Chapter 57
I blocked a blind date with a woman named Jung Hae-jin and managed to protect my lover. Holding onto that sense of satisfaction, Tae-seo’s steps gradually slowed as he got out of the car in front of his house.
The reason he didn’t go straight inside was simple—he had turned his head on a whim and caught sight of the spot where Kang In-hyuk had been standing.
The sun hadn’t set yet, and the bright surroundings exposed everything down to the quiet streetlamp beneath which In-hyuk had stood. As Tae-seo scanned the now-empty spot, he turned his body away from his front gate and sat down on the steps.
Kang Se-heon, who had just dropped him off and told him to go inside, had no idea that Tae-seo was crouched outside like this. Resting his elbows on his raised knees, Tae-seo propped his chin on his hands. The quiet residential neighborhood, with barely any passing cars, gave him space for contemplation.
Tae-seo thought back to Kang In-hyuk, who had come looking for him with a conflicted expression. At the time, all Tae-seo had focused on was sending him away, frustrated by In-hyuk’s stubborn insistence. It wasn’t exactly the right atmosphere for a proper conversation, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) and besides, the way In-hyuk seemed to blame him for everything made the encounter all the more unpleasant.
And yet, why was he thinking about Kang In-hyuk now?
"Why is he so opposed to my relationship with Se-heon?"
In the original novel, the story revolved around Kang In-hyuk and Seo Da-rae. Tae-seo’s involvement with Kang Se-heon was never meant to be explored. If anything, the villain disappearing would just leave an empty space in the narrative. So why was In-hyuk going out of his way to interfere with his and Se-heon’s relationship?
"Would something like this even be in the novel?"
A protagonist worrying about the villain and his cousin’s relationship—what a ridiculous concept.
"Is my death still predetermined?"
Se-heon had given him hope, reassuring him about the fate he had feared. Thanks to him, Tae-seo had been able to shake off some of the terror surrounding his supposed death in the original storyline. But now... now, he had no idea how things would unfold. The only certainty was that he and Se-heon weren’t simply going to disappear from the story.