“Uh…!”
Goosebumps welled up on my back at the tickling feeling that touched my cheek. Ha Tae-heon, who had let me go as I backed away in horror, slowly blinked his eyes.
“Wha, what the… hell…”
His kiss on my face reminded me of the confession… I heard at the Elohim’s house. Suddenly, my heart started beating rapidly and my whole body heated up.
“…the price.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a price.”
What the price is this! Ha Tae-heon raised the corners of his lips when I couldn’t hide my absurd feelings. Smile? Are you smiling right now?
“I thought you completely forgot it. Judging by the look on your face, it seems that’s not the case.”
“…how can I forget that?”
“Yeah. Don’t forget and keep remembering.”
Ha Tae-heon took out a ball tie and put the SS-class sword he was holding in his inventory. Then he gestured to me from a distance.
“I’ll stop, so come closer. We still have something to talk about.”
“…can I trust you?”
“If you don’t like it, I will go.”
“No, I don’t.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I thought it would be better for me to approach him. As I walked little by little, Ha Tae-heon grabbed my arm and pulled me in, showing me what he was holding instead of a sword.
“This…”
Half-hugged in Ha Tae-heon’s arms, I accepted what he offered. Familiar yet awkward stuff. It was a necklace Han Yi-gyeol bought for his sister.
“Why does Ha Tae-heon-ssi have this?”
The necklace with a broken jewel in the centre wasn’t much different from the last time I saw it before handing it over to Cha Soo-yeon.
“A month ago, Talented Cha Soo-yeon came to the guild. She was worried about not being able to contact you.”
Ah. Hearing those words, I remembered the message I received from Cha Soo-yeon.
“Come to think of it, I got a messenger saying that she had met Ha Tae-heon-ssi. Did you receive the necklace then?”
“Yeah. She said you entrusted it to her before.”
“I don’t have any inventory. So I asked for a moment.”
“She asked me to give it to you if I could contact you, so I kept it.”
To be honest, I asked Cha Soo-yeon to do so but I forgot about it. I remembered the person who broke the necklace was Ha Tae-heon.
Before I found out about Han Yi-gyeol’s past, I left the necklace because it was somehow difficult to handle… but I didn’t feel any emotions right now. Was it because I found out what was going on with Han Yi-gyeol and his sister?
‘Or, as Elohim said, it’s because my energy is stronger than Han Yi-gyeol now.’
Whatever the reason, it was just something that was no longer needed. But it wasn’t to the point of throwing it away… I guess I’ll just put it in any drawer.
“Thank you for passing this on to me.”
When I answered while holding the necklace in my hand, Ha Tae-heon, who was staring at me with a complicated gaze, hugged my waist and buried his face in my shoulder.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”
For a simple hug, I felt something sad and was a little embarrassed. Ha Tae-heon, who had hesitated while holding me, opened his mouth in a low voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I broke the necklace. Isn’t that thing… important to you?”
“No, that…”
I didn’t know what kind of answer to give because of my bewilderment. Of course, from Ha Tae-heon’s point of view, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that way.
“Important enough to leave it in the inventory of Talented Cha Soo-yeon…”
“It’s not like Ha Tae-heon-ssi knows about it. The reason you broke the necklace in the first place was that I deceived you by saying that it was a shutter item.”
“But that doesn’t mean that it’s okay to break the thing.”
I tried as hard as I could to comfort Ha Tae-heon, who had become depressed, but it didn’t work at all.
‘You were so sorry for hitting me on the cheek last time, but now it’s a necklace.’
I couldn’t even honestly explain this time. I swallowed a sigh and patted Ha Tae-heon on the back a couple of times.
“It’s really all right. If you keep worrying about it, I feel uncomfortable, too.”
“……”
So just stop talking about this. The necklace wasn’t important now. Ha Tae-heon, who had quietly rubbed his face at my words, finally lifted his head.
“It’s not just an apology.”
What else does this mean? Ha Tae-heon, who lightly tapped my cheek as I was in bewilderment, pulled out an unfamiliar thing from the ball tie this time.
It was a dark blue sticker with a neat pattern reminiscent of a bird’s wing.
“It’s an art inventory. Accessory-type inventory that is easy to carry has never been released at the auction house. The bag shape used by Talented Cha Soo-yeon seemed rather cumbersome, so I bought this instead.”
It was the same item as the inventory I bought with Kim Woo-jin in the past. Instead, it looked bigger and more glamorous than that.
“It’s a little bigger than general art, but it can store up to 10, so it will be useful in many ways.”
“……”
“Take it.”
I never imagined that I would receive something from Ha Tae-heon. Now, the situation itself was so awkward that my hand trembled. Heat rose steadily in my ears and the back of my neck.
“If you’re giving it to me for a necklace, I…”
“I hope you could accept it instead of rejecting it.”
“…umm, thank you.”
For some reason, I couldn’t look directly into Ha Tae-heon’s eyes, so I kept my head down and mumbled in reply. I didn’t think Ha Tae-heon was this shy when I gave him a present, but why am I like this?
“The size is too big to stick in your hand, so I think another place would be better. If you don’t use it often, it’ll be fine to place it near your neck."
“I don’t care where it is.”
“Turn back.”
As Ha Tae-heon said, I turned my back and his large hand touched the back of my neck. Behind my left ear and below it. My shoulders kept getting tense because of the ticklish feeling.
“This is a new product, so even if the item is not near the mark, you can easily put it in and take it out.”
Ha Tae-heon took off his hand to see if everything had been put and backed away. It was an area that couldn’t be seen alone, so I thought I should check it properly later in the bathroom.
“Hm, I’ll give it a try.”
There was also a necklace, so it was perfect to try it on. When I thought of putting the necklace on my hand, the area around my ears cooled then the necklace turned into smoke and scattered.
‘Is it working?’
In order to clearly learn how to use it, when I remembered the necklace this time, white smoke changed into a necklace and was placed on the palm of my hand. It was fascinating to think that things would pop out just by thinking about it.
“It glows blue every time you use it.”
“It’s very comfortable. I will use it well.”
“Yeah.”
When I touched it with my hand, there was nothing different from usual. Ha Tae-heon, who looked at me as I fiddled around the nape of my neck where the art inventory was attached, said.
“I still have a lot of questions, but… let’s finish it next time.”
At that, I rolled my eyes for a moment. Indeed. We had done asking and sharing what we needed, so it could be said that the urgent conversation was over now.
“All right. Let’s get out of here.”
* * *
Piiik!
As soon as we came out to the living room, Fox, who had been quietly held in Min Ah-rin’s arms, ran quickly. Ha Tae-heon narrowed his eyes when he saw Fox climbing over my shoulder and staring at him.
“It looks familiar somewhere.”
“He’s the youngest of the white children who used to live with El. I brought him here with permission.”
At my answer, Ha Tae-heon looked hesitant.
“Aa. Those guys.”
“Yes. He is the younger brother of the rabbit and cat. There are a lot of things that he can do even though he’s small, so I have been helped many times.”
As I held Fox in my arms, who was still wary of Ha Tae-heon, and stroked his back, he shoved his face between my arms.
Ha Tae-heon was very scary… I didn’t think this was the case against the same SS-rank Cheon Sa-yeon. Was it because of difference in atmosphere?
“Yi-gyeol-ssi.”
Noticing that the conversation between me and Ha Tae-heon had come to an end, Min Ah-rin cautiously approached me and asked.
“Woo-jin-ssi is making a simple snack right now, are you going to eat it?”
Snack? I woke up in the morning and remembered the meals and desserts I had eaten. From the lunch box packed by Park Geon-ho, the cake bought by Kwon Jeong-han, and the cookies by Kim Woo-jin.
‘You’re going to eat something more here?’
Weren’t you all full? Curious, I looked around the living room. I saw Park Geon-ho lying on the sofa watching TV, Cheon Sa-yeon sitting next to him and working on a tablet PC, and Kwon Jeong-han drinking coffee while looking at his cell phone.
Were Kim Woo-jin and Woo Seo-hyuk in the kitchen? It was quite surprising that no one left even after I talked with Ha Tae-heon for quite a long time.
“No, I’m full… don’t we still have the cookies we ate earlier?”
“That’s true, but it’s because Woo-jin-ssi really wants to make it. How about eating a little?”
As soon as I understood what Min Ah-rin meant, I smiled slightly.
“Then, of course, I have to eat it.”
“Great! It will be finished soon. Umm, would you like to eat some if Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon doesn’t mind?”
Ha Tae-heon shook his head at the awkward proposal.
“I will eat it next time. Now I have to go back to the guild.”
Min Ah-rin smiled broadly at the clean refusal and opened her mouth with a bright voice.
“Oh my, is that so? That’s too bad. Then be careful on your way back.”
“……”
A strange flow of air was felt between Ha Tae-heon, who was speechless, and Min Ah-rin, who was smiling.
What is this. I felt uneasy for some reason, so I hurriedly grabbed Ha Tae-heon and dragged him to the front door.
“Thank you for coming today, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
I thanked Ha Tae-heon again as he was wearing formal shoes and then patted my head with his big hand.
“The next time I come, I will stay longer.”
“It’s okay if you don’t overdo it.”
“I don’t care as long as I can see you.”
“Yes…?”
I didn’t expect Ha Tae-heon to say something like this, so I opened my mouth in shock.
Leaving me in confusion, Ha Tae-heon continued to speak without any change in expression.
“I will contact you immediately after discussing with Master the matter we talked about earlier.”
“I understand. I’ll wait.”
“And the other part…”
Ha Tae-heon paused there for a moment and slowly looked around the room.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi?”
“Anyway, it looks comfortable here now…”
He mumbled something difficult to understand and looked down at the shackles tied to my ankles.
“It’s not bad to stay like this for a while.”
“Pardon?”
“Shackles. It means don’t release it.”
“……”
“I’ll call you.”
I was shocked the second time to see Ha Tae-heon taking the side of Cheon Sa-yeon. Ha Tae-heon turned his back on me without any regrets, leaving me speechless.
Clack, kung.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who quietly walked behind me at the sound of the front door closing, spoke with a pleasant voice.
“As expected, Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon understands my deep meaning.”
“…shut up.”
Really, nothing had worked out after returning to Korea.
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