Chapter 227:

The entrance to the banquet hall was heavily secured as if it were a restricted area. Nonetheless, Kwon Chae-woo entered without hesitation.

The dim lighting created an unusual ambiance, and he couldn’t help but think of how odd it felt. However, his gaze was wide open as he desperately searched for So Lee-yeon.

The well-dressed guests, with their pupils dilated, were uncomfortably visible in the gloomy atmosphere. But when he spotted Kwon Ki-seok and So Lee-yeon, standing side by side, faces close to each other, his mind went completely blank.

For some reason, they seemed to stand out, as if a special curtain had been drawn around them.

“Oh…”

Kwon Chae-woo nervously shoved the drink in his mouth, even more annoying than getting shot.

He couldn’t help but feel furious when he saw So Lee-yeon in a white dress. Is she supposed to be his sister-in-law now?

Seething with anger, he emptied his glass of the cold sweat-inducing drink and, relying on his crutches, began to walk.

Then, at a peculiar angle, he slipped the crutch between the closely spaced faces.

“Both of you, separate a bit.”

At that moment, it felt as if the ground was bouncing up and the ceiling was about to collapse. A strange sensation gripped him, like his body tilting and then flipping over.

Though it felt bizarre, Kwon Chae-woo firmly pressed the crutch against the white wall as if he could feel the pressure.

But as if his skull was splitting apart, a severe headache struck him, and suddenly, the banquet hall disappeared. A new scene unfolded.

The drug was beginning to affect him.

Back when he was poor but had a mother and music.

Kwon Chae-woo extended his now smaller hands, looking around with his newly reduced eye level. A sudden gust of fresh air filled his nostrils.

At the same time, the girl who used to hide beneath the trees and sob quietly every afternoon began to gradually overlap with So Lee-yeon’s image. In an instant, Kwon Chae-woo was absorbed into their shared past, a time when they were thirteen years old.

“Did you wear your school uniform today?”

He slowly blinked, asking innocently. He had no idea what he was saying; he merely surrendered to the familiar and hazy sensations of longing.

“Did you not want to hear me play today?”

“What are you saying? What’s happening—” Lee-yeon answered him, bewildered.

“Ah, this voice… it’s the same. Tell me more.”

So Lee-yeon gazed at him with a bewildered expression, her cheeks flushing slightly. Kwon Chae-woo, torn between concern and bewilderment, curiously examined the shimmering pupils of the girl, spotted with confusion.

“Seeing you from this close feels like the first time.”

“…”

“How old are you exactly?”

“Uh…”

“I know you’re an older sister (noona), but to what extent are you an older sister?”

“I… What’s going on?”

In his memory and vision, the girl’s voice faltered intermittently.

Despite playing the cello for her every day, it seemed she couldn’t recognize him. Kwon Chae-woo, resembling a child with flushed cheeks, felt a pang of sadness.

He had wanted to meet her so much. If it weren’t for his mother’s strict orders to avoid talking to anyone in the neighborhood and to wander alone, he would have revealed himself sooner.

It brought him some excitement to know her more and for her to know him.

The lonely girl, who always seemed so desolate, sometimes left yellow post-it notes on the trees with a touch of regret. In response, Kwon Chae-woo would secretly venture into the woods, picking them like flowers on a moonlit night.

Kwon Chae-woo examined the dazed face of the girl intently. His heart pounded as if it would burst, and his cheeks burned as if they were on fire. The pain was far more intense than all the times he had practiced the cello, forming calluses. His entire body ached, but he had no desire to stop.

“Up close… you look even prettier.”

“…It’s all gone completely wrong…”

“But why do I keep looking elsewhere instead of at you?”

As Kwon Chae-woo pulled the taller girl forward, his hands trembling, the scene was disrupted.

“Chae-woo!”

At the sound of the desperate shout, he involuntarily turned his head. His mother had rushed in, her face turning pale as if she might pass out at any moment. Her hand, gripping the his son’s shoulder, was trembling uncontrollably.

Kwon Chae-woo sensed, almost instinctively, that their irregular daily life was about to be torn from now on.

“Do we have to run away right now?”

“At least we need to go somewhere else; the problem isn’t staying here.”

With a determined face, Yoon Joo-ha took his hand, leading him. Kwon Chae-woo followed as they fled the forest. His legs ached, and he struggled to catch his breath after their mad dash.

Gruff men pursued them from an unexpected direction, shouting things like “Young master Kwon” and “Young master Chae-woo.” Kwon Chae-woo realized instinctively that their unusual life was on the verge of disintegration.

“Why are we running?”

“For now, let’s go anywhere; it’s not safe here.”

Yoon Joo-ha pulled his arm roughly as if he were pulling the child’s shoulder bone.

Kwon Chae-woo’s mother, who was leading the way, turned to keep an eye on them. She had firmly grasped her son’s shoulder and seemed reluctant to let go. The rugged terrain made Kwon Chae-woo’s face distort with a mixture of fear and exhaustion, making him appear almost beastly.

This time, it was the boy who pleaded with his mother to act.

“Mom, please, you run first!”

“Kwon Chae-woo, snap out of it!”

“Those men know my name. Not my mom!”

Mom, you see, why can’t I go to school? Why can’t I make friends? Why do we have to hide and live like this? Mom… What did we do wrong?

Once and for all, he wanted to stop hiding.

Suddenly, the then young Kwon Chae-woo remembered the lonely girl he used secretly plays music for.

“That girl lives in the house right below the mountain. Mom, go to that house first, not anywhere else. If she hesitates because she doesn’t know you, tell her that this is the payment for all the music she heard from me!”

“Chae-…”

“I buried my favorite CD under the tree. It’s the tree I play under, that’s the proof! Go quickly, we’ll meet again soon!”

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