A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 54

Taejoon liked both the cheeky side of Woo Kyung and the way he blurted out absurd remarks with an innocent face.

At times, Woo Kyung’s unexpected actions or unpredictable words caught Taejoon off guard, but none of it really mattered.

If there was a problem, it was that his desire to protect Woo Kyung, to keep him safe from even the smallest wounds was growing stronger by the day.

Just like how he couldn’t stand the thought of Woo Kyung’s flawless, smooth feet getting covered in mud.

The sight of his pale instep and the slight protrusion of his delicate ankle bone struck him. The word cute flashed through his mind, and suddenly, he felt breathless.

“You’ll get hurt. Put your shoes on.”

Why wouldn’t he listen? Woo Kyung had been chattering away about clothes and his younger siblings, only to turn around and offer Taejoon his back, insisting he could carry him.

He even crouched down, lightly patting his own back, and looked up at Taejoon expectantly. For a fleeting moment, Taejoon entertained the ridiculous thought of actually letting himself be carried. A quiet chuckle escaped his lips.

“Why are you laughing? I can really do it—!”

“Come here.”

Taejoon wrapped his arms around Woo Kyung’s waist.

“W-wait!”

Woo Kyung flailed as Taejoon effortlessly hoisted him up, folding him over his shoulder like a ragdoll and securing him in place.

“P-put me down! My feet are dirty! Your suit is going to get all muddy!”

“I don’t care.”

Woo Kyung, on the other hand, was visibly concerned about dirtying Taejoon’s clothes. Seeing that, Taejoon made a point to hold onto his thighs even tighter.

“You don’t even know what’s in this mud. Why are you walking around barefoot?”

Taejoon spoke as if some unknown creature lurked beneath the surface of the muddy path. Woo Kyung chuckled at the exaggeration.

“Anyone listening would think there’s a Kraken in here.”

“Want me to put you down?”

“Yes! Please put me down!”

In response, Taejoon scoffed and stepped deeper into the mud. Woo Kyung tried asking a few more times, but realizing it was useless, he eventually gave up and rested his cheek against Taejoon’s back.

“Am I heavy?”

“Not at all. You’re just… like a sack of rice.”

“…Don’t people usually say something like ‘light as a feather’?”

“Fine. A sack of rice filled with feathers, then.”

Woo Kyung laughed, and at that sound, Taejoon felt his stiff expression soften. His face heated as he realized how Woo Kyung’s cheeks twitched with amusement and how his eyes curved into crescents. He was relieved that Woo Kyung couldn’t see his face right now.

“Next time, if we have to cross like this again, I’ll carry you instead.”

“Bold of you.”

Woo Kyung’s body leaned against him more comfortably.

There were times when Taejoon wondered which version of Woo Kyung was real—the one in Terminal or the one standing before him in this world.

Both shared the same quirks: a love for absurd thoughts, a sharp wit that sometimes gave way to cluelessness.

If there was a difference, it was that the Terminal Woo Kyung had rounder cheeks and a softer appearance, whereas the one here was sharper, more refined.

Some days, Taejoon even considered telling him the truth.

“I was inside a scenario called Terminal, and you were there too.”

He had debated it countless times, hesitating before ultimately discarding the idea—not because he feared being labeled insane.

Rather, because he couldn’t bring himself to say something so ominous. That in some story, Woo Kyung was doomed to die in his early twenties from an incurable illness.

It was something he never wanted Woo Kyung to know.

“Ah! My shoes!”

“What about them?”

“I left them back there.”

They had already crossed halfway, but Woo Kyung’s neatly placed shoes remained at the starting point. Taejoon briefly considered going back for them.

That moment of hesitation was his downfall.

His foot slipped on a hidden rock, throwing him off balance. He managed to regain his footing, but his other foot, still hovering mid-air, swung wildly.

And just like that, both of them went tumbling straight into the mud.

It was a spectacular failure.

“Urgh!”

The mist rising from the valley thickened, the chirping of birds came to an abrupt stop, and, as if on cue, the overburdened clouds finally began to drizzle.

“S-Sir…”

“…….”

Pinned under Woo Kyung’s weight, Taejoon barely lifted his eyelids to look at him. Woo Kyung had landed on top of him.

And beneath Taejoon’s head, he felt Woo Kyung’s hand.

It was only then that he realized—Woo Kyung had tried to shield his head when they fell.

As his small, warm fingers brushed the back of Taejoon’s scalp, he asked softly, “Did you hit your head? I heard a loud thud…”

The entire situation felt so surreal that Taejoon blinked several times.

Woo Kyung’s worried eyes wouldn’t waver until Taejoon reassured him.

“What about you?”

“I’m fine. What about you, sir?”

“I’m fine.”

The moment the words left Taejoon’s lips, Woo Kyung collapsed against his chest with a sigh of relief.

“Ah… that’s a relief.”

Even though he felt like he couldn’t breathe, Taejoon’s heart was pounding wildly.

The sheer volume of his heartbeat made him anxious that Woo Kyung might hear it.

Once he was satisfied that Taejoon was unharmed, Woo Kyung awkwardly pushed himself up.

“Here, take my hand.”

Woo Kyung planted one hand on the ground while reaching out with the other to help Taejoon up. But Taejoon, staring blankly at Woo Kyung’s face, made no move to take his hand.

“Y-you can move, right?”

Just as Woo Kyung was about to forcibly grab Taejoon’s hand, his palm, slick with mud, slipped sideways. As a result, his barely-upright torso toppled forward—straight onto Taejoon.

“Ah!”

Woo Kyung’s lips landed softly against Taejoon’s.

For a moment, their gazes locked, slowly intertwining.

The low rumble of the shifting clouds, the strands of Woo Kyung’s hair swaying in the wind, the rise and fall of his shoulders with every breath—everything around Taejoon seemed to slow down.

“Ha….”

A raindrop, clinging to Woo Kyung’s lashes, finally broke free, landing with a soft plop on Taejoon’s cheek.

Woo Kyung immediately pulled away.

His face flushed red as he cupped his cheeks with both hands, looking down at Taejoon in shock.

“…….”

At the same time, the emotions Taejoon had been circling around finally took shape. They surfaced, demanding to be acknowledged.

Taejoon clutched his chest.

“W-wow, the rain… it’s really coming down.”

His heart, which had been beating at an erratic rhythm, suddenly pounded so violently that it startled him. He wasn’t someone who got flustered over something as trivial as accidental skinship—so why was his body reacting like this?

Damn it.

He forcefully pushed away the phantom sound of laughter echoing in his mind and sat up.

“It’s raining a lot. Really pouring.”

A torrential downpour blurred the surroundings, soaking both of them to the bone. From the distance, a familiar voice rang out.

Only then did his scattered rationality begin to piece itself back together.

“Oh no, it’s the team leader. What do we do?”

Woo Kyung, clearly panicked, fidgeted nervously. His face, covered in streaks of mud, was a complete mess—but his eyes, wide and gleaming, shone brightly through the grime.

“Your face… what is this?”

Forgetting his own hands were just as dirty, Taejoon instinctively reached out, rubbing Woo Kyung’s face in an attempt to clean it. If anything, he only smeared the mud around more.

Woo Kyung frowned.

“You did that on purpose.”

“I didn’t.”

The security team leader, who had finally spotted them, gaped in shock.

“What on earth…? Are you alright, sir? We lost contact with you and searched everywhere!”

He quickly opened an umbrella and rushed to Taejoon’s side.

Taejoon had slipped away earlier, wanting a moment alone, but his complete disappearance had sent the security team scouring the valley and forest in search of him.

Without a word, Taejoon took the offered umbrella.

It wouldn’t make much difference at this point, considering how drenched they already were, but at least it could help conceal the expression he didn’t want others to see.

Taejoon glanced over at Woo Kyung, who was walking slightly apart, arms wrapped around himself, shivering.

“Hey. Team Leader Seo.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Take it off.”

The security chief’s mouth fell open.

“…Pardon?”

“Your jacket. Give it to Woo Kyung.”

“Ah, yes, sir.”

And come to think of it, he needed shoes too.

Taejoon’s gaze dropped to the team leader’s feet, and he asked nonchalantly, “What’s your shoe size?”

“Sir? Uh, 290mm.”

Taejoon had been hinting that he should take them off too, but the man seemed slow to catch on.

Still bewildered, the security chief hesitated before taking off his jacket, emptying the pockets as he did so. His eyes darted between Taejoon and Woo Kyung, growing rounder with realization.

“That too. Take them off.”

The security team leader followed Taejoon’s gaze to Woo Kyung’s mud-covered feet.

“Ah… Understood, sir.”

It wasn’t just the team leader who was shocked. Woo Kyung, staring at Taejoon with wide eyes, had yet to pick his jaw up off the ground.

“I-I’m fine. I don’t need them.”

“Come here.”

Taejoon extended his arm, firmly grasping Woo Kyung’s shoulder and guiding him under the umbrella.

His emotions toward Woo Kyung had been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride.

Some days, it was doubt. Other days, it was fear—fear that Woo Kyung could disappear at any moment. Sometimes, it twisted into something obsessive.

He wondered whether these feelings stemmed from Terminal’s storyline, making him believe he was drawn to Woo Kyung. Or perhaps it was simply a trick of his own mind, an illusion of attachment.

Or maybe… it was just pity for the Woo Kyung who had met a tragic end in another world.

But in the end, none of that mattered.

Whether it was pity, interest, or curiosity—whatever it was, it was all directed at Woo Kyung.

Woo Kyung, for his part, had remained the same. It was Taejoon who kept changing.

This was a fracture, one that had split right through Taejoon’s very being.

A fracture more powerful than anything he had ever experienced before.

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