Ilay Riegrow. Why did he appear on the news?

It’s undeniable that he is an extremely bad person. But has he ever acted like a terrorist? No. At least not according to what Jeong Taeui knows about the man. Even if he had never done anything like that in the past, and if what happened this morning or even last night was his doing, it has only been a day. There is clearly no reason for him to act this way.

Is Ilay a terrorist? What reason could he have to go beyond national boundaries and get himself on a wanted list?

Jeong Taeui stared blankly at the TV.

Then suddenly, a vague voice from his memory flashed through his mind.

“Taei. Do you want to get out of there?”

He recalled those words clearly.

“I know. But Taei, remember this. Whatever I have to stake on this, I will make sure to get it back from you.”

Ilay had spoken each word distinctly.

He had asked if Jeong Taeui wanted to get out of there when he was locked up in that annex. He had only called him that one time. After that, he could barely talk to him.

The remote control slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, snapping Jeong Taeui back to reality as it hit his foot.

“……..—”

His fingertips trembled with anxiety. Jeong Taeui rubbed his mouth, then unconsciously started biting his fingertips.

“Who……..”

Jeong Taeui mumbled in shock.

“Who told you to do something like that? You’re insane.”

This is crazy. He couldn’t think of anything else. It was insane to do something like that. If the reason was what Jeong Taeui thought, then the man named Ilay Riegrow was truly mad.

“I’m going crazy…….”

Jeong Taeui ran his fingers through his hair, the hand that had been biting his nails now tangled in his long hair.

What have they done? What should he do with that madman?

Jeong Taeui glanced at the TV again. He flipped through the channels once more but didn’t find his face on any news reports. He sank into thought, then suddenly stood up.

“Oh, the newspaper!”

If it was broadcast on the news, it must have been published in the newspapers too. Even though a city halfway around the world from the incident might not consider it sensational news, he hoped to find at least a small article about it.

Jeong Taeui looked at the clothes placed beside the bed, put them on, and left the room. His impatient steps quickened as he exited the room.

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

Upon stepping out of the hotel, Jeong Taeui realized something.

There were no newspaper stands selling papers at this hour, and even the news on TV was unavailable. Nevertheless, Jeong Taeui tried his luck, but all the stands were closed, and even the convenience stores had none.

Jeong Taeui dejectedly trudged back to the hotel without what he wanted, his head hanging low in disappointment. He felt as if the staff at the front desk were all watching him. Not only that, but the person he encountered before the elevator seemed to be staring at him intently, and someone who passed by him in the hallway as he returned to his room stared at the back of his head, then took out their cell phone and called the police.

“I should buy a hat first……. Being a fugitive is really tough.”

Jeong Taeui smoothed down his long bangs to cover his face. But thinking about it, he felt it was really unfair. He couldn’t even remember committing any crime serious enough to have his face plastered on TV. It was just a false identity. It was too unfair.

“At the time of the terrorist attack in Riyadh, I was being detained in the annex in Seringe…….”

Jeong Taeui thought he could appeal if he got caught and entered the room, intending to put his keycard in the lock, but there was already one there. It seemed someone was already inside.

“…….This is such a headache.”

Jeong Taeui took off his coat and went in. Suddenly, he heard a voice that didn’t sound annoyed at all despite what the person was saying, in fact, it sounded quite cheerful. The voice sounded like his uncle.

But there was no way his uncle could be here right now.

Jeong Taeui widened his eyes and walked in through the narrow hallway in front of the bathroom.

Jeong Jaeui was there.

He was reading the newspaper on the table. No, where did he get that newspaper when Jeong Taeui couldn’t find one?……. But before he could wonder about that, Jeong Taeui looked around the room and saw that only Jeong Jaeui was there. However, Jeong Taeui soon realized why he could hear his uncle’s voice.

[“The current situation isn’t that much of a mess, even though he did something that sounds like a major catastrophe. Because of that, I had to stay up all night.”]

The voice of his uncle was coming from the phone. “Ah” Jeong Taeui nodded.

Back at home, Jeong Jaeui often did this. When a call came in while he was busy with something else, he would put it on speaker and calmly take the call regardless of the conversation’s content.

Although Jeong Taeui was used to this side of Jeong Jaeui, he sometimes couldn’t help but admire him. Talking while watching TV or cleaning was normal, but what was more amazing was that he could read highly complex scientific books that would make Jeong Taeui’s head spin, and still manage to carry on the conversation.

One day, after seeing Jeong Jaeui like that, Jeong Taeui suddenly wanted to test whether he actually remembered what he was reading in the book. So, when Jeong Jaeui hung up the phone, Jeong Taeui asked if he remembered what the book was about, and Jeong Jaeui explained the content of the book to him.

If you admire every single extraordinary thing that Jeong Jaeui can do, it would be really hard to be his younger brother. Jeong Taeui took a robe from the built-in closet and changed out of his clothes. Seeing Jeong Taeui enter, Jeong Jaeui raised his eyebrows in greeting. When he was talking to someone else, he wouldn’t talk to Jeong Taeui, and Jeong Taeui did the same.

Jeong Taeui lifted the newspaper, and as he stood behind Jeong Jaeui, he looked over his shoulder at the news printed on it. He clicked his tongue.

“Where did you get that?”

It was an Arabic newspaper. At that moment, Jeong Taeui realized.

He couldn’t even find an English newspaper with old news, so how had Jeong Jaeui managed to get this? Jeong Taeui looked at the photos in the newspaper, guessing that news about the terrorist attack had spread across all the papers. When he saw the photos of the suspects given a large space at the bottom of the newspaper, he could only stay silent.

[“Anyway, I’m glad you got out safely. Are you hurt anywhere?”]

Their uncle continued the conversation.

At that moment, Jeong Jaeui, who seemed focused on the newspaper, shrugged. Jeong Taeui, standing right behind Jeong Jaeui and also looking at the newspaper, caught the subtle hint in their uncle’s words and raised his eyebrows.

“Ah……. Uncle, that’s…….”

It was embarrassing. Before Jeong Taeui could speak, he heard his uncle sigh on the other end of the phone.

[“If Taeui is fine, then you should be okay too, but take care of yourself. Luther says he wants to review everything and might contact you. He wants you to come in for a detailed check—”]

“Uncle!”

Jeong Jaeui interrupted in a low, curt voice. The voice on the other end of the phone fell silent for a moment.

Jeong Jaeui slightly frowned, then sighed and flipped the newspaper back.

“We’ll talk about that later.”

“Are you not feeling well, hyung?”

Jeong Taeui frowned and asked, not taking his eyes off Jeong Jaeui.

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end of the line spoke.

[“Taeui? When did you come back?”]

“Did I hear something I shouldn’t have?”

Jeong Taeui looked at Jeong Jaeui and replied. His brother remained silent, staring at the newspaper, then looked up. His expression was a bit unusual, but it quickly returned to his usual calm demeanor. Jeong Taeui frowned and looked at him gently. The conversation sounded as if Jaeui was ill or something.

Everything fell silent again. For a few seconds, no one spoke.

“Hyung……. What’s going on? Why is everyone worried about you? What kind of illness is it?”

“But why do you need a detailed check-up?”

Jeong Jaeui frowned as if he didn’t want to answer. Jeong Taeui picked up the robe on the bed and put it on, sitting silently on the bed.

Then their uncle broke the silence again.

[“If you two want to fight, save it for later. I have a meeting in 10 minutes. Why don’t you talk to him? Mr. Jeong Taeui—a suspected terrorist?”] 

As their uncle gave a slow smile, Jeong Taeui frowned.

“What’s going on……. I’m sorry to say, Uncle, but at that time, I was being held in Seringe with my hyung. I swear I’m innocent.”

Jeong Taeui muttered and thought. Just because the man named Ilay Riegrow was on the list, it didn’t mean he had to be suspected along with him. Who put Jeong Taeui on that list?

One person came to his mind.

[“Taeui, what the hell did you do while being detained to make Raumaan Abid Al Saud so angry with you?”]

Ah……. that’s it.

After hearing the name of the man who had just popped into his head from his uncle, Jeong Taeui felt more drained than angry.

“How should I know…….? Damn it. But why me……. ah. Does he think I’m the one who destroyed his mansion in Seringe?”

Damn, he was stuck inside those high walls without any proper weapons and couldn’t even get out. Jeong Taeui muttered, “How could I have blown up that huge mansion?”

[“The mansion in Seringe……. yes, I heard it was leveled. Anyway, it seems the attack in Riyadh was just a decoy to lure his armed guards away.”]

Jeong Taeui remained silent. He stayed silent for a while before quietly asking.

“Did anything happen to Ilay?”