All Chapters of COLLATERAL DESIRE : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Ping didn’t speak immediately.For the first time since he started telling the story, the silence between him and Jungwoo wasn’t just heavy, it felt personal. Like he had reached a part of the past that even he didn’t revisit lightly.His fingers rested against the arm of the chair, unmoving, his gaze distant for a brief moment before he finally exhaled.“…There was one person,” he said, voice quieter now, stripped of that earlier firmness, “who still tried to reach him.”Jungwoo didn’t interrupt.He didn’t need to.The world shifted again on its own.Night had settled over the estate, wrapping everything in a deep, quiet stillness.The long hallways stretched endlessly, dimly lit by soft golden lamps that cast shadows across the polished floors. The kind of silence that lived there wasn’t peaceful, it was controlled. Measured. Like even the walls knew better than to make noise.Ragnar moved through it without a sound.He was older now, mid-teens, maybe but whatever softness had once

Jungwoo didn’t wait for an answer.He stepped closer.Then closer again.Lance frowned slightly, watching him. Something was… off. The way Jungwoo moved, the way his eyes lingered too long, unfocused but intense at the same time.“…What are you doing?” Lance asked, voice cautious now.Jungwoo didn’t answer.Instead, his hand lifted—slow, almost lazy—and brushed against Lance’s arm. Then his shoulder. Like he was testing something.“Jungwoo,” Lance said again, firmer this time.Still nothing.Jungwoo smiled faintly, head tilting as his fingers dragged lightly across Lance’s chest, completely ignoring the tension building in the room.“You’re warm,” he murmured.Lance caught his wrist gently, stopping the movement. “Okay—yeah, no. What’s going on with you?”Jungwoo looked down at their hands, then back up at Lance, that same strange smile still there.“I told you,” he said softly. “I like you.”Before Lance could react—Jungwoo pushed him.It wasn’t forceful enough to hurt, but it was s

Lance didn’t rush.Even with the ten minutes hanging over him, even with the edge in Ragnar’s voice still echoing faintly in his head, he kept his pace steady, controlled, like if he moved too fast, it would mean something. Like it would expose something he hadn’t fully admitted to himself yet. On the outside, he looked composed. Put together. Unbothered.Inside, it was anything but quiet.By the time he reached the office door, he paused, just for a second. Not long enough to look hesitant. Just enough to breathe, to press everything down, to make sure that whatever was on his face when he walked in… stayed there.Then he pushed the door open.The first thing that hit him wasn’t Ragnar.It was the aftermath.A maid was kneeling near the far wall, quietly gathering the last shards of broken glass into a tray, her movements careful, deliberate, like she was trying not to disturb something that had already been disturbed too much. The room itself had been put back together as best as po

That night, sitting alone in his office long after everyone had left, staring at a file he hadn’t turned a page on in over ten minutes… he picked up his phone.And called her.The line rang once.Twice.Then,“Ragnar?”Zara’s voice was soft, laced with quiet surprise. Not concern, she didn’t panic easily but there was something underneath it. Something warm. Something that didn’t belong anywhere else in his life.He didn’t answer immediately.Because even now, even after pressing the call button, he wasn’t entirely sure why he had.“…Are you busy?” he asked finally.A small pause. Then a faint smile in her voice. “For you? Never.”That made something in his chest tighten slightly, subtle, controlled, but there.He leaned back in his chair, gaze drifting toward the dark window across the room. “I need your opinion on something.”Zara was quiet for a second longer this time. Not because she didn’t have an answer but because she understood what that meant.Ragnar didn’t ask for opinions.

Ragnar didn’t remain seated for long after the call ended.The moment the line went dead, the silence returned to his office but it no longer pressed in on him the way it had before. It wasn’t suffocating, wasn’t chaotic or resisting him.It was clear.Decisive.Zara’s voice lingered in his mind, steady and unyielding, cutting clean through every excuse he had tried to construct.If you don’t say anything, you’ll lose him.Ragnar exhaled slowly and rose from his chair in one controlled motion. Everything about him remained composed, his cuffs aligned, his posture straight, his expression unreadable as ever.But beneath that control, something had already shifted.He didn’t hesitate.“Send Lance to my office.”The instruction left him as calmly as any other order, nothing in his tone betraying the weight behind it. To anyone listening, it was routine. Ordinary.It wasn’t.Lance didn’t rush when the message reached him.He didn’t do that anymore.There had been a time, recent, embarrass