Ilay mumbled to himself.

“No, that was just a joke.”

Kyle looked at him with curiosity, tilting his head slightly and coming to a clever conclusion.

“Hmmm. So now that you’ve found him, are you going to kill him or have you changed your mind?”

Judging by Ilay’s previous tone, it seemed more inclined toward the latter. However, Ilay didn’t answer immediately, remaining silent as if contemplating something while staring at a fixed point in the air, searching for something. His gaze suddenly turned cold.

“For now… I won’t kill him.”

Even though Ilay was his brother, the moments when his eyes turned cold and sharp like a blade were still terrifying. And that was exactly how his eyes looked now.

He must have thought about something regarding Jeong Taeui. But Kyle didn’t know what could cause such a look. Nonetheless, that answer did put him at ease. Despite the “for now” qualifier, Kyle still felt relieved.

“That’s good for me too. If you kill Jeong Tay, the relationships I have that shouldn’t be problematic will be affected.”

Kyle frowned at his own words. That wasn’t wrong. Ilay certainly thought so. Obviously, if he dealt with Jeong Taeui, it wouldn’t sit well with Kyle, and even if Ilay caused any changes in his relationships, he and his brother were still separate individuals.

But this didn’t feel like what Ilay had said. The reason seemed significant, but clearly, someone cared about that young man.

“You’re right, but I like Tay. I don’t know what happened to you, but from a personal standpoint, I like that young man.”

Kyle concluded. Yes, he had been very fond of Taeui since he was Kim. Whether it was because he was the nephew of a friend or the younger brother of a genius, it was clear that Kyle really liked Jeong Taeui.

Sometimes, there are people you start liking just by talking to them. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason for that. You might think of ordinary reasons like having a good personality, being easy to talk to, or being very friendly. However, if you think about it carefully, liking someone doesn’t always need a reason.

Good and bad personalities vary between individuals and are also based on what each person can tolerate as good or bad, so unless someone has an extremely odd or unusual personality, liking someone because of their personality isn’t an objective reason. In that way, Kyle would categorize Ilay as having a peculiar personality…

Liking someone doesn’t necessarily correlate with whether they have a good or easy-to-deal-with personality. In fact, from Kyle’s perspective, Jeong Taeui wasn’t particularly easy to deal with either.

His way of talking was normal, and he could easily blend into conversations, but he wasn’t overly comfortable, and Kyle didn’t feel that they got along exceptionally well. But even so, Kyle clearly had a great affection for him.

Kyle pondered about the young man named Jeong Taeui for a moment and suddenly felt a gaze on him. He looked up and met Ilay’s eyes. Ilay’s narrowed eyes seemed worrisome, at the very least, not pleasant.

“—What’s the matter… If you have issues with Tay, I won’t interfere. So handle it as you see fit. I’m just expressing my personal wishes.”

Kyle added and concluded. Both had very distinct personalities. Both Kyle and Ilay.

Kyle didn’t feel uncomfortable because Ilay planned to do something to someone he cared about, but he did think this situation was somewhat strange.

“He’s like this wherever he goes.”

Suddenly, Ilay mumbled to himself. He clicked his tongue and said.

“Wherever he goes, people like him.” 

Kyle nodded without thinking. But when he agreed with Ilay, Ilay gave him a disapproving look.

“People who are liked by others have something in common.”

Kyle indifferently mumbled.

“People like me, I like people.”

If you think about it, it makes sense. Generally speaking, it holds true among people. Even if there are varying degrees, it’s often ‘people like me, I like people’ or ‘the people I like also like me.’

Even if the types of ‘liking’ are different, the goodwill is fundamentally the same.

And since people naturally live based on the favor of others, they have no choice but to be sensitive to these things. Even if they can’t recognize it themselves, they know who likes people and who deserves to be liked.

Ilay stared at Kyle. As usual, his inscrutable black eyes watched him, occasionally frowning slightly.

“Let’s see…. I don’t think it’s related. But depending on the timing, it might be. Or perhaps it’s quite true.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond. It was rare for his brother to talk like this. Kyle thought he would leave his office soon, as he usually did. But this time, Ilay stayed longer than expected. Kyle gave up the idea of opening the newspaper again and took off his glasses.

“Alright, so what do you plan to do with Tay?”

“Thinking about it makes me angry again. Should I get rid of it?“

(“It” here refers to ‘the thing that angers Ilay, specifically the cause, and this cause comes from Taeui.)

Ilay smiled enigmatically and whispered. His words always seemed like a joke, but in reality, he wasn’t joking. He was always someone who acted on his whims whenever he wanted.

“You dislike him that much? Tay?”

It was rare to see him dislike someone to this extent.

Considering only Ilay had appeared during the raid this morning, Kyle had never seen anything like this before.

…No, looking at what he had done today, it seemed Ilay’s personality had grown increasingly strange.

Kyle didn’t like this situation when Ilay persistently targeted Jeong Taeui and tried to harm him. It seemed he was stubbornly fixated on him. If it had been the old Ilay, he would have directly killed him without hesitation.

“… If that’s the case, I’d rather kill him right away without hesitation. This isn’t like you, Ilay.”

When Kyle spoke briefly, Ilay made a strange expression and then laughed softly.

“Hearing you say that, it seems like you’re finally acting like an older brother.”

Kyle frowned bitterly. He didn’t think his personality was too good, but he felt a bit uncomfortable hearing such nuanced words from Ilay. Yes, it was Ilay, not anyone else.

Ilay fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering Kyle’s words.

Kyle looked at Ilay and suddenly realized something. Ilay had no clear idea of what to do until he found Jeong Taeui.

This hadn’t happened before.

“Yes… I just need to cut his throat as soon as I see him… as I always do…”

Ilay mumbled. Kyle smiled and frowned at him.

It wasn’t like Ilay at all.

“Why don’t you do as usual?”

Ilay didn’t answer. He didn’t respond to Kyle’s question but just faced him. He frowned, a complex expression as if he himself didn’t know the answer.

“Right… Even if Taei were torn into pieces before my eyes, it wouldn’t matter… No, in fact, even if I tore him into pieces with my own hands, it wouldn’t matter…”

Ilay slowly whispered. Kyle silently watched Ilay, puzzled. He thought for a while and then nodded.

At that moment.

From outside the door, at the bottom of the stairs, Rita’s voice rang out.

“Kim, if you sit on the stairs like that, you’ll block others from going up. If you want to rest, go to the living room and sit comfortably. It’s better than sitting on those hard wooden stairs.”

Kyle involuntarily glanced at Ilay. The voice echoed through the open door, resonating in the air.

Following Rita’s words was a hesitant voice, as if being strangled, sounding troubled.

“Uh… it’s nothing… I just heard that Kyle called for me.”

“Then come up. The master is in the study.”

“Well… it seems he’s got a guest. I’m not in a hurry, so I’ll wait… But thinking about it, Rita is right. I should go and sit in the living room. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Your head is full of flowers, so silly, so very silly. Taeui thought to himself with a sigh.

Kyle frowned. He cursed himself for letting such a stupid mistake happen.

He hadn’t closed the study door.

The study was a place where Kyle would stay when he wanted to enjoy some alone time at home, so when he closed the door, he hardly heard any noise from outside.

But since he was in the study, Rita and other guests wouldn’t disturb him either. Rarely did he come here to work, so he would leave the door slightly ajar unless Kyle really wanted to be alone for an extended period of time.

And he had left the door open until now without giving it any thought.

Although this room was well soundproofed when the door was closed, because Rita occasionally called Kyle from downstairs, he would sometimes leave the door open. So when that happened, the sound echoed between the study and the first floor quite clearly. At least the sounds from the first floor could be heard from the study and vice versa.

Kyle clicked his tongue. Jeong Taeui, maybe he had come to find him after the meal, as Ilay had said earlier. To avoid disturbing him while he was talking with Ilay, Jeong Taeui must have waited downstairs. And if he had been there, he must have heard their entire conversation.

Kyle felt a bit guilty. Even though he hadn’t cursed or gossiped, looking back at the conversation, there were likely many things that shouldn’t have been overheard by a third party. Although most of it was Ilay’s words, Kyle still felt like an accomplice for having listened to everything. He scratched his head awkwardly when meeting Jeong Taeui.

“Kim, it’s okay, come on in.”

Kyle called out to Jeong Taeui. Since the short conversation between Taeui and Rita had echoed up to the second floor, everyone knew that their conversation had been overheard by those in the room. Once it was clear that the other party had heard everything, hesitating and pretending otherwise would only make both sides feel more awkward.

After Kyle finished speaking, it seemed the person downstairs hesitated for a moment before slowly stepping up the stairs. The weak creaking sound of the wooden steps could be heard with each step.

Kyle recalled what Ilay had said. His brother had said that if he found Jeong Taeui, he would kill him, and that he would be very angry. Of course, hearing such words was not pleasant.

However, in this case, it was fortunate that Ilay’s usual behavior was already unpleasant. So it was no surprise that he said such things because his personality had always been like that.

For the first time, Kyle felt grateful that this was his usual personality.

Kyle glanced at Ilay, a bit surprised.

Ilay was looking out the door, just like Kyle, seemingly completely unaware that Jeong Taeui was there.

On that face, even for a brief moment, a look of confusion appeared.

Kyle blinked, unsure if he had seen it wrong. No, maybe he had indeed seen it wrong. This was Ilay.

If someone said Ilay Riegrow was confused or embarrassed about something, it was better to doubt one’s own eyes.

He blinked several times and looked at Ilay again. The usual expression had returned.

Ah. He must have been mistaken. But even if he had seen something absurd like that (Ilay’s confusion), it would be a very rare absurdity.

Kyle slowly shook his head. At that moment, the half-closed door opened a bit more, and Jeong Taeui stepped in.

He scratched his head with an embarrassed look.

“Um… I didn’t mean to eavesdrop… but I waited downstairs until your conversation ended, so… I heard it all.”

Jeong Taeui awkwardly said, glancing at Kyle, then quickly shifting his gaze to Ilay.

Ilay simply looked at him with a detached expression. Jeong Taeui bitterly licked his lips and scratched his head.

Kyle, sitting somewhat dazed between them, soon realized that the resentment between the two seemed to have shifted.

Thinking of something, he brought up a topic he thought would be most acceptable in the current situation.

“By the way, are you alright? I truly apologize for causing so much trouble to my friends this time.”

Kyle spoke naturally. He could feel Ilay quietly laughing, saying: ‘I’ve had to rescue my brother’s friends from kidnappers a few times before.’

Jeong Taeui also looked at Kyle with a delicate expression and gently shook his head.

“No, it’s my fault. I should have been more careful. I was too careless… He also said you had prepared tea…. Besides, your brother did save me, didn’t he? Didn’t he?”

Kyle was speechless. Jeong Taeui, who mentioned his brother to make him feel less guilty, also fell silent. He was sure Jeong Taeui had thoughts similar to his own at that moment. Thinking back, wasn’t this young man also directly at the scene of the arson?

The person who carried out the forest arson was here and currently looked perfectly normal, while the two of them seemed dark and silent for no reason.

Indeed, if there’s an abnormal person around you, only those around them will suffer, while they remain happy. Kyle once again reflected on the unspoken rules of human relationships.

Suddenly, Jeong Taeui raised his head and spoke.

“Where is Maurer now?”

“Maurer? Maurer returned to Hong Kong last night. He said he had urgent business. He also asked me to send his regards to you.”

“You must have a good relationship with him.” – Kyle added with a warm smile.

Jeong Taeui also wanted to smile in response and say something, but only a faint glimmer passed through his forced smile: “Haha, I see.”

It was a very brief moment, so Kyle thought he might have seen it wrong again.

“By the way, it might be strange, but… this might be the first time we’ve officially met like this, Jeong Tay.”

Kyle said.

Jeong Taeui looked puzzled for a moment but quickly understood and smiled awkwardly.

“Alright, Kyle. My name is Jeong Taeui. For some reason, I couldn’t tell you my real name.”

“In such circumstances… I understand. If I were in your position, I would do the same.”

Kyle shook his head. Anyway, if you have to run away from someone as eccentric as Ilay, changing your name and everything makes sense.

Thinking about it, this young man was really unlucky. What does it mean that the kidnapping happened at this time? If it hadn’t happened, Kyle wouldn’t have sought Ilay’s help, and Taeui wouldn’t have been captured like this.

But on the bright side, thanks to Jeong Taeui’s presence among the hostages, Kyle felt very relieved.

Kyle hadn’t expected Ilay to rush over in a heartbeat like that.

The room fell silent, no one said another word. Placing the three of them together, there was no common topic to discuss.

Because sharing this and that between brothers or sharing something with two people who had enmity, or even sharing other stories, was vague. Clearly, the three of them had no common topic.

Kyle tapped lightly on the table. The reason he wanted to meet Jeong Taeui was to ask after him since he had been at his house and got kidnapped, even getting injured during the incident. So he deserved an apology from Kyle. But he couldn’t even greet Jeong Taeui, let alone Kim.

The trivial matters had been addressed. If there was nothing more to discuss, it was better to end the conversation here. Kyle liked talking with people, but he didn’t like an awkward atmosphere. As he pretended to tidy up his desk a bit, Jeong Taeui quickly understood his intention, choosing the appropriate words for the situation and saying.

“Then I’ll go rest for a bit.”

“Alright. You should rest. Have a good rest and get well soon.”

Kyle smiled and nodded.

When Jeong Taeui bowed and left the room, Kyle suddenly remembered something and called out to him.

Jeong Taeui stopped at the call of his name without taking another step.

“I almost forgot. I have informed Officer Jeong Changin. I told him you weren’t seriously injured, but he was very worried and asked you to call him later. If anything comes up, you can use the phone here.”

Kyle pointed to the phone on the table. Jeong Taeui looked at the phone with a stiff expression. Ilay, who was observing them, suddenly smirked.

“I see, so you’ll call from here…., that way it won’t leave any traces.” – He whispered.

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue. Oh, the bitterness of it all!