Only when the meal is served, Taeui can feel that time is still slowly passing. Even though he can see the time on the clock if he turns on the light, since Taeui stepped in here, he just sits silently without moving a muscle. He bows his head silently, the delicious food in front of him only receives an indifferent glance from him. Jeong Taeui looks at a few dishes and takes a sip of water.

When he first set foot here, Taeui always longed for a light, even if it was dim, but now he no longer needs it. Although he knows where the light can be turned on, but now he doesn’t even need the light emitted from it anymore, he just sits silently in his place.

Everything remains the same. In fact, this place is unlikely to change in just a few months. In this dark and gloomy prison, Jeong Taeui looks down at his hands, which are still hidden in the darkness. He touches his little finger, where there is a callus near the palm. But his fingers are still very soft.

“Hey, are you sleeping?”

A voice from the other side of the wall echoes, the wall here is very thin, the sounds pass through sparsely. He can clearly hear that voice as if the person is talking right next to him.

Jeong Taeui sighs and answers bluntly, “No.” but the man in the neighboring prison is still eager to chat with him. Taeui feels that he doesn’t want to talk to anyone much, so he only answers the guy in a dry manner, sometimes even ignores his questions and doesn’t answer anything, but that man seems to not care about that and still opens his mouth to speak.

“I’m tired of rotting in this prison for so long.”

Oh, it seems that his mouth has become moldy because there has been no one to talk to for a long time.

Jeong Tae-eui just wants to be silent right now. He wants to shut down all senses, sight and hearing and confine himself in that silent space. That’s why Eoryeong is a perfect place. If he can’t find light and turn it on, then just let himself sink into the darkness.

Not sharing a room with anyone means there won’t be any noise that bothers him. So when being brought into an empty room, he thought it was good. But he didn’t expect to avoid one trouble and encounter another when such a guy appeared in the room next door.

Taeui would rather share a room with that guy, he would take a towel and cover his mouth.

Before lunch, Taeui knew that the man in the next room was born in a wealthy family in Kuala Lumpur and came to Shanghai to study alone at the age of 15. He wants to join UNHRDO. Above this person, there are 2 older brothers who are an accountant and a businessman, below there is a younger brother and a sister who are still students. Taeui even discovered that this man had appeared once in a TV commercial.

When coming here, unfortunately for him, the only room that has people is the last room in the corridor, while the room opposite him is empty, so the closest person to him now is only Jeong Taeui.

Taeui can’t stand it anymore, he said directly that he will eat and sleep now so don’t talk to him anymore. After that, the man in the next room also became quieter a bit.

He sighs and sinks into silence, but not long after that, that man suddenly speaks up.

“Are you sleeping?”

Jeong Taeui doesn’t answer, he doesn’t even have the mood to talk right now. The man sees that and keeps his mouth shut. Luckily, he only talks a few more times until dinner is served. But Jeong Taeui is still silent, he doesn’t even have the mood to eat dinner, so he doesn’t touch the chopsticks.

Early this morning, even before work started, Ilay immediately sent Taeui to prison.

He didn’t even give him a chance to say anything else. When he reached the 7th floor just before Jeong Taeui entered the Eoryeong door, he smiled gently and said, “Rest, until I come to pick you up.”

Ilay told him to rest? He wants him to rest?

“Like a dog being allowed to rest…. you damn bastard.”

Jung Tae-eui murmurs in a low voice.

If someone wants to rest, then this place is definitely not a bad choice. This is a perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the outside world. If he had been brought here the day before, he would have smiled and said thank you to him.

“Uh. Are you awake?”

Taeui mumbles without realizing the voice from the next room.

“Have you slept at all since noon? You look quite tired. But who is responsible for that grudge of yours? Who is it? The person you seem to want to devour?”

The guy laughs curiously. Jeong Taeui wonders if he should ignore him, but he still sighs and answers.

“He doesn’t see anyone as human.”

“Aha. So that must be an asshole. I also know someone like that. There are also people who, although they can do this very well, can easily destroy everything else…”

Suddenly, the man’s voice became hoarse. The icy hatred was clearly engraved in every word.

“That’s exactly why I came here. He is someone who doesn’t consider anyone as human. A despicable person who beats others with his bare hands. A crazed murderer covered in blood who can still smile!”

……

Jeong Taeui bit his lip. He knew someone who seemed exactly like the person described. If there were two people like that in this world, he would be desperate.

“So? He should be the one imprisoned here. But why did you come here?”

When Jeong Tae-eui asked, the man’s voice abruptly cut off. After a while, he spoke with a dead, grinding voice.

“That madman killed my teammate. So, I took a rifle and shot him…”

“Good…”

Jeong Taeui replied vaguely and immediately bit his mouth shut. He seemed to know who this man was, the third older brother of the beautiful Letching, who grew up in Kuala Lumpur and graduated from university in Shanghai. The invisible voices he had heard once before played slowly in his head.

“It’s you, huh? Let’s see which wretched person has ruined everything!”

“Get out here, come out or I’ll find and play with you, you damn wretched person with an empty gun!”

Oh, that crazy guy back then was this guy. A madman who went to a crowded restaurant with a 50 caliber pistol* and started shooting indiscriminately.

*50 caliber pistol: is a handgun firing a bullet measuring approximately 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in diameter. (Smith & Wesson Model 500, Taurus Raging Bull Model 500, Magnum Research BFR, JTL-E .500 S&W Magnum 12″, Gary Reeder Custom Guns Ultimate 500,….Other)*

Taeui remembered that the guy had told him that if he ever met him again, he would give him a hole. 

Taeui glanced at the wall, unable to see anything in the pitch-black darkness, but he narrowed his eyes towards the voice.

Jeong Taeui had changed his mind from earlier. He was glad he wasn’t sharing a room with that guy.

If he shared a room with him, he would strangle him with a cloth instead of just covering his mouth with it. Then Taeui would get into trouble for murder.

But thinking about it, aren’t all the misfortunes he’s experiencing now because of that person?

He didn’t say for sure that it was him, but he thought that 90% of it was because of that wretched person. In an instant, anger surged like a fever. If he was next to him, he wouldn’t be able to kill him, but at least he would strangle him until Ilay was about to pass out.

Taeui sighed as he thought about it. They say that with an unlucky person, even if they fall backwards, their nose will still break. So there’s no way to blame it all on him.

Perhaps he didn’t even realize that all these misfortunes seemed to have been warned in advance from the moment he arrived here, or even before.

Taeui looked down as if trying to find something invisible. At first, there was a red thread tied there. Even though he had never really seen or felt it, there was a red thread connecting Jeong Taeui and his twin brother. His older brother had said so, so he was also sure of it.

When he heard Jaeui speak, in reality, he still couldn’t see any thread at all. So Taeui wonders if it has been cut. Perhaps before leaving his house, he had to cut it off.

“If we talk about it,… my luck has been declining since it was cut…”

Perhaps Gil Sang-Cheon must be his older brother. While sharing his luck with Taeui, he brought blessings so that he wouldn’t encounter any misfortunes. Then, because the thread connecting to his older brother was cut, he no longer received that luck.

“If I think that way, everything will make more sense.”

Those three words Gil Sang-Cheon must have meant for someone as lucky as his hyung. If Taeui thinks that he is someone who has been lucky enough and even wants to share that luck with others, it is very convincing.

“The red thread is truly my luck……. Ah, I really want to meet hyung and tie you up.”

He thinks he is murmuring softly, but even the room next door can hear it. The man is cursing madly even when Jeong Taeui is not caring about him, he suddenly asks Taeui.

“Have you ever said goodbye to your older brother?”

“Ah…-I don’t even know where he is, and I don’t know what he’s doing..”

Jeong Tae-eui whispers like a sigh. He wants to meet his older brother, but can only embrace the longing in vain.

This has never happened before. No matter where he goes or what he does, his older brother will always be within his sight. Even when he has to go far away, as long as Taeui remembers him, he can meet or contact him anytime.

What should I do now, hyung. I miss you. I miss you so much. < 🥺 Baby…>

The man in the next room sinks into silence and contemplation as if his sigh has reached his ears.

Or maybe that man has fallen asleep.

Jeong Taeui leans against the wall, each breath quietly fluttering on his chest. The man’s voice suddenly echoes again.

“As long as he’s still alive, you will meet him…. But the person I want to meet the most is already dead.”

Taeui doesn’t know what else to say, and the man also falls into thought.

The man has been restless until now but suddenly falls silent when thinking about the friend he will never have a chance to meet again. Jeong Taeui intends to say something in this quiet atmosphere, but after hesitating for a while, he decides to swallow those words. Perhaps now is the time for this man to have his own space.

Did that friend die at the hands of IIay, or was it someone else?

After all, Jeong Taeui mourns for that unknown friend, and for this man as well.

The friend is dead, which means their life ends here. But for those left behind, life will only be filled with a sense of loss. And Jeong Taeui deeply understands this feeling of loss.

He silently looks at the darkness enveloping his body. Then mutters bitterly.

“I will still be very angry, uncle.”

His sigh blends into the darkness. He has been thinking about it all day. About what has happened since last night—no, even longer, step by step, stepping back to the time before. There is only one logical conclusion for everything, but it is also the conclusion he least expects, no matter how accurate it may be. So he keeps thinking, but the more he thinks, the more uncomfortable his stomach becomes.

Taeui feels exhausted and can’t breathe.

He wants to leave here, he wants to meet his hyung, and wants to escape from these complicated relationships. These wishes fill his mind.

At the same time, the sound of an iron door opening comes from a distance. It’s late at night, so no one will come here at this hour anymore, so it must be the guard doing a patrol. But when he hears the footsteps on the stone steps, it seems like he knows who it is.

He has been wandering aimlessly with gloomy doubts all day today, yet he can walk without hesitation even in this pitch-black darkness. Jeong Taeui laughs bitterly.

“Taei.”

The footsteps stop and a voice a few steps away echoes, but Jeong Tae doesn’t look up. He just stares at his feet in silence. At this moment, the moon must have risen, and the faint sound and light from above suddenly pour down.

The light is not dazzling, but it is brighter than the sun in his eyes that have been accustomed to darkness all day.

Jeong Taeui closed his eyes and covered them with his hand, keeping his mouth shut until his eyes could gradually adjust to the light and he could slowly open them. The man waited silently in front of him.

“Did you rest well? I came to pick you up.”

When Jeong Taeui opened his eyes, Ilay was right in front of him. While waiting for Jeong Taeui to come out, he opened the cell door.

Jeong Taeui stood still for a moment and just stared at him. Ilay patiently waited for Jeong Taeui, as if he had no problem with it.

“Hey! You’re out already?”

The silence was broken by the voice of the man in the adjacent room. Ilay turned back and glanced at him. But from his position, he couldn’t see who was in the next cell. Similarly, the man couldn’t see Ilay either.

The man in the adjacent cell seemed unaware that Ilay was so close to him. The moment he realized that, a strange feeling arose within him. It was a feeling that was hard to describe. Moore – the guy who had tried to kill Ilay, almost risking his own life without paying attention to his surroundings. Even though it might have been just hatred or a momentary act, at that moment, he definitely hated Ilay more than anyone else in the world.

However, at this moment, he didn’t recognize Ilay. Even when the sounds of his footsteps – one of Ilay’s distinctive features, or even his voice, were heard. He still didn’t recognize Ilay because he couldn’t see him.

“Too fast to be released within less than a day, huh? Haha, let’s go outside and see.”

He cheerfully greeted Taeui. Taeui stood up after hearing that greeting.

Then, Ilay opened the cell door and walked outside to wait for him.

Jeong Taeui didn’t greet the man because there was no reason to meet him again. However, he still told him that he was fine until he got out of here, that’s all.

The door of the 7th floor basement closed behind them. The space had only one door in the middle, and the light shining in contrasted completely with the dark room behind.

Taeui looked at the clock, it was almost 10 o’clock. It was the end of a normal work day.

“That’s the path I just ran through 10 minutes ago after the last meeting of the day.”

Ilay said from behind Taeui – who was still staring at him and the clock. (Ilay arrived late so he looked at the clock to tease him)

“Don’t be angry because I’m late. I tried to come as early as possible.”

He added, with a slight smile on his face.

Jeong Taeui glanced at that smile for a while and then turned his head. It was the worst smile he had ever seen. It was exactly the same smile he had seen once this morning. 

Taeui looked dissatisfied and sighed.

“You will be taken care of kindly here.”

“I thought it would be better if you were here today, but you don’t like it?”

Ilay raised an eyebrow and spoke as if he was surprised. Jeong Taeui looked up at the ceiling for a while.

As he said, spending a day in Eoryeong wasn’t bad at all. Taeui was extremely unwell today, both physically and mentally, so he couldn’t participate in training and achieve good results. He would definitely encounter many troubles if he stayed out there with this unstable mindset. So he would rather spend the whole day burying his body in a dark place than working outside like normal days.

“Yeah, it’s better than usual. Although I don’t think you brought me here for my own good.”

When Jeong Taeui said indifferently, Ilay laughed.

Jeong Taeui walked towards the nearby staircase while Ilay stopped in front of the elevator right next to it. As he started climbing the stairs, Ilay also followed him up from the end of the stairs and asked.

“Do you want to take the stairs? Isn’t it too much for you?”

“Tiring. I’ve been having a headache.”

Jeong Taeui answered bluntly but didn’t stop walking. His body was better because he had been still in the cell almost all day, and now there was no problem anymore, but his head had started to ache a little while ago. And it has been like that ever since.

A headache would occur if the body was tired from too much movement or if the mind was overworked. But it wasn’t too serious. Just a good sleep would fix it.

While walking up the stairs with Jeong Taeui, Ilay nodded and pointed behind Taeui.

“There’s an elevator right here.”

“You want to take the elevator just to go up one floor?… It will take more time waiting.”

Taeui sniffed and said. Ilay remained silent for a while.

“Just one floor up? Are you planning to go to your room?”

This time, Jeong Tae-eui fell silent.

Only then did he realize that they had different destinations in mind.

Where Ilay wanted to go was his room on the first basement floor, while where Taeui was heading was his room on the upper floor.

Jeong Taeui stopped walking. Then, Ilay also stopped.

The headache seems like it won’t go away on its own. At this rate, it’s only getting worse and he can’t easily fall asleep anymore. So he just wants to go back to his room and rest.

“Come to my room, I have a lot of beer in the fridge this evening.”

“…..Okay…..Should I?”

Taeui doesn’t know how much there is, but he’ll clean out that beer spot.