Even when he didn’t know the face, he liked it, but after learning the face, the only thought was that he had to hold onto Baek Seungyeon. Meeting him on the hospital rooftop was a stroke of divine luck. Even then, truthfully, he’d done the background check because he liked the face…
“I don’t know when you’ll contact me, so that means I have to keep waiting only for you. It doesn’t seem like it ends with just meeting for an hour or two, and thinking about that, honestly, one hundred thou… seems a bit lacking.”
Baek Seungyeon glanced around, gauging the situation. Even though his intent to ask for more money was transparent, perhaps because of that face, he only seemed cute. Jung Sanho subtly set the stage for him to continue.
“How much do you want? Try saying it first.”
“Uh… um, then one hundred fifty…?”
“Are you kidding? If one hundred is not enough, you should ask for more than double. What’s with one hundred fifty… Fine. Then let’s make it three hundred a day. Is that enough?”
“Three hundred a day…?”
“Not enough? Then four hundred—”
“No no, it’s fine! You don’t have to go that far!”
Baek Seungyeon hastily waved his hands. At the words that four hundred wasn’t necessary, Jung Sanho crossed his arms.
“Then three hundred a day it is. That’s fine, right?”
At those words, Baek Seungyeon also nodded. Looking at his dazed face, Jung Sanho took out his phone.
“I’m a person with common sense too. I won’t call you out of the blue, so don’t worry. But if you don’t meet me, there’s no money either. And most importantly, you have to contact me without fail every single day. No problem, right?”
When he pressed the call button on his phone, a vibration sounded from Baek Seungyeon’s pocket. He gestured with his hand, signaling him to answer quickly.
“Hello?”
Baek Seungyeon’s voice overlapped from beyond the phone. Jung Sanho stared at him intently and spoke.
“Save this as my number. Starting today, so keep that in mind.”
Leaving behind Baek Seungyeon, who couldn’t even hide his flustered expression, Jung Sanho stood up from his seat. He’d given his phone number and issued a warning, so it should be fine now.
Before leaving the cafe, Jung Sanho glanced back and pointed at Baek Seungyeon with his index finger.
“Just try not contacting me.”
When he made a throat-slitting gesture, Baek Seungyeon’s shoulders flinched. Only then did Jung Sanho smile with satisfaction.
*
Midday downtown, the cafe was bustling with various people. Office workers wearing employee IDs, seemingly from nearby companies, and people gathered in small groups having conversations were all immersed in their own business. Among them, Seungyeon stared out the window with an enlightened face.
“Whew…”
A heavy sigh flowed out between his lips. Seungyeon, who’d been gazing outside the cafe with distant eyes, moistened his throat with his drink. Facing his fourth breakup today, he kept tensing his toes with nervousness. He checked the drink he was holding once more.
Iced americano. He’d unified the other person’s drink with iced too. The ice had melted moderately, so even if it got poured on him, it probably wouldn’t hurt too much. Seungyeon steeled his resolve.
Ding-a-ling, the cafe bell rang and a familiar person appeared. Mihee noona, who’d been looking around the shop, discovered him and approached with a bright face.
“Seungyeon, it’s been a while—”
“Noona, let’s break up.”
Seungyeon announced the breakup without even giving her a chance to speak. No matter what Mihee noona, whose face had frozen stiff, said, Seungyeon kept his head down and only repeated “let’s break up.”
She shed tears in shock, and the cafe customers’ gazes poured over them. Seungyeon spoke with sincerity.
“Noona, I’m really sorry…”
“You son of a bitch!”
Mihee noona poured the iced americano on Seungyeon. Huffing and wiping away tears, she rushed out of the cafe. The drink dripped down his chin. Letting out a deep sigh, Seungyeon raised his head.
[A major rule violation has been detected! The balance of the world is collapsing due to behavior inconsistent with the possessed body’s nature. To restore this, a penalty corresponding to your body will be immediately imposed!]
[Nullifying the penalty! You currently possess a total of 2 nullification rights.]
To think I still have 2 left, that’s quite a lot. Seungyeon pulled out wet wipes from his bag with an indifferent face. While he was scrubbing the wet table, an employee approached with a dishcloth.
“Customer, are you alright?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll clean everything up here before I go.”
Seungyeon wore an apologetic expression and quickly wiped the wet table. After cleaning up the drinks with the employee who said it was fine, he grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom. After changing into the spare clothes he’d prepared knowing this would happen, he felt much more relieved.
Humans are creatures of adaptation—having repeated this act continuously, he’d developed a knack for it. After cleaning his hands thoroughly too, Seungyeon came out and trudged along.
With Mihee noona being the last, there was no one left to say goodbye to. He still had 2 penalty nullification rights remaining, so he’d have to rack his brain about how to use them.
Seungyeon rubbed between his brows and traced through his thoughts.
The fact that he’d obtained a large quantity of penalty nullification rights was thanks to Jung Sanho. Besides the shocking 3 million won deal, Jung Sanho had left behind many things.
He wouldn’t have known, but every time Seungyeon made eye contact with Jung Sanho, the status window rang incessantly. Penalty nullification rights poured down like rain due to the Specific Person’s rising favorability. To that degree, no matter how stupid Seungyeon was, he couldn’t not know Jung Sanho’s true feelings.
“What kind of taste does he have to like me?”
Saying “me” was honestly a bit ambiguous. Since the person Jung Sanho had continuously conversed with was the real Baek Seungyeon, the object of his affection should be considered Baek Seungyeon. Even though the current face and the old face were the same, the contents were completely different.
Or not? Just from making eye contact he seemed to like it to death, so thinking about it that way, maybe he’s just face-obsessed…
“Ha, I don’t know. Let’s just not think about it.”
There was no answer even if he thought about it anyway. Whatever Jung Sanho’s tastes were, what did it matter? In any case, the fact that he was an inexhaustible fountain of wealth didn’t change.
Money was one thing, but the benefits Jung Sanho gave Seungyeon without even knowing were too great. Thanks to the penalty nullification rights, Seungyeon could safely say goodbye to his hyungs and noonas. Sometimes he got drinks poured on him or got slapped, but that was bearable. Compared to what he’d done, it was just a drop in the bucket, and wet clothes could just be changed.
Seungyeon let out a sigh and scratched his head. When he touched his hair, a faint coffee scent spread. Should I have cleaned it more thoroughly earlier?
I’ll go home, take a shower, and in the evening I’ll go see a movie with Mom. And I’ll think about tomorrow’s matters tomorrow. He didn’t want to suffer over problems with no answers even if he worried about them.
Things with Baek Sehee were still quiet too. Wouldn’t she be preoccupied preparing for a company project around now? Seungyeon blankly recalled the flow of the original work. What happened around this time? I’m slightly confused whether the watch incident was before or after this. Whatever it is, her future of suffering miserably will be similar…
“No wait, I have 2 nullification rights, so I could help her, couldn’t I?”
Looking at the content mentioned by the status window, it seemed that penalties occurred when things deviated from the existing flow. In other words, if Seungyeon tried to help Baek Sehee, there was a high probability he’d receive a penalty.
But he possessed the invincible nullification rights. If Seungyeon used the facts he knew and the nullification rights appropriately, the suffering Baek Sehee would endure would also decrease.
Just then, his phone buzzed. A message came in under the name ‘Jung Sanho.’
[What are you doing today? If you have nothing to do, want to meet now?]
Before he could answer, an address flew in. After contemplating briefly, Seungyeon obediently replied.
[Got it]
When meeting Jung Sanho, obtaining nullification rights was no big deal. When he gave money and freedom too, there was no reason not to see him.
“Even if he’s a bit peculiar, he’s not a bad kid, so…”
He pressed the address to check the route. It was a department store not far away, so he could arrive within 30 minutes at most. When Seungyeon had typed “I’ll meet you in 30 mi” in a text, the phone rang. Confirming Jung Sanho’s name, he pressed the call button.
“Hello?”
— If you send me your location, I’ll come pick you up.
“Huh? No, I can get there on my own.”
— I know where you are anyway, so I’ll just come get you myself.
Refusal was refused—with a unilateral notice, the call abruptly ended. Beep beep, only the disconnected dial tone echoed emptily through the phone.
“How does he know where I am and say he’ll come find me?”
I thought he was like a stalker, but is he really a stalker? With wary eyes, Seungyeon looked around his surroundings. Standing in place like that, exactly 3 minutes later, a honking sound came from the roadway.
What appeared with its hazard lights on was a jet-black SUV. When the car window rolled down, Jung Sanho sitting in the back seat was visible.
“Get in.”
