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Join the Server“…I told you not to come looking for me.”
“Gyesa.”
My throat tightened, but I forced a faint smile and walked toward him.
Even as I approached, he only watched me with indifferent eyes.
Ignoring his gaze, I sat beside him.
“It’s all over now.”
“…….”
“Your debt is gone, Gyesa. You’re free.”
For a fleeting moment, his eyes wavered.
“…What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly that. Your debt is gone. You can go anywhere you want.”
Though we spoke the same language, he looked as if he understood nothing.
I hid the fact that I had agreed to sell my blood and told him only part of the truth.
“Lee Jipyeong. Do you remember?”
“…….”
The moment I spoke that name, his eyes sharpened.
“He came looking for me.”
“Why would that bastard?”
His voice was rough.
The gentle tone that once sounded beautiful when he sang was nowhere to be found.
A bitter taste spread in my mouth.
“Well… apparently… he’s my father.”
“What?”
“I’m his lost daughter. He said he wants to take me with him.”
He looked startled for a moment, but his expression soon turned cold again.
“So what does that have to do with anything?”
“The president paid off your debt.”
“…You asked him to?”
“…Yes….”
“You go into that man’s house, and I’m free?”
“That’s right.”
I had never expected him to rejoice easily.
Still, I thought at least a little life would return to his once lifeless eyes.
After all, the wish he longed for had finally come true.
That was why I never imagined he would look at me with such fury.
“Who told you to ask for that?”
“What?”
“Ha…! Did you think I’d grin like an idiot and welcome it just because you begged that bastard to clear my debt?”
“That’s not….”
“Why on earth would you!”
Gyesa shouted in a harsh voice.
Despair filled his twisted face.
“Why can’t you let me go? Why!”
“Gyesa.”
“What did you give him in return?”
Grabbing my shoulders painfully, he demanded.
His voice was razor-sharp.
“What?”
“You think that bastard helped for nothing? Don’t make me laugh. What did you give Lee Jipyeong? What did you hand over to free me!”
At his piercing question, I pressed my lips shut.
My silence only fueled his anger.
“Answer me!”
“…….”
I could say nothing.
Just as I feared Lee Jipyeong because of the past, Gyesa knew of his cruelty.
That was why he would never accept my entering that man’s mansion in exchange for his freedom.
That was why I could not tell him the truth.
If he knew, he would surely risk another reckless choice.
“You can’t say it, can you? Why? Because I’m not supposed to know.”
“Can’t you just… accept what is?”
“…What?”
“Can’t you just trust me? That I’m his daughter… and he granted his daughter’s request.”
“Trust you?”
Gyesa let out a hollow laugh.
“You said you couldn’t live without me.”
My body flinched at his words.
His grip on my shoulders tightened.
“And now you’re leaving me overnight to enter Lee Jipyeong’s mansion?”
“…….”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
His hands slipped from my shoulders and fell.
He bowed his head.
A tangled, ragged breath burst from his lips.
“Can’t you just trust me and go?”
At my desperate voice, he laughed bitterly.
Then he lifted his head and looked at me with a face in ruins.
Mine must have looked no better.
“Aedong.”
“…….”
“Now our positions are reversed.”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
“Do you remember what I told you?”
“Gyesa.”
“I told you to run away, Aedong.”
“…….”
“You never let go of my hand until the very end.”
“Please….”
“I can’t let go either.”
His chapped lips twisted into a painful smile.
“Then you shouldn’t leave either.”
His voice was firm and final.
He looked straight into my eyes, as if he would never retreat.
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out except a plea for him to leave.
When I sealed my lips again like a clam, he lifted his hand and slowly caressed my face.
“Aedong.”
He had already made up his mind.
No matter what I said or begged, he would not listen.
Was it guilt, anxiety, or love?
Overwhelmed by the storm of emotions, I sprang to my feet and fled from his tent.
‘I have to disappear. Quickly.’
If I stayed any longer, it felt as though his fingertips would catch the hem of my clothes.
Or worse, I might turn back and seize him myself.
The man who claimed to be my father was precise as a blade.
As promised, he came to the circus at exactly noon.
He greeted me with an indifferent expression.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
His brows furrowed faintly at the small bundle in my hands.
It was obvious what he thought of it.
Still, he said nothing and opened the rear door of the car.
“Get in.”
My feet would not move.
But I had to go.
I had made a promise.
Forcing my reluctant steps toward the car, a familiar voice called out to him.
“Sir.”
It was Gyesa.
I turned in alarm.
He looked gaunt, yet unlike yesterday, he was neat and composed.
The man answered irritably.
“Save your thanks.”
He tried to get into the car as if he had no more interest in Gyesa.
But Gyesa approached and boldly grabbed his arm.
The man frowned in displeasure.
“I have something to propose.”
“What rudeness is this?”
The man’s voice turned icy.
Yet Gyesa did not flinch.
“I have no intention of thanking you. I merely have an offer.”
At his audacious tone, the man raised one eyebrow.
He shut the car door and faced him.
“Get in first.”
He did not even look at me.
Worried he might harm Gyesa, I hesitated to enter the car.
I looked at Gyesa, but he did not glance my way.
The man took out a cigarette.
“The time it takes to smoke this. That’s all I’ll give you. Enough?”
“More than enough.”
The man studied Gyesa’s calm face with interest.
“Fine.”
They walked toward a tree stump some distance from the car.
“Please get in.”
As I watched them from afar, the driver approached.
“Please hurry. The master will grow displeased.”
“Yes.”
I had no choice but to get in.
Though the leather seat was soft, it felt unbearably uncomfortable.
My heart remained with the two figures in the distance.
I stared out the window, unable to hear what they said.
Gyesa stood with his back to me, making it impossible to read his face.
The man, however, did not look displeased.
It did not seem he intended to harm him.
The man returned only after finishing his cigarette to the very end.
A heavy scent of smoke clung to him.
“What did you talk about?”
I tried to sound calm, but he must have sensed my anxiety.
He smirked.
“Curious?”
Unable to answer, I bit my lip.
“Better to see for yourself. Follow me.”
He stepped out of the car again.
I hurried after him.
He headed behind the stable tents where the circus kept its animals.
Gyesa stood there.
“That fellow asked to work under me.”
My heart plummeted.
I had never expected that.
I turned to look at him, but his gaze was fixed on Gyesa.
“I thought he had guts. So I became curious. How far could he go?”
He gestured toward Gyesa.
Gyesa stepped in front of a large wooden crate.
“I heard he handled snakes. You worked together for quite some time, didn’t you?”
The crate was where Geummok had been kept.
“If he wants to work under me, shouldn’t he settle useless ties to the past? So I told him. Shoot your snake yourself, and I’ll take you in.”
“You can’t….”
Gyesa slowly lifted the gun.
The man laughed lightly.
“Oh, I lent him the gun myself. A gift for his new beginning.”
Bang!
The gunshot rang out sharply.
The man laughed loudly and turned away.
“When you’re done watching, return to the car.”
Bang!
Between the man’s receding footsteps, another shot echoed.
At the brutal sound, I flinched.
Gyesa slowly turned around.
He looked at me once with an unreadable expression, then left without a word.
Left alone, I stared blankly at the wooden crate riddled with holes.
‘Did he really… kill it? Did Gyesa kill Geummok?’
I could not tell.
Aside from the two blackened holes, the crate remained utterly still.
‘What were you thinking?’
Whether Geummok lay dead inside or not, I could not know.
Like Gyesa’s heart, it was unreadable.
All I heard was the high ringing in my ears.
With unsteady steps, I returned to the car.
“Finished watching?”
The man showed no concern at my silence.
“Let’s go.”
The car moved smoothly forward.
The circus tent shrank in the distance until it vanished from sight.
There was no excitement in leaving that shackle of a birthplace for a place called family.
It felt no different from a servant being moved only to be bound by a new chain.
The image of the wooden crate marked with bullet holes lingered like a ghost.
And Gyesa, standing before it with that expressionless face.
‘Ah, Gyesa… you truly…!’
My fingertips grew cold.
Even breathing felt tight.
The pain of Gyesa having to shoot Geummok—who was like a part of himself—pierced me deeply.
What he shot was not merely a snake.
It was his life and his past.
Knowing that, I could only sink into despair.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, Looking For My Child's Father is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : Looking For My Child's Father
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