MW 6

Long tear stains formed on Yijae’s white face. Engulfed in fear, Yijae cried out, but Dohae ignored his reaction and dragged him into the storage room. The dusty interior of the room was filled with construction materials, just like the ones scattered outside.

Dohae stared at Yijae, who didn’t even resist, as if he had given up on everything. He wiped the tear stains from Yijae’s eyes, then lowered his hand and lightly tapped his cheek. Then, with his characteristic pretty smile, he whispered softly into his ear.

“My dear Yijae. If you wanted a tour of the school that badly, you should have told me sooner. Today, I’ll give you a special tour. One that’ll last a long, long time.”

At those words, Yijae’s body went limp, like someone who had lost all hope. All light vanished, and with a final, sharp creak, the door closed, and Yijae squeezed his eyes shut.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

From the morning, the staff were busy, meticulously checking the water pipes and the boiler room throughout the house. Butler Choi approached Jaeha, who was neatly dressed in a coat, passing by them, and handed him a thermos.

“It seems to be exceptionally cold this year.”

“I know.”

Taking the thermos from Butler Choi, Jaeha nodded his head at the snowstorm blowing outside the window.

“He doesn’t show it, but the Chairman has been very happy since you moved in, young master.”

Jaeha had decided to stay at his family home for about a month before the semester began. It was just a sudden impulse. As a result, seeing how happy his grandfather and family were made him reconsider returning to his officetel where he lived alone.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, please be careful.”

Perhaps it was January’s last struggle before February, but the exceptionally cold weather made the tips of his fingers sting. Jaeha pushed his hands into the gloves he usually tossed carelessly in the back seat, finding them stuffy. The soft fur tickling the back of his hand and covering it warmly wasn’t as bad as he thought, and his foul mood gradually began to improve.

The inside of the car was warm, as Driver Kim had turned on the heater in advance, and the window was foggy with condensation, a stark contrast to the air outside. He raised his gloved hand and rubbed the window a few times; the water droplets that met the glove gathered together and trickled down into the window’s crevice.

As they headed to the school through familiar streets, the people he saw outside the window were moving about busily. They all looked similar, wrapped in long padded coats and scarves. Losing interest, Jaeha turned his head back and picked up the tablet PC placed next to him.

Kang Seonghae, the first chairman of Kangmyeong Group, donates an astronomical sum to society.

An article about his grandfather on the front page of the social section caught his eye. His grandfather, whom Jaeha respected the most, was the founder of Kangmyeong Group, a man who had grown a small company that sold flour into the current global Kangmyeong Group. Then, a few years ago, after passing the chairmanship to Jaeha’s father, his own son, he had suddenly assumed the position of chairman of the Kangmyeong Foundation.

Having supposedly loved children since he was young, he was dedicating quite a long time, and a lot of it, to the university foundation. Jaeha checked the time remaining until he arrived at Hangang University and closed his eyes. It wouldn’t be long now until they reached the school in the city center.

“Grandfather.”

“Ah. Jaeha, you’re here.”

Jaeha leaned familiarly against his grandfather’s side and poured the balloon flower root tea the butler had packed into a cup. Warm steam rose from the cup, and its unique sweet scent spread warmly throughout the room.

“Butler Choi packed this for me. It’s still warm, so it should be good to drink.”

“Thank you.”

The old man took a sip of the steaming hot tea and smiled with satisfaction. Until a few years ago, he had commanded the entire Kangmyeong Group, but now that he had let everything go, his face looked more peaceful than ever. Jaeha, looking at his grandfather’s wrinkled face, spoke first.

“Why did you call me to the school?”

“The West Wing library is completed. It still needs to be organized, but I wanted to show it to my grandson first.”

The West Wing library was a building Chairman Kang had built with his own funds to coincide with the year Jaeha would enroll. Even though it wasn’t certain whether Jaeha would get into Hangang University, his grandfather had acted first, which made Jaeha’s lips curl into a slight smile.

“It’s not fully organized yet, but it’s still worth seeing. Go and take a look.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“Well. My knees are aching a bit today. Let’s go together next time.”

Chairman Kang lightly tapped his knees and shook his head. Jaeha realized it would be too much for his grandfather to go all the way to the West Wing in this cold weather and left the chairman’s office alone.

How long had he walked to the West Wing? After passing the pond, which was frozen solid in the cold weather, Jaeha arrived at the library next to the West Wing at the foot of the mountain and brushed off the snow that had piled up on his shoulders.

“Hoo……”

The door was half-open, as if the workers hadn’t closed it properly. Jaeha’s brow furrowed at their failure to observe even basic procedures. Stepping inside, he saw construction materials scattered on the floor, indicating that the interior of the building was not yet finished. Ignoring them, Jaeha passed through the spacious main hall and looked around the building’s interior.

After looking around the still-empty second and third floors, Jaeha went down the stairs. Actually, he had been curious about the library with the books from the start. His grandfather had said he was donating the books he had personally collected over a long time, so there were bound to be many good ones.

As he admired the building, which was filled with his grandfather’s affection to the point that he had personally participated in its design, Jaeha was about to go down another floor with a satisfied look on his face when a whimpering sound from under the stairs caught his ear.

“What’s that? A stray cat?”

On a cold day like this, a small animal might have hidden in here. Jaeha walked toward the sound. Discovering a small storage room next to the stairs, Jaeha saw the materials scattered around it and inferred the purpose of the room.

Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked, and he slowly turned the handle and opened it. Then, as if a startled animal had held its breath, the whimpering stopped, and a gasping sound followed. The inside of the storage room was very dark as no light seeped in.

Jaeha moved his hand to find the switch, but he couldn’t see it well. Having no other choice, he held up his phone with the flashlight function turned on. As the light from the back of the phone filled the storage room, Jaeha moved his head around, looking for a small animal.

“Heuk, kkuk……”

However, contrary to Jaeha’s expectations, what filled his vision was not an animal, but the small figure of a person.

“What the.”

A man, wearing clothes so tattered it was hard to tell if they were clothes or rags, was huddled up, his body frozen from the cold. Jaeha frowned one eyebrow and shone the light on the man. Then, his appearance became clearer.

The man’s skin, visible through the shredded clothes, was covered in bruises and bloodstains. His arms and legs were tied with rope, and greenish-blue tape covered half of his face. The man squeezed himself further into the corner, whether out of fear of Jaeha or because of the cold weather.

“Excuse me.”

“Heut.”

At Jaeha’s call, Yijae trembled like a small wild animal. Jaeha took a step back and spoke as he watched the man struggle to move his tightly bound limbs to hide deeper.

“Haa. I’m trying to help, so stay still.”

Only then did Yijae stop moving and slowly raise his head to look at Jaeha. His large eyes were full of fear, and the rims of his eyes were red. Jaeha frowned at the numerous wounds not only on his body but also all over his face.

“You…….”

Jaeha thought the person was someone he knew. Their faces were identical, to the point that it wasn’t a mistake, but a certainty.

“Gu Dohae?”

“Ah, euh……!”

At his words, a sense of desperation was evident in the man’s startled, struggling movements. Jaeha was lost in thought for a moment. Come to think of it, there was no reason for Gu Dohae to be here. He had recently heard news that he was entering Hangang University, but……. in a storage room? And in this state.

Sensing something was wrong, Jaeha narrowed his eyes and slowly observed the man. The man in front of him had a similar face to Dohae, but the aura and feeling he gave off were completely different. In particular, the clothes this man was wearing were something the ‘Gu Dohae’ he knew would never wear.

Confused by the even more incomprehensible situation, Jaeha tilted his head and stared blankly at the sound of a cough, coloc.

‘Should I call the police?’

He lifted the small body, which looked to be a high school student at most, and exited the dusty storage room. Brushing off the clinging dust, Jaeha carefully set down the man who was trembling in his arms.

Yijae was still looking up at Jaeha with a terrified expression. A sigh escaped him at the sight of the man’s pitiful movements, his eyes brimming with tears. Jaeha watched his face impassively, then went back into the storage room.

Then he came back out with a pair of scissors that were lying around. Jaeha pushed the sharp blades under the rope that was tightly binding Yijae’s hands and feet.

Snip.

With the sound of the heavy blades cutting the rope, Yijae felt the restraint on his body disappear and looked up at Jaeha. His face, filled with fear and anxiety, his pupils trembling minutely, was reflected in Jaeha’s two eyes.

“I’m untying you.”

Jaeha forced his gaze away and cut the last remaining rope. Yijae, his long-bound wrists probably hurting, let out a soft groan, kkeung, and slowly massaged his own wrists.

“……Ha?”