By Zephyria To Jin Mu-hae, the world around him is both familiar and sometimes strange.
The life on Starlight Road that he had always known was, in reality, only a single piece of the life he could reach.
It was only after gathering 204,000 Deal that he discovered the deep roots of the Return flight. After experiencing all sorts of accidents, he finally obtained a daily life in a formal residential area, and he even experienced a job where everyone bowed their heads for a ridiculous infiltration request.
The fact that he can now come and go to Central as he pleases is something that he himself would have found hard to imagine just a few months ago.
Jin Mu-hae put on the coat he had purchased at great expense and knocked on the door of the study.
“Aren’t you coming out? Can’t you even dress yourself?”
“I’m dressed! But my hair won’t cooperate.”
“Come out and comb it. You don’t even clean.”
A tall man appeared through the slightly opened door. Hair a little long because he missed the time to cut it, a dandy shirt made of knit material.
The soft ivory-colored top suits Joo-oh better than he thought. Mu-hae held his breath for a moment and savored the sight before him.
This, too, is an item with a heart-stopping price tag to blend into the scenery of Central, but at this price, Joo-oh will understand that his food expenses have decreased.
Well, it doesn’t really matter even if he doesn’t. He was already eating more than enough.
“Come here. I’ll fix it for you.”
“Haha. Okay.”
Joo-oh’s hair isn’t too stiff, so just combing it a few times with his hands makes it look decent.
And yet, it’s absurd that he makes such a troubled expression with his hair all disheveled like that. It’s as if he deliberately shook his head around before coming out.
“Jin Mu-hae, I like you.”
“Then do as I tell you normally.”
It’s truly incomprehensible that he needs someone else’s help for such a simple task. Look. After sweeping his hair back a few times, didn’t it become a natural yet carefully styled hairstyle?
Mu-hae grabbed Joo-oh’s sleeve to straighten it and carefully tucked the cheap Link Watch into his clothes so it wouldn’t be visible.
After roughly putting on his glasses, he transformed into someone who shouldn’t be in this kind of neighborhood.
“It would be really troublesome if you caused an accident today.”
“I don’t cause accidents.”
“Leave all those ugly figurines at home, too. Don’t scatter them everywhere.”
“I didn’t scatter them everywhere. And they’re not ugly.”
Even after his accident greatly expanded his mind, Joo-oh was still obsessed with Tinkle Friends. He also coveted Teacher Jung’s wire puzzles and was crazy about sweet foods like a child.
Perhaps he’ll be like this even after he recovers his memories. That was Joo-oh. Always hungry, dazed, and doing something commendable as rare as a bean sprouting in a drought.
“Jin Mu-hae is an idiot.”
“Don’t start talking nonsense already.”
Taking Joo-oh, who was giggling, he finally opened the front door. Unlike their fully dressed appearance, the sight of Starlight Road was depressing.
Mu-hae lowered his hand, which he was about to use to rub the back of his head lest the hair he had styled with hair products become disheveled, to his neck.
The cold hand touched his skin, and his languid mind snapped awake.
“As you’ve already seen, Central is… completely different from places like Jaegang District or Sakdal.”
“I won’t speak loudly in the cafe.”
“I won’t order you any food today, either. Instead, I’ll get you a large drink, so bear with that.”
“Tch.”
Even though he clicked his tongue with a disappointed face, he didn’t seem to have any greedy intentions. Joo-oh nodded his head and wiggled his feet a little.
The new shoes he bought shone cleanly in the morning sunlight. He got these relatively cheaply, but strangely enough, they suited him well.
‘Jin Mu-hae. I don’t think this is a home address.’
‘I know. The location is a bit ambiguous.’
The evening before two days ago, Director Gil sent Mu-hae an address. A short message without any simple greetings or explanations seemed to show his heavy heart.
Having gained some knowledge of Central’s geography after cleaning the city for a few days, Mu-hae immediately recognized that it was a wealthy neighborhood.
Probably… a main street a little away from the residential area. Seeing that it was on the first floor, he figured it was a business and quietly went for a preliminary visit.
It was a fairly large cafe. A money-smelling building with a large tree and flowers planted as decorations in the center.
He wonders who he’s supposed to meet in a place where hundreds of people come and go every day, but there must be a reason why Director Gil didn’t bother to tell him the target.
“It was around 11 o’clock, right?”
“Yeah.”
At least he told him the expected time. He wonders how someone who has stayed in a corner of a slum for over 20 years would know the visitors of a Central cafe, but Director Gil’s expression when he handed over the old pad was unusual, so he thought there must be a plausible story behind it.
Mu-hae checked the time from time to time and headed to the train station. If he moved from here to Jaegang District and then took a taxi, it would cost a bit of money, but there would be no unfortunate events of ruining his attire.
“Oooooh.”
Joo-oh, who opened the car door and went out, made a dazed sound. The neat roads without a single dent and the clean buildings look like they were built just yesterday.
Central in the morning is a spectacular sight just by existing. The people walking around busily were all wearing luxurious clothes and exuded a subtle fragrance.
Even the artificial sunlight is more warm than dazzling. Even the streets where there should be sewer holes didn’t have a single unpleasant smell.
The vitality that filled the streets. It was a different image from what he had seen in the early morning or evening. Children wearing neat uniforms, perhaps from an academy for an outside class, passed by in a line.
In the middle of the world’s peaceful city, Mu-hae also relaxed his stiff shoulders for a moment. Joo-oh poked him in the side and gestured to one side.
“Is that the place?”
He doesn’t know how he knew, but he found the large cafe that he had visited for a preliminary investigation.
‘Long Breath’. The unique name was stylishly written on the sandwich board next to the entrance.
“Yeah. Follow me quietly. And don’t walk around jumping.”
He gave him a warning in advance because he tends to walk around jumping when he’s excited, but Joo-oh snorted as if he thought he was an idiot.
After doing that, he busily rattled his glasses and approached the cafe first. An unavoidable excitement could be felt in his calmly lowered steps.
Ding-dong.
As soon as the automatic door opened, a small copper-colored bell shook to announce the arrival of a customer. The fragrant smell of coffee rushed in, and the old-fashioned interior unfolded before his eyes.
As he casually sat down at a nearby seat, a waiter wearing a black vest and apron soon approached with a menu.
A gaze that habitually scans the customer’s attire. Fortunately, the waiter didn’t notice anything strange and introduced himself.
Some kind of black, some kind of latte, all sorts of drinks were written on the paper menu without a single picture. It would be better to just install devices on the tables, but the inconvenient sensibility is something else.
“A short black… and I’d like vanilla milk with cream on top.”
“Vanilla milk originally comes with a little cream on top.”
“Add it to the brim, overflowing.”
That’s about how much it would take to appease that ogre’s stomach. He sat down in a seat where the entrance was easily visible after putting away the food, so he could quietly observe whoever came in from now on.
Near the table where they sat, there was a mirror wrapped around the wall. Mu-hae took off his coat and hung it on the chair next to him, then inadvertently reflected his appearance.
…A face without scars or sunburn marks, considering he had done rough work. Naturally swept-back hair and silver-shining glasses frames.
Even though he’s so big, it’s strange how he doesn’t seem to have any connection with mercenaries. The murderous eyes that made the mercenaries who picked a fight with him tremble were just cold eyes when he was dressed neatly.
He himself is unfamiliar with this, so how much more would it be for those seeing him for the first time? In the peace where no one suspects his origins, Jin Mu-hae felt an inexplicable pleasantness.
Clatter. The tiny amount of bitter coffee that was just placed on the table also tasted sweet, his mood was so good.
“Jin Mu-hae. Were you eating a cookie?”
Joo-oh, who was scooping up a lot of cream, asked out of the blue. Mu-hae soon understood because it was a way of speaking he was so familiar with that it made him shudder.
“Why do you ask?”
“Did you eat it at home?”
He never tells him about his dreams, but he shamelessly asks him so well. Mu-hae, who was taking a sip of coffee without answering, suddenly twitched his fingertips and turned to look at Joo-oh.
…Cookie. He did mention unfamiliar memories to Teacher Jung in front of that guy a few days ago.
But did he perhaps blurt out in that memory that he was eating a cookie?
‘…’
He swallowed the strange feeling, pretending not to notice it. When he stared at the guy with a calm face, it seemed like his red eyes flashed for a moment.
But the fleeting impression soon disappeared, and Joo-oh was already making a dazed face again.
“Those kinds of cookies must be delicious. Right.”
He pointed to the desserts in the confectionery showcase as if he was possessed. As if he wanted to eat the cookie he saw and tried to pull off a shoddy trick.
Ha. Mu-hae’s back, which had been stiff, slowly relaxed. Well, he often understands his feelings, but how could he possibly read even his own vague memories?
The scene he saw in Buckta remained too deeply in his head, so he must have had a pointless delusion.
“Just eat your cream.”
Jin Mu-hae let out a shallow sigh and put down his coffee cup.
He’s been overreacting to Joo-oh’s words and actions since a few days ago. It was after he was injected with anesthetic drugs, so he might have just been dreaming.
Even thinking about it again, it’s an unrealistic memory. Mu-hae made an effort to ignore Joo-oh, who was adding more sugar to his already sweet drink, and stared intently at the cafe entrance.
How much time had passed as he tried to erase the suspicious sense of déjà vu…?
Ding-dong.
The eighth customer after they ordered their drinks passed through the automatic door and entered the cafe.
Mu-hae’s eyes, which had gradually become indifferent, turned to the man in a suit. In an instant, his heart thumped and his sharp eyes widened.
A middle-aged man with graying temples. The luxurious jacket that flowed along the lines of his body and the watch that was glimpsed on his wrist looked expensive even to the eyes of a layman.
He must have had a chip implanted instead of a Link Watch, but the attire that suited him so well as if it were one with his body just felt awkward to Mu-hae.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
“Yeah.”
“He looks alike.”
The middle-aged man was someone Mu-hae knew well, he looked exactly like Director Gil.
He was healthier and his skin was more radiant, but his prominent brow bones and deep eyes were unmistakably his bloodline.
‘…The person he told me to meet.’
Was it a long-estranged family member? In a scene he couldn’t have imagined even in his dreams, Mu-hae’s empty cup clattered and overturned on the saucer.
Joo-oh, who was licking the cream, whispered in a small voice that could barely be heard.
“It looks like Director Gil also had a mother. Isn’t that amazing?”
It was a blasphemous statement for an innocent exclamation.