While Park Moondae enjoyed tea with Randy downstairs, Hajun headed upstairs after catching a heavy thud, encountering the exact scene he expected.
Cheongryeo lay flat on the floor, still tied to his chair. He had tried to break free on his own and tipped over in the process.
The modest room contained nothing beyond a small table, a decorative vase, and a rug beneath him. He must have intended to shatter the vase to slice through his bindings. Thanks to the thick walls and sheer size of the estate, he hadn’t heard a word from downstairs. Had he caught their chat, he wouldn’t have made such a rash move.
Hajun walked over and freed Cheongryeo’s legs from the chair. Since his ankles stayed bound together, sitting him upright worked just fine. Randy was British and not used to sitting on the floor, which explained why he brought a chair, but Hajun’s roots remained Korean—even if he had lived in the States for centuries under a blue passport.
Crossing his legs a short distance from Cheongryeo, Hajun spoke up. “This is my house. In case you wondered.”
Cheongryeo stayed silent.
“So, here’s that ‘later’ I mentioned. Want to talk?”
“…Talk about what? You think you can pull something like this and walk away clean?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Stupid guy. Money and power solved everything. As it happened, Hajun held plenty of both. On top of that, he possessed supernatural gifts to handle problems money couldn’t fix. He really was something else.
Staring speechless at the brazen kidnapper, Cheongryeo broke the silence. “People will notice I’m gone before long and call the cops. Are you out of your mind, or just plain stupid?”
“Ah, that. I hacked your phone.”
Cheongryeo’s eyes widened.
“According to your schedule, you should be eating right now. I’ll send a text saying traffic backed up before your next event, so relax.”
Hajun gave a broad grin, promising express delivery to his next venue once they wrapped up. Cheongryeo stared, struggling to make sense of it. Express delivery? Was this guy too stupid to consider consequences, or…
“Enough about that. I want answers to my questions now.”
“…What questions?”
“Hmm. You said you died one day and woke up in the past. How old are you right now?”
“…Twenty-six.”
Hajun ran the math in his head. Back when he reached legal drinking age, he was twenty-one. A three-year gap meant Cheongryeo was twenty-five in Korean age. That was last year.
Wait. Moondae was twenty back then, meaning the timeline lined up right on the mark. Catching that detail, Hajun tucked the thought away in a corner of his mind before speaking.
“So you first died in the winter at twenty-five… and opened your eyes again at eighteen. I was fifteen back then.”
“…So what?”
“So every time I opened my eyes, a ball slammed into the back of my head. That poor middle school kid swore to find the bastard responsible. And voila—here you sit.”
Cheongryeo remained quiet.
“I have a million questions for you. Why rewind time? Was it your choice? Why become an idol every single reset? And why can’t you keep your curse under control?”
Depending on his answers, Hajun was ready to grant him some grace. Mentioning the accident earlier, and the fact that both of them suffered under the curse… Frustration aside, facts were facts.
Yet Cheongryeo tilted his head, throwing a counterquestion right back. “Didn’t you jump back into the past using future knowledge too?”
“Huh? Answer my question first.”
“Why so angry? You can erase mistakes, fix wrong choices, and build success from them. That’s how you built your tech company, isn’t it?”
“Did you run a background check on me??”
Hajun raised his voice with a sour look. If Randy saw this, he would shake his head at his master’s double standards. You did the same to him, Young Master.
“And what? Success? I made that company without needing future cheat codes! You think I asked for this??”
“Then what do you want? An apology?”
“Yeah! That’s right! So drop to your knees and beg for forgiveness!”
Cheongryeo rolled his eyes at the giant man before him. A overgrown kid throwing a tantrum. A kid throwing a fit on the floor without even knowing what he wanted. Proof that living a long time didn’t make someone an adult.
Sneering on the inside, Cheongryeo offered a quick apology. “Fine, I’m sorry. I didn’t know someone else got dragged into this.”
Hajun scowled.
Look at that. He received an apology, yet his face grew even more sour. Still, getting out of here seemed easier than expected. Whatever Won Hajun wanted, Cheongryeo didn’t care. He had too many other fires to extinguish. He lacked time to baby a brute of a child.
“Then mind releasing me now? This is going to leave a mark.”
“…Hold on.”
Seeing Hajun stand up and walk closer, Cheongryeo let a small smirk touch his lips. Perfect.
Except he knew little about Won Hajun. Which meant things were about to stray far off script.
“Say ah.”
“…?”
Hajun grabbed Cheongryeo’s jaw, forcing his mouth open, and shoved his fingers inside. Bound hands behind his back, Cheongryeo twisted his body in panic, but to no avail.
“—Mmph, wha…!”
“Hold still! Your spit feels gross on my hands!”
Hajun scowled, carving a silence spell onto Cheongryeo’s tongue. The tongue offered the strongest effect, so both had to endure it.
Since time ran short, he had to let him go, but he couldn’t leave loose ends after everything he did. He needed a guarantee this guy wouldn’t talk about today. This method proved fast and solid.
From Cheongryeo’s perspective, a kidnapper jammed fingers down his throat like trying to force him to throw up. Yet Hajun possessed zero desire to explain himself while already in a foul mood. Engrave the mark, send him off, and be done with it. He hated this guy’s guts and wanted no further business with him.
Right then, Cheongryeo bit down hard on Hajun’s hand.
“!”
“Ugh… Ack, cough!”
Driven by survival instinct as breath failed him, Cheongryeo gasped for air, coughing hard. A strange heat danced across his tongue. That shaman had done something to him.
Glancing between his bleeding fingers and Cheongryeo, Hajun spoke. “…You bit me?”
Blood mixed with saliva dripped from his knuckle, showing how deep the bite sank. His already terrible mood hit rock bottom.
Hajun grabbed Cheongryeo by the collar and slammed him aside.
CRASH!
Cheongryeo slammed into the table, sending the vase shattering onto the floor. A sharp crack echoed through the room.
“You… I go easy on you, and you pull this, you bastard!!”
“Ugh,”
Hajun grabbed the fallen Cheongryeo by his collar once more, raising a heavy fist. But catching the sound of fast-approaching footsteps, he clicked his tongue and let go. Cheongryeo let out a low groan on the floor, a dark bruise forming on his side from the collision.
Lifting an adult male like a ragdoll… What kind of strength was this…
[Young Master, you said you came to resolve things. Don’t make them worse.]
Feeling a hand pull him up, Cheongryeo lifted his head. A foreign man addressed Won Hajun in English. Given their dynamic and Hajun’s background, his identity was easy to guess.
[That bastard bit my finger!]
Cheongryeo glared at Hajun in silence. What a mess…
Shocked out of his mind, he took a moment to notice Park Moondae standing stiff by the door. Quite out of character for him.
“…So, the cause of this mess is…”
“Yeah! It’s his fault! He set me off first!”
Listening to Hajun blab about every detail of the conflict, Park Moondae pieced the situation together. Why Hajun chose to vent to him was a mystery.
Moondae wished for nothing more than the butler’s return. Searching for the first-aid kit took far longer than expected. Blame the size of the estate (correct answer).
Because of that, Moondae felt like he aged five years in real time. Beside Hajun, another mouth kept running.
“Quite well-raised for a young master. Must be the two families.”
“!”
Why keep poking Won Hajun after getting beaten up? Realizing Cheongryeo had dropped an insult about Hajun’s family, Moondae snapped his head over to check on Hajun. Hajun smiled with his lips, but his eyes burned with rage.
“Look who’s talking about manners. You bite people? Was your family too poor to hire a dog trainer?”
Please stop.
A savior arrived right on cue before things boiled over. Randy returned with a first-aid kit and a broom, sweeping the shattered porcelain into a corner with a calm face as he held Hajun back.
[Young Master, hold still and show me your hand. We need to treat it.]
[Get that bastard out of my sight.]
[Yes, yes.]
Randy handled Hajun‘s temper with ease, cleaned the wounded finger, and wrapped it with a bandage. Hajun reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulled out Cheongryeo‘s car keys and phone, and tossed them to Randy.
Taking the keys, Randy untied Cheongryeo’s bindings, handed back his phone, and led him toward the door.
“I will see you out. Follow me.”
Cheongryeo kept his gaze locked on Hajun as he stepped forward. Pausing near the doorway, he glanced back at his two juniors with a tilted head.
“…Well then. See you next time.”
“Get lost!!”
A harsh curse flew right back. Escorting Cheongryeo out with an awkward bow, Moondae stood motionless, mind going blank. His brain gave up loading like a frozen screen.
Noticing his dazed state, Hajun tapped Moondae’s shoulder.
“Hey, let’s go.”
“…Where now?”
“Back to our dorm, where else?”
“…Ah.”
Pulling another car from the garage, Hajun got Moondae into the passenger seat and drove toward the dorm. Exhausted to his core, Moondae drifted off to sleep, waking only when Hajun tapped him to announce their arrival.
New Terms
- 발설 금지 ì£¼ìˆ – Silence spell / Gag spell (A shamanic spell that prevents the target from revealing specific information)
