“Let’s go out, Taeui?”

“Yes…… okay……”

Only after accidentally blurting out a reply did Jeong Taeui realize he was alone in this place.

This is the bedroom.

“Huh……?”

Jeong Taeui mumbled emptily. “Huh?” – He mumbled a few times and turned his head.

There was no one here. Clearly, he had heard a voice speaking in his ear just moments ago, but now, looking around, he realized there was no one else here but him.

It was only then that Jeong Taeui realized he had been dreaming. The dream, right before he woke up, was still very vivid.

“Haizzzzz……” – Jeong Taeui sat up and sighed. He smoothed his disheveled hair, half-closed his sleepy eyes, and reached for the water bottle on the bedside table. Jeong Taeui drank directly from the bottle, a thought crossing his mind: ‘If Rita knew I was drinking water like this, she would definitely nag a lot.’ As he became more awake, Jeong Taeui reassured himself that Rita was not here.

He took three or four gulps of water, the cool liquid clearing his mind, and only then did Jeong Taeui remember that the voice he had heard in his dream wasn’t entirely imaginary.

“Let’s go out, Taeui?”

Those were the exact words Jeong Jaeui had actually said to him.

“…….”

In the end, neither of them had an answer to that question. It was like being stuck in the dark, each with their own thoughts, so the question remained open.

Jeong Taeui and Jeong Jaeui had talked about this and that until the stars began to appear in the high sky. They talked about things that had nothing to do with the current situation, very ordinary things. Just like in the past, the time they spent talking to each other was very quiet and peaceful.

Jeong Taeui scratched his head. He placed the water bottle back on the bedside table and sat there for a while. It wasn’t until he sensed some activity outside that he got out of bed.

It was still twilight. The sun hadn’t risen yet. The cool, fresh air of the early morning was characteristic of a late dawn.

Jeong Taeui left the bedroom and stood at the corner of the hallway, looking out at the spacious courtyard. The pond’s surface was calm, without a ripple. Red and yellow flowers floated quietly like lotus blossoms, probably just brought in.

The servants diligently worked every day, cleaning everything spotless before Jeong Taeui woke up, except for the bedroom.

Jeong Taeui wasn’t the type to sleep in unless something happened, but the workers here always woke up earlier than him. From the Arab man and the young man who accompanied him to guard the place to the few women dressed in white from head to toe cleaning the house, they all woke up very early and did everything quietly, almost unnoticed.

It’s really tough to work under someone powerful without being diligent enough. Jeong Taeui thought as he glanced at the large flower vase in the hallway that had definitely been freshly replaced.

Maybe because he had heard Jeong Jaeui’s voice in his dream, his feet unconsciously led him to Jeong Jaeui’s bedroom.

He had nothing to say, but maybe it would be better to clarify yesterday’s conversation.

“Jaeui, I’m coming in.”

Jeong Taeui called out loudly as he reached Jeong Jaeui’s bedroom and opened the door. Not far away, he caught the gaze of the tall Arab man standing at the end of the hallway, looking in this direction. ‘Good morning.’ Jeong Taeui mouthed silently and raised his hand. The Arab man didn’t react much today but slightly nodded as if he understood what Jeong Taeui said.

Jeong Taeui smiled and walked into the bedroom. The stern-faced old man wasn’t all bad. He couldn’t understand what Jeong Taeui was saying – but he wasn’t as unpleasant as the man who owned this place. Raumaan would probably have breakfast soon, and after breakfast, if nothing else happened, he would come here again. He would meet with his brother and repeat the words Jeong Taeui had heard so many times that he had memorized them.

“To put it nicely, he’s very patient. To put it harshly, he’s stubborn……”

Jeong Taeui mumbled to himself as he walked into the bedroom and then suddenly stopped.

The bed was empty.

“Huh……?” – Jeong Taeui tilted his head and looked down the hallway but didn’t see the person he was looking for.

Jeong Jaeui woke up even earlier than Jeong Taeui, usually sitting by the pond, watching the sunrise and waiting for the morning light. But when he passed by there earlier, no one was there, so Jeong Taeui thought he was still in his bedroom. But now, the bedroom was empty.

“…….”

Jeong Taeui looked at the empty bed and shook his head, turning back. The day was starting a bit differently than usual, but there was nothing to worry about. After all, things didn’t always follow a set schedule, and sometimes Jeong Jaeui would do things differently than planned.

Anyway, there are only so many places he could be. If he’s not in the bedroom or the yard, then he’s either in the study or the bathroom.

Jeong Taeui leisurely walked to the study, enjoying the brief morning stroll. Jeong Jaeui was there.

“There you are.”

He smiled and approached Jeong Jaeui, who was sitting at the desk. Jeong Jaeui was writing something; he glanced at Jeong Taeui and replied briefly, “Yeah, you’re up?” then went back to focusing on the papers on the desk.

His voice seemed more tired than usual, and not just his voice, his whole face looked weary.

Jeong Taeui glanced at his face and frowned slightly.

“Did you not sleep?”

“Ummmm……”

Jeong Jaeui mumbled dryly. Jeong Taeui moved closer to Jeong Jaeui, his curiosity piqued.

He often stayed up all night when he was engrossed in something, forgetting his fatigue. There were times he stayed up all night reading books or lost in his thoughts. So it wasn’t a rare occurrence for Jeong Taeui to walk into Jeong Jaeui’s room, still lit, and ask, “Are you still awake?”

However, this hadn’t happened since they arrived here.

In this secluded paradise away from the outside world, Jeong Jaeui had been living a peaceful and leisurely life. So it wasn’t surprising if he stayed up all night now……

“What kept you up all night? Is there something bothering you?”

Jeong Taeui approached Jeong Jaeui from behind and gently patted his shoulder. He looked over Jeong Jaeui’s shoulder at the messy papers on the desk. If these were the things that had kept Jeong Jaeui up all night, he probably wouldn’t understand them, but he still wanted to see what had caused him to lose sleep.

However, what Jeong Taeui saw were dozens of papers spread out on the desk, filled with drawings that looked like abstract and unrealistic art created by a three or four-year-old child. Jeong Taeui fell silent. The incomprehensible drawings seemed to become clearer with each sheet, accompanied by lengthy, convoluted formulas.

“This……”

Jeong Taeui realized what the drawings and formulas were. He had seen similar things a few times before. Although back then, he didn’t think they could actually be marketable.

“Did you stay up all night doing this?”

Jeong Taeui mumbled as he picked up what seemed to be the most complete drawing among them.

The drawing itself looked crude, but the content was understandable. It was a schematic of the internal structure of an anti-tank gun.

However, soon after, Jeong Taeui reconsidered.

No, it might not be an anti-tank gun. It was entirely different from the anti-tank guns he knew.

Firstly, the barrel was too thin and short. He didn’t know how much power it could have, but considering it was too short to withstand cannon fire, this weapon probably didn’t have much destructive power.

Maybe this design could reduce weight and improve mobility, but it didn’t meet the most basic criterion of a weapon, which was to have good destructive power.

“Hmm…… just a little more to go. Wait a bit, I want to finish this before breakfast.”

Jeong Taeui watched as Jeong Jaeui spoken indifferently with an expressionless face. This was pointless. He couldn’t possibly complete a design for a new weapon in just one night.

“Jaeui…… you really are a genius……”

Jeong Taeui, who had been in a daze, snapped back to reality. Jeong Jaeui glanced at Jeong Taeui with a puzzled look. Then, as if embarrassed, he awkwardly frowned and looked down at his desk, continuing to fiddle with the paper as he spoke.

“No, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. It’s not that difficult since I just need to write down my thoughts and examine each part.”

“…….”

Jeong Taeui shook the paper in his hand, then put it down, walked over to the chair by the window, sat down, and stared at Jeong Jaeui.

“Shall we go out, Taeui?”

He recalled what Jeong Jaeui had said yesterday in the yard. He must have decided to do all this as soon as he uttered those words. As long as Jeong Taeui didn’t say, ‘I don’t want to leave here,’ he would leave no matter what happened. Even if he didn’t really want to go.

Jeong Taeui calmly restrained his right hand, which wanted to grab Jeong Jaeui’s shoulder and tell him to stop, that it was okay, he was fine, and so on.

“If you want to stay here for my sake, then I want to leave here for you, even if it’s not what you want.”

That was really his intention.

If that was the case, no matter how much Jeong Taeui tried to stop him, it wouldn’t make a difference. He seemed to understand Jeong Jaeui’s mindset. And Jeong Taeui himself would do the same if he were in his position.

Jeong Taeui quietly lowered his head. He looked down at his right hand, which was being held back by his left hand. He slowly released his grip, his right hand hesitated for a moment, then relaxed.

“……It looks unique and cool…… can that thing actually shoot?”

Jeong Taeui asked from behind Jeong Jaeui. Perhaps because he was still paying attention to Jeong Jaeui, he paused for a moment, wanting to talk a bit with him, but then his hand began to move again, writing something more before finally putting the pen down. Jeong Jaeui turned to look at Jeong Taeui.

He stared at him blankly for a moment, then smiled faintly as if all his strength had left him. From that expression, Jeong Taeui realized that he was only worried about him and nothing else.

Jeong Jaeui picked up the paper he had been writing on earlier and glanced through it.

“You can fire it. It’s more comfortable to use compared to similar cannons. In terms of destructive power, there’s nothing special; it’s just like the usual ones, but since it’s a revolver type, it’s easier to carry around and will be quite useful.”

“Really?”

Jeong Taeui frowned, got up from his seat, and strode over to Jeong Jaeui. He looked down at the paper over his shoulder.

“Is this a revolving anti-tank gun? Where does the ammunition go?”

Jeong Taeui stared at the clumsy drawing that Jeong Jaeui had made. Maybe because the drawing was so bad that he couldn’t recognize it? He tilted his head and tried to imagine it again, but as expected, the structure of this gun was something he had never seen before.

“Hmm. This gun requires a special type of ammunition. I designed it earlier, so it can be used now. It’s a regular-sized warhead, and it can explode three times in one shot, or five times if the firing power is reduced a bit………….I’m hungry…… Shall we have breakfast? It’s almost done.”

Jeong Jaeui explained, using his hands to describe the size of the cannonball, then rubbed his stomach and stood up. He took the nearly completed blueprint along with the pen and headed straight to the dining room.

Jeong Taeui stared blankly at his brother’s back, shook his head, and followed behind.

It seemed he had underestimated Jeong Jaeui. He knew his brother was highly sought after, but he hadn’t grasped the full extent of it, as he had always seen organizing those papers with incomprehensible formulas for him as just a normal thing to do.

It seemed Jeong Jaeui could finish anything overnight – although Jeong Taeui knew he had been thinking about it seriously for a long time, he didn’t realize it would be so impressive.

“Wow…… just that alone makes all those organizations out there desperately want to get their hands on it.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and muttered. Jeong Jaeui kept a serious face even during breakfast in the dining room. He was engrossed in his thoughts, occasionally looking at the paper and scribbling something. When he finished eating, Jeong Jaeui capped his pen and said, “Done.”

Jeong Taeui smiled at his brother’s tired face. Once Jeong Jaeui focused on something, he didn’t mind staying up all night, but his face still showed signs of exhaustion. Jeong Taeui lowered his head, took a final sip of water, and finished his meal.

As soon as Jeong Jaeui left the dining room, he returned to study. Although he might sleep later after staying up all night, Jeong Taeui followed him, curiously asking.

“Why don’t you get some sleep? Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, a little. But it’s okay. When Raumaan arrives, I’ll give him this, and then we’ll leave immediately. If we want to leave, we have to pack up here first. I didn’t bring much, so there’s not much to pack.”

Jeong Taeui slowed his pace a bit and frowned, asking Jeong Jaeui.

“We’re leaving right away? This morning?”

In contrast, Jeong Jaeui looked at Jeong Taeui as if his question was strange.

“You have someone you want to meet. Don’t you want to leave as soon as possible? Once we’ve decided to leave, it’s best to go as soon as we can.”

Jeong Jaeui spoke while tidying up his workspace as soon as he entered the study. He organized the messy papers, set aside the necessary ones, and threw the rest into the trash. Then, Jeong Jaeui rearranged the scattered items and put them back in their places, even removing the cushion from his chair to tidy up.

Jeong Jaeui looked at the neatly arranged items, leaving no trace of his presence, while Jeong Taeui simply put the books back on the shelf. It wasn’t that he had forgotten, but it had been a long time since such a familiar scene had occurred, which surprised him a little. But it wasn’t too shocking.

Jeong Jaeui was always calm and quiet, as if he were outside the flow of time and space. But he would not hesitate to do anything he had chosen or decided, not in a hurry, but he didn’t want to waste time once he had made a decision. He had always been able to make quick decisions, just like before.

Jeong Taeui sighed and placed the last book on the shelf. Jeong Jaeui also placed the pen in the drawer and closed it.

With the sound of the drawer closing, the tidying up was complete. For a moment, silence enveloped the room.

There were no traces of Jeong Jaeui left here. Or perhaps he never had anything here to begin with. Or maybe this place was never truly his. Jeong Taeui wasn’t sure. There was nothing here that he was attached to as his own, and even the study was just “borrowed.” The books and albums that Raumaan had brought him weren’t his. That’s how he saw it.

Jeong Taeui asked after looking around the now vacant study for a while.

“In the room……—In your bedroom, is there anything you need to sort out?”

Jeong Jaeui shook his head and said, “I have nothing there.”

Yeah, thinking about it, Jeong Jaeui had been kidnapped and brought here. There was no way anything of his could be here.

Jeong Taeui nodded, mumbling: “Right, me too. So I just need to go outside.” Thinking back, he had left all his passports and money in his backpack, so he just needed to grab that.

Suddenly, he felt very light.

This was the place he had stayed all this time, a place where he had lived very comfortably, even lovingly. When would he ever have such a quiet and peaceful time again? This place was close to paradise.

The thought of leaving made him a bit sad. But it had to be done. Because from the start, this was never a place they could stay.

“Then……—wait a minute. By the way, passports.”

Jeong Taeui abruptly asked.

Jeong Jaeui didn’t respond immediately. After a moment, he opened his wide eyes as if he had just remembered and looked at Jeong Taeui.

“Now that I think about it, it’s not here.”

“……Where did you leave it?”

“I had it until we reached Varanasi, but after waking up here, I completely forgot about it.”

Jeong Taeui looked at Jeong Jaeui with wide eyes. 

“I hadn’t thought about it at all because I didn’t need it.”

“So, hmmm.” – Jeong Jaeui sighed and shrugged.

“Alright. Raumaan will help. He said if I give him the blueprint, he’ll compensate us adequately for our time here.”

If it was “……adequate compensation” as that man said, then it probably wouldn’t be insignificant. Jeong Taeui thought as he recalled the luggage he had brought, wondering if he had forgotten anything.

“It’s something substantial…… but I don’t really need it. Giving me something like an inheritance is just a hassle.”

“Umm……” – Jeong Taeui nodded as he listened to Jeong Jaeui, but then suddenly felt something didn’t quite add up. He frowned slightly, tilting his head as he looked at Jeong Jaeui, as if his brother had just said something strange.

“Giving you what? From whom?”

“An inheritance. I received one before…… oh. Now that I think about it…… I have rights to it. Taeui, do you need an inheritance? I’ll give it to you.”

Jeong Jaeui seemed lost in his own world, speaking words that Jeong Taeui couldn’t quite grasp, as if it was all just a bothersome matter. Jeong Taeui stared at his brother without blinking.

“…….You received it? From whom?”

“Raumaan. It’s not much, but it seems quite useful.”

Jeong Taeui was speechless.

He looked at Jeong Jaeui with narrowed eyes as he spoke.

“If you ever need it later, just tell me. Because I don’t need it.”

This is why people born with diamond spoons in their mouths often face prejudice……

Jeong Taeui scratched his head. Giving it to him wouldn’t be of any use since he was stuck here anyway. He couldn’t even imagine the cold expression on Raumaan’s face if he found out his brother transferred the inheritance to him.

“I guess he really wants to bribe you by any means. Does he really need that weapon so badly? ……But you haven’t done anything he asked and have just been resting leisurely, yet he doesn’t seem angry and just endures it……”

Jeong Taeui muttered dejectedly, and Jeong Jaeui quietly smiled. That’s why people like him always succeed, Jeong Jaeui said, tapping the piece of paper on the desk.