Chapter 108: Shadows of Betrayal

After hearing Gyeongho’s story, I couldn’t say a word.

How could I, when I was living day by day for my owner’s revenge?

“I couldn’t sleep for a long time. Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see those kids resenting me, angry, tearful.”

“That’s why I fled here and opened an animal clinic. Hoping it might ease the guilt even a little.”

He spoke in a flat voice, but his gaze remained fixed on the floor.

“To me, the guys I stupidly killed mattered more than revenge on those who backstabbed me.”

“Ah…….”

Listening to Gyeongho’s story, a doubt suddenly arose in me.

Am I doing the right thing?

Seeing Gyeongho, who’d prioritized the sacrificed animals and given up his own revenge, made me think that.

Haven’t I been thinking more about the owner’s revenge than the owner himself?

I moved under the pretext of “for the owner,” but I couldn’t be sure what the owner truly wanted.

If the owner were alive…… he’d probably wait for them to crumble on their own, nod as if he’d known, and extend a hand—he was that kind of person.

“That’s why I picked you up too.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, when I first saw you, you seemed so lacking, like the mental age of the puppy I had.”

“No, that’s…….”

Becoming a person from a dog overnight— it would be weirder if I was natural.

“I’d never normally do that, but you looked so much like that puppy that I impulsively said to stay here.”

If Gyeongho hadn’t picked me up then, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me.

“You know? After telling you to stay here, I regretted it so much that night.”

“Huh?”

Regret? He regretted picking me up?

“I thought I was crazy, letting a person in after being burned like that…….”

“Really?”

“But when I opened my eyes in the morning, there you were, curled up sleeping at my feet.”

I remembered. That night, left alone, everything felt like a lie, like it could vanish any moment, so I’d sought Gyeongho and stuck close.

Having the new person Gyeongho nearby felt reassuring somehow.

“Seeing you sleep like a puppy, all the night’s regrets vanished, and I just let out a hollow laugh.”

I’d thought I stayed here just because I was lucky and Gyeongho liked people, but today I learned that wasn’t all.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do. But…….”

Gyeongho paused mid-sentence, then continued.

“Don’t get so hung up on revenge that you forget yourself.”

With those words, Gyeongho finished tidying the clinic and went to his room, leaving me alone there.

Don’t forget yourself.

That was what Gyeongho left me with, but for me, who wasn’t human, “myself” didn’t exist. I was just an animal, after all.

***

“I’m off!”

I got up early in the morning, said goodbye, and headed out. After hearing Gyeongho’s words yesterday, I wanted to confirm properly.

“Mister, is this the right place?”

As I rode the taxi, the car kept going deeper into the mountains.

“Heh heh, must be your first time, kid. This is it. Probably about 10 more minutes.”

“10 more minutes?”

I’d already climbed the winding mountain road for quite a while, so I was surprised to hear 10 more minutes. Where on earth was it?

“This place is especially remote. So unless it’s holidays, people don’t come much.”

“Ah…… I see.”

“There’s only mountains around here, so no passing cars? Call this number when you leave—I’ll come right away.”

“Okay, got it.”

The taxi driver held the wheel with one hand and rummaged with the other to hand me a business card.

“Alright~ We’re here. There it is.”

“Wow…….”

Soon after, instead of dense trees, an open space appeared, with countless graves in view.

Amazing.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight I’d never seen before.

“Heh heh, looks amazing, huh? Yeah, you don’t see places this wide often.”

“It’s huge?”

“Yeah. Pretty vast.”

Good. At least those bastards hadn’t left him just anywhere.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah~ I’ll be nearby, so call later for sure.”

“Okay!”

After getting out of the taxi, I walked in to find the owner, as I’d researched beforehand.

Huh?

But somehow, as I went deeper, the memorial park that had looked decent quickly became rundown and shabby.

“What…….”

There was what looked like a management office ahead, but no one was inside.

“Hello?”

My voice echoed in the wide hall. Dust rolled on the floor; it seemed poorly maintained.

No choice.

I couldn’t wait forever, so I decided to search myself. Luckily, the signs were clear, and finding where the owner was wasn’t hard.

“Ah…….”

And the moment I saw it, I was speechless.

Should I kill them?

Before seeing this, I’d wondered if my so-called revenge was just my own greed.

But this isn’t right.

An urn with “Jung Jaehyun” written in three letters on dust-covered glass. That was all. Not even the common flower or a single photo.

“I didn’t come here just to see this now.”

The reason I hadn’t visited until now was guilt for not protecting the owner. So I wanted to come when I could face him proudly after revenge.

“Hah…… Sorry, owner.”

I felt so sorry for leaving him alone here. If I’d known, I’d have come sooner.

“Oh? Here to visit?”

“Ah, yes.”

So there was a manager; a man in a navy cap walked over, speaking to me.

“Ahh~ I was just thinking of calling. How can you leave it and go radio silent!”

“Huh?”

“We’re basic five years~ Said you’d move soon and asked for just one year, then no contact. Come on! Let’s settle up quick.”

Those bastards who wouldn’t miss this kind of money hadn’t even paid?

“That’s why we don’t take unclaimed much…….”

“He’s not unclaimed.”

I snapped back without realizing at the word “unclaimed.”

“Not unclaimed?”

“No, I’m family. Contact me from now on. I’ll pay everything.”

At the mention of payment, he changed the guardian to my name without suspicion.

“Never contact the previous person—call me no matter what.”

“Don’t worry and just answer calls. If this happens again, I’ll have no choice but to clear the spot.”

Too angry to care about my identity or anything, thinking I should at least smack that bastard’s head, I called a taxi right away.

“Mister, to Seoul.”

“What? Seoul? From here?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh~ That’s tough. Not your average long distance.”

“I’ll pay whatever you ask. To Seoul. To DreamN.”

At the promise of paying whatever, the driver said no more, turned on the navigation, and floored it to Seoul.

“First time going to Seoul for me…….”

As we neared DreamN, a large bus came into view out the window.

“Hah?”

And on that bus, Han Jungwoo’s face was plastered large.

[Happy birthday Jungwoo]

His fans were holding an event for his birthday. And that wasn’t all—in front of DreamN Entertainment, dozens of boxes were placed.

“This is precious, so handle carefully. Can’t break.”

“Got it.”

“Ah! This is for the company staff.”

A few fans diligently checked for misses, while what seemed like company employees busied moving boxes inside.

*Ah…….

Seeing that, I turned right around.

No one left to celebrate the owner’s birthday, yet so many adored and celebrated that murderer.

***

The abandoned owner and the beloved bastard.

Confirming the stark difference with my own eyes in one day inevitably shattered my mentality.

“You’re back?”

Returning home, Gyeongho greeted me. And the moment I saw his face, tears dripped down.

“What? Why suddenly crying.”

Seeing me burst into tears right away, Gyeongho approached, flustered.

“I…… I can’t. I don’t think I can.”

I’d thought and pondered countless times, but I had no confidence to just watch those who’d stolen everything from the owner and were living well, covering my eyes and ears.

“Sheesh…….”

Gyeongho patted my shoulder with one hand.

“Sniff, sorry. It’s just…… too pitiful, I can’t.”

They say revenge begets revenge, or that revenge’s end can’t be a happy ending, but…… I couldn’t live pretending not to know, blinding and deafening myself.

“I never forced that on you. I just said don’t lose yourself.”

“I don’t know what my self is.”

I still didn’t know what Gyeongho meant by “yourself.”

“Then first do what you want. And I never expected from the start. From the moment you came here, you’ve only looked one way.”

Perhaps Gyeongho knew me better than I did.

“Crying like a kid over this…….”

“I was worried you’d be disappointed in me.”

I thought he’d see me poorly, hanging my life on revenge unlike him.

“Me? In you? Hahaha!”

Gyeongho burst into incredulous laughter.

“Family doesn’t throw around ‘disappointment’ lightly.”

The word “family” made my eyes moist again.

***

“Sniff…….”

“You’re going overseas tomorrow for some awards or something—if you keep crying, you’ll look ugly on camera.”

“I’m not crying.”

“Not crying, my ass. Check your face in the bathroom later.”

And that evening, I focused on icing to reduce the eye swelling.

“Look here~”

“Hyunjae-ssi! This way too!”

“Are you healthy?”

“You look great today!”

I’d also been invited to the KAA that Taewoon and Jibin mentioned at the wrap party, and the airport was swarming with reporters and fans there to capture celebrities heading to KAA.

“Wow…… Hyung, you okay?”

“They said lots of idols are going too—it’s no joke.”

It was a relief I didn’t have idol-level fan crowds, but moving through the throngs of onlookers and reporters was quite tough.

“Wow…… It’s like waves over there? Looks like someone could get hurt.”

“Yeah, seems really dangerous…….”

We escaped the crowd and took the escalator, looking down from above.

And among the countless people with cameras, one caught my eye.

“Huh? That person…….”