Yuri had noticed it too, and it seemed James had felt it as well. After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze to Yuri.
“Yes, come to think of it, I hadn’t heard much from this side. Has there been any contact from Seringe to you, Yuri?”
“Huh? Ah, I did get a call this morning, but nothing significant has changed.”
Standing behind Lingshinlu with a straight posture and hands clasped behind his back, Yuri shook his head. “I see,” muttered James with a somewhat disappointed expression, though not overly so. It wasn’t exactly an urgent matter anyway. Yuri glanced briefly down at Lingshinlu. Slightly tilting his head in this direction, which wasn’t even visible, he showed faint signs of agitation. That was probably because of Jeong Tae-ui.
“We haven’t received any messages that would confirm Jeong Tae-ui’s whereabouts, but there’s also been no indication of any bad signs. Rather than suspecting harm has come to him, it’s more likely someone is simply hiding their whereabouts.”
Looking at James, Yuri added this statement toward Lingshinlu. Lingshinlu showed no expression, and James nodded, saying “I see.”
Soon, James, guessing the part of Lingshinlu’s mind that was troubled, gave a light smile.
“Yuri’s words are almost never wrong. He’s a capable man. While you’re staying here, you can probably trust him with your safety without worry.”
Only then did Lingshinlu turn around. When Yuri appeared in his right eye, he slightly narrowed his eyes as their gazes met. Whether it was a sneer or a chuckle, Yuri ignored it and looked back at him.
“That must be so. That’s why my eldest brother specifically entrusted him with my safety. ...Thank you, Mr. Gable.”
“No, the pleasure is mine.”
Lingshinlu bowed to Yuri with unexpected formality, and Yuri quickly returned the bow. Though his attitude was naturally calm and barely showed it, he actually felt somewhat uneasy.
Whether to be relieved or not, no matter his true feelings, Lingshinlu seemed much calmer on the surface. Since around morning, he had shown hardly any signs of agitation or roughness, and his tone toward Yuri had returned to the polite semi-formal style of before.
Yet, this was only an outward show; his sharp, piercing gaze and tone remained unchanged. Occasionally, a smile would appear on his handsome face, but it gave off an atmosphere as if he might grab a live bullet from somewhere and shoot it through your forehead at any wrong move.
Yuri pretended not to notice and stepped back a little. Then, looking out behind him through the wide glass window, he surveyed the open view. Before the impressive lineup of buildings that must have a nice night view, what first caught his eyes was the outdoor pool right below, quietly rippling without a soul in sight.
Thinking back, neither yesterday nor today had he gone into the water. Not even for washing, he couldn’t soak in the bathtub and had to settle for a shower. Maybe, while staying here, he wouldn’t be able to swim at all.
That thought made him a little gloomy. Tonight, at least, he would soak in the bathtub.
...Ah. The bathtub. The bouquet.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
In a voice low enough not to disturb the two talking, Yuri whispered briefly and hurried off to the bathroom. The bathtub, holding a huge bouquet, was nearly full of water. If left much longer, it would overflow.
Quickly turning off the faucet and lifting the bouquet so it wouldn’t be fully submerged, Yuri wiped his hands and sighed quietly. No swimming, and several days like this ahead.
He wasn’t the type to get easily rattled by others’ malice or hostility, but this time he felt tired. Maybe because it was someone he clearly liked.
“Being hated by someone you like is hard, Anette.”
Whispering the name of someone not present—perhaps because of a dream—he thought she would surely have whispered back, “Oh, my dear Yuri, you silly.” She would have kissed his forehead, soothing his heart with her kindly aged voice... though afterward she would tease him mercilessly.
Yuri glanced outside the bathroom. He saw the two men still talking. Their bright smiles and refined conversation gave the impression the phrase “speak with a dagger hidden in a honeyed tongue” was floating above their heads.
James could swallow a snake and still smile calmly when necessary, but Lingshinlu was somewhat surprising. Or rather, considering Lingshinlu was an extremely two-faced person, it wasn’t so surprising, yet impressive. Until this morning, or at least until James arrived and it was only Yuri and him, Lingshinlu had shown no expression other than sneers, sarcasm, and coldness. Now, as if nothing had happened, he wore a gentle, lovely smile.
Amazing... that man should be an actor.
Yuri was admiring him inwardly when, as if he already knew, Lingshinlu suddenly locked eyes with him and Yuri flinched. The eyes that flickered black quickly softened.
“Mr. Gable, why are you watching from there like that? If you’re done, come over this way.”
Gesturing kindly toward his left shoulder, Lingshinlu beckoned, and Yuri murmured “Yes,” then left the bathroom.
Being perceptive and quick-witted wasn’t always a blessing. Now Yuri felt the silent message: “I already told you your gaze is unpleasant. Don’t stare from there; just hide out of my sight behind my left side.”
As Yuri silently returned to his original spot, the intercom bell rang just as he passed by it, as if timed perfectly. It was an internal call.
There shouldn’t be calls from other rooms, so he wondered and, as expected, it was from the first floor lobby desk. As Yuri briefly answered “Yes, that’s right, yes, one moment,” the two stopped talking and looked at him. Yuri covered the receiver and glanced at Lingshinlu.
“There’s a visitor to see you, Mr. Lingshinlu. Someone named Ling Paowin.”
Pronouncing the name clearly as given by the desk, Lingshinlu seemed not to remember immediately, furrowing his brow slightly. Soon, however, he murmured, “Ah, that’s my cousin living near Berlin. Seems he heard and came by to greet.”
“Fast, aren’t they?” Lingshinlu said with a bitter smile. James, in front of him, said, “Ah, then I guess I should be leaving soon.” He made a show of getting up. Since their conversation had been only superficial greetings anyway—any serious discussion about the situation was fiercely ongoing between their respective legal teams—Lingshinlu did not try to hold him back.
Rising from his seat, James responded, “Yes, please send him up,” and gave Yuri a look as Yuri put down the receiver.
“If it’s a relative, there might be some private matters, so maybe it’s best to give them some privacy. You can speak Chinese anyway.”
Hearing James speak in German, Yuri doubted if Lingshinlu could understand, but the latter said nothing, only glancing briefly before replying in German.
“I can’t allow that, since I don’t know who might be dangerous.”
At that moment, Lingshinlu let out a slight chuckle.
So he did understand. Yuri thought so all along. He vaguely remembered Lingtangwin mentioning the youngest brother’s remarkable language skills.
“Still, he’s close family, so it’s a pity you’re so openly suspicious.”
“Excuse me,” Yuri said humbly, bowing his head, acknowledging the rebuke for not remembering a close relative’s name at once.
“He’s not someone who would do anything dangerous. Probably he’s just hoping to make a good impression on my father and timidly watch his step.”
“............”
Yuri thought that open suspicion by others might be better than open disdain from relatives but said nothing. Lingshinlu smiled gracefully and prettily as if asking who could have said such harsh words.
“But Mr. Miller seems to want to talk more. Go ahead. There’s no need to worry about what happens just because there’s no watchful eyes.”
Yuri paused, staring at Lingshinlu. When their eyes met, he spoke seriously.
“Surveillance? That’s not it. You are free to move as you wish. I am just here so that nothing dangerous happens. No one is forcing you in any way.”
He didn’t want Lingshinlu to feel tied down, imprisoned. Had he thought so until now? It was unpleasant and irritating.
Maybe Yuri had stopped Lingshinlu from returning to Seringe. To prevent the enraged, irrational man from meeting a senseless death. To prevent his still-healing wounds from worsening.
“No one...”
But Yuri stopped there, blinking with his mouth slightly open, silenced by Lingshinlu’s gaze. Not angry or happy, but eyes wide and unreadable, Lingshinlu watched him without expression. Those black eyes seemed to trap Yuri’s gaze so tightly that he couldn’t look away. Then Yuri became aware of another pair of eyes watching him from behind Lingshinlu’s shoulder and finally lifted his eyes. James looked at him quietly and smiled faintly.
Noticing Yuri’s gaze shift behind, Lingshinlu turned his head, and James shrugged lightly with a charming smile.
“Seems so.”
Lingshinlu smiled back, but the smile felt formal and cold. This man seemed to have some inner twisting again. Yuri watched Lingshinlu silently, but without time to think about where exactly the twisting lay, the doorbell announcing someone’s arrival rang, forcing Yuri to step away.
Bowing politely to the visitor who entered with a friendly face, Yuri said he would stay in the first-floor lobby until the meeting ended and left the room with James. He did not forget to leave other guards who didn’t understand their language inside near the entrance, where they could see but not hear the conversation.
“He’s a difficult young master. What do you see in that youth of his?”
As soon as they entered the spacious, open café inside the hotel entrance, James suddenly blurted out the first thing.
Near the grand piano, placed ambiguously between the hotel lobby and the café, a neatly dressed young lady played quiet music so as not to disturb conversations.
Piano music—listening to live playing is truly special, Yuri muttered as he sat down near the terrace, where the outdoor pool was clearly visible. He had been giving the pool a desperate look, as if forgetting the piano and his companion, until James spoke, making him turn his head.
“Huh?”
“Not ‘huh?’ You actually like him quite a bit, don’t you?”
“You usually pretend to be indifferent but secretly like people, though you seemed to like him more than usual,” James said, opening the menu handed by the waiter. Without looking long, he murmured “espresso,” and Yuri, following him, said, “The same for me.” Meeting James’s gaze, Yuri scratched his temple with a slightly troubled face.
“Yes, that’s right... He’s not a bad person.”
“Hmm,” James cocked his head.
“I just thought he was the clever, smart youngest son raised in a rich family, but he looks like a pretty cat and is actually a lion cub.”
James muttered carelessly and looked away. Then, eyeing the glass shelf near the counter, he called the waiter over and ordered one macaroon of each kind. Normally, he didn’t enjoy sweets, so this behavior suggested his stress levels were pretty high lately.
“Don’t you like him?”
“Well, it’s no big deal whether I like him or not since I’m not seeing him again. But if I had to choose, I don’t like difficult people regardless of gender, age, race, or nationality. Among them, a forty-something German man who’s crazily obsessed with books is the worst.”
“Oh,” Yuri stopped scratching his temple and looked pityingly at James’s bulging forehead veins, then asked about that forty-something German’s whereabouts.
“Where is he now?”
“Cordoba.”
“Well, he hasn’t gone too far.”
Barely finishing, Yuri murmured, “Better than when he flew to Peru saying he wanted to visit Antarctica before.” For that slip of the tongue, James complained and cursed nonstop until their coffee and snacks arrived. Actually, until their cups were empty and all the snacks were gone.
He seemed to have a lot bottled up. Probably no one understood James as well as Yuri did. Before going to the intelligence bureau, Yuri worked alongside James by Kyle’s side, and to him, James was the most decent person he knew.
Though cold and firm, James was oddly soft in some ways and stubbornly clung to Kyle, who refused to accept his resignation.
Watching James gulp espresso and macaroons like water, Yuri half-joked.
“Why don’t you just ask them to hand over management control entirely?”
“He’d be delighted.”
“.........”
Well, that guy probably would be.
Yuri thought of Kyle laughing heartily and shook his head slightly. James, watching that, tore his hair out and groaned in frustration.
“If he brings in some unreadable Islamic scripture, I’ll burn it immediately.”
“Wouldn’t he get fired then?”
At that moment, James stopped tearing his hair and looked at Yuri. His eyes sparkled, and Yuri instinctively took a step back.
“Yes, that’s right. That’s it.”
Clicking his fingers, James nodded.
“If I do that, I can finally get fired!”
“.......”
Though said jokingly, it didn’t seem like it would end as a joke. Yuri could only wish James—or Kyle—good luck.
“How about you? Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“I thought you were just playing the role of calming a difficult rich young master, but it’s not so easy, is it?”
“Oh,” Yuri rubbed his temple.
“I guess the personality that points a gun at Rick’s head is more than just difficult... but he’s not that bad.”
He sounded a little unsure at the end. Yuri usually considered himself honest and objective, but when affection for someone grows too much, that seems to falter.
Fortunately, James wasn’t focusing on that part and clicked his tongue, shaking his head.
“The crazy second son is the problem. Why do people around him have such bad influence?”
“But Jeong Tae-ui seemed like a decent person.”
“No, it’s not about humanity. If you judge by humanity, Kyle isn’t a bad person either. The problem is whether he causes trouble or not.”
James’s tone was firm, and Yuri was left speechless. On reflection, it didn’t sound wrong.
“Look at Jeong Tae-ui too. He’s the center of the Seringe incident. Do you know how many calls that crazy second son makes to me?”
“Oh, indeed. Now I understand why he’s gotten so gaunt,” Yuri nodded expressionlessly. At the same time, he guessed the reason James had called him here—probably because of the Seringe situation. They had briefly talked earlier, but since Lingshinlu was present, James might have thought Yuri hadn’t said everything.
“There hasn’t been much change regarding Jeong Jae-ui’s situation. It’s similar with Jeong Tae-ui... I don’t think it’s the worst case. If he’d been killed and buried or something, people would have heard by now. So if it’s the worst case, it must be somewhere out of sight...”
The only such place in Seringe was Al Saud’s villa. James seemed to realize this quickly.
Yuri fell silent for a moment, looking away from the pool outside, then murmured to James.
“I suspect Jeong Tae-ui might have already reunited with his brother. It’s just a guess, though.”
“I hope it’s not a reunion in the afterlife.”
“We’ll hear news soon, one way or another.”
“If you say so, I guess that’s true.”
James sighed and relaxed his expression a little. Yuri’s intuition was usually reliable in work matters. If he said something, it was almost certain.
“Well, Jeong Jae-ui is known more for luck than genius. Hopefully, nothing happens to him. Anyway, your work is almost done, yet you’re stuck here in such a place—it’s unfortunate.”
James, who scheduled everything to the minute, checked his watch, then spoke kindly as if trying to comfort Yuri. Yuri, who had been casting longing glances at the pool, shook his head calmly.
“I’m fine. Not so bad. Except I can’t swim whenever I want.”
“Haha, that’s the biggest problem for you, right? Earlier, it looked like the young master was being cold—won’t even give you time to swim a little?”
“No. He’s been a bit rough due to the circumstances, but he’s actually a good person.”
After saying that, Yuri realized it might sound a bit odd from a general perspective, but he thought, so what? In his mind, Lingshinlu was a bit picky but had enough lovable qualities, and Yuri meant it sincerely.
“A good person, huh...”
James repeated the phrase, not entirely believing it, but with an indifferent “Well, who cares?” expression. He seemed interested that Yuri, who rarely showed affection, called him that and smiled, asking, “What makes him a good person?”
Yuri was caught off guard. When asked what made him a good person, he couldn’t think of an immediate answer.
In fact, since meeting him, Lingshinlu had rarely shown the “good person” side to Yuri. Though he sometimes smiled lovingly, beneath the surface his true nature was clearly visible.
...Then why did he feel drawn to him?
Because he was handsome.
That alone wasn’t the reason.
At first, it might have been what caught his eye. But if it were only the surface, he should have favored his mother, who resembled Lingshinlu but was softer and more delicate.
Then why?
“...He looks perfect, but he’s not.”
Yuri suddenly muttered. After speaking, he thought, Ah, that’s right. That’s how it was. The unconscious feelings that hadn’t surfaced.
Once he opened his mouth, the words came slowly but steadily.
“He’s so beautiful I want to watch him by his side, but more than that, he’s unstable and fragile, so I want to protect him... And he knows it himself. He uses any means necessary for what he wants, even cruel acts, yet he’s proud and fastidious.”
Somehow, he was pitiful and impossible to look away from... No, it wasn’t that he couldn’t look away—it was that he didn’t want to.
“Hmm... is that what you call a good person?”
James frowned and laughed as if it didn’t make sense.
Yuri pondered again. By usual standards, what he said was far from qualities of a good person. So what James meant was...
“...Yes, he’s a good person, to me. Someone I like to have by my side and watch.”
Yuri nodded quietly.
That’s right. He had always thought so, but now consciously realizing it felt strange.
Yuri’s serious expression made James laugh softly and wave his hand.
“Hey, that sounds exactly like you like him.”
“Yes.
He’s beautiful. Pure. Lovely. Fastidious.”
Yuri’s answer was blunt but sincere as always. James briefly wiped his smile away and looked at Yuri carefully, then gave a wry smile thinking, “Wow, this young master really likes him.”
“Yes, really,” Yuri nodded.
Yes, that’s right. Lovely. Even with that spiteful, cruel side.
His heart pounded, slow but definite, thump-thump, thump-thump. It felt awkward yet good, so Yuri quietly placed his hand on his chest.
That’s right, yes, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Feeling the pleasant beat of his heart, Yuri only noticed James rising a few seconds later as he glanced over Yuri’s shoulder.
“Looks like you’ve finished talking. Are you here to see off your cousin, or to have some tea?”
James mentioned the macarons here were excellent as well, and only then did Yuri turn around.
Without realizing when, Lingshinlu was standing there. Standing side by side with the visitor who had come claiming to be a relative, he looked at Yuri with a strange, unreadable expression.
Their eyes met.
".........."
".........."
Until that moment, the heart beating in a pleasant rhythm suddenly pounded a bit harder. The lovely face he had been imagining suddenly appeared before him in reality.
Yuri smiled happily. They had only been apart for several tens of minutes, yet it felt like meeting someone from a dream in reality—so nostalgic and joyful.
But unfortunately, that smile was not returned with a smile. Lingshinlu, silently looking at Yuri, briefly frowned. At that moment, Yuri’s smile disappeared too.
Uh... just now, he looked like he was momentarily upset.
Soon after, returning to his usual expressionless face, Yuri pondered the cause. If he hadn’t imagined it, why?
Maybe Lingshinlu had overheard Yuri and James’s conversation. The café was open and spacious; their voices weren’t loud but not deliberately hushed either. Plus, they had been talking for quite some time right nearby, so it was possible he had heard from some time ago.
But thinking back, there was no unpleasant slander. If anything, the topic was a little embarrassing... Maybe about being cruel or imperfect.
While Yuri was lost in thought, Lingshinlu recovered his bright and gentle smile that he showed to others as usual.
“My brother said he was leaving, so I came down to see him off. I thought you were already gone. Seems you had much to talk about with Mr. Gable.”
“Ah, I was just about to leave myself.”
James briefly greeted the cousin standing beside Lingshinlu, who, after a short introduction by Lingshinlu to James and Yuri, looked at Yuri with a kindly, generous face.