But even if the man’s life wasn’t immediately in danger, Jung Tae-ui knew he had to call an ambulance. While looking down at the man near his feet, he wondered if he should run home to contact the emergency room. Outside, the rain was still pouring heavily, but that wasn’t something to worry about.
“The rain’s really coming down. It’s like the whole world’s submerged.”
Muttering to himself, Jung Tae-ui rolled up the cuffs of his pants so it would be easier to run through the water. A quiet voice came from beside him.
“Feels like being underwater, doesn’t it?”
Jung Tae-ui paused rolling up his pants and looked sideways. The young man was staring out the window, muttering softly.
“I like days like this. You can’t hear anything.”
“Hear what...?”
“Hmm... it’s like the rain blocks the sounds, so you don’t hear them. Makes it easier to breathe.”
Jung Tae-ui gave the young man a strange look. The young man wasn’t really talking to him, but muttering to himself while gazing fixedly out the window.
Jung Tae-ui frowned slightly and scratched his head. This guy is complicated.
“I don’t really get what you mean, but just ignore the noises you don’t want to hear... Why bother paying attention to everything?”
That’s the surest way to make life complicated, Jung Tae-ui muttered as he tied his shoelaces again. Ready for a short sprint in the rain, he headed toward the door.
Then—
“Want some help?”
A cold voice stopped Jung Tae-ui.
Help? Like stopping the rain? Jung Tae-ui turned, briefly dazed, and met the young man’s expressionless gaze.
“Would you like the person making your life miserable to disappear?”
The young man said flatly, his tone almost like a sulky child. Jung Tae-ui was momentarily speechless.
“No... well, of course it’d be nice if they disappeared... but... not really.”
He scratched his head and stammered.
As he spoke, he thought about it. Would it really be good if the person making his life hard just vanished?
If that person meant the one at the top of his list, Illay Regrow.
If he could remove him from his life... remove him?
It didn’t feel refreshing. Maybe a little freeing, but not fresh or uplifting. Rather, vaguely...
“No. It’s better this way. After all, I chose this.”
Jung Tae-ui shook his head. Then suddenly, a thought struck him.
But helping that person disappear?
The more he thought about that, the more a chill ran down his spine. He looked at the young man.
The young man muttered, “Really?” and shrugged. Maybe he thought Jung Tae-ui’s answer was disappointing, because his lips twisted briefly into a frown.
“What’s your name?”
Just as Jung Tae-ui turned to leave, the voice stopped him again.
“...Tae-ui. Jung Tae-ui.”
He spoke slowly and clearly so it would be easy to understand, but the young man showed no reaction. Jung Tae-ui thought about repeating it but decided not to since the young man didn’t ask.
But it seemed the young man did understand.
“...What an unlucky name.”
The young man muttered coldly.
He’d heard people call his name strange or difficult before, but “unlucky” was a first.
Frowning deeply, Jung Tae-ui looked back at the young man. What an unusual person to meet today.
But when he saw the young man, he relaxed his expression.
The young man was smiling. Or rather, his eyes curved so subtly it was hard to tell if it was a smile or a frown.
Still, he was beautiful.
“Beauty’s beauty, no matter what,” Jung Tae-ui muttered as he opened the door and stepped outside. This time, no voice stopped him.
The rain was still pouring hard.
Running out into it toward home, Jung Tae-ui quickly pushed his dripping hair back several times. Then he suddenly thought—
Just like the young man said, this place, where nothing can be heard except the rain, feels like the bottom of the sea.
Even before entering the front door of his home, Jung Tae-ui sensed something strange.
A few hours earlier, when Jung Tae-ui left in the morning, Kyle’s car had been in the garage.
James, standing there smoking a cigarette and staring at the heavy rain, made a casual gesture greeting Jung Tae-ui. His unusually bright expression puzzled Jung Tae-ui as he nodded and entered the house.
“...?”
Something was off in the house.
Rita, pacing with a serious expression, didn’t complain even as Jung Tae-ui, dripping wet, came inside. She just lazily said, “Go take a shower first.”
Though puzzled, Jung Tae-ui contacted the nearest hospital’s emergency room first, then roughly cleaned himself and changed clothes.
But even after shaking water from his hair and coming out, the atmosphere inside still felt suspicious. Noticing Rita’s odd behavior, Jung Tae-ui looked up as sounds came from the study upstairs.
“Kyle must be back already. Hasn’t even been three hours since he left. Did he forget something?”
“Since the timing works out, maybe he’ll have lunch and go back,” Jung Tae-ui said to Rita, but she only nodded indifferently.
Something really felt wrong.
Rubbing his hair with a towel, Jung Tae-ui went up to the second-floor study.
“Kyle, why are you home so early?”
But even with Jung Tae-ui’s cheerful greeting, no answer came.
Seeing the study door open, he thought Kyle must be inside but was puzzled. Peeking inside, he wondered if Kyle wasn’t really there, just left the door open.
But Kyle was there.
Standing motionless in the middle of the study.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing Kyle standing still like a statue, Jung Tae-ui scratched his cheek and asked. He wondered if disturbing someone deep in thought was a bad idea.
But even if Kyle was deeply absorbed in thought, he usually responded if spoken to. Yet Kyle said nothing and didn’t even move a finger, standing stiff as if frozen.
“...Kyle?”
Jung Tae-ui approached from behind and called him. It wasn’t so far that Kyle couldn’t hear.
Even when Jung Tae-ui’s hand touched his shoulder, Kyle didn’t move.
Only then did Jung Tae-ui notice Kyle’s wide-open, glaring eyes and followed his gaze.
Kyle was staring at a spot on the bookshelf—third shelf from the top, right next to a chair. The most accessible spot, where he kept the books he cherished most, the ones he often pulled out and handled carefully. Among the many rare books in the study, these were the ones Kyle had gone to great lengths to acquire, saying they were more precious than life itself.
In the middle of that spot was an empty space. A space where maybe a dozen books had been.
Wait, was that space always empty?
Unless Kyle was tidying up or organizing books, such an empty space was unusual. It could be empty if a book or two were taken out to read, but this was different.
“Huh... something’s off here...”
Jung Tae-ui tilted his head and reached out his hand.
Then—
Kyle, who had been standing still like a stone statue, suddenly twitched as if shivering. Starting from his fingertips, his body trembled—arms, legs, torso—all shaking uncontrollably. His face paled as blood drained from it.
“...Ri...”
“Huh? Kyle? Are you okay?”
Seeing Kyle tremble like a ghost with a pale face and harsh teeth grinding, Jung Tae-ui was alarmed and rushed to him. Yet Kyle still didn’t take his eyes off the bookshelf and muttered with his frozen tongue.
“Ris... Cri... Chris... th-this...!!”
Then in the next moment, Kyle, eyes open, fainted backward.
Only Jung Tae-ui’s startled shout of “Kyle!!” remained.
The unexpected visitor came about an hour after Jung Tae-ui and Kyle had left the house.
Rita, unwilling but forced to let the visitor in, guided them into the parlor and immediately contacted Kyle. Upon receiving the call, Kyle dropped everything and rushed home.
But he was too late.
When Kyle burst in like he was going to break down the door, the visitor had already left without Rita noticing—taking with them some of Kyle’s most treasured books.
“That’s less of a guest and more of a thief.”
A few days ago, Jung Tae-ui sat beside Peter under the repaired barn roof, eating snacks while Peter roughly explained. Jung Tae-ui muttered in disbelief.
He also recalled a similar conversation from when his uncle had visited recently.
“Christina... was it?”
Munching snacks, he muttered the name. At the mention, Kyle’s face turned pale with dread.
If only they had hidden the books somewhere beforehand, Jung Tae-ui thought, then shook his head. As a proper person, who would think a guest would just take books from an empty house and disappear?
Anyway, thanks to that, Kyle, now fainted, lay moaning in the bedroom. Rita even put an ice pack on his forehead. He looked truly sick.
Jung Tae-ui clicked his tongue.
Though not recalling exactly, the missing books were probably those Kyle had recently acquired and cherished, saying he had fulfilled a lifelong dream.
He remembered how Kyle never even wanted to turn their pages, just looked at them lovingly and smiled foolishly.
“Those books must have been by Luhern Steiner and Edmond Thiérson, and... no wonder he’s bedridden.”
Counting on his fingers, Jung Tae-ui muttered as he looked down.
Then, a drop of water fell on his fingers. Looking up, he saw rain leaking from the roof. After a few seconds, another drop fell.
“Ah... Peter, it’s leaking again.”
“Huh? Really? Eh, I used American waterproofing since I ran out of the old stuff. Anyway, you have to use domestic waterproofing.”
Peter clicked his tongue and stood up. Jung Tae-ui smiled and stood too.
“Gonna fix it now? The rain’s lighter than before, but it’s still pouring. Maybe better wait for it to stop.”
“No, might as well finish it quickly. The rain helps—then you can tell if it’s still leaking or not.”
Watching Peter enter the barn to grab ladders and tools, Jung Tae-ui chuckled and began tidying the scattered snack bags and beer cans.
Throwing them into the trash bin next to the barn and heading back inside, Jung Tae-ui looked up at the rain, which had weakened considerably since the morning.