IDESGI Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Yeoul walked around the cramped space several times, opening every door he could find, but not a single one led outside.

“What is this? No door to the outside?”

Flustered and fumbling, Yeoul tried to calm himself and searched for his phone. First, he would report this. That was the plan—but when he went through his things, there wasn’t even a phone, nor a TV or radio, not a single basic electronic device in sight.

“What the…!”

He couldn’t quite grasp the reality of his situation. So right now…

“I’m locked in? This is… what, imprisonment or something…?”

It was so absurd he couldn’t even laugh. Imprisonment? Really? Standing there, dazed with his mind a complete blank, he suddenly saw Yoo Ihan appear out of thin air in front of him.

“Oh, Yeoul. You’re awake?”

Carrying an armful of groceries, Ihan leaned down to plant a quick kiss on Yeoul’s forehead.

“Are you hungry? I’ll make you breakfast. I didn’t expect you to wake up this early.”

“……?”

The way Ihan treated him was so natural that, for a brief moment, Yeoul almost forgot he was being held captive.

“Yoo Ihan… What is this?”

Yeoul couldn’t bring himself to actually ask, Are you imprisoning me? If he said it out loud, it might become too real. Ihan, completely ignoring the fear in his eyes, answered cheerfully.

“Ah, the place is a bit small, isn’t it? I had to prepare in a hurry. They didn’t have a bigger mobile bunker available. Don’t worry, though—I’ve already ordered a custom one. This is just temporary. When it’s ready, we’ll move into a bigger place.”

“What?”

It was meant as a “What?” of disbelief, but Ihan seemed to take it differently and repeated himself kindly.

“This is just a temporary bunker. Wait here until our newly built honeymoon home is ready. Besides, they say a honeymoon should start in a small place. I like it because I get to stay close to you.”

Yeoul’s lips opened and closed soundlessly. While he was still stammering in confusion, Ihan stepped forward and wrapped an arm around his waist. His cheeks faintly flushed, Ihan whispered shyly.

“Being in such a small place, just the two of us… it makes my heart race. It really feels like we’re newlyweds. Right, Yeoul?”

“…….”

Looking at Ihan’s fox-like eyes that curled so prettily when he smiled, Yeoul couldn’t shake the thought—was this a dream?

And if it was… would it be a good dream, or a nightmare?

---

Yeoul set his spoon down on the table with a loud clack and pushed away the steaming bowl in front of him.

“I’m not eating!”

“What’s wrong? You don’t like the food? Should I have made something Western? You don’t like the doenjang stew?”

Yeoul glanced sideways at the spread in front of him. Doenjang stew, glossy white rice, rolled omelet, soy-braised beef, assorted seasoned vegetables—all his favorites.

“If your stomach’s upset, should I make you porridge instead?”

“How can you feed me when you’ve locked me up? I’m not eating anything until you let me go!”

“But Yeoul, the doctor said you’re showing signs of malnutrition and you need to eat well. You have to eat to stay healthy. You’ve gotten so thin lately.”

Yeoul let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Ihan fussing over him while holding him captive.

“Ha. You’re worrying about me while you’re the one who locked me up? If you really cared about me, you’d let me go!”

“Yeoul, this is our home. Where would you go? You’re not going anywhere now.”

“Are you insane? What’s wrong with you? This isn’t like you. Snap out of it—this is a crime.”

“Really? That’s bad. I guess I’ll end up in prison.”

Smiling with his eyes crinkled in amusement, Ihan showed not a hint of concern.

“But Yeoul, is a perfect crime still a crime? If no one finds out, it’s fine, right?”

Placing a piece of rolled omelet on top of Yeoul’s rice, Ihan spoke in a calm, coaxing tone.

“If we live here together forever, no one will find out. If we go outside, that’s when people will notice. So shouldn’t we just stay hidden here together?”

“Did you just…!”

Yeoul felt the back of his neck tighten as he clenched his fists. The Yoo Ihan standing before him now was not the same as usual. This was the Yoo Ihan who had snapped overnight after being told they were breaking up.

Yeoul had never imagined that someone who seemed capable of living without breaking the law could commit a crime so easily—because of him. The whole situation left him completely thrown off.

Instead of shouting, Yeoul tried to reason with him.

“Ihan, this isn’t right. This is wrong. Let’s talk it out, okay? Not like this.”

“What do you mean, ‘like this’?”

“Do you think locking me up will solve anything? That I’ll start liking you again? This isn’t the way. This method won’t accomplish anything. Let’s be rational and have a proper conversation.”

“Yeoul, I’m being perfectly rational right now.”

“How is this—!”

Yeoul forced down the sudden surge of anger and took a long breath. He stretched his lips into a forced smile.

“Ha ha, Ihan? Is it okay or not okay to lock someone up? It’s a bad thing. You’re not supposed to do it.”

Like he was soothing a child, Yeoul spoke gently, and Ihan smiled warmly back at him.

“Yeoul, if I had really done whatever I wanted, I would’ve killed Yoon Geon, the headquarters that harassed you, and wiped everything clean. Now that’s truly bad and a real crime. So what else can I do? Locking you up is better, isn’t it?”

Ihan’s shameless, confident logic was so bold that Yeoul almost found himself agreeing.

“Do you hear yourself? Hey! Yoo Ihan, I’m not eating a single bite until you let me out of here, so do whatever you want! If you want to watch me starve to death, then fine.”

Yeoul thought that if he acted this way, Ihan would obviously back down. Wasn’t he the type who acted like the world would end if Yeoul missed even one meal? He was sure Ihan would wave the white flag.

But the not-quite-sane Ihan was stubborn.

“Really? Then let’s starve together, Yeoul. Until you eat, I won’t even drink water.”

And he really cleared away every dish from the table. Yeoul stared at the empty table and steeled his resolve.

‘This is just a battle of wills. If I go without eating for more than a day, Ihan will have no choice but to surrender.’

But there was something Yeoul had overlooked.

—Growl.

“Yoo Ihan, your stomach’s growling.”

“Yeah. Don’t mind it. I just get hungry quickly.”

—Growwwl.

It had only been half a day, and Ihan’s stomach was already protesting. Yeoul hardly had an appetite and his stomach was small, so skipping a meal or two didn’t leave him desperate.

But Ihan? At 189 cm tall, he ate heaping bowls of rice to maintain his build. With his muscular body and high basal metabolic rate, he burned far more calories than most people.

If anyone was going to suffer from starvation first, it was him.

—Grrrrrowwwl.

Sitting on the sofa and avoiding Ihan’s gaze, Yeoul finally surrendered.

“…Let’s eat.”

“Shall we?”

Ihan’s face instantly lit up. Clearly, he’d been starving—he piled more than twice his usual portion onto his plate. As soon as Yeoul put a bite into his mouth, Ihan picked up his spoon with a happy expression.

‘Even the way he eats is pretty…’

Yeoul let out a small laugh as he watched Ihan chewing on a piece of rolled omelet.

“Eat a lot, Yeoul.”

“You eat a lot.”

Taking a big spoonful of stew, Yeoul thought to himself that the meal tasted good for the first time in a while.

When they finished, Yeoul rubbed his full stomach and glanced at Ihan cutting fruit neatly. Ihan stuck a rabbit-shaped apple slice onto a fork and held it out to him. As Yeoul bit into the crisp apple, he began thinking.

‘I need to at least figure out where we are.’

Watching for an opening, Yeoul sidled closer to Ihan.

“Hm? What is it, Yeoul?”

Yeoul leaned his head on Ihan’s shoulder, playing coy.

“I want to go for a walk. You’re not seriously going to keep me from going outside at all, right? I’m getting restless.”

Since this wasn’t an ordinary house and Ihan had gone out of his way to get a bunker, it wasn’t hard to guess that the place had no gas or water connections.

He needed to figure out how remote it was, whether it was in the countryside or the city. And to call for help, he’d need to know if there was any signal here.

If he could just pinpoint the location, maybe he could escape when the chance came.

When Ihan furrowed his brows in thought, Yeoul quickly added,

“If you’re worried I’ll run away, you can just hold my hand. You’re not telling me you couldn’t catch me if I tried to escape, are you?”

Ihan still said nothing, only deepening his frown. Feeling anxious, Yeoul kept talking.

“Or is it because you think someone will see us? That I’ll ask for help from a passerby? I won’t. If you’re that worried, we can go out at dawn when there aren’t many people around.”

“……”

“Hm? No? Ihaaan…”

As if unable to resist Yeoul’s cute pleading, Ihan stroked his hair.

“Alright, fine. Let’s go out.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But to bring you, I’ll need to use my ability, so promise me you’ll guide me when we get back.”

Yeoul thought about the timing and nodded. Kissing-level guiding still worked on him for now. Just once more wouldn’t hurt.

“Then should we go now?”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Daytime walks are better.”

Hearing that made Yeoul feel a twinge of despair.

‘So it’s somewhere without many people, huh?’

Zones were generally densely populated, but areas near the borders tended to have frequent gate outbreaks, so few people lived there.

There was no way they’d actually left the zone entirely. It had to be near the border.

Ihan held out his hand.

“Take my hand.”

The moment Yeoul took it, they instantly teleported outside. Feeling a brief dizziness, Yeoul opened his eyes, looked around, and drew in a deep breath.