When Jeong Taeui recalled the strange feeling when he encountered Ilay in the birch forest, his heart skipped a beat.

The sensation of being watched from behind was far from pleasant, but there was nothing he could do about it. Jeong Taeui entered a bookstore still open late at night, bought a book, went down the street to buy a drink, and wandered into a night market to get some snacks. Though not particularly interested, he even entered a camera store. Finally, Taeui found himself at the beach. He stepped into a small bar on the corner, had a few beers, and then returned to the hotel.

The stalker was still diligently tailing him, but he didn’t interfere with anything, merely observing quietly. If he thought positively, having the stalker follow him was a hundred times better than having the gaze replaced by the man named Ilay Riegrow.

Since then, everything has continued just like that.

No matter where he went – from the moment he left the room, the gaze of that guy followed him relentlessly. However, he would not hinder Jeong Taeui in anything.

One day, wanting to see the extent of his current freedom, Jeong Taeui took his passport, wallet, and other necessary items and boarded a bus to the airport. He even boldly thought that if the guy didn’t intervene, he would take the opportunity to slip out of the country. However, it seemed the limit wasn’t that far. As soon as Jeong Taeui arrived at the airport, his phone rang.

Although the number was unfamiliar, he knew who was on the other end even before he pressed the answer button.

“No, I really don’t intend to run away, I’m not that stupid.” – He answered the phone while racking his brain for a suitable excuse. However, it seemed Ilay already knew he would say that, so he wasn’t too angry but spoke in a low, irritated voice.

“Anyway, you can’t use your passport or Kim Young Soo’s to leave the country right now. After checking the airport, return. It’s difficult for me to go out now, so don’t cause any more trouble.”

Then he hung up without waiting for Jeong Taeui’s response.

Jeong Taeui stood like a statue in the airport, staring at his phone. Ha, he laughed out loud. Banned from leaving the country? Ha, there was nothing those hands couldn’t interfere with. It felt like he had become a dangerous criminal to be banned from leaving the country.

In the end, Jeong Taeui had no choice but to return as Ilay had instructed. That day, upon returning to the hotel, he drank up all the drinks at the small bar in his room. Starting with a bottle of water and moving on to the outrageously priced cocktails, he poured all the drinks and snacks he could find – except for the beer – into the bathtub, knowing that the man born with a diamond spoon in his mouth wouldn’t even bat an eye at these expensive items. To him, it was like dropping a penny.

But now, thinking back…

“…If he asks me to pay for the room when I check out, I’ll suffer a huge loss…”

Jeong Taeui regretted his actions and glared at the Lippo Center.

Today was almost over. The day after tomorrow was Friday.

If Ilay’s schedule remained the same, he would go to the Lippo Center to handle work at the company, which meant he would return to Hong Kong the day after tomorrow. Perhaps Jeong Taeui’s brief time of playing around had come to an end. But even so, what did he intend to do with him? Anyway, Ilay would return to the branch during the weekdays. And Jeong Taeui was no longer a member of UNHDRO, unable to return there.

Jeong Taeui didn’t think he would continue letting him stay in the hotel like this. There was no way he would go out every weekend to torment him and then leave him alone for the rest of the week.

That wasn’t possible. He wasn’t some little lover waiting obediently for Ilay here during his business trips.

Jeong Taeui pondered and suddenly pressed his lips together, the taste of beer no longer strong… He slumped down on the bed, muttering a strange sound.

“Have you really gone this far, Jeong Taeui… haizzzzzz.”

Jeong Taeui struggled to clear his head of weird thoughts, exhausted, and collapsed on the bed, staring helplessly at the ceiling.

Suddenly, a vague voice crossed his mind.

“Shut up and follow me obediently. I didn’t forbid you from seeing Jeong Jaeui.”

“…..”

He hadn’t misheard.

Jeong Taeui stared blankly at the ceiling and sat up. He wouldn’t prevent him from seeing his brother; Ilay really said that.

At least, from what Taeui knew about him, the man named Ilay Riegrow was extremely unpredictable and hard to get along with, but he never made empty promises. If he said so, it meant just that. In fact, perhaps those words were what made Jeong Taeui stay obediently in the hotel, only occasionally going for walks.

“Could he be planning to bring my brother here?”

The thought crossed Jeong Taeui’s mind and disappeared without a trace. The idea was immediately dismissed. Jeong Jaeui being captured by someone? It was impossible to imagine.

Of course, the most likely scenario behind his words could be: ‘I might let you go and find your brother if you behave properly…’

Ilay might suddenly change his mind and decide to treat him kindly, who knows.

“…People’s perspectives on things change over time, don’t they?”

But the thought of Ilay suddenly becoming kind seemed as likely as Jeong Jaeui being held captive by someone.

Among the many scenarios Jeong Taeui could think of, one seemed most reasonable given the actual situation. It involved mutual benefits.

Finding Jeong Jaeui could be a threat to some, but it would also bring solid profits to the organizations and corporations Ilay was involved with. Not only that, those organizations – from Taeui’s perspective – wouldn’t just see Jeong Jaeui as an ordinary person anymore. In other words, letting Jeong Taeui find and bring Jeong Jaeui would only benefit those organizations and, by extension, Ilay Riegrow. Since Jeong Taeui couldn’t return to UNHDRO, and Ilay could easily find him no matter where he hid, Ilay would gain significantly by putting aside petty grudges and letting him search for Jeong Jaeui.

Jeong Taeui spoke gloomily: “…But… I don’t like that at all.”

He just wanted to meet his brother.

He hadn’t even considered rescuing or bringing his brother back. He simply wanted to meet him, exchange a few words, and alleviate his longing before saying, “Bye bye, hyung. See you again.”

Jeong Taeui scratched his head and licked his lips.

But even so, if his freedom meant trading his brother, Jeong Taeui might be willing to accept that for his own peace of mind.

These thoughts lingered in his mind, making his heart and mind feel heavier. Jeong Taeui ruffled his already messy hair, only able to lament his unlucky fate.

Suddenly, he sprang up. Although he had just returned to his room, the best way to clear a troubled mind was to keep his body active. He knew that if he continued to wallow in such thoughts like a depressed person, that depression would only grow like a monster and eventually consume him. That feeling was never pleasant.

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

Half an hour after leaving the hotel, Jeong Taeui was sitting on a bench, sipping on a can of orange juice while gazing at the sky darkening into night. He quietly reflected.

Why did he now have two tails?

At first, Jeong Taeui hadn’t noticed. But after having one tail for the past few days, he had grown used to it. Jeong Taeui did nothing to hide, nor did he plan to dash to the port and hop on a ship to escape. As long as he didn’t go too far, his followers wouldn’t interfere with anything he did. So, having an additional tail wasn’t a problem.

Jeong Taeui downed the rest of the orange juice, held the straw in his mouth, and thought deeply. It wasn’t because he had pretended to flee at the airport, was it? Ilay knew he had no real intention of doing so, merely causing a bit of trouble. Yet, sending another person to watch him seemed unnecessary.

Jeong Taeui sighed. The tail Ilay had sent to watch him couldn’t even be called a proper overseer. If he truly wanted to, Jeong Taeui could easily lose him.

“No matter how incapable my body is of running away, this is too much… It’s not that I want a super skilled shadow, but this level of surveillance is…”

On the positive side, maybe Ilay had sent the extra tail to play along with him.

“If that’s the case… let’s play.”

Being watched like this was boring. Jeong Taeui decided to have a little fun with his tails. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began walking slowly. As if just taking a stroll (which he was), Taeui walked up a gentle slope, looking out into the distance.

There were many people around. If he walked up a few more blocks, he would find antique shops and a place frequented by film crews. Going down a bit led to a major road, so even at sunset, the area was bustling.

Crowded places were usually chaotic. Perfect.

Following someone meant knowing the geography of the surrounding areas, but chasing someone was always much harder than fleeing.

Jeong Taeui began to pick up the pace. He turned into a narrow alley and walked to the end, then turned toward the main street and slowly made his way to the large road outside.

He couldn’t catch a taxi here. Fine, this would be a game of cat and mouse, a real chase.

If he crossed the main road and walked down further, he would reach a traditional market not well-known to tourists, meant for locals. Jeong Taeui smirked as he walked past the unremarkable market.

……Ah. His tails had increased. Hold on, we need a suitable place to play.

Jeong Taeui hummed happily, looking around before turning back.

Earlier on his walk, he had noticed a suitable spot, a seemingly safe alley, and decided to head back there. If he was being loosely followed, it was fine, but if closely pursued, it could be dangerous. One block away was a maintenance area, and getting lost there during the day was tough enough. If he ended up there, he would have to run, but his injured leg wouldn’t allow it.

“Hmmm… that place might be better.”

La la la, Jeong Taeui hummed in his throat. He seemed to be in a very good mood. If you think about it from another perspective, being tailed like this wasn’t so bad. Of course, he didn’t like being followed, but it was better than being pursued by Ilay himself.

Imagine if the man tailing him was Ilay Riegrow…

“…Why do I keep having such scary thoughts… My heart must be sick.”

Jeong Taeui rubbed his mouth and mumbled, his laughter fading. If the person tailing him was Ilay, he wouldn’t be able to play around like this. If Ilay was after him, he would only be able to run in desperation…

“Oh, no, no, why do you keep thinking about such things, Jeong Taeui?”

Jeong Taeui rubbed his lips hard enough to make them bleed. The thought had just passed through his mind for a moment, and it had already made his hair stand on end… It was like a horror story. If that really happened, the moment he felt Ilay grab his shoulder, he would die of a heart attack. Thinking back to when he ran into Ilay in the birch forest, he was surprised he didn’t faint. Truly, he had to commend himself for being so brave.

Jeong Taeui rubbed his goosebump-covered arms in the sweltering summer heat. He had reached the place he had seen a while ago.

It was a bridge about one and a half stories high.

It was lower than the overpass on the edge of the main road, perched over a maze of narrow alleys. But jumping from that height wasn’t easy.

Jeong Taeui placed his hand on the bridge railing and quietly looked down. The footsteps of his tails behind him also slowed down. Perhaps noticing Jeong Taeui’s unusual behavior, their eyes were full of caution as they kept a certain distance.

“If you see something strange, you should immediately chase and drag me back, shouldn’t you… these people…”

Jeong Taeui muttered helplessly as he looked down at the dark alley below. His gaze wandered around until he spotted a large rock a few steps away. It was heavy enough to be held in one hand, resembling a piece of broken brick.

Below the overlapping rooftops under the overpass, there was a protruding hook like the end of a chimney. Jeong Taeui tossed the rock up and caught it, then threw it hard at the hook. A loud *Clang* echoed as the rock shattered into two or three pieces and fell, but the hook remained unscathed.

“Alright… even if I fall from this height, I can’t die… at most, I’ll get hurt a bit.”

Jeong Taeui twisted his wrist and mumbled – “Getting injured while playing like this is really unfair.” – and took a deep breath.

The next moment, Jeong Taeui turned towards the watchful eyes, waved brightly like a friendly pageant contestant, and then jumped over the railing, throwing himself off the overpass.

Jeong Taeui could hear screams echoing from afar.