Chapter 194
A furrowed brow, trembling corners of his eyes, cheekbones that suddenly pushed up.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
But as if to say what I’d just seen was an illusion, Liu Wei’s face returned to normal.
The controlled expressions, the minimal use of his facial muscles. Just like always.
“I’ll say it again. Go. …Because the way I’m feeling right now, I could kill you.”
“No. You’re the one who messed up, but now you’re twisting your words, huh… Fine. I just texted the writer that you’re here, so—”
“Messed up?”
Maybe that last word got under his skin, because Liu Wei slowly rose from his crouch and stepped closer to me.
One step, two steps.
“…….”
The look in his eyes that met mine at the same height, the feelings in them… I couldn’t say a word in that moment.
“I did it because I could. Because I had to. And I see no reason to measure that in terms of morality. So tell me, in this situation, what exactly did I do wrong?”
“…Ah, seriously.”
I didn’t want to keep talking to him, but here we were again.
With a headache pounding behind my temples, I pressed a hand to my forehead and spoke carefully.
“…So, you’re saying it was perfectly fine to throw a microphone at Hwa Sung?”
“He started—”
“Don’t give me that “he started it” nonsense. I heard you started talking about Jae Ha hyung to Hwa Sung. You did it just to piss him off.”
Liu Wei kept saying he did it because he could, or because he wanted to, or because he had to. He was justifying everything with those lines.
But anyone could see it was all a mess of contradictions.
Seriously, think for a second.
“Logan, me, Hwa Sung today. It all started because of you. So why are you talking like it’s our fault? None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you.”
“No, it would have been easier for me to debut if you and that British bastard hadn’t been here. And Hwa Sung, he was the one who scratched at me first. You guys were the ones who meddled in the first place.”
“We meddled? And who decided that?”
“Since the moment this program began. You were never part of the plan to begin with.”
“What? So what, you think a trainee has to get your permission to join a survival program? What about you? Who gave you permission?”
“…….”
At my frustrated retort, Liu Wei’s lips pressed into a thin line. And strangely, I was the one who was caught off guard by his reaction.
I’d just been tired of this circular argument, so I’d said it to shut him up.
What the hell, Liu Wei?
Don’t tell me…
“Don’t tell me you had to get permission from Director Shin to even be here—”
“I had no reason to ask permission from someone like that.”
Nothing had really changed, but Liu Wei’s voice was a little higher than usual.
And I was talking to him enough to notice that.
“Then it was your parents, wasn’t it?”
“…Shut up.”
That snarl in his voice didn’t scare me one bit.
It just confirmed my suspicions.
“…Ha.”
I clicked my tongue in disbelief, bracing my hands on my hips as weariness washed over me.
I mean, I’d pretty much figured it out back when the engagement thing came up.
“…You. So you’ve been acting like you’re the one in control, but really, you’re just doing whatever you think’ll keep your parents happy.”
“…….”
“And you cover that up by saying it’s what you can do, what you have to do—”
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Why are you, of all people, saying that to me when you don’t know anything?”
Before I could even finish, Liu Wei closed the distance and shoved me hard, enunciating every word.
“If you remember what I did to you, you should know when to watch your mouth.”
But.
“…Why can’t I say it?”
His voice might’ve had that cool calm he always forced out in Mandarin, but the tremor in his Korean now was impossible to miss.
I didn’t even bother holding back anymore.
Ah, here, unlike at the broadcast station, there were only people from Targeting Star, so no need to watch my mouth.
“What are you gonna do? Push me off this balcony or something?”
“What the…”
“There are a ton of staff down there. You know what’ll happen if you try it. Go ahead, see what happens.”
On any other day, I might have tried to talk things out more carefully. But watching him like this, the words came out fast and raw.
Sure, he was the kind of guy who’d start nasty rumors to try to bury me, but here?
I didn’t see a shred of real threat in him now.
“…….”
We stared at each other in total silence.
My eyes, red hair and cold. His eyes, face so calm on the surface, but burning bright.
“…Haa.”
It wasn’t that it was bad for him to care about what his parents thought.
After all, the reason I’d come back was because of my family and the Arrows.
But that didn’t mean it was okay for him to use such twisted methods because of it.
Not when I’d given it my all and fought so hard just to make sure I didn’t become a burden to anyone.
He does all these rotten things, then tries to excuse it by saying he just wanted his parents’ love.
“…….”
“I really… didn’t know you were like this, you know….”
I looked at Liu Wei’s clenched fists for a moment and let out a sigh that was half a murmur.
Yeah. Even back when we were active as Arrows, even after all this Targeting Star stuff. I never realized.
“Liu Wei, do you even… talk to your parents?”
“…….”
One of his eyebrows twitched at my words. It was obvious from his face that he wanted me to explain what I meant, and that just made a sigh slip out from my lips again.
No, come on.
“Your parents are alive and well back in China, aren’t they? So why don’t you talk to them?”
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