“Ilay……. Do you like me?”

“No. No. It’s better not to hear the answer. No. I’m wrong. I shouldn’t have asked. No matter what the answer is, it won’t be good.”

Jeong Taeui ruffled his hair.

Yes, that’s why he hadn’t asked it sooner, even though he had thought about it many times before. If the answer was ‘No’, he’d be considered a clown with a crazy mind, and if the answer was ‘Yes’…….

…….Then the current situation would enter a much scarier phase…….

Jeong Taeui sighed while ruffling his hair. He didn’t know. Anyway, he was longing for the day he could get out of here. The matter he had just raised probably wouldn’t end so easily, and he would have a lot of time to think more carefully. Moreover, if he was trapped here for ten years or even longer, then the answer wouldn’t matter anymore.

How long would he have to stay here?

Jeong Taeui pondered for a moment and then glanced at the office. Inside that room were two people, one of whom held the key to getting him out of here, and the other held the key to let him out. This door would never open unless one of them reached out.

“It’s time for him to leave…….”

The conversation as usual had shifted, and typically by this time, Raumaan would be leaving. Jeong Jaeui handed him a piece of paper with the things he needed, and Raumaan took it.

“…….Don’t you want to leave here?”

Raumaan was silent for a moment, then spoke. That was what he had just said. Jeong Taeui raised his eyebrows. Raumaan had never repeated this question on the same day before. If not, was the situation becoming urgent enough that he had to ask repeatedly?

But he didn’t seem to show any signs of urgency.

“Thanks to you, I’m very comfortable here, so it’s okay.”

Jeong Jaeui still gave the same answer as before. Raumaan slowly responded.

“Since your brother came here, the two of you have become closer. You two are very close.”

“Ah, umm, yes…….thank you.”

Brother, that answer seems a bit off-topic.

Our relationship improving isn’t something you need to thank that man for, and the fact that we are closer (thanks to him locking me up here) isn’t something you should be thanking him for either.

Jeong Taeui grumbled internally. Raumaan was silent for a moment without replying, then left the office with a brief farewell. Seeing this, Jeong Taeui stood up and slowly walked in that direction, but he should have stood up a little later, he regretted thinking. Seeing Raumaan’s figure leaving the office and pausing for a moment, lost in thought, Jeong Taeui had no choice but to walk over, perhaps sensing his presence, Raumaan looked up.

Jeong Taeui felt a bit uneasy, bit his lip, and slowed down his pace.

He didn’t want to be near him at all. It was because of that…….—uncomfortable feeling. Raumaan’s eyes were as cold as ice. If he approached him now, he felt he could sense the coldness to the extent that the thought of him brandishing a sword at him immediately kept ringing in his head.

However, it would be even more awkward if he stopped here and faced him, stuck in place like this. So Jeong Taeui continued to walk, very slowly.

“He said you spoke on the phone with Riegrow.”

Raumaan spoke. Those stinging words made Jeong Taeui stop immediately.

He had expected the news would reach him. There was no way he wouldn’t know about his attempt to connect with the outside world. Jeong Taeui wondered for a moment why the name Riegrow came out of this man’s mouth, and then he soon understood. It was easy to find out who the person on the other end was when the phone number was still there.

“I think I said that trying to contact outside help was useless.”

“And you did something useless.”

“…….—Let’s see……. just hearing a friend’s voice after such a long time gives me energy.”

Jeong Taeui calmly smiled and spoke while weighing how much energy he had gained from hearing his voice.

Raumaan raised an eyebrow, pretending to think for a moment, then spoke.

“Your friends. Ah, right. Ilay Riegrow and Ling Xinlu. Those who came to Seringe with you.”

“…….”

“They are no longer in Seringe.”

Raumaan spoke calmly. Hearing those words, the expression on Jeong Taeui’s face froze for a moment.

For a moment, he doubted his English listening skills. Yes, he had clearly said: ‘They are no longer in Seringe.’

Jeong Taeui furrowed his brow slightly, tilting his head as he looked at Raumaan, initially unable to comprehend those words.

Jeong Taeui silently counted on his fingers; he had just called Ilay a few days ago. It wasn’t long ago. It wasn’t easy to remember exactly how many days because it was just a series of monotonous, uneventful days. Maybe about three, no, four days or so. Not even a week.

“If not in Seringe…….”

Jeong Taeui spoke and then paused. He looked suspiciously at the man coldly gazing down at him, as if examining his expression.

Lying…….—but it didn’t seem like it. So.

“Did you have a hand in this?”

“Me? Let’s see. They left on their own. Ling Xinlu left a few days after you arrived, so he hasn’t been here for quite some time. As for Ilay Riegrow, he left three days ago. Oh, and there was a man named Yuri Gable. He was the one who took Ling Xinlu away. Ling needed assistance because he couldn’t move normally.”

“What?…….—What?”

Jeong Taeui blinked in bewilderment, staring at Raumaan.

At first glance, it seemed like a fleeting smile crossed Raumaan’s face as he spoke those words indifferently. But that smile coldly pierced through Jeong Taeui’s chest.

“There was a conflict between Riegrow and Ling Xinlu. I don’t know the details, but I heard that Ling Xinlu was severely injured and is in critical condition……. Anyway, these are people you won’t be able to see for a while, so I didn’t mention it because you would only feel sorrow hearing about a friend’s injury.”

He ended the conversation with a tone full of insinuation, as if he knew more but didn’t want to reveal it.

“No way, huh……..”

Jeong Taeui stared blankly at Raumaan’s lips. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. His mind was momentarily in chaos, unable to think of appropriate words.

“They are no longer in Seringe.”

“I heard Ling Xinlu was severely injured and is in critical condition.”

The time when Jeong Taeui called Ilay was quite far from when Xinlu was injured, yet Ilay didn’t mention anything about him.

No. He could understand that. Ilay wasn’t the type to talk about how Xinlu got injured or recount the incident when they clashed. From the start, they didn’t get along, so it was entirely possible that they fought over trivial matters, and Jeong Taeui could think of countless reasons for their conflict.

But.

He wondered if Xinlu was really injured? And why did Ilay leave like that? For a moment, his mind couldn’t process and accept such sudden information. Jeong Taeui stared at Raumaan in shock. Seeing him like this, Raumaan merely smirked. Only then did he realize that Raumaan wanted to see him like this by sharing those details.

Raumaan despised Jeong Taeui. One could even say he harbored hatred. But why?

However, at this moment, that didn’t matter.

“I have to—I have to go.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled as if lost. Raumaan looked at him with an expressionless face, not saying a word.

With a satisfied look, Raumaan squinted at him and calmly said,

“I’m sorry about that. I cannot fulfill your wish.”

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

In fact, thinking about it now, it’s already too late, and something unexpected might have happened.

However, if Xinlu got injured right after Jeong Taeui arrived here, then perhaps he already knew the outcome. Either the wound has healed completely, or it’s still inconvenient to move but somewhat recovered, or it could even be worse. Regardless, even if Jeong Taeui could go out and check right now, nothing would change.

But even so.

Jeong Taeui rubbed his mouth and chin with one hand. His impatient hand seemed no longer to be under his control. How severe is his condition? What about now? Or maybe it’s nothing at all anymore.

Ilay had left this place. In the phone call with Jeong Taeui, he hardly said anything. And right after that call, he left. Where did he go?

“…….”

No matter how hard he tried to think about it, he couldn’t come up with any answers. To be precise, he had thousands of assumptions, but they were like thousands of ants making his mind more confused.

His fingers clenched anxiously, continuously rubbing his lips.

He wanted to leave; he wanted to get out of here, even right now. But he was imprisoned without a single promised day of release. If he was only detained for a few more days and then released, he might be able to endure it. Even though nothing would change if he was released.

But the fact that Jeong Taeui didn’t know when he could get out made his mind burn with unnamed anxiety.

……. Hopefully, the worst won’t happen before he gets out of here.

But if Gable had to take Xinlu away, it meant the injury wasn’t minor. However, regardless of the situation, Gable would probably intervene before anything serious happened.

……. Please.

Suddenly, Jeong Taeui felt a painful grimace. It seemed he had been absent-minded for a while and had unconsciously bitten the second joint of his index finger. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.

“Calm down, Jeong Taeui. No need to get agitated. Calm down.”

Jeong Taeui patted his chest. But still, the thoughts burning his heart didn’t stop.

Jeong Taeui sighed and stood up. Maybe because he was sitting alone in the dark bedroom, he thought it would be better to dunk his head into the pond in the yard until he passed out from lack of air.

Jeong Taeui took a deep breath and walked out of the room, stepping into the hallway. He was a bit surprised. Jeong Taeui looked at the setting sun with a strange feeling. He hadn’t realized time had passed so quickly. He didn’t even notice it while he was lost in his thoughts in the bedroom.

“Really……. You have to take better care of yourself, Jeong Taeui. Calm down.”

Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue.

This wasn’t good at all. He was acutely aware of how harmful it was to be immersed in thoughts about things he couldn’t resolve. The deep-seated anguish made his heart feel sick.

Jeong Taeui hit his left chest near his heart several times, harder than before. Then suddenly, he saw a familiar figure in the yard. Sitting upright next to the pond and looking up at the sky was Jeong Jaeui. In the sky like a dark sea, dozens of birds were flying in flocks. He was watching those birds spread their wings.

Perhaps someone was keeping them, maybe someone in one of the buildings near this annex, someone who liked to spend time taming wild birds and feeding them. The birds, familiar with the food provided at a fixed time, gathered there at sunset like this. They flew in circles and formed a large ring in the sky when someone fed them, somewhere far off was the sound of an old man herding birds with a long stick.

A flock of birds flew over Jeong Jaeui’s head and swept across the courtyard. Countless sounds of flapping wings rushed past him.

Jeong Jaeui liked this scene. He also liked Jeong Taeui, but perhaps he liked this more than Jeong Taeui. He always sat here at this time, waiting for them to swoop over his head and listening to the sound of their wings flapping overhead.

Perhaps even if he were to be confined here for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t complain. He could live a life to his liking here.

Jeong Taeui quietly watched Jeong Jaeui.

He slowly walked into the courtyard. He must have heard the footsteps, but Jeong Jaeui didn’t turn to look at him.

Jeong Taeui sat a few steps away from Jeong Jaeui and quietly listened to the sounds passing overhead. The flapping of the birds’ wings was lively and refreshing, like thousands of small pieces of paper being blown high by a strong wind over his head. Again and again. Occasionally, a whistle sounded from beyond the sunset.

Soon, the sun had set. As the sunlight gradually faded, the space suddenly darkened.

Someone passed through the fence, and the birds scattered.

There, only the sky and the bluish-purple twilight turning into deep indigo remained.

“My hair hasn’t grown much longer, just a bit more than usual, but it’s not too unruly. But if you call the barber, I’ll ask them to cut my hair too.”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head to look at Jeong Jaeui and suddenly spoke. Jeong Jaeui, still gazing at the empty sky, then turned to look at Jeong Taeui. Thinking back, he hadn’t seen Jeong Jaeui since breakfast because he had been lounging in bed all day.

In the not-so-spacious annex with its limited activity radius, it was hard to avoid running into each other a few times a day even if they weren’t together, but it wasn’t unusual for them not to see each other at all in a day. When Jeong Jaeui was focused on something, he could stay in his room for days without going out. And Jeong Taeui was the same.

“The barber…….”

Jeong Jaeui mumbled as if thinking of something else. From those words, it seemed he hadn’t realized what Jeong Taeui was talking about. Jeong Taeui replied – “Yes.”

“I was going to the study room this morning, but that man went in first, so I had to wait in the courtyard.”

“Yes, that’s right……. I shouldn’t cut my hair.”

Jeong Jaeui murmured softly. Jeong Taeui looked at him and shrugged.

“Do you hate getting your haircut? Then let them cut my hair? My bangs are getting longer, and it’s very annoying.”

“It’s not that…….—”

Jeong Jaeui opened his mouth but then stopped. He stared at Jeong Taeui.

In the gloomy atmosphere and the gradually encroaching darkness, Jeong Jaeui’s expression seemed to soften. As if he was lost in thought, Jeong Jaeui looked at him.

“…….?”

Jeong Taeui looked at Jeong Jaeui with a puzzled expression. He knew what that look meant. He had something to say but didn’t know how to arrange his thoughts. No, maybe he had found the answer but was thinking about how to say it.

“…….What is it? Tell me.”

“Taeui, let’s go outside.”

Jeong Jaeui, no longer hesitating, said softly.

Jeong Taeui was silent. More accurately, his mind went blank for a moment. He looked up at Jeong Jaeui, who was smiling. Why did he suddenly say that, Jeong Taeui wondered before finding the answer.

The conversation between Raumaan and Jeong Taeui must have been overheard by him. Well, thinking back, he probably didn’t intentionally want to hear that conversation. This annex itself was an open space, with large doors that served no purpose other than decoration.

“……. Do you want to go outside?”

Jeong Taeui thought for a while and asked back without answering Jeong Jaeui’s question. Jeong Jaeui murmured: “Let’s see.”

“I’ve never thought about leaving here, but I’ve also never thought about staying here either.”

“Okay…… then let’s go.”

“If you want.”

Jeong Jaeui’s response was extremely brief. Jeong Taeui looked at him blankly, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he scratched his head.

“It would be nice to get out, but how do you plan on doing that?”

“Well……. somehow.”

Jeong Jaeui didn’t seem too worried. While staring blankly at him, Jeong Taeui smiled.

In reality, Jeong Taeui couldn’t recall anything that could make Jeong Jaeui worried. Of course, there were times when he quietly pondered about making decisions for upcoming matters, but it never seemed to involve the word ‘worry.’

Thinking about it, it made sense. Jeong Taeui knew well that Jeong Jaeui wasn’t someone who worried about anything. Whatever he wanted to happen would happen. Things that others might consider a miracle were just everyday occurrences for him. For instance, right now, an earthquake might hit this area and the walls could collapse, allowing him to walk out unscathed. And Jeong Taeui could never understand who he was to bring such luck to him.

“……..”

Jeong Taeui smiled and sighed, looking at Jeong Jaeui.

However, luck wouldn’t come just as he wanted; Jeong Jaeui would always find a way to achieve what he wanted. And everything would always go smoothly. So, Jeong Taeui quickly realized why he had said this.

“Hyung, are you planning to make weapons?”

Jeong Taeui asked softly. Jeong Jaeui didn’t answer but just looked at him.

Jeong Taeui smiled calmly with a quiet sigh.

“If you have to go out and do things you don’t want to because of me, you don’t have to do it.”

In fact, Jeong Taeui really wanted to go outside. It would be great if he could leave right now. But he also hated forcing Jeong Jaeui to do something he didn’t want to do. Jeong Jaeui didn’t respond, instead, his eyes moved closer to him.

Jeong Taeui frowned slightly, not understanding the meaning of that meaningful look. Jeong Jaeui sighed silently.

“You’re a bit mistaken. I’m not that strong-willed, nor am I overly bound by morality. I can make weapons if it doesn’t bother me, whether I hate it or like it doesn’t matter. I can do it, but I don’t want to, so I said I wouldn’t make weapons anymore.”

Jeong Taeui looked at him with a strange expression. He stared blankly at Jeong Jaeui and blinked.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what he was saying; he could understand it to some extent. As Jeong Jaeui said, he also had such an aspect. He wasn’t a person of strong will and integrity, and sometimes, ethics and morals were very vague.

Looking at Jeong Taeui’s strange expression, Jeong Jaeui quietly added another comment.

“If you want to go outside but stay here because of me, then I also want to leave here for you, even if it’s not what you want.”

“…….But the truth is, you don’t want to make weapons either.”

“If you don’t mind that, I’m fine with it. I just don’t want to continue making weapons because that’s something you hate.”

“……..Umm……. I really don’t like my hyung making weapons……. But it’s just that I don’t like it…….”

Jeong Taeui mumbled and frowned at Jeong Jaeui. He raised his hand to rub his furrowed eyebrows.

“Hyung, you’re also a bit mistaken. It’s true I don’t like you making weapons, and when I met you again, I didn’t want you to have to reluctantly make them…… But, I don’t hate you. These are two completely different issues.”

Jeong Jaeui was silent for a moment. He looked at him with slightly widened eyes. Jeong Taeui bitterly smiled. What was that, did he really not know that? Then Jeong Jaeui burst into laughter.

Now it was Jeong Taeui’s turn to be silent. His heart trembled painfully. Someone had once said,

“Jeong Jay will be the one to endure more worries and suffering than you, right? That’s the meaning of being human.”

Alright. The one who said those words was Ilay.

Perhaps Jeong Jaeui had indeed endured something that he couldn’t perceive just by looking at his appearance. In a situation where they were apart, there were always things that could only be felt when together, and there were also things he would never feel even if he was close to him.

“……..”

He didn’t even realize he felt a bit sad thinking about those things. Regretful about some aspects of Jeong Jaeui that he couldn’t perceive. It must be beautiful and heartbreaking.

It was something that no one could touch, and only he had to endure it. How sad.

But.

He was content with this distance between him and Jeong Jaeui. This seemed to be the most appropriate distance for him.

He liked it this way. He never wanted to be too close to anyone, so this was good. While others longed to be closer to Jeong Jaeui than he did.

“If it were you.”

Finally, Jeong Jaeui spoke. He looked at Jeong Taeui without taking his eyes off him and softly asked.

“If you were in my position. Then you would make weapons and leave here too.”

Jeong Taeui didn’t answer and fell into thought. It didn’t take too long to find the answer, but he couldn’t respond with words. That’s because he didn’t want Jeong Jaeui to follow him while he didn’t want to. And Jeong Jaeui seemed to have understood the answer in his silence.