"Please…"
Jiwon's fingers dug weakly into the frozen ground beneath him.
Sergei didn't help, he simply watched.
Jiwon's breathing turned uneven, shallow, almost desperate, sharp ringing filled his ears while cold sweat slid slowly down his temple despite the freezing air.
"Get up." Sergei said calmly.
Jiwon tried again, his trembling arms pushed against the ground, but they immediately gave out beneath his weight.
His vision flickered violently. The frost-covered grass blurred into streaks of gray and white.
"Hah… haa…"
His chest tightened painfully,everything around him began spinning.
The pain in his ankle, the cold, the exhaustion and the terror, it all crashed into him at once.
Jiwon's body suddenly swayed forward.
His eyes rolled back briefly before his head dropped weakly toward the ground. Black spots swallowed his vision while the ringing inside his ears grew louder and louder until, his body went limp in the snow, he lost consciousness.
Sergei stared down at him calmly for a few seconds, then he stepped forward.
Without effort, he lifted Jiwon over his shoulder and began walking back toward the mansion through the endless rows of blue roses.
The cold wind moved quietly around them.
Jiwon remained unconscious the entire way.
...
The bedroom door opened softly.
Sergei carried him inside before walking straight toward the bathroom.He lowered Jiwon into the empty bathtub carelessly, his unconscious body slumping against the cold porcelain.
Water rushed from the showerhead moments later, steam slowly filled the room.
Sergei crouched beside the tub and removed the dirt-stained oversized shirt from Jiwon's body along with the rest of his clothes, revealing bruised pale skin covered in scratches, frost burns, and traces of grass and soil.
His ankle was swollen badly, purple and angry.
Sergei's eyes moved slowly across every injury in silence.Then he began washing him.
Cold fingers brushed over bruises decorating Jiwon's ribs and shoulders while warm water ran down his trembling body. Mud and blood disappeared gradually beneath the stream.
"I guess this will teach you something"
Sergei murmured quietly.
His hand wrapped around Jiwon's injured ankle carefully this time.
"You won't think about running away again."
The words sounded calm, almost gentle.That made them worse.
After finishing, Sergei wrapped a towel around Jiwon's body and dried him slowly before carrying him back into the bedroom.
He placed him onto the bed and Covered him with a blanket.
Then stayed there, Watching.
The room remained silent except for the faint sound of snowfall outside the windows.
Sergei's gaze lingered on Jiwon's sleeping face.
Then suddenly a memory surfaced.
Fragments. Broken voices buried somewhere deep.
["Cough— ah…"]
["Serzh… get some sleep. I already gave you the medicine."]
["Brother… stay with me…"]
["Haha… I'm not going anywhere, baby boy."]
Sergei's expression changed instantly. His eyes darkened.
Something sharp crossed his face...Anger or maybe grief.
The memory vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Haa…"
A quiet sigh escaped him.
Sergei reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone before dialing a number.
The call connected quickly,
"Sergei?"
a tired voice answered.
"What happened?"
"Doctor" Sergei said flatly.
"Come to my house."
A pause.
"I'm working right now. Why the hell are you calling me this late?"
Sergei glanced toward the bed.
"…It's Jiwon."
The other side immediately went silent.
"What?"
Another pause.
"Did you kill him already?"
the man asked dryly.
"I thought you said you wanted revenge. Is this your version of revenge?"
"Haa…"
Sergei sighed while running one hand through his damp black hair.
"Not that."
His eyes remained fixed on Jiwon.
"He did something stupid and injured himself."
"…I see."
Rustling was heard through the phone.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes."
The line disconnected, sergei lowered the phone slowly.
Then turned his gaze back toward the unconscious man lying in his bed, and kept staring.
...
The bedroom door opened quietly, warm light spilling into the dark room as an older man stepped inside carrying a worn leather medical bag.
Snow clung lightly to the shoulders of his long coat.
Gray streaks ran through his hair, and thin glasses rested low on the bridge of his nose.
His face carried the permanent exhaustion of someone who had spent decades dealing with injuries, blood, and the Sokolov family's problems.
He shut the door behind him carefully.
"You better have a serious reason for dragging me here at this hour, Sergei."
His tired voice echoed softly through the room.
Then he looked toward the bed.
The old doctor stared at the unconscious figure beneath the blankets, his eyes narrowing slowly as recognition crept across his face.
"Poor boy…"
Sergei stood near the window, hands resting inside his pockets.
"He's a grown man, by the way."
The doctor's expression darkened immediately.
"He's still young from my perspective."
He stepped closer to the bed carefully, studying the bruises decorating Jiwon's throat, shoulders, and exposed collarbones,
his swollen ankle, the scratches and he exhaustion written across his pale face even while unconscious.
The doctor let out a long sigh.
"So you finally found him."