CH 247

Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing at the bar and preparing to open by displaying glasses, lifted his head at the sound from the second floor.

“Don’t get too close. Don’t get close, do you hear?”

“What do you mean by getting close?”

As expected, the two people who came down to the hall on the first-floor bickering were Han Yi-gyeol and Cheon Sa-yeon. Han Yi-gyeol, who whispered informally to Cheon Sa-yeon, caught his eye, thinking that he couldn’t hear it.

It was very different from last week, when he went down the stairs alone, pale. Contrary to his annoyed tone of voice, he seemed in a pretty good mood when he saw the bright expression on his face.

“……”

And contrary to Han Yi-gyeol, Woo Seo-hyuk, who saw it, realized that he wasn’t feeling very good. He slowly lowered his head and blinked a couple of times.

Woo Seo-hyuk was very bewildered by this fact. Why?

He was worried about Han Yi-gyeol, who was drinking the cocktail he had made with a look of exhaustion. After that, he was convinced that the cause was his boss after seeing him being awkward with Cheon Sa-yeon.

It was a problem between the two of them, so he didn’t bother to intervene, but he sincerely hoped that it would be resolved and Han Yi-gyeol’s mood would return.

It went as expected, but why did he feel so uncomfortable? Woo Seo-hyuk’s straight brow frowned for a very brief moment, then returned.

‘This… is not good.’

Woo Seo-hyuk naturally realized that there was something inside of him that shouldn’t be touched.

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who had hidden his thought as if it would cause a big trouble if he was caught, looked up with an expressionless face as usual. Han Yi-gyeol approached the bar table and asked innocently.

“Is there anything I can help you with? I was kicked out to clean up.”

“It’s all right here.”

“Really? Then I should sweep the floor.”

Han Yi-gyeol, who harshly slapped Cheon Sa-yeon’s hand that was creeping up to his waist, headed to the cleaning room to pick up the vacuum cleaner. Cheon Sa-yeon sat down on a bar stool without chasing after him.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had his arms crossed and stared at Han Yi-gyeol’s back, closed his eyes and smiled. It looked like a cat preparing to play pranks on its owner.

He didn’t know why he suddenly changed his goal to Han Yi-gyeol after focusing only on Kwon Se-hyun so far. Cheon Sa-yeon was fickle, it wasn’t just a day or two, but…

‘Again, only Han Yi-gyeol-ssi will suffer…’

He just had to watch as he had been doing so far. No matter how bad he felt.

It was at that time when Han Yi-gyeol pulled out the vacuum cleaner and came out alone. Kwon Se-hyun rushed down to the first floor. In his hand was a cell phone.

“Go Dong-ju, come here.”

“Hyung-nim?”

At Kwon Se-hyun’s unusual voice, Go Dong-ju ran.

The calm atmosphere changed in an instant. Sensitive to this, Han Yi-gyeol threw the vacuum cleaner and walked to Kwon Se-hyun.

“I’ll go and check the situation myself, so take care of the store.”

“But, Hyung-nim, is it okay if you go alone? It’s safe to bring the kids.”

“What’s going on?”

Han Yi-gyeol suddenly stepped in between Kwon Se-hyun and Go Dong-ju, who were talking in a low voice with a serious expression.

“What? Little bastard, you step in…”

“Go Dong-ju, stop it. Han Yi-gyeol is fine.”

It was Kwon Se-hyun who stopped Go Dong-ju from saying something to Han Yi-gyeol. Kwon Se-hyun showed Han Yi-gyeol the phone screen, leaving Go Dong-ju, who was so bewildered as if he didn’t know he would allow it.

“The guy who I sent to surveillance to the motel sent me a message asking me to come. It may be a dangerous situation, so I should go immediately.”

“Who did you send?”

“Gyu Tae-sik (규태식).”

After hearing Kwon Se-hyun’s words and touching his lips for a while, Han Yi-gyeol nodded his head.

“Not bad. However, if you are going alone, don’t go too deep.”

“Don’t tell me I don’t even know that.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who smiled at the added words, quickly left the store. Go Dong-ju, who had only watched with his mouth wide open, trembled and shouted.

“You, you… little guy! What are you? Are you really Hyung-nim’s lost brother?”

“Our Dong-ju hyung-nim, you’re talking nonsense again.”

“Don’t call me hyung-nim, man! Then what the hell is it? Why does Hyung-nim believe in you like this?”

“How do I know that?”

“Aigo, my head.”

As Han Yi-gyeol shrugged his shoulders lightly as if jokingly, Go Dong-ju touched his forehead and made a moaning sound. Woo Seo-hyuk, who was quietly looking at it, asked a question in a low voice so that Go Dong-ju and Han Yi-gyeol couldn’t hear it.

“Master. About Han Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“Say it.”

“There seems to be something going on with the shopkeeper here.”

“It certainly does seem so.”

“Is it okay if you leave it alone?”

“I don’t have any guesses either, so it’s better to watch and see for now.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who hesitated for a moment at Cheon Sa-yeon’s relaxed response, opened his mouth again.

“Then, if he was down again like he did a few days ago…”

“Hmm.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had his chin on the bar table, gave a strange smile and looked at Woo Seo-hyuk.

“Looks like you care a lot. About Talented Han Yi-gyeol.”

“…we can’t go to the hospital, so I think it would be better to reduce the stress factor.”

“If you’re so concerned, why not ask him directly? I don’t know if Talented Han Yi-gyeol will give any answer.”

“……”

Surely it was. Woo Seo-hyuk was well aware of Han Yi-gyeol’s personality, who hid everything as he could.

Still, wasn’t he being honest with Cheon Sa-yeon to some degree? So he tried to bring it out, but it seemed he misunderstood. Feeling the bitter taste in his mouth, Woo Seo-hyuk swallowed a sigh.

* * *

About 40 minutes had passed since Kwon Se-hyun left the store. It wasn’t far from the motel, so if there were no other problems, he should have met Gyu Tae-sik by now to understand the situation.

The remaining time until the store opened was now 20 minutes. Since we had finished cleaning and tidying up, we would be able to open the business as usual and wait for Kwon Se-hyun.

‘But why am I so anxious…’

As I put my hand on my chest, I felt my heart beating rapidly, pounding.

Is it because I gave Kwon Se-hyun the location of the motel? It was a new future that even I didn’t know about after finding out Gyeongseong’s hiding place and sending an employee there.

So, I thought a lot about whether it was the right choice to tell Kwon Se-hyun. However, if the end was death anyway, wouldn’t it be okay to try to move in a different direction?

Anyway, it was already spilled and I couldn’t get it back… Now all I could do was wait for Kwon Se-hyun and Gyu Tae-sik to return safely.

When I returned from cleaning with the vacuum, I saw Go Dong-ju spinning around the centre of the hall, restless. Watching him look twice as anxious as I was, relieved me a little bit of tension.

“Dong-ju hyung-nim. Please can you stay still?”

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I should have sent Hyung-nim alone. I should follow him.”

Go Dong-ju, who was worried about Kwon Se-hyun, confessed his inner feelings without making a remark such as ‘don’t call Hyung-nim’ this time.

“If it’s not Dong-ju hyung-nim, who’s going to look after the store? Boss trusted Dong-ju hyung-nim and left.”

“Ahem. That’s it, but…”

As I comforted him lightly, Go Dong-ju laughed softly. So easy. As I tapped Go Dong-ju like that, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi!”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

As I turned around in surprise, Min Ah-rin and Edward greeted me in front of the store door. After that, Ha Tae-heon, Kim Woo-jin, and Park Geon-ho, who were off work today, were also together.

“How are you all…”

“We stopped by on the way back to the hotel.”

Min Ah-rin and Edward looked around the store with curious expressions. Piik, Fox’s cry could also be heard near Min Ah-rin’s shoulders. He followed with invisibility.

Come to think of it, was this the second time these two had come to see Dies? When I first arrived at the space, I was so restless and immediately we were kicked out, so this would probably be the first time to see it properly.

Like me, Cheon Sa-yeon and Kwon Jeong-han approached to see if they really heard Min Ah-rin’s voice.

“It seems like we are all on our way after looking at the exit.”

“Did anything change from yesterday?”

At Kwon Jeong-han’s words, Edward smiled awkwardly and shook his head. As expected.

“What is it, little guy. Your friends? Those in the back are newcomers.”

“Hello.”

Min Ah-rin, seeing the large-sized Go Dong-ju that suddenly appeared, greeted him politely with a smile. It was surprising, but she didn’t even blink. Awesome.

“Hm, hm, you are a very bright young lady. Don’t stand there and come in.”

“Wa, is that okay?”

“Yeah. It’s a store that sells alcohol, so you can’t stay long. Ahem.”

Go Dong-ju, who was disarmed at once with Min Ah-rin’s smile, coughed and opened the door wide. Then he stabbed me in the side rib with a cold expression on his face.

“Little guy, is that your girlfriend?”

“Pardon? Who… Min Ah-rin-ssi?”

“She has a pretty name, too. Good time, good time!”

“What kind of misunderstanding… it’s not like that.”

“Don’t be ashamed! My wife is so beautiful and pretty too. She has a good personality. Well… she’s already married a guy like me, but she’s an angel among the angels.”

“Oh, yes.”

Worrying about Kwon Se-hyun disappeared suddenly and Go Dong-ju began to boast about his wife. Ignoring that, I approached Edward, who was looking at the wine bar.

“Did anything else happen except for the exit?”

“Yes. There was no problem.”

Edward answered me and looked around the hall. A swarm of lights filled his two eyes.

Are you trying to use your abilities here as well? We didn’t find anything particularly suspicious, but Edward’s ability might find something else.

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

“Yes?”

Park Geon-ho, who was wandering around the first floor, came up to me and opened his mouth.

“The atmosphere in the store is somehow strange. What happened?”

You already noticed that? I was surprised by Park Geon-ho’s quick wit and came up with an appropriate answer.

“There was nothing. The store owner was away.”

“Ah, Manager.”

“Why?”

At Park Geon-ho’s attitude as if he was hiding something, I raised my head slightly wary. Park Geon-ho knew the name of ‘Kwon Se-hyun’ through the club incident the other day, so I had to be careful.

“No, it’s just that the atmosphere is different from usual. If it’s harder than that, do you want me to do the job for you?”

“I don’t need it.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the question was brought up without meaning. It was a moment when I sighed in relief inside. Ha Tae-heon, who was standing next to him, suddenly frowned and turned his head.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”

“There seems to be something wrong.”

The direction he was looking was the back door of the store. At the same time Ha Tae-heon finished speaking, one of the staff members ran into the room alone, having nosebleeds in dirty clothes.

“Hyu, Hyung-nim! Dong-ju hyung-nim!”

“What?”

“Gyeongseong, these bastards rushed through the back door!”

Go Dong-ju’s face was terribly distorted at the words he shouted in an angry voice.

‘Gyeongseong has already come?’

To say that they came today instead of tomorrow, my mind was complicatedly tangled in the sudden situation.

Could it be that they deliberately brought Kwon Se-hyun to the motel? To attack by taking advantage of his absence?

‘There’s a possibility.’

Looking back, I saw a lot of guys hired by Gyeongseong today. Was it all for a reason?

“I was cleaning out the trash and someone kicked me from behind… ugh!”

The employee further explained that he might have broken his nose bone and continued bleeding with a swollen face. Go Dong-ju, seeing this, clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, gather the kids and you go right away and get treatment. And…”

“Dong-ju hyung-nim!”

Before Go Dong-ju finished speaking, this time another employee on the second floor hurried down the stairs with a cell phone.

“We got a call from the headquarters. He, he’s on the way to the store now…”

“What? Headquarters?”

“……!”

For a moment, I was out of breath. My heart started beating rapidly at the feeling of the cold blood cooling all over my body. The ‘headquarters’ that the employees spoke of meant only one thing.

‘That man…’

Is coming here. Now.