SPW 31

“You’re telling me not a single person saw the kid leave?”

“What do you expect from security firm employees, not mercenaries?”

Miller, who had been sitting on the sofa flipping through a magazine, retorted.

“What’s Kai’s status?”

“Just as we expected.”

Miller snapped shut the magazine he had been barely looking at and glanced up.

“You want me to assign someone to him? To the kid?”

“Either you or Allen sticks with him, Miller.”

Allen, who was slurping tea while standing to one side, and Miller, who was scratching his head on the sofa, made eye contact.

Looks like it’s our time to die.

Of the two who had once again shared a thought, Allen stepped forward.

“I’ll stick with him.”

Allen, who had been away from the field for a month to get through his rut, was getting antsy with the desk job anyway. Babysitting a kid would be better than the stuffy office.

After concluding the conversation, Florian dismissed them and stood by the bedside. It felt unpleasant to recall Sarang, who had slowly cooled in his arms, in contrast to how he had been burning with a post-match fever.

Extremely unpleasant.

☀️

“Forced? You’re saying Sarang didn’t willingly associate with them?”

“If you’re going to make excuses, Sarang, at least make them plausible. Do you think I wouldn’t know that you associate with thugs?”

“And now even this kind of dirty scandal. If you’re so desperate to knot, find another omega and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content. We can end our relationship at any time.”

Florian, sitting in a chair keeping watch by the bed, let out a low sigh.

The bastard in the dream, who had become familiar after seeing him a few times now, only shared a shell with Florian; his personality and way of handling things were completely different. If he was going to spew such venom every time he saw him, Florian would have cut ties with him long ago, whoever he was. It was as if he didn’t know what to do with his anger toward Sarang…

Anger?

Sarang loved the bastard in the dream enough to endure such harsh treatment. That bastard, rather than loving Sarang… seemed desperate to hurt him. He recalled the long dream he had when he was in a coma.

「Rian, I love you.」

At that single line of confession, something he had never once heard in person in his life, the bastard in the dream shed tears. The emotion Florian, who was dreaming at the time, felt was definitely regret.

Rummaging through his memories, Florian leaned his upper body against the back of the chair and looked up at the ceiling.

Am I going crazy? Have I developed PTSD from being in the field too long? Hah, but that was years ago.

If what he was experiencing was an illness, it couldn’t explain the preceding dreams. If Sarang lived past twenty-four to twenty-five, to thirty, then that dream or whatever it was would end. Because the Kim Sarang in the dream had ended his life at twenty-four.

Keeping Kim Sarang alive past twenty-four was the best Florian could do at present.

What had been a simple feeling of unease had now developed into a concrete will to save Kim Sarang at all costs. Could this be called affection? The sight of Sarang trying to live on steadfastly, no matter what, even after being left alone in the world, had begun to move Florian’s heart little by little at some point.

Even after dawn broke and morning came, Sarang did not open his eyes.

Florian, who drank a vegetable and fruit smoothie for breakfast, checked on the still-unconscious Sarang and then entered the bathroom in the same room. Even after showering and changing into simple clothes for going out, Sarang remained sound asleep.

He’s no sleeping beauty. You sleep for quite a while, Sarang.

Checking the busily ringing alarms and dealing with only the urgent matters, Florian put down his tablet. He rested both arms on the chair’s armrests, clasped his hands, and quietly watched for Sarang to wake up.

“Did you sleep well?”

“…”

“Yes, Sarang. This is my bedroom.”

Sarang, who had been looking up at Florian with dazed, sleepy eyes, tried to bolt upright. Florian, who had been watching him from the very beginning without missing a thing, reacted faster.

“Stay lying down, Sarang. You haven’t fully recovered.”

“…Rian.”

It felt unreal. That Florian was in front of him when he opened his eyes, that he was lying in a bed, in a bedroom filled with Florian’s scent. At the hand gently pressing on his chest, Sarang obediently lay back down and rolled his eyes around.

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

“…From where, to where?”

“Good. Shall we start by talking about our debt?”

“…”

Sunlight touched the cheek of Sarang, who clammed up like a shell. Seeing no sign of a fever, it seemed he had recovered quite a bit.

“Mark Harding, no, how did you end up borrowing 1.4 billion from the gang?”

There was no way Mark Harding had pulled 1.4 billion out of his own pocket. Sarang must have desperately requested it due to some circumstances, Mark Harding would have requested it from his superiors, and the gang leaders would have fronted the money, not because they trusted Mark Harding, but because they saw Kim Sarang’s usefulness.

Their scheme was as clear as day, and it was information that had already been investigated, but Florian, wanting to hear it directly from Sarang’s mouth, put Bailey’s report on hold for the time being. It was a minimal courtesy to the always-honest Sarang, and it was also a question that held a vague hope that he would not lie to him this time either.

Kim Sarang. A dominant alpha. A pretty-boy Asian kid who looked like a young master. If he succeeded in soccer, it would be a jackpot, and even if he didn’t, there were more than enough ways to use a child—a dominant one at that—to make money.

“Are you going to keep your mouth shut like that?”

Sarang, pressing his lips together and fidgeting with his fingers, looked like a cornered cat. Although he looked pitiful, Florian had no intention of letting it go quietly.

“Do you have an addiction problem, Sarang?”

“N-No.”

Sarang, who snapped his head up to look at Florian, shook his head, insisting it wasn’t true.

“1.4 billion isn’t exactly pocket change for you, Sarang. It must be a considerable amount of money. For what reason did you go into debt, even to a gang?”

“That’s…”

Sarang’s eyes, after he briefly closed his mouth, looked down. They were dark pools of black, looking so precarious that they seemed like they would spill over with a single touch. Florian gave the conflicted Sarang plenty of time.

The fidgeting fingers gripped the blanket tightly. Sarang didn’t want to tell him the reason. He was afraid he would be blamed. He was the one who had decided to borrow the money, and he was the one who had to pay it back, but he was afraid that Colin would be bad-mouthed and pointed at by others because of him. Would Florian blame and criticize him too? But it had been his choice.

Even as he struggled, Sarang knew he had to be honest with Florian. Yesterday, if it hadn’t been for Florian, he didn’t know what might have happened to him. He didn’t know what kind of harm he might have caused Florian.

“Colin… suddenly collapsed.”

“Yes, Sarang.”

Florian did not rush him, showing in this way that he was listening to Sarang’s voice. Mustering courage without realizing it, Sarang raised his gaze to look at Florian. His bright blue eyes held Sarang like a calm sea.

“We went to the emergency room, but we were turned away. He had acute pheromone poisoning, but they said they couldn’t treat him. They said even if treatment were possible, we wouldn’t be able to afford the hospital bills. Because Colin is a recessive, it wasn’t certain he could be fully cured, and they said they couldn’t admit us because we were poor. They told us to try another hospital…”

There was no Royal Medical Center in the northern part of Canton City. The only hospitals with operating emergency rooms were private, and there was only one of them at that. It was the hospital Sarang had been turned away from.

“There was a Grandma Maureen in the same apartment building; she said she was a nurse before she retired. She even took care of me when I had a cold.”

Before a thick tear could even fall, Sarang quickly wiped his eyes.

“She said it was acute poisoning from being exposed to dominant alpha pheromones for too long. She said the medicine was available, but it would be expensive. She said the price on the market was already high, but the price of medicine traded on the black market was unimaginably expensive.”

“Mark Harding must have come to you first.”

“…”

His wet eyes took in Florian.

“Gossip travels fast in a small town.”

Sarang hesitantly took the handkerchief Florian offered, but he didn’t wipe his tears or blow his nose, just held it tightly in both hands.

“I understand the situation.”

Florian could have pressed him or interrogated him further. Why on earth would they lend 1.4 billion to Sarang, what did they see in him, how did he intend to repay that money, did he know what would happen if he couldn’t repay the money. All were questions that would corner Sarang.

He would have done anything to save Colin, who had raised and loved him with all his heart and soul without being related by a single drop of blood. At the time, Sarang would have had no choice but to take that dark hand. The Commonwealth, and the northern part of Canton City, was not a place that was generous or kind to the poor. That was why most of the children were drawn to the underworld rather than the light.

“Let me handle the matter with Mark Harding, Sarang.”

“…”

“I don’t want to go this far, but I’m making a preemptive move because I think you’re going to be stubborn, Sarang.”

In his gentle but firm tone, one could read Florian’s will not to back down easily. Florian paused for a moment to let Sarang prepare himself, then continued.

“It will become very troublesome for me if the fact that you’re involved with Mark Harding or the gang comes out.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be very troublesome. But right now, Florian’s goal was to burden Sarang and make him vigilant.

“You said you were afraid of causing trouble for me, right, Sarang?”

“…Yes.”

“Then I will resolve this matter.”

“…”

“You need to answer, Sarang.”

“…Yes.”