AAGULT Ch 53

Chapter 53

 

“…Boss.”

“Yeah.”

“Eunyul… Eunyul got hurt…”

“I know.”

He responded calmly. Even as he answered, his eyes were fixed not on Eunyul but on me, and the tension that came with feeling like a marked prey made me swallow hard.

“……”

A silence, heavy with tension, filled the space. Jaeha hesitated, wondering if he should ask for a doctor for Eunyul, but something about the atmosphere made him feel he shouldn’t. So he kept his mouth shut.

He looked Jaeha over, as if inspecting one of his prized possessions for damage.

“You must’ve met Ye Aiden.”

“……”

His gaze shifted lightly to Eunyul, who was collapsed on the floor. Blood was slowly spreading across the pristine white floor. Jaeha had wanted to stop the bleeding, but he had a feeling that if he tried, he too would fall victim to that same violent guiding and pass out. He couldn’t interrupt or press the boss to call a doctor either, so all he could do was pray he’d finish talking soon.

“You didn’t feed him anything, did you?”

“……”

How did he know? Jaeha sat there awkwardly on his knees, stunned, his mouth slightly open. The man took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, adding as he lit it. Even with his speech muffled by the cigarette, his words came through clearly.

“Antidote, truth serum… or a tracking device.”

“……”

“The association’s tactics are always the same. They always have been.”

With a light tap of his foot, he nudged Eunyul. Sticky blood stained the tip of his polished shoe. He paid it no mind and moved on. The cigarette had just been lit, and a thin trail of smoke began to rise.

Even though Eunyul was one of his most trusted men, always by his side, he showed not a hint of regret. Even if the injury was superficial and would heal with a day or two of rest, Eunyul had still collapsed and lost consciousness—and yet it was as if he was invisible to the boss. Jaeha thought, He’d probably be like that even if I got hurt too.

“Spit it out. Bring it to me.”

“……”

He opened a door. The room looked like a guiding chamber. There wasn’t a single guide inside. He didn’t look back. That felt like a sign of disappointment in Jaeha, and Jaeha was wracked with guilt and anxiety. Did I fail to meet his expectations…?

His voice was as calm as ever. Jaeha looked at his back, wondering if he’d turn around even once. That broad, flat back was like a massive mountain. Entranced by the sight of him turning away, Jaeha realized too late what he had said.

“I strongly suggest…”

Now that he thought about it, the boss’s usual guiding scent wasn’t present today.

“You spit it out before I have to help you do it, Jaeha.”

That didn’t sound like a good sign.

He jammed his fingers into his throat to try to induce gagging, but it didn’t work, so he pounded his chest hard enough to bruise his solar plexus. A tiny, hard object—smaller than a fingernail. It wasn’t a liquid or a pill, so it was probably a tracking device. The size made it a struggle to vomit up.

He was on edge, afraid that the boss might walk back through that door any second, having run out of patience. It was ridiculous, objectively speaking—desperately trying to vomit beside an unconscious Eunyul just to stay alive. It felt like pieces of his identity were being shaved away like coarse sand. Crumbling, crumbling… endlessly.

Eventually, he knocked on the door after managing to spit out the tiny object and washing it thoroughly with water. By then, a passing staff member had found Eunyul and taken him away, relieving at least one burden.

“…Boss.”

“Come in.”

Lately, the act of ‘throwing up’ had become so familiar that at least it didn’t take long anymore—something to be thankful for, in a bitter sort of way. The fact that he could think such things about himself felt both pitiful and absurd.

He slowly opened the door and met the boss’s eyes right away. He couldn’t use his ability, but the fact that he instinctively made eye contact made him uneasy, so he looked down. A faint breeze could be heard—it was actually the sound of the boss softly chuckling.

He didn’t say a word, but Jaeha closed the door politely and knelt before him.

The man reached out his hand instead of speaking. It was covered in a black leather glove, but even through it, the shape was thick and large. Jaeha carefully placed the piece of machinery he had vomited up onto that palm. It was smaller than a pinky nail, angular, black, and shaped like a tiny die—a cube.

“……”

He thought the boss would crush it right away, but instead, he brought it to eye level. After inspecting it briefly, he placed it on the table next to the bed.

“A tracking device…?”

“Yeah.”

“Why…”

He paused, searching for the right words, then shut his mouth. He wanted to know why the boss didn’t destroy it, but he felt like any answer he got would be beyond his understanding anyway.

“……”

“……”

Jaeha endured the silence that settled over the room. It had been six years since he left the orphanage and met the boss. By now, Jaeha could somewhat read his behavior. He was thinking. About what, he didn’t know—but something.

When he reached out his hand, Jaeha consciously turned his head to rest his face against it. But unlike before, the situation was reversed. The guiding energy that used to cling to Jaeha’s body now flowed over into the man’s parched hand.

His thumb slowly stroked Jaeha’s cheek. As if reading the curiosity in Jaeha’s heart, the man finally opened his mouth to mercifully explain the situation.

“I’m deciding.”

Before Jaeha could ask what he was deciding, he realized it. The boss was contemplating what to do with him. It felt like that moment right before an exam begins, when the test paper hasn’t been handed out yet—the unique tension of wondering what kind of questions would appear. Would he be able to answer them? Or would they be ones he didn’t know at all?

Can I survive this test again this time?

Jaeha closed his eyes tightly and blurted out something unsure of whether it was a plea or a jest.

“P-please… consider mercifully…”

“Haha.”

He laughed. Realizing that it had come off as playful rather than offensive, Jaeha quickly spoke again. He wanted to lighten the boss’s mood however he could. Of course, a lot of that was because his own fate depended on it, but truthfully, he just wanted to make the man feel a little better.

“I—I missed you, boss… I was always thinking of you, always.”

“We’ll see.”

He cautiously held his hand and leaned in to rest more of his face against it. He briefly considered pretending to kiss him but decided against it—he didn’t actually want to kiss him. He liked the man, but it wasn’t the same. You don’t kiss your father or eldest brother, after all.

As Jaeha rubbed his face affectionately, the boss watched him with a detached gaze and finally spoke.

“—Isn’t it kind of weird to think of me while you’re getting fucked?”

“……”

Thud.

His heart dropped. The color drained from Jaeha’s face. The boss’s voice carried a hint of amusement, but not a trace of displeasure, which made it all the more terrifying.

“I knew raising a human would be more troublesome than raising a beast… I was ready for that when I took you in.”

“……”

“But not knowing where you’ll jump next—that’s tricky.”

He gave Jaeha’s cheek a couple of light pats as if in encouragement, then withdrew his hand. His tone, despite what he said, wasn’t irritated or cold. His voice always sounded more or less the same unless he was laughing. Still, calling it ‘raising’ a human left Jaeha feeling strangely off balance.

As the boss withdrew his hand, Jaeha slowly lifted his eyes, needing to see what he’d do next. The moment his wary, tense turquoise eyes met the man’s, he saw him remove his leather gloves. Then, undoing the buttons at his wrist, the man rolled up his sleeves.

“Don’t worry.”

“……”

“Turn around and sit.”

Ironically, those calm instructions brought a strange sense of relief. If he’s telling me not to worry, that must mean today’s not the day I die.

That gentle reassurance settled Jaeha’s frayed nerves. He didn’t even realize how disturbing it was that his bodily reactions were entirely subject to this man’s words. He obeyed. He awkwardly stood and turned, presenting his back. As he felt the man’s hand approach, his muscles relaxed. And he was endlessly grateful.

Maybe I’ll survive today too.

The cigarette smoke filled his vision. Reflex tears clung to his lashes, distorting what he saw. His mouth opened like a goldfish’s, but nothing came in or out. Only the man’s voice echoed in his ears.

“In the end, humans are just animals, Jaeha.”

“Hk—Kuh—Hah…”

“It’s funny, but if you repeat it long enough, even imprinting starts to take hold.”

His slow murmurs, spoken around the cigarette, lodged deep in Jaeha’s brain for some reason. It wasn’t the kind of moment when you should be able to hear things clearly, and yet he did.

That thick, solid arm—visibly powerful—was wrapped around Jaeha’s neck like a noose. It would’ve been better if there were no strength behind it. But there was. That arm was choking him. He didn’t know how many times this had happened. Once or twice he could endure, but beyond that, it felt like his brain was melting into mush.

“Huh… Huh—Huh…”

His neck felt like it was going to be torn off.