By Zephyria “It won’t work.”
“Then neither will you.”
“Does he look like a human who can do a person’s job?”
“Why not? He even went with the gear.”
CEO Gil, with a cool sheet on his forehead and an IV drip, kept chattering tirelessly.
From the moment he recognized Joo-oh’s usefulness, he kept offering unsettling opinions.
His argument was to use Joo-oh for the black market deal instead of Mu-hae or himself in his current state. Meanwhile, Teacher Jung gave him injections, threw medicine at him, finished all the measures, and leaned against one wall, watching the situation without agreeing or dissuading.
Only the voices of Mu-hae and CEO Gil flew back and forth in the bedroom, which was a bit cramped for four adults.
“It’s nothing much, right? Just go, say the lines you memorized in advance, and bring the goods.”
“Things could go wrong. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing. Are you just going to let him get screwed?”
CEO Gil stopped talking at the pointed reply. He seemed a little uncomfortable, as if he himself felt it was a mean idea.
But his eyes still said, ‘What’s the problem?’ Perhaps it was a natural reaction.
To them, Joo-oh was a stranger. A complete stranger they hadn’t even known for long.
If they could put a stranger forward instead of Mu-hae, instead of themselves, they would use him as much as possible within reasonable humanitarian limits.
“Mu-hae. If you get screwed anyway, that kid who follows you around will get screwed too.”
“That’s-.”
“If you were worried about that, you shouldn’t have kept him by your side. Don’t you think? Besides, why did you bring him into a place like this?”
“…….”
“A guy who sucks up to 1 Deal of someone else’s bone marrow is acting all new.”
Honestly, even Jin Mu-hae was usually just as heartless, so there was no refuting it.
This world was a bit harsh for them to live with warm and generous personalities.
So even though he knew that opposing like this was rather unfamiliar to him…….
‘Damn it.’
Mu-hae somehow felt uncomfortable using Joo-oh as a shield.
Especially feeling Joo-oh’s gaze fixed on him from a couple of steps behind.
The conflict, which had been escalating without compromise for a while, reached its peak when even a soft, gentle voice chimed in.
“It’s okay. I’ll do it.”
At the unexpected voice, Mu-hae frowned and turned his head sharply.
Joo-oh, who was standing next to him, nodding, as if he didn’t know when he had approached.
“I can do it.”
“He says he can do it.”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“I’ll do well even if I don’t know.”
“He says he will.”
“CEO, please be quiet. A sick person keeps opening his mouth.”
“What, you punk?”
“When you think about it, I’m not the one being stubborn……!”
“Stop.”
CEO Gil, who was getting agitated, was blocked by Teacher Jung’s intervention.
Teacher Jung pushed his half-risen forehead back down.
The person who had been watching in silence all along had finally joined the argument.
This time, Teacher Jung’s gentle voice echoed in the quiet room again.
“Mu-hae is right. We can’t brand someone else’s life just because it’s easy to use them.”
“…….”
“But you know. This isn’t a clean job enough to be picky.”
“I know. But it’s not so urgent that we have to use someone who doesn’t know anything.”
“I don’t think he doesn’t know anything…….”
Teacher Jung, who had spoken to himself as if passing by, scanned Joo-oh. A man almost as tall as Teacher Jung, who was quite tall himself. A perfectly normal appearance with no apparent problems.
Joo-oh had been slightly raising the corners of his mouth for a while, as if thinking something.
“Then do as you please.”
“Jeong Han-yeong!”
“It’s your job in the end. We’re just giving advice. The responsibility and the price are up to you.”
Teacher Jung pressed down hard on the forehead of the person trying to get up and concluded the argument.
Jin Mu-hae, who had gotten the answer he wanted, finally realized that he had been unusually agitated and quieted down.
……Come to think of it. He had protected Joo-oh in the first place for the reward money. Although he had made a fortune from his subsequent performance, he had kept him around with more emphasis on his usefulness than on sympathy or gratitude.
Besides, now that Joo-oh had witnessed the secrets of the Return flight, he had to think about his treatment sooner or later, as CEO Gil had said.
Either silence him by any means. Or forcibly put him on the same boat.
It was a sensitive measure, but the accomplices of the past were not wrong to him.
“Ummm. In this case.”
In the meantime, Joo-oh, who was looking at the air, began to mutter to himself.
“In this case, I don’t know how the story will go…….”
Mu-hae looked back at Teacher Jung, gesturing at him as he spouted incomprehensible stories again.
As if to ask if he really looked normal.
“Hmm. It’s okay. I guess it starts from here.”
Joo-oh pulled at Mu-hae’s sleeve. Hadn’t he heard what thoughts had passed about him? He just looked excited.
He wanted to tell him to stop talking nonsense and go home to sleep, but somewhere in his cold heart, he whispered that this was the best way.
Mu-hae frowned and clenched his teeth. Muscles bulged at the edge of his hardened jaw.
“Let’s end it here for today. Go rest.”
Teacher Jung gestured towards the door. As a matter of fact, CEO Gil’s eyes were slowly closing, as if he was getting back the price for getting angry.
“It happens often.”
He shook his head as if to say not to worry.
Jin Mu-hae left a reluctant greeting and grabbed Joo-oh’s arm.
‘I’ll do it. I can do it too.’
From then on, Joo-oh followed Mu-hae around, repeating the same words.
It was a persistent and desperate request, just like when he had demanded to be taken along.
The deadline for the Deal was approaching, and CEO Gil was urging to take the lead himself. Waiting another month or so felt stagnant.
In the end, Jin Mu-hae, who was used to ignoring Joo-oh’s words, reluctantly included him in the plan.
As soon as Mu-hae made the decision, things progressed smoothly.
“Ah, can you hear me?”
―Ah, can you hear me?
CEO Gil, even with his body stretched out, rummaged around and sent the items with Teacher Jung.
A small camera that could see and hear the surrounding situation, a bone conduction speaker to attach behind the ear, and self-defense items in case of emergency…….
Even though it was a simple task, the preparation was excessive. As if that was CEO Gil’s own sincerity.
“Don’t mess with the receiver. Did you memorize everything?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me everything from the beginning.”
“Um, I stand still. If someone comes and asks if I didn’t go to the party, I say I went with you.”
Before his first mission, Joo-oh recited the plan with a confident expression.
He rattled off what he had heard just once, and even though his mind might be erratic, he seemed to have a surprisingly good memory.
“Also, I follow them. I stay still even if they put their hand in my pocket. I say the housewarming Gift was given to the yellow house at the intersection.”
“And.”
“I go to the grocery store, buy a Tornado, look around, and go to where Jin Mu-hae is!”
“Right. And if I order you to do something in the middle, put everything else aside and do that first.”
“Don’t worry.”
Joo-oh shrugged and pointed to the lens attached to his clothes, making a determined expression.
Since joining the black market deal, he kept acting like a new recruit chosen by a secret society.
“Rest. It starts after sunset today.”
“Okay. Then can I be on Jin Mu-hae’s bed?”
Before the question was even finished, Joo-oh got on Mu-hae’s bed. He didn’t even wait for an answer. As if he knew he would be allowed anyway.
With blank eyes, he seemed to be aware that he was doing something good for others. Joo-oh laughed and buried his face in Mu-hae’s pillow.
His back, which had been swelling as if inhaling, suddenly deflated.
As his clean feet slowly wriggled on the sheet, Mu-hae felt strangely strange and shifted his gaze to the Watch on his wrist.
[CME Q2 Outsourcing: Sharing of Exploration and Combat Schedules]
The schedule was delivered from the Company today of all days. Mu-hae selected the list of requests that was unfolding in a particularly elaborate manner.
He couldn’t help but see Joo-oh wrapping the blanket around his body and rolling around.
He didn’t meet the eyes that were watching him from time to time. It was something that often happened when he was choosing work. It wasn’t intentional, it was just the way it was.
“Jin Mu-hae. The Watch is beeping.”
By the time he was picking up reasons he didn’t even know who he was talking to, it was finally approaching 8 o’clock.
Mu-hae sent Joo-oh ahead to the meeting place and urged him again.
“Don’t lose your mind, remember what I said.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be watching too. If you think something’s wrong, do as I say.”
“Okay.”
Then, when he entered CEO Gil’s house, a scene he had never seen before unfolded.
One side of the living room wall was cleanly pushed back, all the clutter was gone, and a large video was being projected in its place.
―Eumm, heu-eung♪ La la la♬
Judging from the familiar humming, it was definitely a scene filmed by Joo-oh’s cam.
“What’s with this fuss again……? Do we need to see it this grandly?”
“You’ll see when you get old. You can’t see small things.”
“You said it’s not a dangerous part. Why does it have to be so secretive?”
“Well…… some of them aren’t for me.”
The elite of the past, recognized and trampled by Goryeo City, shrugged. His face, smiling as if he was okay, was still full of illness.
Mu-hae clicked his tongue in vain and glared at the video gradually moving into the dark alley.
“Where’s Teacher Jung?”
“He says he’s not interested. He says to do it ourselves.”
He probably wasn’t really uninterested. Something must have been unsatisfactory, so he was pretending not to know and turning his back.
―Eumm. I’ve arrived.
While Mu-hae was talking to CEO Gil, the shaking of the video stopped. Joo-oh, who had arrived at his destination, turned his body around to capture the surrounding environment on the cam.
It was already a gloomy street, with few streetlights and a place far away. The dark surroundings looked more dangerous than he thought.
―Someone’s coming.
At Joo-oh’s explanation, CEO Gil swallowed nervously. A burly man was approaching from far away in the dark video.
Damn it. It was a mercenary at first glance. Mu-hae sighed habitually.
A life that couldn’t even find a job inside the residential area, where on earth did he get new special parts, not even used ones, to sell?