Chapter 45: The life of running and hiding...

Chapter 45 - The life of running and hiding... "Then, how about this? For every question I ask you from now on, you can ask me one question in return. That way, we can get to know each other better." There was no way someone like Jin-Yeok, who was capable of getting any information about anyone living or dead, would take on this offer. At least, that's what I thought. He could simply ask his subordinates to get information on me if he was curious, but it seemed like my offer piqued his interest, and getting to know me this way was way more fun than reading a few lines from a piece of paper. So, when I thought he wouldn't accept it, he actually did. "I like it." He said. "But you can never lie to me, Hwang Jo-Pil. If you do, I will know for sure." "I don't dare to lie to my master," I said to him. "The words I speak hold honesty and even if I may get in trouble for my response, I will trust that my master spreads his benevolence and pardons me." "Ah, there you go again. Using your words." He said. "It feels like you're just trying to suck up to me." "Correct," I boldly said. "If I don't use fancy words," I paused and suddenly laughed, realizing what I was going to say next and just shook my head. "...I fear I'll sound rude." "It doesn't matter anymore, does it?" He said. "What?" "You've already been plenty of rude. So what harm does one more do?" He asked, and I got lost for a moment. Jin-Yeok seemed... Different. After exchanging so many words, I did not realize he had dropped his gentlemanly attitude because of how earnest his words sounded and how natural he felt. When he spoke like that, it made me feel more at ease than when he put up that awfully bright smile that blinded a man's heart. It looked like he had fun talking to me because I was being honest and my words did not seem fake. And even when my big words sounded fake, he laughed it off because it was more funny than forced. "Then master, I would like to ask you a question I asked my other masters." I said and he nodded. "A question you asked Lee Ki-hoon and Kang Min-Cheol?" He asked and I nodded. "I believe I am a slave who was bought with the purpose of serving my masters, but I was told that I did not need to do anything I did not feel like, and in the midst of it, they asked me how I felt being bought for their 'needs'." "And what did you say?" He asked, seeming interested. I shook my head. "I said I have no say or right to feel anything about it. If anything, I am grateful that I was bought and cleared of my heavy debt." "Even though that has landed you as a possession for four different people?" He asked and I nodded. "The life of running and hiding... It was horrible, but after being bought, I was able to sleep on a warm and comfortable bed, eat good food, bathe clean water, and have my master's care for me. I could never get any of this while living in debt." "You make it sound like I'm a good person." He said and I tilted my head. "Aren't you? If you're one of the people who helped me then you're definitely a good person to me, despite who you are to the world." I said, which stunned him. Yeah, take that. It's my special protagonist line. "Master, if it had been any other person who bought me, I am not sure I would be able to enjoy these privileges either, so I am filled with immense joy and gratitude, but still... That joy has not been able to clear away the trauma that struck me a few years back, and it makes me regrettable that I cannot fulfill the purpose I have been bought for." "Hwang Jo-Pil," he called, "Yes, master?" "Aside from the accident five years ago, did you go through a traumatizing experience?' he asked. I looked into his eyes, trying to understand what he was feeling, but I could not get anything. He did not look angry and he did not look okay either. His expression was unreadable so I simply followed my instincts and nodded. "Yes," I said. "But it's not what you think, master. I'm clean, and no one has laid their hands on me, so do not look at me like dirt, please." My time sounded desperate and I looked at him like one who was clinging to life. This should've looked comical to him because he had seen a lot of people cling to him while pleading for their lives, and yet it did not. This situation seemed so different and he could not even take it lightly for some reason, which bothered him. "No, I..." For the first time, Jin-Yeok was short of words. He didn't know how to express his feelings after hearing that. He didn't even understand how to act. In the first place, he never thought that far. By traumatic experience, he probably thought I had been beaten to the point I could no longer walk. Of course, that's what he'd call a traumatic experience since he had experienced something similar. But after I said I was clean, his countenance dropped a bit, not knowing what to think about it. At this time, Jin-Yeok had yet to read the files that contained how I killed an Alpha. So, he didn't know I had done that. "Just tell me what happened," he said, acting concerned all of a sudden. Hmm, it might've been a good thing that I had gotten him to drop his guard after exchanging words for a while, but I was getting uneasy again. At least when he smiled, I was able to tell he was being fake. So, when he had no expression on his face and was actually willing to listen to me for this long... I had no idea what was on his mind. For all I knew, he might just revert back to his original self after I opened up completely. This was why I was putting measures to make sure I didn't end up in an unfavorable position. Now, I was planning to tell him everything and hoped his reaction would be like that of Ki-hoon. He might be a man with a heart of stone but I was planning to break that stone and release the warmth inside. After all, someone who was able to love another, I would make it so he could open up to one more human being. "I killed a man." I began but did not look up to watch his expression. "And I... Don't regret doing it. If I were to go back in time, I would do it again. But if I were to go back in time, I wouldn't have allowed myself to be deceived like that." I smiled painfully. "I'm telling you this, Master, so I can gain your sympathy and nothing more. So, sympathize with me because, after that experience, I'm left right a scar that refuses to heal."