TIN 43

“…”

I silently turned to look at Kei. He was gazing at me with an unusually serious expression on his face.

“You know what happened to the previous dolls Director Joo played with, right?”

‘They all died.’

Lee Yuna’s words flashed through my mind. The ultimate fate that Kei, I, and perhaps everyone else knew.

“If you keep holding out, you’ll just die like a dog.”

It was a scathing assessment, but it was true. Either die by Joo Do-hwa’s hand or by Chairman Joo’s. That was why I had made plans to leave the mansion as soon as possible.

“So come with me.”

Kei said that much and withdrew the arm he had placed on the backrest. Straightening his posture, he put his hand on my thigh and spoke in a serious voice.

“I’ll help you.”

“…”

“Hiding just one person is nothing.”

I thought he was quite consistent, then and now. He rarely got discouraged and always had confidence in his choices in any situation. While I envied that, it still seemed reckless.

“You seem confident.”

I gently placed my hand on top of Kei’s. I felt him flinch as soon as our fingertips touched. I grabbed his hand, removed it from my leg, and looked at him straight on.

“If you get caught, you’ll die like a dog too.”

No matter how great Kei’s family might be, it was no match for 4HAE Group. If I disappeared after our time alone, Joo Do-hwa would surely know Kei was responsible. The backlash would definitely affect Kei.

“What? Were you going to offer to help if I sucked you off again?”

I asked dispassionately, implying ‘Why would you go that far?’

Although he might have found it unpleasant that I scorned his goodwill, Kei looked dumbfounded but couldn’t deny it. Even if he didn’t intend it now, someday he would consciously or unconsciously expect something in return.

“It’s not difficult for me to do it, but you don’t need to go that far.”

“Bada.”

“Joo Do-hwa won’t kill me.”

Because I would run away. I swallowed those words and chose my next ones carefully. Kei, who had been licking his lips with a frustrated expression, looked stupefied the moment he heard what followed next.

“I’m the real one.”

“…What?”

Kei furrowed his brow, clearly startled. I spoke clearly in a serious tone without a hint of playfulness in my voice.

“I’m not a stand-in.”

I finally ended up saying this. Since I had no intention of involving Kei, I was left with no other choice but to make him give up. Of course, this wasn’t a lie either.

“The people before were my stand-ins. It’s not that it’s my turn now. It’s just that I’m the real thing.”

I didn’t tell him that Joo Do-hwa didn’t know. Adding unnecessary details wouldn’t help the current situation at all.

“…Haha.”

Kei remained silent for a while, then finally burst into empty laughter. He made a hissing sound and pressed his hands against his eyes. Then he looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Did you get drunk on that?”

His tone suggested I should stop talking nonsense. He let out another deflated laugh and frowned as much as he could.

“He’s not drugging you, is he?”

The implication was obvious. He was probably wondering if I had been brainwashed. It was surprising how unbelievable this seemed to him, even though he knew I wasn’t the type to just take drugs if someone offered it to me.

“Don’t believe it if you don’t want to.”

Instead of trying to persuade him, I merely shrugged my shoulders. Usually, the more desperate the person was, the more they talked.

Kei finally set his lips in a firm line.

“You’re the real…the hyung he’s looking for?”

It seemed the story of Joo Do-hwa looking for his ‘hyung’ was really famous in these circles. Well, if he kept bringing new people around, rumors were bound to spread. At most, only people like Lee Yuna would know that that ‘hyung’ was dead, so deceiving others was much easier.

“Huh…”

Kei sighed repeatedly as if he couldn’t believe it. He let out something between a laugh and a sigh, then slowly lowered his gaze.

“So that’s why…”

A look of defeat flashed across his face. Then suddenly, Kei asked in a cold voice.

“…Even so, do you need to stay by his side?”

Irritation appeared on his face with its dark circles. It was the expression he always showed whenever things weren’t going well. Similar to when he brought me to this room earlier.

“You’re not staying with him because you want to, right? Surely you’re not going to say you came to this kind of party because you wanted to?”

“Kei, it’s my choice to…”

What was the host of ‘this kind of party’ saying? I knew that it was partly out of spite, but at this point, there was only one way to make him give up.

“I have no reason to run away with you either.”

“…”

The atmosphere cooled as if cold water had been poured on it. Kei momentarily couldn’t say anything and his expression hardened. From his trembling lips, a tiny voice barely audible finally emerged.

“Ah…right, of course.”

His monotone voice was unusually heavy right then.

Kei took a deep breath that seemed to swell his chest, then irritably messed up his hair. The carefully styled hair became disheveled at that instant, just like when he used to frequent the back alleys.

“I guess so.”

That was it. He didn’t swear, nor did he get annoyed or angry. Kei remained silent for a while with his head turned, then brushed back his fallen hair and looked at me obliquely.

“What about the money? Should I keep holding onto it?”

His tone was nonchalant. If outsiders saw us right now, they wouldn’t know what conversation we had just moments ago.

He was more big-hearted than he looked. You could tell he had been raised with love in a good family.

“Please do. I’ll come to get it later.”

“Well, if you don’t come for it, you’re the only one losing out.”

Kei shrugged and rummaged in his jacket’s inner pocket. What he took out was a business card made of high-quality paper.

“Instead of meeting an unpleasant fate, contact me this way.”

Kim Jaewon, Executive Director of Planning Team, Jaekyung Finance. The card had ‘Kim Jaewon’ written on it, not Kei. It probably wasn’t something to be casually given to someone like me.

“If you cross the street like that, they’ll think you’re a rich young master and strip you down to your underwear.”

The guy who once had his coat taken by me was warning me without knowing his tadpole days. Well, now he could probably go through back alleys without bodyguards, so it looked like the situation had changed.

“I’ll contact you later.”

If I had known I’d meet him here, I would have brought the hidden money. I still have the money I received from the manager when leaving Oceans’s hidden under the mattress. Of course, next time we meet, I’ll be withdrawing money, not depositing it.

I mentally repeated the eleven-digit number and carefully put the card in my jacket pocket.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

If the necessary conversation was over, I had to return to the party soon. If Yoon Ji-soo arrived while I was away, all my plans would be utterly ruined.

“If we’re done talking, let’s go.”

“Alright then.”

We got up without Kei saying a word. He looked displeased for a moment, but it seemed he had no excuse to keep me any longer. In fact, it was Kei the host, who really needed to return, not me.

There was no sign of anyone in the corridor leading back to the party. Everyone was probably still gathered in the hall, exchanging greetings.

But as we neared the hall, a familiar face appeared in the middle of the corridor.

“…?”

The tall figure visible at a glance was none other than Joo Do-hwa. As if he was on a call, he was leaning against the wall with one hand in his pocket, holding a phone to his ear.

Why is he out here? As I quickened my pace with that thought, Kei suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Bada.”

I turned my head at the same moment Joo Do-hwa turned to look at us. Kei cupped my cheek with his free hand and tilted his head slightly. Just as I froze at the sudden action, a soft sensation touched near my cheek.

“What are you…”

It happened in the blink of an eye. The lips that landed like a feather separated slowly without making a sound. Following the gentle kiss as if we were lovers, an annoyingly ticklish greeting followed.

“I’ll miss you.”

It was an unnecessarily affectionate tone, and unnecessarily sweet too. Kei lightly rubbed my cheek and glanced at Joo Do-hwa. His face, full of obvious ulterior motives, soon broke into a mischievous smile.

“Suck me off again next time we meet.”

“…Hey.”

It was a quiet voice, but Joo Do-hwa must have heard it. The empty corridor was quiet enough to hear an ant crawling around.

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

Kei breezily said goodbye and brushed past me. Seeing him even wink at the end, it was clear he was deliberately teasing. He even didn’t forget to smile amiably as he passed by Joo Do-hwa.

“Director Joo, have fun too.”

Joo Do-hwa didn’t answer, but Kei didn’t mind and crossed the corridor.

No words were exchanged between Joo Do-hwa and me until Kei, striding away, completely disappeared.

Then finally…

“Wow.”

The artificial exclamation came from none other than Joo Do-hwa’s mouth. Still leaning against the wall, he lazily curled up the corners of his mouth.

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a sight.”

“…”

His broadly smiling face was strangely eerie. His golden eyes were staring at me without wavering.

Suddenly, I was met with the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.