DI Ch 111

“Ahh!”

“…”

The moment I turned off the lights to look at the tree in the dark, I heard the voice of someone who wasn’t supposed to be here right now, and I thought my heart would drop.

“Hy, hyung. When did you come?”

The lights were off, so his face was dark and shadowed. The yellow light repeatedly touched and fell on the shadowed face. The document in his hand caught my eye. A document, tightly grasped, fluttered and fell towards the floor. I sensed that something was going wrong.

“Seo Seung-won.”

Just as I was taking a step back without realizing it, he called me again in a low voice.

“Come here.”

The atmosphere where I couldn’t open my lips easily felt ominous. The gloomy gaze didn’t leave my eyes. It was a moment when I wondered if something bad was happening as I opened my mouth. His previously firm brows twitched for a brief second. Tae Seong-je’s gaze shifted downward. To be specific, it was the cup I was holding. It happened so quickly that the glass was taken away just as I was about to miss it.

After checking the alcohol in the cup, he opened his mouth again after a suffocating silence.

“Are you crazy?”

“…”

“Do you think I’m joking? Did you think it was a joke because I said it with a smile?”

There will never be a Christmas tree again in my life. His raised face looked fierce. Looking at his eyes, which exuded a gloomy atmosphere, I thought that the life of that tree would end within today.

A bundle of documents that Tae Seong-je threw down made a sharp sound and scattered white on the floor. My face must have turned pale.

The confidence that I would never be caught turned into arrogance, and Christmas, which seemed to last until February, was the final Christmas. It was because of my foolishness.

He walked loudly and took a deep breath as if to show his anger overwhelmingly. The veins from his hand to his forearm, tousling his hair as if to demonstrate his immense anger, were thick and stern.

“Since when has it been like this?”

“…”

The voice that suppressed anger was cold and fierce. Kang Moo-hyun’s creepy, cold gaze was immediately erased from my mind. The cold voice made it difficult for my lips to open.

I just stood calmly in front of him and pursed my dry lips. I couldn’t bear to look at him directly, so I lowered my gaze, and a document drew my attention.

The word “betrayal” came into view, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I realized how I’d gotten caught. Why didn’t I think of that? How many times have I been inspected, and how often have I faced the same scrutiny?

“You didn’t just lie.”

“…”

“You deceived me.”

He sighed and turned to face me, then slumped on the sofa, burying his face in his hands. The stark contrast between the brightly shining tree and the lifeless Tae Seong-je sitting on the seat caught my attention. I wanted him to ask me why I did that.

I was sick again, everyone was drinking, it was test season, and it was fall… I prepared all sorts of things to say to make excuses, but he just sat on the sofa, staring out the window without saying a word.

Even though a considerable amount of time had passed, the silence persisted, and he didn’t seem to have the intention to turn his head or speak.  However, he let me off the hook three times. I thought he would let me off the hook again.

Rather than admitting I was wrong, I only thought about how to calm his anger. If hitting me would relieve his anger, I’d be okay with it, but he just stayed far away from me and remained silent.

“Bring all the alcohol in the house.”

He spoke, breaking the tension and silence that was more dangerous than standing on thin ice.

“If you move, there are a few guys who will follow you. If you didn’t know until now, you probably brought it into the house yourself.”

His voice was calm as usual. The cup he had seized was slowly wobbling in his hands. I unconsciously stepped out after hearing a leisurely swirling sound. I wanted to beg him. I wanted to apologize for disappointing him.

“Bring it out quickly!”

“…!”

However, as if it was no problem, he raised his voice and threw the cup he was holding towards the wall. Pieces of shattered glass jingled among the tree ornaments. It was the moment when I witnessed his breaking point. My hands trembled with cold sweat, making it even more difficult to open the refrigerator.

No, because there was a lot going on in my head, my actions became slower. … Do I really have to take all of this with me? I gulped when I saw the alcohol hidden in the refrigerator. I hated myself for hesitating at this moment. Why do I always choose things he would dislike?

After taking out everything from the ionic beverage bottle and placing it on the table in front of the sofa, he said firmly.

“More.”

The sound that came out from his throat was rough and crude as if he had lost his composure. I eventually gave up and cleaned out the entire refrigerator. However, I had to open the thick door next to the refrigerator since he kept asking me to bring more.

Damn, I’m dead.

The interior of the quite large and spacious refrigerator, similar to a store’s food warehouse, was loaded with various vegetables, greens, seafood, and even fruits in each compartment. A customized refrigerator was installed so that he could have fresh food for each meal and recuperate quickly. It was certainly excessive, but it allowed me to hide the alcohol here and there.

Starting from the pack of soju hidden among health foods to the 2-liter bottle of water filled with alcohol instead of water, but when I saw him waiting, I ended up having to take out the two bottles of alcohol I had brought with me in my bag. As soon as all the alcohol in the house was collected, Tae Seong-je scoffed as if it were absurd.

“What is this.”

“Al…cohol.”

“Did I fucking ask because I didn’t know it was alcohol? How dare you, how.”

“Hyung, I’m sorry. Really sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I really, ugh!”

I got down on my knees and tried to beg him, but he suddenly grabbed my hair. I felt like my scalp was going to be torn off and his intimidation was so frightening that my legs on the ground trembled. I forced myself to swallow my breath as I met his gaze. Gradually, I became suffocated and my breathing became difficult.

“I don’t care whether it was intentional or not. It’s nothing but your body. It’s your body.”

“…”

“I can understand if you didn’t even wonder what kind of treatment you were doing or what medication you were taking. It’s natural to feel tired after experiencing so much in such a short time. But, do you ever wonder why do I have to measure your body temperature every time or know why you take medicine? In your eyes, it’s all nonsense, and that’s how it looks to you anyway.”

For someone who never made self-pitying remarks, there was an indescribable emotion in his words. His trembling hands made it much more heartbreaking.

“But even if you just once. If you had thought about me even once, you wouldn’t have drunk alcohol while taking medicine. You know how much I care about you.”

Looking at Kang Moo-hyun, I felt ashamed of myself for thinking he was admirable for solely focusing on himself and pushing forward without any consideration. It was also shocking that I, not anyone else, was only thinking about myself in front of Tae Seong-je.

He let go of his hand holding my hair, opened the cap of the ion drink bottle containing alcohol, and gulped it down. The liquid in the bottle rapidly decreased, as if he was thirsty.

“This house has a basement.”

His face looked damp and gloomy as he began to speak without any hesitation, and a signal that danger was coming from somewhere pierced my head. I felt like I should run away, but I didn’t dare do the foolish thing of turning my back on him.

“I reconstructed the basement extensively as soon as I bought the house. It didn’t look like the same house. Maybe it’s because of a different architect. It was definitely interesting because the atmosphere was different.”

The empty plastic bottle crumpled harshly in his palms. He held a bottle of alcohol in his hand again. I sensed that things were getting strange. This was because the speed at which he emptied his drink before he could speak was unusual.

“There was one person who wronged me.”

Tae Seong-je spoke, pointing to the bottle he threw at my feet.

“That bastard’s brother is a doctor, so I decided to pretend nothing happened. Instead, his life was destroyed because he deceived his family.”

“…”

“No need for sympathy. He’s not that kind despite his abilities. Still, whether he’s a human being or not, saying he’ll go into a sunless basement and wait for five minutes to save his brother’s life, he must pay a high price for that.”

I thought of the doctor who appeared from nowhere on the first day I came to this house, and I exhaled carefully with a pale face. Meanwhile, the alcohol that had been on the table fell one by one.

“I won’t do it. Why would I do that? Isn’t that right? Can you do it? Can you live off of someone else’s expendable, knowing what’s going to happen to you?”

I opened my lips a few times, then closed my mouth again as no voice came out. I held my hands together and prayed earnestly. I admitted that I was completely wrong. The horror that tickled under my feet was so frightening that tears should have come out, but I didn’t feel any dampness on my cheek.

“Hyung, I… I guess I was crazy. I will never, ever do that again.”

Whether I kneeled down and begged or not, he began to open the cap of the 2-liter bottle now.

“You like to solve problems. Then try solving this one. How many days do you think someone who clings to fix one person will last? How many people will die because of one person? How many people will survive because of one person? How many people are there that just follow you around? Huh?”

“I made a mistake. Hyung, I’m sorry. I was bad. Just scold me. Please, don’t do this, hyung.”