By Zephyria 
‘If it’s family…….’
His face is well-maintained, but he can’t hide the years; he looks a bit older than Director Gil.
If they look that much alike, there’s a high probability they’re direct family. Could he be his brother?
“Quiche. And a Long Black.”
Damn it. Even his voice is similar. By some coincidence, the man who sat down right next to them started unfolding his pad and focusing on the screen.
Mu-hae glanced at the man who resembled Director Gil several times. Unless he was an idiot, he could tell. The person Director Gil told him to meet was right there.
“Hyung?”
Joo-oh, who had almost finished his drink and was licking his lips as if he was disappointed, whispered again.
He had never heard Director Gil talk about his family, but he strongly felt that it was likely.
Director Gil having a brother. The more he thought about it, the more awkward he felt, like he had opened a secret diary he shouldn’t have seen.
Even if Director Gil himself had handed him the key to that diary. Why could he understand Joo-oh’s absurd comment, ‘Director Gil also had a mother’?
Soon, a plate was placed on the man’s table, and he cut the quiche with neat movements and put it in his mouth.
Conscious of the man eating as quietly as Joo-oh, Mu-hae set the overturned cup on the teacup.
What should he say? No, in the first place, could he interfere, mentioning Director Gil, in a relationship that had been estranged for so long?
Director Gil must have thought it was possible, so he sent him here. If so, the best attitude Mu-hae could take was not to ruin the opportunity he had been given.
“How did Director Gil know he was drinking coffee here?”
Joo-oh licked the cream off his straw and tilted his head slightly. Only then did Mu-hae remember Director Gil’s situation, having been trapped in the slums for a long time.
He couldn’t have secretly infiltrated Central or contacted his family. This must be the man’s daily routine. A very old routine, so much so that even Director Gil, who lived far away like a stranger, could easily guess it.
Only then did the man’s impeccable appearance catch his eye. He didn’t need to exchange words to have a clear picture of what his personality would be like.
“He won’t give us much time.”
Joo-oh’s useless chatter was sometimes helpful like this. Mu-hae sat quietly and waited until the man finished his simple meal and savored his coffee.
And finally, when the man paid and got up from his seat.
“Teacher Gil.”
He spoke to him as if he were someone he had seen somewhere before. The man, who seemed like someone you wouldn’t forget easily once you saw him, greeted him with a friendly tone, so the man’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.
“Do you know me?”
“I came to see you through your brother’s introduction.”
“……”
“CEO Gil Seong-jun said he had something to deliver.”
The man’s face darkened instantly. He calmly looked around, then beckoned Mu-hae to his side.
“Come with me.”
A threatening voice flowed from the mouth of the gentleman. Mu-hae and Joo-oh trailed behind the man, who turned and left the cafe.
“Who sent you?”
A small park they arrived at after walking for about five minutes. The man finally spoke on a relatively deserted street.
“CEO Gil Seong-jun…….”
“Threatening me with that name now is a very low-class method.”
Hearing Director Gil’s name, his attitude became even colder. Judging by his cold gaze, he seemed to think that Mu-hae had been sent to threaten him.
He didn’t expect much, but he was treated even more harshly than he thought. Seeing such a look with a face that looked exactly like Director Gil’s made him realize anew that he was a stranger, no matter whose flesh and blood he was.
“It’s not a threat. He really sent me.”
“What nerve does that bastard have to send someone to me?”
The man’s expression grew increasingly fierce as he scanned Mu-hae. Perhaps he had realized it too. That these men were really sent by the flesh and blood he hadn’t seen in over twenty years.
“We need help.”
“So, with what nerve.”
“He said I could get what I needed if I came to you.”
“You’re impossible to talk to.”
The man slowly straightened his sleeves. Judging by the way he was looking into the distance, he seemed to be ignoring the uninvited guests in front of him and trying to return to his daily life.
Mu-hae didn’t rush and reached into his pocket to take out an old pad.
Bbi-rong-!
A cheerful sound effect rang out, and a clunky UI appeared on the pad screen. The man’s complexion turned dark as he witnessed it.
Funnily enough, he looked even more like Director Gil. Even though Director Gil himself had never seen the light of day and lived holed up in the Electronic Store, his skin was pale and white.
“……Follow me.”
Was the pad that Director Gil gave him some kind of magic key? The man sighed with a stiff face.
He gestured roughly as if he didn’t want to associate with them, then strode out of the park.
“Get in.”
“Okay.”
“In the back. I said get in.”
The place where the man stopped was a stop lined with high-end Hover Taxis. Mu-hae grabbed Joo-oh, who had cheerfully opened the passenger seat door, and quickly put him in the back seat.
He didn’t know how the situation was unfolding, but he knew that upsetting him now would ruin everything.
Mu-hae got into the car last and closed the door tightly, and soon the taxi started smoothly.
“……‘That bastard’ sent you.”
The man glanced out the window and spoke first. Mu-hae held up the pad without answering.
Unbelievable……. He muttered and covered his forehead. All sorts of emotions flashed in the eyes of the older man.
“With what nerve.”
It was the third time he had said the same thing. Mu-hae shrugged his shoulders because he had nothing to say, and the man snatched the pad away.
Bee-ik- Bik. A childish sound came from the pad every time he pressed the screen. After manipulating the pad for a long time, the man let out a groan that was hard to tell whether he was clicking his tongue or groaning.
“He managed to run away with this.”
After muttering, he finally showed interest in Mu-hae.
“What’s your relationship?”
“I grew up under him.”
To be exact, Director Gil had only subtly looked after the young Mu-hae, but he felt that he needed to have this much of a relationship to make an impression.
As expected, the man’s eyes changed slightly. After scanning Joo-oh, who was sitting brightly next to him, several times, he entered the destination into the taxi that was circling in the same place.
―12 minutes remaining to the destination, Jeongjin Tower.
Listening to the clear navigation guidance, Mu-hae grabbed Joo-oh’s wrist and pulled down his sleeve.
That damn bastard was subtly revealing his Link Watch, probably trying to take pictures, so he gave him a sharp look as a warning.
Tche. Joo-oh turned his head regretfully. Still, like a thoughtless guy, he was quickly distracted by the scenery outside the window.
Ttaeng-!
The place they headed to with the man was a building that seemed to pierce the ceiling of Dome City. The height was considerable, but the area was not large, so it did not seem like a house for a middle-aged man in this attire or an office for a company.
As expected, the room that the man entered after scanning his face was a personal space of about 20 pyeong. There was an armchair, but no mattress or topper, so it seemed like a place used as a workspace.
As soon as the gazes of the surroundings and the CCTV on the street disappeared, the man nervously took off his jacket and threw it on the sofa.
“It’s ridiculous. Really…… it’s ridiculous.”
Mu-hae followed his gesture and took a seat on the soft yellow leather sofa.
Click. The man took out a lighter from his pocket, lit a cigarette, swept back his falling hair, and sat across from him.
“Okay. What do you want?”
As expected, he didn’t seem to have any intention of spending a long time, and he asked the main point right away.
Mu-hae crossed his legs with a calm expression. It was because he had obtained a silent positive sign from Joo-oh’s eyes, who was staring at the man.
Joo-oh was a guy who lacked common sense, but he was keenly aware of people’s feelings. With only that belief in his ability, Mu-hae added some extra details to the purpose he had initially thought of.
“There’s someone I’m looking for. And…….”
“Tell me.”
“I’m curious about the story with CEO Gil Seong-jun.”
This time, as if he had read his mind, Joo-oh jumped in and added a word. He slapped his thigh with a thud, and he quickly became quiet, but his eyes were sparkling, and he already looked like he was dying of fun.
“Is that the price for living like a dead man in the future, or something?”
“There was no such thing.”
“I guess not. If he had any sense.”
The man muttered cynically and flicked cigarette ash into the ashtray. Hoo, a sigh-like smoke was neatly sucked into the ventilation shaft in the ceiling.
“I want to meet Kang Ju-seo.”
What Director Gil wanted was to get information about NPS. Mu-hae rudely betrayed his expectations and brought up the story of West Wind.
The man’s eyes shook unpleasantly once again at the mention of that name. The man, who narrowed his brows as if trying to see if he was testing him, even let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re like a crazy bastard.”
The man threw the pad he was holding onto the low table. A small photo appeared on the screen. In it, brothers of different ages were glancing at each other with bright smiles.
“Even after doing such a thing, he still has lingering feelings? Does he think that human will save me?”
Director Gil’s unique accent was mixed into the man’s usually polite tone. The man, who gritted his teeth so hard that it made a sound, rubbed out the cigarette that was still more than half-burned in the ashtray.
“I don’t know what you were expecting, but the period I didn’t have a brother is longer than the period I did. I did get a lot of help from him to go to graduate school. But I have no intention of stepping into a dead end in return.”
The man jumped up and picked up the clothes he had thrown away.
“Even if he wants me to repay the favor now for taking his personal research, it’s the same. Because of the accident that bastard caused, we all became safer as we moved away from the political scene.”
“The political scene. Kang Ju-seo must have a seat there?”
The man, who was about to open the door and kick the two out, slowly turned his head. Did he say something wrong? He calmed down his excited energy and quickly calmed down.
“You’re a funny guy. Just like that bastard.”
The man, who closed the door again in case someone saw him, slumped down in the seat where the ashtray was.
“He raised a guy just like him. A very disgusting guy. Hey, young man. What he asked you to do, it’s not really meeting that woman, is it?”
Joo-oh made a face that he had been caught red-handed at the mumbling voice. Mu-hae pretended to be calm and faced the man, realizing.
Damn it. Kang Ju-seo was not only from Central, but also a figure in the middle of the political battles of this city, which were intertwined like a spider web.
Director Gil already knew that fact. Maybe even Teacher Jung. Nevertheless, they hadn’t said a word to Mu-hae until now. As if Mu-hae shouldn’t know.
No, it was as if they had to avoid saying it themselves.