.  Yi Ruda waited patiently holding the phone. He couldn’t hear any following words but through the noise over the phone that had a good sound quality, he was able to roughly estimate the overall situation.

  They would track the vehicle through the license plate, and at the same time, focus on finding out if Choi Yuri or the people around her recently rented a car. But, still…


  Yi Ruda grimaced.

  The vehicle used in the abduction would have definitely taken a remote highway. Thus, they should check the highway surveillance camera; however, it would still take time for the analysis. How long would it take for them then?

  Yi Ruda knew the shortcut.

  His mother, Yi Jenny, said that whoever has the most information always wins.

  She then flung a question with a kind voice.

  “Then, how do we get the information?”


  ‘At that time, did I answer back or not?’ he questioned himself.

  Maybe not. Instead, he might have raised his head and replied sulkily, ‘I don’t know.’ Yi Ruda, around that time, was so fed up with the successor training; however, Yi Jenny didn’t lose her smile. She just responded with a relaxed grin.

  “Simple. Plant a mole everywhere in the world. They can be your eyes and ears.”


  ‘You’ll be the only one who thinks it’s simple,’ thought Yi Ruda.

  What he loathed the most about his mother were her cold eyes that didn’t allow him even the smallest pieces of secrets since he was a child.

  That woman, Yi Jenny, couldn’t stand herself without knowing her son even from head to toe. Yi Ruda, therefore, wasn’t even able to make a common secret that any adolescent child could have.

  Yi Jenny then spoke with a smile to Yi Ruda, who was kneeling on the ground with a pale face.

  “So, don’t even think about running away.”


  ‘No matter where you are, I can always find you.”


  “––Gosh!”


  Suddenly being awakened from his thoughts, Yi Ruda hit his chest and gasped for breath.

  He murmured, “That woman isn’t here anymore.”


  That was why he ran away from her. For the last two years, he had been quite a good fugitive.

  Yi Ruda couldn’t understand why he suddenly recalled the conversation he had had with her. No, that wasn’t true. He actually could perceive the intended meaning of why he did that.

  Furrowing his eyes, Yi Ruda spoke in a low voice.

  “She said that she can find me no matter where I am…”


  What about Ham Donnie then?

  It was still noisy over the phone. They said they would also let him know if there was any progress; however, they told him nothing yet maybe because things still didn’t work out.

  Yi Ruda bit his lips. Most of the security teams and members would have been stranded at Hanwool Group’s anniversary party, which overlapped with the return of Yoo Gun and Yoo Shin brothers.

  Yi Ruda glanced over the phone. Every second went by nervously.

  He, at last, picked up the phone; however, Yi Ruda was thinking hard even until the moment he typed the keyboard.

  “Shit, how… how hard did I try to run away from that place…” he murmured.

  The nightmarish days in the mansion flitted through his mind. It took time for him to decide to not bear the weight of the successor, but there was also considerable difficulty in persuading his father, Ian. How could Yi Ruda go back to the mansion again to that end? Ian would think him crazy.

  Would Ian help him again to re-escape the place?

  Without his assistance, the second escape would be impossible. Perhaps, Yi Ruda would be not able to find his way out of that mansion even with his father’s help.

  No.

  Yi Ruda shut his eyes tight. The thing he didn’t know until he came here flashed before his eyes.

  The excessively noisy yet friendly classroom that he considered too loud at first…


  Wondering if this was the average vibe in Korean schools, he followed the kids to get along with them as naturally as he could; however, the first Korean whom Yi Ruda imitated of all occasions was, none other than, Yoon Jung In.

  He later discovered that Yoon Jung In wasn’t the standard Korean character, but instead, belonged to the very talkative side. He, however, couldn’t stop acting, which he already had started.

  Since when did Yi Ruda begin to feel comfortable wearing that unfamiliar mask? Before he knew, he found out himself laughing so naturally in public at some point.

  Over the phone, which Yi Ruda was grabbing tight, still, loud noises were coming out.

  He asked himself, ‘Am I able to give up everything? All the things I’ve gotten so far? Will I be able to back down from my current life and go back to that dungeon-like mansion?’


  “No, never ever,” he murmured.

  What he then did after was ending the call and pressing another number. Scowling hopelessly at his cell that just began to beep the dial tone, Yi Ruda then slowly closed his eyes and brought the phone next to his ear.

  If someone asked him whether he would regret this moment or not, Yi Ruda would, of course, feel very disappointed with his decision.

  However, he had to, eventually, admit that every delightful moment he went through ever since he was here would lose its meaning when Ham Donnie was gone.

  Yi Ruda, at last, detached his lips. Feeling unburdened in deep despair ironically, he carefully opened his mouth.

  “It’s me… mother.”


  He struggled to move his lips to barely drop the word, ‘mother.’ Her reaction was not as good as he expected.

  [Mother? I don’t have a son.]

  “…”


  [My son gave up everything and left the house saying he was sick and tired of me and this place. So, I thought he was dead.]

  “Ha…”


  Yi Ruda let out a giggle in a subdued tone.

  Her heart was indeed ice-cold and rock-hard to get moved just by the name of the mother. Even a dagger wouldn’t leave a scratch on it.

  Returning to his usual voice, Yi Ruda replied leisurely.

  “Cool, there isn’t much between us to talk about, is it? It’s just all about doing business and getting what we want from each other.”


  [You said there is nothing you want from me at all. That was two years ago, wasn’t it?]

  “I’m not trying to get something from you.”


  [Then?]

  Yi Ruda stuck his tongue out to lick his lips then slowly detached them again.

  “I have a new thing that I got from here, which I like very much, but someone stole it from me.”


  [Hmm…]

  The voice coming over the phone was loaded with a deep interest.

  Yi Jenny asked back.

  [So?]

  “Help me to get it back. You’re an expert at finding things.”


  [Is it a person?]

  “Yes.”


  [The new ‘thing’ that you got before I even knew was none other than a ‘person…’]

  Yi Ruda tried to downplay her following words that showed a lot of interest in what he was looking for right now.

  Whether Yi Jenny became interested in Ham Donnie or not, he tried to deal with it later. For now, securing Ham Donnie’s safety was the first thing to do.

  As he grew up in such an extraordinary environment, all kinds of bloody imaginations were running around in Yi Ruda’s head.

  That was when he opened and closed his sweaty hand. Yi Jenny flung a question.

  [You said this was doing a ‘business,’ huh? But what can you give me as a runaway boy now? I guess nothing.]

  That was the question Yi Ruda had been waiting for the most. He, therefore, could recover composure and smile instead of feeling perplexed.

  “Nothing? I don’t think so. There is, what you’ve wanted the most,” he replied.

  […]

  Yi Jenny seldom remained silent.

  As if it was the outcome that he barely earned from hard labor, Yi Ruda enjoyed the silence. He then blurted out a word.

  “Me.”


  […]

  “Bring me back to you. The runaway is over.”


  Yi Jenny still didn’t respond. Yi Ruda then got up and answered back.

  “It ain’t fun now, so I want to quit.”


  A moment of silence swept the space.

  And, at last, Yi Jenny let out soft laughter.

  Yi Ruda put a full rich smile on his sweaty face.

  Far above his head, the pale light of the half-moon in the dark red sky flooded gently on his face with a gleam.