Chapter 49
“Answer the phone…!”
Just a few hours ago, Lee Chan had been enjoying the most peaceful day he’d had in a while.
Escaping from Baekcheon, he savored the sweet outside air. Though not perfect, it was freedom.
His plan for today was simple.
Leisurely wake up late, leisurely eat, and leisurely buy a bribe to coax Senna, who had been banished, at the department store.
The only difficult thing was knowing Senna’s taste, which was practically only Yugyeom’s level of stupidity. As he pondered, Lee Chan started some research, but quickly gave up after seeing her credit card statement.
“Ugh. How does she live like this?”
When stressed, Lee Chan’s way of relieving it by using Yugyeom’s card was significantly different from anyone else’s.
In the end, he decided to go and see for himself before making a decision. Finding something to melt Senna’s heart, who was searching for 44 in the depths of Hong Kong, wasn’t an easy task.
“Just apologize to Yugyeom. He’s kinder to you, you know.”
“Do you think I did something wrong?”
“…Hmm.”
“Just go away, idiot.”
Why couldn’t she give a decent response?
But if asked if what she did was wrong, the answer would be ‘no’.
It would have been better if Yeonbyul had died there; then Yugyeom wouldn’t have had to come to Baekcheon.
Senna never did anything foolish when it came to Yugyeom. Her life goal, motto, and values revolved around his safety.
Lee Chan decided not to give up and give it another try. He had to beg her to come back.
Life became difficult without Senna by his side.
Handling Yugyeom alone was too much, especially nowadays.
Going to that department store to choose a bribe was just a coincidence.
“Who on earth is this?”
When it came to matters concerning Yugyeom, it was always a crazy person disguising their schemes as coincidences, until he met them dozens of times.
As if waiting for someone, he stood stiffly in the lobby, and from afar, he immediately caught his attention.
“What’s going on here, Lee Chan?”
His neatly combed hair shone a brighter shade of red under the lights than usual. His smiling face, squinting his eyes, attracted more than a few curious glances around.
Lee Chan stepped back and crossed his arms.
No wonder he received a call about winning some event he didn’t even remember entering.
“It’s quite a coincidence for you to be here where I am.”
Despite his wide smile, his eyebrows were raised sensitively.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. Almost forgot your face.”
Taejoon laughed leisurely, looking at him as if he were just a fluffy baby kitten puffing up its fur.
That laugh was enough to provoke his strong pride, but Lee Chan managed to hold it back.
Interfering with that bastard would only lead to defeat. It’s better to avoid the dirty stuff.
“Just forget it, thanks anyway.”
“If you say so, it’ll hurt my feelings.”
“Your feelings? Then how about fixing that face first?”
Making matching scars in the same spot, in the same shape, on the same face in the same place where Yuhwa’s was, was a crazy thing he had never seen before.
He already didn’t care enough to look stupid, but drawing a scar in the same place and shape as Yuhwa’s, in the same position, was a novel enough act that he wouldn’t see it again in the future.
“Oh, this?”
Taejoon brushed away the scar at the corner of his mouth with his fingertip. His black pupils seemed to blur as if reminiscing.
“Why, I like it.”
As his smile widened, the scar distorted.
“I really like the expression on Yugyeom’s face when he sees my face.”
Lee Chan shuddered at the smug smile, like a satiated beast.
“You crazy bastard.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Lee Chan lost the will to continue the conversation, feeling embarrassed to even call it that.
He gestured for the officer standing behind Taejun to come closer, then grabbed his earlobe as he approached.
“Hey. Don’t forget to buy salt on your way out. And do you know a capable shaman around here?”
The officer’s eyes shook as if possessed.
“…Shall I look for one?”
“Yeah, look for one well. It’s definitely a problem with the house.”
Lee Chan’s eyes, who had been blatantly gossiping, turned to Taejun. Taejun pulled up the corners of his mouth and laughed.
“…Sure. Very sure.”
Taejoon, with a face as if he were wearing a mask, looked at the clock on the central pillar of the department store.
“I should go first. I have an important appointment.”
An appointment?
He briefly wondered if it was related, but immediately dismissed the thought.
Yugyeom had a few casual meetings with Taejoon to establish a relationship with TO Group, but that was a long time ago. Once he realized how tight-knit the relationship between TO Group and Baekcheon was, he quickly gave up, and that was the end of it.
Some people weren’t like that, but at least to Yugyeom, it was.
Above all, Yugyeom wasn’t going to leave his bed today.
“Aren’t you curious about the appointment?”
“I’m not curious.”
“That’s a shame. It would be nice if you were curious.”
Taejoon muttered to himself like a soliloquy.
“Let’s meet properly next time. With Yugyeom.”
Lee Chan raised his head with a disgusted expression at Taejun’s attitude, as if he were treating even a friend.
…I’m anxious. Very anxious.
He had seen Yeonbyul darting around and pondered over his anxiety right after parting ways with Taejun.
“Gosh. You’re not answering, are you?”
Lee Chan sat down on the floor, clutching his phone that wouldn’t stop buzzing. Swallowing his curses, he ruffled his hair.
As winter came to an end and spring approached, Yugyeom fell ill for several days. He lay in bed like he was dead, not eating anything and suffering from a high fever in a dark room for days on end.
Calling a doctor was something they rarely did. There was only a few times in the past few years. Once, he even broke into the locked room and went in, but that day was the first and last time.
The moment he faced that face, he instinctively realized he couldn’t handle it.
Even though it had been a long time since he last saw him this morning, Yugyeom was still lying in bed, motionless.
So, he called for a doctor just in case and came out.
But what was this anxiety?
“I came to see Yugyeom.”
There’s no way all of this with Kang Taejoon and Cha Yeonbyul is just a coincidence. If Kang Taejun’s appointment partner in this orchestrated situation is…
Then the signal cut off.
“Hey! Why aren’t you picking up now?”
Lee Chan stood up abruptly.
– Hello?
His legs, trembling with nervousness, froze. The voice coming through the phone was different from what he had expected.
– Is this Lee Chan by any chance?
Lee Chan’s eyes widened, then he swallowed once.
“…What? Is Yugyeom there?”
– Yugyeom?
“Yes, Yugyeom.”
The brief silence that followed amplified his anxiety.
– Mr. Yugyeom went out earlier. It seems he took a different phone with him.
—
“This combination is killer.”
Sharp eyes shot downward. His Adam’s apple bobbed stiffly.
“It suits well with my sister.”
The ends of his black hair brushed against his forehead.
A sharp, imposing presence. A suffocatingly heavy atmosphere. A pungent scent.
There was not a single resemblance to his sister.
“It’s a compliment, so you should smile, right?”
Yuhwa pressed her thumb against the corner of my lips. Her fingertip was cold yet soft.
Together with the forcibly lifted corners of my mouth, her lips creased faintly.
It felt almost like the first time he saw White Flower Pavilion.
The black pupils filled with desire sent waves of fear with just a glance. It was right after he thought he might be swallowed up in an instant.
“Oh, okay. You can take your hands off my face now, miss.”
Yuhwa suddenly smiled nonchalantly and removed her hand.
As I exhaled the breath I had been holding, I instinctively groped my throat, even though it was my chin that was being held.
“Is it over?”
When I raised my head, I finally noticed the muzzle pressed against her waist.
“What should we do?”
It was one of the organization members who had been watching from an unseen location. Judging by his courage to hold a gun to Yuhwa, he seemed to be in a somewhat elevated position.
But still, it was inconceivable for a mere organization member to be able to kill the successor of Utopia. Despite asking out of courtesy, he looked at me with a face full of tension and embarrassment.
“It’s okay. I just remembered another appointment I had.”
If I can hold out until Jiun arrives, somehow things will work out.
I whispered quietly to Angel, who had been standing beside me with a forced smile, in a voice too low for Yuhwa to hear.
“Tell Jiun to come quickly.”
Just hold on for 30 minutes.
The sound of the chair scraping against the floor grated on my nerves. Yuhwa, sitting with her legs crossed crookedly, spoke nonchalantly.
“Isn’t it rude to change the meeting place 20 minutes before the appointed time?”
Looks like she received my text message.
“It seems like there was some confusion. My appointment partner was someone else.”
Or maybe it wasn’t delivered.
Leaning her face against her raised arm at an angle, Yuhwa narrowed her eyes mischievously.
“But we’re not exactly strangers, are we?”
Since I was wearing a unicorn mask, Yuhwa had never seen my face in Utopia. She might have had a strong suspicion based on the conversation she overheard between Yugyeom and me on the stairs.
“You must have mistaken me for someone else. I’m not exactly a common face.”
I decided to play along for now.
“Well, I’m not exactly a common face either. Maybe your memory isn’t so good?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is Sid. I hope you liked it<3
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