MIM 107

Ma Jae-seung was the first to look away. He carefully scanned the surroundings for any remaining gang members. Only after Shin-woo stepped into the bedroom, swallowing down his emotions, did Ma Jae-seung turn his attention to the space filled with traces of brutal combat.

“It seems like there are no more. The police will come, so let’s pack and leave the country.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. You?”

He was about to say he was fine. Then his spine went cold as he heard movement behind him. As he turned around, he realized he was already too late. The muzzle of a gun appeared at the fingertips of the man they thought had lost consciousness from broken ribs.

Bang! The gunshot rang dully in his ears. Hearing the sound came first, followed by a flash of silver crossing his vision. As he stepped back, his view widened to reveal a back blocking his sight. Ma Jae-seung’s body staggered from the impact.

Bright red blood spreading from his side soon began to stain Ma Jae-seung completely. For a moment, consciousness and all sensation went numb.

“No!”

Shin-woo rushed forward with a cry. He shot the man’s head repeatedly to confirm the kill, then caught the falling Ma Jae-seung in his arms. Ma Jae-seung’s face contorted in pain as he leaned weakly against Shin-woo’s shoulder. A faint trembling could be felt from the embraced body. A pain more terrible than flesh being torn apart gripped Shin-woo next.

“No. Fuck! No…”

“Shh, it’s okay.”

Through frantic, panting breaths, a rather calm voice soothed Shin-woo. Recovering from the shock with surprising speed, Ma Jae-seung pressed against the gunshot wound while gritting his teeth tightly. Biting his lips to hold back groans, he pulled Shin-woo’s head with his free hand to press their foreheads together. As warmth transferred between them, focus slowly returned to the shaking brown eyes.

“Ugh…it’ll heal soon. Don’t make such a fuss.”

Unlike his words, unable to completely hide his pain, Ma Jae-seung’s teary eyes sparkled. Suddenly coming to his senses, Shin-woo jumped up and ran to get a bottle of whiskey from the living room cabinet. He remembered the owner saying he’d put cheap whiskey on display and bill them later, so they should drink freely.

Shin-woo knelt in front of Ma Jae-seung and gestured with his chin. His hands trembled slightly as he opened the whiskey bottle.

“Take off your clothes.”

“No, I told you it’ll heal if you just leave it alone…Argh! Ack!”

Shin-woo stripped the resisting Ma Jae-seung and poured alcohol directly on the wound. Covering Ma Jae-seung’s mouth with one hand as he writhed in pain, he pulled out the bullet in one go. Ma Jae-seung’s groans dampened Shin-woo’s palm as he probed the wound. Taking rapid, shallow breaths, Ma Jae-seung soon went limp.

The bullet glistened red at Shin-woo’s fingertips. He threw it aside and carefully cleaned around the wound with a wet cloth. After removing the bullet and disinfecting the wound, the healing speed visibly increased.

Staring blankly at the puncture wound without making even a breath sound, Shin-woo finally let out a short sigh. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth so hard.

“Damn, did you want to be a bullet shield or something?”

“There you go talking like that again.”

Having kept an awkward silence at seeing this unfamiliar side of Shin-woo, Ma Jae-seung shot back with narrowed eyes. If left alone, the wound would heal naturally and the bullet would pop out on its own, yet he had to probe the hole in his stomach and curse too. When Ma Jae-seung grumbled as if for him to hear, Shin-woo pressed firmly on the wound with his fist.

“Ow ow ow, it hurts!”

“You don’t like pain? I thought you were dying to die.”

“Are you one to talk?”

Ma Jae-seung roughly pushed away Shin-woo’s hand and staggered to his feet. The nerve of him. Grinding his teeth, Ma Jae-seung threw off his blood-soaked, ruined clothes. The police would soon storm this place. Though they wouldn’t have time for a shower, they needed to look presentable enough to board the plane home.

“What did I do?”

Though responding curtly, Shin-woo seemed to have the same thought as he stripped off his messy clothes and strode to the master bathroom, stepping over the man’s corpse. During the brief pause in conversation, they silently changed clothes and gathered their luggage and Maro as if by prior agreement. It took less than ten minutes for them to wipe the blood from their faces and hands, and after that, face each other in a much neater state.

“Grab the guns, we’ll dispose of them on the way. If the police question you, insist it was self-defense. Contract killers never have proper IDs anyway, so the police won’t be too persistent.”

While exchanging stiff conversation about how to handle the situation, Shin-woo comforted the terrified Maro. While stroking the snow-white fur that hadn’t been touched by a single drop of blood, he simultaneously carried an armful of luggage. After Ma Jae-seung loaded the last of the carriers he held in both hands, Shin-woo placed Maro in his arms. Ma Jae-seung’s eyes flashed as he carefully embraced the small, trembling dog.

“I need to find Mother first.”

“That woman will attack again as soon as we arrive in Jianggang. Don’t do anything rash.”

“We’ll die anyway if we just stay still.”

“Those two men who came on your birthday are professionals. They’re the kind who can kill with bare hands, without luxuries like guns. Last time I bribed them to leave, but this time they won’t go back empty-handed.”

Ma Jae-seung furrowed his brow as he mindlessly got into the passenger seat following Shin-woo. The mention of bribery was thrown out so casually that he almost missed it. So there was a reason those men had only shown their faces at the birthday party and left.

“Didn’t you say they were hired by Kim Ye-wook? Those guys will come after me again?”

“They’re also in your mother’s network. They’ll do anything for money, but they specialize in contract killings.”

“Are they from Mangwol District? Did you meet them there too?”

“I’ve known them since childhood. Since such people are hard to find in Jianggang, if someone’s looking for killers, they’ll definitely hire them.”

“Ha!”

Ma Jae-seung let out a big hollow laugh and leaned his head against the car window. His mother was trying to kill him. The fact that hadn’t fully sunk in even after being shot in the side was starting to feel real. Though he had talked composedly about predicting his mother might try to kill him, deep inside, he was still processing the shock.

A test subject to his father, a means to inherit wealth to his mother.

Ma Jae-seung looked out at the dark predawn sky. Over his clearly reflected face, the faces of household members passed by one by one. Woo-hee showering Maro with kisses, the gardener making occasional friendly conversation, Butler Hwang following behind while swallowing sighs…and Shin-woo.

The guy covered in so many scars that needle marks wouldn’t even be noticeable.

“Earlier, my body just moved on its own.”

Ma Jae-seung suddenly spoke while staring endlessly at the empty road. Shin-woo glanced sideways while gripping the steering wheel tighter. Without meeting his gaze, Ma Jae-seung fidgeted with the hand on his thigh while mumbling.

“In that moment…saving you just felt natural.”

“Don’t ever do such a reckless thing again. I’m not grateful at all.”

Shin-woo snapped through gritted teeth, glaring ahead. At his harsh tone, Ma Jae-seung just chuckled. He unbuttoned his shirt to show the wound that had already healed beyond recognition.

“See? It’s all healed.”

“Don’t get cocky. You think you’re invincible or something?”

“You’re not invincible either, but you underwent human experiments? And it wasn’t even for a life-or-death situation.”

“That again? I promised I wouldn’t do it anymore.”

“I’m just saying you have no right to scold me for being reckless.”

The back-and-forth conversation paused briefly. Having nothing to say to that, Shin-woo chewed his lower lip while focusing on driving. In the deepening night, the road from the small city to the airport was desperately quiet.

Better to hear something. Just as Ma Jae-seung leaned forward to turn on the radio, unable to bear the silence, a sharp hand flew at him.

It wasn’t a slap but a hard smack. The impact felt like hitting his hand against a hard wall, making his scalp tingle. Ma Jae-seung turned to Shin-woo with his mouth agape in surprise. After suddenly resorting to violence, the guy had the nerve to be angry.

“Promise you won’t play hero again even if we’re attacked.”

“No.”

“Stop acting like a child! This isn’t the time. We don’t have time. Say you won’t show off trying to save me.”

Shin-woo’s face showed clear signs of anxiety. His head was throbbing at the possibility that Ma Jae-seung might try to protect him once they returned to Jianggang. When Ma Jae-seung stubbornly kept his mouth shut without answering, Shin-woo repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist on the steering wheel. The veins on the back of his hand bulged each time.

“You’ll just get in the way if you meddle incompetently.”

“Since we have to fight together anyway, as a team, it’s more efficient if I take the bullets. Might as well make use of the only benefit from those experiments.”

“Efficient? Benefit?”

Shin-woo asked back with murderous eyes. Even though the road was empty, Ma Jae-seung gestured toward the front, as Shin-woo had been glaring at him for quite a while instead of watching ahead. Only then did Shin-woo slowly roll his fierce, pale eyes back to the front and bite his lip. He chewed it so much that his lower lip turned bright red.

“If you’re going to use words like that, go study Korean again.”

“Sorry. Maybe my intelligence dropped from the shock of your ‘incompetent’ attempt at genetic modification—-Ow!”

When he countered the sarcastic remark with sarcasm, this time a fist flew in his direction. Ma Jae-seung wrapped his arm around himself after taking a hard hit to his forearm.

This wasn’t a joke. It would definitely bruise. The force was enough that he might have briefly lost consciousness if that fist had hit his face. While firmly massaging the struck area, Ma Jae-seung shouted in anger.

“Instead of worrying about my vocabulary, fix your violent habits! You were told not to guard me, not to beat me to death!”

“So it’s fine to take any number of bullets since you’ll heal anyway? Are you going to keep living like this, being experimented on?”

“Who are you to talk like that? Watch the road.”

On the quiet predawn road, their argument continued.

“There’s no guarantee you won’t die either! Can you be sure you’ll recover even if your heart or head gets pierced? Acting recklessly doesn’t help either of us.”

“I said I’d protect you, not commit suicide. Who’s being reckless? Just watch the road while driving unless you want to die right now!”

“Why, your head would grow back even if it flew off in an accident, so what’s wrong with not watching the road?”

“Stop the car.”

“No.”

“Stop being stubborn and stop the car!”

Screech. As he hit the brakes, the car rapidly slowed with a sharp tire sound. After the long friction noise, the car came to a complete stop, and their bodies that had lurched forward settled back. His heart was beating wildly, blood rushing fast, making his head burn hot. Ma Jae-seung ran his trembling hand through his bangs, still unable to calm his excitement. Maro whimpered softly and burrowed into his arms.

“See? You’re scaring Maro. Our fighting is animal abuse.”

Only after bringing up Maro’s mental health did Shin-woo quiet down. Ma Jae-seung briefly kissed Maro’s small head in apology, then safely placed him in a bag before getting out. The lukewarm wind on his face somewhat cleared his stuffy mind.

Behind him came the sharp sound of the driver’s door closing. Shin-woo, who had followed him out, was striding over with fierce eyes gleaming in the darkness. After quietly waiting until the footsteps drew closer, Ma Jae-seung turned around to face Shin-woo, who had stopped right beside him.

“Not so nice being on the receiving end, is it?”

Shin-woo’s eyebrow twitched once. Ma Jae-seung continued relentlessly.

“Thank you for sacrificing yourself for me. I’m lucky and fortunate to be safe alone. I should live every day in gratitude to repay that noble spirit of sacrifice.”

“…”

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?”

Shin-woo silently lowered his eyes and turned his head. The landscape that had looked merely beautiful in daylight now felt desolate in the darkness. After burying his gaze in that silence for a while, Shin-woo finally answered.

“I’m just forcing it because I want to. There’s no need to dress up this selfishness as sacrifice. You don’t need to feel guilty or troubled, and you don’t have to try to return the favor. Once this is all settled…”

After taking and releasing a deep breath, Shinwoo continued, “I’ll leave. So until then, don’t do anything reckless—”

“Leave?”

His heart sank at the word ‘leave.’ He could hardly imagine life without the guy who had always been with him since losing his memories. Even when he briefly kicked him out of the mansion, he couldn’t bear not tracking his whereabouts and could barely sleep. And now, knowing that he had cared for him more than family…

“Where to?”

Though his heart anxiously fluttered at just imagining Shin-woo leaving, instead of holding him back blindly, Ma Jae-seung asked where he wanted to go. He was curious about what desires Shin-woo had, having only worked for him at the mansion. What region he wanted to live in, what kind of work he wanted to do. He wanted to know how he planned to spend the money he had so desperately saved.

So that even if Shin-woo left his side someday, he could find him.

Seemingly not expecting to be asked about his destination, Shin-woo blinked blankly without answering right away. Then, after staring silently into space, he shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

“Well. Just somewhere nearby?”

“Nearby? What’s that supposed to mean? What do you want to do?”

“…”

“Where do you want to go? What work do you want to do, what do you want to learn after leaving the mansion?”

“I don’t know.”

Shin-woo answered irritably to the persistent questions. The one who had always played the role of problem solver suddenly looked completely his age. Even in the darkness, his ears were visibly red. With his poor condition and the adrenaline from the gunfight adding to his stress, he couldn’t hide his emotions as well as usual. Seeing this naive side of him, Ma Jae-seung suddenly realized something.

He wasn’t the only one who had been confined to the mansion for years. Shin-woo, who had stayed by his side doing only what his father ordered, had also grown up in isolation since childhood. Though his body had grown, his sense of self hadn’t matured.

As he stared at the grumpily furrowed eyebrows and brown eyes, a youthful face flashed by. A round back of the head below neatly groomed hair. A barcode on the long neck. His own fingers rubbing that tattoo.

A deeply buried memory hazily surfaced. Though distant like a landscape veiled in mist, Ma Jae-seung was seized by a strange premonition that the day would clear soon. He grabbed Shin-woo’s arm and met his eyes. As he persistently pursued his gaze, the color that had spread from his round ears now flushed red down to his neck. Shin-woo twisted his arm free and spoke.

“I’ll just drift through life. What else is there to life?”

“You tell me to go anywhere I want, but you just—”

“You and I are different.”

The quiet words cut him off mid-sentence. His flushed face was gradually returning to its original color. Ma Jae-seung narrowed his eyes as he took a step closer, closing the distance that had grown between them.

“How are we different? Our wealth? Social status?”

“Fate.”

Shin-woo answered without hesitation, as if reciting an obviously predetermined answer. Fate. The word that gave him an intense sense of déjà vu stuck in his mind, refusing to shake loose.

“We were born with different fates.”

After saying this, Shin-woo smiled. The seemingly peaceful smile looked familiar. Fate. Ma Jae-seung softly murmured the word he had heard. He had definitely heard these words before.

No, he had said them before.