The gift-giving Ho-beom changed cars twice along the way. These switches happened inside tunnels, like covert operations. Soo-hyun wondered where they could possibly be going that required such spy movie tactics, but after traveling for over two hours, they arrived at a nursing hospital nestled in the mountains.

A lake stretched in front of the hospital, but due to the cold weather, not a single person—not even an ant—was visible outside, giving the place a desolate atmosphere. Even without Ho-beom explaining, Soo-hyun could guess why they had come here.

The car stopped in the parking lot, and Ho-beom turned to look at Soo-hyun.

“Room 305. They’ll guide you once you’re inside.”

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“What’s the real reason you’re arranging this meeting between me and my father?”

Ho-beom stared at Soo-hyun with an unreadable expression before speaking.

“You misunderstood. I didn’t bring you here for a father-son reunion. I thought if he knew his son was being held hostage, he might come to his senses.”

That makes more sense. For a moment, Soo-hyun had mistakenly thought Ho-beom’s arrangement of this meeting with his father might have been an act of goodwill. Just because they’d slept together and Ho-beom had been treating him more kindly didn’t mean the man had changed. He laughed at himself for momentarily forgetting this fact.

“Tell me what that man stole.”

“Ask him yourself. Better yet, find out where he hid it.”

Soo-hyun’s eyes widened slightly.

“You still haven’t found it?”

“I told you. He got hit by a truck while trying to escape. He’s barely hanging on to life right now.”

Soo-hyun pressed his lips together. What an idiot. If you’re going to run away, do it properly. So whatever Baek Gwang-mu stole hadn’t been recovered. What could it be? But it was clear Ho-beom would never tell him.

When Soo-hyun unfastened his seatbelt, Ho-beom grabbed his arm and adjusted his tie, moving the knot slightly to the side.

“It was crooked.”

He was just as obsessive about crooked ties as he was about chopsticks. Some kind of compulsion, perhaps.

I’ll be back. Soo-hyun opened the door and stepped outside, where the mountain air was biting cold.

Pulling his coat tighter, he entered the hospital, where an employee who had been waiting at the entrance approached him and asked, “Mr. Baek Soo-hyun?” When he nodded, the employee told him to follow.

Unlike the exterior, the hospital’s interior was decorated in warm colors. Despite being called a nursing hospital, there were no patients visible, only medical staff and caregivers. During the elevator ride to the third floor, the accompanying employee said nothing. Ding. The doors opened, and as they walked down the corridor, doors with names appeared.

Most rooms seemed to be for single occupancy. Arriving at Room 305, Soo-hyun naturally shifted his gaze to the right of the door.

But it wasn’t Baek Gwang-mu’s name. It was an unfamiliar name he’d never seen before. Puzzled, he looked at the employee, who opened the door and went inside.

The distinctive smell of a hospital room hit his nostrils. His steps gradually slowed, and his breathing became labored. Beep, beep, beep—the rhythmic machine sounds and the whoosh, whoosh of what seemed to be an oxygen respirator grated on his nerves. The employee stepped aside, revealing a man lying in bed.

A body and head completely wrapped in bandages.

Soo-hyun couldn’t approach any further and stood frozen at a distance.

The employee turned to Soo-hyun and gestured with his eyes.

“Come closer and confirm if this is your father.”

With his mouth shut tight, he moved closer. Up close, the man looked even more pitiful. Soo-hyun dredged up memories to compare him with the younger version he remembered. Though thinner and older now, this was indeed his father, Baek Gwang-mu. The resentment he’d been suppressing threatened to burst forth.

Exhaling heavily, he looked down at the man’s face with cold eyes.

“It’s him…”

The employee briefly explained Baek Gwang-mu’s condition. He regained consciousness occasionally but was in no state to hold a conversation. The surgery had gone well, but they couldn’t guarantee how long recovery would take. He also mentioned that one kidney was missing. Soo-hyun was dumbfounded. Like father, like son—what a fate…

“Visiting time is 15 minutes. Press the bell if you need anything.”

After the employee left, Soo-hyun was alone. If his father were conscious, he would have grabbed him by the collar and screamed, but seeing him lying there in this state, he couldn’t even muster the anger. Feeling empty and drained, he collapsed into a chair and just stared at Baek Gwang-mu’s rising and falling chest.

“You should have died somewhere else… rather than showing up like this…”

His voice choked as he spoke.

Thinking of his dead mother, he clenched his molars to hold back tears.

“Do you know Mom is dead?”

There was no way he could answer. Soo-hyun dropped his head toward his chest. F*ck. That day’s scene was still vivid, like it happened yesterday.

The last image of his mother, shouting at him to run away and pushing him out. Growing up, he had tried many times to find that place. He carried a shovel around and dug up any similar-looking spot he came across. But finding his mother’s remains had been impossible.

As he was ruminating on these painful memories, Soo-hyun’s eyes widened like saucers. Baek Gwang-mu, who had been lying there like a corpse, turned his head to look at him. The skin under his half-closed eyes trembled slightly, and then his pupils gradually dilated. Beep, beep, beep—the heart rate displayed on the machine slowly increased.

Soo-hyun looked back and forth between the machine and Baek Gwang-mu’s face. Baek Gwang-mu’s lips moved slightly. Soo-hyun looked behind him.

Should he call a doctor? As he stood up, Baek Gwang-mu reached out his hand, seemingly trying to grab Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun ignored the hand and just glared at his face.

Baek Gwang-mu kept moving his lips, trying to speak, and wiggling his index finger. Beep, beep, beep. The machine sounds tormented his ears. Watching Baek Gwang-mu’s lip movements intently, Soo-hyun’s expression hardened. Reading his lips, it looked like he was saying “eomma.” Eomma…? Could it be, Mom?

“My mother?”

Instead of answering, Baek Gwang-mu blinked rapidly.

“Kim Soon-jung, my mother?!”

He blinked again. Soo-hyun grew anxious.

“Is she alive?”

This time there was no response. Uh, uhhh. Baek Gwang-mu looked like he was about to cry. Soo-hyun’s throat constricted, and he bit his lip hard. He already knew. He already knew she was dead. Still, a part of him had held onto a sliver of hope. He had sometimes entertained the impossible fantasy that his father had appeared belatedly to save his mother, and they were secretly living in hiding somewhere. If that were true, he wouldn’t have cared what happened to himself.

She’s really dead… She’s gone…

Baek Gwang-mu pointed at Soo-hyun’s hand with his fingertip. Looking down at his hand, Soo-hyun realized what Baek Gwang-mu was trying to do. Hesitantly, he placed his palm against the tip of his father’s finger. With great effort, Baek Gwang-mu moved his finger to write something.

1…?

A number…? He laboriously wrote out numbers one by one. After writing the final number, he tried to grasp his son’s fingertips but his arm slipped and fell back onto the bed with a thud. His eyelids slowly drooped, suggesting he was losing consciousness again. Belatedly coming to his senses, Soo-hyun urgently grabbed him and shook him.

“Wake up. I still have questions!”

Instead of Baek Gwang-mu, the machine answered with its sounds. Soo-hyun couldn’t hide his mounting anger.

“I said wake up, damn it! Open your eyes!”

Hearing the commotion, someone rushed in from outside.

“Mr. Baek Soo-hyun! You can’t do this.”

The employee grabbed Soo-hyun’s arm, but unable to control his exploding emotions, Soo-hyun yelled at the unconscious Baek Gwang-mu.

“Open your eyes! Say it properly! Apologize properly to me and Mom! She died because of you! You killed her! You should have died instead! Why show up now and ruin my life too! You already killed Mom, why ruin my life too! Why! WHY!”

He screamed until his throat hurt, but Baek Gwang-mu remained unconscious. The staff dragged Soo-hyun outside while a doctor rushed in to check on Baek Gwang-mu. Pulled out and slumped in a corridor chair, Soo-hyun couldn’t even make a sound through his sobs, overwhelmed by his intense emotions.

Are you okay? Take deep breaths. A nurse approached and held his arm. Soo-hyun shook it off and stood up. Walking down the corridor, he couldn’t breathe. He pounded his chest with his fist, but his breathing remained constricted, like a boulder was pressing down on him.

Mr. Baek Soo-hyun. The employee chased after him from behind. Swinging his arm to tell them to go away, he felt lightheaded and his body swayed sideways.

In that moment, someone caught and embraced him.

Soo-hyun. Baek Soo-hyun.

A familiar voice, a familiar scent of cologne.

Breathe. It’s okay. Just breathe.

The hand rubbing his back while holding him was surprisingly gentle.

You bastard. Why can’t you be this gentle during s*x?

Strangely, that thought crossed his mind in the midst of everything.

Gradually, his vision cleared and his breathing normalized.

Haa, haa, as he gasped for breath, a fierce but handsome face came into view.

“Are you okay?”

For the first time, those eyes that had only ever shown lust now held concern.