#119
Seeing the emoticon’s brazen expression, suspicion deepened further. Instead of making a fuss about what happened to Jaeha, it had such an unconcerned face.
“Jaeha has disappeared. You must know about this, right?”
Well, I do know.
“Where is he now? What have you done!”
Veins popped on Hyun Dowoon’s neck. Unlike himself, who was unbearably worried, the emoticon was so calm that it made him even angrier. Is it because it’s not human that it can’t understand the emotion of worry? He glared at the phone, barely restraining himself from smashing it to pieces.
Even though he wanted to do as he pleased, he had no choice but to coax the emoticon to hear the story. He had to find Jaeha’s whereabouts.
He’s in the hands of the villain.
At the mention of a villain, Dowoon’s expression crumpled. He should have been more passionate about stopping the creation of a fake writer. Until then, he had wrongly believed that the emoticon sincerely cared for Jaeha and had just let it slide despite feeling uneasy.
Don’t worry. I’ll tell you exactly where he is and who he’s with. Isn’t it your role to go and save him in situations like this?
“Why did you put Jaeha in danger in the first place!”
We agreed to act as if the writer really exists, didn’t we? You agreed, so why are you like this now?
“But that…!”
I told you. Yeonsoo is quicker on the uptake than you think. We couldn’t keep lying to him forever. Anyway, why don’t you go get him?
He wanted to say he never agreed, but he knew he couldn’t entirely deny it when he hadn’t properly expressed the uneasiness lingering somewhere in his heart. He had never thought it would be this kind of method, but he had clearly tried to block Jaeha’s eyes and ears too.
When Dowoon couldn’t refute, the emoticon mockingly revealed the whereabouts and identity of the culprits.
“How did you… make them move?”
Even for S-class Espers and Guides, they have so little presence it’s hard to even call them extras. I can’t touch the main characters, but it’s not difficult to control them to that extent.
Dowoon had met Raymond Gardner and Liam Miller a few times. They were extremely ordinary S-class individuals. Moderately arrogant, intoxicated with popularity, satisfied with having power – typical members of the privileged class.
He hadn’t noticed anything strange in their conversations. They really seemed like “people.” But now, he suddenly felt keenly aware that they were just characters in a novel. And that when the world collapsed, the emoticon had gained ridiculous power.
It was fortunate that it couldn’t touch the main characters, but this incident made him certain that it wasn’t entirely unable to influence them. Since it couldn’t control Jaeha’s thoughts directly, it could influence him by manipulating those around him.
If this continued, Jaeha would be in danger again at any time. Prioritizing Jaeha’s safety above all else, Dowoon felt he couldn’t leave the emoticon as it was.
‘But first, I need to rescue Jaeha.’
The emoticon revealed the culprits’ identity, saying it didn’t intend to cause any major incident. Its only goal was to slightly threaten Jaeha and use that to prevent him from doubting the writer’s disappearance.
It seemed to be running solely to maintain this world and keep Jaeha grounded in it. Unable to immediately resist the emoticon using powers beyond human comprehension, Dowoon had no choice but to believe its words for now.
He shoved Jaeha’s phone into his pocket.
Then he set the navigation to the hotel address the emoticon had given him and drove like a madman.
While driving, he imagined Jaeha crying, being threatened or mistreated.
However, when he reached the top floor of the hotel and flung open the door, he saw a scene he never imagined.
All sorts of delicious-looking food was laid out in front of Jaeha, and Ray could be seen showing off something on a tablet.
“So, if you come to America, you can receive these amazing things!”
“Haaah…”
Jaeha, sitting in the middle, was sighing with a troubled face.
“Here, eat this while you listen. No, what’s so good about staying in Korea…”
“Ray, we have a guest.”
“What, he’s here already?”
Liam restrained Ray, who was chattering while handing over a donut. Like Dowoon, Liam must have sensed the S-class energy from the moment he got on the elevator. That’s why the people in this room weren’t surprised by Dowoon’s sudden visit.
Except for Jaeha.
Jaeha, poor thing, had a completely deflated look. Then, upon seeing Dowoon, his face instantly lit up.
Dowoon scrutinized his face, but there were no visible signs of injury. It’s a bit strange to say this in a kidnapping situation, but it was clear he had received the most gentlemanly treatment possible.
Nevertheless, Jaeha’s fragile nerves must have been on edge.
‘He’s lovable…’
An untimely sentiment arose spontaneously. Dowoon thought Jaeha, who was looking at him like a lifeline, was newly endearing.
“Dowoon!”
Jaeha jumped up from his seat, pushing Ray who was sitting next to him, and ran over. Then, like a bird entrusting itself to a sanctuary, he threw himself into Dowoon’s arms.
Jaeha’s gaze, peeking out from Dowoon’s embrace to look at Ray and Liam, was triumphant.
“What do you think you’re doing in someone else’s country? Is kidnapping and coaxing people the official stance of the American Awakened Management Department?”
“No, we treated him too well for this to be called kidnapping.”
Ray muttered, pouting his lips.
Regardless of how they treated him, if he was brought here against his will, that alone is a crime. The only reason he hadn’t used force immediately was because they had treated Jaeha relatively kindly. Dowoon briefly looked at Jaeha’s fair cheeks, plump from eating well in a warm room rather than suffering hardship, then pushed Jaeha behind him and stepped forward.
“I told you we’d be caught so quickly. I warned you it was dangerous…”
“Nikki, saying that now doesn’t help at all.”
“Nikki, Ray. Everyone be quiet. We need to prevent Hyun from getting angry for now.”
At Liam’s restraint, the three Americans looked at Dowoon with disgruntled faces.
“First, tell me why you did this. Otherwise, I’ll really make an official complaint call to the American Awakened Management Department and the President.”
Dowoon warned in a firm voice. Ray’s lips protruded even further. Despite being such a radiant beauty that he looked like a pale pink flower petal, Dowoon could only think it was the height of audacity.
“But it felt like we had to do this, both Liam and I. We thought Hani coming to America would bring about world peace.”
Ray, who said this, exclaimed, “Since we both had the same thought at the same time, it must be a revelation from God!”
Dowoon frowned, remembering that Raymond was quite a devout Christian.
‘What a flimsy and ridiculous excuse.’
But Ray and Liam seemed to genuinely believe it firmly. It could be due to their strong religious faith, but Dowoon was certain that even that belief was created by the emoticon.
After all, he had experienced the sensation of being dragged along by the world’s desires.
“Gasp, the writer must have intervened! Looking at how nonsensical this logic is…”
It seems Jaeha also felt it was absurd. Dowoon had thought he would have had trouble communicating, but Jaeha seemed to understand English better than expected.
“But it’s a bit strange… I thought it wasn’t the writer because it’s too peaceful…”
Dowoon bit his lip hard upon hearing Jaeha’s words.
As the emoticon had said it was doing this for Jaeha’s sake, it seems there were no violent acts at all… but that also meant Jaeha couldn’t immediately suspect the writer.
Half of Dowoon felt grateful that the emoticon’s kidnapping plan was peaceful, while the other half was surprised that it had nearly failed to achieve the purpose of the kidnapping.
And at the same time, he felt self-loathing for thinking, ‘Now that it’s come to this, it would be better if he suspected the writer.’
‘The phone…’
Jaeha’s phone suddenly vibrated violently. Even though he had clearly checked that Jaeha had turned off all notifications, tired of receiving contacts.
Dowoon thought it might be the emoticon’s reaction, perhaps as surprised as he was.
“Um, Dowoon. Can’t we just stop here without making this a big deal and go home?”
“What happened to you is something we should protest internationally, Jaeha.”
“Still… I don’t want to make a big fuss about this here…”
Jaeha muttered quietly with a troubled face.
“It feels like we’re just giving them material for news stories…”
Dowoon sighed lightly at Jaeha’s reaction. It seemed better to quietly request restraint behind the scenes.
Now that he knew Jaeha was even more timid than he had thought and found all the world’s attention burdensome, he didn’t want to put more pressure on him.
If this incident made the news, it would cause tremendous public outrage, and naturally, the amount of mentions would increase as well.
“Give up now and go back.”
Dowoon stood with his arms crossed and spoke authoritatively.
Honestly, being in such a sloppy situation was more tiring. If it hadn’t been for this incident, he could have been at home peacefully cuddling with Jaeha.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
