CRT Ch 46

“What did you just say, sunbae?”

Yubin asked back, his brow furrowed. A moment ago, a call had come from Lee Taeon, but since they were on a remote island, the signal was poor. When he called back using the landline in the store, Lee Taeon delivered some shocking news.

—Director Choi is in Venice right now. The CEO intercepted him right before he was about to get on the boat.

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

—What do you mean, what should you do? You have to come back. While you’re on the island, get rid of the fake. I feel like I’m going to throw a punch the moment I see his face.

Yubin’s lips trembled as he put down the phone. Noeul, oblivious to his master’s situation, grumbled as he scrutinized the small corner store. Yubin was so overcome with a white-hot anger and a sense of futility that he did not even think of shouting.

The first time, he had lost the CEO, who was practically in his grasp, because Noeul was fooling around. The second time, they were discovered by security guards and chased away without accomplishing anything, which ultimately led to this mess.

Yubin raised his hand and forcefully struck Noeul across the cheek. As Noeul tumbled over some merchandise, the store owner shrieked in alarm. Noeul, clutching his own cheek, was frozen for a moment before he lashed out defiantly.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you crazy?!”

“Yeah, I’m about to go crazy and lose my mind, you useless bastard. If you hadn’t let the CEO go when we had him, things wouldn’t have gotten this twisted.”

“If I just put my mind to it……!”

“At least a half-breed is obedient to its master’s words.”

“Who are you comparing me to, a half-breed like that?!”

Yubin pressed down on Noeul’s chest with the tip of his foot.

“If you talk back to me one more time, you’re really getting returned.”

At Yubin’s warning, Noeul bit his pale lips. But he soon lowered his gaze, hiding the undiminished venom in his eyes. Since nothing was going right, just looking at Noeul’s face made his teeth grind. Yubin shoved Noeul aside and stormed out of the store.

💎

As the sun set, the remote island, which had not a single streetlight, became pitch-black. Seok Ryu and Yejun had wandered to the very edge of the island in search of Director Choi. They walked for a long time along a beach clustered with rocks that resembled an elephant’s skin. The tents scattered here and there on the rocks belonged only to fishermen from off-island; Director Choi was nowhere to be seen.

Lee Taeon had not given them Director Choi’s contact information. Even if they knew the director’s number, the cell phone signal was dead the entire time, so there was no way to contact him. Yejun, having roamed the island without any rest, was exhausted and irritated.

“Are you sure Director Choi is on this island? Lee Taeon could have lied to mess with you, you know.”

“Seeing as Yoon Yubin is here too, it must be true. No matter what Lee Taeon is like, he probably wouldn’t lie to his own master.”

“It’s not like slaves are particularly honest, either,” Yejun muttered, shooting a glare at Seok Ryu.

Waves crashed against the sheer cliffs with a frightening force. It felt like one misstep would cause you to be swallowed by the sea without a trace. Seok Ryu walked ahead, shining his phone’s flashlight on the ground beneath Yejun’s feet. Yejun suddenly stopped walking.

“If I fell into the sea, would you come to rescue me?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Seok Ryu was at a loss for words for a moment. His former masters, no matter what cruelties they inflicted or how they hurt his feelings, had wanted Seok Ryu’s loyalty to remain unchanged. Seok Ryu, too, afraid of disappointing such masters, had always given them the answers they wanted to hear.

But for some reason, he could not bring himself to speak now. The endlessly advancing and retreating waves made him feel nauseous. Seok Ryu parted his dry lips.

“My physical strength is low, so I do not know if I could save you, but if you were to fall into the sea, Mr. Yejun, I think I would jump in immediately.”

In the darkness, Yejun’s eyes glinted.

“When I was young, my mom asked me. If we fell into the sea, who would I save first, mom or dad. I lied and said I’d save my mom first because I thought my mom, who was battling cancer, would die and come find me.”

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks and receding briefly drowned out Yejun’s voice.

“My mom slapped my lips and said this. All liars deserve to fall into hell.”

Yejun hopped onto a rock, but his foot slipped and he staggered. In that moment, the flailing Yejun suddenly snatched Seok Ryu’s hand as if to hurl him into the sea. Seok Ryu’s body lost its balance on the steep rock. The dark crevice between the rocks looked like the entrance to hell.

Without thinking, Seok Ryu shook off Yejun’s hand and collapsed right where he was. He was afraid to lift his head and check Yejun’s expression. After a short yet long silence, a clear laugh shattered from above his head.

“Ah, sorry. I missed my step……”

💎

The next day, Seok Ryu woke up early at dawn. Even after Yejun had fallen asleep yesterday, he had searched the island alone late into the night but had not met anyone who even resembled Director Choi.

He quietly left the room and prepared Yejun’s breakfast first. On the wooden floor of the veranda, the cooking utensils and ingredients borrowed from the store owner were laid out neatly. He sat by the water tap and cleaned seaweed under the running water. His gaze suddenly fell upon his own hands.

He could not forget Yejun’s laughter on the rocks last night. It was a mocking laugh, as if to say, ‘I knew it.’ At some point, his own life had taken priority over his loyalty to his master. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, there was no way his master would not know of his hollow loyalty. How could he call himself a guardian stone? Was it right to live on, neither a guardian stone nor able to become a person?

He scrubbed his hands raw in the clean tap water. Even when he rubbed until his skin turned red, the gut-wrenching self-loathing would not wash away.

While the seaweed soup simmered and the rice cooked, he sat on the veranda to catch his breath. Beneath the veranda on the opposite side, he could see Noeul’s and Yoon Yubin’s shoes. Even when Seok Ryu returned after searching the island all night, those two had remained in their room. If they had already doped Director Choi, they would have been flaunting their victory with him by their side.

Just then, Yejun came out, his face etched with fatigue. He found sleeping in an unfamiliar place uncomfortable and had tossed and turned all night, only falling asleep near dawn. Yejun had to leave the island today for a drama shoot.

Seok Ryu went to the old water tap, filled a basin with water, and neatly arranged the toiletries. While Yejun washed up, Seok Ryu reported quietly.

“I do not think Director Choi is on this island.”

Yejun, in the middle of washing his face, glanced at Seok Ryu.

“According to the store owner, Yoon Yubin was on the phone with someone and got extremely angry, saying things had gone wrong. When I pressed redial on the phone, the last person he called was Lee Taeon.”

“If Director Choi isn’t here, then where is he?”

“I do not know that much.”

Yejun furrowed his brow but seemed inwardly relieved.

Bang———! Just then, Yoon Yubin kicked the door open and threw a luggage bag onto the veranda. Noeul, who followed him out, had a subdued look on his face. Seeing them already packing their bags turned suspicion into certainty. Then it was a mystery fit for a ghost story as to where Director Choi had vanished to in the middle of all this.

Yoon Yubin, while getting his shoes from under the veranda, saw the meal Seok Ryu had prepared and clicked his tongue.

“You sure live diligently. Well, I guess you have to work your body hard to make up for the other missing half.”

Yejun scoffed as he looked at the luggage bag Yoon Yubin was holding.

“You used to treat Chief Jang like such a servant, but how is it that every kid you bring, ‘Inoh,’ you end up waiting on them?”

“It’s not like I brought Noeul because I needed a body servant.”

“But it seems you brought not a guardian stone, but someone with an anger management disorder. I heard he pushed Junhee-sunbae down the stairs and crushed his pelvis and ribs? I felt so sorry for him when I heard he has to carry around a urine bag. And what’s more, he nearly blinded Manager Kim by stabbing his eye with a pen……. If those people weren’t your slaves, your back would have bent from paying all the settlement money.”

“Even if he’s trash, being competent is much better. Your little stone doesn’t do much of anything besides being obedient, does he?”

“Then why hasn’t such a competent kid even gotten close to the CEO yet? He’ll probably end up like the rabbit from the fable, acting cocky, trusting in his own supposedly great talent.”

At Yejun’s taunt, Noeul’s expression hardened. The area under Yoon Yubin’s eyes trembled.

“Run your mouth all you want while you can. Your days of acting tough, trusting in that psycho, will be over soon enough.”

Yejun, who had been taking a spoonful of soup, lifted his head. A competitive glint sparkled in his eyes.

“Instead of just wrestling with words, want to test it out? Whose guardian stone is better.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just eat your damn food.”

Yoon Yubin pulled on his sneakers as if it was not even worth responding. Noeul pouted and glared at Yejun. Yejun put down his spoon and began to persuade him in earnest.

“Let’s make a bet to see who can find their way home from this island first without using their abilities. Of course, we’ll confiscate their money and cell phones too.”

Yejun added.

“The loser of the bet gives up on Director Choi.”

Seok Ryu froze, at a loss for words. With Director Choi having vanished and everything back to square one, Yejun seemed to think he had a chance of winning. Or perhaps he was clutching at straws because he saw no other hope. Yoon Yubin responded with a snort.

“Why should I? What do I have to lose?”

“Do you make bets because you have something to lose? You do it for pride.”

As longtime friends, Yejun knew well how to rattle Yoon Yubin.

“It just makes it look like you’re chickening out because you’re scared Noeul will lose. There’s no way someone so perfect would lose to Seok Ryu… But you know that once Seok Ryu bites onto something, he provides an iron-clad guard that even I can’t stop, right? As soon as Director Choi comes over to our side, I’m confident I can make it so you won’t even get a glimpse of his face until the shoot is over. Just like with the CEO.”

Despite his taunting tone, Yejun’s long-winded speech seemed almost desperate.

“This will be a good chance for them to feel something after struggling a bit without their masters. It’s pathetic anyway, how they bicker and fight, thinking they’re so great when they’re just useless stones without us.”

Yoon Yubin, who was tying his sneaker laces tightly, clenched his jaw. When he lifted his head, his eyes were bristling with venom.

“You’ve learned to provoke people, you’ve grown up a lot, you pathetic loser?”

Although Yoon Yubin’s gaze was condescending, he was clearly wavering.

“Alright, let’s do it. Whoever loses the bet gives up on Director Choi.”

Noeul would likely ignore the rules to win, so Seok Ryu was at a definite disadvantage. Seok Ryu hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Mr. Yejun, please postpone the bet for now. You must leave the island first.”

“I don’t want to! Do you know how bad the sea breeze is for me?” Noeul shouted hysterically, kicking the floor. But the masters, their prideful battle now ignited, seemed not to hear anything.

As soon as Yoon Yubin accepted the bet, Yejun said promptly.

“But while Seok Ryu won’t use his ability if I tell him not to, that kid Noeul is the type to use his secretly and then play innocent. From what I’ve seen, he’s terribly disobedient to his master.”

“If he’s caught using his ability, it’s a loss by default. But this time, he’s going to be a good little puppy.”

Yoon Yubin grinned, then violently ripped off the velvet choker from Noeul’s neck. He clenched it as if to crush the core stone and ground his teeth as he looked at Noeul.

“My life has been a mess ever since I brought you in. So, for once, you son of a bitch who I wouldn’t feel better about even if I ground you up and drank you, just try to make your master happy.”

Overwhelmed by his master’s murderous intent, Noeul could not make a single peep. Yejun shot a sharp gaze at Seok Ryu.

“Don’t disappoint me today.”

He now understood why Yejun had started a bet that Seok Ryu was bound to lose. But to be a punishment for pushing his hand away last night, Yejun had been strange even before that. He had a premonition that there was another reason.

The two masters, united for the first time, confiscated their respective guardian stones’ money and cell phones. Yejun left through the main gate without a word to Seok Ryu. Noeul grabbed the collar of Yoon Yubin’s clothes as he was leaving the gate and shrieked.

“Don’t play this kind of prank! If you leave me, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself!!”

“Do whatever you want, I don’t care if you die. I see why you played that prank now, I didn’t know it was this much fun.”

Yoon Yubin flung off the crying and clinging Noeul and went out the gate. Noeul screamed viciously at the alleyway where Yubin had disappeared, then collapsed, exhausted by his own outburst. Soon, with reddened eyes, he glared at Seok Ryu with murderous intent.

“How long do you think you can keep deceiving him?”

After spitting out the nonsensical words, Noeul vanished in the blink of an eye. Even with his choker confiscated, a guardian stone could still use his abilities. But even Noeul would likely not be able to disobey his master’s command so easily this time.

Seok Ryu was left alone in the guesthouse yard, staring at the still-warm breakfast table. He was at a complete loss as to how he was supposed to get home without a penny, without his phone, and without using his abilities.

He had to move diligently if he wanted to catch the last boat that came in the afternoon. Seok Ryu also left the guesthouse and quickened his pace. After exiting the narrow, winding alley, he could see the sea below.

The cruise ship carrying Yejun had already left the island and was getting farther away. He stared intently at the sea, hoping the ship might turn back. But the boat, now the size of a beetle, disappeared mercilessly beyond the horizon. Only then did it hit him that he was left alone, and he could not move a single step.

A little while later, he came down toward the pier. Noeul was nowhere in sight, so it seemed he was already on the move. If they were both under the same conditions, their only options were to beg or work to earn money. As long as Noeul did not resort to cunning tricks, Seok Ryu, who had been through all sorts of hardships, had the upper hand. If he could just get a little money from passersby, he would have enough for the boat fare and the taxi fare to the officetel.

Just then, a female diver who had come up from the sea was pouring abalones into a basin. Seok Ryu crossed the sandy beach, stepped on the uneven rocks, and approached the diver. With his abilities sealed, he felt as if he were walking around in just his underwear.

“I do not have any money right now, so I was hoping to borrow some for the boat fare. It would be difficult to pay you back by card, so cash would be good.”

The diver, with a net bag slung over her shoulder, gave Seok Ryu a blunt look and then disappeared toward the shore. It was a look that either felt he was not even worth responding to, or that saw Seok Ryu as a crazy person.

After that, he wandered the remote island for over an hour, but it was difficult to even encounter any residents. Finding people was a task in itself, let alone getting boat fare.

A few steps away, a large dog with matted fur was wandering around. Its fur was so dirty he had not noticed, but on closer inspection, it looked like a Golden Retriever. One of its legs was lame, as if it had been injured somehow. Judging by its appearance, it seemed to have been living on the island for quite some time.

It was a small island, so its owner could have found it if they wanted to, which meant they had likely come here on purpose to abandon it. Was the owner now raising a prettier, better-behaved dog?

The lame dog loitered around, then snatched and ate a handful of seaweed that was drying on a stone wall. The store owner, who came running out as if she had seen a ghost, swung a broom, and the dog fled like an arrow. Seok Ryu approached the store owner.

“Have you by any chance seen the man who was staying at the guesthouse with me? He has wine-colored hair and eyes, like me.”

“That young fella with the reddish head? He asked the same thing. Are you two playing hide-and-seek?”

Seok Ryu hastily grabbed the woman, who was about to go into the store.

“Could you please return the lodging fee I gave you yesterday? If I miss the afternoon boat, I’ll be stuck here until tomorrow.”

“What? You’re no different from a common robber! If you need money that badly, go help those fishermen over there and earn a day’s wage. A young man with able limbs shouldn’t be acting like this!”

The store owner jabbed her broom at him and then stormed back into her store. He was so frustrated that he even considered catching and selling fish. But he had never served a master who was a fisherman, so he was a complete novice when it came to fishing.

Following the store owner’s suggestion, he walked along the coastline and saw a small fishing boat at the edge of the island. A gaunt old fisherman, nothing but skin and bones, was wrestling with a net on the small boat.

“Is there any work available? I cannot do strenuous labor, but I am good with my hands, so please give me any task.”

The elderly fisherman remained silent. The people living on this island were all taciturn. Thinking he had failed again, he was about to turn away.

“Then can you fix a broken motor?”

Motor repair required advanced skills and knowledge. But if he recalled what he had learned over the shoulder of a physicist master long ago, it might be doable.

“Please let me take a look.”

💎

—Mr. Seok Ryu went to an island called Damdo with Park Yejun. He said he’ll be back tomorrow, but I don’t know why he went.

Cha Yilhyun narrowed his eyes at the message sent by Ryu Jihun. If it was an island, he had likely gone with the intention of meeting Director Choi. Since Director Choi had called Lee Taeon right before contacting him, the person who had instigated Seok Ryu must have been Lee Taeon as well. He called Seok Ryu to stop him from making a fruitless trip, but after a few rings, the call went to voicemail. He had a bad feeling.

Just then, Director Gwak approached and said quietly.

“Let’s go.”

It was time for the art director’s film to be screened. When they entered the dim screening hall, actors from various countries and audience members were sitting quietly, waiting for the film to begin.

Cha Yilhyun and Director Gwak took seats in the very back row. In the front row that Director Gwak pointed to, he could see the art director sitting there.

Cha Yilhyun took out his phone and called Jo Youngsub. This time, too, after a few rings, only the automated voice returned. Jo Youngsub had fled abroad the very next day after meeting Cha Yilhyun. Cutting off contact for good meant he was rejecting Cha Yilhyun’s courtship. A cynical laugh escaped his lips.

Even at this very moment, Jo Youngsub was probably trembling in fear, imagining the future for JYS that he had laid out for him. He decided to realize the vague terror that was only swirling in his head and liberate him from it as soon as possible. As soon as he returned to the country, he planned to contact stock market brokers and start spreading flyers.

Director Gwak glanced sideways, studying Cha Yilhyun’s expression.

“Is something the matter?”

“I was thinking of starting an advertising agency.”

Director Gwak, with a puzzled expression, watched the movie that had just begun. Cha Yilhyun caressed the scar on his palm and organized his thoughts. He had not questioned the man named Noeul deeply when he stormed into the private jet. Pressing him would be useless, as he would clam up just like Seok Ryu, and if that fact got back to Park Yejun, there was no telling what he might do to Seok Ryu.

He had requested a background check on the man named Noeul from Reporter Hwang. If he was from the same orphanage as Seok Ryu, digging into it would likely yield nothing new.

He had called all the numbers copied from Park Yejun’s phone. Among them, only the number labeled ‘Broker’ did not answer the phone. There were records of Park Yejun calling it recently, but it was an untraceable number.

The analysis of the bizarre video saved on the phone concluded that it was not special effects or a composite. Although it was unclear due to caked-on adhesive, the boy in the video was also wearing a choker. Could that boy be the cousin of Yoon Inoh that Reporter Hwang mentioned?

The man named Noeul also had the same hair and eye color as Seok Ryu and wore a choker. He had heard that the boy adopted by Jo Youngsub had a similar appearance. He now understood what Jo Youngsub meant when he said he had ‘recognized them.’

Could it be that the orphanage Seok Ryu mentioned was actually a place where people were bought and sold? What if the four of them—Park Yejun and Yoon Yubin, Jo Youngsub and Yoon Inoh—all went through the same broker?

If possessing ‘them’ was a secret hobby, it would be so expensive that an ordinary person could not even dream of it. Park Yejun did not have that kind of financial power. Judging from the fact that he had asked Director Gwak for a favor through Yoon Inoh, Yoon Inoh was the most likely backer for Park Yejun.

The scattered pieces were starting to fit together. If he could just make contact with that broker, could he have Seok Ryu? The thought that he was almost there made his heart race even faster.

While Cha Yilhyun was lost in thought, the movie moved past its latter half. The film’s content was a bleak love story. A man obsessed with painting gradually becomes famous by plagiarizing his lover’s art. The woman willingly offers her talent for the man, but the man, jealous of the woman, becomes devastated by his inferiority complex. The film’s mise-en-scène showcased the art director’s distinctive style.

The lead couple’s love-hate relationship hurtles toward catastrophe. The woman, tired of her lover’s jealousy, tells him she is leaving him. The man, driven mad with fear, realizes he cannot tie her down no matter how much he begs, and an inspiration strikes him.

The man takes out a painting knife and stabs the woman in the neck in one swift motion. With the blood that gushes out like a fountain, he records the woman eternally on the floor and walls. The camera closes up on the woman as she gasps for breath and stumbles toward an easel.

Beyond the woman’s face, a fallen, pale white sculpture came into view. The moment he saw the plaster statue’s face, Cha Yilhyun froze. The sorrowfully downcast eyes, the lips that endured pain with familiarity, the choker necklace wrapped around a delicate nape. Captivating the eyes with its cruel beauty, the plaster statue was unmistakably Seok Ryu’s face. Both arms of the sculpture had been cut off.

Until the moment the ending credits started to roll, Cha Yilhyun could not take his eyes off the screen. When the movie ended, the audience gave a standing ovation. The main director stood up and acknowledged the applause. Cha Yilhyun pushed through the crowd, walked over, and violently grabbed the arm of the art director, who was still seated.

“Who made the sculpture with the severed arms?”

The art director looked dumbfounded for a moment, then recognized Cha Yilhyun.

“Ah, that sculpture is not the original. I wanted to borrow the original, but the sculptor got so furiously angry that, embarrassingly, we made a replica……”

“Where can I see the original? What is the sculptor’s name?”

He might be able to meet someone who knew Seok Ryu’s real past. His blood ran hot.

“I only know him through a friend, so I can’t quite recall his name. He lives in seclusion in a remote place with no electricity, so he’ll be hard to meet. I just barely found out the name of the work, what was it…… ah, that’s right.”

The art director, who had been wracking his memory, opened his mouth.

“Persephone’s Seok Ryu.”