MIT 87

“Yes……?”

What was this supposed to mean? A bad feeling came true, and Mu-hae almost frowned.

His usual indifferent face helped this time. Even though it crumpled whenever he faced Joo-oh, Jin Mu-hae was basically a person with few emotional ups and downs. Really.

“I thought it wasn’t purchased through official channels from the moment that child brought the bracelet. Platinum is especially precious, so I thought mercenaries had picked up a lost item and sold it cheaply.”

The Old woman gripped her empty wrist tightly and lowered her gaze slightly.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but I sold it to someone who offered a good price recently. My granddaughter is showing outstanding talent in her studies. She might even aim to become a researcher, so I really wanted to get her private tutoring.”

“If you sold it, do you know to whom… Could you tell me anything about their identity or appearance?”

“They just said they were a collector. They were a bit unusual, their hair was really bright blue……”

Thump. Mu-hae’s throat tightened with curses at the image of someone he immediately associated with.

“Blueberry cinnamon roll.”

“Yes? Oh, right. They had their hair tied up in a bun. Do you know them?”

Joo-oh cut in to confirm the kill. It wasn’t just someone with slightly blue hair, it was definitely Cheong.

Mu-hae forced a bitter expression and nodded slightly. After the Old woman received his thanks and disappeared into the house, he belatedly became foul-mouthed.

“Fuck.”

Cheong had once again gotten his hands on the necessary item before Mu-hae. Even though he had so many people to order around, he deliberately made a personal visit, leaving behind a description of his appearance before disappearing.

He had been uneasy ever since Cheong suddenly appeared in the sewer tunnel and kicked the robot. He wondered if Cheong was harboring a grudge for the proposal he had rejected without even listening to it, as he kept appearing here and there, annoyingly.

‘Just how.’

The more he reviewed the events, the stranger it seemed. The robot in that sewer tunnel, and Olga’s bracelet he was currently looking for, were all results he had reached after receiving information from Gu-reum and agonizing over it.

Unless Cheong had obtained the same information, how could he have picked out only the necessary items and gotten his hands on them first?

“He probably took everything.”

“What?”

As Mu-hae’s jaw hardened, Joo-oh’s voice came from beside him, as if he had read his thoughts.

He was watching Mu-hae’s face stiffen in real time, and was cautiously looking at him.

“Anything that seemed necessary, or even a little ambiguous. Hmm, anything that seemed like it would create a connection with Jin Mu-hae, he took it all.”

His small voice contained a sliver of certainty. Mu-hae scanned him, his gaze even reaching the tightly clenched fist.

He was holding a green figure again, since when. That damn Tinkle Friends. How much Tornado whatever had Joo-oh eaten to collect them all?

“……That bastard, he has a lot of money.”

“Yeah. He has a lot of subordinates too.”

And he seemed terribly bored. The languid look in his eyes was still vividly etched in his memory.

Mu-hae released his jaw, which he had clenched to the point of pain, and took a deep breath. He recalled the sight of Joo-oh tearing open colorful cereal boxes at every meal to get the Kuku Cook or whatever.

In the end, Joo-oh collected all types of figures. He later found out that there was also an Aurora Version hidden figure.

He didn’t say it, but Mu-hae had already guessed that he had gotten his hands on that as well.

‘If he takes anything that seems to have a connection, there’s a high probability that one of them will hit.’

It was a very one-dimensional and simple, but at the same time plausible, guess. While Mu-hae was chasing clues with definitive information from Gu-reum, Cheong was sifting through a flood of low-quality information, sending out people, and poking at everything.

It was crazy to think that he had left traces on dozens of clues, whether they would actually be used or not…….

‘It seems like he’s a bit crazy too.’

It seemed like he had picked the wrong fight. This time too, the bracelet for Olga had been passed on to him.

“Jin Mu-hae.”

“What.”

As Joo-oh tugged at his sleeve, Mu-hae’s brow furrowed. The face looking up at him was quite handsome.

Would he wait quietly at home if he left him behind? It was a thought not worth reconsidering. Mu-hae repeatedly sighed, a habit that had now become ingrained, and pressed his temples.

As they entered Sakdal, he could now openly feel the gazes. Even though the streets were packed as the sun set, the back of his head was tingling.

Of course, there was no one hiding and peeking or following them like before. Instead, all those who knew about the series of events were staring at the two of them.

Before long, a man in black clothes blocked their path.

“Shall I escort you?”

The polite tone was at odds with the stiff and cold voice. Jin Mu-hae followed him across Sakdal Street as if he had been waiting for this.

Thus, the two entered a tall building rarely seen in the slums, a building with a goblin-shaped neon sign.

Ding-!

The VIP elevator, which seemed to be Cheong’s private property, had only one button to select. As soon as they arrived at the top floor, a long, narrow corridor unfolded before their eyes.

A floor covered with a red carpet and walls with paintings of unknown meaning hung sparsely. It was quite a bizarre interior.

The structure was also unique. Passages that turned in the middle appeared from time to time, and doors without nameplates were stuck in the middle.

Thump, thump. When Joo-oh knocked on the wall, it made a hollow sound. It was a partition wall that could be demolished and rebuilt at any time.

The structure was such that outsiders could never know where to go to meet the person they wanted.

“It’s a maze. Right.”

Fortunately, Mu-hae had been invited by the manager of this Sakdal today. After following the man around a couple of corners, the two arrived in front of an ordinary-looking black door.

Click. As the door opened, the entire view of the top floor poured in at a glance. The open space and luxurious decorations, as if they had come to a completely different world, caught their eyes.

Neon lights twinkled like stars beyond the glass walls. Sitting on the desk in front of it with his feet up was, as expected, the blue-haired man.

“Hello.”

Cheong greeted them in a languid voice. Hello, Joo-oh tried to follow, but was stopped by Mu-hae.

“Sit there.”

What he pointed to was a dining table in the middle of the room. It seemed like he had hurriedly brought it out as soon as Mu-hae entered Sakdal, as there were only three chairs.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“I’m not in the mood to eat anything with you.”

“I think the other friend would eat if you gave it to him?”

Mu-hae turned to look at him, and Joo-oh quickly averted his gaze. It was obvious that he would have looked excited to death as soon as he heard about food, without even having to look.

Come to think of it, he had missed Joo-oh’s mealtime. It was admirable that he hadn’t complained about being hungry.

He didn’t even put anything in his mouth and chew on the way here. Food was innocent, so it would be better to feed him first.

As if guessing his feelings, Cheong snapped his fingers. Servants, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, placed plates one by one on the table.

It was so old-fashioned that it made him laugh, but it seemed like a dramatic production for Joo-oh.

His red eyes, which had been gradually becoming dazed, instantly sparkled with life. Before he could stop him, he walked to the table and plopped down in a chair.

From fresh salads to steaming bread, meat stew that seemed like the bones would come out just by pressing it with a fork, and thick, freshly baked steak…….

Even Mu-hae felt hungry, so there was no need to mention that glutton. He reached out without even hearing the words to eat.

“Why don’t you sit down? Your friend has already started eating.”

In the end, Mu-hae frowned and sat down next to Joo-oh. In the meantime, Joo-oh’s steak plate was half empty.

“I thought you wouldn’t come back after leaving like that last time. What’s going on.”

“Don’t bother me and just get to the point.”

“Well…… Isn’t it you who should be getting to the point? You crawled all the way here because you needed something, didn’t you?”

Cheong, who had walked to the seat across from them, chuckled. It was a truly incongruous laugh, as it sounded innocent like a boy if you listened closely.

Joo-oh, who had already finished one steak, reached for the meat stew. He glanced at Cheong, licked his lips, and muttered.

“Blueberry cinnamon roll.”

One of Cheong’s eyebrows twitched.

“You’ve never actually seen a blueberry, have you? Blueberries aren’t blue.”

“Blueberry.”

“They’re purple. Do you know the difference between purple and blue?”

“Blue.”

Was this two grown men talking, or were there two kids sitting here?

It was so childish that he almost lost his appetite. In the meantime, Mu-hae felt a little better because Cheong was subtly being pushed back.

Ahem, ahem. Cheong coughed unnecessarily to regain the atmosphere. Whether he did or not, Joo-oh was now stuffing meat stew into his mouth.

At Cheong’s gesture, a new steak was placed in front of Joo-oh. It was as if he knew that Joo-oh was eating a lot, and the meat was being grilled in real time.

“So, what’s the point?”

“Is there any need to ask when you already know?”

“There is. I have about ten things that come to mind, so I don’t know which one you came for.”

Cheong readily admitted that he had been hindering his path. As Joo-oh said, he had made a mess everywhere.

What was the reason? Was he harboring a grudge for the past neglect?

“It’s delicious, right? It’s real meat.”

“Umm, um.”

No. Cheong’s eyes didn’t contain any grudges, even as a pretense. As he had seen before, only terrible ennui and a hint of interest were floating there.

“Bracelet.”

Only when Mu-hae backed down did the corners of his lips turn up. Cheong took a salad with a harpoon-like fork and answered.

“Ah, that. I thought it would suit me well, so I spent some money and bought it.”

They both knew that he had snatched it to interfere with someone, but he was annoyingly pretending not to know. Mu-hae cut the steak without any particular change in expression.

He had met many people in his life who were anxious to scratch other people’s nerves. According to the wisdom gained from his rough mercenary life, there was nothing as stupid as getting caught up in it.

“Give it to me.”

However, Joo-oh was not Mu-hae. He suddenly bit the bait and dangled.

“Why? Are you going to wear it?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

He wasn’t stupid enough to spill all the information like he was, but Cheong, who had already caught a case, grinned and started a conversation.

“But what should I do? This is expensive.”

“How much is it?”

“About 100,000 Deal? You can’t buy it even if you sell yourself.”

“That’s not the price.”

“It’s up to the seller.”

This time, Joo-oh, who was at a similar level, was pushed back by the conversation that made his mental age drop just by listening to it.

Even though he didn’t bite the meat, his cheeks puffed up a little.