Jang Ijung blinked, having received the gift without quite expecting it.
“…What’s this?”
“I heard from the boss that today’s your birthday.”
He wouldn’t tell me his ability, but he’d tell me his birthday. That’s why I’d specifically brought him to the hotel because it was his birthday. Later, when we went to the restaurant, cake would come out for dessert too. Though we wouldn’t be eating it together.
Jang Ijung asked back stupidly.
“Mine?”
“…Guess you forgot.”
I straightened my clothes and continued.
“Anyway, it’s a bit much to work on your birthday, isn’t it? So just rest today.”
It’s not like I’m secretly going off to do something shady.
I’m just being especially considerate toward Ijung on his birthday.
With that feeling in mind, I smiled as much like a good person as I could.
“Birthday…”
Jang Ijung, staring blankly at my face, dropped his gaze to the shopping bag. Still that same dopey expression. I couldn’t tell at all whether he liked it or not.
“You understood what I said, right?”
I really had to leave now.
Knock knock knock knock.
Right on cue, an impatient knock sounded. I quickly grabbed the doorknob.
I glanced back one last time to check the room. I saw Jang Ijung pull out the gift box and fiddle with it.
Good thing he seems to like the bribe.
“I’m heading out, so don’t worry about work… Just rest easy and go get something to eat.”
What I meant was: don’t do anything pointless, just stay put.
“I won’t be back tonight.”
Until I turned my head away, Jang Ijung just kept staring at the gift in his hands, endlessly.
I didn’t even get a thank you, but I opened the door feeling fairly satisfied.
Click.
“Ah, sunbae…”
Sure enough, Lulu was waiting outside the door.
Lulu’s face, which had brightened at the sight of me, gradually colored with shock.
“Sunbae!”
Lulu let out something like a shriek.
“What’s with the bandage? On that precious face!”
“Just a little scratch.”
“Let me see!”
“Wait, just—”
“Why did you get hurt somewhere Lulu doesn’t know about!”
Lulu clung to me, insisting on seeing the wound. I shoved him off with my elbow, and he was pushed away easily.
“…Are you really hurting somewhere? Usually by this point…”
Crackle!
“Kkk!”
[Penalty triggered: 〈Prohibition〉 in effect. (00:05)]
I’d earned a penalty as the price for silence.
Only after being struck did I take the now-calmed Lulu and walk to the elevator. Along the way, I checked over my clothes, searching for any hidden cameras or listening devices that might have been planted.
Fortunately, nothing was attached to my clothes. I’d left my phone behind too, just in case.
After finishing the check, I straightened up, and Lulu pressed the elevator button.
“We need to stop by the first floor. There’s something I left at the front desk.”
“Ah, is that this job’s item?”
“Yeah, something like that…”
Since I’d have to share a room with Jang Ijung, I’d hidden it away just in case.
The elevator doors opened. But a familiar person walked out from the open doors.
“Cheolsu-hyung?”
It was Yeom Hajae, holding a convenience store bag. He looked surprised too, like it hadn’t been intentional.
“Hunter…”
He seemed to grasp the situation after seeing my face and looked away.
Of all places, were we staying on the same floor, at the same place?
It felt too excessive to be coincidence, leaving me with an uneasy feeling. I tilted my head and tried to pass by, but the person blocking the elevator door didn’t move aside.
“…W-where are you headed at this hour in the evening?”
“I have business to take care of.”
“You work so hard.”
“Ha-ha, it’s nothing much.”
“By any chance…”
“?”
Yeom Hajae hesitated.
“Um, if it’s alright with you, later…”
“Sunbae?”
Just as Yeom Hajae was about to say something more, Lulu pulled at my arm.
“Who’s this? A friend?”
“Just someone I know.”
“…….”
Yeom Hajae fell silent for a moment.
“Ah! The doors are closing, sunbae.”
Lulu paid no attention at all to Yeom Hajae, who stood there frozen. Despite having been attacked not long ago, he casually linked his arm with mine.
I placed my hand on his arm. But this time, no matter what I did, he wouldn’t budge.
This little punk.
Having an audience had made him bold. While we silently struggled, my shoulder brushed against someone.
Yeom Hajae stood there blankly, watching the two of us.
Before I could even say goodbye, Lulu breezed right past Yeom Hajae and stepped into the elevator.
Lulu jabbed the close button repeatedly. Yeom Hajae stood slightly pushed back from the doors. Seeing his blank profile, I got a bad feeling.
Just before the elevator doors closed completely, I hurriedly called out a greeting.
“Go get some rest, Hunter.”
“Yes. Good luck with your work…”
Yeom Hajae, who’d been standing there blankly for a moment, gave a shy smile just as the doors closed.
“…….”
“Cheolsu, huh. Sunbae, you’re still using that name?”
As the elevator started moving, Lulu, clinging to my arm, snickered.
I ignored Lulu and watched the red numbers on the display count down one by one. For some reason, an uneasy feeling kept lingering in a corner of my mind.
We stopped by the front desk to pick up the item, then headed straight for the hotel’s top floor, the penthouse.
“Ding-dong~ Delivery!”
Not long after Lulu rang the doorbell, the door opened from inside.
A middle-aged man with a flushed face came stumbling out through the gap in the door, and the smell of alcohol hit us at the same time.
Recognizing him, Lulu spoke up amiably.
“Chairman, here—”
He didn’t even finish his sentence. The man, who’d been leaning against the door, toppled forward. I had no choice but to catch him with my body.
“You’re pretty drunk, huh.”
“Ugh, that smell…”
Lulu openly pinched his nose shut. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand the reaction.
The inside’s probably a mess too, even without looking.
Despite the state he was in, no one else came out to check.
“Could you help me move him?”
“!”
Lulu backed away as if avoiding a monster.
“S-sunbae, Lulu’s gonna head out now.”
So eager to cling before, now Lulu fled in a hurry as if being chased. I looked at the man with his face buried in my shoulder and scratched the back of my head.
“Geez…”
They weren’t even busy people, yet they’d gotten this drunk at such an hour—since when had they even started drinking?
The old man’s face, turned bright red, struck me as funny, and I smirked.
No idea he’s going to die tomorrow.
There were two things I had to do on this job.
First, deliver the item.
Second, keep the client alive.
Tomorrow, a Gate was set to open inside this hotel.
In my previous life, having held a grudge against this client, I’d turned a blind eye to whether he got caught up in the Gate or not. And the client ended up dying inside the Gate.
That’s how it went last time.
But this time, I’ll save him.
The eyes that had glared at me right up until the final moment still lingered in my memory. It was a shame I wouldn’t get to feel that satisfying feeling again.
Planning to finish the job as quickly as possible, I helped the old man up and carried him into the room.
The dim interior was incomparably larger than a regular room. Befitting a penthouse, it had high ceilings and a wide-open glass wall. Outside the window stretched a fairly impressive view, but inside, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol permeated everything.
Checking the living room, only one person was sitting normally on the sofa. Showing me the back of his head, he seemed quite drunk too, and hadn’t noticed me yet.
I set down the man I’d been supporting wherever, and lightly knocked on the wall.
The man, who’d been lifting his glass, stopped moving.
“Director Kim, how have you been?”
Clack. Recognizing me, he set his glass down roughly. He draped his arm over the sofa and turned around with a crooked posture.
“Seo Sinwoo…?”
“Hello, Director.”
“It’s Executive Director now.”
“Hello, Executive Director.”
The corner of the executive director’s mouth curled up crookedly. His face, already sharp and sensitive-looking, looked even more unpleasant with that nasty smile.
How many years has it been since I last saw him?
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I briefly studied his thin face.
Kim Hyunwoo. The previous owner of the Hyunwoo brooch.
I’d taken the name Hyunwoo from this man. Half in mourning, half in mockery…
The executive director brushed off my greeting and turned his head away.
Did he take more drugs again?
From this angle, the table was blocked from view, so I couldn’t see well.
I moved closer to him, partly to check his condition. On the table were various kinds of liquor and blue powder sitting on a piece of paper.
The junkie, noticing where my gaze had gone, pinched up a bit of the powder.
“It’s a new drug I’m testing. Made by drying out Siren’s Blood.”
“Is that so.”
The junkie cackled and rubbed his fingers together. The powder, with its faint sheen, glittered as it fell.
Pretty, I guess.
“Want to try it?”
“Ha-ha, no thanks.”
I declined immediately, then handed over the item I’d put in a black plastic bag.
“It’s a weapon a monster used. I went through quite a bit of trouble to get this great one for you.”
“Hmm…”
The junkie took the item and, without even checking it, casually set it down on the table.
It was a relief he didn’t bother nitpicking and finding fault with it.
“Well then, now that I’ve delivered the item, I’ll be on my way.”
“No. Come here.”
“Where?”
“Are you kidding? Here.”
The junkie patted the empty seat beside him. I’d been hoping to slip away pretending not to notice, but of course he wasn’t going to just let me leave.
“Since you’ve come all this way, shouldn’t you pour the chairmen a drink each?”
“…….”
The so-called chairmen were sprawled out on the sofa, passed out cold.
“Yes, yes.”
It was a flimsy excuse, but if I just left, the junkie would obviously make a scene. Planning to wrap this up quickly, I sat down on the sofa.
“Seo Sinwoo.”
“Executive Director, your speech is starting to slur.”
“So what.”
The junkie lifted his glass. I obediently poured the drink into the offered glass, hoping he’d drink his fill and pass out fast.
“Seo Sinwoo!”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“Feels like it’s been a while.”
“Ha-ha. I’ve been a bit busy.”
The hand tapping my thigh began to take on a subtly groping motion.
The junkie gripped my thigh hard once, gulped down his drink, then dropped the glass. He didn’t care that the liquor spilled onto the floor, just blinked lazily.
“Haah…”
Then, reeking of alcohol, he leaned his head on my shoulder.
“So, still no intention of changing jobs?”
“Changing jobs, huh.”
This again, this little—
My desire to save him was steadily shrinking. I hid my irritation behind a deep smile.
“None. I still have a lot of contract time left.”
“…….”
The moment I refused, the hand that had been lingering on my thigh stopped dead.
“…Is that so?”
Looking down at him with a smiling face, the junkie cleared his throat with a “khm” and straightened himself up. And then—
Smack!
He hit me on the head out of nowhere. Not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to feel thoroughly unpleasant.
“Tch.”
“Then kneel. Can’t have a dog sitting in the same spot as a person, can we?”
I kept smiling, but a curse slipped out on its own.
The real drunken tirade had begun.
