The Duke’s Obsession Leads to a Death Flag

The stranger who broke down the warehouse door barged in and tried to take Vin away. Grabbing whatever was within reach—starting with the light bulb—Vin threw objects recklessly to evade the man, but there was nowhere to run inside the cramped warehouse.

“Don’t make this difficult. Just come quietly.”

The man began coaxing Vin in a gentle voice. The tone was different, but Vin had heard this voice before. It belonged to the suspicious figure who had pounded on the door terrifyingly in the darkness of night.

“No.”

At Vin’s firm refusal, the man’s friendly expression cracked slightly. With a long sigh, he spat out a rough curse, discarding his fake facade, and grabbed Vin’s wrist tightly.

“If you behave, I won’t hit you. I don’t want to be the kind of scumbag who beats kids, you know?”

Sensing danger, Vin struggled to yank his hand away, but there was no way he could overpower the strength of a grown man or endure his fierce grip.

The man easily subdued Vin, slinging his limp body over his shoulder. I can’t let him take me. The warehouse, shimmering at the edges of Vin’s blurred vision, was growing more distant.

Shaken from the earlier impact, Vin’s body had gone slack, but he began moving little by little, starting with his fingers. Every time he did, the man’s hand pressed firmly against Vin’s back in warning.

“Stay still.”

Vin stilled for just a moment before resuming his movements. Annoyed by Vin’s constant squirming, the man finally stopped walking. Not missing the chance, Vin sank his teeth into the man’s shoulder with all his strength.

“ACK!!!”

The man let out a sharp scream, unable to withstand the pain, and flung Vin away. Thrown to the ground, Vin didn’t even have time to feel the pain before scrambling to his feet and bolting. The sheer terror that, if he was caught now, he would never see Seo-yul again propelled him forward.

“Stop right there, you little shit!!”

The man belatedly reached out, checking his shoulder where Vin’s bite had left deep marks, but his fingers only grazed the boy’s sleeve. Vin was already too far away.

“Hey!!! If I catch you, you’re dead!!”

Ignoring the deadly warning, Vin ran blindly ahead. He dashed past dense trees, pushing deeper into the forest—until he realized he was lost. By now, the warehouse should have appeared, yet he was still surrounded by darkness.

“Seo-yul hyung….”

If he wanted to see Seo-yul, he had to find his way back to the warehouse. But no matter where he looked, he had no idea where to go. He was completely lost. Standing frozen in place, Vin anxiously stomped his feet, scanning his surroundings.

“Seo-yul hyung!!!”

Even though Vin screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice would never reach Seo-yul. Still, he called out to him, desperately hoping that Seo-yul would hear and come find him.

Staying in one place was too dangerous—he could be caught by the man following his voice. Vin ventured deeper into the forest, unable to let go of the hope that maybe, just maybe, Seo-yul was already looking for him. He kept glancing back, over and over again.

In his frantic escape, he tripped over a tree root and fell, got caught in thorny bushes he hadn’t noticed, and ended up covered in scratches. His mind was too jumbled to pay attention to his surroundings.

Leaning against a large tree trunk, Vin examined his arm, which had been scraped by a sharp branch earlier. The stinging pain felt worse than usual. When he looked closer, he realized his skin had been torn open.

“It hurts….”

Seo-yul had been disinfecting and applying medicine to his wounds every day, and they had nearly healed. But now, it was all for nothing. Pressing down on his bleeding arm with his trembling fingers, Vin let out a shaky breath.

I don’t know the way….

The more he tried to return to the warehouse, the farther it seemed to get. Staggering to his feet, he tried to reorient himself. He couldn’t go any deeper into the forest. He needed to run in the opposite direction.

After making sure the bleeding had slowed, he adjusted his shoes. With that small preparation, he stepped out from behind the tree trunk and tried to leave the forest—only to freeze in place when his eyes met the man standing right in front of him.

“So this is where you were.”

The man smirked. There was nowhere left to run. Vin hesitated, stepping backward, but his back soon hit the rough surface of the tree trunk.

This was it. It was over.

“D-Don’t move!!”

Just as the man’s hand reached for Vin, an unsteady voice rang through the forest—a clumsy yet urgent warning. Both Vin and the man turned their heads toward the sound.

There, standing with a small gun pointed straight at the man, was Seo-yul. His entire body was trembling.

***

No matter how much I looked around, there was no trace of anyone in the dense forest. Damn it, where did you go? Desperately scanning the empty surroundings, I could only stomp my feet in frustration—until I finally heard Vin calling my name again.

“Vin!!!”

I shouted loud enough to shake the forest, startling the birds perched in the trees. As they flapped into the sky in a flurry of wings, I snapped back to my senses and ran toward the direction of Vin’s voice.

The deeper I went into the forest, the darker it became, even though it was still daytime. The damp air clung to my skin as I sprinted through the thick trees.

And then, at last, I saw him.

Relief surged through me, and I was about to call out to him—when I noticed the man standing in front of him. My pace slowed instinctively. The distance was too great for me to see their expressions, but I could tell the situation was tense.

Holding my breath, I carefully approached where Vin was. Thanks to the dense trees, there were plenty of places to hide, allowing me to get closer without being noticed.

That man….

I recognized him. He was the guard I had seen that day when I went to check the western wall. The same one I had caught talking in hushed tones with someone at the side gate.

Why is he with Vin?

The answer came from a conversation I had overheard that day, the words resurfacing in my memory.

“Don’t worry. I’ve never seen a color that vivid before either. With that alone, you could become a rich man.”

Only then did the suspicious details I had dismissed start piecing themselves together—the footprints lingering around the warehouse, the loosened padlock, the strange conversation between those two men. It seemed I wasn’t the only one waiting for the district chief to be absent.

A foreboding sense of dread crept over me, and I pulled the gun from my pocket. What had Han Jae-hoon said again? Always be prepared for the worst. I had prayed I wouldn’t have to use it. But maybe that had just been wishful thinking.

As I stood there, my hands trembling from the gun’s weight, the guard reached for Vin. Without thinking, I burst out from behind the tree, aimed the gun at him, and yelled loud enough to shake the forest.

“D-Don’t move!!”

My voice wavered, but at least I had caught the guard’s attention. I need to look as threatening as possible. But the reality was, just holding the gun terrified me. My hands, my legs—everything was shaking uncontrollably.

“Seo-yul hyung….”

Vin, still leaning against the tree, called out to me. I had no idea what had happened, but half of his small face was swollen with bruises, and blood had seeped through the fabric of one arm.

Anger burned away my fear. My grip on the gun steadied.

“If you move, I’ll shoot.”

The guard didn’t seem to take my warning seriously and reached for Vin again. I lowered the barrel slightly to make sure he saw it clearly and unlocked the safety with a loud click. That sound alone made the guard freeze, his hand stopping midair.

Vin, who had been pressed against the tree, hesitated for a moment before bolting toward me. The guard’s eyes darkened as he glared at Vin, but I shoved the barrel of the gun even closer to his face. He didn’t dare move.

Vin reached me safely and clung to my side.

“Seo-yul hyung!”

Now that I could see him up close, he looked even worse. He was covered in dirt, scratches, and bruises—he must have tripped and fallen countless times. But for some reason, he was smiling.

Even in this dire situation, all that seemed to matter to him was that I had come for him.

“Get behind me.”

I quickly pulled him behind me and adjusted my grip on the gun.

The guard, who had been standing still and watching us, took a cautious step back. Just leave. Please, just walk away. Even now, in this situation, I was desperately hoping I wouldn’t have to fire.

Han Jae-hoon had once told me to imagine two targets: the heart and the space between the eyebrows. But no matter what happened, I wasn’t someone who could aim a gun at a living person and pull the trigger.

Just as the guard seemed to be retreating, he suddenly lunged at us.

In an instant, the distance between us closed. Panic shot through me, and my finger, which had been resting on the trigger, reflexively pulled back.

BANG!

The gunshot exploded through the forest.

“Huh…!”

The bullet, fired without proper aim, missed the guard and buried itself into a tree behind him. But the mere thought that it could have hit him sent the man scrambling backward. Fear overtook him, and he turned and fled without looking back.

I kept the gun raised until his figure completely disappeared. Then, my knees buckled, and I collapsed on the spot. The gun slipped from my trembling hands and rolled onto the ground.

The shock of it all hit me like a wave—I had nearly killed someone. Just a slight miscalculation, and I could have actually shot him.

“Seo-yul hyung.”

“!!!”

Vin’s voice pulled me out of my daze. I lifted my head, my vision still spinning.

Vin looked into my shaking eyes, then spread his arms and wrapped them around me.

“You came because you heard my voice, right?”

I was too drained to respond, so I simply nodded slowly. Vin, seemingly pleased by my confirmation, let out a bright, ringing laugh. The soft sound tickled my ears, pulling my scattered thoughts back together. Steadying myself, I gently pushed his shoulders away.

“Run. Now.”

“…What?”

“You can’t go back to the warehouse anymore. You have to leave, Vin.”

His red eyes, which had been glowing with happiness just moments ago, trembled violently. I pulled out a crumpled letter and a gemstone from my pocket and placed them in his hands.

“If you climb over the western wall, there’s a bus stop. Take the bus to Sector 2. When you get there, find Saint Julia’s Orphanage. Show them this letter and the gemstone, and—”

Slap.

Vin smacked my hand away, hard. The impact sent the letter and gemstone flying. As they hit the ground, I looked back at him in shock. He had been pressing his lips tightly together, but now, he finally spoke.

“I don’t want to. I’m staying here.”

“Don’t be stubborn. You can’t stay at the warehouse anymore. That means you have to go—”

“I said no!!”

Vin cut me off, shouting furiously. My body stiffened in surprise, and before I could react, his hands grabbed my shoulders, squeezing with terrifying strength. His gaze, burning with an eerie intensity, sent a chill down my spine.

His grip was so tight it felt like my bones might snap. I twisted my body in an attempt to break free, but Vin only clung to me harder. His face had gone emotionless—completely unreadable—but his wild eyes gleamed with a madness I had never seen before.

“Why are you trying so hard to get rid of me? Do you want to ‘get rid’ of me too, Seo-yul hyung?”

“What the hell are you—”

“You think I’m filthy, right? A disgusting little pest? You can’t stand the sight of me, so you’re sending me away, aren’t you?”

“That’s not it!”

“Then why are you trying to make me leave? Why?! You should be the one staying with me. I don’t care about anyone else, but you—you have to stay with me!”

His once calm voice cracked at the edges, twisting with emotion. And then, plop—a tear fell.

The dangerous gleam in his eyes had melted into sorrow, and fat, glistening tears began to roll down his cheeks.

I hesitated, uncertain whether to comfort him or push him away. But before I could decide, Vin took hold of my wandering hands and pressed his damp cheek against them.

“Don’t send me away. As long as you’re with me, I don’t care if I have to stay locked in that warehouse forever. Please.”

His tears soaked my palm, yet I couldn’t say anything.

I knew this was my last chance to make him leave, but even as anxiety clawed at me, the words refused to come out.

“Young Master! Where are you?!”

The sudden voice made me whip around.

Through the trees, I saw the butler searching the forest with several attendants. He must have heard the gunshot and come looking for me.

“Young Master!”

As the butler ran toward me, I realized something.

It was too late.

I had lost my chance to send Vin away.