Chapter 183:

“I can’t believe there are no insects here! There’s something undoubtedly wrong here!” Gyu-baek exclaimed.

With people dying left and right, all sorts of things could happen here.

First, Gyu-baek, despite knowing he was abducted, was cheerful like a child who has received sponsorship from the Kwon family.

Second, Lee-yeon was here with him.

No matter how Kwon Chae-woo thought about it, everything looked absurd. How could Lee-yeon and Gyu-baek be here?

Kwon Chae-woo felt empty-handed and instinctively clenched his fist. Was it because he wanted to hold her hand or because he was holding onto his prey? It was hard to tell.

Having destroyed everything and come to this point, now, of all times, the memories were flooding back. The impulse was leading ahead of reason to a point where even he couldn’t predict it.

“Lee-yeon.”

Lee-yeon, in return, clenched her lips and hardened her expression. “…Don’t call me that way.”

“Then, what should I call you?”

“Just like earlier, call me ‘you’ and speak informally. Keep calling me that way, relentlessly. It puts my mind at ease.”

“…”

Kwon Chae-woo could only remain still, unable to believe Lee-yeon’s cold response again.

At that moment, the driver who had come out from the driver’s seat trembled as he handed over her suitcase. Lee-yeon accepted it and held Gyu-baek’s hand.

Having completely ignored Kwon Chae-woo in her line of sight, Lee-yeon soon found herself overwhelmed by a familiar scent. Without warning, Kwon Chae-woo forcibly separated their joined hands.

“I waited because you said you’d meet Gyu-baek. Doesn’t that mean it’s my turn next?”

“…”

“Why are you holding the kid’s hand? I don’t understand.”

The already low voice sank even colder.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I guess Lee-yeon got confused about the order.”

“….”

It was a tone that conveyed a certain pressure, suggesting that it was only natural for her to be confused and that no other reasons would be accepted. In response, Lee-yeon turned around with irritation in her eyes.

The fact that the person had changed, but his scent remained the same unexpectedly bothered her.

“Haven’t you ever broken up with the woman you met before?”

Kwon Chae-woo’s expression stiffened.

“Don’t you understand the meaning of breaking up? When you destroyed the cello, killed the sacred tree, and discarded me as if I were no longer needed. Even if we meet by chance someday, pretending not to know each other would be the minimum courtesy. The only thing left between us is such basic courtesy.”

“…”

“So please, can’t you at least act decently?”

Kwon Chae-woo’s brow lightly furrowed. She seemed unfamiliar, expressing self-reproach and rejection throughout her body.

“When we broke up, there was no trace of consideration, and now there’s even less consideration from you. I just arrived from a trip. Please let me rest.”

The muscles in his jaw tensed. Lee-yeon’s gaze, filled with disgust, felt like a tight grip around his throat.

While he wore an expression as if he could drag her away at any moment, he couldn’t even move a finger.

Moreover, the woman before him was not the person Kwon Chae-woo remembered. She wasn’t kind to him.

When he realized she was a new Lee-yeon he hadn’t experienced before; his voice came out choked as if constrained by a crack.

“… That’s the main house. Do you even know where it is before you go in?”

“Why are you making a big deal of it when we’re not even sharing a room?”

The main house was where Kwon Ki-seok resided.

When Lee-yeon casually brushed it off, a smirk spread across Kwon Chae-woo’s face, but it wasn’t a genuine smile. It was more like a chilling frost.

“Lee-yeon, even as a joke—”

At that moment, Lee-yeon’s body suddenly jolted.

Kwon Chae-woo gripped her collar softly and casually wiped his bloodied hand on her clothes, which were stained from smashing through the glass window. The fresh red blood splattered on her neck, leaving marks as his calloused fingertips scraped and grazed the skin beneath her ear.

“I’m not one to say such things.”

His trembling voice reached her like a gentle breeze. Unconsciously, Lee-yeon clenched the fabric at her fingertips and held her breath. “Do you want to test my limits? How terrible can I become?”

While the pungent smell of blood rose nauseatingly, Kwon Chae-woo stared at Lee-yeon as if piercing through her.

Only after observing her trembling eyelashes did he finally relax his expression. It seemed that his pent-up frustration could only be relieved by seeing any kind of reaction from her toward him.

“Lee-yeon, breathe.”

He briskly tapped her back, urging her to take a breath. Lee-yeon turned her head sharply to face him. As their eyes met up close, he involuntarily twitched one of his eyebrows.

His neat, chestnut-colored eyes were like a heated furnace, filled with intensity, yet they also revealed an undeniable longing. Lee-yeon blinked, flustered and infuriated.

“W-Why are you acting like this?”

“…”

“Surely, you haven’t f-forgotten again? It’s me, me. The person you said trembles just by looking at you.”

“I remember.”

“Then ignore me, as if I’m invisible even though I’m right in front of you!”