Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 65

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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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65.
***
The headache came first, rising above the fog of sleep. Her stomach churned with it.
As she groaned through the nausea, forgotten memories surfaced one by one. When Hee-ju had recalled even the last of them, her eyes snapped open.
!
She was in a moving car. Large men sat in the driver’s seat, the passenger seat, and beside her.
She glanced frantically out the window. If they were on the I-80 Highway, the landscape repeated itself in endless stretches—wide plains and tan scrub brush.
Monotonous, mind-numbing terrain.
The man beside her noticed her consciousness returning and glanced her way, then just as quickly turned his attention to his Cell Phone as if she didn’t matter.
There was nothing she could do anyway—not unless she meant to jump from a car traveling eighty miles an hour.
Hee-ju had no intention of wasting energy. Better to conserve it, to coil it tight for the one moment of opportunity that might come.
“Ow.”
A groan escaped her. She reached to rub the back of her neck, then immediately withdrew her hand as a throbbing pain shot through it. She hadn’t seen a mirror, but she knew there would be bruises.
She recalled the Bearded Man’s face, teeth gritted in fury. This level of pain meant he’d struck her several more times while she was unconscious.
Coward.
She turned her head to look, but the Bearded Man wasn’t visible. The driver wore a thick gold chain, and the passenger was Andrei. The man squeezed in beside her was so fat the seat felt cramped.
Only then did Hee-ju release the breath she’d been holding and press her fingers to her throbbing temples. Someday she’d repay them double.
But escapism ended there. No amount of seething would change the situation.
She exhaled deeply, resigned, and stared out the window, her brow furrowed. How had things spiraled into such a mess?
It all began with her biological father. A dying man, and Hee-ju choosing to fly to the United States to see him.
The moment she set foot in this foreign land, she’d been swept into an inexplicable storm.
What was that USB? Was it really a weapons blueprint, as Liam had said? Was that what they wanted? Why had her father possessed it?
What was her biological father’s true identity?
……
And was Liam safe?
Hee-ju slowly closed her eyes. She could picture his face with perfect clarity, as if he were right in front of her.
‘Run!’
‘Do you need me?’
‘—Tell me you want me.’
She should have said it. If she’d known it would come to this, she should have said it over and over until she was sick of the words. It wasn’t even difficult.
Had the CIA shaken them off? Had they noticed she was gone? They wouldn’t misunderstand—wouldn’t think she’d run away, would they?
‘No matter how far you run, I will find you. That’s what it means for me to be sincere. Are you prepared for that?’
Perhaps she’d been prepared all along—during that night when they’d kissed with desperate intensity, or the dawn when she’d overheard his call with his Grandfather, or in that moment when he’d taken a bullet and still worried about her.
Hee-ju brought her hands together as if in prayer, her expression reverent, and silently wished for his safety.
Would he find the USB she’d slipped into his pocket?
If it was her lifeline, then she prayed it would protect his. She prayed he would hand it over to the CIA when the moment came and live through this.
As that thought crossed her mind, Hee-ju’s brow deepened. How had such chaos erupted into a life that had been, just days ago, perfectly ordinary?
The zombie shuffle to work, the mindless labor, the collapse into sleep when she got home—it all felt like a past life, impossibly distant.
It had begun the moment some lunatic flew from England to Korea just to see her face, and then to the United States again.
And the strangest part of all was how desperately she wanted to see that lunatic. A soft laugh escaped her.
I’ve lost it too, haven’t I? This is what they mean by Dyed by Proximity. A white egret should never follow the crow.
At the sound of her laughter, the fat man beside her gave her a sideways glance. His furrowed brow suggested he thought she’d gone mad.
Hee-ju ignored what he was thinking and spoke to Andrei instead.
“Who are you?”
Andrei’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. Their gazes met in the glass. Hee-ju deliberately deepened her frown.
“I know you’ve been tracking me doggedly for some time now. What I don’t know is why.”
She wasn’t good at bluffing, but pretending ignorance was her best play now. The less they thought she knew, the better her chances of survival.
“Why are you doing this to me? What’s your reason?”
No answer came. Andrei kept his cold eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“Whatever you think, you’re wrong. I’m just an ordinary civil servant from Korea.”
Again, Andrei said nothing. Neither did the other two.
Finally, Hee-ju folded her arms and closed her eyes. Sleep wouldn’t come, but pretending to sleep was better than sitting alone with her thoughts.
At least then she wouldn’t feel so hollow.
***
Liam’s eyes opened slowly. The first thing he saw was a plain white ceiling. Sunlight rippling across it like water.
His eyes were sharp and clear, but his mind caught up a beat too late. Where was he?
As he gathered his memories, forgotten scenes surfaced one by one.
Hee-ju’s retreating figure disappearing into the Birch Forest, a loud gunshot, the USB he’d found in his pocket, and the empty Restaurant.
!
Liam bolted upright. A sharp pain lanced through his entire body. He hunched forward, waiting for it to pass.
He took a short breath and reached for his side, then stopped short. That was when he realized there was an IV Drip connected to his forearm.
Liam pulled the needle out with one hand and stepped down from the bed. There was some blood, but it was minor. The moment he took another step—
“They said you shouldn’t be moving yet.”
A familiar voice caught him off-guard. Liam turned, belatedly realizing there was someone else in the room.
His Grandfather sat on a sofa, both hands resting on a Cane, watching him.
“Grandfather.”
Right—now he remembered. His last clear memory was his Grandfather getting out of the car. He’d forgotten about it because of Hee-ju.
Then Liam’s face hardened. A fundamental question suddenly cut through the fog.
Why was his Grandfather, who should have been in England, here?
His cunning Grandfather would never have come all this way without reason—and certainly not while tracking his Cell Phone location.
“What’s this about?”
At his cold question, his Grandfather’s brow furrowed, his jowls trembling like a bulldog’s.
“Not even a greeting? It’s been half a year since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?”
“We’re not in a situation where I have the luxury of pleasantries.”
“Pleasantries. Right, well said. How long do you plan to keep wandering around like this? If I hadn’t shown up, you’d have collapsed and died there, is that it?”
“I would have called 911. The American emergency medical system isn’t quite that broken.”
Liam answered back without hesitation, and his Grandfather’s voice rose in frustration.
“So you’re going to keep doing this? Work that could kill you any day?”
“I didn’t realize you cared so much, Grandfather. Not for a mere Spare.”
“Are we still on that?”
Liam’s face remained impassive as he walked toward the wardrobe. Each movement made his ribs pull, and sharp pain caught his breath intermittently.
His Grandfather watched him with piercing eyes, sweat glistening on Liam’s face. The old man could tell it must be excruciating, and yet his grandson didn’t flinch even once. A stubborn bastard.
When Liam opened the wardrobe door, his Grandfather spoke again, his voice slightly subdued.
“The CIA has been poking around these past few days. It’s not the first time, but the timing was odd. Not your father or your brother—but some old man in a back room.”
Back room old man. Liam nearly laughed. Still clinging to power. He probably wouldn’t let go of it until he died.
“After thinking it over, I realized it started after you called me. The CIA began digging into my past right after that. Isn’t that a remarkable coincidence?”
“Perhaps they were preparing a surprise birthday party for you. They’re probably arranging it as we speak.”
“So I had someone look into it. And I heard something very interesting.”
“How delightful that I could entertain you, Grandfather.”
“Not you. The woman traveling with you.”
Liam, who had been standing before the wardrobe, turned slowly and faced his Grandfather.
……
A brief silence swept through the Hospital Room. Liam’s face went cold. The playful tone vanished from his voice, leaving only emptiness.
“What woman?”
At the same moment, authority settled over his Grandfather’s face. He was no longer a man over seventy—he was a patriarch bearing the weight of an entire house.
“Are you lying to me? The woman who crossed from San Francisco into Utah with you. The woman the CIA is chasing. Hee-ju An.”
“Don’t touch her.”
The moment his Grandfather spoke Hee-ju’s name, Liam issued a warning, low and deadly. His eyes gleamed with dangerous light.
He didn’t think to deny it. He didn’t consider playing it off as unimportant.
He growled like a wounded animal, and his Grandfather stared at him with narrowed eyes.
His Grandfather opened his mouth.
“What’s more interesting is—”

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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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