“You used to hug me often when I was little, right?”
His temples tightened. For a moment, his eyes rolled back in shock, but Lee Wooshin quickly suppressed his raging emotions.
“You gave me food, secretly brought me a goose-down blanket, and sometimes when I couldn’t walk and just lay there, you carried me too. Back then, my body was just skin and bones… Even though my head ached and felt heavy because of the mask, I still remember. Those gray eyes.”
“……!”
“Turns out you were hiding in Korea, huh.”
“…….”
“I just became more attached in Russia.”
A small, insignificant figure, whose face, age, or gender was even unknown… the winter castle’s rat. Because of Kiya’s tone, Lee Wooshin’s face hardened. The veins in the hand pulling the cord stood out clearly. With a furrowed brow, he temporarily held back his chaotic emotions.
“If you really lived in the winter castle… how are you still alive?”
“…….”
“That castle exploded without a trace, not even a hint remained.”
“You really don’t know anything, do you, Young Master.”
“…….”
“Is that why your father said you were pathetic?”
Lee Wooshin wrapped the cord around Kiya’s neck one more time with an expressionless face. Kiya groaned softly. But it was Lee Wooshin himself who was finding it hard to breathe. Kiya’s words made the ground beneath his feet waver. The hand that had intended to kill weakened… then strengthened again. Two feelings collided. If he had lived all this time, then that was enough. But… this bastard couldn’t be allowed to live. With difficulty restraining himself, Lee Wooshin bit his tongue and wrapped the cord around Kiya’s wrist once more.
“Then, say it properly. What exactly was the winter castle?”
“Kuh, you want to know?”
Even though his neck was starting to turn blue, Kiya still laughed. Lee Wooshin felt around the priest’s body and found seven small hidden knives, then threw them under the bed.
“Now there are very few people left who remember that day.”
“……!”
“That’s why I’m like a living secret document.”
Lee Wooshin’s hand momentarily stopped.
“I’m the only one left. Only my memories are intact. So you have to treat me well.”
“…….”
“Look, even Sonya has become like that… kuh, doesn’t know anything, right?”
That ominous premonition was always accurate. Up to this point, Lee Wooshin couldn’t help but realize that what Kiya was after was Seoryeong. He stared intently at Kiya’s lips, hoping for a definite answer. And at that moment, a shadow suddenly appeared: Seoryeong’s lips, the bulge of her chest, being licked and greedily sucked. That image flashed through his mind, making his thoughts boil and explode. If he didn’t finish this now, something terrible would definitely happen. He would lose the most precious thing. It wasn’t a dream, but his palms were wet with sweat. A growing anxiety began to swallow him whole.
“Don’t try to wake Sonya up or bring her to her senses.”
“……!”
To Kiya, she was Sonya, but to Lee Wooshin, she always had to be Han Seoryeong. And to protect her, he had deliberately mentioned Kim Hyeon to divert her thoughts. Even though that method felt bitter, still, nothing could replace Kim Hyeon.
“Even if there was someone at the winter castle…―”
The only one he wanted to protect was her. If he had to choose one, then he would choose the present without hesitation. As he coldly decided to abandon the rest, Kiya raised a crucifix and lunged at Lee Wooshin. The protruding syringe approached quickly. He reflexively ducked, but the area below his eye was torn. Drops of blood fell to the floor, and as he blinked, the priest licked his lips and didn’t miss the opportunity—immediately kicking him. The two resumed fighting as if wanting to kill each other. Heads slammed against glass, bodies rolled on the floor. They gripped each other’s necks and wrestled on the ground. Tok, tok— Someone knocked on the door.
“Instructor?”
“……!”
“……!”
The two immediately stopped moving as if they had promised. The familiar voice made them turn towards the door.
“Instructor, are you asleep?”
Lee Wooshin quickly reversed his position and covered Kiya’s mouth.
“Uuuph…!”
Instead of screaming, Kiya held his breath and moved his eyes back and forth. The doorknob turned, but fortunately, it had been locked from the start.
“Really asleep, huh?”
Hearing that calm voice, his heart pounded violently. ‘Mmmh, hh, ah, ah…!’ As soon as the sound of her hot breath touched my ear, the anger, the sense of loss, and the despair I had felt back then soared up again like pillars of fire. It wasn’t pretense that everything was for your sake, but in truth, it was just my own selfish desire.
It was indeed just a dream, but not merely a dream. The mad desire that almost made me lose my mind still felt vivid and real within me. My throat was dry, and that terrible feeling hadn’t yet disappeared.
“Then, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
Quiet footsteps slowly receded. As soon as she left, the two men, who had been frozen like frightened mice, once again aimed their weapons at each other’s vitals. Lee Wooshin pointed the muzzle of his gun, while Kiya held up the fallen knife, directly at each other’s chests.
“You still haven’t answered. What happened at the Winter Fortress?”
“I don’t like talking for free, you know.”
At that taunt, Lee Wooshin only nodded briefly. Then he immediately grabbed a pillow, pressed it against Kiya’s arm, and pulled the trigger.
“Ugh…!”
A round hole formed in the pillow, and its contents burst out. Shrak! At the same moment, the knife Kiya threw flew, tearing Lee Wooshin’s earlobe. Damn it…! But their cold gazes didn’t waver in the slightest.
“…….”
“…….”
By the way, that red tongue licked Seoryeong, didn’t it? Lee Wooshin’s face, already cold, now froze even more. He swung his gun at Kiya’s teeth like a hammer striking, then shoved the muzzle into the man’s mouth. Red blood seeped between his teeth, making the corner of Lee Wooshin’s lip twitch upwards. Kuhk, keh, kolok…! As Kiya coughed, he slightly loosened his grip on the gun.
“Then, bring that person’s face here. He looks like Sonya’s husband, right…?”
“……!”
“I’ll count that as payment.”
Kiya grinned, wiping the blood on his front teeth like he was licking strawberry jam. He stepped on the priest once more and began to reload his gun. This time, he pressed the pillow against his stomach and aimed the gun there, then continued.
“Maxim Solzhenitsyn. The Prime Minister back then, how he manipulated the Sakhalin children. What happened at the Winter Fortress—”
Suddenly, the tip of his gun trembled.
“If you bring that man’s face, I’ll be nice too.”
---
The next day, the team members began preparing to escort the children. They wore gun holsters on both sides of their waists, then covered the tops with priest’s robes. Until the departure time arrived, they stood guard and watched over the children, taking turns to eat. They simply walked around the basement in silence. There were no major tasks or need for violence. The night before, Seoryeong had kept thinking about Lee Wooshin’s expression until she almost fell asleep. Ever since seeing the children, his expression had drastically changed…. After tossing and turning repeatedly, she went to the man’s room, but returned empty-handed. Fortunately, she woke up quite refreshed that morning.
“By the way, did you hear that sound yesterday?”
At that moment, Jin Hoje spoke quietly.
“Last night, because it was so noisy, I even patrolled the hallway.”
“…….”
“But after looking closely, hah… it wasn’t a serious problem, you know… in the middle of the night, the sound of a creaking table, a creaking bed…! I don’t know what they were doing, but the sound was like pacing all over the room. I don’t know which floor, but these heretical sect kids, all that talk about chastity is nonsense! They must be secretly meeting their lovers every night…!”
Seoryeong’s eyes were fixed on Lee Wooshin, who was leaning back in his chair. Not really sitting, nor lying down. The strange tremor she had seen in the basement last night had vanished without a trace. Suddenly, the man slowly opened his eyes. The wound below his eye looked more prominent—a clear red scratch that was obviously someone’s handprint. Since morning, the team members had been noisy about the wound, but with a cold attitude, he brushed off all the commotion. If it had been a little higher, it could have hit his eye. Unconsciously, Seoryeong’s face paled as she approached. She bent down and whispered near his ear.
“Instructor, who bit your ear?”
“……!”
As she touched the wound on his ear covered with gauze, the man chuckled softly.
“If only someone had bitten it.”
As if to say, then what would you do, he moved his leg casually. Seoryeong’s chest felt tight; for some reason, she felt annoyed. She closed her mouth and took a long breath. His face was injured, what about his body? Were there no other injuries? She observed the man’s body intently, as if wanting to see through the clothes he was wearing.
“Why are you staring like that?”
“I want to see for myself.”
“What?”
The man touched his eyebrow with his fingertip, closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
“The room that kept creaking last night, that was the Instructor’s room, right?”
“……!”
“You think I wouldn’t know?”
The man sighed softly, then muttered to himself, who… who… He swept his bangs back with a hand full of annoyance. As he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, his large Adam’s apple moved slightly.
“Han Seoryeong… I had a nightmare last night. A snake came straight out.”
“…Yes?”
“But it went into a place it shouldn’t have.”
“Then were you bitten?”
“It wasn’t me who was bitten, huff… it wasn’t like that.”
Whatever he was thinking, his eyebrows furrowed sharply.
“So… after this mission is over, how about we go far away from this place?”
“What?”
“You and I, let’s leave all this behind.”
His cold gaze pierced without mercy.