By Zephyria Having tidied up his appearance, Mu-hae left Jaegang District around noon. He calculated the small amount of expense money Gu-reum had provided and hailed a taxi.
Joo-oh would stand out too much if they took the train in this getup. It wasn’t like they were going to commit espionage, but there was no point in being remembered by people. The fewer people they brushed past, the better.
“Oh. A border.”
Before long, a large sign came into view at the edge of the wide road.
[WELCOME 《《 From here, Garam]
Far off in the distance, a faint skyline stretched out along the long road. It was naturally incomparable to the slum they had been staying in, and a little more glamorous than Jaegang District.
Garam District was the most bustling of Goryeo City’s four residential districts. This was because the adjacent production zone generated higher-paying jobs than other areas.
The residents’ surplus money was often invested in hobbies and cultural activities. Not everyone in the neighborhood was wealthy, but the average income was higher. In short, there were many middle-class people.
“I don’t think people here would post a 310 Deal request.”
“You never know.”
Still, there were lower-class workers everywhere. Except for Central, most households barely managed to afford the necessities of life.
Even if it loomed before their eyes, glamour was not for everyone. Jin Mu-hae had realized that a long time ago.
“We’ll be there soon, so get ready to get out.”
“Are we going to the café?”
“Yeah. They’ll be wary if we go straight to the house from the start.”
The information Gu-reum had provided also included the daily routine of the person they were meeting today. It meant they shouldn’t go barging into the house right away.
Anyway, Mu-hae had no intention of knocking on the door unannounced in this dark suit. Since they needed to extract information, threatening behavior was out of the question.
Whee-ee-ing.
As the car stopped, Joo-oh opened the door and popped out. Mu-hae familiarly grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward their destination.
The antique-style café was filled with the aroma of coffee beans from the entrance. A woman with light-colored hair tied up sat by the window where the sunlight streamed in.
It was the same face as in the photo. Jin Mu-hae slowly approached her.
“Olga Belova.”
As he called her name in the softest voice possible, the woman who had been listening to music slowly opened her eyes.
She soon noticed the two men in black suits approaching her and scanned them up and down.
“Where did you come from?”
As soon as she heard the question, Joo-oh furrowed his brow and shut his mouth. His jaw instantly turned into a bumpy walnut shape.
That wasn’t what he meant by keeping a straight face. He was making a threatening face with his smooth features.
Mu-hae silently displayed a Hologram Window in front of her. The official mark of Goryeo City clearly filled her vision.
“…I thought I told you everything I knew. It’s inconvenient and disturbing to have you come every year like this.”
“I don’t particularly want to push you, but it’s my job to meet new residents from ‘that place’ every year.”
Olga’s eyebrows twitched at the skillful reply.
“Besides, you never know. Something might come to mind later.”
He was saying, “I know you know everything, so just quietly tell me,” but in a roundabout way. Her face hardened coldly.
For a moment, a strange doubt flickered across her blue eyes. Her expression was so clear it hurt, as if to say, “Even if I did, would I tell you?”
“This.”
Then Joo-oh butted in and held out his hand. A green figure rested on his white, delicate hand.
Was that Somumu? Why was he holding that out now?
As if sharing a similar sentiment, Olga glanced at his hand and gave him a look that seemed to say, “What are you doing?”
Faced with the sudden unfamiliar coldness, Joo-oh’s hand slowly curled up. His lips twitched, as if he was swallowing the useless explanation of Somumu…
Mu-hae nudged his side to signal him to back off.
“I really have nothing more to say. It’s not like I’m deliberately hiding anything. Is there a problem with what I said before?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then did you get some information to compare it with?”
“Well. I don’t have to tell you that far.”
She stared silently at Mu-hae and made a reluctant expression again.
“I’m sorry, but I’m a little busy right now. Would you mind coming back later?”
With an attitude that didn’t seem busy at all, Olga closed her eyes slightly. A fingernail-sized object attached behind her ear lit up.
She had restarted the music without even waiting for an answer. Mu-hae looked down at her for a moment, shrugged, and turned away.
Damn it. He had just started talking to her, but it was a retreat for now. He didn’t expect her to be so uncooperative, even after showing her a fake ID.
He thought about browbeating her since they were from the Information Department, but Joo-oh shook his head frantically, as if he had sensed it, so he gave up.
It would be even more ridiculous if he started acting goofy with his blank face. There was no choice.
There was no point in being forceful, as she might just repeat the information she already knew. At this rate, he had nothing to show Gu-reum.
“Let’s go there.”
Oblivious to his troubles, Joo-oh pointed to an alley one block away. It was a café with a similar atmosphere.
It wasn’t a bad choice since they couldn’t just wander around the streets, but Mu-hae couldn’t shake the feeling that he was more interested in the freebies and had chosen the café for that reason.
“Hmm… hum, la la, yum.”
Jin Mu-hae sat on the terrace and stared at the pad for a long time.
He read and reread Olga Belova’s personal details and various information about her that he had received from Gu-reum.
In fact, he had already examined the contents so thoroughly that he could memorize them before leaving the house. Nevertheless, he was a little perplexed because he didn’t know what information Gu-reum wanted.
Meanwhile, Joo-oh had already ordered dessert and was cutting a large piece of tart with plenty of whipped cream on top with a fork, one bite at a time.
He licked his lips clean as if he had never been sullen and had a happy face. When he met Mu-hae’s eyes, he even offered him a big piece with an expression that said he had made a big decision.
“Get that away from me.”
He was already annoyed, and he thought he had done a good job because he hadn’t said anything.
“I told you to keep a straight face.”
“I did.”
“Stop scattering those Tornado toys around. Why are you handing them out to just anyone?”
“They’re Tinkle Friends. And I didn’t hand them out to just anyone.”
He really wanted to punch him in the face for answering with such an aggrieved expression. He had clearly told him several times not to interfere, but he had suddenly done something strange and received suspicious glances.
“If you can’t even pretend properly, I have no reason to keep taking you with me. I’ll give you the fare, so go home.”
“No, I’ll do it right.”
“Is that why you messed things up there?”
“Olga wouldn’t have said anything whether I gave her Somumu or not. So it’s not my fault.”
It was annoying, but it was true. Even if Joo-oh had kept his mouth shut and stayed still, the result wouldn’t have been any different.
Mu-hae sighed softly and swallowed the tasteless coffee. The aroma was nice, but he didn’t know why something like this cost 15 Deals.
Luxury goods were originally expensive, but if that was the case, shouldn’t that sweet smoothie that Joo-oh was sipping also be this expensive?
“Try appealing to her emotions.”
Joo-oh, who had finished the tart, threw out a word as if doing him a favor.
“Where did you learn that?”
“Olga was wearing a ring.”
Mu-hae endured the bitter aftertaste of the coffee and looked at the pad again. There was no mention in the information Gu-reum had given him that she was seeing someone.
Not to mention dating, Olga Belova had been living a life close to being a loner for ten years since the day Solar City collapsed.
She lived alone, and her daily routine was always the same, without anyone interfering. She woke up in the morning, exercised, had a meal, and then spent time at the café she visited every day.
After that, she went home and did programming work that was delivered as an outsourcing job for six hours, then went out to the park to get some air. She didn’t talk to anyone and cut short any conversations that came her way.
Of course, her income wasn’t plentiful, but she seemed to have a lot of money to begin with. She had inherited a huge fortune from her dead lover, so she didn’t really need to work.
Then was that ring also her dead lover’s?
“I don’t think they were that loving.”
The information about her that was extracted from Goryeo City remained intact in the data center. Before the accident in Solar City, she had already been distant from her lover to the point of postponing their wedding engagement.
According to Olga’s expression, the man, who was a key member of the city, was a great workaholic who couldn’t even keep a simple dinner appointment.
That was why she had moved up her trip, which was scheduled for six months later, and suddenly left for a nearby city. In fact, they were on the verge of breaking up.
Nevertheless, was she still wearing the ring out of pity for her dead lover?
Just as Mu-hae recalled his father, who had abandoned him, without any particular ill feelings, death ultimately tenderly packaged everything, no matter what complaints had been exchanged.
Or maybe it was just gratitude for creating a prosperous life for her. If Mu-hae had inherited about 1 million Deals, he would have built a memorial hall for his father in his house.
“Olga just looked at us.”
When Joo-oh said that, he quickly raised his head, and she was walking away in the distance. It was a surprisingly precise routine.
If she went home now, Olga would probably come out to the park in the evening.
“You seem quite free now.”
The woman’s forehead twitched slightly at the sudden conversation. A cool breeze swept around the park bench.
Mu-hae quietly looked at her and glanced down at her hand. As Joo-oh had said, there was a silver ring on her wrinkled ring finger.
“Is a conversation possible now?”
At the straightforward question, Olga took a small breath. It was a reaction that was hard to tell whether it was annoyance or tension.
“You’re a rookie, aren’t you?”
Suddenly, an unexpected question flew at him. Mu-hae hid his embarrassment behind a nonchalant face and shrugged as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Or you’re not from that department.”
But her tone was already full of conviction. He must have been showing some kind of deficiency somewhere.
Damn it. If Joo-oh hadn’t held out that damn Somumu… Just as Mu-hae was blaming him in his mind, Olga opened her mouth.
“You said it’s your job to ‘meet’ new residents from Solar. I know, I do. Every year, when you suddenly barge in, I have to cancel my schedule and exchange formal questions and answers with those people.”
“…”
“Didn’t anyone tell you? You don’t have to just wander around like this. I would have gone anywhere if you had just asked me to go.”
Oh, no. It was Mu-hae himself who had aroused Olga’s suspicion before Joo-oh. No sooner had he realized that fact than she added a word.
“And you usually don’t go around in such a strange combination. A demon king and a princess? Even if I just passed by, I’d remember you for 10 years.”