I returned to the room without separating from Park Geon-ho and checked the documents right away.
“Chloe Asner?”
It was a strangely familiar name. Park Geon-ho sat on the sofa opposite me and opened his mouth.
“She is quite famous in America. She is also the Deputy Master of the Athena Guild.”
Athena Guild. It was a guild that came out of the Abyss for a moment. Although it didn’t show up properly.
“I don’t know why such a great person wants to see me.”
In the documents prepared by Woo Seo-hyuk, information about Chloe Asner was neatly organized. I put the part that caught my eye in my mouth.
“SS-rank energy tester?” (기운 감별사, not sure how it called)
What ability was this? Min Ah-rin answered me, who was curious, bringing a bag of cookies from the kitchen.
“It’s the ability to see energy. Each person has a different colour of energy and various in size, but it is said that those with the ability to distinguish energy can see it with their own eyes.”
“Oh. That’s cool.”
“Wouldn’t it be clearer if it was SS-rank? I’ve seen the interview with the Athena Guild Deputy Master several times before, but I can’t believe she knows Master…”
When Min Ah-rin said that she was very surprised, Park Geon-ho leaned his body long on the back of the sofa and smiled lightly.
“Well, she has a very bubbly personality. We’ve seen Master since he was young, so there must be something else that other people don’t know.”
“When he was young… Are you talking about Master when setting up the guild you talked about back then?”
It reminded me of the past of Cheon Sa-yeon, which Park Geon-ho told me before. He said that he suffered a lot while raising a guild by himself from a young age.
“That’s right. Thanks to Chloe, we were able to bring in several useful talents. Other than that, she helped us in many ways.”
Then she might be the person who knew the past of Cheon Sa-yeon the best after Park Geon-ho.
‘I don’t know why she’s trying to meet me, but if it’s someone like that, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet her.’
If it wasn’t for the situation where I was being targeted by people with mental ability, I would have accepted it without any further thought. The airport was a place with so many people coming and going, so I was worried. Like the Gangnam incident, problems might arise because of me.
When I sighed without looking at the next document, Park Geon-ho took the cookie Min Ah-rin gave him and put it in his mouth and asked.
“I understand what you are worried about, but didn’t Master say it would be good to meet her? It would be better to follow that suggestion if at all possible.”
“Even if you say it so calmly…”
I opened the back page and answered, but I kept my mouth shut without finishing my words. The last document with the guild management headquarters logo engraved at the bottom included the original text of the content officially sent by the Athena Guild, along with the cost associated with it.
It was an item. It didn’t say what kind of item it was, but it looked better. There was no way such a great person would put useless items on the contract.
“Looking at your face, you seem to be quite attracted to it.”
“…it’s not bad.”
When I coughed in vain because of embarrassment, Park Geon-ho laughed that he liked it. Kwon Jeong-han, who was looking at the documents behind me, tilted his head as he touched his lips.
“Then does Master know roughly what that item is? Seeing you accept it.”
“There is a high probability that he will. There’s no way Master would use such words in vain.”
Uum. As I looked at the documents and tapped my forehead, I put down the documents with a sigh.
“I’ve felt it before, but Team Leader seems to trust Master quite a lot.”
At my words, Park Geon-ho lightly shrugged his shoulders with a natural expression.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve known him, so I know what his intentions are. I have no intention of working under someone I don’t trust in the first place.”
“Is that so?”
It was hard for me to believe in Cheon Sa-yeon because I had been through so much, but it was probably different for Park Geon-ho, who had been working with Cheon Sa-yeon for a long time. His position was understandable.
“I’ve been curious about it for a long time, Han Yi-gyeol. Did you have any problems with Master? When I look at it, I feel a different emotion than it is uncomfortable.”
“……”
At Park Geon-ho’s question, I could feel Min Ah-rin and Kwon Jeong-han’s gazes looking back at me. Kim Woo-jin, who was sitting next to me, looked at Park Geon-ho with his cold, sunken eyes.
I lightly tapped Kim Woo-jin’s knee and answered calmly.
“I don’t think you would believe me even if I answered that it was nothing special.”
“Then why don’t you hide it a little better so that I can believe it?”
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever you think. After all, I’m not even a member of Requiem, so I don’t really need to trust Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”
“It’s not like that.”
Park Geon-ho meekly nodded his head and spoke.
“Still, I think it would be better to accept this case. It’s dangerous, but Master will go with you.”
“Even so, I’m worried. I wonder what the item is.”
I sighed and remembered Cheon Sa-yeon. I thought it would be better to meet once before giving a definite answer.
‘There is a high probability that Cheon Sa-yeon knows what this item is. He also knows a woman named Chloe.’
If I could figure out what the item was, it would be easier to choose. Woo Seo-hyuk, whom I met earlier, went to the representative office, so I thought he was in the guild. Should I go?
I was contemplating whether to meet Cheon Sa-yeon or not, but Park Geon-ho opened his mouth as if he just remembered it.
“More than that, Han Yi-gyeol.”
“Yes?”
“Did you change your number?”
Ah, right. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been able to save Min Ah-rin and Park Geon-ho’s numbers yet. I took out my cell phone and held it to Park Geon-ho.
“My phone was broken, so I replaced it with a new one. My number was leaked.”
“No wonder. That’s why you didn’t answer the phone.”
“I wouldn’t have answered if it was normal.”
I handed over the cell phone where Park Geon-ho’s number was stored to Min Ah-rin and said.
“Anyway, keep this number a secret if possible. I don’t want to change it again.”
“Well, let’s do that.”
It meant asking to keep it a secret from Cheon Sa-yeon, but I didn’t know if Park Geon-ho understood it. He seemed to have noticed from the way he responded skillfully.
I left my cell phone with Min Ah-rin and got up from my seat with only the documents. Seeing my trembling expression, Min Ah-rin tilted her head.
“Yi-gyeol-ssi? Where are you going?”
“I will go to the representative office.”
“Representative office?”
“Yes. I can’t make hasty decisions… Let’s hear a little bit about it first.”
Kim Woo-jin had a worried face, but he didn’t say he’d come along. If he said it, he would know that I was going to turn down like I did last time.
‘Ah, I don’t like it. Really, I don’t want to go…’
Why were you giving me such an ordeal? Min Ah-rin lowered her eyebrows and said to me, who was grumbling inside.
“Yi-gyeol-ssi, you look like a child going to be scolded by your parents.”
“…it’s completely different.”
I made an effort to straighten my face and left the room. It took a while to leave Park Geon-ho alone, but since Min Ah-rin was there, it shouldn’t be a big problem.
As I rode the elevator up to the top floor, I suddenly realized. Come to think of it, I thought this was the first time I was visiting first.
Could I just visit him without saying a word in advance? No matter how much he was called a motherfucker to me, he was still a master of a guild.
In the worst case, I could be kicked out without even going in. Still, I thought it would be better to give it a try once I came up, so I got off the elevator and headed to the representative office.
“Please go in.”
“Pardon?”
However, the attendant, who found me worried, bowed his head lightly and guided me to the front door. It was rather me who was embarrassed by that natural attitude. Could he just guide me without checking like this?
‘What. Did he tell him in advance that I would come? If it’s Cheon Sa-yeon, there’s a good chance that it will be.’
Uum. I wiped the nape of my neck and pondered for a moment, then carefully opened the door to the representative office and entered.
“……?”
The inside of the representative office, which had fallen into silence, was empty. I didn’t even think that he would have been away, so I walked towards the sofa, looking around for nothing.
“Ung?”
I was going to sit and wait, but belatedly found Cheon Sa-yeon lying on the sofa. I saw a beautiful face with his long body stretched out and his eyes closed quietly.
‘Are you sleeping right now?’
I never thought I would see Cheon Sa-yeon’s sleeping face. I put the documents down on the table in front of the sofa and approached him cautiously. While looking at his pale cheeks, straight eyebrows, and a slightly raised lip under the straight nose, I noticed a slightly wet forehead.
It was a cold sweat that Cheon Sa-yeon shed. What were you dreaming of that made you sweat like this while sleeping? I frowned at the unusual appearance, and at that moment, Cheon Sa-yeon’s eyes, which had been tightly closed, opened.
“……!”
I was surprised and tried to pull my upper body back, which I had lowered reflexively, but before that, Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand grabbed my arm and pulled me roughly.
“Ugh, what the… Cheon Sa-yeon!”
“Ung.”
Cheon Sa-yeon hugged me as I collapsed helplessly on his body and answered in a drowsy voice. To get up, I pressed Cheon Sa-yeon’s chest and lifted my upper body, but my waist was tightly gripped and I couldn’t move.
“You crazy bastard. Let go!”
“If you wake up a sleeping person, you have to pay the price.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You weren’t sleeping.”
“I was sleeping. About five minutes.”
I struggled for a while, but I couldn’t get out of it. In the end, I lost my strength and drooped with the feeling of doing whatever he wanted to do. Cheon Sa-yeon slowly blinked his eyes and opened his mouth as if he was quite pleased that I stopped rebelling.
“So, what brought you here? My precious collaborator.”
If you said precious twice, there would be no life left. Laughing inwardly, I pointed my hand at the documents on the table. (두 번 귀하다간 목숨이 남아나질 않겠네, not sure)
“What’s the item that she wanted to give? You must know that.”
“Well… I’m guessing.”
“So. What’s that?”
Instead of answering, Cheon Sa-yeon smiled, curling the corners of his eyes. I had a real sense of what the meaning of his smile was.
“Are you talking bullshit about a deal or something?”
“You’re getting a little quicker, Han Yi-gyeol.”
“Crazy bastard…”
I expected it, but still. I bit my lip, contemplating how to persuade Cheon Sa-yeon. I wished I got a hint at least.
Cheon Sa-yeon looked down at me lying on his chest with a smile and gently stroked my back, saying with an expression that something suddenly came to mind.
“Should I just tell you?”
“…what did you say just now?”
“I will tell you.”
So obediently? It wasn’t anyone else and there was no way Cheon Sa-yeon could do that.
I suddenly became extremely anxious.
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