Paradise, Interrupted

When Joo Taegang rubbed his eyes and looked back at Yoo Iseo, the latter was wearing his usual calm smile.

“So that means Seong Chanyeong will just die alone like this.”

“Probably? Ah, well, not completely alone. I don’t know how he managed it, but judging from those employees and Seo Eunsu standing beside him earlier, his cause of death won’t be lonely death.”

It was an extremely cold evaluation.
Even while confused because of Seong Chanyeong, Joo Taegang did not lose his analytical perspective.

‘That’s partly why I fed Taegang the information first… but still.’

This was unpleasant.

Not knowing where the source of that discomfort lay, Yoo Iseo briefly placed a hand over his chest before pulling it away.

His heart, which always beat slowly and steadily, had just shifted its rhythm upon hearing Taegang’s words.

“…If he dies like that, it’ll bother me a little…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering if he’ll keep living like that from now on.”

At the skillful change of words, Joo Taegang let out a short scoff.

It was a mocking one.

“You’re not the kind of person who can be associated with the word ‘concern.’”

“Is that so?”

“I think we should pull back for now. If he’s that stubborn about staying in that countryside dump, what can we even do?”

Seemingly too tired to continue the conversation, Joo Taegang changed into pajamas, lay down on the bed, and pulled the blanket over himself.

Perhaps from days of poor sleep, he looked extremely drowsy.

“You should stop too and get some sleep. We all came here while busy anyway. Let’s head back once we wake up.”

Not even three seconds after saying that, Joo Taegang fell into a deep sleep like a corpse.

Leaving him behind, Yoo Iseo sat in a chair and organized his thoughts.

“How can we get Seong Chanyeong to come outside?”

For Yoo Iseo, who never moved for things that didn’t interest him, the newly changed Seong Chanyeong was something he didn’t want to miss.

‘If he’s really terminally ill and ends up dying miserably… that’s a bit disappointing.’

A scene from the past flashed through Yoo Iseo’s mind.

It was the memory of his mother, his pitiful mother, who had suffered from illness before passing away.

But as if someone might read his thoughts, he quickly erased that fragile sentiment and returned to his usual cold composure.

‘Getting sentimental doesn’t suit me.’

Seong Chanyeong was nothing like his mother.

His mother had been foolishly kind, while Seong Chanyeong, who had barked at them to get lost like a dog, was clearly different.

“This won’t work.”

If they were reported for trespassing, it would become troublesome.

That also went against Yoo Iseo’s personal aesthetics.

He wanted to see Seong Chanyeong leave his refuge on his own, just like before, and come back to beg them for affection.

The reason he wanted to see it was simple—because it would be entertaining.

“Hm… if he won’t come out willingly, maybe we should go in?”

As he pondered, Yoo Iseo suddenly thought of Seo Eunsu.

Seo Eunsu, whom Seong Chanyeong had brought in to drive them away, was comfortably staying in that house.

In reality, it wasn’t Seo Eunsu but Chanyeong himself who had driven them out, but if he knew the Alphas hadn’t given up, he probably wouldn’t kick Seo Eunsu out immediately.

That could be used to their advantage.

After all, barging in forcefully would likely get them smacked with that broom.

‘If we stay by his side pretending to be favorable, we could confirm whether he’s really sick—and if he is, figure out a way to bring him back.’

If he returned immediately, there would be piles of work waiting, but taking a short break under the pretense of giving himself leave didn’t sound bad either.

He had already cleared out obstacles to secure his position as successor, so it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy life a little.

“I should ask Baek Dojun, Cha Yoonchan, and Joo Taegang tomorrow if they’ll join.”

Sleeping somewhere other than home was uncomfortable, but tolerable.

He even found himself looking forward to how Chanyeong would react when they visited that neat white house again tomorrow.

Even knowing his personality was unpleasant, Yoo Iseo had no intention of changing it.

It was by living this ruthlessly that he had survived—and ultimately become the victor.

‘This will be fun.’

For Yoo Iseo, who rarely found joy in anything, he hoped Seong Chanyeong would remain as he was for a long time.

As he fell asleep, his mother appeared in his dreams for the first time in a while.

Not coughing up blood and crying, but smiling beautifully like a flower and holding him in a warm embrace.

That made the dream all the more regretful.

Because reality was never beautiful.

Not even Yoo Iseo himself.

Meanwhile, in the room across the hall, Cha Yoonchan had already fallen asleep, but Baek Dojun remained wide awake.

‘I thought I knew Seong Chanyeong well, but maybe I didn’t at all.’

Tossing and turning under the blanket, Baek Dojun couldn’t fall asleep easily.

The image of Chanyeong glaring fiercely and yelling for them to get out was still vivid in his mind.

Though their engagement had been broken off, they had spent many years together—first as nominal fiancés, before that as antagonistic companions.

Even if they hated each other, he had believed there was nothing they didn’t know about one another.

‘But that wasn’t true.’

Chanyeong was changing.

At first, it seemed like a sudden transformation, but thinking back now, he wasn’t sure if it really was.

What had accumulated between them might not have been depth of understanding, but merely the passage of time.

Even within families, there were things one didn’t know.

Humans were beings who didn’t reveal every side of themselves to others.

So could a shallow relationship like theirs—neither family, nor spouses, nor siblings, but merely friends or strategic partners—truly be called genuine?

Baek Dojun couldn’t bring himself to answer “yes” to that question.

And that left a bitter taste.

‘I justified liking Seo Eunsu by saying I hated Seong Chanyeong’s cruelty… but was that really the right choice?’

Like Joo Taegang, Baek Dojun was overwhelmed by countless thoughts about Seong Chanyeong, unable to sleep.

Unlike Taegang, who relaxed upon confirming Chanyeong was alive, Dojun was busy reflecting on his own faults one by one.

After speaking with Chairman Seong, Dojun had looked into Chanyeong and developed a faint sense of pity for him.

The boy he had always thought looked down on others from above the clouds had actually been suffering from loneliness due to a lack of affection.

And Dojun himself had played a part in that loneliness.

That was why he couldn’t just leave him like this.

“I can’t just leave him alone.”

If he was even sick on top of that, then morally, he couldn’t ignore someone dying.

‘Even if Seong Chanyeong curses me when he sees me again, I’ll have to accept it.’

Chanyeong had been the one to keep the promise of never meeting again.

It was the Alphas, including Dojun, who had broken it.

And since they had already broken it, they couldn’t just let him wither away alone.

‘Even if it makes him hate me more, I’ll take him back.’

It was only natural as a human being.

Considering how bad their relationship had been, being thrown out like earlier was deserved.

‘Then why do I feel so down?’

Thinking of Chanyeong’s gentle expression when he faced Seo Eunsu, Dojun crumpled the bedsheet for no reason.

In the end, unable to sleep at all, he watched the dawn break with wide-open eyes.

“Those bastards… how dare they look at someone else’s precious home and call it ‘just this’? ‘Just this’?”

“Are they insane? Have they lost it?”

Fuming, I wrote the male leads’ names on A4 paper, stuck it onto a pillow, and punched it repeatedly.

Even kicking and hitting didn’t relieve my frustration.

“Woof woof woof!”

General joined in, tearing into the pillow beside me.

With his tiny puppy teeth, he shredded it and scattered the stuffing all over the floor.

“General, you’re mad too, right? Right?”

“Woof!”

It was just a pillow—I could always buy another.

For some reason, Secretary Choi had ordered enough bedding for ten grown men when furnishing the house, so sacrificing a pillow or two was no big deal.

As I cleaned up the torn stuffing with a dustpan, I kept grumbling about what happened earlier.

“What do they even know? I came here, stopped having nightmares, started farming, and I was genuinely happy.

Even the bugs in the fields started looking cute.”

Except for cockroaches, I wasn’t too bothered by insects, though I didn’t particularly like them either.

But when working the land with a healthy body, even the swarm of bugs felt different.

I’d smile kindly at them.

Haha, if I kill you, you’ll make great fertilizer. Oh, an earthworm—this must be fertile soil.

The house was comfortable, and even though it wasn’t my real home from my original world, it felt peaceful.

When sunlight streamed through the windows and painted the white walls orange, I’d sit in an armchair with General on my lap, petting him, feeling happy.

‘I was doing so well here, so why did they come and pick a fight?!’

Do they even know the joy of farming?

Who are they to belittle my little paradise?

Ugh. I’m so pissed, I’m so pissed!

“Just die, you useless original male leads who do nothing for my life!”

“Woof woof woof!”

In the end, fueled by anger, I destroyed three more pillows with General.

Only after staring blankly at the shredded lumps of stuffing did I regain my senses.

“General… let’s stop now.”

Poor pillows. I’ll never forget your noble sacrifice.

“Woof!”

“The housekeeper’s going to be mad when she comes tomorrow, right?”

“Woof!”

General looked completely innocent, as if he knew nothing.

He seemed happy just playing with me, his tail wagging rapidly from side to side.

“Yeah. As long as you had fun, that’s what matters.”

‘Anyway, I managed to drive those guys away for now.’

It hadn’t gone according to plan, but surprisingly, the male leads backed off at my anger.

I was even surprised Seo Eunsu didn’t have to step in.

And the strangest part was that, except for Cha Yoonchan, the male leads didn’t react much to Seo Eunsu.

‘Even if they came for me, I thought the moment they saw Seo Eunsu, they’d glare at me and drag him away.’

Even Seo Eunsu didn’t seem particularly welcoming toward them.

Just from his exchange with Yoo Iseo, it was clear he didn’t feel close to him.

‘Even if this is still early in the original storyline, I thought Seo Eunsu wouldn’t be indifferent to Alphas who treat him kindly.’

I’d brought him in as a part-timer under a ridiculous excuse, thinking he was in some kind of budding relationship with them, but he didn’t seem interested at all.

For someone trying to push both the male leads and the protagonist out of the story’s flow, this was confusing.

“If the real Seong Chanyeong saw this, he’d probably go insane with jealousy.”

I didn’t know what the male leads had come to ask me, but thinking about the real Seong Chanyeong made my heart feel heavy.