# Chapter 13
The distance from home to the office wasn’t far. Iyeon, who had been walking lazily, suddenly paused. Turning his gaze to look behind him, Iyeon tilted his head slightly.
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you just feel someone watching us?”
Sano turned his head following Iyeon. The empty street had no one.
“There’s no one.”
“Maybe I’m imagining things?”
Iyeon continued walking while repeatedly tilting his head in confusion. After surveying the rear one more time, Sano also followed without saying anything.
The office was empty as usual. Since Hyegang would arrive around lunchtime, it was essentially free time until then. Iyeon lay down on the sofa opposite to where Sano was sitting. The sunlight flowing through the half-lowered blinds felt warm.
‘I wonder if any requests will come in…’
Most other companies received private requests alongside quarterly missions, but Chageum had the significant disadvantage of rock-bottom recognition. If they could at least get a foothold on the ranking page, it would help with self-promotion, but with Iyeon’s abilities, it was uncertain whether they could even make it into the top 500,000, let alone the top 100,000.
Even Iyeon thought that with so many impressive mutant specialist companies, why would anyone specifically choose an office with just a Mugunghwa Tier 2 as its president? The requests that came to this place were mostly from neighborhood residents through word of mouth, and sometimes the request content had nothing to do with mutants at all. Naturally, it didn’t make much money.
However, in their situation, even scraps were precious. Paying salaries to both Iyeon and Hyegang wasn’t as easy as one might think. Any private request, no matter how small, was beneficial.
Moreover, now they had to calculate Sano’s food expenses too. Though not as much as Iyeon, Sano ate proportionally to his size, which wasn’t a negligible amount. Not only that, but Je Sano was also picky about food.
‘So why exactly is Je Sano lounging around at my house?’
Shouldn’t Je Sano have his own house? It doesn’t make sense that someone earning that much money wouldn’t have bought a home. He wouldn’t even need to go through the trouble of buying a house; couldn’t he just buy some land and use his ability to raise a house on it?
But Iyeon couldn’t outright ask Sano if he didn’t have a home. It would prick his conscience to be so tactless toward someone working without pay and without even a contract. He even made him breakfast…
Wait a minute. Does that mean I have to support Je Sano completely until he finds ……? Is this guy really planning to squat at my house?
“…”
When Iyeon’s dumbfounded gaze turned toward the opposite side, Sano, who acutely sensed the attention, stared back without understanding why. Startled by the fierce look, Iyeon shifted his focus elsewhere.
“I’m going to the café. What would you like to drink?”
“Americano.”
Since they had just arrived at work, a caffeine transfusion was a good choice. Rationalizing the situation where he ended up spending money while thinking about saving on food expenses, Iyeon stood up glumly.
The café on the first floor had a completely different quality despite being in the same building as the office. Well, it wasn’t quite appropriate to call the rooftop part of the same building.
The café with its clean and modern interior, thanks to the barista’s excellent skills, was always crowded, being the top choice for not only local residents but also nearby office workers. Standing at the end of a line where three or four people were waiting, Iyeon yawned. Unusually for him, having eaten breakfast seemed to be causing drowsiness.
While waiting in line, he turned sideways and stared blankly at a frame hanging on the wall. Should I tell Je Sano to watch the office and just go home to take a quick nap? The drowsiness was because he ate breakfast, so it could be argued that it was partly Je Sano’s responsibility for preparing it… While enthusiastically daydreaming and making unreasonable plans to play hooky, something entered the corner of his vision. Feeling something off, Iyeon turned his gaze forward with confusion.
‘What’s this?’
The scenery inside the café was similar to before. Low background music, busy hands brewing coffee and taking orders, customers standing neatly in line.
However, the person standing in front of Iyeon until just a moment ago was a young man wearing a sweatshirt, not an office worker in a neat suit. Iyeon stared blankly at the round back of the head.
Did someone just cut in line?
They appeared so naturally that Iyeon was confused, wondering if they had been there all along and he just hadn’t noticed. But the appearance of the person in front was too unusual for that to be the case.
The line-cutter, slightly shorter than Iyeon, had his hair neatly styled with wax and wore a black suit that looked like something a bodyguard would wear. Judging by the glossy sheen, it seemed quite expensive.
This area was characterized by a mix of modest shopping centers, modest houses, and modest small buildings, making it a neighborhood with ambiguous conditions. There were no companies that required such formal dress.
To look so suspiciously and cut in line too. Iyeon frowned slightly as he was pushed back in line, but soon let it go. They must have something urgent. Though annoyed, it wasn’t worth making a big fuss about. Judging by the attire, they were an office worker, so they’d probably just order an Americano anyway.
“Green tea cappuccino with an extra shot, extra chocolate chips, espresso whipped cream, mocha drizzle, eight cups please.”
“…”
Spewing incomprehensible alien language, the line-cutter inconvenienced everyone and only left the store after receiving all the drinks quite some time later. They sure have particular tastes. Iyeon shook his head inwardly.
After a long wait, as he was about to go up to the office with the coffee, something fluttered in his lower field of vision. Looking down, he saw that the white lace from his brand-new white high-tops had come undone and was sprawled on the floor.
Having just tied them recently, he had forgotten to make a tight knot. As Iyeon was about to put the coffee carrier down and squat, a black shadow brushed past him.
And a shiny shoe firmly stepped on the shoelace.
“Excuse me.”
Along with the casual remark, a white lace with a black stain in the shape of the shoe print was pathetically crumpled under the foot.
“…”
What… what is this? Instantly victimized, Iyeon looked up blankly. Black suit. Though the drinks received earlier were nowhere to be seen, it was undoubtedly the line-cutter.
With dark sunglasses obscuring their face, it was still possible to discern that they weren’t particularly sorry about what had happened. Iyeon’s bewildered face was reflected in the large sunglass lenses.
The haphazardly spread shoelace was at an angle that would be difficult to step on intentionally. Moreover, the line-cutter had left the store before Iyeon because they cut in line! However, lifting his foot with an unbothered attitude, the line-cutter looked alternately at his shoe and Iyeon’s shoelace, then turned his back and walked away without any apology.
“Excuse me, hey!”
Unable to hide his astonishment, Iyeon called out loudly to the line-cutter, but the man pretended not to hear. The line-cutter disappeared around the corner in an instant. Only the carrier with two cups of Americano and the slightly dirtied shoelace remained with Iyeon.
“Is this some kind of… hidden camera prank?”
No one answered his aggrieved mutter.
“Here.”
Thud. The coffee was placed on the table with a rather rough touch. Sano’s gaze briefly rested on the rippling cup.
“Why are you sulking?”
“No, there was this strange person downstairs…”
Iyeon, who was about to explain the situation, saw the handsome face staring back blankly and trailed off, closing his mouth. What good would it do to tell Je Sano about this? He’d probably just say something like “Be more alert next time.” Already annoyed, hearing such a comment would send Jung Iyeon’s pacifist soul flying away like a mountain bird.
“The person did what?”
Ignoring Sano’s capacity for empathy, Iyeon sucked hard on his straw. As the caffeine entered his system, his anger seemed to subside a little.
“Nothing.”
Having spent his mental energy inwardly cursing the line-cutter, Iyeon forgot his plan to bill Sano for the Americano. This was fortunate for Sano but unfortunate for Iyeon.
Around noon, Hyegang leisurely arrived at work. After entering the office and checking something on the monitor at his desk, Hyegang soon asked Iyeon for a favor.
“Hyung. Could you go to the Superpower Management Office?”
“Why the Superpower Management Office?”
“Looks like a document is missing.”
The Superpower Management Office was far from their office. It was an annoying trip, but it would be fine with Je Sano. Iyeon, who had been dawdling, looked toward the human elevator sitting across from him… no, where did he go? Iyeon looked around in confusion. Hyegang kindly provided the answer.
“Sano hyung just went out to take a phone call.”
“…”
Based on past experience, calls to Sano never ended in just ten or twenty minutes. Iyeon would have to go alone.
The prospect of having to go a long way immediately drained his energy. While walking, he caught a glimpse of his shoelace stained with black dust. His mood sank a bit further.
Trudging down into the subway station and tapping his card at the gate, Iyeon paused. There it was again, that feeling.
It wasn’t just his imagination. Someone was watching Iyeon.
His round eyes narrowed. He couldn’t think of anyone who might be following him. Should he ask Hyegang? His hand, which had been fiddling with the goggles hanging around his neck, soon dropped quietly. No, it’s not that serious a problem yet.
Pretending not to notice, Iyeon slowly continued on his way. His gaze, feigning nonchalance, skimmed over the train information screen. Coincidentally, a subway was just arriving.
While going down the stairs, an announcement informed that the train was entering the station. Iyeon maintained a leisurely pace as if it wouldn’t matter if he missed it. His speed was noticeably slower than others. People in a hurry brushed past him.
Iyeon’s movement changed when the train doors opened and most people had boarded.
His suddenly accelerated steps flew down the path. The announcement saying, “The doors are closing,” was briefly heard. From the staircase he had almost descended, it took only a few steps to reach the subway. As soon as Iyeon entered, the subway doors closed as if timed perfectly.
With a clunk and a vibration, the subway slowly departed.
Finally, the gaze disappeared. Iyeon playfully smiled toward the stalker who would be watching from the platform through the small subway window.
