Predator of Love
Ever since that day, the only place I had left to stay was a gym run by an acquaintance.
"Have you eaten yet."
"Not really in the mood."
"Why."
"...I had nowhere else to go."
"I know. Me too."
Three years had passed since I got away from ‘that incident.’ Sleeping and working out had become my everyday life.
"I put out some chicken breast. Thanks to that, food expenses don't really go up... but this isn't what I wanted."
"..."
After I finished working out, showered, and came out, a meal that the old man had prepared in advance was sitting on the table.
"...Still, I guess I should eat it, since he went to all this trouble."
I ate the food and fell asleep.
-
It was winter again, that day.
Winter was cold. Bitterly cold and lonely. Not a single snowflake fell on the street, and only the fierce wind struck my face as it passed. Everything was the same as that day.
The street scene, the bone-cutting cold, even the feelings I had back then.
I knew it was already in the past. But my dreams always took me back to that day. As if I were someone trapped there forever. I was facing the same moment again.
...
It was that day again. Of all times.
-
"Huff...! Huff..."
I ran straight to the bathroom. And then I threw up everything I'd eaten a little earlier.
"Why... whydo I keep doing this every time I try to forget?"
There were rules I had set for myself when I joined the organization.
First, keep every relationship strictly business.
Second, never give your heart to anyone.
Third, never carry someone else's danger on your back.
Even if it meant abandoning a comrade.
Those were the principles I had upheld in order to survive in this world.
"..."
I was the one who broke the line I had guarded so fiercely, and in the end I was the one who paid the price.
"...Haa."
What on earth had I been believing in?
"Why are you so weak, Kim Yeoju. Was this your real self all along?"
"You were young. If not you, then who was going to protect that position?"
"..."
"Your brother-in-law knew all of that too, and still put you in that position."
"...What were you like when you were in the organization, old man?"
"I said I'm not some old man. Come along."
-
- Rooftop -
"What are you trying to say?"
"Back when I was in that world."
The old man stopped speaking for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
-
"Boss! You're here!"
"Yeah, it's been a while."
Trusting people was the stupidest thing of all. The guys who ate from the same pot, calling each other boss and little brother up until yesterday, would turn their backs without a second thought the moment their own lives were on the line.
"What are you doing now?"
"You said you were hungry, so we're going to eat."
"You heard that...!?"
"Yeah, let's go."
It wasn't as if I could live never trusting anyone at all. In the end, even the organization runs on people.
-
"So I always drew a line. No matter how close someone was, I never showed them all my cards, and no matter how long I'd known them, I always left at least one reason to doubt them."
"..."
"Your father was the same. Even if he knew how to keep people close, he wasn't someone who gave his heart away carelessly."
"..."
The old man's gaze turned to me.
"You trusted that bastard for seven years."
"...How did you know? I never told you that."
"Did you think I'd just sit around while you ate and slept?"
"Did you have someone look into my past?"
"How could I sleep when I'm so worried about my nephew~"
I let out a short sigh. Then I looked out over the wide city.
"Just remember this one thing."
"What?"
"Just because that bastard betrayed you doesn't mean the seven years you spent are all a lie."
He was silent for a moment, then added,
"Trusting him was your sincerity. Betraying that trust was his choice. Don't mix the two up."
"...Trying to sound cool."
"Ahem... I'm not trying to sound cool, I am cool."
-
"Thank you, Uncle."
"You should've called me that sooner. Now hurry up and grow."
"Yes."
.
.
(The next episode will unfold from Jeongguk's point of view!)
