#085
“No, I want to hear what he has to say first. We were friends once, weren’t we?”
When I said that, Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon looked at me with pitying expressions. I didn’t intend it, but it must have sounded terribly wistful. Though I didn’t want it, I felt a bit awkward as they seemed to view me as too nice a person.
“I understand your kind heart, Jaeha-ssi, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. It doesn’t seem like you had a very good conversation last time either.”
Recalling the previous conversation between Kim Sehyun and me, Hyun Dowoon tried to dissuade me with a worried face.
For me, who needed to complete the quest somehow, it was unnecessary kindness, but the fact that they were somewhat aware of Kim Sehyun’s personality seemed like it could be helpful.
“Even so. When he said he was coming, I suddenly remembered something… I thought seeing his face might make it clearer.”
“What is it?”
As I spoke seriously, both of them focused on me with puzzled faces.
“I had forgotten my memories of when I manifested, but I remembered that Kim Sehyun… was right next to me on the day I manifested.”
At my words, Shin Haejun seemed to recall that Kim Sehyun and I were from the same orphanage.
I intended to plant suspicion that Kim Sehyun had interfered with my guiding ability.
Of course, since I had no evidence at all, rashly implicating Kim Sehyun would only look like I was forcing an accusation. Just as I couldn’t immediately suspect Kim Sehyun, they would first think it unlikely that such a thing was possible just by being nearby during manifestation.
However, I thought I should plant enough suspicion so that when I fully regain my power someday, I could immediately think of Kim Sehyun.
“Ah, and even though our relationship has become like this, I don’t want to fight openly… So it would be good if you could listen from another room and come out to mediate when it seems like we’re really fighting.”
“I doubt there will be a fight, but… alright. We’ll do just that.”
Hyun Dowoon readily agreed first. And Shin Haejun nodded with a hardened face.
“If he dares to come here and try to fight with you, I won’t let him off easy. Don’t worry.”
“Okay. For now, go into the room.”
I pushed the two of them into the study room. Then I quickly shoved all the shoes into the shoe cabinet and waited for Kim Sehyun, fully prepared.
‘He’ll probably go to his house first, see the moving, and then come down.’
Having been blocked by Shin Haejun and unable to connect through his secretary, he would try to contact through me.
I gulped down some water to brace myself and paced around the living room. Soon, as I thought, the intercom bell rang.
‘Should I wait a bit here?’
Should I go somewhere else? Or could I provoke him more?
I waited tensely for the intercom screen to turn off. At the same time, I made some noise near the entrance so Kim Sehyun wouldn’t think I wasn’t here and leave.
And when Kim Sehyun rang the bell a few more times, I slowly opened the door.
“What is it?”
As I glared at him with furrowed brows, Kim Sehyun came in as if occupying the entrance and looked around.
As I expected, Kim Sehyun first checked if there were shoes, then took off his shoes and entered as if it was his own house, heading to the living room.
But when the house was quiet, he seemed to be convinced no one else was here and grabbed a cushion on the sofa, swinging it around wildly while screaming.
“Aaaaaargh! I’m so annoyed, annoyed, annoyed!”
I was standing near the door of the room where Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon had entered to observe Kim Sehyun’s state, when I was startled by the sudden loud noise.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one, as there was a brief sound from inside the room for a moment. Apparently, one of them was surprised and touched something.
‘Did they hear?’
I held my breath for a moment, but Kim Sehyun, who was venting his anger, didn’t seem to have heard at all.
I slowly approached Kim Sehyun to keep him from paying attention to the door behind him.
“What are you doing in someone else’s house?”
“Someone else’s house? Haha… Hahaha! You have to move out too, don’t you? Why are you pretending not to know? You ordered it, right? There’s no way Haejun-ssi would suddenly want to terminate the contract!”
Kim Sehyun glared at me with a demonic gaze and shouted. He seemed to want to vent his anger on me since he was in a bad mood and I appeared to be the only person in this house.
“You mean terminating the pair contract between you and Haejun? I heard about it, but it’s none of my business. Why are you acting like this to me for something you two decided?”
“If my opinion had been considered, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s obvious that you must have whispered to him that you don’t like me and that he should pair with you instead. Why are you pretending not to know? Still want to act nice?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I have nothing to do with this. Really. I don’t even want to waste emotions fighting with you like this.”
I spoke as calmly as possible, knowing there were people listening. As I tried to provoke Kim Sehyun while staying within the bounds of not appearing too ill-tempered to the listeners, Kim Sehyun glared at me.
“Lies. It’s all lies!”
“Why do you keep saying I’m lying since last time?”
“F**k, Shin Haejun doesn’t even have a lifeline without me! If you hadn’t swayed him, there’s no way he would suddenly abandon me!”
Wow, one point for a personality explosion statement. How can he say something like “doesn’t even have a lifeline without me”?
“How can you say that? It’s a matter of someone’s life!”
“Am I wrong?”
“You…”
I looked at Kim Sehyun as if I was truly looking at a pitiful person. Kim Sehyun then threw the cushion with an even more enraged face.
“Kim Sehyun, why are you acting like this to me? You were smiling when I almost got into big trouble in the dungeon, weren’t you? You even tried to feed me food I’m allergic to… We were friends once, I thought we were friends, why are you doing this?”
I spoke as if pleading on purpose. Of course, it wasn’t for Kim Sehyun to hear, but for the two people inside to hear.
“Friends? I never thought of you as a friend from the start.”
“You…”
“Give me your phone. You can contact him, right? Hand it over!”
“Why are you doing this to me!”
“I said give it to me!”
Kim Sehyun lunged at me. He reached out wildly for my hand holding the phone. Unfortunately for him, since I was much taller than Kim Sehyun, his outstretched hands couldn’t reach.
“Give it to me!”
Maybe because I was focused on not letting my phone be taken.
Suddenly, Kim Sehyun crashed his whole body into me. I lost my balance for a moment and fell backwards.
“Ah!”
As I screamed like that, I blinked and found myself in Hyun Dowoon’s arms.
“Huh? What?”
I looked around while in Hyun Dowoon’s arms. I was in the living room just a moment ago, but now I was in the study.
“Are you alright, Jaeha-ssi?”
I nodded blankly, feeling a bit confused. When Kim Sehyun tried to snatch my phone, the first thing I thought of was Nine. Worried about what would happen to Nine if the phone was damaged, I failed to properly defend against Kim Sehyun’s lunge and push.
“Please put me down.”
I said, gently pushing Hyun Dowoon’s shoulder. I still needed to finish my conversation with Kim Sehyun.
‘It’s quiet outside.’
Kim Sehyun suddenly went quiet, as if he sensed something strange when I suddenly disappeared. And Shin Haejun was also keeping his lips tightly sealed, not making any sound.
I thought he would be jealous of Hyun Dowoon holding me, but unexpectedly, instead of mentioning that, he was glaring at the door.
It was extremely awkward with Shin Haejun being quiet instead of acting out. It felt even more so because there was no change in his expression at first glance.
“…Haejun?”
I called out to Shin Haejun, tilting my head. And like a detonator, Shin Haejun suddenly flung the door open and rushed out.
I was dumbfounded for a second, then immediately followed after Shin Haejun.
“H-Haejun-ssi. You were here…!”
Kim Sehyun’s eyes trembled anxiously as he called out to Shin Haejun. He was clearly worried about whether Shin Haejun had heard him revealing his true nature.
Of course he heard… How could he not at this distance?
I swallowed hard with tension, unable to tell what Shin Haejun was going to do to Kim Sehyun.
“…Is this house some kind of meeting plaza? Why are uninvited guests barging in?”
Shin Haejun, who stood in front of Kim Sehyun with his arms crossed, seemed even bigger and more intimidating than usual. It was to the point where I could feel a kind of aura. Kim Sehyun, standing right in front of him, seemed to feel it even more strongly, his body visibly trembling.
“Haejun-ssi, that’s not…”
“It must have been hard pretending like you didn’t know anything. I find it tiring to do things that don’t suit me. I can hit others, but I can’t stand someone messing with me. It must be the same for you?”
“T-that’s…”
“But I also don’t like anyone messing with Lee Jaeha besides me. So I came out because I couldn’t bear to put up with it anymore.”
Shin Haejun spoke to Kim Sehyun in a cold tone. Blood seeped from Kim Sehyun’s lips, which he had been biting hard. Kim Sehyun seemed to be trying to figure out how to make excuses.
“Ah, Jaeha won’t have to move out because I’m terminating the contract with you.”
Shin Haejun, as if suddenly remembering, started making a call somewhere. And when the other person answered, he glared at Kim Sehyun with a cold face and said:
“Prepare to transfer the ownership of the 14th floor to Lee Jaeha.”
What? I was startled in surprise, and Kim Sehyun also froze with his eyes wide open.
It seemed he was calling his secretary, but Shin Haejun just said this and hung up without any further instructions.
“This house will soon be in Jaeha’s name, so it is indeed someone else’s house. Terminating the pair contract is also my decision. You can’t come looking for me to say anything, and all you can do is come harass someone who was once your friend?”
I couldn’t find the right timing to interject and just opened and closed my mouth before holding back. In this situation, criticizing why he’s giving me the house seemed like the worst choice.
As only I gained an advantage as a result of his reckless outburst, Kim Sehyun’s large eyes filled with tears, seemingly feeling wronged.
However, Shin Haejun’s attack didn’t end there.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
