Chapter 11 | BROTHER EUGHH
The peaceful routine that had been quietly flowing while Ji-woo held his secure spot next to Jin-sung was shattered without warning.
It happened one evening when Jin-sung said he needed to check something and went out alone. Since the forest terrain had just shifted, there would be a few hours before anything dangerous happened, and it would be awkward if he stayed out too late—Jin-sung left their den by himself, telling Ji-woo he’d be back soon.
The mistake was not sensing any real danger from what should have been just an hour or two trip at most. Ji-woo had gotten complacent, thinking his position wouldn’t be threatened just because Jin-sung was temporarily away.
But that psycho Kim Jae-han didn’t bother hiding his disgusting, twisted nature once there were no immediate obstacles in his way. His behavior seemed fueled by both jealousy and humiliation over having his position stolen by someone as weak and pathetic as Han Ji-woo.
“Come with me, you piece of shit.”
Kim Jae-han grabbed Ji-woo right in front of everyone. His rough hands dragged Ji-woo with a strength that couldn’t be easily shaken off.
“Think you’re hot shit because you’re clinging to Jin-sung?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re good at seducing men like a damn fox, so why are you playing innocent now? Don’t you like this kind of thing?”
No matter how much Ji-woo had taken Kim Jae-han’s position, calling it seduction was ridiculous—Kim Jae-han, blinded by jealousy, was spouting complete nonsense.
“What are you saying…”
“Let’s see how I compare to Jin-sung this time. You might find out I’m better once we actually do it.”
Kim Jae-han’s movements as he cornered Ji-woo against the damp cave wall were vicious and violent. When Ji-woo, trapped with his back to the wall, fought back hard, the hand that finally struck his cheek was brutal. Even though he couldn’t feel physical pain, he could still sense the jarring impact that made his head snap to the side and the heavy sensation that followed.
His lip must have split too—he nervously ran his tongue over it, and the metallic taste of blood hit his taste buds.
Damn it, when is Jin-sung coming back? Someone stop this bastard.
He never thought he’d be desperately calling for Jin-sung—the same person who used to make him pray about how terrifying he was—but right now, Jin-sung was his only hope.
As he silently chanted Jin-sung’s name like a prayer, Kim Jae-han, who had been grabbing Ji-woo’s neck and trying to shove his face forward, suddenly went flying to the side.
“AAAAHH!”
The disgusting sound of a pig being slaughtered echoed through the cave, mixed with the harsh sounds of brutal strikes. The one creating this violent symphony was Jin-sung himself, the very person Ji-woo had been desperately calling for.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Jin-sung pressed his foot down on Kim Jae-han’s throat, cutting off his air supply, his face twisted with barely contained murderous rage.
Seeing Jin-sung—who had always been someone to avoid—Ji-woo felt his tension drain away as relief flooded through him.
But questions quickly arose about Jin-sung’s intense fury. Though Ji-woo had desperately wanted Jin-sung to come back, he hadn’t expected this level of reaction.
Given Jin-sung’s hierarchical personality, Ji-woo had expected him to stop Kim Jae-han or give him a warning, but he never thought Jin-sung would lose control and beat Kim Jae-han to a pulp. After all, Kim Jae-han’s actions were a threat to Ji-woo, not a direct challenge to Jin-sung’s authority.
His heartbeat, which had been slowing down, started pounding again at Jin-sung’s next words.
Only then did Ji-woo realize Jin-sung’s true feelings—feelings he had completely failed to notice and misunderstood all this time.
“Don’t you know the rule that the prettiest one sits next to the strongest guy, you piece of shit? This is insubordination.”
The prettiest one…?
Ji-woo turned those words over in his mind, and goosebumps broke out on his arms at hearing himself described that way.
What kind of rule is that?
Is Jin-sung completely fucking insane?
No matter how clueless someone might be, there was no fool who couldn’t understand what that statement meant.
Ji-woo hadn’t taken the seat next to Jin-sung as his right-hand man, but as Jin-sung’s trophy, a pretty ornament to show off his status. Jin-sung didn’t need a right-hand man; he needed a doll to display as decoration.
There was a reason why Jin-sung, despite having good looks and talent, was obsessed with status and power.
It was a story that began with Jin-sung’s experiences on Earth before being summoned to the Natrene Empire.
Jin-sung came from a family that was even wealthier than Ji-woo’s—his father owned multiple buildings.
The only son of a mid-sized company president.
That was Jin-sung’s title. But that status crumbled before Jin-sung even finished fifth grade.
Jin-sung’s father’s business collapsed due to betrayal by friends and business partners.
Jin-sung’s father was skilled as a businessman, but his fatal flaw was trusting people too much. He helped, believed in, and gave to countless people. What he got in return was betrayal and crushing debt.
Jin-sung’s father swallowed his pride and begged his old connections, pleading with them to help save his family, but not one of them lifted a finger to help.
Not the friend who had borrowed large sums claiming financial hardship, not the friend he’d brought into the company and taught the business so he could make a living, not the relatives who had lived comfortably in his shadow.
No one helped.
The adults who had visited their house daily, sharing meals and laughter, coldly turned their backs and mocked his father’s downfall.
The hidden resentment they had been swallowing while scrambling for scraps came pouring out without restraint once his father fell.
Jin-sung’s father, unable to turn the situation around, made the ultimate choice, leaving behind his wife and son.
Though he was young, Jin-sung understood that his father’s decision came more from the pain of betrayal by those he had trusted than from their financial problems.
Maybe Jin-sung’s personality turning so twisted wasn’t due to his nature, but to his childhood experiences.
To make things worse, the classmates who used to follow Jin-sung around also began subtly ostracizing him once word got out about his family’s poverty.
The kids who had been drawn to Jin-sung’s status didn’t want to join the bullying, but once young children get caught up in group mentality, it’s hard for them to stick to their principles and speak up. Starting with one ringleader, the ostracism toward Jin-sung gradually spread throughout the entire class.
Jin-sung learned that he needed power to protect himself. After being ignored and pushed around, Jin-sung viciously beat down a classmate twice his size. Even with split lips and black eyes, Jin-sung, left with nothing but venom, wasn’t afraid of violence.
As days and years passed, the kids who had bullied Jin-sung disappeared, but Jin-sung felt pure ecstasy watching the children in his newly carved-out world follow his every word and fear him. So he became even more vicious. No matter what happened, he crushed anyone who dared challenge or rebel against him.
Jin-sung became someone who made every kid grovel at his feet.
The twisted scars of his childhood made him crave acts that highlighted his own worth. He became viciously obsessed with anything that could cement and showcase his position.
So they couldn’t carelessly challenge him. So they couldn’t betray him.
In the original story, Jin-sung showed obsessive behavior toward the heroine until she died, but there was no real affection in it at all. To Jin-sung, the heroine was just proof of his power—something he could possess to show off.
Even if it made him seem like he had chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) and acted immature, he refused to back down.
“Uh…”
The time for shock and confusion was brief.
Unlike his childish words, his actions weren’t childish at all. Kim Jae-han was still struggling to breathe under Jin-sung’s foot, but Jin-sung showed not an ounce of hesitation.
Even when Kim Jae-han desperately tried to grab his leg with weakened fingers, Jin-sung’s gaze remained completely indifferent.
“Jin-sung.”
The eyes that slowly turned toward Ji-woo’s call held the coldness of the deep ocean. Even though it wasn’t his own throat being crushed, Ji-woo felt like his life was in danger and reached up to touch his neck, trying to stop Jin-sung.
In his heart, he’d welcome the death of such a perverted bastard with open arms, but he couldn’t easily accept watching one person kill another. Even if the target was someone who had tried to assault him.
Even though Jin-sung had clearly lived in a similar environment to Ji-woo and surely had no experience with murder, he showed absolutely no hesitation. The moment he actually killed someone, it seemed like the cruel nature and dark aura sleeping within Jin-sung would fully awaken. At least while Ji-woo was by his side, that couldn’t happen.
Trying to figure out how to stop Jin-sung, Ji-woo put on the smile that had served him well countless times in his twenty-something years, attempting to smooth over the situation.
Jin-sung’s response was:
“What’s wrong with your face?”
Why do you have to say it like that?
His graceless response to Ji-woo’s sincere expression was utterly tactless. Even though he was hurt, Ji-woo couldn’t show it, so he wiped the meaningless smile off his face and cautiously tried to read the situation as usual.
“What? Why?”
Jin-sung, who had lifted his foot from Kim Jae-han’s throat, turned his full attention to Ji-woo. Kim Jae-han, finally able to breathe again, coughed violently, but Jin-sung completely ignored him.
“No, well, um…”
Having achieved his goal of ‘saving Kim Jae-han’ by diverting Jin-sung’s attention, he tried to stall and move past the moment, but Jin-sung’s intense gaze showed no signs of letting up.
“You shouldn’t kill people…”
“So what?”
After that delayed response, Jin-sung’s lips pressed into a slight frown and his eyebrows drew together. He seemed displeased with Ji-woo’s answer and started to move his barely lifted foot back toward Kim Jae-han.
“No, I mean…”
Ji-woo frantically searched his brain for the right words. In the end, he decided to accept what Jin-sung had said exactly as it was.
He would become the perfect doll that Jin-sung wanted.
