TIN 102

“…”

The drowsiness vanished instantly as if washed away. Though I had laid down, my neck and shoulders remained tense. Through my suddenly darkened vision, I heard him whisper gently.

“Lie down comfortably. Relax.”

How could that be possible? How can I lie comfortably when I’m not even comfortable?

How can I sleep on your lap? Such words rose to the tip of my tongue, but there was no way I could voice such thoughts. He had begun to gently stroke my hair with the hand that had covered my eyes. His careful touch, like putting a child to sleep, was unhurried and leisurely, as if savoring this moment.

“I’ll wake you when my work is done.”

This must be uncomfortable for him too. Joo Do-hwa resumed working on his laptop that he’d brought from his desk. The typing sound was just quiet and regular enough not to be irritating to my ears.

“…Mm.”

By this point, I figured I might as well go along with it. He wasn’t really tormenting me, so why resist? The sensation on my head wasn’t bad at all, and if anything was uncomfortable, it was just that his lap was too firm to use as a pillow.

So I took off my indoor slippers and laid comfortably on the sofa with both legs up. As I squirmed to find a good position, I heard Joo Do-hwa’s low laugh. His lowered voice followed soon after.

“It would be troublesome if you came in any further.”

It took a moment to understand what he meant. What would be troublesome? As I wondered this, I belatedly froze in place.

Joo Do-hwa placed his hand between the back of my head and his stomach, giving a small warning.

“Only rest up to there.”

I could understand immediately. If I moved any closer, it wouldn’t be his thigh that would touch the back of my head. That unnecessarily large thing should be hidden inside his pants right then.

“…Should I get up if it’s uncomfortable?”

“It’s not that bad.”

Actually, I was the uncomfortable one, but Joo Do-hwa didn’t acknowledge that. He only offered unwanted consideration, saying it would be fine to lie down together if I wanted.

“No…I’ll sleep like this.”

“Alright, then.”

Joo Do-hwa, who had responded compliantly, gently ruffled my hair.

Why is he in such a good mood?

The sweetly wafting pheromones were as soft as a dream. They were so gentle that it felt like floating on clouds. I felt my mind becoming peaceful along with it.

Perhaps because of that, surprisingly, drowsiness quickly returned. Is it okay to fall asleep so defenselessly? Such wariness lasted only briefly. My eyelids slowly closed, and my awkwardly tense body relaxed.

“…”

It was peaceful. Like spending time with a child once upon a time.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep…

Knock knock. There was a knocking sound on the door. I might have be able to ignore it, but I couldn’t ignore the voice that followed as soon as the door opened.

“Young master.”

“…”

Joo Do-hwa turned his head. Though it was a slight movement, I could feel it clearly as I was resting on his thigh. Along with the sound of Henry taking a step closer, his gruff voice spoke.

“I have something to tell you.”

“…Ah.”

The quiet exclamation had a hint of irritation mixed in. Joo Do-hwa covered my ear with the hand that had been stroking my hair and responded carelessly to Henry.

“Unless it’s urgent, tell me later.”

“It is urgent.”

At that sharp response, Joo Do-hwa clicked his tongue. If Henry spoke like that, it must truly be urgent business. Joo Do-hwa seemed to realize this too, as he abruptly closed the laptop on the table.

I thought I should start getting up, but my body, already drunk with sleep, wouldn’t listen. So I pretended to be asleep with my eyes closed, and he carefully lifted my head. Then he took a cushion from nearby and placed it under my head.

“He’s sleeping.”

After patting my shoulder gently, something was softly draped over my body. From the warmth it held and the strong pheromones it gave off, it was definitely Joo Do-hwa’s jacket.

“My hyung’s sleeping, so let’s go outside.”

Along with that quiet whisper, the sound of two sets of footsteps faded away. And with a click, as the door closed, a heavy silence settled inside the study.

“…”

I was definitely sleepy, but as silence fell around me, I started to wake up more and more. Though the soft cushion was much more comfortable than his thigh which had felt like stone, my position felt subtly uncomfortable. The fact that the cozy pheromones had faded as Joo Do-hwa left, leaving me feeling somehow empty, also played a part.

I lifted my eyelids slowly. My eyes were still half-closed, but they didn’t feel as heavy as before. After blinking a couple of times, even my hazy vision became clear.

“…I almost fell asleep.”

Damn, Henry. Couldn’t he have come a little later?

I hadn’t even been that desperate to sleep, but somehow I felt cheated of something that had been given and taken away. The relaxed feeling in my body hadn’t been so bad after all. But thinking about it that far sent a chill up and down my spine.

Was I just…being too comfortable? No matter how well he treated me, Joo Do-hwa was always someone I needed to be careful around.

“I must have lost my mind.”

I got up from the sofa with a small bitter laugh. People were so fickle—even after being so uncomfortable, a little kindness made them let their guard down so easily. At this rate, I would be lucky if I didn’t lose focus and make some sort of mistake.

I got up and walked up to the window. It was out of habit, to check on the activities of the mansion. When I pulled down the half-open blinds with my finger, the garden view spread out clearly below.

The trucks I had seen in the morning were still there. I could see people hurriedly loading boxes larger than their own bodies. What was inside was probably the “goods” that came in from the party—most likely drugs.

“How nice.”

Though I wasn’t at all envious of the illegal drugs, I was envious of the items that would be taken to the sea. So much so that I even thought about secretly getting into the cargo hold right now.

If Joo Do-hwa hadn’t promised to take me to the sea, I would have left this mansion by today. I would have taken all the money I had hidden, escaped over the wall, and gone to find Theo to ask him to get me black market tickets. I might have had to wander the alleys for a while, but that wouldn’t have mattered.

Well, there was no need for that now.

“Should I go to my room…?”

Though Joo Do-hwa had told me to sleep, I wondered if I really needed to wait obediently. It felt awkward to stay in the study without its owner, so maybe it would be better to just go back to my room and sleep there.

As soon as I made this decision, I left the study immediately. Part of my hasty action was wanting to forget as quickly as possible the comfort I had felt earlier. I couldn’t believe I had almost fallen asleep comfortably using his leg as a pillow.

To get from the study to my room, I had to pass by my childhood room and Joo Do-hwa’s current room. I thought about stopping by the first floor to look at paintings, but knowing I could see the real sea if I just waited a little longer made me change the direction I was heading in.

However, as I was passing by Joo Do-hwa’s door, I heard Henry’s voice through the half-open door.

“…What should we do?”

I stopped walking because the atmosphere was quite serious. I absolutely hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but hearing those words instantly gave me déjà vu. I had heard news about Yoon Ji-soo in a similar manner last time. That memory came flooding back.

“What do you mean what? Just clean it up.”

Unlike the utterly serious Henry, Joo Do-hwa seemed thoroughly annoyed. He replied coldly, in a voice different from when he had whispered sweetly to me.

“It’s not like I killed them with my own hands, what can we do about someone who committed suicide by biting their own tongue?”

Though he said it was urgent, even from what little I could hear, it seemed to be serious business. I didn’t know who had died, but it seemed someone had committed suicide in the mansion. Of course, Joo Do-hwa’s attitude was excessively casual compared to the gravity of the situation.

“If there’s nowhere to dispose of it, load it on the truck and send it out to the sea. We have plenty of large boxes.”

The boxes large enough to fit people flashed through my mind. Could there be people, not just goods, in those boxes? My hair stood on end at this unconsciously formed assumption.

Yet Joo Do-hwa asked Henry as if he had just heard a boring story, “Surely that’s not all you wanted to tell me?”

“…And about Yoon Ji-soo…”

A familiar name came up. I instinctively took a step closer to the door and listened to the sound flowing from inside. As I concentrated while holding my breath, a polite voice came through clearly.

“At present, there’s absolutely no way to find her.”

It felt like my heart had plummeted. At those words from Henry’s mouth, my vision turned dark. The only possibility that had seemed promising was Joo Do-hwa’s information network, but Henry was saying even that was impossible.

“I’ve asked around everywhere, but even her attendance at the Jaekyung Finance party was a lie. As you know, there’s been no information at all since then.”

My mind went blank as if I’d been hit on the back of the head at this stream of reports. Not because the party attendance was a lie, but because there had been no information at all since then.

‘Yoon Jisu will come too.’

‘This time it’s quite reliable information…’

‘I hope she comes to the next party.’

“…”

My tightly clenched fist trembled slightly. Though I hadn’t done anything, my breathing started to quicken as if I’d just run a marathon.

Through my ears ringing with a buzzing sound, a leisurely voice penetrated, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“…”

“I knew we wouldn’t find her.”

His tone, unbelievably casual, was no different from the usual Joo Do-hwa. The same went for his idle addition when he asked how could they find someone even her father couldn’t find.

As if saying ‘why state such an obvious thing,’ Joo Do-hwa spoke with a snicker, “Why would Yoon Ji-soo come to a place like that?”