Two of them looked at each other for a moment, even though they were not very satisfied, but nonetheless, the agreement was tacitly established. Jeong Taeui put his hand through the shirt still hanging on his shoulder and slowly buttoned it up. He turned around. He had to go to the dining room now. If he was late, he would have to receive Rita’s fiery eyes during mealtime. Maurer had been here a few times and seemed to have the same brainwave frequency as Taeui at the moment, so he quietly followed Taeui. The two walked side by side towards the restaurant. Everything they wanted to say had been said, and the two of them had nothing more to say to each other.

Taeui didn’t want to speak, and didn’t have the strength to speak either.

He walked a little faster when he saw the dining room door appear. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he turned back to ask Maurer secretly.

“But how is the branch these days? Is everyone okay? Is there nothing special? Something like an officer suddenly absent, or something like a search operation in the branch branch to find someone, for example….”

Maurer looked at him strangely as if he didn’t understand why he was asking these things. His face stiffened as if he wanted to get the point. He tilted his head for a moment then answered bluntly.

“You’ve been gone for so long, so why are you still asking about those things? The branch is still the same. But what’s special…, if you say something has changed since you left, it’s probably neutral Rick’s Assistant Instructor. The fourth Assistant Instructor assigned to him last Monday was taken to an outside hospital on Thursday. And then Rick said he didn’t need an Assistant Instructor anymore, so there were only four casualties.”

After pausing for a moment, Maurer looked at Taeui with a very dissatisfied expression.

The guy started.

“What the hell are you really doing? Because of you, we can’t even say a word to him. That monster controlled himself a bit after coming to work as a lecturer, but now he’s lost his mind. Even if he made a small mistake, he would log that person out of the sever ‘Earth’. Those days were absolutely bloody”

Maurer whispered as if he would really die if someone caught him. He expressed sympathy for Taeui as he spoke.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you the one who should take the position next to that crazy guy?” He said sympathetically but then turned around as quickly as lightning. But thinking back, you’re really a bad person for running away and giving that position to someone else.”

What Maurer said is not wrong, he is like that.

Just now Jeong Taeui thought he was going to strangle this man. He looked at Maurer’s neck and then opened the dining room door. Kyle was already sitting inside, and Rita was looking at him with scary eyes.

“I’m sorry for being late.” – He muttered and quickly sat down.

“I just arrived, don’t worry.”

Taeui looked at Kyle with grateful eyes when he heard that extremely warm voice. At times like this he thought of one thing, it was unbelievable that a man like this could be Ilay’s brother. He sighed quietly and nibbled on some vegetables from the appetizer. Before, Ilay was already a murderous maniac, but now his situation was even worse, as if his brutality had been upgraded to a new level. I originally thought that this was his limit before, but who would have thought that he could be even crazier than that.

Jeong Taeui used to think things like “I even have two more limits I haven’t reached yet.” It was just a joke, but when those thoughts appeared in his mind, he suddenly felt the cruel reality and unconsciously trembled.

I guess he was also very angry. His terse words of warning echoed again: “Don’t get caught.” seemed very useful right now, because he was 10/10 sure that: ‘If I get caught, I will die.’

But the good news is that it seems he has no intention of leaving or conducting an outside search.

Ilay didn’t seem that angry. There’s no other way, probably everything you did to him wasn’t enough to make him care enough to think he had to find Jeong Taeui.

“…..It’s a bit sad to think like that…..I thought you would appear even if it’s just a claw….”

Taeui mumbled to himself while eating. Kyle and Maurer looked at each other with confused expressions. He wondered if they could hear what he had just accidentally said and quickly closed his mouth.

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

Jeong Taeui was a bit reluctant to leave this house.

Even though he stayed here for a short time, he became familiar with everyone here, and he was able to comfortably relax for a long time. But now he had been caught by that damn bastard, so no matter how he could silence him, he had to leave here immediately.

Another huge reason is that with that guy named Ilay, Taeui can never feel secure. He packed his few belongings with a sports bag just like when he arrived here.

Jeong Taeui leisurely prepared his things and stared intently at the wall adjacent to Maurer’s room next door. He could have rested a little longer in this cozy house if it weren’t for his presence. But thinking back, if he just stayed in one place here, he would have no way to find his brother.

Even though he was still searching without any plans, he still had to pretend like he was trying his best to find him in front of him. Besides, he also wanted to meet hyung.

He wanted to see his indifferent face but to him there was not a trace of coldness, wanted to hear his quiet but not distant voice.

“East, West, South, North, where should I go now? He probably won’t go to North Korea. I can’t go that far…….. there’s an embargo there too.”

Jeong Taeui patted his neatly prepared luggage bag and seriously thought about going to have a fortune teller. It was late at night but the sun was still high in the sky. If you decide to leave today, you should leave before the sun sets.

Jeong Taeui resolutely stood up. Although his heart was heavy when he decided to leave, everything had been arranged. All he should do now was say a brief goodbye to Kyle, Rita, and the others before leaving.

Luckily, Kyle was home. He brought Maurer here, then went back to work, and then returned a few hours later. Even though work was still piled up there, he still calmly smiled and said, “Until today, this is still my vacation.”

Jeong Taeui muttered to the tightly closed door.

“It’s true that having to sit in the office while it’s still on vacation is useless, even an office worker wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Jeong Taeui walked out into the quiet hallway, thinking about leaving like this made him feel even more regretful. He really wanted to kick Maurer out of here instead of having to leave, but after all, this was Kyle’s house. His hospitality to Maurer made him reluctant to take action.

When walking through the hallway and living room to get to the office, Jeong Taeui did not meet anyone.

He took a deep breath, remembering Rita’s presence from the kitchen, the gardener coming and going in the garden outside, and the other guests resting in the room.

In the past, Ilay was also here.

Even if that inhumane guy stays here, this place will still have the same rhythm of life.

And now, he feels like he has to step out of his daily routine.

He hopes one day he can return to this peaceful place again.

Jeong Taeui sighed, smiled and moved step by step. He walked through the living room and climbed the stairs where the study was. That is the staircase that only leads to that room. If you want to go to other rooms on the second floor, you will have to go by the stairs between the dining room and living room.

It seems like the room is quite a precious place in this house. Anyway, it had to be, because it was like a treasure trove of humanity’s library, it was filled with books that Kyle treasured like his life. And at the same time, this is like Kyle’s second company. When he’s there you can go into the library and check out books with his permission, but when he’s away it’s always locked. He couldn’t even take any books out of that room. Because he is truly a crazy fan of books. Jeong Taeui smiled and went up the stairs.

When he knocked on the thick wooden door in front of the office, Kyle’s voice rang out softly from inside. After hearing the sound of inviting him in, Taeui immediately opened the door. Kyle was staring at the file through his thin silver-rimmed glasses for a while without raising his head even after he stepped inside. Then he finally looked up after writing something at the bottom of that document.

Jeong Taeui didn’t mind that, but he was also a bit surprised because this was the first time he saw Kyle in the office. His appearance is very different from what he usually shows on a daily basis.

Perhaps this feeling was similar to the feeling he had when he first saw him in Hong Kong. It was as if he was surrounded by a thin, impenetrable membrane while he worked. It’s like becoming a different person to adapt to each different type of environment. Taeui felt like he had just recognized another side of Kyle and quietly observed the man without saying a word.

Noticing Taeui’s appearance, Kyle smiled naturally like the friendly smile he showed to anyone. Kyle put down the pen and file in his hand and took off his glasses.

“Kim, what’s wrong? Is there a book you want to read? You can read anything you want here.”

Kyle said and pointed towards the bookshelf, Taeui shook his head.

“No, I have something to tell you…. But you look busy, maybe too much work?…”

Jeong Taeui muttered when he saw a document he had just written on a moment ago. Kyle rubbed his temples as if tired and smiled.

“I’m not usually that busy, but there have been a number of problems that have happened in the past few days, one by one.”

“……If you need any help, is there anything I can help you with?”

Jeong Taeui hesitated for a moment and asked. It seems like there’s nothing I can do to help, but it’s polite to ask, and if there’s anything I can do, I’d be happy to lend a hand. But Kyle shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal, sometimes things like this happen.”

Kyle motioned for Taeui to sit in the chair across from him at the table in the middle of the room and nodded vaguely with a sigh.

Taeui glanced at the pile of documents on the table, wondering if the problem came from these files, and Kyle smiled to meet his gaze as if realizing.

“It has nothing to do with these things. There are a few problems that often arise regarding weapons and my younger brother.”

Jeong Taeui was silent. He shrugged his shoulders to appear normal, but secretly his ears were pricked up like a dog. He doesn’t want Kyle to know about the relationship between him and his brother, so it’s hard to get any more information, but if he asks about the reason for those problems, it might be revealed. So it’s best to just pretend to be deaf and dumb.

He muttered complaints to himself.

“An arms manufacturing and trading company sounds big, but to put it simply, we are an arms dealer. So of course the company is also attacked a lot. Not to mention human rights organizations and religious groups, rebels elsewhere often attack us and sometimes we are also threatened by armed terrorist groups. In this case, it’s not just about trading weapons, it’s about equipping your side with weapons.”

Kyle sighed and flipped through the pile of papers to see if it was related to the paper placed right on top and then put it down.

“That would be very uncomfortable.”

Jeong Taeui nodded and muttered. Of course, it is impossible to trade weapons with rebels or armed terrorist groups. If you trade weapons with them, then it will no longer simply be selling weapons but will become arms smuggling. And if this leaks out, the business should close immediately.

The reality is that arms trading businesses cannot conduct transactions purely, but they must circumvent the law to do so illegally. So even rebels can own weapons with just money and power. If you are involved in the arms trade and only trade cleanly without any tricks, you will definitely be considered stupid people who don’t know anything.

Jeong Taeui suddenly smiled bitterly. I remember UNHRDO. And then he thought about UNHRDO’s relationship with this man. A bad memory suddenly came back to my mind. Memories that he never wanted to remember. Memories that will forever have no solution but only sadness and heaviness.

Perhaps Kyle doesn’t want to mention too much about things related to the arms trade. He changed the subject.

“Because of the nature of my work, the company I’m working for now has a pretty good information network. So I’m often asked to find out about this and that.” – Kyle still seems to remember his story.

“Aren’t you also looking for someone? Just tell me whenever you want, I can’t be sure that I’ll find that person but I’ll do my best anyway.”

Jeong Taeui smiled shyly and once again politely refused.

“Thank you for your kindness.”

He didn’t want to tell this man his brother’s name and asked for his help in finding him. But thinking back, there was no way he hadn’t asked Kyle for help. If Kyle finds out, he doesn’t want him to know where his brother is.

“But not long ago, my younger brother also argued with me to find someone.”

Taeui felt guilty. He smiled indifferently: “Oh, is that so?”

His palms became wet, he unconsciously grabbed the edge of his pants.

“What kind of person are you?”

“Well…., that is.”

Kyle looked confused for some reason, he frowned and thought for a moment then sighed and spoke.

“Even though I don’t know the details, after a little investigation, it was the nephew of a friend of mine. I don’t know why he didn’t answer when I asked why I was looking for him, but yes It seems like that person has broken his heart. My younger brother, I think I’ve said it before, because his personality is quite strange. He’s the kind of person who can’t forgive those who touch him.”

He knows it only too well. Besides his family, he is probably the person most familiar with that temperament. It can be said that he’s an extremely cruel but also very special personality.

Jeong Taeui muttered to himself then realized that it was nothing to be proud of and became sullen. Even if he could say it to gain sympathy, he couldn’t brag about it.

“Um….so, have you found the person your brother wants?”

Jeong Taeui said each word calmly, pretending not to know anything. Suddenly, his expression looked as if he wanted to say: ‘Okay…….. The killer is you! So…’

It sounded like a scary ghost story, he rubbed his trembling arms.

“No, it’s not that easy. He hasn’t left any traces since the last time my brother and he met. Maybe he faked his identity so we still have to find him, so we still have to find the person who helped him change his identity”

Kyle bit his lip. Jeong Taeui nodded dryly with an expression as if it was none of his business.

Actually, he also wants to tell him that the person who helped ‘him’ change that person’s identity is his very close friend.

He discovered that up until this point, it was completely impossible for Ilay to have guessed who he had become and where he was now. But that doesn’t mean Ilay won’t cling to his uncle and ask him to reveal his whereabouts.

From the bottom of his heart, Jeong Taeui felt scared. Even though Ilay is still at the Asia branch, he can still use his claws to reach everywhere to find Taeui’s whereabouts. However, it seems that besides giving him a new identity, his uncle has also erased all traces of him.

Thank you, uncle! he will definitely work hard to find Jae-hyung. Even though he couldn’t utter a word, Taeui still rubbed his trembling heart as he said thank you to his uncle, even though he couldn’t hear anything. When he heard sporadic news about Ilay, his anxiety grew greater and greater. Could he really leave here? Is there any place in the world safer than this? This is the place that monster’s claws will never reach!

After thinking a little more, Jeong Taeui’s fiery will to find his brother just now suddenly died down. He felt that staying in this house was the best choice, as long as Maurer kept his mouth shut. But in the end, Taeui still had to speak.

“It’s a bit sudden, but I have something to tell you.”

Kyle nodded as if remembering Taeui’s purpose of coming here. He smiled and told him to feel free to say anything. Jeong Taeui hesitated a bit then opened his mouth.

“Looks like I have to leave here earlier than planned.”

Kyle smiled in surprise and looked at Jeong Taeui. He frowned slightly and asked.

“Why so suddenly? Do you feel any inconvenience?”

“No. Thank you, I’ve had a very comfortable time here. As I mentioned before, I need to find someone… So I can’t stay here forever. “

Jeong Taeui said with a calm smile. Kyle looked at him for a moment and sighed in disappointment. But it seems like he’s already used to this. Because the house always has guests coming in and out, the joy when guests come and the disappointment when they leave are probably just like everyday things in the district.

“Um, is that so? Where are you going?”

“Ah…., first I’ll go to the airport.”

It’s time to call you home. After calling you at the airport, I’ll go somewhere else. He has no way to know his brother’s whereabouts, so right now he has no specific destination.

“The airport? Are you planning to go far?”

“No, it’s not that, but I need to make a phone call….”

“Call?”

At Taeui’s words, Kyle became confused. Jeong Taeui could only scratch his head and wonder if he had accidentally said something wrong.

“That’s it, I need to make a phone call without leaving a trace, so I’ll go to the airport to make the call and then go somewhere else.”

Upon hearing those words, Kyle seemed to understand the problem and nodded. Suddenly, the corners of his lips curled up.

“If that’s the case, then you don’t have to go that far to make a call, you can do it right here. My office is just as secure as my company’s. Even though the network is no matter how good the tracking is, it’s impossible to track anything done here. Unless you have another reason to go to the airport besides making a phone call, then just call here. It’ll be fine. I’m a little tired and thirsty, so I’ll go ask Rita for a cup of tea and sip it slowly to relax.”

Kyle stood up. Taeui awkwardly mumbled – “Ah, um” – but it seemed like Kyle thought differently. So he bluntly stated with certainty – “I can 100% guarantee that it won’t be tracked” – then walked out of the study room.

“Let’s talk later. When do you want to leave?”

No, I was originally planning on leaving tonight, but before Jeong Taeui could say the first word, Kyle had already closed the door and left.

Jeong Taeui was suddenly left alone in the study room. He blinked for a moment and looked at the silently closed door with no signs of reopening in sight. The sound of distant footsteps going down the stairs echoed outside.

“….”

Taeui scratched his head and glanced at his phone.

What Kyle said is probably true. He couldn’t ask anything more because it seemed like it was an untraceable phone. Anyway, he very politely left so I could make the call. If I hadn’t, it would have seemed a bit rude.

Perhaps because he heard the name Ilay before, he felt a bit uncomfortable. His fingers scrolled through each number slowly.

‘I’d rather ask my uncle about the situation. That’s right. Maybe that would be better.’

Maurer said that Ilay became more and more brutal. He must have lost his mind.

A leopard can’t change its spots. There was a person who was not afraid to tear him apart and kill him immediately, but he let that person slip away, so it was natural for him to go crazy. But thinking about it another way, it seems like he has caused many other people to fall into misery just for his own safety. But up until now, he had understood the nature of the people there, so this was a bit fair. It’s all over. First, he’ll call his unlce and ask how bad Ilay’s temper has gotten and to what extent he’s hunting for him.

After his finger passed the last number, the phone began to beep and beep. It was only when the signal connected that Taeui realized that he hadn’t considered the time difference at all.

He glanced at the clock, it was still not dark. If so, it would have been past midnight with him. He thought for a moment, after all, he was someone who slept quite late. If he hung up now, he would have to come back here to borrow the phone again later. Moreover, uncle is not in the room during the day, so he will have to consider the time to call between morning and evening. It’s really not easy even if it’s just a phone call. Damn it, if he woke up from his sleep then so be it.

More than one beep rang out, with no sign of reply from the other end of the line. Maybe he was sleeping soundly or maybe he wasn’t in the room right now, maybe he was in the bathroom, that’s why he couldn’t answer the phone.

Should he call back later? If so, he’ll have to go to the airport to quickly make a call and leave somewhere else.

Finally, the long beeping sound stopped. Jeong Taeui was about to put down the receiver, but somehow he brought the receiver closer to his ear. No sound is emitted at all. He was about to put it down again as if he hadn’t even noticed that the person on the other end had picked up the phone silently.

“……Hello?”

Because he didn’t see what the other person said, he spoke first. Jeong Taeui wondered if he had dialed the wrong number. He stared at the phone screen, it was indeed his uncle’s number.

Is there something wrong with the phone?

“Hello, uncle?”

If he still doesn’t get a response this time, he’ll hang up and call back later.

Jeong Taeui called him again. 10 seconds later or maybe longer, the person on the other end of the line finally spoke.