“…What did you just say?”
Seon-woo instinctively doubted his own ears. It was because Seung-hyeon had uttered the word location tracking with such a casual expression, as if it were nothing. But even if he wanted to believe he had misheard, the shape of his lips had been all too clear.
Could it be that, behind that perfectly normal face, he had been hiding the instincts of a stalker all along…? Seon-woo fell into a serious internal crisis. Meanwhile, Seung-hyeon, having just dropped a bombshell, wore an utterly nonchalant expression, as if to say, What’s the big deal? Watching the flustered Seon-woo, Seung-hyeon let out a faint smile.
“Ah… Looks like you don’t remember that either?”
“Is this really something that hinges on whether or not I remember it?”
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of memory would make someone accept location tracking like it was no big deal. As Seon-woo stood there, utterly speechless, Seung-hyeon replied at a leisurely pace.
“You were the one who installed the location tracker on my phone first, Director.”
It was such an unexpected remark that Seon-woo almost reflexively blurted out, I did? But he barely managed to hold it back—because if he had said that out loud, the system would’ve scolded him with something like “A Gwanggong does not question so cluelessly. Your Gwanggong Score will decrease.”
Letting out a small sigh of relief, Seon-woo watched as Seung-hyeon, eyes lowered slightly, continued speaking. That subtle downward glance gave the moment an oddly regretful air.
“You said you never knew when I might do something crazy, and installed it on both me and my mother.”
Even the contents of what he was saying were like this. He had gone as far as planting location trackers for surveillance—apparently, Gwanggong Gwak Seon-woo had despised Gwak Seung-hyeon and his mother more than anyone could have imagined.
Seon-woo quickly reflected on himself. The one at fault here wasn’t Gwak Seung-hyeon—it was Gwak Seon-woo. Even though it wasn’t technically his own doing, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Still… even so, who the hell just copies that kind of behavior without hesitation?
Perhaps reading the persistent suspicion on Seon-woo’s face, Seung-hyeon added a troubled explanation.
“I don’t normally do this kind of thing. But you sent me that text.”
The moment the text message was mentioned, Seon-woo lost all grounds to argue. He kept his mouth shut, unable to press further, and Seung-hyeon spoke up again.
“I even wondered if maybe you’d been kidnapped somewhere in your amnesiac state. You’re not the type for that, I know… but I went through a lot of scenarios, and I was really worried. That’s why I did it. So… please don’t take it the wrong way.”
There was no real flaw in his explanation. In fact, it was so skillfully delivered that it felt almost unsettling.
Just as Seon-woo was about to give up on further thoughts about Seung-hyeon’s location tracking, a notification window popped up before his eyes.
<Your Gwanggong Score has decreased by 1. Gwanggongs do not get kidnapped or suffer memory loss. It is unacceptable behavior to mislead others into such absurd conclusions.>
<Your Gwanggong Score has decreased by 1. Gwanggongs should not receive concern from anyone other than the Soo.>
“Ha…”
Seon-woo let out a deep sigh at the back-to-back notifications.
Perhaps taking that sigh as an admission of guilt, Seung-hyeon quickly added a follow-up question.
“Anyway… you’re not going to tell me to go back now, right?”
Seon-woo lifted his head and looked at Seung-hyeon’s face.
Truth be told, from Seon-woo’s perspective, having Seung-hyeon around was much better. Rather than getting swept up in the system’s schemes and ending up in some steamy scene with Eun-jae while watching a passionate melodrama like Burning Passion, he’d honestly prefer something like Dino Adventures. Besides, with Seung-hyeon stuck between them, it’d be impossible to do anything indecent anyway.
But of course, there was no way the system would agree with Seon-woo’s inner thoughts.
▶ “Don’t state the obvious. Just head back already.”
▶ “You’re not seriously planning to watch a movie here, are you?”
▶ “I’m sick of getting interrupted every damn time. So get lost!”
Well, at least not all the options were outright hostile. That was a relief. Seon-woo thought Option 2—where he gave a scolding but didn’t outright banish him—was the most reasonable choice.
“You’re not seriously planning to watch a movie here, are you?”
Seung-hyeon nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His expression was nothing but pure. With that kind, well-proportioned face and that smiley demeanor, Gwak Seung-hyeon really did look like a genuinely innocent person when he made that face.
“Of course. I bought three tickets, remember?”
▶ “So what? It’s just ticket money. You think I’m broke or something?”
▶ “Are you really using the ticket price as an excuse right now? Don’t be pathetic.”
Seon-woo pressed his lips together in exasperation at the absurd choices in front of him. Honestly, he looked like some out-of-touch bourgeois who didn’t even know how much movie tickets cost these days… More than ten thousand won for a single ticket! Even if you had money, you still needed to be frugal. A Gwanggong had no right to insult a thrifty man like Seung-hyeon with that kind of crap.
Seon-woo thought that if he were a reader of this original novel, he would’ve left a one-star rating just because of the Gwanggong’s behavior.
“…Are you really using the ticket price as an excuse right now? Don’t be pathetic.”
Reluctantly picking the lesser evil, Seon-woo chose that response. Seung-hyeon casually responded as if nothing were wrong.
“Then how did you deal with Seo Eun-jae using a membership discount?”
▶ “That’s called a thrifty habit.”
▶ “Don’t you even understand the concept of saving money?”
▶ “Weren’t you the one saying not to drag Eun-jae into things? Who’s doing the dragging now?”
So when Seo Eun-jae does it, it’s frugality, but when Gwak Seung-hyeon does it, it’s being a cheapskate? What kind of messed-up thought process was that? It was absurd, but thankfully, there was at least one response that felt worth selecting. Strangely enough, it even matched up with Gwak Seon-woo’s internal feelings.
“Weren’t you the one saying not to drag Eun-jae into things? Who’s doing the dragging now?”
Well, it was the kind of situation that could drive someone to say that. Seung-hyeon, perhaps realizing Seon-woo was nitpicking again, chuckled faintly as he responded.
“I only mentioned it once. Anyway, since we’ve come all the way to the theater, I’m going to watch the movie.”
His tone was firm. It was kind of funny how, despite that, he came off a bit like an elementary school kid whining to get his way. Seon-woo, pretending to be worn out by the back-and-forth, waved his hand dismissively. If things played out the way he wanted from here on, he couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. He was just about to nod reluctantly, putting on a half-hearted expression, when Seung-hyeon raised the edge of his hand to his mouth like a karate chop and leaned in to whisper covertly.
“But Director… I just have to ask, just in case…”
“What now?”
Seon-woo shot back with a tone full of irritation, but Seung-hyeon stood firm, undeterred.
“You’re not being blackmailed by Assistant Manager Seo, are you?”
Seon-woo had been confident he could brush off just about anything, but that out-of-the-blue question made him frown without even realizing it. Where the hell did that come from?
He looked straight at Seung-hyeon with a blatantly annoyed expression, as if to say, Are you serious right now?—and surely, Seung-hyeon could read that expression loud and clear. But even after saying something that outrageous, he stayed cool as ever.
<Your Gwanggong Score has decreased by 1. Gwanggongs do not get blackmailed.>
Naturally, the system responded promptly to Seung-hyeon’s absurd suspicion. Seon-woo clenched his teeth internally.
What am I supposed to do about someone else’s wild imagination?
No more notifications followed. Which, honestly, might’ve been for the best—if the system had said anything, it would probably be something like “It’s your fault for giving them the wrong impression.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Who would I even be getting blackmailed by?”
His tone grew sharper, no doubt from the frustration of watching his score take hit after hit. Seung-hyeon replied smoothly.
“Well, you suddenly started getting closer to Assistant Manager Seo, and then today you disappeared after leaving behind a message that sounded like you’d been kidnapped. I know you’re not the type to get pushed around by anyone, but still, your memory’s not fully intact right now. Anything could happen, right?”
And the way he said it… it actually made a weird kind of sense. Seon-woo felt like things were spiraling out of control. Maybe this whole nightmare had started the moment he got dragged into this damn game world.
Feeling like he should at least try to clear the air, he opened his mouth.
“…It’s not like that.”
He said it, but honestly, while he wasn’t being blackmailed by Seo Eun-jae, he was being blackmailed by the system in a way.
Seon-woo let out a long, heavy sigh. Seung-hyeon looked like he still had more questions he wanted to press—but just then, Eun-jae approached.
“Um, excuse me, you two… sorry to interrupt, but…”
“…The movie’s about to start.”
With that, Eun-jae held out the tickets. A quick glance between the tickets and the clock confirmed it—showtime had indeed arrived.
Seung-hyeon still eyed Seon-woo sharply, but he didn’t press the issue in front of Eun-jae. Instead, he gave Eun-jae his usual smile and walked toward the concession stand.
“I’m gonna get the Dino Adventure Combo. Wait here.”
“You’re actually buying that? Wouldn’t a regular combo be better?”
The topic shifted abruptly—and to something so ridiculous it was hard not to let out a hollow laugh. At Eun-jae’s bewildered tone, Seung-hyeon shook his head.
“The Dino Adventure Combo comes with a dinosaur plushie. You’re missing the point, Assistant Manager Seo.”
“You’re not a ten-year-old elementary schooler, Team Leader…”
“You’re just out of touch with your inner child.”
“Fine, whatever. Go ahead and buy your precious dinosaur combo.”
After a back-and-forth that sounded like something out of a kids’ squabble, Eun-jae finally threw up his hands in surrender.
And of course, Seung-hyeon returned triumphant, holding the full Dino Adventure Special Combo.
With Eun-jae holding popcorn and iced tea, Seung-hyeon clutching a dinosaur plush and a Coke, and Seon-woo carrying nothing at all, the three of them made their way into the theater.
Seeing three tall men handing over tickets for Dino Adventure, the ticket checker gave them a puzzled look.
But Seung-hyeon just flashed his brightest, most carefree smile, and when the employee spotted the plushie in his hand, she returned a slightly awkward smile in kind.
By the time they entered, the commercials had already started. The three quickly found their seats.
Apparently, the movie was a big hit with kids—there were way more people than expected. Other than the adults who had come along to chaperone, the audience was made up entirely of children.
Seung-hyeon, leading the way, shamelessly shoved Eun-jae toward the inner seat and plopped himself down in the center.
Eun-jae whispered in frustration, face crumpled in indignation.
“You seriously took the middle seat?”
“We’re in a theater. Quiet, please.”
Seung-hyeon responded while placing his index finger to his lips.
As annoyed as Eun-jae was, Seon-woo—grateful to be spared the role of the obnoxious moviegoer—pretended not to notice and turned his gaze toward the screen.
A kid sitting next to him glanced up, squinted, and gave him a look that seemed to say, You know what’s up, mister.
Seon-woo kept silent and focused on the screen.
