# Chapter 132
Iyeon quietly held his breath and peered through the communicator. Though he couldn’t hear D.S’s voice, that fact actually worried him more.
Mirae’s workshop experience, which supposedly happened just once—Iyeon knew exactly when it was. It was when Iyeon had pushed Heesu to introduce Mirae to D.S. Back then, Mirae wasn’t even allowed to enter the workshop. D.S had sent her away with an indefinite promise.
[She said if I waited patiently, I could go again.]
Despite that, it had remained a precious memory—to the point that if asked to name her favorite place, it would come first.
“Hyung, the rendering’s done. I’ll send it to you.”
It was Hyegang who took the microphone in place of the silent D.S. As soon as his soft words ended, a 3D map spread across the blue lens. Iyeon’s eyes scanned the large area, and he unconsciously muttered.
“…What the hell?”
“What’s wrong, whoa…”
Responding to Iyeon’s stunned voice, Hyegang began to answer questioningly before letting out a groan. Having sent the map immediately after completing the work, this was also the first time Hyegang had properly checked its contents.
The Jin family’s main residence consisted of two large areas: the main house and the guest house. Even the guest house, about half the size of the main house, was a mansion with about seven rooms, so one could imagine how enormous the scale of the main house must be just by looking at the map.
At first glance, however, it didn’t seem strange. There were quite a lot of rooms, but naturally, bigger houses have more rooms and bathrooms. It was an understandable level.
That is, above ground.
“Noona D.S. Did you know the house had this structure?”
As Hyegang whispered seriously, D.S seemed to have come to her senses. The sound of rustling clothes could be heard before suddenly stopping.
“…What is that? Something like this was in the house?”
Seeing that even D.S, who once lived in this house, couldn’t hide her surprise and muttered blankly, it seemed like a space that wasn’t disclosed even to most family members. If that was the case, it was currently the most suspicious place. Iyeon zoomed in on the map.
There was an additional floor underground, with the exact same area as the massive main house.
“I guess… we should go to the main house?”
While the map was being rendered, the two of them had almost finished looking around the guest house. The guest house just felt like a slightly large family home. Being a space where a child stayed, it seemed that hardly any guests, let alone servants, came and went. The evidence was that they hadn’t encountered anyone while sneaking around and opening doors to every room in the entire guest house.
Sano seemed to have the same thought, nodding his head briefly. The two began walking toward the main house, following the map.
Because the house was so huge, it took quite some time just to get from the guest house to the main house. Walking through the endless silence, they came upon a garden connected to a large building.
…Come to think of it, we’ve been walking around the house with our shoes on. Sorry… Iyeon glanced awkwardly between his feet and the floor they had passed over.
“Seriously…”
Sano clicked his tongue and tilted his head, and instantly, the dirt marks they had made while passing through seemed to disappear, as if burrowing into the floor.
“Wow, you’re amazing.”
“Surprisingly, Sano hyung’s ability is useful in everyday life.”
Despite Iyeon and Hyegang’s admiration, Sano merely snorted and was about to step into the garden when he stopped. At his unnatural movement, Iyeon curiously rose to his tiptoes to look over Sano’s shoulder. In that instant, Sano roughly grabbed Iyeon’s arm and pulled him.
His view suddenly spun halfway. In front of his eyes was the corridor of the guest house they had been walking through, and at the back of his head, a solid chest was pressed against him. A large hand completely covered Iyeon’s lower face. Though no particular force was applied, Iyeon froze, unable to even scream.
Hiding behind a pillar thick enough to conceal even a large man, Sano held his breath. A small sign of movement was heard from the veranda of the main house connected to the garden. Iyeon also belatedly heard the sound. So he hid because he saw someone. What a shock… Iyeon struggled to calm his wildly beating heart, trying desperately not to pay attention to Sano’s fingers and embrace. The soft fur of Seven-Seven twined deeply around his fingers.
“Hyung. Were you very surprised? Your heart rate…”
Be, be quiet, Lee Hyegang. Iyeon scolded Hyegang inwardly, unable to make a sound. He had never felt as embarrassed as today about the fact that Hyegang could monitor his condition through the goggles. It’s strange. I didn’t feel this nervous when I was with Hyeseong-ssi… although we weren’t this close together… Fortunately, Sano didn’t seem to notice anything strange in Hyegang’s words, as he showed little reaction.
After a moment, Sano’s hand moved slightly away from Iyeon’s cheek. As soon as his mouth was freed, Iyeon whispered softly.
“Are they gone?”
A faint breath touched the palm, but only Sano felt it. Sano completely lowered his hand, which seemed to be heating up, and said.
“They haven’t gone far yet, so we need to follow.”
“Huh?”
Iyeon opened his round eyes at the incomprehensible words. Sano, who had seen the face of the only person pacing on the veranda at this hour, added an explanation.
“It’s Lee Seeun.”
He had accurately distinguished Seeun’s face from Semi’s even when he first saw them. So if Sano said it was Seeun, not Semi, he must be right.
“Lee Seeun-ssi was here?”
“Yes.”
Seeun is the collaborator who helped Semi escape. She shouldn’t be in a position to walk around the house openly. The courtyard connecting the main house and the guest house was surrounded by buildings on all sides, making it not a structure where one could walk around comfortably.
“Let’s go.”
Iyeon gestured to Sano with his eyes. Sano readily took the lead.
They could soon spot Seeun’s back. As they saw the familiar bob cut swaying as she walked through the dark corridor, the two slowed their pace a little.
Seeun looked somewhat anxious. Her hunched shoulders and constantly looking around gave the impression that she was being extremely cautious and frightened. Her face, dimly revealed in the moonlight, was drained of blood, pale white.
“Where is she going?”
“It’s a bit of a detour… but the direction is toward the guest house.”
Hyegang answered Iyeon’s mumbling. Guest house? Come to think of it, they had hidden upon seeing Seeun in the garden connecting the main house and guest house. For some reason, she seemed to have chosen to take the long way around instead of crossing directly.
If there was anyone who should be in the guest house at this hour, there was only one person. Mirae.
“Let’s catch her.”
Iyeon had a strong feeling that Seeun might be related to Mirae. At Iyeon’s words, Sano nodded almost imperceptibly.
“A little further ahead there’s a room. Looking at the furniture, it seems to be used as a pantry or dressing room.”
Hyegang provided appropriate information. The two approached Seeun a bit more. Seeun didn’t seem to realize she was being followed, as she just kept moving hurriedly. Rather than lacking caution, she seemed too nervous to pay attention to such details.
Just after she disappeared around a corner, the two closed the distance as if by agreement. White sand gathered on top of the feet of the person a couple of steps ahead.
“Ah…!”
As Seeun tripped over the line created in an instant, her body tilted to the side with a small scream. Sano, using his ability to pull her, pushed her into the room opened by Iyeon and entered himself. Iyeon, who followed them in, closed the door. With a thud, the corridor became quiet again.
“Hyungs… Have you done this a lot? You’re so in sync.”
“You guys were like a couple of burglars.”
Just as the disgruntled Hyegang and D.S said, the role distribution was as if they had planned it in advance. What do you mean burglars… Iyeon grumbled as he pulled his goggles up to his forehead momentarily and squatted down to be at eye level with the fallen Seeun.
“Lee Seeun-ssi. Do you remember who I am?”
Her mouth was blocked by Sano’s ability. Whether she recognized Sano and Iyeon, her widened eyes and furrowed eyebrows seemed full of intention to scream as soon as her blocked mouth was freed.
“We’re not trying to harm you, just have some questions. If you stay quiet, I’ll let you go.”
As Iyeon put his index finger to his lips with a shush, Seeun’s panting in fear seemed to grow rougher for a moment before subsiding. Although she still blinked anxiously, Sano released his ability after confirming she was much more stable than when they first entered the room.
“How did, Iyeon op-pa, get here…”
Seeun looked back and forth between Sano and Iyeon, backing away cautiously. Her stammering words were mixed with heavy breathing, making her accent a mess.
“Obviously because of a request. Seeun-ssi, you were heading to the guest house, right?”
Without giving her time to answer the question, Iyeon quickly continued.
“Were you going to see Mirae?”
Seeun’s eyes widened. After struggling with what to say for a while, all she managed to blurt out was one sentence.
“…You know Mirae?”
“Lee Seeun-ssi, what’s wrong?”
Iyeon gave a hollow laugh.
“Don’t you remember who my partner was?”
“…!”
Seeming to finally understand the situation, Seeun flinched. Mirae had said she didn’t know Seeun and Semi, but from Seeun’s reaction, she seemed to know Mirae. Then Semi must also know Mirae.
No, perhaps beyond just knowing… Iyeon’s eyes darkened. Should I force her to spill the information? It’s not a method I prefer, but… Just as white sand began to curl between white fingers, an unexpected statement came from Seeun.
“Please, please help, no, save Mirae!”
