“What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t you say you had finished clearing the Beginner’s Labyrinth? It means that you have to be assigned a Personal Labyrinth. I’m here to start that process.”
Even when faced with Sungyoon’s surprised face, Jimin spoke in a calm manner.
‘… as expected of the president. When things need to be done, she is quick as a flash.’
He had been jealous about Tim and Emily’s company expediting the legal process of receiving a Personal Labyrinth. He almost wanted to take back that previous sentiment. Jimin was obsessed over finding traces of her father in the Great Labyrinth. So, it was a joyous day for her when her employee had taken the first step in achieving her dream. Sungyoon had been naive to think that his president would do nothing on such a day. He accepted the error in his thought process.
“Then why did you bring Shinhae here?”
“I couldn’t leave the child behind. Thankfully, her summer vacation has just started. Also, this is a good age for a child to travel abroad.”
She had equated a trip to the Moon to an overseas vacation. Sungyoon was taken aback by it.
“I shouldn’t have come here?”
Shinhae asked as she pulled on the hem of her father's clothes. He could see uncertainty and anxiety appear on his child’s face. It seemed that his question had stoked the anxiety that was present in her.
“No way! Dad was just surprised. That’s all.”
Sungyoon quickly shot down such an idea. He, once again, tightly hugged his daughter. It seemed that Shinhae felt relieved by his words, and she laughed as she clung to her father.
It had been a while since the father and daughter duo had reunited. Jimin wasn’t showing it outside, but she felt gratified to see their reunion. It was why she turned her head a little bit away from them. Then, there were the two people that had been relegated to third-wheel status when Jimin and Shinhae had suddenly appeared. Two people, who were strangers to Jimin, were looking at them.
“Who are these people, Mr. Sungyoon?”
Sungyoon had been too busy playing with Shinhae. When he heard the president's question, he realized he had completely forgotten about the Ross siblings. He kept Shinhae in his arms as he stood up.
“Ah! I’m sorry! I’m late in giving an introduction. I’ve spoken to you about them. They are my party members.”
After introducing the Ross siblings to Jimin, Sungyoon turned to look at Tim and Emily.
“She is the president of my company.”
He spoke as he gestured towards Jimin.
“Hello. I’ve heard a lot about both of you.”
Until now, Sungyoon and Jimin had been speaking in Korean. But now, fluent English flowed out of Jimin’s mouth.
“Ah! Hello?”
Tim hastily grabbed the hand put forth by Jimin. He looked flustered. He had come here to apologize for their drunken and disorderly conduct, but he had never expected to meet the president of Sungyoon’s company here.
“… hello.”
Emily and Jimin shook hands. But instead of being flustered, Emily felt wary.
‘She’s very pretty.’
Emily had never thought she was inferior in terms of looks. When it was revealed that Sungyoon was an amazing person, she had felt a sense of crisis. However, she had a vague plan about worming her way into Sungyoon’s heart using her beauty. She was beautiful enough to have such thoughts.
However, she became shocked when she saw Jimin, the president of Sungyoon’s company. They were of different ethnicity, but the president was very beautiful. It was enough for Emily to have another sense of crisis. The only blemish she could see was the cold expression on her face. However, it was as if this trait gave her character.
This was proven by the fact that Tim couldn’t take his eyes off of Jimin’s face. Emily put all her displeasure in her fingers as she pinched Tim’s side.
“… so this child is Mr. Sungyoon’s daughter? Your name is Shinhae, right?”
Tim grabbed at his hurting side, and he soundlessly howled in pain. His sister ignored him as she asked the question. She had seen the picture of Sungyoon’s daughter, but she was of different ethnicity. There was a kernel of doubt in her mind as to whether this was the same child.
Of course, she was 90 percent sure based on how Sungyoon acted in front of this child.
“Yes. She is my daughter.”
At that moment, Tim and Emily saw an expression that they had never seen on him. Around them, he was always expressionless and gloomy. However, his current face was filled with parental love towards his child.
Emily quickly turned her gaze away. Her face was turning red. She had become used to seeing his expressionless face, so this new side of him hit her differently. It gave a fresh shock to her system.
“Let me see.”
Tim wanted to give his sister time to calm her heart, so he approached the father and daughter duo. Of course, he was curious about Shinhae too. If things turned out well, this girl might become his niece.
“You are Shinhae?”
A man larger than her dad was sticking his head towards her. Shinhae flinched in surprise. Moreover, Tim and Shinhae couldn’t communicate with each other. This was why the little girl buried her face in her father's chest.
“Uh? Uh? I wasn’t trying to scare her?”
At a glance, one could tell Shinhae was afraid of him. Tim was taken aback. In his own way, he had tried very hard to gain favor with the child.
“Get out of the way. You stuck your bear-like face towards her. Of course, she would feel threatened.”
Emily dragged Tim backward. He felt aggrieved, but he didn’t resist and retreated.
“Are you ok?”
Shinhae heard a different voice, and she peeked out from Sungyoon’s embrace to check who was talking. It wasn’t the bear-like ahjussi. This time, it was a very pretty fairy-like unni. Shinhae carefully raised her gaze. Tim, who had been watching from a distance away, had an interesting expression on his face. It looked as if the sky had fallen for him.
Emily discreetly glanced backward towards her big brother. She had a triumphant expression on her face as if she wanted to rub it in, and it suddenly made him feel a surge of anger.
“My name is Emily. Your name is Shinhae?”
She spoke in a kind manner. However, Shinhae was still learning Hangul, so there was no way she could understand English. Sungyoon translated Emily’s words from the side.
“Yes!”
“Unni is called Emily. I work with your dad.”
Emily and Shinhae talked to each other by using Sungyoon as a bridge. Emily really was interested in the little girl, so she kept acting in an agreeable manner. This was why Shinhae didn’t hesitate to answer her questions.
After the brief greeting and introduction came to an end, Emily spoke to Sungyoon.
“She’s a cute child.”
“Isn’t she?”
If Emily had thought that this was a method that would allow her to get a step closer to Sungyoon, she would have been very right. It was very effective. For the first time, Emily saw a bright smile on Sungyoon’s face.
Emily was unexpectedly and directly exposed to his smile, so she, once again, turned her face away. This was the only way she could hide her red face.
For better or for worse, Sungyoon was too busy playing with his daughter to notice Emily’s predicament.
“We have to start going now.”
Tim basically watched his sister short-circuit from embarrassment. It was pathetic. So, he spoke to Sungyoon and Jimin. This was a joyous reunion between father and daughter, and it would probably be for the best if they made themselves scarce right now.
“Are you free during dinner time?”
Suddenly, Jimin asked a question.
Was she asking him out? A beautiful woman like Jimin was asking him if he was free. It was understandable for Tim's heart to skip a beat. Of course, he knew the chances of her asking him out was extremely small.
“Yes, I am.”
He didn’t give that answer because he had dark intentions. At the very least, a labyrinth run took a whole day. It was why the two siblings had earlier turned down the offer to go into the Beginner’s Labyrinth. However, they weren’t busy enough where they couldn’t carve out some time for Jimin.
“That’s great. It seems Mr. Sungyoon owes the both of you a lot of favor. Therefore, I would like to treat you guys to dinner. Is that fine?”
He had expected this answer. Even though he had prepared his heart for it, a part of his heart inevitably became very disappointed. Tim pushed down on such emotions as he nodded.
“I’m fine. You have time too, right?”
“Yes!”
Emily also gave the go-ahead.
“We’ll see you at dinner in a little bit.”
“Yes. We’ll see you at dinner.”
“See you at dinner.”
After saying their farewell, the Ross siblings moved away from the Chicken Coop. When they completely disappeared from their sight, Jimin turned her gaze towards Sungyoon. As soon as the Ross siblings made themselves scarce, he had started laughing and talking with Shinhae. She didn’t want to interrupt such a happy sight, but they had work to do right now.
“Shall we go too?”
“Sure.”
Sungyoon planned on following Jimin with his daughter in his arms. However, he couldn’t do as he intended.
“Dad.”
“Hmm?”
His lovely daughter had something to say. Sungyoon brought his ear next to her mouth.
“You stink.”
“….”
Sungyoon became expressionless. He turned to look at Jimin, who had her hand on her mouth, and whose body was shaking. Her normally cold self was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that she was close to letting out a belly laugh at Shinhae’s words.
“… please wait a moment. I’ll go wash.”
“Pfft! P...please do so!”
Sungyoon left Shinhae with the president, and he went to the pay-to-use shower stall. Even if this service was expensive, he had to immediately take care of his hygiene.
* * *
After he washed his body, Sungyoon brought out a fresh pair of clothes. They were the clothes he planned on wearing when he went back to Earth. As soon as Sungyoon appeared in from of her, his daughter jumped into his arms. She told him he didn’t stink and let out a trilling laugh. Sungyoon laughed along, but he was laughing a bit awkwardly, as if saying that it wasn’t his fault.
Jimin took the lead as she walked in front of the two. Sungyoon had never been on this street before.
After walking for a while, the buildings suddenly disappeared, and a large lot appeared.
This place was filled with cars. It was either a parking lot or a used car lot.
However, the cars in this place weren’t normal vehicles.
First, they were large. They were slightly larger than a bus and had a rectangular shape. They also had neutral designs. A total of 12 large tires were attached to them. They looked like they would run better on rough terrains compared to normal cars.
“Those cars are HUGE!”
Shinhae’s eyes shone as she watched the cars. In the eyes of a child, seeing vehicles with so many wheels was quite an amazing sight.
“Yes! They are huge cars.”
Sungyoon raised the little girl higher, so she could get a better look at the vehicles.
At that moment, someone approached them.
“What brings you here?”
It was a very obese man that looked very greedy. His narrow eyes swept over the party to see if they were customers that would spend a lot of money.
Jimin stepped forward.
“I came here to pick up a vehicle.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is Hahn Jimin.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The man started tapping on the tablet in his hand. He put on a smile when he found what he was looking for. He might have been trying to project a friendly and bright image to his customers, but his corpulent face made him look like a dishonest car dealer who only saw people as money.
“Please come this way.”
The man guided them towards the lot where all the vehicles were parked. The vehicles were packed next to each other, yet the man didn’t seem to have any trouble finding his way through the vehicles. He navigated the crowded lot until he came to a stop. He pointed towards something.
“This is the item you ordered.”
His finger was pointing towards a vehicle that looked similar to all the cars here. It was a large rectangular vehicle.
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