TIN 32

“…”

It felt like my solar plexus was being squeezed tightly. That one sentence sounded chillingly ominous. The barely concealed hostility seeped through the calm voice.

“There are some suspects, but no hard evidence, so that’s why.”

For a six-year-old child to have thought that far was immensely impressive. Or perhaps the suspicion had slowly blossomed as they grew up. After mulling over and remembering the “hyung’s” death, there would have been only one person all the circumstantial evidence pointed to.

“Looking at this, we’re quite similar, aren’t we?”

He said, running a hand through his hair, with a hint of self-deprecation in his voice. As if he felt a sense of shared fate with me.

‘Thinking of it that way, even a dog is pitiful.’

Perhaps Lee Yuna’s earlier empathy wasn’t directed at the unfortunate child but at the fiancé in a similar position. Just as she had lost the person she loved, Joo Do-hwa had also faced a similar death.

“When he finds out the brother is alive, he’ll try to kill me again. He can’t stand anyone being by my side.”

Joo Do-hwa naturally referred to the culprit, even though he hadn’t told me who it was yet. Whether he thought I already knew, or simply didn’t care if I did, he added while looking at me, “Don’t worry too much.”

“…”

“This time, I won’t let him kill you.”

So facing a life-threatening situation was a foregone conclusion? To me, it sounded like he was using me as bait to catch the culprit. Of course, Joo Do-hwa’s actual intentions were likely not too different.

“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, hyung.”

Joo Do-hwa rose from the bed and slowly walked up to me. With the window behind him, his shadow grew longer with each step he took. I instinctively shrank back, and at that moment, he placed both hands on my shoulders.

“You can do it, right? After all, you’re the real hyung.”

The pressure weighing down on my shoulders felt heavier than it should have. Was it because he was so much larger than me, or did it seem so because of the backlighting from the window? His cheerful smile looked ominous.

“You should answer me.”

“…Okay.”

Joo Do-hwa narrowed his eyes. It was hard to tell if he was smiling or just silently observing me. 

“Good job,” he praised softly, then continued in a measured tone.

“And here’s a warning.”

I straightened up instinctively, since the playful tone had disappeared from his low voice. With his long lashes lowered, he murmured quietly.

“If I see that kind of look from you one more time, I’ll show you what true madness is.”

No response was necessary this time. Joo Do-hwa left the room after having said that. The room left behind was filled with the lingering, cloying scent of his pheromones.

* * *

For a while after that, Joo Do-hwa didn’t even poke his head into my room. Even though he hadn’t visited often before, he had come every day when I was sick, but now he had abruptly stopped. He didn’t even join us for meals, so I saw no sign of him.

Of course, it wasn’t a big problem. I didn’t really need to see his face or eat with him. If anything, I should have felt a sense of stability in the uneventful routine following our confrontation.

Yet, I found myself increasingly gripped by an inexplicable unease as the days passed. The silent house, without a single visitor, felt ominous, like the calm before a storm. Or maybe it was the lingering effects of our last conversation.

Am I going crazy?

What did I do to make him look at me like I was insane?

It wasn’t the first time I had thought of Joo Do-hwa as a madman. From the moment we reunited at Oceans until now, I had consistently seen him that way. So it shouldn’t have been particularly upsetting, but that day, Joo Do-hwa had seemed genuinely bothered by something.

At first, I wanted to go check on him, but I didn’t know where his room was. If it was the room he used as a child, I’d know, but I didn’t know if he was still using that one.

In the nearly a month I’ve been in this house, I didn’t know what he had been doing during the times he hadn’t come to my room. My movements have been limited to just my room, the attached bathroom, and the dining room.

I didn’t feel apologetic. I just worried that I might have made a mistake. Crossing Joo Do-hwa’s mood would only prove to be troublesome for myself. If I could avoid it, I would.

“You should go see the young master.”

In the midst of this, Henry came to see me. The sudden visit and the even more abrupt news he brought left me rather flustered. Just as I had been preparing myself this whole time, all of a sudden, this had to happen.

“Right now?”

It was already late at night, and all the lights in the mansion were turned off. At first, I thought Joo Do-hwa had summoned me, but the rest of the explanation suggested otherwise.

“Yes, the young master is unable to sleep.”

“…And what does that have to do with me?”

I asked out of genuine curiosity, not accusation. How would my presence change a single thing? If anything, I’d just end up on the receiving end of Joo Do-hwa’s irritability.

“It may not matter, but it could be resolved.”

However, it seemed Henry had a different idea, lightly nodding as if gesturing for me to follow. Since I was left with no other choice, I had to get up from the bed and follow Henry.

Henry led me to the second floor. Remaining silent the entire way down the stairs, he stopped in front of a door located in the middle of the corridor. Following him, I also came to a halt, and he took a step back diagonally.

“The young master is inside.”

“…Is this Joo Do-hwa’s room?”

I momentarily was at a loss for words because this was the room I had stayed in as a child. The memory was hazy, but the child had readily given me the room right next door. I initially thought Joo Do-hwa was using it now, but Henry shook his head with a somewhat troubled expression.

“No, he’s just staying here for now.”

Henry didn’t specify where Joo Do-hwa’s actual room was. It felt like I didn’t need to know, but I intuitively sensed that he was still using the room he had originally occupied.

But why was he in this room? While pondering this, Henry tersely urged me.

“Go in.”

“…”

Did I really have to? I had obediently followed him so far, but standing in front of the door, I hesitated. The firmly closed door felt like it was a warning for anyone who dared to approach.

“Hurry up.”

After Henry pressured me once more, I raised my hand and lightly knocked on the door. 

Knock, knock, but there was no sound from inside. Not even a sign of presence, so I couldn’t help but ask Henry with a skeptical look on my face.

“Is he asleep?”

“No.”

I was about to ask if he wasn’t there then, but Henry gestured at the doorknob, as if asking what I was waiting for. It was clear he wanted me to just go in.

“…Hmm.”

No matter how I thought about it, this didn’t seem right. But still, I reached for the doorknob as he instructed. Even if I decided to refuse here, he’d probably just push me in himself.

Creak, as the door opened a crack, a cloying pheromone wafted out. For an omega, it would have been enough to make them lose their senses, but the beta Henry didn’t seem to notice. I took a deep breath and slowly stepped inside.

Beyond the dimly lit view, I could see the outline of someone lying on the bed. It was more like a lump under the blanket, but I could guess that it was Joo Do-hwa. I wasn’t particularly surprised that he was actually there, but the hand pushing on my back was startling.

“Be careful.”

“…!”

Before I could even react, Henry firmly closed the door behind me. He had planned to leave the door half-open, but since I had already entered, he couldn’t do that.

What an unpleasant person! Glaring daggers at the door, I let out a sigh and turned around.

“…”

“…”

The silent room was devoid of even the sound of breathing. It was so unresponsive that I almost thought the lump under the blanket wasn’t even Joo Do-hwa. Of course, the tuft of hair peeking out made me think otherwise.

“…Sleeping?”

The moonlight filtering in from outside dimly illuminated the bed. I slowly approached, calling out his name.

“Joo Do-hwa.”

“…”

As expected, I received no response from him. Come to think of it, didn’t he tell me not to call him that? Thinking about that, I tried calling him again.

“Do-hwa-ya.”

“…”

Not even a stir under the blanket. At this point, I started to think Henry might have been wrong. No matter how I looked at it, he seemed to be sleeping. It would be more troublesome if I accidentally woke him up. Though it did seem a bit unnatural how motionless he was.

What should I do? While pondering this, I had unconsciously gotten too close to the bed. I didn’t have the courage to actually touch him, but to at least make a show of trying, I opened my mouth again.

“If he’s sleeping…”

The blanket being pulled back and my wrist being grabbed happened simultaneously. Before I could even get a grasp of the situation and step back, a rough force pulled me onto the bed.

“…!”

My center of gravity shifted to one side, and my view suddenly flipped. Instinctively trying to resist, I was pressed down faster than a blink of an eye. The one gripping both my wrists in one hand used the other to firmly grasp my exposed neck.

“Ngh…”

The icy cold touch reached my bare skin. The only fortunate thing was that there was no force behind the grip. He just stared down at me intently, as if his sole purpose all along was merely to threaten.

“…”

“…”

The eyes reflecting the moonlight were a pure golden color, untainted. It was a surreal sight, like a full moon in front of me, made even more unreal by the permeating scent wafting from his body.

After remaining still for a while, Joo Do-hwa’s eyelids suddenly fluttered, and his brow furrowed.

“…Hyung?”