Passion Novel Novel Chapter 120: Bruised

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Bruised

Jeong Taeui looked into the mirror and sighed.

His face and the right side of his temple were bruised, his eyes swollen, and his lip cut and

scabbed over.

"I never an to body shaming anyone... But does this face in the mirror even look human?"

Jeong Taeui mumbled as he gently touched his reflection in the mirror. Because pressing too hard would hurt a lot - and even a light touch was painful in so places, he rubbed very softly and carefully.

He had asked for so dicine and ointnt, but the n acted like they didn’t hear him. In the end, he had to take his miserable appearance to ask a girl dressed in white who was passing by, and she secretly got him so dicine. Here, he always followed a strict rule of not talking to any won, so he sat by the pond in the courtyard looking sickly when a woman passed by. Fortunately, she secretly left a small tube of ointnt on the table next to

his bed.

Despite his face being full of bruises, his injuries weren’t too serious.

The young guard seed like he wanted to beat him to death, but the older man intervened just in ti.

Although he was captured and kept here, technically he was still an honored guest. So, the man probably warned the young guard not to harm a guest like that.

The older Arab man seed to understand the situation well, stopping the young guard

before he could continue beating Jeong Taeui senselessly. As he endured the beating, Jeong Taeui thought, "Maybe I deserve so punishnt for what I did, but do I deserve to be beaten this badly?"

"But it’s a good thing that guy didn’t directly lay hands on ."

Jeong Taeui mused as he applied the ointnt. He groaned; it had been a few days since he was beaten, and it still hurt.

After being ignored for a few days, he finally received a small bottle of ointnt that the girl had secretly brought to his room the previous night. He had applied it before bed, and after getting up, washing his face, and eating, he was preparing to apply it again.

The injuries from the beating seed manageable at first, but after a few days, they looked worse. After he was beaten, he went to the dining room with a grimacing face and sat down. Jeong Jaeui, who had arrived earlier, dropped his fork in shock upon seeing Jeong Taeui’s face.

Before, he had seen his face after a fight, so Jeong Taeui thought he wouldn’t be too

surprised. Jeong Taeui nodded to Jeong Jaeui, thinking his face was even more swollen than the previous day.

"Is my face very swollen?"

Jeong Taeui had just woken up, washed his face, and ca straight here, so he didn’t know what his face looked like. He mumbled, "I don’t feel much pain," and started picking up his fork as if nothing had happened.

"Taeui, do you rember that fight you had with a colleague nad Kim So Hwi during the holiday before?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Hearing an unpleasant na so early in the morning made Jeong Taeui frown. But on the other hand, that na now sounded quite endearing because the guy had a good personality in so respects.

"It’s more swollen than it was back then,"

Jeong Jaeui said.

"...It’s scary to look in the mirror."

Jeong Taeui slowly rubbed his face and mumbled - "Aya, aya" - before continuing to eat.

When he returned to his room and looked in the mirror, his face was indeed swollen.

After a few days, the bruises had turned a mix of purple and yellow, making his face look very colorful. The pain had significantly reduced since then, but it still hurt when touched.

"If you want to hit, you should choose a place that doesn’t leave visible marks but hurts like hell on the inside."

If the one who hit him had been the older man, he probably would have been beaten that way. After applying the ointnt, Jeong Taeui looked at himself in the mirror again, and it had improved significantly.

He had applied the ointnt twice, once last night and again this morning. The small bottle of ointnt wasn’t enough for many more applications, so he threw it in the trash. Suddenly, he rembered the tiger balm that Luther loved.

Jeong Taeui sighed and went outside, intending to go to the study to find a book to read, but as he stepped out, he halted. He saw a figure just entering the study.

It was Abdul Rahman.

Jeong Taeui glanced back at his room and checked the clock. It was indeed the ti he

usually ca by.

Jeong Taeui frowned slightly, thinking for a mont about what to do next, then turned and walked into the courtyard. From here, he could see inside the study through the window, even if it was just a small corner. He decided to stay there for a while, waiting for Abdul Rahman to leave before going in.

Abdul Rahman always ca to this annex. Every day.

Jeong Jaeui had said that before he arrived, Abdul Rahman visited more frequently. Lately, he has been coming less often. Jeong Taeui shook his head. Visiting frequently, huh?

In reality, Abdul Rahman’s visits didn’t seem to have much purpose. The sa repetitive

questions about whether Jeong Jaeui would start making weapons again. And Jeong Jaeui’s answer was always the sa. Just a shake of the head, without saying a word.

"I bet I can predict exactly what’s happening inside from this window without missing a

beat."

Jeong Taeui sat under the rubber tree, looking up at the leaves, and mumbled. Glancing towards the window, just as he expected, he saw Jeong Jaeui shaking his head. A mont later, Abdul Rahman’s voice echoed.

"Is it very uncomfortable to be here and unable to go out?"

However, today was a bit different. Usually, he would say, "If you don’t make weapons, you won’t be able to leave here."

"No, it’s fine. Thanks to your ticulous arrangents, I don’t feel any inconvenience at all."

Jeong Jaeui’s calm voice responded.

Jeong Taeui smiled as Abdul Rahman asked again, "Nothing uncomfortable?" Of course, it was supposed to be followed by a statent that he would let Jeong Jaeui out if he felt stifled and agreed to make weapons. But since Jeong Jaeui said there was no inconvenience, Abdul Rahman couldn’t add anything more.

Abdul Rahman was silent for a mont.

Perhaps a look of confusion crossed his face. Jeong Taeui chuckled.

As usual - except in so exceptional cases - Jeong Taeui had always tried to imagine what that cold-looking man would look like with a gentle smile, with eyes that didn’t know how to smile, but he couldn’t imagine it.

But...

"Anyway, it’s a relief that he’s still polite."

Jeong Taeui murmured softly.

Abdul Rahman had been wasting his efforts for several months now. Keeping Jeong Jaeui here, generously providing him with every convenience and fulfilling all his requests except for letting him out, yet he still hadn’t achieved his goal. Patience has its limits for anyone. Moreover, Abdul Rahman didn’t know when Jeong Jaeui would finally agree to his demands,

so he might have to resort to torturing or threatening him to make weapons.

However, Abdul Rahman continued to treat Jeong Jaeui with utmost politeness and courtesy as usual.

Jeong Taeui didn’t like the man nad Abdul Rahman, but he felt sowhat grateful to him (Though he also wondered why he should feel grateful to soone who had kidnapped and imprisoned his brother and himself.)

But isn’t the developnt of that weapon very urgent?

Even if it wasn’t an extrely urgent matter, waiting hopelessly like this was absurd.

However, outwardly, Abdul Rahman didn’t seem worried at all when he heard Jeong Jaeui’s refusals each ti he visited.

"...If you change your mind, let

know anyti. Until then, I hope you remain comfortable here. Do you need anything else?"

In the study, the usual conversation continued. It seed to be nearing its end.

"Ah. Then I’d like a book and a few albums. I’ve written them down here. Also, my hair has started growing out. Can you send a barber here? It’s quite a bother to call the barber often, so I want it cut very short this ti."

His brother was strong in his own way.

Because of his aloof and reserved deanor, anyone who hadn’t interacted with him a few tis might mistake Jeong Jaeui for being an introverted, sensitive, and weak person. And he was indeed introverted, but his actual personality was very different from what most people

imagined.

However, unlike Jeong Taeui who had been ’wrongly’ brought here, Jeong Jaeui was indeed treated as a genuinely esteed guest. Although he had also been kidnapped and imprisoned, until this mont, he could still unhesitatingly request whatever he wanted, and it would be

provided within a few days.

Jeong Taeui rubbed his cheek and clicked his tongue bitterly.

There was nothing to feel unjust about. But just a few days after Jeong Taeui was confined here, Jeong Jaeui, while fiddling with a secret box he had brought back from the Baherb night market, had a spring snap out and hit his cheek, leaving a blue bruise.

Jeong Taeui had many such bruises.

However, the next day, when Abdul Rahman ca to see Jeong Jaeui as usual and noticed the injury on his face, the smile that usually graced his lips vanished instantly. He frowned severely and called a guard and a girl in white-Jeong Jaeui’s personal caretaker-and shouted incomprehensible words. But he rembered feeling quite uncomfortable seeing the girl turn pale and tremble as she held a pile of dicines and knelt at Abdul Rahman’s feet.

And he was even more surprised by Jeong Jaeui’s embarrassed face, though he said nothing. So Jeong Taeui asked him about it afterward. Jeong Jaeui explained that sothing similar had happened before. At that ti, he accidentally nicked his chin while shaving. Although it was his own fault, the person responsible for his care was imdiately replaced by another girl. When Jeong Jaeui complained, Abdul Rahman shook his head and replied, "If she had

sharpened the razor better, you wouldn’t have been hurt. You are a distinguished guest, so we cannot afford to be careless."

Afterward, Jeong Jaeui told Jeong Taeui, who was still staring at him in shock, to be careful not to get injured.

"I can’t understand that man’s way of thinking..."

Indeed, he couldn’t compare to a truly esteed guest like Jeong Jaeui.

Jeong Taeui rubbed his distorted face and clicked his tongue bitterly. The difference in Abdul Rahman’s attitude was stark.

Jeong Taeui was glad Jeong Jaeui had requested a barber because if he had made the request himself, it would certainly have been denied. He hadn’t had a haircut in a long ti due to a lack of opportunity, so he had planned to ask Jeong Jaeui if he wanted one.

Now it was good. If he needed anything, he would ask Abdul Rahman’s "esteed guest"

first. He needed to request more dication and what else?

...If he needed another phone...

Perhaps even Jeong Jaeui wouldn’t be able to request that.

Jeong Taeui sighed.

He had been beaten too brutally for a phone call that lasted only a minute or two.

But...

"...."

Jeong Taeui scratched his head in embarrassnt.

That night, as he rubbed his battered face and reflected, he felt he had said many strange things. And what made him feel even worse was that he hadn’t even received a response from Ilay.

"Do you like ?"

Looking back, those words sounded like sothing a schizophrenic patient, unaware of what they were saying, would utter. He didn’t know if he had fallen ill at that mont, but if not, he should have thrown a rock into his own mouth for asking such a question.

What kind of expression had Ilay shown upon hearing those words?

That was also a bit of a regret. He wanted to see Ilay’s face at that mont. Then he could have understood more from the emotions displayed on his face.

"No. No. It’s better not to hear the answer. No. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have asked. Whatever the answer, it wouldn’t be good."

Jeong Taeui ruffled his hair in frustration.