Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

“Mr. Cox.”

Cox, who had appeared around the corner, halted. For the first time since they met, he was dressed casually in a polo shirt and cotton pants, his hair down comfortably. He looked so different from his usual stern appearance in uniform that Hisha might not have recognized him on the street.

“Mr. Pierlu.”

Were they close enough? Hisha looked back and forth between the two men in disbelief and asked without waiting for an answer.

“Mr. Cox, what are you doing here when Eugene needs help?”

Given that Eugene had just survived an assassination attempt and their mansion was in shambles, Cox should have been busy assisting Eugene.

Pierlu sighed and explained.

“We were both fired.”

Hisha’s expression grew even more incredulous.

“I can understand Mr. Pierlu getting fired for helping me, but why you, Mr. Cox?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?”

Cox replied with his usual look of disapproval, causing Hisha to laugh incredulously.

“Who wouldn’t be shocked in this situation?”

“There’s nothing more shocking than seeing you, who thinks nothing of the man who drugged you.”

Cox’s slightly sarcastic comment made Hisha remember. Right, Cox had drugged him to make him pass out, leading to this situation. Yet, Hisha never thought Cox did it for personal gain.

“Well, it turned out okay in the end. I’m sure you were trying to help Eugene.”

Realizing something, Hisha asked.

“Did you drug me without telling Eugene? Come on, that’s a bit much.”

Cox sighed openly.

“So, your personality wasn’t an act.”

Hisha chuckled.

“I didn’t act. I just used a different name. But seriously, how did you two end up together?”

“We’re friends.”

Pierlu answered.

“Friends?”

Hisha was surprised, and Pierlu shrugged one shoulder.

“Even though Cox is rigid and single-minded, he can’t ignore someone in trouble.”

“Then why don’t you see me as pitiful?”

Hisha asked, and Cox looked even more incredulous.

“How do you look pitiful? You’re the only son of the Ivanov family.”

Cox, though human, seemed to know well about Luax’s society.

With nothing more to say, Hisha scratched the back of his head while Pierlu asked Cox quietly.

“Is his family significant?”

“Don’t ask. It’s exhausting to explain.”

Pierlu then looked Hisha up and down and muttered.

“He certainly doesn’t look like Kim Young-soo.”

“By the way.”

Hisha suddenly began.

“If you want, I can infect you. Mirsi.”

Hisha’s parents had always warned him not to infect anyone recklessly. The chances of successful infection were extremely low, so infecting a healthy person was akin to murder. However, in the case of someone like Mirsi, who was terminally ill, his parents wouldn’t consider it “reckless.”

Pierlu, understanding the implication of Hisha’s offer, remained silent, simply staring at him. Hisha continued.

“Our lineage is strong, so if Mirsi can overcome the infection, no one will be able to touch him.”

“That’s quite a significant statement.”

Pierlu murmured, then asked.

“But there’s a chance it could fail, right?”

Hisha nodded heavily.

“The chances of success are very low.”

Despite advancements in science, the likelihood of successfully infecting someone with the Luax virus hadn’t increased at all. Pierlu shook his head.

“I can live with the burden of giving my child a disease, but I can’t bear the thought of being the father who killed him.”

He paused, deep in thought, then spoke again.

“The only reason I endured 20 years in that house was guilt. If it weren’t for me, she would have lived a comfortable life as Mrs. Fuger-Dulloch.”

His eyes, lost in the past, were filled with regret.

“If the director hadn’t fired me, I would never have found the courage to leave. It’s probably for the best.”

Seeing the sorrow in Pierlu’s eyes, Hisha offered.

“Don’t worry about the hospital bills. We can cover them….”

But before he could finish, Pierlu shook his head firmly.

“I can’t be indebted to you.”

“We’re not strangers.”

Pierlu’s expression turned disapproving.

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

Hisha felt both shy and proud as he replied.

“Eugene and I are…”

Cox, unable to hide his sigh, muttered.

“I thought the director preferred more mature people.”

Hisha composed himself and asked.

“Then, would you consider becoming our gardener? Our garden requires a lot of manpower.”

Half of it was a forest, after all.

Turning to Cox, Hisha added.

“You can return to the mansion, so don’t worry.”

Cox scoffed.

“Who are you to decide that?”

“I’m not deciding.”

Hisha replied.

“It’s clear that Eugene was just momentarily angry. Eugene values you highly, but she’s probably upset that you and Lea planned things without consulting her.”

“That’s…”

Cox’s face showed a hint of guilt.

“So, sincerely apologize to Eugene.”

He couldn’t refute anything he said. However, Cox seemed tired of Hisha’s enthusiastic speech, as if he were bored.

Hisha glanced at Pierlu.

“Mr. Pierlu?”

“I… “

Pierlu couldn’t forget his last words. While waiting for him to answer, Hisha suddenly said.

“Oh, I just remembered something urgent. Please contact me anytime!”

With a wave of his hand, he left without a chance to be held. Pierlu muttered in dismay.

“But I don’t know how to contact him…”

At that moment, Mirsi in a wheelchair came around the corner. When the two did not return, he had come looking for them, but only Pierlu and Cox were there.

“Is he gone?”

Just as he was about to answer, Hisha returned.

“Oh, I almost forgot to give you my contact information.”

He handed over a business card.

“Please contact me here! Mirsi, goodbye! See you later!”

“Goodbye.”

Mirsi smiled and waved.

Pierlu, dumbfounded, stared after his disappearing figure, then turned the business card he was holding to show Cox and Mirsi.

<ISLE CEO

Selena Chu>

* * *

“Then rest.”

“Take care.”

Selena greeted her secretary Jerome and got out of the car. She approached the elevator leading to her apartment in New York.

She suddenly felt someone’s presence behind her and turned around, startled. Someone hugged her tightly.

“Selena!”

It was Hisha.

A passing couple glanced at them hugging in the parking lot.

Selena muttered.

“…Master, we look a little strange.”

Their heights were similar, but now Selena, wearing high heels, was slightly taller, so it seemed like Hisha was the one being hugged.

“Selena, remember this?”

Saying that, Hisha took something out of his back pocket and cautiously unfolded it with both hands. It was a small rectangular piece of paper, like an old bus token, which he used to make a wish when he was ten.

Seeing it, Selena felt a nostalgic feeling.

“Oh, yes. Where did you find this? It brings back memories.”

“I’m going to use this.”

Looking at Hisha’s earnest face, Selena hesitated.

“This… are you sure?”

Then she chuckled awkwardly.

* * *

Eugene, in the descending elevator, absentmindedly watched the passing floors through the transparent walls.

The morning had dawned again, and nothing had changed.

She prepared for work as if nothing had happened and worked. Occasionally, people passing by would ask how she was, but she almost forgot if there had been a bomb terror attack.

Maybe even if she hadn’t come to work today, these people would have had a similar day.

“Director?”

At the sound of her name, Eugene snapped out of her thoughts. The elevator had arrived unnoticed at the lobby, where people were giving her curious looks as she didn’t exit.

Eugene stepped out of the elevator.

‘I need to wake up.’

Her day at Ivanov’s felt like a dream. She needed to wake up quickly.

She walked through the high-ceilinged lobby and out the main entrance with her staff following close behind. A car was waiting in front. Sitting on the railing nearby was a familiar figure.

“Eugene.”

Hisha stood up from the railing.

He wore ripped jeans, sneakers, a plain t-shirt, and a hooded jacket. Even on closer inspection, he looked like a university student on leave.

The employees stared in amazement at the handsome young man, who called the managing director by her first name. Some recognized Hisha from his time at the mansion but wisely said nothing.

“Just wait a moment, please.”

Eugene spoke to those following her and approached Hisha.

There was some distance around Hisha, but there were plainclothes security guards. They weren’t blatantly guarding him, but their careful attention wouldn’t go unnoticed. It seemed they didn’t intend to hide the fact that quite a few security personnel were following him.

Observing them, Eugene turned her gaze back to Hisha in front of her.

“You’re being cautious.”

Hisha sighed.

“It’s more surveillance than protection. They’re worried I might cause trouble again.”

Well, from his parents’ perspective, Hisha did cause quite a serious incident this time. He had practically walked into a life-threatening situation.

Hisha gestured back.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

Whether he called it confidence to visit a company executive without an appointment in broad daylight during business hours, or simply being clueless, Eugene couldn’t decide.

While thinking this, Hisha, thinking Eugene was wary of him, pointed towards a riverside promenade across the road.

“We don’t have to go far. We can talk over there by the riverside.”

The Knox Genomics building overlooked the river, and just across the road was a riverside promenade.

At that moment, Nasiri approached from behind.

“Director.”

“Please wait.”

Eugene said over her shoulder and looked at Hisha again.