TIN 35

If someone asked me how life had been in the mansion, I would answer without any hesitation that it had been comfortable. Not only were the basic necessities covered, but the quality of life here was exceptionally high. While Oceans only fulfilled my basic needs, here I could even indulge in luxuries to my heart’s content.

It was a place that any person would find desirable, and to deny that would be a lie. There was no one in this world who disliked comfort and abundance, so I couldn’t deny that I was enjoying my stay at the mansion.

Furthermore, it wasn’t even that difficult for me to cater to Joo Do-hwa’s preferences. The wisest course of action here would be to skillfully persuade Joo Do-hwa to accept me as the “hyung.”

And yet, I still think I should leave this place as soon as possible. It was a kind of crisis awareness I picked up from wandering the streets—if I lingered a little longer, I’d have some sort of premonition that it would all soon become irreversible. Not because I couldn’t go back to the impoverished life, but because I might forget my original goal and become complacent.

Now was the time to know my priorities. If I couldn’t live here for the rest of my life, it was wise to leave before it was too late. Before I died by Joo Do-hwa’s hand, or the chairman’s hand. Or before this weak body acclimated to this comfortable lifestyle.

No, it wasn’t just that. If those were the only reasons, I wouldn’t have given myself a one-week grace period. The problem was that ever since that night, Joo Do-hwa had started to overlap with the small child he used to be.

‘That’s…’

‘…’

‘Because you weren’t here.’

I’m not trying to say something weak like “I’ve grown attached.” What am I to him? But I had  also decided not to delve too deeply into that question. After all, I was fully prepared to turn a blind eye to a past that I wasn’t responsible for.

So there was a very simple reason for leaving early. To avoid delusion. To not be preoccupied by the lingering affection he showed. To be vigilant, as Lee Yuna said, that it’s not meant for me.

Humans were truly arrogant creatures—they easily become conceited the moment they become special to someone. Even though I was just a stand-in, most humans would  dream of a reversed power dynamic if they were in my shoes. I was confident I wouldn’t get caught up in that kind of dream, but I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t be infected by the child’s nostalgia.

Didn’t I say earlier that I sometimes reminisce about the memories with the child and even regretted leaving this house?

But the current Joo Do-hwa was different from the pure child I knew. He not only killed someone in an instant, but also suddenly started strangling me without warning. If I feel even the slightest pity, the problem lied not with Joo Do-hwa, but with me.

“…Why are you here?”

The next day, when we both fell asleep side by side, it was Joo Do-hwa who woke up first. Leaning against the headboard, he looked at me with a slightly displeased tone as I belatedly opened my eyes, focusing my attention on the arm wrapped around his waist.

“Did we sleep like this?”

It was he who had embraced me first and fallen asleep, but he looked puzzled, as if he couldn’t figure out what happened at all. His unusually bright eyes were filled with questions about the entire situation. Since I had to explain myself, whether I wanted to or not, I subtly removed my arm and opened my mouth.

“Last night…”

But the vocal cords that had just woken up couldn’t properly finish the sentence. The voice became vaguely muffled before I could complete my sentence.

Seeing that, Joo Do-hwa calmly spoke.

“It looks like you slept well.”

I wonder if he even realizes that the back of his head was completely disheveled. He must have slept so well that the pheromone he usually keeps in check was still faintly lingering in the air.

Helplessly, I lightly cleared my throat and slowly sat up. As the shared body warmth dissipated, my whole body suddenly ached with stiffness. It was clear that I had slept in an uncomfortable position for quite a long time.

“You don’t remember what happened last night?”

“…”

At the question I finally asked, Joo Do-hwa narrowed his eyes. Blinking slowly, it seemed he was still feeling drowsy.

After a long silence, Joo Do-hwa looked at me intently and said, “It was me.”

“So then there’s no need for me to explain.” I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and pulled back the blanket that had been half-covering me. Since I couldn’t just linger here, I planned to return to my room to wash up. And while I was at it, I could also wash off the lingering pheromones all over my body.

But the moment I put my feet down from the bed, a languid voice came from behind me.

“You didn’t put anything in my food, did you?”

“Didn’t you say you remembered what happened last night?”

Then you should also remember that there was no time to put anything in your food. Even though I thought this, I still asked him, feeling flustered by the whole thing, but Judo-hwa didn’t say anything. He simply looked at me with eyes that were now clearer than before.

Soon, in a voice as small as a breath, he said, “Go.”

It was almost like an order, but it didn’t feel unpleasant. If anything, the one who questioned whether I really hadn’t fed him anything at all was more troublesome.

Until the very moment I left the room, the gaze that lingered on the back of my head showed no sign of falling away.

* * *

Because I had woken up later than usual, the meal ended up being at that ambiguous time between breakfast and lunch.

Joo Do-hwa was seated at the table, neatly dressed, and remained silent throughout the entire meal. The only time he spoke was when Henry asked him, “How are you feeling today?”

“Yeah, I’ll be going out today.”

As soon as he heard the answer, Henry glanced at me. He seemed somewhat startled, but being such a stoic person, the expression didn’t last long.

“Then I’ll have the car ready for you.”

After Henry left the dining room, Joo Do-hwa returned to focusing on his meal. Unlike me, who was provided with a fork, Joo Do-hwa had chopsticks in front of him. I took a quick look at his hands gripping the chopsticks, then asked as casually as possible.

“Where are you going?”

Normally, I wouldn’t have asked, but since plans were involved, I needed to know his schedule. To either take advantage of the opportunity or avoid it. Right now, I knew far too little about his movements.

“What? You’re suddenly so interested?”

Joo Do-hwa spoke without even looking at me. Fortunately, he didn’t seem suspicious, and as he brought over the side dishes, he also revealed the destination.

“I’m going to the office.”

“…You work?”

“Didn’t you know?”

This time, a look of disbelief returned to my face. I sheepishly furrowed my brow and closed my mouth. Even though he was always wearing a suit, I hadn’t seen him leave the house, not even once. Now he was suddenly going to work.

“Even though people call me a freeloader?”

Oh, I thought that was just a figure of speech.

“Did you think I was a bum?”

I shook my head awkwardly at Joo Do-hwa’s amused smile. It was more accurate to think of him as a leisurely gentleman than a bum. Since he didn’t need to work, I assumed he just spent his time lounging around. Come to think of it, I hadn’t really seen him doing anything leisurely either.

“Well, in that environment, it’s understandable you wouldn’t know.”

By “that environment,” he must mean Oceans. At least, Oceans was quite well-informed about the affairs of the upper class. Of course, even there, the only one who knew Joo Do-hwa’s name there was Theo.

“Father doesn’t like me standing out, you see.”

I wonder what the reason for that could be. Joo Do-hwa wasn’t a lacking child, and his public image could even benefit the Sae Group. Just by displaying the golden-eyed dominant alpha, the status of the Sae Group would undoubtedly see a rise.

“That’s why I don’t participate in external events. I go to work, but of course, I have no reason to go to that neighborhood.”

Joo Do-hwa clearly drew a line between “that neighborhood” and where we, including myself, live. In reality, the poor on the other side of the road had no connection to the upper class.

“How long have you been working?”

“About 8 years.”

So he had been working since at least the age of 14. Hearing it, this wasn’t all that surprising. With even 4-year-olds working, that timeframe was relatively late. Of course, I was talking about the time when begging and pickpocketing could be considered “work.”

“I mostly work from home. Video conferences are enough for meetings, after all.”

So the occasional suit-wearing was for business. And the times he would come to my room during lunch were when he was taking a break.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, you had no idea, hyung.”

When I tried to argue, feeling a bit indignant, Joo Do-hwa simply agreed. It was a defensive tone, but the moment I heard the following words, everything else became irrelevant.

“I’ll be going out almost every day for the next 2 weeks or so. There’s some work that came up.”

Two weeks. I was lucky. It would be much easier to pack up and leave when Joo Do-hwa wasn’t around. Though going at night might be safer than during the day…

As I was thinking these thoughts, an ominous premonition suddenly struck me.

“…I’m not going with you, am I?”