Jeong Taeui approached Oliver almost simultaneously with Richard and reached out to touch
the stone pillar, feeling the sticky blood on his hand.
Richard carefully slipped his hand under Oliver's back, his face stern. Then he very slowly
and cautiously moved his hand to the back of the boy's head.
"...Oliver."
He whispered his son's name in a low voice.
Oliver was unconscious, his face pale and motionless.
Richard called the boy's name again. The sound of calling "Oliver, Oliver" gradually grew
louder.
No one knew how many times he called the boy's name like that.
Finally, Oliver's eyebrows twitched and moved. His tightly shut eyelids fluttered. A small
groan escaped between his lips.
"Oliver!"
Richard called the boy's name once more. Jeong Taeui sighed. At the same time, he anxiously
rummaged through his pockets. He felt he needed to contact someone—anyone. An
ambulance or something. However, after turning all his empty pockets inside out, he realized
he didn't have a phone.
When he suddenly looked up, Ilay was standing a few steps away, looking down at them
indifferently, on the phone with someone.
At least someone had been contacted, so—
Jeong Taeui bit his thumb and tried to recall first aid procedures when suddenly, the figure of
Christoph came into his view.
Christoph was still standing in place, staring at Oliver. It seemed he wasn't unconscious or
anything. He just stood silently, staring at Oliver with a face even paler than before.
At the same time, a few people ran out from the main building. They ran straight towards
them. Perhaps Ilay had contacted the main building of the estate.
"Oh my, what happened?"
An elderly congressman who was staying at the estate approached. Behind him were a few
people hurrying along. From the far windows, a few people were leaning out, trying to see
what the commotion was about.Richard made way for the congressman to approach Oliver, then stood beside him and looked
down at Oliver with a serious expression.
"..."
Jeong Taeui stepped back to make way for those surrounding Oliver.
Ilay watched them with an uninterested expression. It was understandable. Even if someone
died in front of him, it wouldn't garner his attention. It would be strange if he looked at the
boy with a heavy and worried expression, but even in this situation, his indifferent gaze made
Jeong Taeui uncomfortable. It was always like that.
Would that indifferent face ever become gloomy with worry or sorrow? Would that man ever
feel sadness and regret for someone injured or dying?
No matter how much he thought about it, Jeong Taeui couldn't imagine that side of him.
Jeong Taeui sighed and suddenly his eyes met Christoph. Christoph had been standing still all
this time. Jeong Taeui wondered if he would move again.
Christoph seemed like he wanted to step forward but stopped halfway. It was as if he was
disoriented and didn't know what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go. Then Christoph
slowly took his eyes off Oliver and raised his hand to brush off the part of his coat that Oliver
had grabbed, his face expressionless. He kept brushing the coat even though there was
nothing on it.
"...Christoph."
Jeong Taeui quietly called out to him.
Christoph kept brushing off his coat as if he didn't hear Jeong Taeui's call. It was a long while
before he finally looked up. After a few minutes, he responded.
"What."
His unfriendly eyes turned towards Jeong Taeui, his attitude as if nothing had happened. For
a moment, Jeong Taeui didn't know if Christoph actually remembered pushing Oliver away.
"Oliver..."
Jeong Taeui began to speak but then closed his mouth.
Even if Christoph didn't remember anything, mentioning the boy's name now would only be
to reprimand him. And Jeong Taeui was not the one qualified to do that.
Christoph, who had been silently looking at Jeong Taeui, spoke coldly.
"I warned them. Even the children—'Don't touch me.'"
"...!"It wasn't that Christoph couldn't remember. No, he remembered very well that he had pushed
Oliver away. However, he only looked coldly at the people around him, then turned his eyes
back to the unconscious Oliver. The only difference was his face had turned pale to the point
of being unrecognizable.
Next to Jeong Taeui, who was silently watching Christoph, Ilay, who had been standing by
with an indifferent attitude, calmly spoke with a tone that had a slightly cold edge.
"Just because you said not to touch you doesn't mean you can justify this."
"Justify?"
Christoph sneered. His cold eyes settled on his pale face. The icy, cold light in his eyes
seemed to pierce Jeong Taeui's heart.
"Why should I justify? For what?"
Christoph replied shortly. Then he looked dryly at Oliver again.
"For what should I justify?"
Christoph didn't care about justifying his actions. Not from the start. He didn't care whether
what he did was right or wrong or what others thought.
Jeong Taeui followed Christoph's gaze to look at Oliver.
The doctor checking on Oliver shook his head and said something to Richard. Judging by the
calm doctor's expression and Richard's tense face gradually relaxing, it seemed fortunately,
nothing was serious.
"...However, nothing can be certain yet, so a detailed examination is necessary..."
When Jeong Taeui heard the doctor speak, a car came from the garage and stopped a short
distance away. Soon, a few men carefully placed Oliver in the car and adjusted the seats to
secure him.
Even though the car was spacious, when Oliver lay down in the back seat, only the passenger
seat remained. The doctor stepped forward, told Richard not to worry, and got into the car,
but Richard shook his head.
The doctor could only click his tongue and said he would ride with the boy as a precaution,
so Richard should take another car.
Richard then told the man standing next to him to bring out another car, and the man hurried
towards the garage.
A tense silence enveloped the area.
Those watching the situation from afar through the windows and those bustling between the
main building and the site created a background of noisy commotion.And among the crowd gathered around them from a distance, just like in the beginning, only
the four of them were left.
Ilay, who had always been indifferent to the world, remained a quiet bystander. Jeong Taeui,
though not much different from him, couldn't hide his worry on his face. Christoph looked at
Richard with a calm and indifferent expression. And Richard, who was worried and pacing
back and forth, suddenly made eye contact with Christoph, and his face immediately became
cold.
Richard, who had seemed focused solely on Oliver and not thinking about anything else,
exploded in anger the moment his eyes met Christoph's.
"You—!!"
Richard lunged forward and it didn't take him long to reach Christoph, who was only a few
steps away.
When he grabbed Christoph by the collar, Christoph's pale face twitched. Richard's fingers
curled into a fist. But then he relaxed his hand immediately. Christoph instantly stepped
aside.
After letting him go, Richard glared at Christoph with blazing eyes. Christoph met his gaze
with cold, icy eyes.
Richard's eyes narrowed. His jaw clenched.
"Don't touch me."
Christoph said coldly. At the same time, his fingers began to brush off the part where Richard
had grabbed. Seeing these anxious gestures, Richard laughed loudly.
The frustration on Richard's face disappeared as if the moment he had rushed to grab
Christoph's collar was just a figment of imagination, leaving only his usual calm and quiet
expression. Only the sound of laughter was missing.
"You…What are you trying to do to my son?"
Richard asked calmly. Christoph frowned at the harsh, frosty question. However, unlike his
cold and indifferent eyes, Christoph responded with a voice that had a hint of mockery.
"What am I trying to do...? I had no intention of doing anything. Your son isn't even worth
thinking about."
"...Ha…I see."
Richard mumbled through gritted teeth. His voice was soft, like a threatening animal. It was a
sound that made the listener anxious.
"So that was just an accident? Oliver just grabbed you when he accidentally bumped into you
and tripped, but was mercilessly kicked away?""Of course."
"The reason you didn't avoid him and didn't intend to avoid him but stood there was just
waiting for the boy to run into you. All because of your feelings?"
"...I know what you want to say. Think what you want. No matter what you say, I have no
obligation to justify anything."
Christoph looked at Richard coldly for a moment, then replied coldly.
...NO.
Not like this.
That thought flashed through Jeong Taeui's mind.
When Oliver ran, Christoph wasn't looking at the boy. Although his gaze was focused on
Oliver, that pale look seemed frozen. At least, that was how it appeared to Jeong Taeui.
Christoph didn't intentionally hurt Oliver.
"The boy will be fine."
Christoph bluntly retorted. Jeong Taeui watched Christoph intently. This was the person who,
though reluctantly, bent down to look at Oliver and patiently answered all of the boy's
questions.
Did Christoph intentionally harm Oliver?...No, that's not it.
Jeong Taeui frowned.
"Richard, Christoph—"
However, just as Jeong Taeui said his name, Richard's sharp gaze returned.
It was no longer the gentle and kind look he usually gave Jeong Taeui. It was as if he was
looking at a loathsome meddler aiding his hated enemy.
Christoph's eyes were no different. The cold, displeased gaze shot straight at Jeong Taeui.
Jeong Taeui realized. The relationship between these two was not something others could
step into. The surrounding situation was the same. Whether many people sided with Richard
or Christoph was almost isolated didn't matter to them.
Jeong Taeui shrugged and took a step back.
He felt Ilay, who had been standing nearby with folded arms, watching with indifferent eyes
without saying a word, now directing a gaze with an invisible smile at him—but Jeong Taeui
didn't turn around.Richard looked at Jeong Taeui in silence, but it was clear he could feel the hostility in his
gaze. Finally, he quickly turned back to look at Christoph.
The atmosphere fell silent again. Richard and Christoph stared at each other in silence.
Amidst the fragile, unstable silence like thin, cold ice, the car that came to pick up Richard
stopped.
"...Alright. I guess it was an accident."
Finally, Richard spoke.
His voice was quiet, somewhat different from usual.
There was no hint of anger or resentment on his face. Only his usual calm and reliable
expression remained. With a calm face that seemed friendly at first glance, he spoke as if
giving advice to a close friend he was worried about.
"You are inherently like this, and this incident was not your fault. But even if an accident
happened, there was no change in your expression. Yes, that cruel sentiment hasn't changed at
all. That cruel personality hasn't changed from ten years ago to now, not one bit."
Richard quietly spoke, becoming colder. He was completely cold and calm, as if this would
be the last time he showed anger outwardly. No, he even smiled a little.
"You said my son wasn't worth dealing with—Wonderful. They say I have a great personality,
but I think you surpass me a hundred times. You said you had no intention of doing anything
to my son, but I have resentment for your entire family."
At that moment, Christoph's usually cold face tensed.
Richard had now fully returned to normal.
The warm smile on his friendly face, the soft wrinkles around his eyes appeared even softer.
In contrast, Christoph's face was gradually freezing.