The next morning, Rihan was discharged from the hospital.
Taeryn helped him into the car, settling him carefully into the passenger seat. Rihan felt pleasantly numb, his body heavy with the aftereffects of too many drugs, but beneath it all, he could feel himself healing.
But... What unsettled him was Taeryn's silence.
Taeryn had stayed with him all night. But he hadn't mentioned Gil-Woo once. Not the fact that he had killed his biological father without hesitation or remorse. Instead, he'd been clingy, hovering, touching, checking Rihan every few minutes like he was afraid he might disappear if left alone too long.
There was no guilt in him. Only devotion.
And that made Rihan painfully aware of something he had always known in theory but had never fully accepted until now.
Taeryn would kill for him.
Without hesitation. Without second thoughts.
Rihan turned his phone back on. It immediately lit up with missed calls and messages.
