L*st and Death

Siron, who had been seriously wondering how much the Cheongdam-dong penthouse might be worth on the current market, suddenly felt a jarring sense of unease as the atmosphere in the room shifted. He looked at Lewis. He was wearing an apron around his waist—it seemed he'd been in the middle of making breakfast. Siron stared at him blankly, confused as to why Lewis had abandoned cooking just to come find Baekgyeong.

Baekgyeong, too, appeared puzzled by Lewis’s reaction. There was no reason Lewis should be expressing regret about Baekgyeong leaving for New York.

“Regret? What’s with the look?”

Baekgyeong asked with a displeased scowl.

“That face—it’s annoying.”

As Baekgyeong narrowed his eyes and glared at him, Lewis’s expression began to shift. A twitch passed through his lips, and then came silence, heavy and oppressive. At that moment, the hallway outside grew noisy again—someone was running up the stairs and down the corridor. Anna appeared behind Lewis, breathless.

But when she met Baekgyeong’s eyes, she too fell speechless. Just like Lewis, her gaze held a faint trace of pity. Anna hesitated, then spoke with excessive care.

“...I’m sorry.”

Baekgyeong and Siron exchanged glances. It felt like they were trapped in some looped feedback circuit, where every new attempt only circled back to the same place.

“What exactly are you sorry about?”

Baekgyeong shoved his hands into his pockets and lifted his chin. This time, Lewis and Anna looked at each other. The flustered siblings exchanged a glance and hesitantly passed the baton back and forth. In the end, Anna handed Baekgyeong the phone she had been holding tightly. Baekgyeong accepted it with a bored look—until his face slowly changed, freezing like a lake under a cold wind.

***

Acker Executive Airport, located near Acker International Airport, was a private airstrip used by the ultra-wealthy and major corporations for their private jets. Though not large, it was always busy with jet landings and takeoffs.

On the tarmac ramp, jets of varying sizes and designs were lined up, being serviced by staff. It was just after 1 p.m., and a private jet owned by the head of the Vile Group was preparing for takeoff.

Baekgyeong, Lewis, and Siron stood in the VIP lounge beyond the security checkpoint, watching the jet’s enormous form shimmer in the heat rising off the asphalt. The jet had been sent by Baekgyeong’s older brother, Baek Sangyi, an executive director of the Vile Group, to retrieve Baekgyeong from Hel Sota. Refueled and fully inspected, the jet began slowly rolling toward the boarding gate.

The destination was Westchester County Airport. Baekgyeong was returning to the family’s mansion in New York, where mourning would soon begin for the dead.

For several days now, the death of the Vile Group’s CEO [N O V E L I G H T] had dominated TV and the internet. Around 11 a.m. on August 16, three days prior, Catherine Choi (Choi Baekhee), the CEO of a global pharmaceutical company, had been found dead alongside her chauffeur—both gunned down by unknown assailants.

According to CCTV analysis, the assailants had lain in wait outside the mansion in Scarsdale, timing their attack for when Choi Baekhee’s car came to a stop at the gate. They fired quickly and efficiently, then fled on motorcycles with no license plates, disappearing without a trace.

The police were treating the incident as a premeditated murder and had launched a major investigation into both the motive and the people behind it.

Lewis McCarthy’s own parents had been killed by unknown assailants in a car shooting around this time ten years ago. Anna had witnessed the attack from across the street—but with no CCTV footage or hard evidence, the investigation had stalled and ultimately been abandoned.

Lewis knew all too well how much sudden parental loss could destroy a person’s life—but he didn’t bring it up with Baekgyeong. He detested exposing his vulnerabilities.

The jet’s airbridge connected with the door, and some time later, the lounge door opened quietly. The pilot, dressed in black uniform matching the aircraft, stepped in to report that all preparations were complete.

“I’m going now.”

Baekgyeong slung the backpack he’d borrowed from Lewis over his shoulder and turned to Siron. Siron stood with him and asked,

“Are you sure it’s okay if I don’t come with you?”

“You were ready to die before you’d go anywhere with me.”

“...I told you. I’m not going for you. I’m going because of your mother.”

“She didn’t like you when she was alive.”

Siron’s face fell, caught off guard.

“...Yeah, well. Still, I should at least go to the funeral—”

“The funeral’s gonna be in Korea. You’ll probably end up trending #1 again.”

Siron fell silent. It wasn’t like it was good news—and he hated being talked about for the wrong reasons. But more than anything, he didn’t want to cause trouble for the bereaved family with his presence.

“Just think of it as honoring Choi Baekhee’s final wishes. Damn... ‘final.’ That sounds weird.”

Baekgyeong’s eyelids trembled—barely perceptibly. He forced a crooked smile.

“I can’t take you to New York until I figure out what my mom got dragged into. I don’t like it here either, but at least Anna McCarthy seems like she’s sane.”

He looked hard at Lewis, who was standing silently a few steps behind them, then turned back to Siron. Baekgyeong spoke after what seemed like careful thought.

“Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“No matter what happens, protect your ass.”

“...What?”

Siron’s face flushed red like a tomato, a vein popping on his forehead. He mouthed fuck’s sake and shot a glare toward the older pilot behind Baekgyeong. His whole body screamed: Can you just shut the hell up with this nasty crap?

“You’re seriously making jokes at a time like this?”

“That wasn’t a joke. I’m dead serious. I’ll be back to fuck you soon, so stay decent.”

True to his reputation as the Vile Group’s infamous black sheep, Baekgyeong showed zero respect for his mother’s death and said whatever came to mind. Stunned, Siron could only stare as Baekgyeong leaned down and stuck out his cheek.

“Come on, kiss.”

He might’ve had no public image left to ruin, but in a moment when even all-day mourning wouldn’t have been enough, here he was goofing off like it was a party. Anyone aware of the full circumstances would’ve recoiled in disgust. Siron, clearly aware of the pilot’s presence, shoved Baekgyeong’s face away and growled through clenched teeth:

“Get lost, Baekgyeong. Before I make you.”

Baekgyeong stepped back with a smirk and, for the first time, acknowledged Lewis, who had been treated like a piece of furniture until now. He held out his hand.

“Let’s shake.”

Lewis looked at the offered hand for a moment, then accepted it with visible discomfort, speaking seriously to cover up the awkwardness.

“Send your mother off properly.”

“I will. But that aside...”

Baekgyeong yanked Lewis closer and leaned in near his ear, lowering his voice.

“If you so much as touch Yoon Siron, I’ll castrate you.”

Despite the polite front of a handshake, Baekgyeong’s words were violent and menacing. Whether Lewis’s expression twisted or not, Baekgyeong ended the handshake and exited the lounge—takeoff time had come.

After Baekgyeong boarded the plane and took off, Siron and Lewis left the airport. They climbed into Lewis’s white SUV and headed south through the exit road, speeding down the open stretch of Acker Road. Eventually they merged onto the highway and drove for a while before arriving at a gas station. It was the largest one in Hel Sota, equipped with rest facilities the size of a supermarket. After fueling up, they headed for the food court, each grabbing something to eat and drink, and sat at a secluded window seat.

“You worried?”

Siron, who’d been silently picking at his bread, looked up. He realized Lewis was asking about Baekgyeong. With a sigh, Siron set down his drink.

“It doesn’t feel good.”

Even now, as Baekgyeong soared over the clouds, Catherine Choi’s autopsy was being performed in New York. Baekgyeong had said he would return to Hel Sota as soon as the funeral was over—but Lewis doubted it would be so simple. The inheritance issues alone were bound to be complex.

And there were too many unanswered questions surrounding Catherine Choi’s death. She was a well-known CEO, and it was inevitable that her murder would attract explosive media attention. The killers had carried out the hit with audacity, completely ignoring the risk of being caught on CCTV—like poking a hornet’s nest on purpose.

But she had been killed just before applying for clinical trial approval of the alpha suppressant. Once the investigation began, her recent movements would be exposed in detail. If someone had committed the murder to prevent alphas from being revealed to the world, it meant they were confident they could evade the police—meaning the forces behind it were big.

Of course, it could also have been someone else with a grudge. But Baekgyeong, who had always lived far from his family, said he had no idea. In the end, with no clear motive, he left Siron behind and went to New York. It had been his way of keeping Siron out of the danger of an uncertain situation.

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