, he threw the rock straight at the man clutching his wrist on the rock above.

The rock flew with pinpoint accuracy, smashing into the man’s head, cracking his skull and causing blood to gush out. The man collapsed with a short groan, unconscious.

The young man screamed in horror, but Riegrow didn’t seem to care. He picked up the crossbow that the man had dropped near him and glanced at the arrow still lodged in the crevice of the rock. Finally, he shifted his attention to Jeong Taeui.

When their eyes met, even though Taeui hadn’t caused the situation, he still felt a slight startle and raised his hand. Riegrow’s cold gaze slowly lowered to his hand.

“It wasn’t me…… Or rather, to be more precise, I was helping you. You don’t have to glare at me like that.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled, feeling a little aggrieved. Riegrow replied briefly: “I know.” He clicked his tongue in annoyance and began walking toward him. His steps didn’t waver as he approached Jeong Taeui.

As he got closer, instinct urged Taeui to step back, but with the rocky, uneven ground beneath his feet, he couldn’t move steadily to retreat.

“I told you, it wasn’t me. Besides, I don’t even know who that guy is. We’re not in cahoots or anything.”

“I know.”

Hearing Taeui insist once more, Riegrow let out a weary sigh. Taeui shot him a cautious glare.

There was no way he would attack the person who had just saved his life, right? But why was he coming toward him? And first of all, shouldn’t he at least put on some clothes?

Realizing that the man walking toward him was completely naked and showed no shame, Taeui felt extremely uncomfortable. However, Riegrow remained calm as he stopped a few steps away and crouched down to pull the arrow out from between the rocks. He examined the arrowhead and lightly tapped it with his finger, then chuckled softly.

“If that had hit me in the head, even I wouldn’t have survived.”

Taeui frowned and grumbled in displeasure. At that moment, Riegrow’s gaze, which had been studying the arrow, returned to fixate on Taeui’s face. Taeui scowled again and repeated his justification for the third time.

“I had nothing to do with this…… Seriously. Stop staring at me like that. I saved you, and my heart almost stopped from the shock.”

Jeong Taeui couldn’t help but voice his complaint, feeling both frustration and anger welling up inside him after being glared at so coldly despite his efforts to help. Riegrow raised an eyebrow and then smirked faintly.

“I didn’t mean to look at you that way, but maybe it’s just how you’re interpreting it. I know who that guy was. He’s part of my team. I also know why he wants to kill me, and I know that you have nothing to do with it. So, relax. —Besides, even if I had some sort of intentions, are you really afraid that I’d do something to you after you’ve just saved me?”

He chuckled as if he found the situation amusing, twirling the arrow between his fingers with dangerous ease, almost like a pen. Taeui shook his head instinctively.

“You’re awfully calm for someone who just narrowly escaped death! It’s like this isn’t the first time it’s happened.”

“Well, something like this happens to me once or twice a month.”

Riegrow spoke nonchalantly, as though he were merely discussing the mundanities of life. He tapped the arrowhead again lightly and added: “If that guy had been hit with this through the head, maybe he’d wake up and come to his senses.”

“Feel free to deal with it, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do it in front of me. You should handle this when I’m not around…… And maybe wait until you’re both back in Europe before settling it.”

Jeong Taeui muttered with a face full of displeasure. He didn’t want to be dragged into this mess any further. The last thing he wanted was to be a witness to murder.

Damn it. Why did he keep getting involved with this guy? He should have just ignored everything and walked away. What an idiot.

Taeui felt a chill on his arm, unsure if it was from the cold breeze blowing from the sea or the man standing before him. He began rubbing his arm and suddenly felt a sharp sting. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a long wound on his arm. The skin had been torn, and blood was seeping out. Only now did Taeui realize he had been injured.

“Huh……” – He muttered in surprise, quickly remembering that this was from the crossbow arrow he had barely dodged.

“Wow…… That’s nasty. Just a graze, but it looks like this. If it had hit me squarely, I’d be done for…… That guy should probably be made to copy the UN Human Resources Organization’s weapon possession rules ten times over.”

Jeong Taeui grumbled as the blood continued to flow from the rather deep cut. Hearing this, Riegrow suddenly let out a small, but hearty laugh. It lasted for quite a while. Jeong Taeui, watching him in disbelief, raised an eyebrow in disapproval. Riegrow eventually stopped laughing and said:

“Haha, you’re right. Let’s make him copy the rules ten times over before dealing with him. Fine, while we’re still here, I’ll make him do that. Once we get back to Europe, I’ll take care of him. After all, I owe you my life.”

Riegrow continued chuckling to himself as he reached out to take Jeong Taeui’s arm and inspect the wound.

“The cut is deep, but it’s not too serious. Just stop the bleeding, and you’ll be fine. ……Here, use this to clean it.”

With that, Riegrow removed his glove. Taeui grimaced in discomfort: “Ughh……”

Really? He was supposed to clean his wound with a glove that had probably absorbed the blood of countless people? If he used that, the grudges of all those souls might haunt him.

“You really are nothing like your brother. It’s rare to see fraternal twins that are this different. But it’s not a bad thing.”

Riegrow spoke, still with an amused tone. Taeui reluctantly accepted the glove but paused. The words sounded familiar. Although there were slight differences, he was certain he had heard something similar recently. And from whom……

Taeui simply held the glove without doing anything, instead directing his gaze intently at Riegrow. Riegrow tilted his head in curiosity, then took the glove back from Taeui and began to clean the wound for him. Riegrow’s bare hand, holding the blood-soaked glove, appeared strikingly pale. It looked even more remarkable under the dim moonlight as the mist slowly dissipated.

His nails were smooth and gleaming like glass. His fingers were long and slender. His hands were white and delicate.

Those hands were strangely familiar. More familiar than even Taeui’s own.

After cleaning the wound, Riegrow noticed Taeui’s focused gaze locked onto his hands. Suddenly, Riegrow raised an eyebrow, sighed in slight embarrassment, and waved his hands lightly. The gesture, too, felt eerily familiar.

“Do you like my hands that much?”

Seeing that Taeui couldn’t take his eyes off his hands, Riegrow asked. Taeui looked up, meeting the faint smile on the man’s face in front of him.

Damn it. What the hell is this?

Those were the only thoughts running through Taeui’s head. He couldn’t think of anything else. His mind was blank, and then, out of nowhere, a sudden surge of anger rose within him.

“If I said I liked them, would you give them to me?”

“If you want. Maybe your own hands would suit you better, but if you really want, I’ll give them to you…… after I die.”

“No thanks. There’s no way I’d take something I already said I didn’t want.”

Jeong Taeui’s voice grew increasingly irritated. His emotions were just as unsettled as his tone.

Riegrow stood there, smiling right in front of him. That smile at the corner of his eyes seemed to look down on him with a subtle disdain. Taeui continued to stare at the man’s hands.

There couldn’t possibly be two pairs of hands like that. Hands that are beautiful.

“Which is your first name, and which is your last?”

Jeong Taeui asked out of the blue, frowning. It was a question that had suddenly popped into his head, something he’d never thought of before. Riegrow smiled, glanced at Taeui for a moment, then answered.

“Riegrow is the last name.”

“I see…… Which do you prefer to be called by?”

“That’s up to you.”

“Well, in any case, I don’t really feel like calling you anything, Ilay Riegrow.”

Jeong Taeui expressed his clear dissatisfaction with his words. The man standing before him simply chuckled lightly and sighed: “Ha……”

One more reason to resent his uncle.

*************************

Even if this place was called a restricted area, nobody ever bothered to change the locks.

Jeong Taeui lay on his uncle’s bed, lazily spinning the key on his finger as it jingled.

In hindsight, he had been foolish. Even though his uncle had told him not to come, there wasn’t anything forcing him to stay away. If he had insisted on barging in and saying he’d stay, his uncle would have eventually given up and let him do as he pleased. —Of course, if his uncle had truly wanted to prevent him from coming, he would’ve done something to stop him.

Now, with troublesome people from Europe occupying the place, the safest spot in the entire building was his uncle’s private room. A restricted area where no one else was allowed.

If he had known that, he wouldn’t have needed to sneak around in the shadows or hide like he had. He could’ve just gone about his daily business and come straight here, lying low without doing anything.

“I was too naive…… I should’ve snuck in and hid under the bed as soon as he banned me.”

Taeui shook his head, muttering to himself. At one point, the idea of hiding in here had crossed his mind, but now it was too late. The people watching him had already locked on to him, and his bad luck was snowballing beyond repair. What worse things could happen now?

“Tsk.” As he tossed the key up and caught it again, the door suddenly opened, and his uncle stepped in.

He entered, slowly unbuttoning his military uniform. When he saw Taeui lying on the bed, his uncle looked surprised.

“Why are you here? I told you not to come until the joint training was over.”

“I finished reading the book, so I came to return it.”

Jeong Taeui shook the book in his hand. His uncle took off his uniform jacket, hung it on a chair, and gazed at his nephew with a probing look. It seemed like he was trying to figure out the real reason his nephew had come, as he didn’t believe it was just to return a book.

“You could have taken your time reading it. In any case, since you’re already here, feel free to borrow another one. But remember, even if you finish it, don’t come back until the training is over. —Would you like some green tea?”

After removing his shirt, his uncle started boiling water. When Jeong Taeui shook his head, his uncle only took out a cup for himself. He gently rotated his stiff neck while bending his back to ease his weariness.

Jeong Taeui put the book he had borrowed back on the shelf and let his eyes sweep over the collection. Since he had only been gone a few days, not much had changed, but a few new books had appeared on the shelves that he hadn’t seen before. His finger lightly grazed the spines of the books before stopping on a familiar title.

“This one…… They said it was sent by sea, but it arrived so quickly. Mythology.”

“Oh, it came yesterday. It’s brand new; I haven’t even read it yet. If you want, go ahead and read it first. Lately, I haven’t had time for reading anyway, and there are plenty of other books for me to read.”

“Hmm…… Okay, I’ll take this one. I’ll return it after the joint training ends.”

His uncle nodded in agreement with a slight nod. He sipped the pale green tea and let out a small sigh.

Although his uncle never showed signs of exhaustion, no one was made of iron, and during times like these, even his uncle couldn’t escape weariness. However, when Jeong Taeui’s absent-minded gaze met his uncle’s, the older man only tilted his head slightly with his usual expression.

“You must be tired these days, right? No time for reading, I see. I remember you really wanted to read this one.”

Jeong Taeui spoke softly, gently tapping the spine of the new book in his palm. His uncle smiled faintly and shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s right. According to the original plan, it was supposed to arrive by sea at the end of next week, which would coincide with the end of the joint training. That way, I could read it when I had some free time.”

“But it arrived earlier than expected.” – His uncle muttered. Jeong Taeui nodded, now understanding.

“So, you deliberately had it sent by sea so it would arrive after the training? You could’ve asked Ilay to bring it directly, but instead, you chose to ship it. I was wondering why.”

His uncle, just about to take another sip of tea, froze for a moment. He held the cup near his lips, looking at Jeong Taeui for a few seconds before slowly smiling. It seemed like he’d realized the real reason his nephew had come. He took a small sip of tea and placed the cup back down.

“Did he tell you his name himself? Well, that’s surprising…… It’s not like him to reveal his name to someone he’s just met. He must really like you.”

Probably not…… If he truly liked me, would I have to live in constant fear, avoiding well-lit places?

Jeong Taeui thought to himself but found it odd to say outright that ‘He doesn’t like me’ either, so he remained silent.

Besides, even if he did like me, what would that change? When someone like him ‘likes’ someone, it doesn’t mean what it does for normal people. For him, liking someone means finding them interesting, which is far from affection or respect.

He’s that kind of person. And surely, his uncle knew that all too well.

Thinking this, Taeui’s mouth tasted bitter. Regardless of who he was – whether he was some arms dealer living somewhere in Germany or a maniac killer from the European branch – it didn’t make a difference. Sitting on the bed, Jeong Taeui licked his lips and spoke with reluctance:

“I really don’t care about other people’s affairs, Uncle. But you know…… I have to look out for myself for the next six months. So if anything even remotely strange happens, it’ll make me anxious.”

“That’s understandable. So, what is it you want to ask?”

“What’s your relationship with that crazy guy?”

Taeui’s question was straightforward. Who he was referring to was already obvious. But his uncle just silently looked at him with a faint, thoughtful smile.

“You could call us…… reading buddies.”

Jeong Taeui frowned slightly at the slow reply. He silently looked at his uncle for a moment, then shrugged. If his uncle didn’t want to talk about it, there was no point in pressing the issue.

“Fine. I’ll make sure to take care of myself.”

“I’m acquainted with his brother. That’s the truth.”