TIN 103

Inside the spacious room, two men stood facing each other, engaged in conversation as usual. Both wore suits, but their appearances were subtly different. One was neatly dressed in a tie and vest, holding a tablet PC, while the other looked less formal with a couple of shirt buttons undone.

“Only kids go to parties like that.”

Henry didn’t respond to the casually dressed man’s comment. He just looked at his master with his usual stoic expression. The man, wearing an infinitely bored facial expression, simply shrugged with one hand in his pocket.

“It’s obvious since Father didn’t come.”

He was Joo Do-hwa, the world’s only extremely dominant alpha and the sole heir to the Sae Group. He was the precious young master served by the household since Henry’s father’s generation, and adapting to his particular temperament was an important duty Henry had inherited.

Because of this, Henry also knew well about “Father”, Chairman Joo, whom he mentioned. He was an extremely calculating man who hated wasting time on unnecessary things and befitting the head of a massive corporation, he rarely made unnecessary moves.

Furthermore, given his incredible dedication, he wouldn’t miss even the smallest piece of information, so his absence from the party meant that Yoon Ji-soo wouldn’t be there either.

“Don’t tell me you believe that?”

“No, not exactly, but…”

When he asked with an incredulous look, Henry shook his head readily. Having stayed in this mansion for more than just a day or two, the other man at least had that much insight. That it was all merely groundless rumors to begin with.

“There are rumors that a blue-eyed woman has been attending recent parties.”

Not long ago, hot news came in from an informant they had planted. Several party attendees claimed to have spotted a woman with blue eyes. Though the source was unclear, the fact that multiple people corroborated the story gave it credibility.

“Is that information certain?”

“It’s difficult to say it’s certain.”

Still, they couldn’t claim 100% certainty because they always had to leave room for possibilities. As the saying went, if just three people agree on a story, they can create a tiger out of nothing. In this world full of rumors, distinguishing fake information was itself a task.

“The appearance is similar, but I’m not sure if it’s the same person. First, there was information that she would attend parties, and when we investigated, it seemed she would also come to the party hosted by Jaekyung Finance. At present, there’s a high possibility it’s Yoon Ji-soo.”

Even Joo Do-hwa seemed lost in thought at this concise report. Though he absolutely despised gatherings with all sorts of people, finding Yoon Ji-soo there would be like winning the lottery. So naturally, he had to consider it.

“For now, attending would be…”

However, the presumptuous advice he was about to offer was cut off before it could be finished. It was due to an unexpected intruder suddenly joining the conversation. Though they couldn’t continue the discussion, Joo Do-hwa had willingly attended that party anyway. Of course, the reason wasn’t to find Yoon Ji-soo.

The result was, naturally, a wild goose chase. Fortunately, Joo Do-hwa didn’t seem particularly angry, perhaps because he hadn’t had any expectations to begin with. He just smiled crookedly and said, “It’s fine, I had an interesting experience thanks to it.”

Henry didn’t know what that experience was. Well, in fact, finding her before his father did probably wasn’t that desperate of a wish for him. If Yoon Ji-soo couldn’t be found, that alone would be torture enough for Chairman Joo.

Just like how he himself was still searching for his ‘hyung.’

“We won’t find Yoon Ji-soo.”

“…”

“It would be fortunate if she didn’t die on that island.”

It was a cold assessment coming from someone who was also searching for a dead person, but it was true. Yoon Ji-soo had gone missing long ago and was officially reported dead. Only Chairman Joo, with his disturbing obsession, believed that Yoon Ji-soo wasn’t dead.

…No, there was exactly one more person.

This must be…important news. Important enough to discuss while standing here.

Henry lowered his eyes, recalling the man who had interrupted their conversation before.

His name was Bada, wasn’t it? Though he didn’t know exactly what relationship he had with Yoon Ji-soo, the emotion that appeared on that expressionless face was clearly anxiety. It was such a subtle change that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked carefully, but he had become an expert at reading expressions while serving his extremely particular master.

After that, things took a strange turn. Joo Do-hwa, who had shown little interest in Yoon Ji-soo, took the initiative to gather all available information about her. The reason was crystal clear, and he knew that sometimes he would mention Yoon Ji-soo to his ‘hyung’ almost like a threat. He also knew that some of it contained lies.

“Henry, don’t call such things urgent business.”

But that too was in the past. Recently, he hadn’t been asking about Yoon Ji-soo much. Today too, he wore an irritated expression as if such a woman didn’t matter at all.

“…I apologize.”

He shouldn’t have interrupted that situation earlier.

Belatedly realizing this, Henry offered a polite apology while recalling the scene he had witnessed in the study. Though he still believed it was urgent business and had more to report, he wasn’t sure if such excuses would work with this man.

“It’s fine, so continue…”

However, Joo Do-hwa, who had been dismissively waving his hand, suddenly went silent. His beast-like sharp gaze turned toward the half-open door. Henry, who turned his head in response, frowned as he noticed the long shadow in the hallway a moment later.

“…?”

Like telling him to be quiet, Joo Do-hwa raised his index finger to his lips. Then, muffling his footsteps, he slowly approached the door. Just as he was frowning at the creeping sense of déjà vu washing over him right then, Joo Do-hwa pushed the half-open door with his palm.

Creak, the door opened. The owner of the shadow was revealed in the gradually brightened view. Joo Do-hwa spoke softly to the figure standing still with head bowed low.

“…Hyung.”

The man called ‘hyung’ lifted his head. His pale, almost white face showed no expression whatsoever.

It was Bada. True to his grand name, he was Joo Do-hwa’s latest doll bought from Oceans, with an eerily beautiful face.

“…”

Did he overhear their conversation just now?

At that fleeting thought, Henry glanced at Joo Do-hwa. Perhaps sharing a similar thought, his already unfriendly eyes grew even more ominous.

The timing was quite remarkable. To appear just when they were talking about Yoon Ji-soo. Something similar had happened before, this seemed beyond coincidence and more like inevitability.

Though he had left the door open, it was far from a mistake. Rather than being careless, there had simply been no need for caution.

Once in this house, everyone was in Joo Do-hwa’s palm, and there was no one here he needed to be careful around. If anyone happened to eavesdrop like a rat, they could simply be dealt with if necessary.

So this was a truly exceptional situation. Come to think of it, it was strange from the start that Joo Do-hwa had left the study saying his hyung was sleeping and they should talk outside.

“…Why are you here?”

But why did he suddenly feel at a loss? What was the reason for the spine-chilling sense of crisis as he coldly looked at his ‘hyung’ while asking?

He had a vague idea. Hadn’t it been mentioned before? That he had told many lies to shake that expressionless man.

However, the master Henry knew wouldn’t be shaken by such trivial things. If anything, he might brazenly act as if nothing was wrong. Or he might smile lazily and ask, like he had earlier, if they really believed those words.

“Did you wake up from your nap?”

Perhaps that was why, as he placed his hand on his ‘hyung’s’ shoulder and asked, his voice showed none of the seriousness from before. He just wore his usual mask of affection and smiled gently.

“Why don’t you sleep more?”

His large hand gently massaged the inside of the shoulder. As if urging: If you heard something, confront me quickly. Whether his hands were large or the man was too thin, even just resting there it looked truly threatening.

He should answer carefully. Henry clicked his tongue secretly while thinking. Even from a distance, he could see the downcast eyelashes trembling. At the same time, his lips moved almost imperceptibly.

But what came out was…

“I couldn’t sleep because you weren’t there…”

“…”

Joo Do-hwa’s mouth snapped shut. At that moment, Henry clearly saw his sharp gaze soften. The lips that seemed about to twist coldly also relaxed.

“I woke up feeling empty.”

His voice, calm like gentle waves, remained steady even when saying words that would make others cringe. Rather than quiet, the atmosphere was serene, but hesitation tinged his following question.

“…Will it take much longer?”

He almost let out a bitter laugh. Their way of changing the subject was similar. What Bada said just now made him think so.

“…Was that something I shouldn’t have heard?”

When he had overheard their conversation about Yoon Ji-soo before, the man had asked a similar question. Though it seemed cute at first glance, given his emotionless face, it probably wasn’t really aegyo. At most, it was just giving a reasonably plausible answer.

“Not too long, but it will take a bit more time.”

Yet Joo Do-hwa quickly soothed him in a gentle tone. He slid his hand from the shoulder to lightly grasp the slender neck, then moved upward to cup his cheek and even asked with a broad smile on his face.

“You can’t sleep without me?”