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    Loves Balance

    Knock knock. The sound of knocking pierced through the silence. It was strange that the knock carried such clear force, since someone with both hands full of blankets couldn’t have knocked on the door. He remembered the last time the owner brought blankets, being unable to use his hands, he had shouted loudly from outside the door. Surely someone accompanying him must’ve knocked instead. Shin-woo slowly rolled his eyes, alternating between watching the master bedroom terrace and the entrance.

    Except for the sound of insects, there was no sign of movement for a while. The uninvited guests seemed to be waiting without moving hastily, as if checking whether they were asleep. Even in a small village, it was still a place where people lived together. Those who came with murder contracts had no reason to cause a disturbance.

    They wouldn’t have deployed many people to handle two targets. Having learned from previous experience that sending dozens of random thugs would be useless, they probably sent about three well-trained ones. Coming at this hour meant they wanted to handle things as quietly as possible. If he waited silently, they would surely try to pick the lock and infiltrate first.

    As Shin-woo pressed himself against the wall, staying alert, Ma Jae-seung suddenly crouched down and darted forward. In the blink of an eye, he swiftly grabbed the side table from the opposite corner and tucked it lightly under his arm before returning to his position.

    “What are you doing?” Though busy focusing on the people outside, Ma Jae-seung’s scattered behavior divided his attention. When he asked sharply through tightly gritted teeth, Ma Jae-seung looked back at him with raised eyes in the darkness. He stroked the marble tabletop with his large hand, and instead of answering, held it out to Shin-woo.

    “Use it as a shield when you rush out.” 

    “Hah…come here.” 

    How could he rush out and leave Ma Jae-seung behind when intruders might break in through the master bedroom terrace at any moment now? Shin-woo gave a hollow laugh and pulled Ma Jae-seung behind him, but the body he expected to follow easily stood firmly in place without budging.

    “This isn’t the time for this.” 

    Glaring back at him proved useless. Ma Jae-seung stubbornly stared back and replied curtly, “No.” 

    “Did you forget that I’m your bodyguard?” 

    “Don’t need protection. You’re fired as of today.”

    As Ma Jae-seung announced his second firing, his face became even more resolute. As if he had finally decided which direction to take, his unwavering gaze focused on Shin-woo. His eyes were gentle, mismatched with his words.

    He knew that foolish yet lovable tone too well. Having spent his whole life confined to the mansion with only employees to talk to, even his gentle words carried an authoritative commanding tone. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t comforted at all by that self-important promise Ma Jae-seung had made with such conviction—that he would change his name, and then his fate would change too—when in the past the mansion walls had been his entire world.

    His heartbeat echoed in his ears amidst the silence. Shin-woo moved his lips, rolling his tongue in his dry mouth. Before he could part his lips, Ma Jae-seung stepped closer and whispered softly in his ear.

    “Don’t get hurt. Not even a single hair.” In the same commanding tone, with an infinitely gentle face, words similar to those he himself had once spoken.

    Silently, Shin-woo adjusted his grip on the gun and turned to watch the doorway. Though he furrowed his brow hard, tensing his rounded eyebrows, his unsettled feelings wouldn’t subside. Ma Jae-seung’s face and voice that he had just witnessed left a deep afterimage etched in his mind. The warmth that began gently simmering in his chest rose to his throat.

    After being swept up in the heat, he became firm. He would protect him no matter what. Reviewing this clear objective again, Shin-woo calmly inhaled and slowly exhaled. He picked up the small frame that had been sitting on the bedside table and silently glared outside. At the end of his sharp gaze, the doorknob finally began to turn slowly.

    The sound of metal striking metal rang quietly as a key engaged with the keyhole and turned. As if trying to make minimal noise, the predawn intruder took their time, opening the door very carefully.

    Through the opening door, pale moonlight invaded the cabin, cutting across the darkness without hesitation. Unlike the careful attitude while opening the door, clumsy footsteps were heard dragging across the floor, making unnecessary noise. Soon after, the owner entered, panting heavily. His face was pale purple as he hugged an armful of blankets.

    Right then, Maro barked “Woof!” from inside the closet. Just as the owner jumped in surprise, Shin-woo threw the frame he had been holding outside the living room, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.

    No sooner had the frame shattered against the floor than a masked man emerged from behind the owner and began firing. Simultaneously, the master bedroom terrace window crashed down. Beyond the broken window, men dressed in black from head to toe moved in perfect unison like shadows, holding guns.

    As the bang echoed in their ears, one of the three intruders’ heads snapped back. Ma Jae-seung, hiding in the master bathroom with his gun aimed, signaled to Shin-woo with his eyes. Shin-woo nodded and lowered his body to look out into the living room.

    “Shit…”

    Two men had entered through the front door. They maintained their distance, hiding behind the kitchen island counter and sofa while shooting toward the master bedroom. While one shot, the other waited, taking turns firing continuously, leaving no chance to peek out. Shin-woo broke off one leg of the side table Ma Jae-seung had brought and waited silently.

    The gunfire that had been mercilessly pouring down, making ears ring, finally ceased. In that brief moment of quiet, Shin-woo threw the table leg he was holding into the middle of the living room.

    When the wooden leg hit the table with a clack, both men simultaneously aimed their guns toward the sound. The moment the man hiding behind the sofa exposed himself, Shin-woo aimed at his protruding shoulder and fired.

    “Argh!”

    The shot man screamed, clutching his shoulder. As his body staggered and his head came into view, Shin-woo didn’t miss the opportunity to pull the trigger. Dark red blood sprayed from the masked head, spattering across the floor. After confirming the body falling lifelessly onto the pool of blood, Shin-woo rolled his eyes in search of the remaining man.

    Just then, bullets flying from outside the terrace tore through furniture and walls, shredding them. Shit. Shin-woo pulled out a pocket knife from his chest, chewing back the curses that kept rising. At this rate, they’d be surrounded in the narrow space. The distance between the kitchen and master bedroom wasn’t far, and there was only one target beyond the island counter. As soon as he made his calculations, Shin-woo picked up the tabletop. Then he waited, ears perked.

    In the split second when the empty magazine fell to the floor, he dashed toward the island counter while throwing the tabletop. As the man hurriedly tried to switch guns, crouching with his arms raised to avoid the flying table, Shin-woo was already floating in the air right above the man’s head.

    “Guh!”

    After being kicked mercilessly in the head, the man crumpled with a scream. Shin-woo ruthlessly stepped on the man’s hand that had dropped the gun, then immediately slit his throat with the knife. Blood spurted like a fountain, splattering onto Shin-woo’s expressionless face. Breathing in the metallic smell of blood strong enough to dull his sense of smell, Shin-woo coldly watched the focus fade from the man’s eyes.

    Bang, bang! Consecutive gunshots rang from the master bedroom. They sent quite well-armed men. Shin-woo gritted his teeth, picked up the man’s gun, and ran to the master bedroom. While one man stepped back to cover, another was just stepping into the room over the terrace. When Shin-woo aimed for his head and fired, the man quickly ducked behind the bed.

    Just then, a dark figure swiftly crossed his vision. A massive shadow seemed to spring out in the blink of an eye, followed by the sound of weight pressing into the bed mattress. He realized what was happening only after the man made choking sounds as if being strangled. The man’s black body was lifted like a rag doll and thrown against the opposite wall. The sound of bones breaking rang out disturbingly clearly.

    The moonlight leaking in from outside the terrace shone white across Ma Jae-seung’s silver hair. Holding the seemingly unconscious man’s nape, Ma Jae-seung turned his gaze to the one standing outside the terrace. Bang, bang, bang! As merciless firing began, Ma Jae-seung flattened himself on all fours. Then he instantly sprang out, moving from floor to wall to terrace like an animal and pounced on the man. The sound of repeatedly smashing the man’s head against the ground—thud, thud—was like stepping on pulverized earth.

    Shin-woo stood dazed in place, watching the scene before him. Under the moonlight, Ma Jae-seung slowly stood up and turned to look at Shin-woo. His hands covered in blood, his tense body, his abnormally quick reactions and dynamic vision that dodged bullets in the darkness. The human weapon-level physical abilities that Ma Jae-seung had wanted.

    His olive eyes rippled quietly. Even with blood on his hands, Ma Jae-seung stood calmly facing Shin-woo without much agitation. For a moment, he seemed to glimpse the child he first met, but the afterimage quickly disappeared.

    Blood stains marked Ma Jae-seung’s face like a decalcomania, the face he had hoped wouldn’t become like his own. They stood in the middle of the blood pool, looking at each other for a long moment.

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