“Hmmm, you say you’re friends?”
There was no way Cha Soo-yeon, who had good eyesight, could have missed it. Kim Woo-jin grabbed my arm and pulled me back with a suspicious look.
“Let’s go now, Han Yi-gyeol. You’re done with your business.”
That was true.
“Where are you going? Give me your phone.”
“He doesn’t want to give it to you. What an ignorant woman.”
“Whether I’m ignorant or not, who are you to keep interfering?”
“B-because he’s my friend!”
“What friend. If you’re going to lie, do it right.”
I rubbed my forehead and sighed. Why did this happen?
“Both of you, stop.”
“But this woman—!”
“This person keeps picking a fight!”
In the end, it was my responsibility to manage the flow of conversation.
“Be quiet, Kim Woo-jin. When did I say you can step in? Even unleashing your abilities at will.”
“That…”
“Cha Soo-yeon-ssi. I can’t give you my number right now due to circumstances. I will pass on business-related matters through him.”
“If it’s him…”
Cha Soo-yeon, who immediately recognized what I meant, made a displeased face.
“Maybe the situation is… is it because of him?”
“Pardon?”
What was this again?
“I didn’t see him that way, but I guess he’s quite strict with his lover*? You can’t even save a woman’s number.”
“Pardon…?”
My mind went blank at the unexpected words. Kim Woo-jin, who was listening to Cha Soo-yeon with me, asked with an annoyed voice, “What is that woman saying now?”
It was then that I remembered what happened in the Roheon Guild hospital room that I had forgotten. Don’t tell me the misunderstanding was still…
“Really, it’s ridiculous. You know that I don’t want your phone number for that, right?”
“No, I know that. I know that but—”
“Oof… It seems you’re really restricted by him. I understand.”
“This is a misunderstanding…”
Before I could finish my words, Cha Soo-yeon turned around.
“Anyway, I have a schedule today, so I’ll leave first. If there’s anything else, you can contact me through him.”
“Now, wait a minute…”
Cha Soo-yeon left without any regrets after leaving those pointed last words.
I looked at Cha Soo-yeon, who had left before I could even clear up the misunderstanding, but Kim Woo-jin spoke in a harshly low voice from behind.
“Lover?”
“……”
I was having a hard time figuring out where to start solving this situation.
* * *
After that, I returned to the room on the 23rd floor and had to suffer from Kim Woo-jin for over a day. Kim Woo-jin treated me with a very distrustful face.
“So who is the lover she was talking about?”
“There is no lover…”
“What does that woman mean, then?”
“I mean, it’s a misunderstanding…”
“What happened to make such a misunderstanding?”
“……”
Unfortunately, the questions Kim Woo-jin asked were only vaguely answered. I was so embarrassed that I just scratched my cheek. In the end, there was only one answer I could give.
“Anyway, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“……”
Kim Woo-jin looked at me like I was a traitor. At this point, I was rather curious.
‘But what if I really had a lover?’
Of course, I didn’t need a lover, but anyway.
Even if I said it was a misunderstanding, he wouldn’t believe me, so there was nothing more I could do. As my expression progressively grew sour, Kim Woo-jin gently lowered his sharp eyes and started making excuses.
“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you…”
You didn’t believe me, did you?
“It’s just, I…”
“That’s enough. Think as you please.”
I gave up trying to make him understand and got up. I was going to eat something simple and wash up, but Kim Woo-jin grabbed my wrist.
“It’s really unfair…”
“What now?”
Kim Woo-jin looked up at me with a gloomy face. It was as if he had done nothing wrong, but his eyes were full of unwillingness as if I had scolded him.
“I brought you back to my home and told you everything from my past even though I wanted to hide it ‘til I died.”
“Hey, that’s…”
“You’re hiding things from me. Do you still hate me?”
I think I heard this before.
“You son of a bitch…” Kim Woo-jin bowed his head, muttering a curse in a melancholic voice.
Were you crying? I sighed and lifted Kim Woo-jin’s chin up.
I looked closely at Kim Woo-jin’s face, who was bewildered by my actions. Well, fortunately, he didn’t cry.
“I am really sorry. Kim Woo-jin, can’t you believe me?”
“Uh? No… I—I believe you.”
Kim Woo-jin’s expression in answering was somewhat dazed.
“I’ll tell you later when the situation is settled. Then wouldn’t that be fine? For now, trust me that I don’t have a lover.”
“O-okay…”
When I spoke softly as if to appease an adolescent child, Kim Woo-jin nodded his head, saying that he would understand. It was like this from the beginning. Kim Woo-jin looked like a high school student in his prime in many ways. Sensitive, emotional, and such.
‘I think it’s because I’ve been living alone for a long time.’
Maybe it was because I had the same experience, so it was hard to put it down.
When I let go of his chin, Kim Woo-jin covered his blushing face with his hand. Yeah, I’m sure you think you should be ashamed of your whiny behaviour.
“Are—are you going to tell me later? Me first?”
“Yeah.”
I don’t know when that would be, but.
I recalled Ha Tae-heon’s cell phone hidden under the mattress. Come to think of it, I thought it was time to get in touch. I had to tell him what I wanted…
“…aren’t you hungry? What would you like me to make?”
Kim Woo-jin pointed to the kitchen and asked for my opinion. Even if I wasn’t hungry, I endured it and accepted his offer with relief.
“Something simple to fill my stomach.”
“I see.”
I looked at Kim Woo-jin’s back as he walked towards the kitchen with joy. That guy, I don’t know about anything else, but he's pretty good at cooking.
* * *
The next afternoon, a call came from Cheon Sa-yeon. When I went up to the representative room, Cheon Sa-yeon was looking out the window in a black suit and Woo Seo-hyuk was standing holding a document.
“You look very busy.”
As Woo Seo-hyuk was watching, I opened the door and spoke respectfully instead of casually, and Cheon Sa-yeon turned to me and shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s true. It’s the first time I’ve been busy at this time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s always been boring, but this time it’s not, so that’s good.”
Like I said, what are you talking about?
Cheon Sa-yeon sat down and beckoned to the sofa opposite him. As I sat down on the sofa, Woo Seo-hyuk approached and handed me the papers.
“It turned out that abnormal movement was detected at the gate not only in Korea but also around the world.”
“Do they have anything in common?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
I opened the papers. There, the gates included in Seoul were listed by section.
“The gates can’t be checked from the outside, only from the inside.”
“Is this a list of gates that need to be cleared?”
“Yeah, just half of the gates in Seoul. I’m planning to clear half of the gates within two months. The other half will be dealt with later.”
“How orderly**.”
Cheon Sa-yeon slowly crossed his legs and looked at me. Why were you looking at me like that again? With his eyes fixed on me, Cheon Sa-yeon said, “Woo Seo-hyuk, leave for a moment.”
“Yessir.”
After a brief silence, Woo Seo-hyuk left the representative office. Click. With the sound of the door closing, a quiet silence came.
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who opened his eyes slowly, opened his mouth first.
“There is something I need to point out.”
He was still smiling, but the atmosphere was different. Trying to keep my brow from furrowing, I replied calmly, “Say it.”
“How far are you planning to intervene?”
“……”
‘Intervene’. I put the papers I was holding down on the table. Intuitively, I felt that there was something else that Cheon Sa-yeon wanted to say.
“That will depend on the situation.”
“That’s not the right answer.”
I swallowed back a sigh.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days. About why you care about the gates.”
“……”
“Isn’t that right? You’re just an independent A-rank ability user, but the fact that you’re paying so much attention to how the gates have changed… Going as far as entering the gates yourself.”
“…you pay attention to too many insignificant details about me.”
Cheon Sa-yeon’s black eyes turned to me. It was a calm, yet ruthless look.
“Aren’t you expecting me to notice anyway?”
Even though that was true, I didn’t think you’d ask me directly like this.
“Tell me, Han Yi-gyeol,” Cheon Sa-yeon demanded firmly, perhaps noticing my attitude of avoidance. “For as long as we are partners, I need to know important details.”
“Let’s end our partnership.”
“Oh my.”
He laughed briefly. It seemed like he felt it was regrettable at first glance, but we both knew that I wouldn’t be able to do it. It was also true that no matter how difficult Cheon Sa-yeon was being, the information he brought was necessary.
“…it’s not important.” I struggled with how to organize my thoughts and explain it. He wasn’t an easy opponent to fool like Kim Woo-jin. “Why don’t you guess?”
“If I guess… then you’re the cause of the abnormality of the gates?”
Tsk. I clicked my tongue. As expected, you knew everything. You have a really disgusting personality.
“Fine, I do think I’m the cause.”
“And the reason is?”
“I accidentally touched something I shouldn’t have touched.”
An SS-grade coat that was taken out three months earlier. An unidentified S+-grade monster awakened in the process. Immediately after that, a monster exploded from the gate of the C13 Area, so the timing was perfect.
‘Is that really a coincidence?’
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was lost in thought, tapped his knee with his finger at my words and spoke not long afterwards.
“Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?”
“I’ve heard.”
“It looks like that to me.”
What do you mean? When I frowned, Cheon Sa-yeon explained in a relaxed tone, “I mean that just because you touched something hidden, doesn’t mean things would change to this point.”
Hidden? I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon calmly.
If it was someone else, I would have just said it, but I was really concerned because my opponent was Cheon Sa-yeon. Maybe he even noticed about the SS-class coat.
“Don’t beat around the bush, say it clearly.”
“If you are the cause, it’s not because of anything you did, it’s your existence.”
At those words, one side of my heart became cold. I twisted the corners of my lips and smiled.
“My existence itself.”
“In the end, it’s only an assumption, but it doesn’t seem like an impossible story. I’m sure you already feel that.”
I lowered my gaze. I couldn’t answer right away.
“It’s fun for me, so I don’t care what the cause is. But I don’t know if others will take it the same way.”
“I’ve never heard of such a boring threat before.”
“Threat?” Cheon Sa-yeon raised the corners of his lips slightly. “Is it a threat? It’s a kind consolation that you can be honest in front of me.”
“……”
“Han Yi-gyeol,” he said in a very soft voice. “I already know that you’ve changed. But that’s it. Has anything changed between you and me?”
“That—”
“You are still tied to me, and I am the one who knows you best. More than anything.”
I wanted to deny it right away. But my tightly closed lips were unable to spit out a word.
“You want it.”
“……”
“You hope I will see you as ‘you’, not as Han Yi-gyeol.”
I couldn’t stand it any longer and got up. I forced myself to swallow something back, shaky, and said, “Don’t pretend you know me. I…”
I… I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Emotions swirled in a complicated way. The desire to grab Cheon Sa-yeon’s collar and shout, and the desire to immediately turn around and run away were both present.
Cheon Sa-yeon slowly approached me, who was standing still, not knowing what to do. A white, outstretched hand ran across my neck and wrapped around the nape of my neck.
“You don’t have to hide it, Han Yi-gyeol.”
What he said to me was too sweet. It was so sweet that it felt like poison.
“It’s an unavoidable instinct to want to be seen as the perfect you, not as someone else.”
“I never asked for such consideration.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who came one step closer to me, wrapped around my waist. A cold perfume grazed the tip of my nose when I was held in his arms.
“If you just wander around without taking care of yourself, you’ll probably be the first to break down.”
“…it’s funny to hear that from the person who treats me the worst.”
“Oh my. Are you upset?”
I exhaled a shaky breath. It was very bittersweet to realize how careless I had been.
「You alone have ruined everything.」
A mournful voice ran through my head. A feeling of despair that had been forgotten slowly swallowed up my body.
I was fortunate to be embraced by Cheon Sa-yeon. I didn’t want to show this face to anyone.
Comments