Unlike me, who couldn’t go out freely and couldn’t even run my mouth properly, Lee Hyeonseok did everything his own way. The more I thought about it, the more he couldn’t not be a shitty bastard.
“What are you going to bet?”
“You.”
“First.”
The more I thought about it, it didn’t seem like such a bad proposal, so I lightly tested the waters. Lee Hyeonseok was cautious as befitting a wealthy heir. I was cautious too, but his eyes were already so vicious… As expected, rich bastards were worse. Even though it seemed like I had nothing to lose, Lee Hyeonseok came at me so viciously that I unconsciously became wary and hesitated.
“If not at a time like this, when else would you get to negotiate with someone like me?”
“They say to live life thin and long, so I’ll pass after all.”
Even thinking I had nothing to lose, Lee Hyeonseok’s attitude felt unpleasant, so when I cleanly backed down, Lee Hyeonseok also obediently released my cheek. Even though he hadn’t been gripping hard, he’d been holding it for quite a while, so as I was rubbing my somewhat painful cheek, I suddenly heard banging sounds.
“?”
―My goodness, this is so refreshing!
―Liam! Stop splashing water!
At first I thought it was a sound from the movie and looked at the television, but the group was happily swimming. Thinking I’d missed the timing, I focused on the movie again when I heard the bang bang! sound once more. It definitely wasn’t a sound from the movie, and the researcher was hitting the glass calling for us. Since the researcher’s gaze was directed at Lee Hyeonseok, to be precise, he was summoning Lee Hyeonseok.
The researcher wasn’t satisfied with just wearing a mask and was holding his coat in his hand, blocking his nose with it. Even from afar, his complexion was deathly pale, clearly in distress to anyone’s eyes. I was flustered but also worried, so the moment I tried to get up, Lee Hyeonseok grabbed my wrist and sat me back down on the sofa.
“Lee Hyeonseok?”
“You stay here.”
“…….”
When Lee Hyeonseok spoke as if displeased by an interruption, strangely all my spirit died. Setting aside Lee Hyeonseok’s trashy personality, there was a person struggling right before my eyes, yet he was just irritated—I might have been shocked by that.
As expected, seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times. With Lee Juwon and his group, since they irritated Lee Hyeonseok, even if he acted like trash, I understood. My impression was just ‘He really is trash.’ But seeing him treat an innocent researcher like that, I resolved, ‘I need to please him even better!’
As Lee Hyeonseok approached, the struggling researcher finally vomited. Lee Hyeonseok spat out curses as if he’d seen something disgusting.
“Crazy bastard.”
“Ugh, hey! Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?”
Whether he’d spent a lot of money, I couldn’t hear the retching sounds or smell anything. It was Lee Hyeonseok who stopped me from calling 119. He seemed quite annoyed.
“There are bastards here who can treat sick people too.”
Thinking about it, this was a research facility and there were plenty of skilled doctors and researchers.
“…Now I’m worried about myself.”
Thanks to those words, the reality that I’d come to receive an examination at a place full of such people suddenly hit me hard. When I made a fed-up expression at that, Lee Hyeonseok asked seriously with a dumb face.
“Why, when I’m here?”
“Right, why indeed.”
The researcher retched once more.
* * *
Lee Hyeonseok walked over to the wall, picked up a phone I hadn’t even known was there, finished a short call with someone, and took me out. Just as I was about to ask if it was okay to leave him like that, the door across from us opened and two people in protective suits entered the ‘Trait Observation Laboratory’ we’d come out of.
“What the hell, really….”
Properly shocked by that situation, I unconsciously moved closer to Lee Hyeonseok. As I said, even a rotten rope is still a rope—Lee Hyeonseok was both the one tormenting me and the one helping me.
“Did you study?”
“What? Study? I was doing it until just now. Why?”
“No, not that.”
“?”
Lee Hyeonseok widened his eyes and questioned me. He seemed both dumbfounded and flustered… It was hard to figure out. He’d been irritated just moments ago, but this time he looked at me with a gentle face. Thanks to that, I also innocently replied, and Lee Hyeonseok pressed his head as if frustrated. As expected, he was a bastard with emotion control problems. With all that money, why didn’t he go to the places he absolutely needed to go?
“Whatever, just explain….”
I had no interest in questioning him and just asked him to explain the situation from earlier, but Lee Hyeonseok entered the room across from us. It was where the researchers in protective suits had just come out of. Feeling uncomfortable being alone in the hallway, I followed him in. He who entered the room picked up a spray bottle small enough to fit entirely in his hand and sprayed it at himself.
The 50ml transparent spray container was small, but because Lee Hyeonseok’s hands were originally large, it looked relatively more cute. Looking at the container, it seemed just like perfume. But for that, it had no scent at all. Decisively, Lee Hyeonseok was spraying it all over his body as if it were some deodorant.
“…….”
Wait, hold on. He’s really spraying way too much, isn’t he? Even deodorant wouldn’t be sprayed that much. Finding it strangely frightening, I backed away, but Lee Hyeonseok, who noticed like a ghost, also sprayed that unidentified thing at me all over.
“Wah! Stop, stop spraying! What are you spraying!”
I was so surprised I even spoke in banmal. Even though I reflexively turned my body and blocked with my arms to avoid it, Lee Hyeonseok persistently sprayed, and somehow looking at his expression, it seemed like he didn’t want to spray it either.
Tsss, tsss.
“!”
Whether it was because it was small enough to fit entirely in Lee Hyeonseok’s hand, or because Lee Hyeonseok sprayed it enthusiastically, the spray couldn’t be released on me more than a few times before it quickly ran out.
“What the hell are you doing….”
I grumbled loudly while brushing off the moisture here and there, but Lee Hyeonseok didn’t even pretend to listen and just stared blankly at me. Rather than staring, it was closer to observing, but that would be psychologically more frightening, so I decided to just think of it as staring. While brushing myself off, I sniffed as much as I could, but as expected, there was no scent at all.
“Do you smell anything?”
He ignored my words so diligently but asked indifferently. My pride hurt, so instead of opening my mouth, I shook my head, and Lee Hyeonseok frowned.
“Useless.”
“What did you really spray on me?”
Lee Hyeonseok muttered while looking at the spray. Thanks to that, I became anxious again and scrunched up my face, so he threw the spray at me. I was startled but caught it safely without dropping it and examined the container.
“Deodorant sample?”
It was really a deodorant? Even seeing it with my eyes, I was suspicious and looked it over this way and that, but the transparent bottle only had ‘Comprehensive Deodorant Sample 4’ written on it. Compared to spending expensive money to build a building, hire people, and conduct research, it was modest.
“You spend money to make things like this?”
“That’s expensive.”
“Aha.”
When I asked somewhat anticlimactically, Lee Hyeonseok answered quite seriously. Only then did I realize this item was related to traits. In a way, it was natural, but I found it quite difficult to find a connection between traits and deodorants, so I hadn’t thought in that direction.
“What’s it used for?”
“Here and there. Use it on people, use it on clothes.”
When I wanted him to shut his mouth, he was lighter than a feather, but when I wanted him to open his mouth, he acted annoyingly infuriating. It wasn’t even meant to provoke me. Every time he acted like he would or wouldn’t tell me, I wanted to just sew that mouth shut with a sewing machine. Looking at what he’d done so far, he wasn’t the type to just tell me, so I didn’t ask anymore.
When I turned around without hesitation and looked around the room I’d just entered, I heard a tongue-clicking sound. Clearly, he must have been trying to tease me for asking about that deodorant. That was also part of why I didn’t hold on longer.
“Not curious?”
“I am curious.”
When Lee Hyeonseok asked teasingly, I answered lightly without stopping my looking around, but there were no particular words.
The room I entered was either a research lab, with beakers and microscopes you’d only see in a science lab, as well as various medicines and experimental tools on display. I suddenly wondered if an outsider like me should be here, but since I was with Lee Hyeonseok’s party, I figured I wouldn’t get in trouble and just looked around with my eyes.
“Stay here.”
“What?”
At the sudden words, I turned my head and saw Lee Hyeonseok fiddling with his phone. I thought it was strangely quiet, so he must have been texting or something. Whether some urgent matter came up or what, Lee Hyeonseok said just that one thing and left the room.
I suddenly found myself alone in an unfamiliar place without knowing why. The moment I slyly raised my middle finger, the door burst open. I quickly crossed my thumb over my middle finger to clumsily make a finger heart, but Lee Hyeonseok’s face was already crumpled.
“Want to see this when we get home?”
“Ah….”
I hung my head at Lee Hyeonseok’s murderous warning and let out a low sigh. Right after that, I heard the sound of something cutting through the air from in front of me. At that sound, I lifted my head, and something was flying toward me. What I reflexively caught with both hands was… an energy bar.
“You said you haven’t eaten anything today.”
“Wow, thank you.”
The energy bar seemed homemade, contained in transparent plastic with no logo. When I held the energy bar and gave thanks as if reading from a book, whether that was all Lee Hyeonseok’s business, he quickly went out again. After hearing the door close and staying still for about 30 seconds, only then did I judge that Lee Hyeonseok had left and threw the energy bar into the trash can in the corner.
In case he saw me throw it away, I skillfully shook the trash can and covered it with the garbage already thrown away.
“He won’t see it, right?”
Just the fact that Lee Hyeonseok gave it to me made it utterly suspicious, and it wasn’t even a commercial product but homemade—there’s no way I’d eat it.
