The Saint Wants to Rest - Chapter 54.1
Ian felt the hand of Choi Jae-heon, which he was holding, tremble minutely. That trembling was closer to despair than anger. An obsession more poignant than any demonic madness he had seen in Lancia was pooled within his brother’s eyes.
However, he did not avoid his gaze. If he did not tie up the loose ends clearly right here and now, it felt as though the tangled thread would eventually ruin his brother.
‘If that happens, it will become difficult for me to endure as well.’
He had survived for five years with the single desire to see his family again. He could not lose him like this.
“I’m sorry, Hyung. I can’t accept your feelings.”
At the firm rejection, Choi Jae-heon’s expression darkened. His face, which had turned pale, almost looked like that of a corpse.
“If it’s because I’m lacking in some way.”
“No, it’s not like that. To me, Hyung is the most perfect and precious family in the world. That is exactly why I don’t want to part ways with you.”
Ian gripped Choi Jae-heon’s hand even tighter.
“Lovers can become strangers and break up at any time. But that’s not the case for family. It’s something that isn’t severed until the day we die. I don’t want to lose you. So Hyung, please remain as my family.”
It was the kindest consideration Ian could offer, and yet, it was a sentence. Choi Jae-heon bit his lip hard enough to bleed. Inside his head, the desire to snatch Ian up and hide him away in a place only he knew surged. The extreme impulse to destroy what he could not possess gnawed at his reason.
‘But.’
Choi Jae-heon saw Vermouth standing in the distance. That guy was staring at Ian’s back with a relaxed smile. If he forced his way here, his beloved younger brother would truly let go of his hand and run to that man. Therefore, he endured. Because in the end, the one who remains until the very end is family.
A shackle by the name of family sometimes bound a person more severely than a union by the name of lovers.
Choi Jae-heon closed his eyes tightly and then opened them. Then, just as he had always done, he acted the part of the brother Ian wanted.
“Yeah, you’re right. I must have been crazy for a moment. You and I have been family since we were young.”
Choi Jae-heon forced the corners of his mouth up into a bitter smile.
“You must have suffered a lot because of me lately, right? I’m sorry.”
His hand, which still hadn’t stopped trembling, affectionately tidied Ian’s hair. It was just that, but Ian felt a sense of relief. The brother who had felt like a stranger for a brief moment had returned to his original self.
“No.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry.” Ian swallowed the words that were about to burst out again and hugged Choi Jae-heon. Embracing him back, Choi Jae-heon affectionately patted his back.
***
Stigma Guild Headquarters, 2nd basement level, logistics warehouse.
Away from the commotion on the surface, Kim Min-cheol was silently pushing a cart. Thanks to Alexander’s briefing, security within the headquarters had become tight, but humans were not included in the scope of that vigilance.
“Min-cheol, you can take this up to the pantry next to the strategic briefing room on the 3rd floor. They say today’s meeting is going to be long.”
At the warehouse manager’s words, Kim Min-cheol smiled sheepishly and bowed his head. That wasn’t originally his job, but since he belonged to a subcontracted company, he did what he was told without a word of complaint.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
After saying that and boarding the elevator, the expression vanished from Kim Min-cheol’s face. He pulled out a single, very thin black thread from his breast pocket. It was a thread made by minutely compressing the demonic energy of a high ranking demon, and it had the property of seizing and monitoring space. Since it was an item that was not easy to obtain or create, this was the only one he possessed.
‘I’m glad the only countermeasure the humans found was holy water.’
As he passed through the 3rd floor hallway, Kim Min-cheol took advantage of a moment when no one was looking to push that black thread into a corner of a wall-mounted communication junction box. The thread dug into the wall like a living creature and began to spread throughout the entire headquarters via the communication network.
‘The moment the Saint sets foot in this place, his every move will be in the palm of our hands.’
Kim Min-cheol scanned his surroundings as he set down a box of coffee in the pantry. Through the gap in the door of the strategic briefing room, the urgent voices of the guild executives could be heard. The Empire Guild’s announcement, the subsequent certification by the Korean Management Bureau, talk of demons and demonic energy, and so on. Information as valuable as treasure poured in.
In this place they believed to be the safest heart of their operation, the humans were exposing all their cards to the enemy. Kim Min-cheol held a fishy smile on his lips as if satisfied and pushed the cart back toward the elevator.
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