IH Ch 50

Chapter 50

Jae-i glanced at Dohwa with a frown, but the boy was watching the TV.

Viewed from below, the profile of his face was soft. A moderately high nose bridge, closed lips, and the line from his jaw to neck was smooth. Even his usually vacant gaze was shimmering, perhaps because of the light. Then, Dohwa slowly blinked and raised his hand to point at the screen.

“That kid has a nasty heart. Don’t ever go there.”

“……”

That much was obvious. There was no way he would visit such a transparently manipulative place.

“It’d be better to go to Pohang instead. You could eat lots of delicious food there, see the ocean…”

Trailing off, Dohwa lowered his head and looked down at Hwang Jae-i.

“Jae-i, have you ever seen the sea?”

“……”

The sea? Of course he had. He’d seen it whenever a gate appeared near the coast or when he was on work-related trips. It was just part of the scenery to him—he never gave it any particular significance just because it was the sea. But now, Dohwa’s eyes sparkled as he asked whether Jae-i had ever seen it.

As Jae-i quietly stared at that face, he finally opened his mouth.

“Don’t start with your bullshit.”

“……”

Dohwa’s expression froze slightly, seemingly caught off guard by the unexpected words. Jae-i added,

“You gave me that because you wanted to see my reaction, didn’t you?”

Jae-i tossed the paper he had been holding forward. The thin sheet fluttered and slipped under the table.

“You must be under some delusion, thinking that just because I let you stay here, everything’s fine. Normally, you’d be rotting in a prison cell.”

“……”

“Did you think I brought you here because I wanted to do what you wanted? You’re just…”

Why did I go looking for you every night, and why do I wake up every morning with my arms around you? Had something inside me finally broken? He couldn’t bring himself to say those words out loud.

Grinding his teeth, then letting the tension go, Jae-i glared at Dohwa.

“Stop doing stupid things and go to your room. Don’t loiter around where I can see you.”

“……”

Dohwa, who had been listening in silence, stared into Jae-i’s eyes for a moment before turning his body sharply. He strode off, not toward the storage room but the guest bedroom.

Even though he stomped off, there wasn’t much sound—probably because his body was so slight, unlike Jae-i’s. His long hair swayed as he disappeared down the hallway, and then slam—a door closed loudly. Jae-i’s face instantly hardened, sensing it was a deliberate show of displeasure. Just as he muttered, “That little—” and moved to get up, a tiny voice followed.

“…The wind made it slam.”

“……”

What wind? Where in here was there any wind? He found the excuse so absurd he could hardly believe it. But oddly enough, his anger dissipated. As soon as he sat back on the sofa, a soft sound of the door closing more gently reached his ears. And then, as if he could hear it for the first time, the previously unnoticeable TV noise tapped at his hearing.

Frowning, Jae-i lifted his head—then froze. There, on the screen, was an image of himself smiling. What the hell did he have to smile about like that? Scowling instantly, he turned off the TV and jerked forward to stand up—only to stop when he caught sight of the corner of the drawing peeking out from under the table. He stared at it for a moment, then turned his head away.

There he was—Hwang Jae-i—on the giant screen.

It was from when he had just become guildmaster, back when people who didn’t know him well tried to act like they did. Most of them were middle-aged men—balding with paunchy bellies—who thought they were hotshots despite being dressed head to toe in luxury brands that didn’t suit them in the slightest.

“Our Guildmaster Hwang Jae-i is still young and inexperienced, so people like us should help guide him, don’t you think? These days, it takes more than just clearing gates. He needs to know who to network with, which corporations to align with—he’ll need advice, surely—”

“Exactly, right. He’ll be making public appearances more often, so before any riffraff latch onto him, people like us need to be at his side.”

“It’s too bad Hwang Hajin isn’t here. What was so urgent that he left the country without even attending his own son’s guildmaster inauguration?”

“He must trust us. So in his place, we should take care of Guildmaster Hwang Jae-i like father figures.”

Their greasy, smug faces, acting as if they were the stars of the show, were repulsive. It seemed Jae-i wasn’t the only one who thought so. These men, who had clung to reporters for unsolicited interviews, immediately rushed over when Hwang Jae-i appeared. Watching their waddling backs, his frown deepened instinctively. Seventeen-year-old Hwang Jae-i glanced at them with a face clearly brimming with irritation.

Ah, dangerous—someone must’ve thought, but a man foolishly approached and tried to sling an arm around Hwang Jae-i’s shoulder. In a flash, he was kicked and sent flying before he could even scream. He crashed into a table stacked high with champagne glasses. As the glasses shattered and wine spilled everywhere, the man thrashed atop the broken table, eventually letting out a delayed, grating scream.

In the chaos, another middle-aged man ran up to Jae-i, hands on hips, and demanded to know what the hell he thought he was doing. Jae-i simply looked down at him with lowered eyes and replied in a flat, cutting voice,

“What the hell are you saying, you pig bastard.”

Pure scorn and irritation dripped from every syllable. Maybe he even unleashed a bit of S-rank aura. Otherwise, there was no reason the man, poised to lecture him, would collapse right there on the spot.

Hwang Jae-i. It was a debut befitting his name.

Maybe because of that first impression, his reputation never improved. People said S-ranks were socially inept, but even so, behaving like that at a formal event was rare. Hwang Jae-i’s actions only became more radical after that.

He ended collaborations and commercials with major corporations and publicly announced he would no longer accept support from any organization. In essence, the Jae-i Guild declared its complete independence.

It took years for people to get used to it, but at the time, it was incredibly shocking. As a result, he faced far worse media attacks and public perception was even more hostile. Regardless, Hwang Jae-i stuck to his convictions, and for the fossilized minds of the establishment, every move he made was like a thorn in the eye.

The same went for the man standing beside him.

“That’s the problem with S-ranks. They think they’re so special. They don’t realize what a privilege it is to possess such power. They act like their strength belongs to them alone. That power should be shared with everyone…”

Trailing off, he gently wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulders.

With his cheek pressed against the Iron Mask’s, he whispered in a tone meant to sound tender,

“Arrogant bastards like that never last long. We’ll bring him here before that happens and give him proper training. That’s why our Dohwa’s role is so important.”

The hand patting his shoulder slowly slid down and began to rub along his arm.

“Study that insolent brat closely. No matter how high an S-rank may be, they all have weaknesses. Find the cracks and slip through them. I believe with all my heart that our Dohwa will give me what I want. So…”

It was times like these when the Iron Mask proved useful. Thanks to it, even when they touched his face all over, none of it felt direct or personal.

Dohwa didn’t even want to reply to the nonsense he was hearing, but he knew the man would throw a fit if he didn’t. So, mechanically, he responded with short “Yes,” and “Okay.” All the while, his eyes remained fixed on Hwang Jae-i.

Honestly, he understood why Hwang Jae-i reacted that way. He would’ve hated those people too. Forcing unwanted responsibilities on someone as if it were a great privilege, then trying to manipulate them however they liked.

Why should anyone accept that? There’s no reason to.

Dohwa wanted to tell Hwang Jae-i that everything he had done—he had done well. “You’re doing just fine,” he wanted to say.

Click.

The faint sound stirred Dohwa from sleep.

Buried deep in the soft bedding, he pulled the covers higher. Just as he tucked his face beneath the blanket pulled up to his shoulders, he heard it again—click, the doorknob jiggling up and down. Even so, he didn’t move. Because after days of this, he already knew who it was.

Dohwa recalled Hwang Jae-i’s cold gaze and sharp words before he entered the room. The message had been clear: “Know your place.” It wasn’t entirely wrong, but it still stung. He closed his eyes again, trying to ignore it.

But then, the rattling of the doorknob changed into something else. A scratching sound—something was scraping against the door. Knowing exactly who was on the other side, he could easily guess what was happening. He was scratching the door with his hand—asking to be let in.

If it were Hwang Jae-i, he could easily rip open a locked door. And yet, he wasn’t forcing it. He was just… scratching. Somehow, that made him seem pitiful.

“……”

Dohwa opened his eyes and slowly sat up. In the dark room, he stared at the closed door before stepping down from the bed. He walked slowly to the door, and as he stood before it, the scratching stopped.

Thunk. A small thud sounded. It seemed like the door had been bumped into, but it felt heavier than that. With a strange suspicion, Dohwa finally opened the door—and there was Hwang Jae-i, head lowered. It seemed the noise earlier had been him bumping his forehead against the door.