“........”
Thinking back, Yuri wasn’t even sure when she had last smiled. It wasn’t a conscious laugh, so she couldn’t remember; maybe she had smiled once or twice recently. But with the string of difficult events lately, there had been nothing to laugh about.
She murmured to herself that it didn’t really matter and looked down at Ring Shinlu.
This man used to smile so beautifully and often — but she doubted she’d see that smiling face for a long time now. …It was a pity.
What must he have thought about all through the night, drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness? Between the agonizing physical pain and the rage that strangled his mind?
In truth, despite his looks, he was a tough man. Yuri could imagine what pain awaited him after the anesthesia wore off, given how badly his body was damaged. She’d felt similar agony when she was shot twice in the torso before — every nerve seemed to focus only there, tearing and burning so fiercely it was hard to breathe.
And yet, he never once asked for painkillers or complained of pain. What tortured him more was the wound gnawing at his heart: pride, self-respect, or something even deeper, broken and shattered.
Yuri pulled over a chair that had been tossed by the bed since last night and sat beside him, just behind his back. Quietly, she watched him.
Not long passed before—
“Don’t stare. Your eyes make me uncomfortable.”
His low, hoarse voice came over his shoulder. Though tired and rough, it was sharp and clear, and Yuri felt relief rather than the dullness of a drained voice.
“You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, so you must be hungry. Do you need anything?”
His shoulders twitched slightly. A momentary swell of emotion rose between them.
Slowly, Ring Shinlu rose from the bed and turned toward her. Yuri quietly studied the man sitting facing her.
He looked noticeably gaunt after just one night. His lowered gaze was harsher than the day before.
“A gun.”
“Yes?”
“I need a gun.”
Yuri fell silent, feeling the weight of the weapon she held close. She asked quietly,
“For what purpose?”
“Whether it’s to shoot my own head or yours, one of them has to go.”
“.......”
Yuri met the piercing gaze fixed on her and sighed silently. She took out her phone, contacted the security supervisor in the hallway, where guards stood ready.
“Yes, this is Gaebel. Please increase security this morning, and prepare a trustworthy team to guard inside the room. No, there’s nothing urgent right now. But the situation might change soon... Yes, thank you.”
Ending the call under Ring Shinlu’s skeptical stare, Yuri pulled out all the bullets she’d stored in the gun’s magazine, poured them onto her palm, then pushed back just one bullet. She stood and went to the bathroom, flushing the rest down the toilet.
Returning to the bed, Yuri extended the gun’s grip toward Ring Shinlu.
He scowled, frowning in disbelief.
“A gun without bullets? You’re joking?”
“One bullet remains. Remember that. Your head isn’t for shooting.”
She handed him the grip, pointing the barrel at herself, silently telling him: If you have to shoot one, do it this way.
Yuri sat back down calmly, locking eyes with Ring Shinlu who snorted and looked at her like it was some pathetic joke. After a moment of silence, she tapped her temple and spoke calmly.
“The part of your head that remembers your anger and shame from yesterday is this. Remove just this, and it’s over.”
“........”
Ring Shinlu’s clenched jaw twitched.
The part of him that recalls the shattered pride and self-respect of yesterday. If that were all erased, would the event return to nothing?
No.
Both Ring Shinlu and Yuri knew that wasn’t true.
Yuri calmly told him, “If you do that, your lip wound won’t heal and will open up again. Don’t do it.” She looked at him with eyes that could have easily made his head into a beehive, yet he stared back. His voice dropped dangerously between clenched teeth.
“Planning to mock me with a laugh before you die? Or do you think I won’t shoot you if you keep provoking me like that?”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Yuri shook her head. It wasn’t his style to sneer or mock with double meaning. Ring Shinlu surely understood that.
He muttered quietly between clenched teeth.
“The same goes for me.”
Then suddenly—
His finger pulled the trigger.
A suppressed shot echoed with a soft, dull sound.
Close range. The bullet hit Yuri. Almost instantly, her chest was stained a vivid red. She dropped her gaze to the crimson mark and slowly raised her head. She locked eyes with Ring Shinlu, wide-eyed and stunned.
“Not the head.”
“...What?”
“It’s a borderline wound. You might die, or you might live. If it were outside the hospital, maybe, but inside here, you might survive.”
“What the hell?!”
Ring Shinlu yelled and threw the gun down. It bounced off her forehead and skittered across the floor.
“A paintball?! Are you kidding?! Really??!!”
“Are you feeling better now?”
Yuri rubbed her chest and sighed softly. Even a paintball hurt enough to throb. She’d probably get a bruise. She didn’t want to die like this, nor did she mean to mock him — but she hoped that if it eased his mind even this way, it was worth it.
…Still, it was a little sad to shoot him knowing it wasn’t a real bullet.
Comforting herself, she picked up the gun.
“Damn it! I hate you even more than Legrow now!!”
Like a wounded lion, Ring Shinlu raged, throwing pillows, cups, and anything within reach at Yuri. Dodging and blocking, she stepped back a few paces, putting distance between them.
When Ring Shinlu finally ran out of things to throw and settled into a sinister glare, Yuri broke the silence.
“I can’t take you to Selinge right now, even if you shoot me. The guards outside are lined up to protect you. They’re more skilled at this than I am, so shooting all their heads off would be difficult.”
“It’s protection. Handpicked by the Legrow family. They’re trustworthy.”
“Ha! Legrow family! What nerve do they have? Planning to apologize on his behalf? I’m blind now!”
Ring Shinlu yelled.
His voice trembled faintly, his rage boiling over despite the exhaustion of the sleepless night. His one remaining eye flashed darkly.
“I’ll never see the world with both eyes again! And I never even got to properly hit that bastard! Ha! How stupid was I, thinking I could? How much did he mock me? That bastard! Me!!”
Yuri already knew how much hatred one human voice could carry. But she had never heard a voice so deeply soaked in hatred and bitterness as his.
“He’s disgusting beyond words. Just thinking about him makes me want to vomit! I can’t even stand that we live under the same sky!”
With a loud bang, Ring Shinlu struck the bed frame repeatedly with his fist. The metal creaked and tilted under the blows, as if unaware his knuckles were swelling.
Suddenly his face went pale, almost white. He clenched his lips so hard a strangled sound escaped between his fingers. He bent forward over the bed as if unable to hold back the rising nausea.
‘‘.........!”
He barely vomited anything. Having eaten nothing since yesterday, only a little bile dripped to the floor. Still, this seemed to torment him more; he shrank and convulsed, unable to calm his rising nausea.
Yuri stood and fetched a clean towel soaked in water and a cup of drinking water.
She silently wiped his dirty hands. Then, noticing his occasional grimacing from nausea and his grimy face, she cleaned that too, handing him the cup. She also wiped the floor.
Neither spoke or showed any expression.
She wondered what expression might be on her own face now — the “same but easy to read” face Annette once described. She hoped it wasn’t pity. She didn’t want Ring Shinlu’s mood to worsen.
After finishing, she hung the towel to dry, picked up a fresh one, and returned to the hospital room. After a few steps, she stopped.
Ring Shinlu was crying.
Quietly, silently, sitting motionless like a doll in the lemon-yellow morning light flooding the room.
His face wet with tears was expressionless, but his tightly clenched jaw and the pale, prominent veins on his trembling clasped hands revealed the deepest misery Yuri had ever seen.
Pride, once noble and immaculate, lay shattered in fragments on filthy dirt. Broken utterly, fallen to a level he could no longer bear to accept — so degraded and shameful.
And he bore all this openly before another’s eyes, so utterly wretched he couldn’t even tell them to look away.
Yuri, who had paused nearby, slowly approached.
“Don’t come closer. Don’t look. Go away.”
She wanted to say it, but couldn’t. Instead, she stood next to the collapsed man whose cheeks were wet with tears and gently pressed the soft towel against his face.
“I’ll really give you real bullets later. So…”
Whether you’re miserable or ashamed, don’t force yourself to hide it. I know you think you’ll disappear. Don’t get more miserable because of me.
She swallowed the rest of the words — she thought they would only cause him more pain.
Ring Shinlu seemed to understand the unsaid part. His stiff lips trembled.
“Hah. Maybe you have mind-reading powers.”
“Only sometimes.”
He glanced fiercely at her but didn’t say more, as if unwilling.
"........."
"........."
Silence stretched.
As Yuri wiped the tears from his cheek, she noticed faint stubble growing on his gaunt face.
Though she shaved daily herself, she found it oddly fascinating and even a bit cute, though it would soon look unpleasant if it grew for a day or two more.
“Didn’t I tell you not to look? Your eyes make me uncomfortable.”
He seemed to endure it for a while but finally snapped, annoyed by her gaze. Yuri, having no ill intent, looked away briefly but then looked back again.
“Want me to shave it?”
Ring Shinlu stared at her, first as if he misheard or didn’t understand, furrowing his brows. But from her calm face, he confirmed his hearing was right and showed a fleeting look of disbelief.
“I’ll get warm water.”
Yuri said and turned away. Feeling his dumbfounded gaze on her back, she ignored it and fetched towels, water, shaving foam, and a razor. Even in a top hospital suite, disposable razors were all they had.
Back in the room, she stood by Ring Shinlu, who remained motionless like a doll.
Pressing the warm towel to his face, his lips twitched, but he said nothing. Yuri spread shaving foam on his chin and began carefully shaving.
The blade traced white, soft skin, revealing the smooth texture beneath. She brushed the shaved area to feel the smoothness, moving the razor slowly but skillfully.
She noticed peach fuzz on his earlobes, and soft, pale cheeks.
Though she knew his inside and outside were very different, it pained her anew that such a young man suffered this fate. Her touch became gentler as she stroked his cheeks.
“Perverted bastard.”
Suddenly, Ring Shinlu muttered.
He moved his chin abruptly, nearly cutting her. Yuri quickly put the razor down and checked for wounds — luckily, none.
She was too focused on his chin to hear his words clearly. When she sighed in relief, Ring Shinlu, who had kept his gaze down, suddenly opened his eyes wide. She met his large black eyes.
“Creeping on a sleeping person.”
He sneered, and Yuri blinked, wondering what he meant. Then she remembered what she did the day before. She’d thought he was too out of it to notice but apparently he remembered and was now attacking her in retaliation.
Yuri scratched her head.
He’d never had a particularly perverse thought before, so “pervert” seemed unfair. And there was no ill intent in her touching him yesterday, but since the victim said it, she didn’t protest.
“You keep staring blankly, and now that I’m a wreck lying in the gutter, you touch me as you please? You like that?”
Yuri looked at him coldly, then murmured after a moment’s thought,
“Now that I think about it, I guess so. I don’t dislike it.”
Then with a single stroke, she slowly removed the last shaving foam from his chin. Setting the razor aside, she grabbed a wet towel.
“You’re going to die in my hands eventually. Until then, can’t I leave you with at least a good memory? Have some mercy.”
She wrapped his face in the cool towel, gently rubbing. His dark eyes lifted briefly before closing. The coolness seemed to soothe not only his face but his mind. He didn’t seem to mind.
His lashes were long, like his shiny black hair. His eyebrows well-shaped.
Yuri could understand the feelings of Ring Huirong, who cherished his youngest son like a treasure.
“All done.”
As she gathered her things, Ring Shinlu opened his eyes. He looked at her with an expressionless face as she picked up the towel and water bowl. He spoke.
“Now then.”
“The real bullets you mentioned earlier.”
“.........”
Just as Yuri turned toward the bathroom, she stopped and looked down at him. This time, he stared at her with eyes shining sharply as if ready to shoot her in the head.
“After a week.”
Yuri answered calmly. She planned to ask someone to deliver the real bullets to him then and quickly leave for the airport.
“Until then, I can’t leave your side. Ring Tangwin asked me to take care of you.”
Though she said she’d give him the bullets later, she never promised today. She turned away, ignoring the fierce glance that seemed to spark deadly intent.
The threatening aura made her neck tingle, but she preferred this to seeing him wallowing miserably in despair just moments ago.
“You… damned perverted liar and cheat!”
A shout burst behind her. At the same moment, Ring Shinlu kicked her backside as she took a step forward. She didn’t fall but was pushed a few steps ahead, spilling water onto the floor. Her pants soaked below the knees.
She glanced down, realizing she had no spare clothes. She sighed in frustration.
The first visitor was James.
Carrying a lavish bouquet in one arm and a vintage wine worth a fortune in the other, James appeared with a perfect, non-businesslike smile.
“Is this your first time meeting in person? I’m James Miller, working at T&R. Do you like the room?”
He placed the wine on the table and handed the bouquet to Yuri. Standing behind Ring Shinlu, she caught the flowers, thinking, “All the vases in this room are already full of flowers… what should I do with these?”
“Yes, I like it very much. I feel almost sorry you went to such lengths to prepare such a fine room.”
Ring Shinlu rose and greeted James with a perfect smile equal to his. The two men, discreetly assessing each other while shaking hands with flawless smiles, were dazzling. Yuri had to look away, muttering to herself about putting the flowers in a vase or bathtub later.
Ring Shinlu moved from the hospital to the hotel suite in the afternoon.
Yuri suggested he stay longer at the hospital given his condition, but he flatly refused, saying he hated the hospital’s squalor. The suite was no worse than any luxury hotel, but he snapped, “Hospitals are disgusting by nature.” Yuri nodded in agreement.
Fitting for the side who’d committed the offense, Kyle—or more precisely his secretary James—promptly booked a luxury suite at the nearest hotel to the hospital. Not long after check-in, James came to visit.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re indispensable at T&R.”
Yuri blinked, returning from filling the bathtub with flowers and water, as she watched Ring Shinlu greet James with a smile she’d never seen before — the polished “young master of the noble Legrow family” facade.
Though she expected him not to wear that face with Jeong Tae or Legrow or even Yuri, this was truly a “perfectly crafted” expression — someone raised well and loved in a respected family, flawless without a single weak spot.
Maybe she stared too long.
Noticing the gaze, Ring Shinlu glanced at her with a faint smile. James followed his gaze and looked at Yuri as well. Yuri noticed the sharpness growing in Ring Shinlu’s eyes.
Don’t look. Your eyes make me uncomfortable.
Yuri knew exactly what that look meant. She’d heard it dozens of times today already. (She never avoided looking despite hearing it, so she heard it many times.)
Pretending not to notice, Yuri returned James’ silent greeting with a nod. James, dressed in an impeccable suit like armor, radiated a formidable presence today. Despite his perfect smile, his eyes burned fiercely deep within. Judging by that rage… Kyle must have caused trouble again.
Sure enough.
“How unexpected. I thought Kyle Legrow himself would come, but instead his secretary came… No, don’t misunderstand. It’s not a complaint about Mr. Miller.”
Ring Shinlu’s words were sharp, implying his displeasure that a direct family member responsible for the trouble didn’t come in person but sent a secretary instead. James’ smile deepened at the veiled jab.
“Yes, normally Kyle should have come himself, but he suddenly had a flare-up of a chronic illness last night. I came first to greet you and will visit again later. Apologies.”
“I hope he recovers soon.”
Ring Shinlu replied with concern, and James thanked him politely. Yuri silently observed their picture-perfect exchange, thinking Kyle must have flown off again to some rural book sale or secondhand bookstore…
James led a rather miserable life.
He was a talented man with many certifications that others struggled years to acquire, able to work broadly across fields. He never stumbled answering questions, earned a salary befitting his skills, had a beautiful wife, and many reliable colleagues. Many who knew him “casually” must envy his life.
But a shadow darkened his brilliant life — his direct superior. The cruel boss who repeatedly rejected his resignation and tied him down by any means.
Poor James. Yet again, today.
Yuri placed a well-brewed cup of black tea between them and stood behind Ring Shinlu. Habitually, she stood near the door but soon heard a brief request.
“I believe you said you didn’t want me on your right side.”
“Sorry.”
She bowed lightly and stepped a few paces behind his left side. James watched but showed no unnecessary reaction.
Yuri recalled another instruction from Ring Shinlu besides “don’t look at me.”
“Don’t stand on my right side.”
“If you’re not going away, at least don’t stand on my right. It’s unpleasant having you in my peripheral vision.”
Having injured his left eye, Ring Shinlu preferred Yuri stand on his blind side — the left — so she wouldn’t be noticed. She complied silently but sometimes forgot due to her habit of standing near the door.
“Before coming here,
I visited Dr. Byron.”
James sipped tea and spoke. Yuri, expressionless, listened while glancing sideways at Ring Shinlu, who showed little reaction other than drinking tea.
“As you probably know, the prognosis isn’t great. But according to Dr. Byron, recovery with treatment is possible, so it’s not entirely hopeless.”
A faint warmth flickered at James’ eyes. Despite his generally blunt and businesslike demeanor, he wasn’t a bad man. He showed joy when delivering good news, just like Yuri did now.
Dr. Byron’s words were as positive as possible, but he wasn’t lying. If he said so, there was at least some reason to try.
“Not entirely hopeless…”
Ring Shinlu quietly repeated. After a moment’s thought, he smiled faintly.
“Thank you for those words.”
That brief reply ended his speaking. He sipped his tea.
It was cynicism — for the situation, the victim, and his own position.