CH 246

It had been three days since my cold had improved to some extent and I went back to work. When I got home from work early in the morning, Edward, who was awake for some reason, approached me.

“Han Yi-gyeol-ssi, there is a place I want to go with you… are you okay?”

“Of course.”

I didn’t know where it was, but Edward, who was looking outside the hotel every day to find a way out of the space, couldn’t make a futile request.

“Are the others okay?”

“You seem to have found a new clue.”

“Yes! This time, I can be sure that this is a pretty big clue.”

Edward clenched his fists and shouted in a recalled voice. I guess he wasn’t even this happy when he found the grey line.

Cheon Sa-yeon said, raising the corners of his lips slightly as if he was thinking the same thing as me.

“Hm, if it’s that important, we should all go together.”

* * *

After breakfast, we left the hotel under Edward’s guidance.

“People are staring at us.”

At Min Ah-rin’s words, I let out a small sigh.

Gangnam morning commute. Everyone passing by glanced at us with a surprised expression. It was a natural result since there were nine people and they all looked unusual.

‘This time, it’s Edward’s request, so I can’t help it… From now on, I should never go around in a group.’

No matter how much space was created, all those people were fake, but it was too burdensome. Kim Woo-jin was feeling the same way and his face was getting more wrinkled.

“Here it is.”

Fortunately, the destination wasn’t too far away. I frowned as I turned my gaze to the front where Edward was pointing.

“What’s… that?”

Across the crosswalk, I saw an oval-shaped swarm of lights that would never exist on an ordinary street. I asked, bewildered by the look very similar to the gate entrance.

“Has it been in that place since you first discovered it?”

“Yes. And… it seems that only our eyes can see it.”

It was then that I realized that no one in the ordinary people around me was interested in it. He even went through it.

It vibrated like an illusion or smoke and continued to float in its place.

“I tried to touch it just in case, but my hand just passed through it.”

Instead of taking a break from work, Ha Tae-heon, who had helped Edward out on a reconnaissance tour, further explained. We could see but couldn’t touch it…

“Let’s get closer.”

I crossed the crosswalk that had turned into a green light and walked towards it. As the distance drew closer, a strange energy that I had never felt before came out.

Piiik, pik!

Fox, who had been sitting on my shoulder in an invisible state, trembled and made a sharp cry.

‘It’s very similar to the gate entrance.’

Unlike the gate entrance, which was filled with dark blue light, this was just black, but everything else was the same.

I reached out my hand slowly. However, as Ha Tae-heon said, my hand pierced through without touching anything. Cheon Sa-yeon and Min Ah-rin were just like me.

“Maybe this is a fake thing that was created by space… right?”

Edward shook his head at my question.

“No. That’s right. This is the only way out of the space.”

The only way out? This?

“It’s just that the exit function hasn’t been activated.”

“It means you have to fulfil the conditions to activate it.”

“That’s right. As long as we find out the conditions, we can go right away.”

“Do we have to find the line again this time?”

“I’m not sure yet… I don’t think the line has much to do with the trigger condition.”

I smoothed my lips and looked at the unopened exit again. Edward found a ‘grey line’ in the hotel with his ability, followed that line, and found the exit. And now we had to find the ‘condition’ to trigger the exit.

“Are the conditions harder to find than the lines?”

“Umm… I don’t know. I’m sure we have to take the time to look at the exit. It won’t take longer than when I first found the line though.”

“It’s not bad.”

It had been 15 days since we entered this space. Contrary to the initial saying that it would take a month to get out, it was true that the speed was very fast as we found the final clue, the exit, in 15 days. That meant that Edward and everyone were working hard.

“Eddy will have to come here every day, so we’ll escort him at least with two people.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who was staring at the exit with an unknown expression, ordered us. I forcibly turned my head away from such Cheon Sa-yeon.

We would be able to leave this space in no time. That meant going apart with Kwon Se-hyun soon.

* * *

That evening I checked the exit. On my way to Dies with Cheon Sa-yeon, Woo Seo-hyuk, and Kwon Jeong-han, I found a strangely familiar man wandering around.

‘Is this the guy hired by Gyeongseong?’

Even when they had no purpose, they wandered around for nothing and send hostile glances to us who worked at Dies. It was certain that he was related to Gyeongseong.

“Did you say… Gyeongseong? It looks like they’re trying to fight for a place in earnest.”

It was enough that Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk, as well as Kwon Jeong-han, were aware of how sloppy they were. Kwon Jeong-han, who saw the same thing as me, clicked his tongue as he heard what I was saying.

There was a lot of psychological and physical evidence, but there was no excuse for catching or kicking them out. If we had touched them first, we would only lose.

Still, we had to take a look. Anyway… I was currently employed by Kwon Se-hyun. As soon as I changed clothes in the locker room, I went straight up to the third floor, and instead of greeting Kwon Se-hyeon, I brought up the main topic.

“The number of monitoring us is higher than yesterday. There were only two people I saw on my way to work.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who had become somewhat accustomed to my attitude, responded bluntly, turning over the documents without even looking at me.

“Oh, yeah. Good morning.”

“What morning is it now?”

“That’s what it means.”

What is it? For some reason, I felt like I was getting more anxious about issues related to Gyeongseong. I hoped not.

“Did you send the employee to the motel?”

“Sent.”

“Who did you send? They must be someone you can trust. And it might be dangerous, so be careful…”

“Han Yi-gyeol, get out. Go down and help them clean up.”

Being kicked out of the office before I could even finish speaking, I burst out laughing in shock.

No, I was talking about this because I was worried about you, but you kicked me out without listening to the end? I’m just trying to help you not to be in trouble for the rest of your life.

‘I tried to help you a little bit before the space disappeared…’

The feeling I had gotten better at finding the way out fell to the ground in an instant.

It wasn’t that I liked Kwon Se-hyun. Rather, I didn’t want to see Dies fall into Gyeongseong, no matter how fake it was.

It was at that time that I seriously thought about whether I should attack right away and beat Kwon Se-hyun to bring him to his senses. Cheon Sa-yeon, who went up to the third floor, saw me standing in front of the door and smiled slightly. On the contrary, my forehead was miserably contorted.

‘He’s stamping on his way to work, very.’ (출근 도장을 찍네, 아주)

Cheon Sa-yeon visited Kwon Se-hyun several times a day when he came to Dies. He only picked the time when Kwon Se-hyun was alone in the office. How ridiculous it was to see that.

‘What the hell are you two talking about…’

After thinking about it that far, I quickly stopped thinking. Enough. I was the only one stressed out if I had to pay attention.

I was about to pass by, avoiding Cheon Sa-yeon’s gaze, who was looking at me, but his cold hand gently grabbed my wrist.

“……?”

“Where are you going, so busy?”

“Do you care? Let go.”

I tried to shake it off, but the wrist that was caught didn’t move at all. Damn power difference.

“Han Yi-gyeol, look at me.”

Cheon Sa-yeon swept my bangs with his other hand. I turned my head to avoid the touch.

“Loose this and talk.”

“I’ll let you go when you see me, so please look at me.”

At the word ‘please’ that came out of his mouth, my heart fluttered like a typhoon.

His hand touched my face as I bit my lip once more. I followed that hand and slowly raised my head, which had been bowed all the time.

“……”

When I first blocked Cheon Sa-yeon, who was going to meet Kwon Se-hyun. This was the first time since then that I faced Cheon Sa-yeon properly.

My expectation that he would be smiling as shamelessly as usual was mercilessly shattered. When I saw Cheon Sa-yeon’s face smiling bitterly with his black eyes filled with some sad emotion and his lips slightly stiffened, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

“Are you relieved of your anger now?”

“…I’ve never been angry.”

“You were avoiding me like that?”

“It’s just a little… uncomfortable.”

It sounded like an excuse, but it was the truth. To be angry, I didn’t have the right to do so.

It was Cheon Sa-yeon’s heart to try to be close to Kwon Se-hyun, so it wasn’t a problem for me to intervene and get angry.

“Yeah. So, did that uncomfortable feeling go away?”

“Go away? Are you still doing this?”

There was an office right in front, so if you made a loud noise, Kwon Se-hyun or other people might eavesdrop. I lowered my voice and whispered in reply as Cheon Sa-yeon folded the corners of his eyebrows slowly.

“I thought you would be like that for a while if I left you alone.”

“……”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s voice, who spoke like that, seemed quite lonely. Hearing that, I started to feel a little sorry too.

Well, when you thought about it from Cheon Sa-yeon’s point of view, it was just confusing. Because I reacted sensitively to his light playfulness, I avoided him openly after that for a long time.

‘Cheon Sa-yeon is working hard to get out of here like everyone else.’

Having barely cleared my confused mind, I sighed and answered.

“Alright. I won’t do that anymore, so let go.”

“Are you serious?”

“What does it mean to lie? And we can’t stay here like this.”

“Hm, that’s true.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who meekly agreed, moved his hand slowly. His thumb swept over the corners of my eyes, passing my cheek and toward my ear.

Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand, which moved in a circular motion along the pinna, gently pressed the earlobe below. Then an unknown, chills sensation passed through the nape of my neck.

“Ugh, what the hell…”

As I pulled my body back, startled by the tickling sensation I felt in my ear, Cheon Sa-yeon lowered his hand, holding my wrist this time.

His thumb tickled my palm and his fingers intertwined with mine deeply. Then it went down slowly. All this process went by very slowly and clearly. When I realized this, heat surged on my face.

He must have been this on purpose. Was he really crazy? I turned my back on Cheon Sa-yeon and hurried down the stairs.

“…wh, what?”

As I ran down the stairs, I heard another footstep behind me. I asked Cheon Sa-yeon, who followed me as if in arguing.

“Why are you following me?”

“Um?”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had come down close to me with a smile, tilted his head slightly.

“Following you? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you have a business in the office?”

“No. I was going to see you from the beginning.”

“……”

The heat, which had barely subsided, flared up again. I cursed inside and covered my hot face with my hand.

Behind the sound of my footsteps thumping and roughly descending the stairs, Cheon Sa-yeon’s light footsteps followed.