Episode 52. “May I sit beside you?”
Han Chasu was a little flustered by the man who approached without hesitation. ‘What’s with this guy?’ He had assumed the man knew about him. But he hadn’t expected him to come at him this openly. ‘He’s a lot more headstrong than he looks. Don’t tell me Jeong Iheun told him to try talking to me if he met me?’ Considering Jeong Iheun’s subtly pushy personality, he couldn’t rule out the possibility. After all, the guy had tried to keep him locked up in the hospital because he wouldn’t sign a lifetime contract. ‘Hm… sounds plausible.’ Han Chasu gestured to the man, who was waiting for his answer, offering him a seat.
“Yes, you may sit.” ‘Since it’s come to this, I should show him that I’m perfectly fine.’ He had no idea why Jeong Iheun had come to think he needed psychological counseling. Nor did he particularly want to know. But one thing was certain: it could make his life annoying.
So he intended to use this meeting as an opportunity to make it clear that he had no mental issues whatsoever.
No matter how arbitrary Jeong Iheun was, he would listen to an expert’s words.
“Thank you.”
The man sat down on the bench with a relieved smile. There was an appropriate distance between them, separated by a single cup. Close enough to hear each other’s voices clearly, but not close enough for their arms to touch. ‘Say whatever you want.’ No matter what he tried to probe, he would give answers so normal they were boring and ordinary. Han Chasu made up his mind.
As if he had been waiting, the man spoke gently.
“Um, our eyes met for a moment earlier. Do you remember, by any chance?”
“Of course. I heard from Seongjin that you’re someone who helps out at the psychological counseling center. But your name was…”
“Ah, I’m Mun Yeoncheol.”
Wait. If it was Mun Yeoncheol… ‘Isn’t he the person who counseled Baek Dam in the original?’ If his memory served him right, Mun Yeoncheol was a minor supporting character who passed by briefly in the story. A supporting character who barely appeared properly and was only mentioned by name.
The reason he remembered such a person was simple. ‘Baek Dam was promised in marriage to this man’s younger sister.’ In the original, after Baek Dam finished avenging his younger sibling, he suffered from severe depression for years. A terrible depression marked by self-harm and suicide attempts. Unable to keep watching him like that, the Philoso Guildmaster nearly forced a counselor onto Baek Dam, and Baek Dam underwent continued counseling and medication.
And in the process, love blossomed between him and the counselor’s younger sister. She was Mun Yeonseon, who would later appear as Baek Dam’s fiancée. In truth, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Baek Dam’s rehabilitation succeeded thanks to her. ‘Now I remember her name.’ Mun Yeoncheol’s existence acted as a trigger, making him recall the fiancée’s name. And at the same time, a small thorn pricked his heart.
It was guilt over the fact that, because he had possessed this body, the connection between the two had gone awry. ‘Still, I had no choice if I wanted to survive.’ Han Chasu indifferently brushed the thorn aside and offered Mun Yeoncheol a handshake.
“I’m Han Chasu.”
Unaware of what was going on inside him, the man smiled softly and clasped his hand.
“I thought I might be treated like a lunatic for suddenly asking to sit beside you, so I’m relieved.”
“Who would treat someone like a lunatic over something like that?”
Han Chasu gave a faint laugh and shrugged. After recalling what kind of person Mun Yeoncheol was, he had become a little more generous.
“This is all fate too. It’s a good thing to make a new acquaintance like this.”
You never knew. He might become the connecting link that would bring Baek Dam, Mun Yeoncheol, and Mun Yeonseon’s fates back together again.
“Now that you put it that way, I feel much more at ease. Oh, right. Earlier, you ordered the strawberry banana, didn’t you?”
“Was I that obvious?”
“You were looking at it with such desperate eyes that I knew you’d order it.”
He really was an easy man to talk to. When Han Chasu thought about why, he realized his voice was just right to listen to. His pronunciation was smooth too, without anything standing out. ‘I can see why the Philoso Guildmaster assigned this person to Baek Dam.’ He was a man who blended well into the atmosphere. Should he say his presence was faint? Or should he say he was born to make people feel comfortable?
As he stared blankly up at the blue sky, Mun Yeoncheol suddenly threw him a straight question.
“Um, if talking with me like this makes you uncomfortable, you can just say so.”
“Pardon? There’s no way.”
Far from being uncomfortable, Han Chasu hadn’t been thinking anything at all. When he shook his head, a smile appeared on Mun Yeoncheol’s face.
“Have you heard the news that they’ll be selling green grape juice and cake for a limited time next week?”
“At that café over there?”
“Yes.”
“No. To be honest, today was the first time I learned there was a café here.”
“Ah, then you wouldn’t know that they sell a special sandwich only on Fridays either.”
“They sell things like that too?”
It was quite an enjoyable conversation. If only it hadn’t been for the swarm of flies that kept clinging to him. Han Chasu frowned at the tireless flies trying to land on him. It seemed he would have to throw the cup away after all.
“I’ll be back after throwing this trash away.”
When he said that while shaking the empty cup, the other man paused, then nodded.
“Take your time.”
He looked somewhat regretful, but Han Chasu couldn’t endure the flies any longer.
Han Chasu set off on a long journey in search of an empty trash can. All the nearby trash cans were not only full, but overflowing.
“Should I take a slow lap around for exercise…?”
The rooftop garden had structures installed here and there to block people’s gazes. Han Chasu walked slowly around the reeds and headed toward the edge.
In the far corner, he spotted a trash can. Since it was in an out-of-the-way place, it didn’t seem like people had used it.
It was the moment he stepped between the screens.
“Ugh!”
Something squishy covered his face. No, not just his face. ‘What is this…!’ It was the sensation of something extremely thin and slippery wrapping around his entire body and passing over him. To compare it, it felt like a slick, tough spiderweb sweeping across his face and limbs.
Fortunately, the horrifying experience ended in an instant. He didn’t even have time to swing his fist.
When he came to his senses, he was slightly bewildered.
“We have only one chance. We must absolutely not fail.”
“Everyone, gather your energy. The fate of the Development Office rests on this bullet. Now, everyone, stack your hands! And shout, we will be victorious!”
“Uwaaah! We will be victorious!”
A blue sky no different from the one he had just been looking at. The Awakener Management Bureau building he had already seen to the point of boredom earlier.
And yet, in the corner, a suspicious group wearing hoods had suddenly appeared, huddling together and shouting strange slogans.
“For the victory of the Development Office!”
From what he heard, they seemed to be people from the Development Office. ‘Truly… suspicious to the extreme.’ When he glanced back, a pitch-black curtain was rippling in the spot he had passed through. They had probably used that to deceive people’s eyes and block entry. He didn’t know why it hadn’t worked properly on him, but…
“As of today, the existence of Gi Taeyeon, director of the Crisis Management Office, will be erased from the world.”
“Hahahahahaha, this is the end of those who dare mess with the Development Office. Now, everyone, prepare the toast!”
They were absolute lunatics.
He had heard Gi Taeyeon had turned the Development Office upside down. It seemed they were planning revenge like this. ‘As expected, they’re a group I must never get involved with.’ Han Chasu put some distance between himself and them with a face gone cold. He had known it from the moment they made that ridiculous drink. ‘Let’s see.’ Could he not go back through here? Han Chasu gently placed his hand on the black wall. It was that moment.
Beeeeeeep—!
The spot his hand touched turned bright red. And that wasn’t all. The writhing wall suddenly rose up. Like the surface of water leaping up when a hand is dipped in and pulled out.
Woooooo!
The slick red organism tried to swallow Han Chasu whole.
“——!”
Just what the hell had these bastards made? Han Chasu quickly rolled across the floor. Thud, tap. The writhing wall began firing bright red things at him.
“What’s that? Who’s there!”
“It’s an intruder!”
Soon, he heard the sound of the Development Office employees running over. Han Chasu hurriedly got to his feet. ‘Cover….’ Han Chasu hid himself behind a nearby partition. But there were too many opponents.
Before Han Chasu could move elsewhere, someone discovered him.
“He’s here! Everyone, over here… gasp.”
Upon seeing the other party, Han Chasu swept a hand down his face in astonishment. In the man’s hands was a net densely studded with sharp bits of metal.
“Wait, wait a moment. Let’s talk this out.”
They were still people, so perhaps he could reason with them. Han Chasu held on to a faint hope.
That meager expectation was soon shattered. As soon as the other employees who had come running at the sound discovered him, they shouted.
“Huh? I know that guy. He’s the patient Gi Taeyeon keeps hovering around!”
“That’s right! They said Gi Taeyeon froze all of us because he told us not to make him waste time he could spend on him!”
“Hey… catch him. If he runs away and tells on us, we’re all finished.”
Han Chasu witnessed it. The moment those last words ended, the eyes of the Development Office employees all flipped at once.
“Your name was Han Chasu, wasn’t it? Sorry, but we’ll need you to cooperate.”
“We’re not asking for much. You just have to stay here quietly with us. Easy, right?” Han Chasu groaned inwardly. ‘This is driving me crazy.’ At this rate, he was going to become a hostage.
“Perfect. I was getting tired of waiting until that bastard came back to his office anyway.”
“Then should we adjust the location again?”
“No, we brought the other things too. Let’s install them all around here.”
The Development Office employees let out sinister laughs. Han Chasu swallowed a hollow laugh as he looked at them. It was because they were having such a grand old time among themselves.
Clack. Han Chasu grasped the bead Jeong Iheun had given him. ‘What should I do….’ His gray eyes calmly swept over the surroundings. It was then.
Kiiiiiiiiii—!
“What is it? What now?!”
“Who installed the isolation wall? How the hell did you do your job… urgh!”
“Ah, here you were.”
The man who appeared with the hem of his black coat fluttering was none other than Geum Myeonggyeol.
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