Chapter 34 - So It's You (2)

* * *

"Do you like festivals?" Sinu asked casually.

"No. I've never been to one."

At Hyeonyul's answer, Sinu couldn't keep the uncertainty from showing in their eyes.

'Then what's that book for?'

Sinu was confused. Why had he been reading a book about festivals so diligently?

'... Oh.'

Sinu immediately understood.

'He was reading it because he's planning to go.'

As far as Sinu knew, the festival was only a few days away. Questions itched to escape, but Sinu focused on the mission.

"From now on, I'm Lee Siha."

Hyeonyul nodded at Sinu's words. An alias was certainly better for minimizing the risk.

"Then I'll be 'Kim Hansu.'"

Hyeonyul simply chose a random name that came to mind.

"Mr. Lee Siha..."

"Let's act like we're close—older brother, younger brother. That's more natural."

Sinu smiled.

"How is that different from now?"

"I'm saying you should speak casually."

"Then I'll do so when I can, and otherwise try to avoid speaking as much as possible."

They would have to act, and Hyeonyul had considered the possibility that his performance might be awkward. Silence was better than ruining the mission with awkward acting.

"Then we'll say you're nervous. That should be fine, right?"

"That's fine. However, I don't know many celebrities."

"That's okay. These are exactly the reasons I decided to come along. I'll make things feel natural, so it'll be easier for you to talk, too."

"What's your plan?"

"Plan? Oh, I was a child actor for a little while when I was young. I'm saying I'm confident in my acting."

'A child actor?'

That raised a question for Hyeonyul.

"It wasn't anything major, and it was only for a little while. Back then, with my younger sibling..."

Sinu stopped speaking and closed their mouth. Their voice had trembled for the briefest moment. Why bring this up out of nowhere? It was pointless.

"Anyway, that's what I meant."

Sinu soon smiled as though nothing had happened and pointed a thumb at themself.

"Makes me sound pretty dependable, doesn't it?"

"I'm not sure."

Hyeonyul shook his head.

"Then watch."

Brimming with confidence, Sinu took out their phone.

"Oh, hello."

<... Hello?>

A woman's voice came through.

"Last night, you gave us a business card on the street—"

<Oh! Oh! Just a moment. Are you outside the building, by any chance?>

Her tone and manner changed completely. She seemed to be in quite a hurry.

"... Yes. We're outside the building right now."

<Stay right there! Just stay where you are!>

"All...right. We'll wait here."

Feigning sheepishness, Sinu ended the call.

Sinu looked at the S.T.D Entertainment building. This place was now as good as a battlefield. Most of the people working there might be ordinary civilians. What would a villain do if things went wrong? They could blow up the building to erase the evidence, taking everyone to their deaths.

"Want to tell me your plan now?"

Sinu looked at Hyeonyul.

"The plan is always simple."

Hyeonyul regarded Sinu with cool eyes.

"Just buy me enough time, and I'll handle the rest."

He was utterly confident.

Wow.

Sinu's mouth fell slightly open.

"... That's your plan?"

"Yes."

"You...never, ever say that in front of the Team Leader. She'll be horrified."

Would horror be the end of it? She might pound the ground in regret.

"What's wrong with it?"

Hyeonyul tilted his head.

"It's wrong. Very wrong."

"Really?"

As Hyeonyul sank deeper into thought, Sinu rubbed the bridge of their nose. How should this be explained? How could simply throwing yourself into it and dealing with things count as a plan? It was exactly what Haeryeon hated most.

"I'll...handle this for you, too. When you see the Team Leader later, just nod. Got it?"

"Understood."

Hyeonyul bowed his head slightly. Sinu was his senior. Once an order had been given, obeying was the proper thing to do.

"Don't do that. You don't need to bow your head. If anyone does, it'll be me."

Sinu patted Hyeonyul's shoulder and walked ahead.

'... What does that mean?'

Not understanding, Hyeonyul followed.

* * *

"... Wow."

The woman let out an exclamation as she looked at Sinu and Hyeonyul.

"My eye didn't fail me."

They looked even better in daylight. To think she had landed not one, but two tremendous catches.

'No, no. Not yet.'

She calmed herself. For now, she was only halfway to success. There was a set quota she absolutely had to meet. If she failed, she would die. Under those circumstances, the two people who had come were salvation itself.

"First, um, shall we have a little chat?"

Suppressing her surging emotions, she showed them to a room. It was a clean room decorated in white tones. Perhaps it had been designed to receive guests from the outset; its furnishings felt at once sparse and lavish.

"Thank you for coming all this way. Was it difficult to find us? Did you sleep well?"

The woman waited until Sinu and Hyeonyul had sat down before speaking.

"Actually...we've never done anything like this before, so we weren't sure what to do. My friend here stayed up all night, too, so I think he's completely out of it right now."

As Sinu spoke with perfect nonchalance, the woman looked at Hyeonyul. His stiff expression certainly looked like the aftermath of a sleepless night.

"Of course! People often turn us down because they suspect it's a scam. We spend every day wondering how best to approach people, too. But the moment I saw you two, I just couldn't let you pass by."

Perfection itself. Living sculptures. Her eyes seemed to say those very things, and Sinu smiled awkwardly.

Frankly, it was disgusting. Ruining ordinary people's livelihoods, then calmly going about her sales pitch.

"Oh, how do you two know each other?" the woman asked.

"We're close, like older and younger brothers."

Sinu answered, and Hyeonyul nodded.

"You must hear people telling you to become singers or actors all the time. It feels like everything around you parts just when you walk by."

She spread both hands to either side.

'If we'd really come here knowing nothing, we'd have been taken in.'

Swallowing the words welling up inside, Sinu adopted a bashful expression and fiddled with their hair.

"That sort of thing...um, I've never heard it before."

"Really? That's quite surprising. Even with so many people at the theater, my eyes kept going to you. Almost like fate."

As she replied, her gaze naturally turned to Hyeonyul. He had been quiet for a while. She wanted to hear his voice, at least.

Reading her gaze, Sinu spoke with a smile.

"He's very shy. I dragged him here against his will."

"... It does feel a little unfamiliar."

The instant Hyeonyul spoke, the woman slapped her thigh. His voice was so superb it made her ears perk up.

"That's understandable. Oh, where's my head? What would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea? We also have lemon or yuja preserves."

"Tea for me, please."

Sinu touched their mouth as though thirsty, then naturally glanced at Hyeonyul.

"Want me to answer this for you, too?"

Sinu chuckled, almost whispering.

"... Yuja, please."

"Of course. Just a moment."

When the woman stood, Hyeonyul let out a long breath. It had only been a short time, but he felt as though a whirlwind had swept over him. He already felt drained. This sort of thing didn't suit him. He thought it would be nice simply to slash her with his dagger.

"What do you think?"

Sinu asked after the woman left the room. They had looked around on the way in, but there had been nothing unusual here.

"I haven't found anything unusual either. But he'll be here."

"Because this is a new company?"

Hyeonyul nodded at Sinu's question. That was why he believed the man had no choice but to be here.

"Yes. He's definitely acting differently from before."

Villains preferred to conceal their identities and burrow into the deepest reaches of the Empire. This was the first time he had seen one expose himself so openly.

"Investing this much despite the risk of being exposed as a villain proves how much he's staked on this business."

"That sounds like you're saying most of the employees here are villains... Is that right?"

Hyeonyul nodded again at Sinu's question.

"Yes. To keep mouths shut, most of the employees have to be villains."

At the outset of a business, fellow villains under his command were people he could work like dogs: the easiest to push around and replace at any time.

'They're easy to use, but they need strict control. That means he has to be here.'

Hyeonyul's thoughts returned to their starting point. The trouble was that appearances meant nothing. Even someone who picked up a wallet you happened to drop could be a major villain.

To take a look around, Hyeonyul leaned back against the sofa and covered his eyes with both hands.

"... You didn't really stay up all night because you were nervous, did you?"

Sinu hesitated as they asked.

"I'll stay like this for just a moment."

Hyeonyul sent the eyes enclosed within his hands burrowing into the darkness.

Realizing he was doing something, Sinu located the security cameras one by one.

"Lower your head, ignore what I'm doing, and do your thing."

Sinu gave Hyeonyul a light punch on the shoulder, then smiled and chatted about this and that. That would look natural.

With his head lowered, Hyeonyul swiftly searched the building's interior. Since he didn't know when the woman would return, he had to find something unusual in a short time. Countless places passed by. People were working; someone was secretly smoking. Someone else was guarding the entrance to the company park. Oddly, the way they acted resembled gangsters.

'That's suspicious.'

Looking inside, he found several people surrounding one person. That person's employee badge identified him as a new hire. On the surface, it looked as though they were giving the newcomer a hard time, but he brazenly held out a cigarette among people with higher ranks. Seeing him smile leisurely and wave the cigarette as if asking for a light, Hyeonyul was certain.

'There he is.'

Could a new hire ask a senior to light his cigarette unless he'd been hired through connections? No, it was doubtful even someone with connections could do that.

'Absolutely impossible.'

Above all, that face was very familiar. Having found his target, Hyeonyul lowered his hands.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

The woman came in with a knock, followed by a man. From the scent spreading through the room, they seemed to have brought the tea. Hyeonyul looked at the tea placed on the table.

"... I really am nervous."

He spoke as though hesitant and looked at her.

"That's understandable. You'll feel much better once you've had something warm."

"I should try that."

Hyeonyul took the cup of yuja tea. Steam rose from it. Smelling the drug mixed into its aroma, he laughed inwardly. Just as expected. What drug it was didn't matter.

Hyeonyul started to drink the yuja tea, then deliberately spilled it onto his clothes. The tea stained them yellow.

"Are you okay?"

Sinu was startled. The tea was clearly steaming hot.

Oh.

At Sinu's startled expression, Hyeonyul belatedly reacted as though it burned. His performance was painfully awkward, but the reactions around him weren't bad.

"W-wet wipes!"

The woman jumped to her feet in alarm. This was a precious body that would become one of her agency's artists.

'What do I do!'

The product had been damaged.

'I'll kill him...!'

Thinking of strangling the person responsible for the tea, she hurriedly offered the wet wipes.

"Do you know where the restroom is?"

At Hyeonyul's question, the woman turned to the man who had come with her.

"Hurry and show him to the restroom, and get him some clothes!"

"Yes. Follow me."

Guided by the man, Hyeonyul hurried into the restroom.

"I'll bring clothes and medicine right away."

"Thank you."

Watching the restroom door close, Hyeonyul curled his lips upward. A dagger was in his hand. The location happened to be perfect. He briefly operated his smartwatch and removed his disguise.

* * *

Hyeonyul first destroyed the security cameras installed in the company park. As he appeared, a black arc swept across the men's necks. Like falling rain, severed heads and blood drenched the ground.

Hyeonyul looked at the man who had been about to put a cigarette to his lips. Blood spraying from every direction had extinguished it. With his face covered in blood, the man stared blankly at him. Hyeonyul had met him before, and back then, he had definitely addressed him this way.

"Doggy."

At Hyeonyul's voice, the man stiffened. The cigarette fell from his hand. No matter how he heard it, those were the words the Mad Dog used for him. That skill. That sneer. And that face. His black hair and gray eyes, as merciless as a blade, seemed ready to pierce the man's heart.

"... B-big brother."

The man dropped to his knees. He couldn't beat that thing. He knew because he had experienced it firsthand. How devastating had the damage been when that bastard annihilated one of his businesses? He had begged for his life, groveling pathetically until he made a promise and was allowed to survive. Hadn't he even sworn never to have anything to do with him again?

"... Here..."

The man swallowed involuntarily.

"Wh-what brings you here?"

Why had he come? He had been keeping his promise.

"Didn't I give you a clear warning back then?"

"I haven't followed you, b-big brother. I've never passed on information about you! If there was any, I erased it all! I swear!"

The man could still vividly hear that voice from back then.

["If you want to live that badly, do one thing for me. Take care of blocking anyone trying to dig up information about me. That includes erasing information other people have already dug up. If you agree, I'll let you live."]

"The Poison King pulled an interesting stunt."

Hyeonyul smiled. The many scars across his face shifted with it.

"He came to my house."

"... What?"

"Night Rat. No, Kim Yujong."

Hyeonyul called the information broker Night Rat by his real name. He couldn't remember when, but Shin Daeho had told him to deal with the man, so he had tracked him down and annihilated his business. He had considered whether to kill him or spare him, then let him live because he was useful. In a way, that man was part of the reason so little information had leaked despite Hyeonyul's rampages. But in the end, it had leaked.

"You failed to do your job properly."

"... P-please forgive me!"

Yujong crawled toward Hyeonyul on his knees and begged. He had blocked everything, so how could anything have leaked? He had to beg. Begging was unquestionably the right thing to do.

"I've taken a great interest in the Black Eagles lately."

"..."

Every movement Yujong made stopped. He felt as though all the blood were draining out of him. What that bastard hated most was anyone meddling with his livelihood. Raising his head with a face on the verge of tears, Yujong found himself facing Hyeonyul's upturned lips.

"Isn't that interesting?"

Gripping Yujong's hair, Hyeonyul asked quietly.

"Did you not know? Or did you do it knowing?"

"... I didn't know. I swear! I planted collaborators in the Black Eagles because I n-needed money! I wanted to grow this place!"

'... He was Villain B, the one who planted the collaborators?'

He also learned that Yujong had orchestrated the collaborator's assassination to silence them in advance, fearing information about himself might leak. Hyeonyul had learned something he hadn't known, but he didn't let it show.

"You meddled even knowing what I could do to this business you've built?"

"I really, really didn't know you were interested in the Black Eagles! I won't do it again!"

"Shouldn't you say you can't? Since you've been caught."

"..."

Yujong closed his mouth. How did that Mad Dog know about it?

"Did you leak their internal information?"

"No! I didn't! I haven't sold it yet!"

"But it had already leaked. What do you make of that?"

Yujong's eyes widened at the news. Anger briefly flickered in them.

"I'll look into everything! I promise."

Yujong spoke as though begging. If that bastard so much as moved a finger now, he would die. No, he wouldn't be the only one.

"Oh, please wait a moment."

Hyeonyul noticed that the employee was returning with his clothes.

"I assume you know you need to behave yourself."

With that warning, Hyeonyul vanished. Only after he disappeared did Yujong catch his breath.

'... Fuck, fuck!'

That bastard was interested in the Black Eagles. Yujong's eyes shook. What whim was this? What was he scheming?

'... I can't die. I can't die! I can't diiie!'

Whatever it was, the outcome wouldn't change. Tears falling, Yujong pulled at his hair as though trying to rip it out. Why had Shin Daeho been able to expand his power so far? It was all because of that son of a bitch. Despite having no loyalty to him, he would follow Shin Daeho's orders, visit businesses run by nearby villains, and kill them. He was a madman whose thoughts were impossible to fathom.

'... He'll destroy everything I have! He'll kill me!'

Yujong bit his lip, gasping under the onslaught of fear. What he knew was that the man had been a test subject. The only successful test subject. Just looking at him made it clear why other villains staked their lives on test subjects. He was simply a living, breathing weapon.

"You behaved yourself, I see?"

At Hyeonyul's voice returning, Yujong trembled uncontrollably. The only person who didn't know how famous he was in this world was the man himself.

"... I'll g-give you information."

"You're the one who broke our promise. I can't work with someone who meddles with my livelihood."

"I truly haven't touched it again. I'll personally take responsibility for destroying the information related to the Black Eagles."

"Is that all?"

"V-villains! Don't you need information on villains? That's my specialty. I'll give you all of it!"

Yujong looked at Hyeonyul as though ready to offer up even his soul.

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

But Hyeonyul smiled as though asking what kind of bullshit that was.