Chapter 176

Chapter 176

In-Ah struggled to understand the scene in front of her. As if a fragment of time had been sliced off, the landscape surrounding her had changed when she opened her eyes.

Her body felt weak. She looked down because she felt a cold sensation on her wrist, and she saw that her hands were bound by handcuffs.

"..."

When she lifted her head, she saw Sun-Woo, and next to him, she saw Dae-Man covered in mud. When she saw the two of them, her fragmented memories came back to her.

She had been wandering around searching for tokens, and she encountered Sun-Woo who was covered in blood. He said that he had fought with Dae-Man and was injured as a result, and he said that he would give up on the exam before hugging her. In-Ah had been unable to push him away, and she let him do as he wished. She had no memory of what happened after that.

"You said that you fought with him..." In-Ah said while looking back and forth between Dae-Man and Sun-Woo.

Dae-Man stared at Sun-Woo as if this was news to him. Sun-Woo lowered his head with a troubled expression and avoided eye contact. The atmosphere felt awkward, but no matter how anyone looked at it, there were no signs of a fight between them.

She was missing her memories and the situation was different from what Sun-Woo had described. If she combined this with the fact that she had become a hostage after opening her eyes, it was clear what had happened.

"You...!" In-Ah exclaimed with wide eyes and a trembling voice.

It was evident that he had deceived her with false sympathy in order to narrow the distance. After doing so, he took her consciousness and turned her into a hostage. She didn’t know what method he had used to take away her consciousness. If it was Sun-Woo, he could have used any method, whether it was by hitting her vital point or by skillfully utilizing a blessing. Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

"You tricked me!"

Sun-Woo trembled and dropped his gaze to the ground upon hearing her resentment. In-Ah glared at Sun-Woo with a betrayed expression.

"I trusted you...!"

"..."

Sun-Woo lowered his head. Those unfamiliar with the situation could only watch the two fighting from a distance. Su-Ryeon watched the situation with a faint smile as if she were enjoying it.

After a brief silence, Sun-Woo raised his head as if he was determined to say something.

"So, so... um..."

"So what? Speak properly!"

"...So you shouldn’t have trusted someone like me!"

"What? Huh, what kind of...!"

In-Ah repeated the word what several times, showing how astonished she was. She was so astounded that she couldn't even finish her sentences properly. Sun-Woo turned his back completely on In-Ah and looked around. It looked as if he was checking his teammates’ reactions.

Eventually, he calmly started a strategy meeting. In-Ah glared at Sun-Woo with resentment, but he didn't even glance at her. They were clearly in the middle of an exam, and Sun-Woo had only mentioned giving up, but he hadn't actually given up on the exam.

Sun-Woo had strategically lied, and he hadn't done anything wrong. Despite that, In-Ah felt resentful toward him, and in a way, even sad. He clearly promised not to lie to her during the night with a sky full of stars, on the deserted bench at school.

"From what I’m hearing, it seems like Sun-Woo was in the wrong. Am I right?" someone said in a mischievous tone.

In-Ah had been looking at the ground with a bitter expression, and she raised her head. Su-Ryeon was speaking to her. Like In-Ah, she was also a hostage.

In-Ah didn't say anything, but Ha-Yeon was next to her and interjected, "No, it was your fault for getting tricked."

In-Ah continued to remain silent. Su-Ryeon had nothing to do with the situation, but she got angry.

"How can you say that? How is it her fault for getting tricked?"

“It’s foolish to trust someone else’s words during an exam.”

"Hey, it's wrong for clergymen to lie in the first place! And these two are not just strangers to each other."

"What do you mean by 'not just strangers to each other?’"

"They're not just strangers to each other, so what I mean is..."

Su-Ryeon glanced at In-Ah. She didn’t seem to be thinking of anything in particular. It looked like her mind was in too much of a state of chaos to form thoughts. However, her eyes were still fixed on Sun-Woo.

Su-Ryeon pursed her lips in hesitation before letting out a deep sigh.

"Anyway, I’m just saying that they aren’t strangers."

"Does that kind of relationship really exist?"

"Yes, it exists. For example, like family, or... lovers, or something like that?"

Ha-Yeon bit her lower lip.

At that moment, one of my team members urgently called me. It was the team member that I had instructed to guard Ha-Yeon. There was panic in his voice.

When I went over, Ha-Yeon was breathing heavily with a pale face. Wasn’t her face originally pale? Anyway, she didn’t look well.

I approached Ha-Yeon and asked, "What's wrong?"

She raised her hands which were tied with handcuffs and said, "Th-these."

"What? The handcuffs?"

"Please untie them, even just one side. It's suffocating, I can't breathe..." Ha-Yeon said.

Ha-Yeon’s dry lips trembled and her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. Because her breathing was uneven, her speech was stuttering unevenly. Her skin was beyond pale and was now approaching a bluish hue.

It seemed like she had some trauma related to being restrained. There must have been a reason why she had been whining since earlier about having her handcuffs removed.

"Dae-Man, the key please."

"Got it. Just a moment... This isn't working well. This is why touchscreens..."

Dae-Man was busy trying to get his digital watch to work. His fingers were too thick, making it difficult for him to operate the watch. With furrowed brows, Dae-Man looked at the watch screen and then sighed before taking out the key from his pocket and handing it to me.

"Sorry. I’m struggling to send the negotiation request."

"Take your time. If it doesn't work, have someone else do it."

"No, I want to do it. But it's not easy..." Dae-Man said while trying to manipulate the watch again with rough hand movements.

I nodded and inserted the key into Ha-Yeon's handcuffs.

Click.

I released one side of the handcuffs. Ha-Yeon looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.

"Did you really unlock it?"

"Just one side."

I grabbed one of the unlocked handcuffs and pulled it toward me. Ha-Yeon weakly fell toward me as she was pulled. She blinked in confusion and looked up at me.

"I'll be the one carrying the unlocked side," I said.

"...What is this? It's like I’m a pet dog!"

"If you're unhappy, I can lock both sides."

"Why not just unlock both sides?"

"What if you try to escape?"

"I won't run away."

"How can I trust you? Just shut up and follow me."

After speaking a little harshly, Ha-Yeon finally closed her mouth. Although she glared at me with hostility, she didn't seem as unwell as before. It was actually a good thing because it meant that she had enough stamina to be able to glare at me.

"Sun-Woo!" Dae-Man called out.

"I’ve requested a negotiation. Now all we have to do is wait right?" Dae-Man asked.

"What? What’s this?"

Dae-Man frowned and looked at his watch. His eyebrows twitched strangely as if he saw something strange.

At first, he thought that he had made a mistake. He thought that he had requested a negotiation with the Department of Crusaders instead of the Department of Priests or that he had chosen the wrong team to negotiate with.

"...What’s this? They responded to our request as if they were waiting for it.”

Fortunately, that was not the case. However, the phrase “as if they were waiting for it” bothered me.

With a serious expression, Dae-Man said, "The negotiation point is right here. There's no need to move. Something feels off..."

Dae-Man looked up and glanced somewhere. I also turned my gaze in that direction. In the distance, a man with blond hair that was wet from the rain approached with threatening steps.

It was Yu-Hyun.

He was alone, but there was a confident ease in his stride. It was as if he knew that we would request negotiations right here at this exact time and exact place.