Free Web NovelJoo Seowon heard the familiar name and still reacted like nothing.
“I think I’ve heard the name.”
“Yeah. Curiosity satisfied?”
“Haha... yes. Thank you.”
Keeping a polite smile and a comfortable distance, he glanced at me like he wanted me to continue.
‘Planning to look into it on his own?’
Since I tend to match this kind of rhythm unilaterally, I wrapped that topic and got to the real point.
“I’ll hand over the item after the auction.”
“Gotta bring your friend over so they can verify you actually won it, too?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of hassle is that...”
“Basic law of barter.”
I answered without much care and continued, recalling yesterday.
“From what I saw, there’s no need to stick around for the party. The topic just circles and there’s too much pointless chatter. If you want to attend for intel-gathering, I won’t stop you.”
“I’m good. Not interested either.”
“Right. Also, security was pretty tight moving into the auction hall. Even if you try to mask it with an item... well, make sure you slip through cleanly.”
“I’ll handle that.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Even if it wasn’t Kang Sojeong, I was going to send Seowon along, so I figured they’d manage. If nothing else, he was good at thinking on his feet.
I nodded and said,
“Don’t jack the bid up too fast. Better to avoid attention if possible. Might be hard, though. Tae Hyunjin’s name value will heat it up... just raise steadily. Not saying to worry about the money.”
“Got it. Payment on-site?”
“I’ll send someone by.”
As I spoke, I squeezed Seowon’s shoulder, then let go.
“Me?”
“Bring cash.”
“...Okay.”
No need to nitpick the details. For an unawakened to pull cons like this, he was more cunning than me; and Seowon went without saying.
I only gave the short warnings.
“I’ll be waiting in the first-floor lounge, and all emergencies go to him. There shouldn’t be many reasons you’d need to call.” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
“...”
“If by any chance the item doesn’t appear, tell us immediately.”
“...Okay.”
“Other than that—if your cover gets blown? Or when you’re generally fucked for a variety of reasons, call. If you can improvise through it, handle it and don’t bother reporting. If you need force, you’re better off calling the guards.”
She listened quietly, then snorted.
“You’re used to giving orders, aren’t you?”
“Happened that way.”
“Fine, I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Yes.”
With that, I opened the Space-Saving Box and let her confirm the item inside.
“We trade the moment the auction ends. I don’t plan to be staring at your face for long anyway.”
“...Okay.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Then around nine, at the Carman Hotel lobby... nearby. Better to have you escorted from the start. Dress code?”
“Beige. Nothing grand. If you’re going suit, semi-formal is fine. Keep it dark.”
“Got it.”
So that was everything.
I ran through the conversation once and stood.
“See you then. Let’s go.”
“Ah, wait.”
Before we left, she suddenly stopped me and lowered her voice.
“You know this is all a secret, right?”
“Please. Who goes around bragging about a scam.”
“Good. See you tonight.”
“Yes.”
With ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ that, Seowon and I left. We’d set this meeting just to show the goods, so keeping the talk to brief instructions was fine.
He’d been quiet like he was thinking, but the moment we got into the taxi he spoke first.
“Should we find out who it is?”
“Now? Later. We’ve got stuff today that needs focus.”
“...I know she’s a big shot so everyone tries to get at her, but it’s a little too neat that they touched base with Wang Tiansin of all people.”
“You think IDs are going to get flagged on-site?”
If that was what he meant, I asked it out loud. He went silent, then spoke again.
“If she’s a VVIP who even knows the lineup... she wouldn’t pick incompetent attendants. Hell, the insider could be her own side.”
“You suspect Kang Sojeong too?”
“No... I mean, I can’t be sure, but she seems genuinely desperate. Being an unawakened here at all is already pure risk. ...She is unawakened, right?”
I’d confirmed it with my own eyes, so yes. I nodded, and he frowned slightly.
“...Would Wang Tiansin’s attendant be that sloppy?”
“Who knows...”
From the looks of it, her criterion for attendants was “interesting skills,” period.
“They said the attendant didn’t even know the list was stolen, right?”
“They don’t. Not for sure. If today... it gets noticed.”
“Then you call me.”
“You have a plan?”
A way to punch through security and haul him out? Honestly, probably not—but I said yes.
“Yeah.”
He stared at me for a long beat, said nothing, raised his brows, and leaned back.
—
The taxi took us to our meeting with Nagao. He was already there waiting. We exchanged brief greetings and sat.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello.”
‘Two back-to-back meetings is a bit rough.’
Nagao beamed with that affable face and greeted us warmly. Seowon slipped back into business mode and made small talk.
“Did you enjoy sightseeing yesterday? And the ring... you checked it?”
“Ah, yes, yes. I checked. By the way, the item you were looking for...”
“Haha...”
“Ah... that’s a shame. If you don’t have an invitation for today either... should I try to find a route to procure one now?”
So there were other routes? Could’ve been politeness. We didn’t need it, so I shook my head.
“We do have a partner pass we can use today.”
“Ah...! In that case.”
His relief was as transparent as his smile. From there, Seowon steered the conversation smoothly. I didn’t need to chime in, so I just listened.
‘Topic switch on fast-forward.’
Calling it a conversation was generous; it was mostly Nagao talking and Seowon listening.
Just when boredom was setting in, he finally said something worth attention.
“Then... may I take the ring? Haha, I feel so guilty about this...”
Then don’t take it.
If he was that sorry, I was more than willing to offer the “return the ring” option. But that was just talk—he clearly had no intention of returning anything.
I almost suggested he hand it back, then saw his eyes flick to my fingers, and passed over the remaining ring without fuss.
Seowon narrowed his eyes and replied evenly,
“Come on, that’s our situation. Take it.”
“Haha... thank you.”
We swapped back the passports like before. While he examined the ring closely, we stood.
“We’ve got another appointment—we’ll head out.”
“Of course. I figured you’d be busy. Next time you’re in Japan, contact me... let’s have dinner.”
“Ah... sounds good.”
Empty courtesy? I didn’t want to write it off as that.
Even if this started as a con, we’d spent a decent chunk of money; cracking a connection with a Japanese hunter would keep the loss down.
Well, that could be dealt with later. Worst case, I’d throw the relationship maintenance at Seowon too. We left.
Two meetings in a row without a proper breakfast, and dealing with two people back-to-back—naturally, my temperament started to fray.
“Eat?”
“Where?”
“I dunno. Hotel? If we hunt for a restaurant first, I’ll get annoyed.”
“Same.”
I left him, since he was already looking away the second I looked at him, and headed straight for the hotel.
A quick meal at the hotel restaurant and my humanity returned. I’d planned to use the spare time to browse the nearby hunter market or handle other errands, but it seemed smarter to save my strength for whatever might happen.
Back in the room, he raked his hair and asked,
“Dress code... what do we do?”
“I asked just in case, but we can just dress clean. Wear mine.”
“...Your clothes?”
“Yeah.”
Didn’t look like it’d be wildly off. I ran my eyes over his build.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him shirtless.’
Clothes change your read, but even accounting for that, it wasn’t a body with standout mass. His frame was well-shaped so he wasn’t small. Height—he was a little shorter than me, but close.
‘Hmm... the waist might be loose.’
Even if there was a gap, a belt would fix it, so whatever.
“...What?”
He’d been standing there awkwardly and finally asked.
I lifted my gaze to meet his. He looked a bit flustered.
“I was eyeballing it.”
“...Eyeballing what?”
“Your body.”
“Clothing size? ...It’ll fit.”
He said that and promptly sat on the bed.
‘What?’
It did feel like he was protesting being looked at so blatantly, but... since when were we modest with each other?
