Beast, Blue Blood - Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Hisha stared at Sergei with his red eyes. Even after Sergei learned that Hisha was the son of Ivan Ivanov, he didn’t remember his face well enough to see him as more than just a big kid. But now, from those red eyes staring back at him, there was a smell of blood.

After all, he had been half-demon since birth. No wicked human was a vampire from birth, but this being in front of him was different. It was like a pair of ominous eyes from the abyss, awakening a deep, latent fear from the unconscious.

Holding his chin as if to crush him, Hisha whispered in his ear.

“Don’t struggle. It’s my first time drinking blood, so I might not be able to control it.”

‘You’re going to bite me?’

Sergei’s eyes widened. And he seemed to mumble as if trying to say something. Noticing that it wasn’t a shout or a violent gesture of defiance, Hisha relaxed his grip slightly. In the meantime, Sergei growled.

“Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this kind of thing?”

In any case, he was no match in terms of strength. But since his opponent was a child with limited life experience, he could be unsettled.

“Do you know how long a prison sentence is for drinking blood? Think carefully, kid. If you commit murder, I won’t let you get away with it just because you’re pretending to be noble. You’ll have to pay for your crimes.”

While Sergei was speaking, Hisha stared at him blankly. Sergei continued to talk.

“Do you think Eugene will be grateful and wait for you to kill me and go to prison? Women are not to be trusted, but women who do business are the worst. Eugene is even worse among them.”

A loud crunching sound was heard. Before Sergei could even recognize what it was, an overwhelming pain surged through him.

“……!”

Sergei tried to scream but the sound was suppressed by the hand covering his mouth. Hisha stomped on his broken leg with increasing force, and Sergei, who was on the verge of frothing at the mouth, could only desperately hope to faint.

Hisha whispered in his ear.

“Congratulations, Aleushin. You’ve made me angry.”

* * *

Eugene woke up groggily. The fur coat was nowhere to be seen, and Hisha, who was asleep, had wrapped her up in the coat and was holding her tightly.

As she looked at him, Hisha also woke up. Seeing Eugene awake, he asked gently.

“Are you awake?”

Eugene, leaning her head against his chest, mumbled.

“It’s nice.”

“What is?”

“Marriage. Because when I open my eyes, you’re here.”

Hisha stroked her head silently.

Although such an incident happened just yesterday, it was fortunate that Eugene seemed to have regained her strength after sleeping. While he didn’t think someone as strong as Eugene would be shattered by such an event, he did think she would be struggling for a while. Whether she wasn’t struggling or was just pretending, he couldn’t be sure.

At that moment, the phone rang. Eugene turned around, got up, and answered the call.

“Yes.”

After listening briefly to the caller, her face suddenly became serious.

“Understood.”

Then she hung up and looked back at Hisha. Hisha’s expression darkened as if he had guessed what the call was about.

Eugene spoke sternly.

“They said he went into shock from blood loss and barely survived. His leg is broken too. If it weren’t for the hospital, he would have died.”

Hisha remained silent, and if he were a puppy, he would have looked like his ears were drooping. He mumbled.

“But Eugene won’t do anything about it, right?”

When Hisha arrived yesterday, Eugene had already taken a shower. Even though the situation hadn’t ended in a scandal, if Eugene had even considered filing a complaint against Sergei, she wouldn’t have showered before the police investigation.

Moreover, even if she did file a complaint, the business world was still male-dominated, and such scandals had little effect on Sergei. Instead, Eugene’s name would surely be the one in the spotlight.

It was surprising for Eugene that Hisha understood the workings of this world better than expected, but that was secondary. She had to say it.

“Don’t drink the blood of such a person.”

“I didn’t drink it. I vomited it.”

He couldn’t drink blood. Although his physical abilities were similar to those of a Luax, his biological functions were closer to those of a human.

In principle, that was true, but the moment the blood filled his mouth, he thought he might be able to drink it. It wasn’t out of hunger but out of violence.

At that moment, Hisha became aware of the ‘other half’ hidden within him. The harsh truth that one could not become entirely human while living among humans seemed to open the eyes that had been closed in his mind.

Hisha asked quietly.

“Am I a monster?”

Eugene sat beside Hisha and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Maybe.”

Then she added.

“But a monster like you would be rather endearing. It’s a world where even worse monsters, wearing the guise of normal humans, walk the streets.”

Silence followed for a while, and Eugene remained leaning on Hisha’s shoulder as she said.

“When I die, dress me in the gown I wore last time, not a shroud.”

“You’re not going to die.”

Hisha declared firmly, but Eugene responded calmly.

“Everyone dies eventually.”

“Don’t say that.”

With that, Hisha embraced Eugene, as if to show he wouldn’t give her up to death.

Eugene also stayed in his embrace without saying anything for a while.

“But.”

Then she suddenly began to speak. When Hisha looked at her as if asking for more, Eugene wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered.

“Are you not going to?”

“But after experiencing such an incident yesterday…”

“Hisha.”

Eugene knocked him down and climbed on top.

“No matter what that kind of person does, they can’t hurt me.”

The woman, as if forged from steel, was genuinely beautiful.

* * *

Selena, momentarily stunned, spoke.

“It seems you’ve found the part we missed.”

On the other hand, Ha-yeon, sitting across from him in the car, had a triumphant look on her face.

“You have to see with your heart, not just with your eyes. The motivation to develop something like the Luax Virus is too obvious. You didn’t even consider that there might be another motivation, like saving a sibling, especially for someone like Eugene.”

“That’s certainly true, but…”

Muttering to himself, Selena clasped his hands together.

“It could be a coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

Ha-yeon’s eyebrows twitched, displeased with the rebuttal. But Selena nodded.

“The Baumann-Kraus disease medication doesn’t harm Knox Genomics as much as you might think. The cost of the medication is high, and government support is quite substantial. The company wouldn’t have developed the Baumann-Kraus medication without considering that level of profitability.”

In other words, Selena was suggesting that the speculation that Eugene was developing the Luaxs Virus to save her sibling might have been wrong from the start.

Ha-yeon frowned.

“Why do people always see things in such a negative light?”

Selena smiled slightly.

“Indeed.”

It seemed that Ha-yeon’s dislike for Eugene made her more inclined to resist the idea that her hypothesis was wrong rather than genuinely considering Eugene’s situation. But it was true; there was no need to look at it so negatively. Hisha was deeply involved with her. It was hard to believe that Hisha would cause such a fuss just because Eugene was pretty and socially successful.

At that moment, Ha-yeon looked out the car window and said.

“Drop me off here.”

When the car stopped, Ha-yeon got out and spoke again.

“I don’t like Eugene much, but I think there must be a reason Hisha likes her so much.”

It was surprising to Selena that Ha-yeon’s thoughts were the same as him. But then Ha-yeon put on a smirk that seemed to indicate a bad personality.

“Maybe I just want to believe that.”

With that, Ha-yeon disappeared into the crowd.

Back inside the moving car, Selena tapped the armrest with his fingers, lost in thought.

Something felt off. For a long time.

Was Eugene really trying to develop the virus? Such a dangerous substance, without a second thought, just to inherit the family name?

Even if it was for her sibling, it was known that the DNA of hybrids like Hisha and Ha-yeon had not been proven to help develop the Luax Virus, and yet she rushed in, believing only the urban legend that it would be ‘helpful.’ It was unthinkable that Eugene would not realize that dangerous people would target the virus in her sibling’s body if he were to be exposed to the Luax Virus.

Even if Eugene’s sibling became stronger as a Luax, a single beast could not stand up to a group of humans who hunted systematically. A young Luax alone would be no match. Eugene was too intelligent and rational to not understand this. She wouldn’t make irrational decisions just because she was overwhelmed by her desire to save her sibling, especially if her sibling was precious to her.

That wasn’t the only problem. No matter how much she searched, Selena couldn’t find any research lab where Eugene was developing the virus.

He began to doubt if he really knew Eugene. The thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Selena then spoke to the vehicle AI, Rita.

“Rita, please call Master Hisha.”

After the connection tone, Hisha answered the call.

[Hello?]

“Master, could I speak with Director Eugene for a moment?”

[Oh? Right now?]

Hisha seemed surprised.

“Yes, if possible…”

It seemed he was surprised that he wanted to talk to Eugene. So, when Selena was about to state his purpose, Hisha mumbled.

[Uh… if you could call back a little later… Eu… just a moment…]

“I’ll call back later. Rita, hang up.”

The vehicle AI immediately ended the call. Silence followed, and Selena looked out the window, reflecting on how quickly time had passed, realizing how much Hisha had grown.

Eugene’s call came when Selena was back at the office.

[You wanted to talk with me?]

“Yes. I’m planning to come to the U.S. soon. If it’s convenient for you, could we meet and discuss?”

[About what?]

“Baumann-Kraus disease.”

Eugene was silent for a moment, then replied.

[Sure. When and where shall we meet?]