.  I continued, “That Ruda wouldn’t fit in as your successor.”


  “Oh, yeah?”


  After my words, the look on Yi Jenny’s face was something utterly unanticipated. If she got to know a completely different side of her son, she could have felt agitated, but she looked apathetic. It looked as though she was thinking that what I just said were all lies.

  I hesitated for a second then kept on speaking while struggling to not be discouraged, “I heard that you suddenly canceled the last test and chose Ruda as your successor.”


  “How did you know that? Oh, I see, from Lucas.” Throwing a glance at Lucas, she continued to ask, “So?”


  I found Lucas looking stiffer than earlier. He seemed like a person who recalled a bad memory.

  Wondering about the change on his look, I barely responded to Yi Jenny, “If you conducted the last test, I think the person who became the successor would definitely be someone else than Ruda. So…”


  ‘Why don’t you make others retake the test right now…?’ I tried to say like that, but her following words made me raise my head.

  “You really don’t know anything about Ruda.”


  “Excuse me?”


  “The last test… Lucas really managed to tell you about it.”


  She then continued to speak further, which I turned blank and just gaped at her remark, wondering, ‘WHAT?’


  “It’s a story about when he was betrayed.”


  “Huh?”


  A story about him being betrayed? While I was at a loss of words in surprise, Yi Jenny’s question returned, “Did you hear about it specifically? You know about the test?”


  I shook my head with difficulty then turned my head to look at Lucas. His face was still clouded and even seemed like it was slightly covered with a veil of malice.

  Pulling her teacup to her side with nonchalance, Yi Jenny went on talking, “Fine, so I’m not sure if you’ve already heard about it, but I guess you know that I’ve decided to choose the candidates fairly without caring about my blood tie.”


  I nodded. Yi Jenny’s cold and indifferent voice continued.

  “Around that time when a quarter of those candidates were eliminated and about sixteen people were left, I suggested having a one-on-one fight for the next test.”


  Listening to that story, I bit my lips tightly. One-on-one fights were a common way to compete in sports or competitions, but since the term came out from Yi Jenny’s mouth, I thought it wouldn’t be just a regular fight.

  As if she was about to prove my assumption, Yi Jenny uttered, “For the first time, I allowed them to use weapons during the fight. They would fight to the finish until one side surrenders.”


  “Then…”


  “It was a battle of obstinacy and tenacity,” replied Yi Jenny. She cast down her eyes and continued, “Using too much physical force to wound the opponent would lead you to disqualification, so if you could hold out as long as possible while having injuries, you could rather disqualify your opponent. On the contrary, if you could torture your opponent effectively, you would induce his or her surrender without inflicting many wounds on that person… OR you could suggest a deal.”


  I felt my mouth drying out. I could hardly believe that such an event took place in modern times.

  “How… did it go…?” I asked with great difficulty.

  “And that thing happened,” Yi Jenny’s words went on heavily, “Yi Ruda was selected to fight with Lucas. Actually, I was very concerned since Lucas and Yi Ruda were close.”


  “Lucas and Yi Ruda were close?”


  Asking the same words back in surprise, I turned around to look at Lucas. Once he revealed his true color, I realized that he was manipulative, verbally abusive, and even malicious instead of being kind. Thus, Lucas and Ruda would better become implacable enemies, not friends.

  Taking another sip of tea, Yi Jenny spoke nonchalantly, “I know it’s surprising, but Lucas back then was the kindest kid among the candidates.”


  “Oh my god!”


  “It hurts me to say that.”


  Simply ignoring Lucas, who was babbling shamelessly beside me, Yi Jenny kept on speaking, “Ruda was the youngest among them, and you know how crucial physical differences during a growing period are in a fight. He was almost bullied several times, but whenever it happened, Lucas was there to save him.”


  “Oh…”


  So, that was their previous relationship. I came up with Ruda yelling insanely in rage. She said that Lucas didn’t come here with good intentions. What happened between the two then that made Ruda fall out with Lucas?

  Yi Jenny’s following words made me lift my head.

  “Therefore, I’ve made up my mind quite earlier that Lucas doesn’t fit into the successor position.”


  “Hold on for a second,” I intervened, “Lucas doesn’t fit into the successor position? Why does Lucas protecting Ruda become a reason that Lucas can’t be the successor?”


  A cold response returned immediately, “Emotions ruin things.”


  “That’s…”


  “There is no reason to be emotional when handling things. When it’s required, we must put the priority on our work over personal favors, but a warm-hearted professional in the security industry? Do you think that helps?”


  Yi Jenny’s voice turned sharp only when she talked about her occupation. She then concluded, “That’s why I chose Ruda.”


  “What? I don’t understand…”


  That was when I became bewildered by her words that continued without context.

  “You said, you want to know why I chose Ruda?”


  I felt a huge rock falling on me with a thud at her following remark.

  “That night, Ruda suddenly attacked Lucas. That kid stabbed the person whom he regarded as his big brother.”


  “WHAT?”


  I flung the question while springing to my feet. Watching my reaction, Yi Jenny smiled composedly.

  “Is it that surprising?”


  “No, that can’t happen. Ruda isn’t…”


  Staring at my dumbstruck face in delight, Yi Jenny replied, “He did. If you can’t trust me, why don’t you ask Lucas to show his scars? He’ll still have it.”


  “Oh…”


  I turned my head. When our eyes met, Lucas shrugged indifferently and rolled up his shirts. The stab wound that clearly ran across his flank came into view. I moaned, ‘Oh, lord…’


  As if he was sneering at the look on my face, Lucas narrowed his eyes and uttered, “Now you get it? The reason why Ruda told you that I’m not a trustworthy person and didn’t come here with good intentions…”


  “…”


  “He already betrayed me once, so how could he trust me?”


  While I gaped blankly at the truth, Lucas spoke with a slightly bitter face.

  “Isn’t it hilarious? It wasn’t me who betrayed him but was Ruda who stabbed me in the back and right here. Now that kid is yelling at me that I ain’t trustworthy…”


  “I…”


  “Anyway, I came here to revenge, so he’s not lying though.”


  Were the things I heard just now all true? However, Lucas’ scar was too obvious that I couldn’t disbelieve the story either.

  Being left in a state of shock, I heard Yi Jenny’s voice.

  “You may think that you know about Ruda quite well, but it’s only up to his limited character at school. Don’t you think so?”


  I couldn’t respond to her calm remark but just bit my lips. As if she felt quite satisfied with my silence, Yi Jenny spoke further with downcast eyes.

  “How many sides of him can he show you at school? Studying? Playing games during the PE class? All you can see about his athletic sides would be Ruda scoring at ball games or using sports equipment.”


  “…”


  “You won’t grasp every aspect of Ruda just by those things… Having seen him getting along with kids his age isn’t enough to know who he really is. The ordinary world is too small for him.”


  I couldn’t argue with her words this time.

  The ordinary world was too small for him… None of her words gained my empathy more than that sentence.

  Was I getting Ruda wrong? It was true that she looked uncomfortable in normal life as if she had squeezed herself into ill-fitting clothes.

  ‘However, do I have to know even this aspect of Yi Ruda?’ While I was lost in thought, Yi Jennie’s following words pierced through me like a dagger.

  “The Ruda you know is just the tip of an iceberg. It’s the same as a group of blind men insisting that they know how an elephant looks just by touching it.”