“What’s your name, student?”
Byun Taehui opened the glove box, took out wet wipes, handed them to Pyeonghwa, and asked. Pyeonghwa clenched his fist as if the question he’d been waiting for had finally come.
“Noh Pyeonghwa!”
“Mm, Pyeonghwa. How did you get to know this hyung? It doesn’t seem like you met for the first time today.”
“We did though? I just saw him for the first time today.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. He suddenly hit me and threatened me, telling me to cooperate with him. So I just decided to do it.”
“This hyung doesn’t give just anyone a ride in his car. So I thought you might be close~”
“We’re not close. I don’t even know his name. And giving me a ride is a threat. He knows where I live, so if I act up, he’ll kill me!”
Pyeonghwa stuck right to the passenger seat backrest and lowered his voice huffing. As if Dohae wouldn’t be able to hear him doing that.
Oh my, look at this kid? He’s not reading the room… Byun Taehui’s thin eyebrows wriggled suspiciously.
“He got hit on the head earlier and is acting like that.”
Dohae tossed out a comment from the side. Whether he knew or not that it was even more suspicious because of behavior he wouldn’t normally do. When Byun Taehui didn’t respond, Dohae hesitated for a moment before adding.
“He’s a bit… off, taste-wise.”
“Mm, if you say so, then it must be so.”
“…”
It was a nuance that said she didn’t believe it at all but would let it slide. Tsk, this is why I didn’t want her tagging along… Dohae clicked his tongue quietly.
Do Jeongwang hadn’t attached her as a surveillance role for no reason. Byun Taehui was the person who had watched him the longest among Do Jeongwang’s lackeys. Still, living with her wasn’t completely without benefits.
Byun Taehui was capricious. She would blow up minor mistakes into big deals and get him beaten by Do Jeongwang, yet she didn’t inform the higher-ups about the fact that he was exchanging messages with Pax. When was it that she had to stick close for 24-hour surveillance, yet today she sent Dohae to Jangmak University alone.
Dohae had thought Byun Taehui’s behavior was simply capriciousness. Until he witnessed her secretly exchanging messages with someone.
The reason Dohae didn’t trust Byun Taehui wasn’t just because she was Haedo’s cousin. The bigger reason was that Byun Taehui belonged to Do Jeongwang’s personal secretariat ‘Cheonnyuldan (Heavenly Law Corps)’. Cheonnyuldan was a pseudo-cult fanatic group that worshipped Do Jeongwang, who had reigned in first place for over half a century, like an omnipotent god.
Dohae wasn’t foolish enough to let such a person into his territory and take no action. Every night, he hid in darkness using Erebos’s power and monitored Byun Taehui as she submitted reports.
The reports were always formal and brief. Because Dohae’s daily life didn’t deviate from the scripted scenario, there was nothing worth reporting if she didn’t write about Pax-related matters.
Then one day, Dohae witnessed Byun Taehui exchanging cipher language with someone through a communication item. He couldn’t immediately decode the cipher language, but the report Byun Taehui wrote that day had important content completely missing. Dohae suspected there might be someone who reviewed it before reporting to the higher-ups.
He tried to decode the cipher, but it was twisted in double and triple layers, so he could only solve a few words. But even those few were enough to guess who the other party was. Because the title Byun Taehui called them was ‘Father’.
‘Vice Guild Master Byun Sejung.’
Byun Taehui’s father, Vice Guild Master Byun Sejung, was currently in charge of the actual administrative work of Dojeon Guild. Since he was Do Jeongwang’s in-law, he was naturally on Do Jeongwang’s side, but he wasn’t blindly devoted like Cheonnyuldan, nor did he reveal his lust for power like the board of directors. He was a competent administrator and a figure Do Jeongwang had placed in the vice guild master position to keep the board in check.
Byun Sejung and Byun Taehui had a father-son relationship but were worse than strangers. The incident when Byun Sejung beat him nearly to death in front of people when Byun Taehui first came to work in women’s clothing was still being talked about even ten years later.
‘Pretending to be on bad terms… for what?’
Though different in nature, both were Do Jeongwang’s people. Dohae, who had been pondering why they secretly joined hands, reached one conclusion.
‘Are they preparing for after Do Jeongwang’s death?’
Given Do Jeongwang’s age, it was a topic worth considering. There was no possibility Do Jeongwang would hand over the guild to Byun Sejung, who didn’t share a drop of blood. The next guild master would likely be elected from the board of directors composed of Do family bloodline.
If that happened, Byun Sejung, who wasn’t on good terms with the board, would have difficulty keeping his vice guild master position. No, leaving the position aside, he could disappear without a trace. His entire family, including his son Byun Taehui.
Haedo would also have problems. Haedo’s greenhouse was a space that required endless pouring of money like a bottomless pit. The monthly maintenance cost of the greenhouse easily exceeded Dojeon Guild’s annual budget. It was questionable whether the board would be willing to bear such maintenance costs after Do Jeongwang’s death.
If the Byun Sejung and Byun Taehui father-son duo were joining hands for such reasons, he could understand. But there were still suspicious aspects. Do Jeongwang wasn’t at death’s door, and they were scheming behind the scenes knowing full well he was a monster-like old man who would be fine for decades to come? And manipulating information about him, the most sensitive part?
‘If caught, they’ll die immediately.’
Whatever intentions they harbored, now that he held their weakness, there was no need to rush. Once he finished decoding the cipher, he would be the one to decide when and how to use this weakness. Whether to approach first, or wait…
As Dohae tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips lost in thought, Pyeonghwa in the back seat fidgeted restlessly, dripping cold sweat. The sudden break in conversation and the chilling air inside the car felt like it was all his fault.
‘Are those two going to break up at this rate…?’
Pyeonghwa still mistook Dohae and Byun Taehui for lovers. Due to the Constellation’s influence, Byun Taehui had a delicate bone structure and didn’t build muscle, so even the sharp-eyed Pyeonghwa didn’t notice he was male.
‘They can’t break up!’
At the thought that Do Dohae’s retaliation after being dumped by his girlfriend might be directed at him, Pyeonghwa was seized with fear. He wanted to somehow break this atmosphere, but today his head felt foggy as if covered in mist. Pyeonghwa groaned and banged his forehead against the passenger seat backrest.
Pyeonghwa stealthily opened his phone and searched ‘how to change a tense atmosphere.’ First, make small talk about common interests. We don’t have common interests though… Second, gently ease the atmosphere through compliments. There’s nothing to compliment though…
‘Ah!’
A way to make small talk about the two people’s interests excluding himself, while naturally leading to compliments, came to mind. Pyeonghwa, who had gained confidence in his speaking skills from recent broadcasting, raised his head with a snap and boldly opened his mouth.
“Hyung, you can’t kiss, right?”
“…What?”
“I saw somewhere. Tall people are stiff like telephone poles when they kiss, so it’s not good.”
“Oh my?”
“Noona is tall for a woman, so that’s fortunate. Hyung can be less stiff.”
“Huhu, my honey doesn’t get stiff with me though…”
“See! A match made in heaven!”
Dohae let out an absurd laugh, and next to him Byun Taehui responded with interest. Success! Pyeonghwa clenched his fist and rode the momentum to continue with the next question.
“Noona, why do you like hyung?”
“Well~ Because I want to make him cry? But he won’t cry once in front of me.”
“He does look like not a drop of blood would come out even if you stabbed him.”
“Blood comes out.”
“See that? He can’t even understand jokes and gets upset. Total no-fun. But what’s noona’s name?”
Though she hadn’t been officially active for a long time, many people remembered Byun Taehui, who was once a famous Hunter. Even if her cross-dressing appearance had never been revealed, her surname was uncommon, so there was a possibility of being caught. Worried Byun Taehui might say her real name, Dohae spoke first.
“Bongsuk. Byun Bongsuk.”
“Bongsuk? Wow, such a countrified name. It sounds like the name of a soy sauce crab restaurant.”
Dohae’s shoulders flinched. Because the name of the restaurant that had been on the roadside earlier was ‘Bongsuk’s Soy Sauce Crab.’ Byun Taehui, who had suddenly become Bongsuk, forced up the corners of her mouth to smile and massaged Dohae’s shoulder.
“Pyeonghwa, aren’t you curious about our honey’s name too?”
“Um… not really curious.”
“It’s Chunsik. Kim Chunsik.”
“Chunsik, kugh! Kim Chunsik? Puhaha! Chunsik hyung, the name really fits perfectly. It sounds like a rice shop owner’s name!”
Pyeonghwa couldn’t hold back his laughter even knowing it was a fake name. As Pyeonghwa noisily held his stomach and giggled, Dohae, whose mood had soured, glared at Byun Taehui with fierce eyes.
“Noona, Bongsuk is prettier than Chunsik. Have confidence.”
“Thanks~ Pyeonghwa is handsome too. Not my type though.”
“You’re not my style either, noona. I’m more drawn to testo-girls than estro-girls.”
“Oh my, do I seem estro?”
“Yes. Totally estro 100 percent.”
Ha! Dohae snorted loudly enough for all to hear. Since it was slang he’d heard while filming broadcasts, he also knew what ‘estro’ meant.
“Bongsuk has fucking tons of testosterone.”
“In hyung’s view, is noona testo?”
“Yeah. Just a male bastard.”
At Dohae’s sarcasm, Pyeonghwa stealthily watched Byun Taehui’s reaction. Is it okay to do that to his girlfriend? Dohae seemed like someone desperate to get dumped.
