Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 77

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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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77.
Noel lay flat against the steering wheel. The lead vehicle was an SUV. Behind it came four police cars and two military trucks.
“What’s going on?”
Only after the vehicles had vanished did Noel crane his neck up like a meerkat. Red taillights receded slowly into the distance.
He started the engine again. Whatever was happening, he needed to get out of here as fast as possible.
Bump. The car lurched as it came off the slope, reversing back the way it had come.
***
Liam and Hee-ju reached the kitchen through the servants’ staircase. Heavy footsteps thundered somewhere above them.
“They’re over here!”
Someone’s shout was followed by the sound of multiple people running down stairs.
“Just a moment.”
Liam rifled through the sink and pulled out two cans of food. He tossed them into the microwave and hit the start button.
“Let’s go.”
Just as Liam and Hee-ju were about to slip out the back door, the kitchen door burst open. A man spotted them and immediately raised his gun.
“There—!”
Beep-beep. Bang!
The cans in the microwave exploded. Metal fragments scattered in all directions. In the same instant, Liam bolted out through the back door.
He grabbed Hee-ju’s hand and ran along the eave. The building’s layout was already burned into his memory. This way would lead them to the garage.
The back door swung open. Liam fired immediately, his shot finding the man’s thigh unerringly even in the darkness.
“This way.”
He pulled open the garage door and entered. The spacious garage held four luxury sedans—the kind everyone would recognize instantly—and a single sports car.
Liam began searching through the storage for what he needed. That’s when gunfire erupted.
“Get behind the cars!”
He shoved Hee-ju forward and threw himself behind the hood. Two shots rang out—ping, ping—punching into the vehicle’s metal.
“…”
Liam flattened himself against the concrete. He could see the man’s feet beneath the car. The amateur didn’t even know to hide behind the tires.
Liam squeezed the trigger carefully.
“Aah!”
The man clutched his ankle and rolled across the floor. Liam was on his feet in an instant, ending it with a shot to the head.
He snatched a raincoat hanging on the wall and jerked his chin at Hee-ju. She sprinted toward him.
While keeping watch on the outside, Liam dressed her in the raincoat. Then he took her hand and pulled her out into the downpour without hesitation.
Hee-ju had opened her mouth to say something, but instead offered a resigned smile.
Every time she glimpsed the gentler side of this savage man, she felt herself crumble helplessly. She was a moth drawn to flame, flying knowingly into destruction.
Then an enraged bellow shook the entire estate.
“Find them!”
Hee-ju’s shoulders flinched. That voice belonged to Andrei. He was more controlled than Sergei, yet she’d managed to push even him to fury.
“It sounds like the men from the main gate have returned.”
Liam grasped the situation immediately. Footsteps thundered through the estate. Not just one or two—many. It was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
“Everyone over here!”
Voices called out nearby. They must have found the body in the kitchen. Rapid footsteps drew closer.
Liam tied a rope he’d taken from the garage around a tree trunk. Heavy rain whipped against his cheek like a lash.
“Come here.”
Liam gestured to her. Hee-ju looked down at the cliff dropping away beneath her feet. One misstep would mean a straight fall to the other side.
He wanted her to climb down there? Impossible.
Just looking at it made her legs go weak. Going back the way they came seemed far preferable to scaling down this sheer face.
She glanced back over her shoulder. The men’s voices grew clearer.
Then Liam seized her cheek and turned her gaze back to him.
“Do you trust me?”
His hand was soaked. Not just his hand—from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, there wasn’t a dry spot on him.
Fat raindrops hammered against Hee-ju’s raincoat. Patter, patter—the sound was deafening.
Finally, Hee-ju’s shoulders sagged, and a faint smile tugged at her lips.
“If I don’t trust you, who could I possibly trust?”
“Then come here.”
Liam extended a hand toward her. Hee-ju took a slow step forward and nestled into his arms. Like a moth, she dove into the brilliant flames.
“Hold tight.”
Hee-ju did as he instructed, locking her arms firmly around his neck. With one hand at her waist and the other gripping the rope, Liam prepared to descend.
Hee-ju opened her mouth urgently.
“Are you really planning to go down like this? I should go alone instead. It’s better than asking you to support both our weights by yourself.”
“If you fall, you die.”
“…”
“At least I won’t drop you. You, especially, I won’t let fall.”
The unspoken words—’if we both go down together’—hung in the air between them.
Hee-ju masked her embarrassment with a petulant murmur.
“You said you’d chase me even into hell itself.”
“I would. But I don’t like the thought of you being in hell.”
In that moment, she didn’t mind being a foolish moth. Even if he were the flames that consumed her.
Hee-ju obediently wrapped her arms around his neck. The instant Liam began to move—
“!”
He released the rope and drew his gun in one fluid motion, firing without hesitation. It happened in the blink of an eye.
A shot rang out, followed by a sharp cry. As he turned his head, he saw a man collapsing into the rain.
“Gunfire! Where?”
“Over there!”
Damn it, Liam hissed under his breath. He squinted into the pitch darkness, his jaw clenching.
Even if he raced down the rope, both of them would reach the ground long after these men spotted them.
And if they cut the rope? This time, it really would be hell.
Should he try to fight through them and breach the main gate instead? How many men were left? Ten? Twenty?
“…”
Liam ground his molars together. He had no intention of reuniting with Hee-ju in the afterlife. He needed to bet on whichever option gave them even the slimmest chance of survival.
“We need a new plan. The main gate—”
As he began to speak—
Wee-ooo-wee-ooo-wee-ooo!
A deafening siren wailed through the air. Coming from the main gate, it was loud enough to shake the entire estate. The men rushing toward them stopped and murmured.
“What is that?”
“What’s happening?”
Liam crouched behind a tree, watching. Gunfire erupted near the main gate—ping, ping. More shots followed.
The men hesitated, then turned and ran in response to a summons. Only once their footsteps had completely faded did Liam retrieve the rope he’d dropped.
“Police at this hour?”
“The CIA must have arrived.”
“The CIA?”
Liam looked at Hee-ju with confusion. She nodded against his chest.
“I borrowed Rosie’s cell phone and called Team Leader Han. Since he’s connected to the CIA, they would naturally have tracked the phone’s location.”
“Ha.”
Liam let out a short laugh and pressed his lips to the crown of her head. The raincoat tasted only of water, but the woman in his arms was so precious he could scarcely bear it.
Even in this moment, she had found a way to survive.
No—not to survive. To come back. To come back to him.
“Wrap your legs around my waist. Tight.”
Hee-ju obeyed, her limbs curling around him like a cicada clinging to a dead tree.
Liam released his grip on her waist and took the rope with both hands, beginning a slow descent.
His injured left shoulder and right flank screamed with pain, as if set alight. The wet rope kept slipping through his grip.
But he could bear it. He had to bear it. If he knew what he was carrying.
“…”
Hee-ju said nothing. She felt his breathing grow ragged, felt his arms and legs trembling, yet she held her tongue.
Bitterness rose in her throat. She wanted to help him, but right now, it was more important not to be a burden.
So she held her breath and clung to him quietly. Then—
“!”
Their bodies slipped. Hee-ju’s eyes flew wide open.
But she didn’t scream. Because his arm suddenly tightened around her waist, holding her fast.
Liam quickly wrapped the rope around his wrist. The body that had been swinging like a pendulum in midair slowly stilled.
His arm felt like it was being torn from its socket. Even through his gloves, his palms burned as if seared. He kicked desperately, searching for a foothold, but found no suitable crevice.
His shoulder made a sickening crack. Liam bit down hard, swallowing the cry of pain that tried to escape. Sweat—or was it rain?—dripped steadily.
Hee-ju’s lips parted urgently.
“Liam, I—”
“I told you. I won’t drop you.”
She bit her lower lip hard. It wasn’t fear that he would let her fall. It was terror that they would both fall because of her.
Just as she was about to speak, Liam wedged his foot into a narrow crevice. The swaying finally stopped.
Below them, the Roar of Tides echoed against the stone, and the Black Sea yawned open its mouth. Liam exhaled sharply and looked down at Hee-ju.
“Are you alright?”
Alright. That was the question she should have been asking him. One of his hands still cradled her waist.
Only his right hand supported both their weights. Liam released a long breath and slowly began to loosen the rope wound around his wrist.
At that moment, Hee-ju reached out her hand.

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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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