CH 110

A slender finger went into the white, clean glove. The man, who looked around for the glove that was fitted perfectly, picked up the mask that was lying on the table. The sharp scars carved on his pale cheek hid under the mask.

Uhum, hm. Humming a soft hum, the masked man twirled his body lightly.

“It’s okay that one toy is missing, but it’s a bit disappointing that Karen is broken.”

“Poor Karen.”

A sullen voice came from one of the many dolls that filled the room. It was one of the few pretty well-made dolls, so Abel had been whining for days.

“I couldn’t even find the video.”

The internal camera broke down because Karen burned down. It didn’t matter because Kang Seung-geon was so broken to the point that he couldn’t be used anymore, but it was a loss to miss the battle video.

“Still, I don’t want to give up on his wind ability…”

The man who thought for a moment while touching the mask turned his head to the side. His gaze was directed to the huge TV screen that filled the wall.

[Talented Han Yi-gyeol, who was abducted by Master Kang Seung-geon, who was under mental control, is currently living in the Requiem Guild. It is known that security guards are deployed to strengthen the personal protection of Talented Han Yi-gyeol…]

A bodyguard. The man smiled.

“It’s fun anyway.”

If you tried to protect it that much, it was only natural that I wanted to take it away. For a long time, the man tapped the table with his finger, recalling Cheon Sa-yeon’s black eyes staring exactly at him.

“Abel. What is Doctor doing right now?”

“Huung. Dunno. Probably locked himself up in the lab again, huh?”

“Call him.”

“Doctor? Why?”

A doll the size of a child fell from the bookshelf and asked. The man’s mask shone smoothly in the moonlight that came in through the window.

“Whether getting a new toy or putting an item into the gate… Once we get him out of the safe house, the next plan will work, right?”

“Ehyu.”

It was stuck properly. The doll let out a deep sigh and lifted its body, which had been lying on the floor, sobbingly.

“I won’t lend you the doll this time.”

“That’s too much.”

“You can’t be mean! I’m still very sad to lose Karen.”

At the man’s playful words, the doll turned its head as if sulking. The man, with his arms crossed, leaning against the table, tilted his head slowly.

“Okay. Well. Even if it wasn’t, I was going to try my kids out.”

“Are you going to use them? Then you could die.”

“You have to control it well. We can’t kill him. How useful is that.”

Looking at the doll’s yellow eyes, the man continued.

“Well, it could be broken a little… Anyway, even if we succeeded last time, we would fail because it was the same. Not bad.”

“I’ve felt it before, you are a real bastard.”

“Haha, what do you mean a real bastard. That’s too harsh.” (오빠 한테 개새끼라니, not sure)

The doll shook its head with a sly smile and left the room. Thinking of Doctor who would soon come to see him at the doll’s call, the man made up his plan step by step.

* * *

“It can’t be like this, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Yes?”

I looked up at Min Ah-rin while lying on the sofa.

“It’s a dangerous situation, so I agree to protect you, but I didn’t mean to stay in the room like this!”

I was startled by the voice filled with dissatisfaction and quickly got up. Min Ah-rin, who was sitting opposite me and glaring at me, turned her gaze and asked Kim Woo-jin.

“Woo-jin-ssi thinks the same as me, right?”

“…a little bit.”

“Ho.”

Kim Woo-jin gently avoided my gaze and nodded his head. It took my breath away at the sight. The more I was in the room, the more I liked it, that kid.

“What are you going to do if your health gets worse here, Yi-gyeol-ssi?”

Min Ah-rin sighed deeply. I couldn’t believe my health was deteriorating.

“My health is fine though?”

“No matter how much you need to rest, it is still important to exercise properly. If you continue to lie down like this, your health won’t remain!”

“No, um. Min Ah-rin-ssi?”

“I can’t do this. Come on, get up. Let’s go play with me!”

“What?”

Finally, Min Ah-rin grabbed my arm and pulled me. Kim Woo-jin’s clone, who was sitting quietly next to me in that action, also lit up his eyes and hung on my remaining arm. What are you two doing?

“Still, it seems dangerous outside.”

“It’s not outside, but the café on the first floor is okay, right? A new menu has come out this time. It’s the spring season.”

“Aha.”

It was then that I realized why Min Ah-rin insisted on going out to play. She must have wanted to try the new menu. I got up from the sofa and looked back.

“Would you like to go with me, Kwon Jeong-han-ssi?”

“Wa, are you going to let me join?”

Kwon Jeong-han, who was watching us while drinking coffee, asked with a soft smile. Then the clone that was still holding my arm frowned heavily. He said, squeezing his forehead.

“He’s going to follow you to protect you anyway.”

“That’s true.”

I chuckled at the natural answer and roughly brushed my messy hair from lying down.

“Let’s go, Min Ah-rin-ssi.”

We immediately took the elevator and headed to the café on the first floor. The cafe in the guild was newly opened a month ago, Min Ah-rin informed that the guild members often use it because of its large store and various menus.

Perhaps because spring had arrived, there was a lot of pink in the desserts and displays in the showcase. Min Ah-rin asked in a bright voice, choosing a cake sprinkled with pink chocolate powder.

“What would you like to eat? I’ll treat you.”

“Um, I don’t know. What would be good?”

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, since you like sweets, how about this? This is a new menu and it will be delicious.”

Min Ah-rin poked a display in front of the checkout counter. It was coffee topped with pink cream with the name “Cherry Blossom Latte” written on it. It had nothing to do with anything other than an Americano, so I nodded my head.

Afterwards, Kim Woo-jin chose the same menu as me and Kwon Jeong-han chose Ade, saying that drinks would be good because he had already drunk coffee. As I sat down with drinks and desserts piled up on the tray, I could feel the glances around me.

I didn’t think it was because I ordered a lot, it was because of me who came out whenever the TV turned on.

‘It happened in the middle of Gangnam, not anywhere else, so it’s not unreasonable to talk about it on the news all day.’

It was a bit burdensome to keep talking about me while Kang Seung-geon was behind the scenes. When I heard Ha Tae-heon said that he had read the news that Requiem had given me a bodyguard, I expected it to some extent.

Min Ah-rin put her cake in her mouth and said in a low voice as her gaze grew worse.

“This is enough within the guild, it would be great if you go outside. Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

Kwon Jeong-han, who was sitting next to me, shook his head as he stirred the orange-shimmering Ade with a straw.

“Perhaps it will. Even on SNS, it’s noisy because of Talented Han Yi-gyeol. There are things that have become a hot topic, but the image was captured so well.”

“Is that so?”

Kim Woo-jin, who frequently checked the Internet even if he didn’t use SNS, also agreed with Kwon Jeong-han.

“A hero or something, they are talking with strange words. It doesn’t mean anything bad, but it’s annoying.”

Min Ah-rin, who looked at me with her worried eyes, sighed deeply.

“Even if it’s good right now, public opinion is that it will change instantly if you make a little mistake. Because you’re not a celebrity, I don’t think it’s a good thing to be famous in this way.”

Was it that bad? It was worse than I expected. I was sweeping the nape of my neck and thinking about how to fix it when someone approached me.

“Excuse me…”

It was the person I had first seen who was hesitating to talk. A woman in a light pink blouse opened her mouth with her cheeks blushing.

“Are, are you Talented Han Yi-gyeol?”

“……?”

Who is it? I replied yes and looked at her, the woman hurriedly held out her notebook and pen with a reddened face.

“Can, can you give me your sign?”

“A sign?”

I suddenly received her notebook and pen then tilted my head. What sign? As I could hardly understand the words, Kwon Jeong-han leaned close to my body and whispered in my ear.

“It’s the signature that celebrities give to their fans. I think you can just write down the signatures you use often.”

Why was I signing the signature like celebrities? It wasn’t a very believable word, but it was also vague to ask the woman who was standing restlessly.

“Is this right?”

“Ye, yes! Thank you!”

In the end, as Kwon Jeong-han said, I drew the signature and returned the notebook and pen to the woman. I stared blankly at the woman’s back who had disappeared from the crowd in an instant and Min Ah-rin, who was enjoying the cake in front of her, spoke to me.

“But Yi-gyeol-ssi, your signature is unique.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t signatures usually done with your own name?”

“That’s right. It’s so fast I couldn’t see it properly, but it looks far from the name. Roughly, Kwon Se…” (Remind you, MC real name is Kwon Se-hyun, 권세현, and Jeong-han only said 권세 before Yi-gyeol cut him off)

“I just wrote what my hand told me to write. It means nothing.”

I cut off Kwon Jeong-han’s words and answered like an excuse. It was an unexpected situation, so without realizing it, I signed with my previously written signature. To make this mistake, I swallowed a sigh and drank the coffee, pretending to be calm.

“More than that, did you know that that person is a very popular employee in the management department?”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve only heard about it, but seeing it in person, I know right away. She’s very pretty, right?”

Was she pretty? I only had the impression that she was shy, so it was difficult for me to empathize with Min Ah-rin’s words. As I rolled my eyes and rarely answered, Kim Woo-jin intervened with an anxious expression.

“Did you think… she is pretty?”

“Um, dunno.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t know. I shrugged lightly.

“In my eyes, Min Ah-rin-ssi is prettier.”

“Oh my.”

When you didn’t know, it was best to pass it on as a complement to the other person. As expected, Min Ah-rin smiled cheerfully and never asked the same question again.

I was drinking coffee, feeling relaxed again, but this time a familiar voice came from behind my back.

“Hi. Popular guy.”

“Gasp.”

Surprised by the sudden touch that hugged my shoulder, I hurriedly put down the shaking coffee cup and looked back. Maybe it was a day off, Park Geon-ho, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, gave me a wink with a smirk.

“Hello.”

“What are you doing here, Team Leader Park Geon-ho?”

“Come to the café for coffee, what else am I going to do?”

“……”

That’s right. Park Geon-ho greeted Min Ah-rin, Kwon Jeong-han, and Kim Woo-jin in turn, leaving me without words to say. Compared to Min Ah-rin and Kwon Jeong-han, who were happy, Kim Woo-jin didn’t raise an eyebrow and ignored Park Geon-ho.