I saw a child curled up alone in the dark room. Behind that little back could be heard the chatter, laughter, and carols faintly.
Christmas with white snow. Downstairs, the people gathered by Cheon Je-heon were enjoying a party together.
Cheon Je-heon smiled brightly as he opened the piled-up gifts one by one next to the people who love him and Cheon Sa-yeon lying alone in a warehouse room with blood all over his face. The lives of the two children were markedly different.
I approached the young Cheon Sa-yeon for the first time while standing behind the scenes of the past and silently watching what was shown in the book. Slowly walking and sitting next to the child, his injured face, hidden in darkness, came into view.
“……”
I reached out my hand cautiously towards Cheon Sa-yeon’s black hair.
As expected, my hand passed without touching anything, but it felt like a soft touch.
Remembering my childhood memories, I smiled bitterly and whispered.
“Now I understand why you were so similar to me.”
Even if my hand couldn’t reach the child, I didn’t stop stroking it. Come to think of it, I realized that I had never stroked Cheon Sa-yeon’s hair before.
‘Well, how can you pet that big guy with a sensitive personality.’
Pushing all the silly thoughts out of my head with a stupid smile, I looked at the red blood bruises on the child’s face again.
What Cheon Sa-yeon experienced this time would be a very despairing and painful memory.
“There are lose battles.”
You can’t win every fight. It was impossible for anyone.
“You can do it again.”
He must have been upset. From the moment they first met until now, he had been so scared of him.
His own weakness for not being able to protect the person he loved must have been terrifying.
But the child would never stop here. As Elohim explained, the pain of not being able to completely put an end to Cheon Sa-yeon only made him stronger.
I could immediately recognize the meaning of the look in Cheon Sa-yeon’s eyes just before he rushed to Cheon Je-heon. Even though they were young, their essence didn’t change.
“Cheer up, Cheon Sa-yeon.”
Cheon Sa-yeon’s firm expression softened a little at the cheers that came out in a small voice.
The sound of the page-turning was heard and Cheon Sa-yeon lying next to me was blurred. Soon after, I could see the child growing up as time passed quickly without a break.
1 year, 2 years, 3 years… and 10 years.
Unable to go outside except in special circumstances, Cheon Sa-yeon spent most of his time confined to the mansion. The man assigned him to learn basic etiquette, study, and high-end sports such as horseback riding.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who had a smaller body than other children of his age, achieved tremendous growth during those 10 years. He caught up with Cheon Je-heon, who was four years older than him and his physique became similar.
On the day the only person who loved him died, Cheon Sa-yeon set a new goal.
The child, who was scared and couldn’t express his opinion properly once, disappeared. His dignity was reflected in his straight waist, neat gaze treatment, and unobtrusive, natural behaviour.
From then on, Cheon Je-heon also began to check Cheon Sa-yeon little by little. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had previously been thought of as an easy-to-use tool, was now considered as a person threatening his place.
「You shit bastard.」
While walking around the mansion, if he even ran into Cheon Sa-yeon in the hallway, Cheon Je-heon smiled and spat out abusive language.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who heard this, answered lightly with a smile on his face.
「Thank you for looking at me like that.」
Cheon Je-heon’s lips hardened slightly at the appearance of Cheon Sa-yeon, who had no damage at all.
12 years had passed since they first met. Similar height, similar face. Cheon Je-heon’s eyebrows twitched with displeasure as he made eye contact with Cheon Sa-yeon.
「Young master.」
The two who were standing next to each other were approached by a servant who had gone out. He made a report to Cheon Je-heon, completely ignoring Cheon Sa-yeon.
「The President has arrived.」
「Yeah.」
Cheon Je-heon passed and hit Cheon Sa-yeon on the shoulder. Cheon Sa-yeon, who was just bumped on his shoulder, was about to head back to his room without changing his expression.
「…he told you to come with me as well.」
After hesitating for a while, the servant continued. Cheon Sa-yeon and Cheon Je-heon stopped walking at the same time.
* * *
「Hm. Has it been two years?」
「It’s been two years and three months to be precise, President.」
When the man took off his suit jacket and asked a question, the secretary accepted the jacket and responded politely.
「That woman?」
「She went out.」
「Tsk, what a cheap thing.」
The man who clicked his tongue and untied his tie then turned his attention to his two sons.
The man, who looked at Cheon Je-heon and Cheon Sa-yeon from head to toe said, handed over the tie to the secretary.
「How old are you now?」
「I am 23 years old.」
「Old enough to go to the military.」
Cheon Je-heon kept his mouth shut without being able to react to the ridiculous he said.
「I received good responses to the documents I sent over the past two years.」
The man sent documents to Cheon Je-heon several times during the two years he was away from the mansion.
It was a kind of test, from foreign language questions in three languages to documents related to management and practice.
「Both of you.」
However, it was the first time Cheon Je-heon knew that Cheon Sa-yeon had received the same document as him.
Cheon Je-heon was greatly shaken like a storm, but he struggled to keep his smile.
「It was a pretty good experiment. It was both exciting and disappointing.」
The man’s eyes moved from Cheon Sa-yeon to Cheon Je-heon. Cheon Je-heon’s jaw tightened at the sharp gaze on him with the words ‘disappointing’.
「There’s still time… no need to think in a hurry.」
「……」
「Cheon Je-heon.」
「Yes, Father.」
「Prepare to go abroad. Six months would be enough.」
「I understand.」
Cheon Je-heon’s stiff shoulders relaxed a little at the thought that the man had chosen him over Cheon Sa-yeon.
「Go up.」
The man sent Cheon Je-heon out with both the attendant and the servant who were waiting behind. (천제헌을 내보낸 남자는 곧 뒤에서 대기하던 수행원과 사용인도 모두 물렸다, something’s wrong with this sentence)
After confirming that only Cheon Sa-yeon was left in the spacious drawing room, the man stood in front of him and gave an order.
「Raise your head.」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been standing quietly, raised his head at those words. Although he had grown a lot during that time, he was still much smaller than the man.
A breeze blew through the open window, gently swaying the white curtains. As spring had just arrived, the warm sunlight fell on Cheon Sa-yeon’s dark hair and pure white skin.
「You sent me an interesting reply every time I sent you the documents.」
「I just wrote down my thoughts.」
「That’s what’s interesting.」
The smiling man with the corners of his eyes slightly lowered grabbed Cheon Sa-yeon’s chin with strength.
「Cheon Je-heon showed me what I expected. Rational and cold. If the question had been answered correctly, Cheon Je-heon would have scored about 90 points.」
Hearing the following words, Cheon Sa-yeon openly put on an expression of what he was going to say.
「But you came to the conclusion of the question because of your emotions.」
「……」
「Growing up in this mansion, I wondered what was the reason for making such a judgment. Was it because you’ve been treated like no other or was it because you were born that way?」
The man’s opposite hand slowly wrapped around Cheon Sa-yeon’s waist.
「Not only do you look like her, but your personality is more like that woman than I am.」
That woman. Hearing this, Cheon Sa-yeon’s eyes trembled.
The man mentioned Cheon Sa-yeon’s mother for the first time in 10 years. In this situation.
「The world has changed, Cheon Sa-yeon. Hundreds of people are killed by monsters every day, so there are many ways to make money. But your world is still at the end of this mansion.」
Close to Cheon Sa-yeon’s ear, the man whispered quietly as if he was telling him a great secret. The hand embracing a certain intention gently caressed Cheon Sa-yeon’s waist.
「How is it. If you follow my instructions, I will let you out of the mansion. I can help you live as Cheon Sa-yeon, not Cheon Je-heon’s shadow.」
Only then did I understand the man’s meaning and my face distorted horribly.
‘That disgusting bastard…’
The cold energy that had been locked in my heart trembled loudly. At that moment, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was staring at the man with an expressionless face, grabbed the man’s wrist who was holding his chin.
The man’s eyes narrowed at the grip stronger than expected. Seeing this, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth with a smirk.
「It seems that your butt is very empty over the past two years.」
「What?」
「It’s quite funny to see you’re in a heat after getting older, but I’ll decline that. It’s not a very appealing proposal.」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who gripped the man’s wrist so strongly that his bones stood out, slowly removed it. The man’s hand, pushed by the force, trembled.
「If you really don’t want him to go abroad, why don’t you go to the excited brother? He would do it without thinking much.」
「You punk…」
「If you want to do it with me, bring better conditions.」
Cheon Sa-yeon took a step back from the man and adjusted his outfit as if it was a beautiful thing. Then, after the silence, he left the drawing room without looking back.
When he passed by the man whose face was flushed with anger and shame, I hurried after Cheon Sa-yeon.
‘I almost got in trouble.’
It was so bad that I almost used my intervention ability. With a sigh of relief, I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon’s back as he walked down the hallway.
It was the first time that Cheon Sa-yeon had been treated like this, so his stride was very rough.
I was dumbfounded and felt dirty just watching, but I wonder if Cheon Sa-yeon was terrified. Fortunately, Cheon Sa-yeon wasn’t an easy person.
He just turned 19. Maybe it was because I knew the 29-year-old Cheon Sa-yeon, and in my eyes, he looked just as young as when he was 9 years old.
The next day after refusing the man’s offer, Cheon Sa-yeon was punished by being imprisoned in the room for ten days. Meals were also banned for one day.
‘When he was a child, at least they brought him meals.’
I didn’t know if it was because Cheon Sa-yeon was approaching the adult age or if it was because he was just repaid the insults from the man. Even after hearing about the ban on meals, Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t respond.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who had to be locked up in the room for ten days with only a few books without a cell phone or TV, looked out of his window with bored eyes. I also stood next to him.
In the warm weather, light green buds began to sprout from each tree. As I looked around the garden, I raised my gaze upwards, then hardened for a moment.
「…what is that?」
Cheon Sa-yeon, who looked over the garden just like me, murmured with a confused look.
Just near the front door of the mansion, an oval-shaped entrance with a dazzling dark blue light appeared.
‘No way…!’
As soon as I realized that the identity of that foreign thing was the gate, what was going to happen in the future was pictured in my mind. At the same time, a huge ball of fire flew from the sky with great speed.
“Dodge, Cheon Sa-yeon!”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who instinctively took a step backwards, turned his head at the moment when he heard my cry. He turned his gaze to exactly where I was standing.
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