Suddenly, Jurim fixed his gaze on Suhyeong.
"……."
"You were wro—"
"Shh."
Geuru grabbed Jurim’s hand once more and covered his mouth as he tried to retort.
Suhyeong had begun, at some point, to hold his tongue. Keeping his mouth closed helped more than opening it.
When the things he said were repeatedly chopped to pieces and circulated in the news, the will to speak naturally sealed itself shut.
And besides…… words alone might not reach the heart. And, and more. Countless reasons still existed.
But.
"Jurim."
If even a shred of willingness to forgive me remains in you.
"I regret saying that to you. For all the time since you left."
—Please, just once, come to me now.
"I never properly spoke to you even once. It may sound like an excuse, but it was a terribly difficult time for me too."
Jurim, who had been innately indifferent to the reactions of others, could have overcome it more strongly than that, yet he simply crumbled helplessly before the words that poured down like thorns.
"I was always sorry to you, and to Ijo. When Ijo couldn't return, my guilt was so great…… What I said to you was actually what I wanted to say to myself. I was merely projecting my guilt onto you."
"It sounds like a dull story. Is there any reason I should hear more of it now?"
"That 'Project'—participating in it was entirely Ijo's choice."
"……."
"Because Ijo was so gentle, you never used to worry about the worst, did you."
Yes, contrary to the rumors circulating in the world that Ijo had been sent to the Tower for the company, and contrary to what Jurim believed—that Ijo had been made to participate in the government’s secret project for the company—none of it was true.
"Anyway, as a result, it’s true that Doan benefited by receiving government support because Ijo participated in the project. You’ll be disappointed to hear this, but…… I took full advantage of it."
Suhyeong squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and continued.
"But I wouldn't sell my son for such reasons."
It was deeply humiliating. In a situation unbearable with shame, he had held his words back even more, lest he let something slip about Ijo.
He wanted his first son to remain not a sacrificial lamb who had volunteered to join the nation’s secret experiment, but solely a noble hero.
"Please, believe only that I truly didn't push Ijo forward out of my own greed. There has never been a moment when I didn't love you. You came before everything I possessed. At any moment, that alone is something I can say with a clear conscience."
"……."
Jurim merely looked at Suhyeong with an unreadable expression.
He was neither angry nor sarcastic, simply indifferent. As if he were listening to a dull story that truly no longer had anything to do with him.
Just then, an announcement came through the speakers.
[The auction will begin shortly. Please take your assigned seats.]
Jurim opened his mouth indifferently.
"It’s starting."
"Jurim. Won’t you have a meal with me on Ijo’s upcoming memorial day?"
"……."
Geuru looked up at Jurim. His firmly closed lips did not easily part.
He couldn’t let this opportunity pass like this. Geuru moved his lips.
"Geuru is……."
As if pushing him on a swing, if a little nudge was needed, Geuru wanted gladly to become that nudge.
"Geuru wike meat!"
"……."
"……."
The gazes of the two, lips pressed tightly shut, snapped toward Geuru.
Geuru hammered the point home once more.
"Meal, meat!"
For a moment, Jurim felt dizzy and swept one hand down his face.
That carnivorous kindergartener…….
Suhyeong relaxed his stiff expression and smiled faintly as he replied.
"I’ll prepare plenty for you to eat."
Are you listening, Guild Leader? He says he’ll prepare plenty of meat.
Geuru turned his head so quickly and forcefully that it made a sharp sound, looking up at Jurim. It was a face urging him to accept quickly so they could go eat meat.
"……."
But Jurim, who had only pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes, spun around sharply.
The door opened, revealing the banquet hall attendees all seated.
"Guild Leader On, I’ll guide you to your seat."
He gave a slight nod.
'Failure?!'
Geuru glanced at Onsuhyeong with a stricken expression, fidgeting.
Onsuhyeong wore a calm, cold face, having hidden his emotions once again.
'Is this how it ends?'
Did Jurim know there had been a misunderstanding, yet still feel no desire to forgive his father?
Then, Jurim spoke while turning back.
"I’ll go home with Geuru."
It was his answer to the meal proposal.
Geuru silently opened his mouth wide.
When he looked at Suhyeong, he too wore a surprised expression. Soon, baring his teeth in a smile, he mouthed something to Geuru.
'Thank you.'
A bright smile bloomed across Geuru’s face like a flower. It was an endlessly adorable smile.
*
Ijo’s words had been right.
Suhyeong, left alone on the terrace, thought so and let out a low laugh.
"Father, Jurim is soft-hearted despite how he seems. He just doesn’t show it."
Seeing him astounded, saying it was absurd, Ijo simply laughed heartily.
"He hates that sort of thing, emotional and dramatic stuff. He says melodrama is the worst thing in the world. Is it eighth-grader syndrome? Sometimes he just looks like a sulky kid; isn’t he cute?"
"Since when is a brat with a knife in his tongue considered cute?"
"He says pretty is pretty and good is good, you know. He expresses things honestly."
"Yes, rude but not stingy with honesty."
"That’s why he’s popular at school. They say he’s mean, but not completely rotten."
"My, children these days are truly unfathomable."
After all, Ijo as his older brother would know Jurim better than himself, who left home every day for work.
Though it didn’t seem like it, the relationship between Ijo and Jurim was quite close.
People said Ijo and Jurim were very different, but the two were rather similar in fundamental disposition.
"I’m going to the Tower."
In that they accepted every situation alone, decided within themselves, and delivered it as a notice.
"I’m planning to take Jurim with me. There are things you learn from the experience of protecting something. He’s a bit rough right now, so I’ll take him and polish him up. Come on, is it dangerous? I’ll be right there. With such an amazing son, why must you worry so much, our Chairman On?"
Whether it was going to the Tower, or saying he’d take Jurim.
"Dad, you believe me, right? I’ll come back safely."
The easygoing-looking first son had never once gone back on a decision.
His decision held cause, justification, and confidence.
In contrast, all On Suhyeong possessed was worry, anguish, and resentment toward a cruel twist of fate.
Even when he had belatedly learned that the government funding flowing into Doan was compensation for some project Ijo had participated in.
"Take everything they give you, Father. We can accept at least this much. Think of it as your son showing filial piety. Wow, you’ve raised a good son, haven’t you?"
"You wouldn’t let Doan go bankrupt like this, would you? Our White Knight has even had a child……."
Even while knowing the worry and agony of a father driving his son into a death trap.
"And…… it’s not really just the company, either. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you’d be anxious, but I’m the only one who can clear the Tower. So you have to think of what comes next. That’s why I’m participating in the project, Father. Countless lives are hanging in the balance, so just close your eyes tight and understand."
Both Ijo and Jurim always had a knack for leaving him speechless.
Even now, he didn’t know what words would have been right to say to his son then.
"Does Jurim know?"
"Of course not. I can’t tell him. You know his personality. I can’t let him interfere."
He couldn’t bear to look straight at his laughing son as he asked.
"Will you be able to come back?"
Then Ijo simply said this.
"Dad, you believe me, right?"
He had accepted and used the nation’s support voraciously, thinking it was the value of his son.
He believed in his amazing son. Because Ijo had never once failed to keep his word.
But in the end, he hadn’t returned.