BSAR Chapter 35

For the past few days, Cha Do-beom had been moving around like a man possessed. His mind had been in turmoil ever since he received a message from his subordinate early one morning, claiming they had unexpectedly discovered traces of “Seo Yeon-woo.”

The place where he could confirm the death of the child he had been desperately searching for was a foster care facility in an oddly random province, far from the site of the fire incident and not even the facility where the deceased Seo Yeon-woo had grown up.

The very first thing Do-beom had thoroughly investigated when he began searching for the child’s shadow was foster care facilities nationwide, so how could new information suddenly come to light now? It was a situation that anyone would find strange.

Above all, the timing was too coincidental. He had finally met someone he could definitively believe was Seo Yeon-woo after 17 years, and immediately afterward, a clue announcing that child’s death was discovered as if to mock him.

-Why are you only now confirming the list of residents that includes Seo Yeon-woo’s name?

Feeling suspicious about this abrupt and dubious coincidence, Do-beom directed his doubts toward the subordinate who had been in charge of the investigation. He had an unpleasant premonition that someone had intentionally intervened.

-When the foster care facility closed down due to the director’s criminal issues and the jurisdiction changed, there was confusion… I apologize.

To make matters worse, it seemed that the timing of the closure of the foster care facility where Seo Yeon-woo had sought refuge before being kidnapped happened to coincide with the point when Do-beom, who had taken control of the Black Sea organization, had begun his full-fledged investigation.

In the process of the list of foster care residents being transferred to this facility in several batches, the files had been temporarily omitted, and as a result, the subordinate in charge of the investigation had also missed checking them. The repeated coincidences added to the doubtful feeling.

-The cause of death, as stated in that document, was complications from an infection of the burned area, along with severe lung damage and fluid loss, and the date of death was…

Next, Do-beom was guided to a burial site halfway up a mountain where the remains of unclaimed bodies were often scattered. To a small tree planted without even a common signboard, nourished by the ashes of Seo Yeon-woo’s bones.

According to the remaining records, Seo Yeon-woo was discovered not far from the site of the fire incident. He was still breathing at that time and was transferred to a hospital, where he died two days later.

Do-beom, who was told that the funeral was skipped for cost savings and the body was quickly cremated and scattered in this cemetery, did not believe the story. It was too elaborate, but that made it all the more suspicious.

However, as if mocking his doubts, evidence announcing Seo Yeon-woo’s death continued to emerge the more he dug. From administrative records left in medical facilities and government agencies to various testimonies from witnesses and those involved.

-Most of the data from before the facility integration and relocation has been lost, and this tape is about all that’s left.

Decisively, a video recording of foster care children practicing a song to welcome a member of the National Assembly visiting for Children’s Day urged Do-beom to accept Seo Yeon-woo’s death.

Despite the passage of much time, the clear and innocent voice that was hard to forget was there. The clear evidence that made Seo Yeon-woo’s existence feel real, which could not be confirmed through faded photographs, threw Do-beom into confusion. Although he still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was strange, Do-beom reached the conclusion that perhaps he simply didn’t want to believe in Seo Yeon-woo’s death.

‘Sigh… Then what about Seojin? Was I deceived? No, he never…’

The problem was the existence of Seojin, whom he had confirmed with his own eyes. The habits that were difficult to match and his pitiful appearance, seemingly tormented by fire trauma, clearly…

-I’m not the Seo Yeon-woo you know.

Although he had denied it himself several times, Do-beom had been convinced. That he was the child he had longed for, Seo Yeon-woo. Because he had seen things that couldn’t be faked even if one tried.

Amidst the confusion, Do-beom spent several days with his eyes wide open, repeatedly confirming results that didn’t change. He couldn’t even sleep well due to the inexplicable agitation.

Strangely, the emotion that engulfed Do-beom was not sadness, despair, or a sense of mourning, but a nervous and unsettling anxiety. The anxiety of unknown cause only intensified as time passed.

Before long, he realized the reason why his heart kept wavering restlessly, as if suffering from withdrawal symptoms. It was because Seojin was not by his side.

‘Am I going crazy?’

Do-beom, who had never relied on anyone in his life, couldn’t believe his own state of feeling such a spiritual thirst. For a moment, he even wanted to resent Seojin, wondering what he had done to him.

However, he soon emptied his mind. And he moved his body as his heart desired. Do-beom, who had shaved cleanly and changed his clothes, drove to the makeup shop that the entertainment agency staff had informed him about.

Nothing had been resolved, but he wanted to see Seojin right away. Regardless of whether he was Seo Yeon-woo or not, regardless of the whereabouts of the truth. It might have been an expression of his desire to temporarily turn a blind eye to the problem he found hard to accept.

The moment he rushed over and embraced Seojin’s slender body, Do-beom felt a deep sense of relief. The faint, pleasant scent emanating from the other’s white nape seemed to gently soothe his weary heart.

“Young master, did you miss me all this time?”

Perhaps it was because of the scent of flesh that stabilized his complicated and tangled emotions. A smile inadvertently flowed out. Feeling his sharpened nerves naturally relax, Do-beom exhaled slowly.

As he looked down at Seojin, who slightly shrugged his shoulders as if his breath on the nape tickled, he suddenly realized. Regardless of the other person’s identity, he could never let this person leave his side for the rest of his life.

That was why Do-beom had no intention of treating Seojin carelessly in the future.

At least until a few minutes later, when he was driven by an irresistible and strange impulse of desire.

***

Seojin roughly pushed away Do-beom’s arms that were coiling around his body like a large snake that had found its prey.

“What are you doing, showing up all of a sudden?”

Since he was the culprit who had made him see the startling system messages in succession, Seojin couldn’t speak nicely.

“This is disappointing. You were docile in bed.”

Do-beom, who had been pushed back a step, put on a deliberately aggrieved expression. His eyes were shimmering with a playful glint. He shamelessly spouted nonsense that could be misunderstood if anyone heard.

Although Seojin had slept in Do-beom’s bed since the day he suddenly mentioned confinement, they hadn’t even seen each other’s faces since Do-beom received a message from his subordinate early in the morning and went out, let alone being docile.

“Well, that’s one of your charm points as an actor.”

With a whispered remark, Do-beom’s thick arms wrapped around Seojin’s waist again. Seojin’s brows furrowed at the unwelcome contact. He was already feeling troubled, so why was this man constantly sticking to him?

“I have to go to the drama filming.”

“I’ll take you there.”

Do-beom, who had tightly bound Seojin’s body to prevent him from properly moving as he tried to push him away again by twisting his shoulders, chuckled lowly and pointed to the black sedan he had arrived in with a jerk of his chin.

“The manager…”

Just as Seojin saw the manager-level staff pulling out the van from the parking lot and was about to refuse with a shake of his head, Do-beom lightly gestured toward the driver’s seat.

“Ah.”

Immediately after, the van that was supposed to take Seojin to the filming location of “Revenge Game” suddenly changed direction. Seojin stared at the tail of the car disappearing on the opposite road with a dumbfounded look.

“Now, shall we go in my car?”

Do-beom, who led the blankly standing Seojin with a gentle force, personally opened the passenger door. Seojin, who got into the heavily tinted sedan with a half-resigned look, slightly tilted his head. A refreshing scent of grass and soil, which one might only smell in a secluded forest, was faintly present.

However, the thought about the scent that didn’t match the expensive sedan soon dispersed. It was due to the strangely persistent gaze of Cha Do-beom, who had gotten into the driver’s seat. In his eyes that stared intently at Seojin without immediately starting the car, there was an indescribably bizarre flicker.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I missed you like crazy.”

“…Representative, you’ve become even weirder since I last saw you.”

“I think so too. Now that I see you, I finally feel alive.”

Seojin slowly blinked at the strange answer, which seemed to be somewhat off, just like the gaze that seemed to have lost it. Feel alive? Do-beom, who had grabbed Seojin’s neck with his large hand and pulled him closer, buried his nose in the white nape.

“Hmm, hah─.”

“Ugh, what are you…”

“I couldn’t sleep for days because I missed this scent of your flesh.”

Regardless of whether Seojin was startled by the sudden action and struggled or not, Do-beom took a deep breath without paying any attention. As if he were a wanderer in the desert who had finally found an oasis he had been searching for.

“Are you crazy?”

Seojin, who had pushed Do-beom’s large body away with force using both hands, narrowed his eyes fiercely. Only then did Do-beom, who had obediently been pushed back, sigh with a disappointed expression and suddenly chuckled.

“I guess I am?”

“What the…”

“This is the first time for me too, but when you’re not by my side, I feel so anxious that I can’t do anything.”

The man, who had been living in a state of constant vigilance unlike his outward appearance due to having many enemies, confessed his weakness that could potentially become a problem with surprising honesty. At that unexpected attitude, Seojin, who was about to get angry, faltered.

‘Could this be…?’

Seeing Do-beom behaving as if he was exhibiting severe separation anxiety, Seojin couldn’t help but suspect the side effects of the system. Seojin, who had become perplexed, pondered over what the exact cause might be.

The most likely possibility was the talent [Partner’s Panacea], which had the effect of calming mental and physical pain. The anxiety Do-beom felt while being apart from him seemed to be due to addiction to that effect.