Vol 4 Chapter 45

As Seung-jo was muttering blankly in a low voice, he suddenly clutched his chest and sharply bent his upper body, immediately letting out a groan.

"Ugh, urgh, uh... urgh...!"

[ Ah, I get it. Don't think! Don't think any further! I understand about your angel boy, so that's enough now! I'm going. Cutting off, off! ]

True to his character of hating to show such a state in front of others more than death itself, Seung-jo was clawing at his clothes as if his chest was in pain, trying his best to suppress his groans while breaking out in a cold sweat. It was only a long while after those words ended that he finally calmed down. Breathing heavily up and down, Seung-jo, who had barely stopped his trembling movements, had his eyes closed as if exhausted, perhaps due to consuming a lot of energy in that short time. Ben, who had been worriedly looking down at that seemingly unconscious figure for a while, let out a big sigh.

[ Your condition is worse than I thought. ]

Seung-jo lying there looked like an inanimate object missing something important to be human. His long legs sticking out of the sofa due to his tall height, his firm body and sharp nose bridge despite having lost a lot of weight, none of these seemed able to fill that something missing from his face with tightly closed eyes at this moment.

Ben didn't know how many years it had been since he started seeing that face that looked like it could go out at any moment. He stared blankly at that face that didn't look happy at all.

[ Even after suffering for 3 years, you still can't be honest. You're so used to embracing only your own longing and obsession that you can't even think of moving forward. ]

And Ben suddenly wondered what that angel boy might be like. The man whose name this inorganic and sometimes seemingly crazy guy had been calling out for so desperately, was actually alive with his feet on the ground, not having become an angel in heaven. If only that angel boy knew about Seung-jo's return to Korea, it would be good if he could somehow think of meeting this guy first.

That Seung-jo and his angel boy absolutely had to meet once. He had already seen more than enough of how far an undelivered heart and a single entangled accident could make people go astray.

'I thought everything would be fine once he went to Korea...'

Feeling his own heart grow heavy the more he looked, Ben clicked his tongue and cut off the screen connection.

[ Have a good sleep. ]

And at that moment, outside, a man holding a black cane was just taking a step, limping slightly as he dragged his leg, but looking straight ahead at something in front of him.

Standing in front of the firmly closed door, he slowly caught his breath and raised his gaze.

[ 1001 ]

There was a number plate indicating that this was apartment 1001 of the officetel for single occupants where he was now. He unconsciously looked down at the note tightly clutched in his hand and checked the contents once more. The same number was written on it.

He knew he had come to the right place even without looking, but it was an unconscious action revealing his tension. He didn't like how he was standing with his stomach so tense it could touch the ground, but he consoled himself thinking that probably anyone, not just him, would inevitably be nervous in this situation.

'Right... A sword once drawn cannot be sheathed without striking once.'

It was nonsensical to turn back now that he had come this far. But even though he knew this, his hand wouldn't easily move to press the intercom due to the mixed emotions he was feeling.

Jeong Seung-jo, who was once as close as a brother to him, but who disappeared after the accident, taking everything with him before he could even understand. The days of worrying because of Seung-jo, feeling empty at his absence, and suffering from a sense of betrayal came to mind. And also the time when he realized that Seung-jo had changed greatly from the past, seeing his arbitrary and unstable behavior despite his overwhelming power as Caesar in MIST.

"Hah... Haah."

The reason he had come all this way was to somehow completely settle the memories of the past that had too many questions to be buried and lived with. It might reopen old wounds now, but as long as those questions remained unresolved, it would be impossible for both him and Seung-jo to completely bury the past and move forward.

At least he didn't want to suffer anymore because of memories of the past that yielded no answers. After taking as deep a breath as possible, he opened his eyes wide and pressed the intercom button. Along with the sensation of pressing it firmly, a bell sound was heard from inside the house. Seeing the red blinking light of the intercom, he felt a sensation like an intense shiver running from his fingertips. It somehow resembled fear.

- Riiing...

However, even after the fairly long bell sound ended, there was no sound from inside the house. Seeing the lamp light go out without any response, he pressed it once more, but the result was the same.

- Riiing, riiing, riiing...

'Could he not be home?'

He couldn't help but be flustered as he had come without thinking that Seung-jo might not be at home. After pressing repeatedly, he checked the note once more with growing bewilderment, but the home address was definitely this place.

'Then he might have stepped out for a moment.'

Thinking about it, he had forgotten that unlike himself who spent most of his time alone at home when not working, most people generally lived much more actively than him, even if they lived alone.

This was probably because he had lived with little interaction with others for so long, and because his thinking had become short-sighted due to being overly tense while pretending not to be.

"Damn it..."

How could he be so stupid? If he had known this would happen, he should have tried contacting at least once before coming, even if the calls weren't going through.

After sighing briefly, feeling his legs getting stiff from standing with too much tension, he slowly sat down on the stairs leading to the upper floor next to him. Placing his cane beside him and halfheartedly tapping his legs, he regretted for the first time getting rid of the mobile phone that everyone else carried around. It had been several years since then, but he had never felt the need for it until now in a situation like this.