Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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16.
Hui Ju pulled her mobile phone from her pocket, her expression growing puzzled. The call was from the United States.
She stared at the unfamiliar number for a moment before pressing the answer button.
“Hello?”
―Hello, this is Birch Gardens.
“Oh.”
―I’m not sure if you’ll remember. It’s Joy—I met you yesterday. I’m Alan’s nurse.
“I remember. Has something happened to my father?”
Hui Ju’s voice took on a note of worry. Liam, who had been bringing his coffee cup to his lips, turned his gaze toward her.
―No, it’s not that. I think I may have given you the wrong impression.
“A wrong impression?”
―Alan has been very eager to see you. Your father’s condition has actually improved since you visited yesterday. When were you planning to come see him again?
At Joy’s lighthearted question, Hui Ju finally released a relieved breath.
“I was planning to stop by this morning.”
―That’s wonderful. Then I’ll see you later. By the way…….
“It’s Hui Ju.”
―See you later, Hui Ju.
The moment Hui Ju ended the call, Liam asked her a question.
“Who was that? The care facility?”
Hui Ju nodded casually.
“He said my father’s condition improved after my visit yesterday. She was just asking when I’d come visit again. But—”
She set down her fork, which had been poised over her omelet, and turned to look at Liam.
“Your name doesn’t have the character for ‘plum tree’ and ‘darkness,’ does it?”
“Ah. Who… Team Leader Han?”
Liam took a sip of his coffee without any particular sign of embarrassment.
“Your grandfather is British, then?”
“I had no idea Team Leader Han was such a gossip.”
“But why do you do this kind of work?”
It wasn’t a deeply considered question, but once she’d asked it, she found herself genuinely curious. Why would a British-Korean do work as a Black Agent?
……
For a moment, Liam’s face went rigid. It was only a flash, but the man who was usually so at ease looked like someone else entirely.
But then he flashed an attractive eye-smile.
“Are you starting to get curious about me?”
Hui Ju didn’t take her eyes off his face. His glib deflection seemed like an evasion of her question.
She had rather sharp intuition, especially when it came to sensing other people’s emotions.
No one in her family had ever mistreated her. In fact, it would be fair to say that among the three siblings, she was the most loved.
Unlike her older and younger brothers, she had never been scolded.
That was why she sometimes felt the weight of excessive affection—especially after learning that she was adopted.
She felt she had to be a good daughter. She felt she couldn’t betray their expectations. That was why she’d become a civil servant, just like her father and brother.
So if he didn’t want to share, she had no intention of pressing. Every grave held its secrets, after all. Besides, she had no right to pry into his personal life.
Right. The word hung in her mind as she noticed his empty plate and asked, “Shall we go?”
Liam stared at her for a long moment, clearly aware of how she’d smoothly changed the subject, then he turned his gaze toward the counter. After a moment, he shook his head gently.
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
Hui Ju gave him a puzzled look but waited obediently.
Just then, a heavyset man who had been sitting at the counter rose from his seat. Liam got up as well.
Liam pulled out cash and paid, then followed the man out the door and spoke to him.
“Are you driving right now, sir?”
Attractive looks, polished speech, and the respectful address—the man burst into hearty laughter at once.
“Of course. Where to?”
Liam turned back to Hui Ju with a slight smile.
“Let’s go. Finding an empty taxi during rush hour—we’re in luck. It seems today might be a fortunate day after all.”
Suddenly, Hui Ju’s brow furrowed. Contrary to his words, she felt an ominous premonition.
She brushed away the thought with a shake of her head and climbed into the taxi.
***
“Good luck to you,” the taxi driver called out pleasantly as he pulled away. Hui Ju stood for a moment, gazing up at the building before her.
A cream-colored mansion.
It was only her second visit, but each time she came here, an indescribable emotion wrapped around her—a quiet longing, perhaps, or a hollow resentment. Or something else entirely: a stiff, brittle affection?
Aware of the gaze trained on her cheek, Hui Ju walked forward with studied composure.
The Lobby was exactly as it had been yesterday. She sensed Liam’s eyes sweeping across the surroundings.
Hui Ju headed straight for the Front Desk, leaving Liam behind her. Emily was at her post today as well.
“Good morning, Emily.”
“Oh—”
Emily, who was about to say something, belatedly realized she didn’t know Hui Ju’s name and offered only a smile. Her eyes appeared swollen, though it might have been her imagination.
Hui Ju pretended not to notice Emily’s reddened eyes and calmly stated her business.
“I’ve come for visitation with my father.”
“Oh my goodness…….”
Emily brought both hands to her face. At the sight of her twisted expression, as though she might burst into tears, Hui Ju asked, “What’s wrong?”
Tears quickly welled up in Emily’s eyes.
“Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?”
Emily seemed at a loss for how to begin, her face registering one uncomfortable expression after another. Finally, she opened her mouth.
“Alan is dead.”
“!”
Hui Ju’s eyes widened. For a moment, she couldn’t comprehend what she’d just heard. She leaned her upper body across the counter.
“When?”
“From what I heard when I came in this morning, it was early this morning……. I’m so sorry. Alan was always kind to everyone.”
Hui Ju listened numbly to Emily’s condolences.
Dead? Who? Father? Why? We were just talking yesterday.
It didn’t feel real. A high-pitched ringing sounded in her ears.
Her father’s face appeared vividly before her. They say he no longer exists in this world. There was still so much I hadn’t asked him.
“That can’t be…….”
As her lips moved soundlessly, Liam stepped forward from behind her. He asked Emily,
“You said he passed away in the early morning?”
“Yes. In his sleep. They say he probably went without much pain. It’s a small mercy, at least. I pray for his peace in heaven.”
Liam turned to face Hui Ju. He made a soft clicking sound with his tongue. At that same moment, Hui Ju also noticed something strange.
“That phone call this morning…….”
Hui Ju was murmuring to herself, turning her head, when she stopped short. Her eyes met those of a woman descending the stairs.
It was the nurse she’d met in the Hospital Room yesterday. The nurse who had called her this morning.
“Joy.”
Her lips moved silently. At the same moment, Joy spotted Hui Ju as well.
The nurse looked upward and shouted,
“Hey! Over here!”
Liam instinctively seized Hui Ju’s wrist. Then he began running toward the exit.
“Wait!”
Emily called after Hui Ju in startled alarm. Men came thundering down the stairs at Joy’s cry.
Liam quickly cut across the Garden. The weather was warm today, and several patients were out for their walks.
The two of them zigzagged through the patients, running without direction. As Hui Ju ran, her backpack bounced against her back.
Those watching them with curiosity were even more startled at the sight of the men appearing moments later in pursuit.
Liam quickly scanned his surroundings. Three men behind them, one car following along the driveway. The same ones as yesterday.
The distance between them was closing, and within seconds they would be caught.
Four men. Liam glanced back at them again. Fighting them while protecting Hui Ju wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t entirely impossible either.
Then he saw it—one of them reaching toward his waist. A black metallic object glinted between the folds of his fluttering jacket.
A gun.
Liam looked forward again. He would have to revise his plan to engage directly. He couldn’t risk exposing Hui Ju to even the smallest possibility of danger.
As he surveyed the surroundings, the Gatehouse came into view. The security guard’s post appeared to be unmanned.
“Run.”
Hui Ju, catching on to his intention, nodded and began sprinting at full speed.
“Stop right there!”
“Dammit!”
The men, realizing their target’s destination, changed direction toward the Gatehouse.
The brown-haired man was quite swift. Just as he was about to grab Hui Ju’s backpack,
Thud.
“Ugh!”
Liam drove a kick into the man’s solar plexus. As the brown-haired man stumbled backward, the two of them burst into the Gatehouse.
Liam slammed the door shut with a bang. Then he locked it from the inside.
“Hah… hah…”
Hui Ju breathed heavily as she peered out the window. The men had reached the Gatehouse and were pulling at the locked door. The wooden frame rattled roughly.
The wooden door was far too flimsy to protect them. Why Americans insisted on wooden doors even in the twenty-first century was beyond her.
Hui Ju dismissed the complaint and quickly scanned the space. Gatehouse was a misnomer for what was essentially a cramped room no larger than a few square meters. There was nowhere to escape.
“We’re trapped mice in a cage.”
At her words, Liam let out a light laugh. He apparently thought she was joking.
Rattle-rattle. Hui Ju watched the wooden door with tense eyes. It seemed it could break apart at any moment.
Liam curled his fingers into a fist and turned to Hui Ju.
“Get behind me.”
“What are you planning?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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