Chapter 149 : Side Story 3: Nightmare #1

Snow fell as if it meant to bury the world.

Thank god I’d stocked up on two months’ worth of food the last time the roads were clear.

My breath bloomed white like cigarette smoke in the freezing air.

Doyoon stepped out of the black Jeep and strode through ankle-deep snow in the garden. The biting wind had died, but the air around the mountain still felt like the inside of a freezer. At five in the afternoon, dusk was already swallowing the mid-mountain.

A few steps in, he looked up.

Under the faint glow of streetlamps stood a gloomy two-story mansion straight out of a horror film.

It had once been someone else’s mountain cabin; Doyoon bought it cheap and renovated it for a very specific purpose.

The place had a sinister, isolated beauty.

The snow-laden trees in the garden were neatly trimmed—unlike the wild forest outside—and the property was surrounded by a high brick wall. Of course a private estate needs walls, but these looked less like protection from intruders and more like a cage to keep something inside.

The gruff caretaker stopped shoveling snow, bowed stiffly when he spotted Doyoon. Doyoon returned a silent nod and walked on.

He followed the cleared path and pushed open the massive front door.

Instantly, stifling heat enveloped him—almost too hot.

The exterior was dilapidated, but the interior rivaled a luxury penthouse.

White walls, wide living room with a sleek gray sofa and black coffee table, beige rug, a roaring red fireplace on the left. Opposite stood a gigantic floor-to-ceiling window spanning both stories. From the sofa you could see the entire snowy garden and the pine forest beyond.

Doyoon shook snow from his hair, shrugged off his coat and scarf. An older woman waiting by the door took them without a word.

He scanned the living room and kitchen out of habit—empty.

He tilted his chin toward the stairs and asked the woman,

“In the room?”

She nodded, face creased with deep wrinkles. Rumor was she’d worked for a rich family before gambling her life away. Quick-witted and useful.

“Dinner?”

She shook her head.

“Anything else?”

She pointed repeatedly at the huge window.

Doyoon frowned.

“Tried to go outside?”

Another nod.

Her vocal cords were damaged—she couldn’t speak. He liked the silence, hated that he couldn’t get details.

He sighed, climbed the stairs.

This is why I can’t leave the house empty.

Seunghee had suddenly shown up in Canada; cleaning up that mess had kept him away too long.

At the bedroom door he took a deep breath, checked himself in the wall mirror, practiced a smile, then knocked lightly.

“Hyung, I’m coming in.”

The knock was meaningless—the lock had been smashed to pieces two months ago, when Seunghyun first locked himself in and Doyoon took an axe to it.

Inside, Seunghyun was sitting blankly on the bed in a thin shirt and knee-length shorts—wrong for winter. He’d lost so much weight and muscle since being brought here that Doyoon’s heart ached.

Doyoon forced a bright smile.

“What did you do while I was gone?”

Seunghyun didn’t even glance at the man who’d been absent a whole week. He just stared out the window at the snow-covered pines like a painting come to life. In the pitch-dark mountain, there was nothing but black trees and white snow—yet he seemed to prefer that over looking at Doyoon.

Doyoon sat beside him, voice syrupy.

“Didn’t you miss me?”

He brushed his lips against Seunghyun’s cheek.

A tiny flinch—nothing more.

Dozens of half-read books lay scattered around the bed, most torn or crumpled.

Doyoon kept the gentle tone.

“Did you eat? I heard you wanted to go outside. But it’s too cold right now. When it warms up a little we can take a walk, okay?”

Seunghyun’s jaw clenched hard beneath his cheek.

Doyoon smiled, satisfied that he was being heard.

“I told you to eat. You have to stay healthy.”

He pressed a button on the nightstand.

Moments later, the same older woman entered with a tray of warm porridge.

“Thank you.”

Doyoon smiled politely and took the tray.

Three people in the room, only one speaking—weird.

The woman bowed at his glance and left immediately. She wouldn’t come upstairs again tonight. Good instincts.

Doyoon held the hot bowl in his left hand, spoon in his right, scooped a bite, and brought it to Seunghyun’s lips.

“Ah— open up.”

Seunghyun’s mouth stayed sealed.

Doyoon drooped his brows on purpose.

“Hyung… just one bite even if you don’t want it. You’re hungry.”

After a long pause, a cracked, drought-dry voice:

“Let me out of here…”

Doyoon chuckled like he’d heard a cute joke.

“I told you it’s cold outside. Tomorrow morning we’ll dress warm and go out. You don’t have a parka, so I’ll grab mine from the basement.”

Seunghyun’s eyes snapped open, blazing with hatred.

He shot up from the bed.

“Not that! Let me out of this house!”

Doyoon’s expression shifted strangely.

Seunghyun screamed, frantic.

“You think you’ll get away with this!?”

Doyoon calmly set the bowl on the nightstand, shrugged.

“You’re mad I was gone so long? You must’ve been lonely. Sorry.”

“Choi Doyoon!”

“Even if you go out, there’s nothing great out there. What would you do? It’s just cold.”

“…What?”

Doyoon’s face didn’t change.

His calm voice shook Seunghyun’s eyes instead.

“You didn’t do much in Canada anyway. Just think of this as staying home. Or a wellness retreat.”

Seunghyun clutched his ears, face twisted in agony, and roared.

“How is this a retreat—! You— you locked me up!”

His eyes stormed with tears.

Admitting the truth out loud seemed to make it unbearable.

The smile finally dropped from Doyoon’s face.

He looked up at Seunghyun with half-lidded eyes.

“If I don’t do this, you keep ignoring my feelings.”

Seunghyun’s eyes shook violently.

He shook his head frantically.

“This… this is wrong…”

“Why?”

Doyoon shrugged like he genuinely didn’t understand.

“What’s wrong with it? I told you—there’s only us here.”

He rose slowly from the bed.

Terror flashed across Seunghyun’s face—new, something he’d never shown before.

He backed away.

“Stay— stay back…”

He moved like he already knew what came next.

And he was right.

Doyoon seized both his arms, spun him, and slammed him face-down onto the mattress with a heavy thud.

A dark shadow fell over Seunghyun’s face.

“Hyung, just admit it already. Say you love me. We’ll get married and live happily.”

“No—! I don’t want to be with you—!”

Seunghyun thrashed wildly beneath him, but a body weakened from weeks of hunger strikes couldn’t fight Doyoon off.

Doyoon easily pinned both wrists and crushed their mouths together.

His thick tongue ravaged Seunghyun’s mouth like licking melted cotton candy.

Then—

“Urgh!”

Doyoon jerked back, face twisted in pain.

Seunghyun had bitten down hard on his tongue.

The metallic taste of blood spread.

First time Seunghyun had ever wounded him like that.

A thin line of blood trickled when Doyoon wiped his lip.

He looked stunned.

Seunghyun stared up, voice trembling.

“I said… no…”

But hurting Doyoon only seemed to make him more terrified.

A moment later—

SLAP!

Seunghyun’s head snapped to the side.

Doyoon spat blood into a tissue, sighed, and said,

“Hyung, why do you keep lying? You’re hurting my feelings.”

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