Chapter 136

“I think I saw myself and Raphael in you. Because you couldn’t see, and because you were a former soldier.”

Honestly, I’m not sure whether I’ve truly given up on Raphael.

At this rate, I might suddenly go back home one day for no reason at all.

This is a deeply rooted curse.

A curse called love, formed from camaraderie that endured a hell like Andrew Moltke’s violence, and affection for blood relatives all tangled together.

I hated this curse, and on some days, I accepted it with gratitude.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I heard there was a murder at the hospital that day.”

“Yes. That’s why I ended up wearing a mask. I hated the world. Maybe I wanted to pass judgment. Because someone’s kindness without expecting anything in return, their goodwill… was far too precious in my life.”

“I see. I’m glad I was important to you back then too.”

“….”

“I like you. I really do.”

My face was buried in his chest, so my voice was almost muffled, but he must have heard it somehow.

Johan, who ignored my confessions all day, let out a trembling breath.

As he ran a hand over his dry face, he looked like he couldn’t bear the overwhelming emotion.

Gasping for breath, he confessed, “When you say things like that… it scares me.”

“Because you think I might leave again?”

“I can’t say that’s not part of it. More than anything… my heart feels full. I’m trembling like an idiot….”

I can’t endure it.

Johan pressed the back of my head firmly so I couldn’t lift it, trapping me against his chest.

A strong heartbeat reached me.

The trembling, the breathless thrill, the hot and intense affection.

My plan was to seduce this man so he wouldn’t kill Raphael, but in the end, I was the one who got captivated.

Still, since we’re both drawn to each other, maybe it’s okay to see it positively.

He confessed as if he were about to cry.

“I want you.”

The words he said he wanted to hear from me, he ended up saying to me himself.

The violent trembling, the pounding heart, the burning body heat, the tension and excitement, the fear and awkwardness.

Everything he conveys overwhelms me.

Johan, Red Shadow, Heinrich.

A man with three names, who became an ordinary man the moment he spoke of love.

“Then give me the first place.”

I demanded it of him without hesitation.

I could see dust floating in the sunset light filtering through the window.

As the glow touched it, the white sheets were dyed a faint red, and my face burned hot.

And Johan’s heart pounded as if it might burst.

Johan, beyond startled, opened his mouth like someone paralyzed, then at the end of it, he smiled like a boy.

Without even a speck of impurity. So bright it was dazzling.

***

― I’m sorry. For not being a proper older brother to you when you were young.

Beneath the ink, Tristan’s face and voice were vividly imprinted.

Myers read the same line over and over before quietly folding the newspaper.

His hand, which could no longer move or feel pain, seemed to be throbbing with a sharp pain.

Just then, a figure in a black cloak burst out from the shadows.

“Your so-called brother might have hidden Giselle Moltke. And yet you never once said that man was your brother.”

“To show up after a month just to whine that you can’t stalk anymore.”

“Seems like you want to die.”

“Shut your mouth. What Tristan wants is for you and me to fall apart.”

The Black Cloak knows that Sunshine is obsessed with the Black Pistols because he ended up in the underground prison because of that bastard.

In addition, he doesn’t know that he is Black Plistols.

So what he intended was ‘discord.’

“Discord? How ridiculous. I gave you freedom. And what did you do for me? Did you ever even try to find out Giselle Moltke’s whereabouts from your brother?”

“For you? You seem to be under the illusion that I’m your subordinate.”

Before being sent to the central government’s underground prison by Black Pistols, the Black Cloak appeared.

“Within a year, I’ll get you out of there.”

“What do you want?”

“Chaos.”

It was an answer straight out of a third-rate villain in a comic.

Whatever his intention was, after breaking out, Sunshine faithfully carried out the promise.

He distributed blue gas, joined hands with Big Bear, and even stirred up the police department.

“Sunshine. You’ve outlived your usefulness.”

As magic wrapped around Sunshine, he stared at the Black Cloak with his characteristic hazy eyes.

“Things are going just as Tristan wants.”

In the blink of an eye, Sunshine looked at his missing wrist.

Drip, drip. Drip.

Blood flowed like water from a broken faucet.

Because he had taken medicine just in case, he didn’t feel any pain.

“Sunshine. Both before and now, you’re not someone who should be allowed to live.”

If they subdued Sunshine and absorbed Lucky Ginger, Death Adder could easily surpass Two Star.

But Raphael and Oscar chose to deal with him anyway.

Because in the previous life, the Black Cloak, who was Giselle’s stalker, had joined forces with Sunshine.

‘What a tearful display of family affection.’

Raphael, who used his military pay for Oscar’s mother’s surgery, and Oscar, who cherished his friend’s younger sibling like his own.

And Giselle, who gave up her life after the two of them died.

But becoming the family of people like that would be utterly blissful.

For that, he devoted this life.

“I thought it would be perfect if we joined forces, since both you and I need Giselle Moltke.”

“How dare you think of splitting her between us?”

The edge of the cloak flickered.

A shadow tightly wrapped around Sunshine’s bleeding wrist and stopped the bleeding.

With a flick of the Black Cloak’s finger, the hand that Tristan had injured not long ago flew over.

Blood was still dripping, but the cut was clean.

“If you mess with the police, the media and the government step in. But if someone like you dies, no one cares.”

Maybe the only one who would suffer is Tristan Lindbergh.

Bringing up Giselle in the interview was to gain attention.

At the core, he wanted to drive a wedge between Sunshine and him.

That’s why he revealed that he was Sunshine’s older brother.

‘Then I’ll play along with what he wants.’

The reason that bastard is going to such lengths is to arrest Sunshine.

Because he loves his brother that much.

― If there hadn’t been external problems, we would’ve dated normally and reached a happy ending.

Whether he knows or not that this side has been chasing after Giselle doesn’t matter.

It feels like I’d only be satisfied after tormenting Tristan Lindbergh as if to kill him and then finishing him off.

To think he dared to imagine something like that.

That bastard deserved to be punished.

“I’ll spare you for now, since I need to make a deal with your brother.”

After confirming that the shadow had trapped Sunshine, the Black Cloak took his hand and left.

Now it’s time to have a ‘conversation’ with Tristan Lindbergh.

***

A suspicious package arrived, obvious at a glance.

Rather than opening the box right away, Tristan listened closely to what was inside.

After carefully checking whether it was an explosive or a potential chemical threat, Tristan opened the box.

“Fuck!”

As soon as he opened the box, a smell wafted out.

It was a hand that hadn’t been cut off long ago. And the gunshot wound was clearly visible.

It was a hand he knew.

No, it’s not a hand he knows. It has to be that way.

Tristan ignored the ominous premonition.

He believed the sharpened instincts he had honed while working in the Organized Crime Division were malfunctioning.

「At dawn tomorrow, on Babel Street, Giselle Moltke will be exchanged for Sunshine.」

But the moment he read the message written on the card, Tristan’s vision flickered.

Hatred.

What flowed through his veins was hatred.

The resentment that his life had been ruined because of his damn brother was almost laughable compared to the all-consuming desire for revenge that swallowed his heart and soul.

Just as only the victim has the right to harm Sunshine, only Tristan Lindbergh has the right to hurt Myers.

“Fuck….”

The dense curse he spat out crumbled into the air.

Tristan closed the box. Then he trembled.

How should he kill that bastard?

Should he cut off his neck, rip out his heart, or tear off his limbs?

He tried to split the two apart, but that lunatic twisted things like this.

Rrrrrr.

Tristan immediately picked up the receiver.

— It’s me.

It was Raphael.

He had been planning to meet him today because of Giselle’s whereabouts.

But if Myers is like this….

Tristan steadied his breathing and slammed his hand against the wall.

‘Johan hasn’t shown up for days.’

The guy who used to show up every two days to share information hasn’t appeared. It’s obvious.

He found Giselle.

Giselle.

Giselle Moltke.

A woman with pearl-like skin, thick jet-black hair, full lips, and deep blue eyes.

Someone who makes you wonder what she’s thinking when you’re with her, and makes you miss her when she’s gone.

Just imagining that kind of woman alone with Johan made his blood boil.

If he goes after Johan now, he could interfere between them.

‘Would that even matter?’

Giselle’s heart has already tilted toward him.

Even if he gains her favor, it would only create an opening.

Meanwhile, this side just received a hand drained of blood and shriveled dry.

“If I wait a bit, you’ll go and take care of everything yourself anyway, so why bother?”

You idiot.

You stupid bastard.

I told you to hit back too.

You stabbed my leg just fine, so how did you end up getting taken down like an idiot?

“Let’s postpone the meeting. Something came up.”

I’m an idiot too.

The fact that I’m still angry at you getting hurt, even in this situation.

Tristan kicked the wall in frustration.

No matter how he thought about it, he had never struggled this much in his life as he has recently.