Chapter 52

Uchi, who had injured his face at night, and Han Mir, who came with a bandage on his cheek.

It was too perfect to be a coincidence, but it was also hard to be certain.

‘It’s a cliché situation, but well…’

Even if Han Mir and Uchi were somehow connected, it had nothing to do with me.

After all, I only went out with Uchi once.

‘Well, I do plan to stick with him until this is over, though.’

“Here, an iced Americano.”

“Thank you, hyung!”

After Uchi got hurt, I handed that drug dealer over to him.

He’s still useful, but I don’t want to babysit him, so someone else needs to take care of him.

“By the way, did you get a girlfriend or something?”

“Huh? What are you talking about…”

“That thing on your neck. That.”

“…What?”

“There’s a red mark.”

“Uh…?”

At my words, Han Mir’s face turned pale.

Fidget…

He touched his neck with trembling hands.

His shivering seemed to scream that this absolutely shouldn’t be happening.

‘I think that’s enough confirmation.’

“Just kidding.”

“J-Just kidding…?”

“Yeah, you looked so sleepy, so I thought I’d wake you up. How about it? Wide awake now?”

“Hyung…”

Seeing me chuckle, Han Mir hung his head low.

I thought he might get angry, but then…

Snap!

“Wahhhh!!..Please don’t even joke like that…”

A grown man was holding my hand, crying like a baby.

“Wahhhh…”

The sight of him crying so pitifully.

…

I guess he’s suffering more than I thought.

Seeing that, I felt a pang of guilt.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Mir…”

“You made me cry, you jerk.”

…I can’t argue with that.

Gayeon, who was cleaning the floor, saw Han Mir crying and scolded me.

“Wahhhh…You gay bastard…!!”

“Yeah, yeah, bastard.”

“Wahhhh…!! You damn gay bastard…!!”

“Yeah, yeah, damn bastard.”

After asking Gayeon to step away for a bit,

I managed to stop Han Mir’s tears by giving him chocolate chip cookies and some snacks.

***

“Sniff. I-I’ll go now, hyung.”

“Alright, don’t skip school.”

Han Mir, who had calmed down a bit, said it was getting late and quickly left the cafe.

“Oppa.”

“Yeah, Gayeon?”

Seeing Han Mir leave, Gayeon quickly ran up to me.

“Why was that punk acting like that today?”

“Hmm…”

It was a tough question to answer.

From the context, Han Mir seemed like Uchi, but there was no concrete evidence…

No, I hadn’t told Gayeon anything about Uchi, so I’d have to explain that first.

“…Well, I met him in the slums yesterday.”

“For a mission?”

“Yeah. Of course, we were both in disguise.”

I briefly explained about Mir’s identity (or who I suspected he was) and what happened yesterday.

Of course, I mostly skipped the part about the drug dealer since it was a sensitive topic.

“So, that punk is our comrade?”

“Well…”

Gayeon asked if we’d bring Uchi into Eclipse.

But there’s a lot lacking to make Uchi our comrade.

‘He doesn’t even know about abilities, and more importantly, he wasn’t in the original story.’

Of course, just because he wasn’t in the original story doesn’t mean he’s weak, but based on what I’ve seen so far, he doesn’t seem reliable.

Gayeon tilted her head at my expression.

“So, is he an enemy?”

“Not exactly an enemy, but I wouldn’t say we can trust him either.”

I smiled and patted Gayeon’s head.

The soft touch made me feel better for a moment.

“…Should I come with you?”

Gayeon fidgeted for a bit before grabbing my sleeve.

‘If Gayeon comes along…’

It would definitely be reassuring if Gayeon were with me.

With just teleportation, even if things go wrong, we can still survive.

But, as I said before, if I take her with me, it would draw too much attention.

‘In a situation where we need to be discreet, drawing unnecessary attention is a no-go.’

So, it’s on hold.

Of course, when explaining the reason, it’s better to say it’s because I’m worried rather than outright saying she’d be a hindrance to the mission.

“It’s okay. I’ll handle this mission alone.”

“…Why?”

I looked at Gayeon, who was staring up at me, and asked calmly.

“Gayeon, can you really be okay if you go to the slums?”

“……”

At my words, Gayeon was speechless.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say something, but eventually hung her head low.

‘In a way, this is another reason why I don’t want to take Gayeon with me.’

Even Gayeon can’t easily forget her trauma.

And trauma can be a big obstacle in using abilities.

In other words, efficiency drops significantly.

“…I can endure it.”

Gayeon then took my hand and placed it on her head.

“Just do this for me…”

It was a commendable effort, but this time, it wasn’t going to work.

Unlike the last concert, this time there’s a high chance her trauma will be triggered.

“Gayeon.”

As I tried to pull my hand away, Gayeon quickly grabbed onto me.

For some reason, she seemed a bit desperate.

But despite her efforts, my hand soon slipped off her head, and Gayeon’s eyes started to well up.

“Gayeon.”

Calling her name again, I pulled my hand away and, before she could cry, held her hand gently and smiled.

“You don’t have to push yourself to help me through painful memories.”

“But…”

“It’s not like it’s that difficult of a mission anyway.”

Finding the drug dealers is the hard part, but once we find them, it’s not that tough.

“If I really need help, I’ll call you.”

“……”

“I’m not the type to stubbornly push through difficult situations, right?”

You’ll trust me, won’t you?

I smiled and hooked my pinky with hers.

“Promise.”

“…If you keep your promise, I’ll go on a date with you.”

Alright, thanks.

“It’s lunchtime. Anything you want to eat?”

“Curry.”

“Order received.”

The atmosphere in the cafe lightened up.

I put on an apron to soothe Gayeon, whose cheeks were still puffed up.

***

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Take care.”

In the afternoon after lunch.

I was exhausted dealing with the rush of customers after lunch.

‘Time flies.’

After the last customer left and I tidied up the cafe, it was already past 4.

As I took a deep breath and leisurely made myself a coffee.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

“Yahoo! Oppa, I’m here!”

A special guest had arrived at the cafe.

“Narin. What brings you here?”

My second-in-command and the hacker of our organization, Narin.

She had been working on strengthening our internal security system and hadn’t been out of the organization much lately.

“Hey, do I only come when I need something? I just wanted to see you!”

Narin spun her head around, scanning the cafe.

“By the way, where’s Gayeon?”

“She was tired, so she’s sleeping upstairs.”

After lunch, she kept nodding off, so I told her to go sleep upstairs.

“I see…”

“Did you come to see Gayeon?”

“Of course! I wanted to see Gayeon too! But…”

Narin strode over to the counter.

She leaned on the counter and looked up at me.

“I wanted to see you more, you know?”

She smiled brightly and pulled out a card.

“One delicious drink, and the full course of service from the handsome owner, please?”

“…We don’t have that kind of course here.”

“Then make one! ‘Exclusively for the lovely Narin’!”

What on earth did she see to act like this…

I chuckled at her boldness and started preparing the coffee.

***

“Ahh, so good!”

Narin drank her beverage as if it were alcohol.

It was a strange sight, but I just smiled and sipped my coffee.

“…So, how’s work these days?”

“Ugh, don’t even ask~ How did we even survive with that outdated security system?”

I’ve been working hard to fix everything from top to bottom~

Narin dramatically sighed.

“Must’ve been tough.”

“Right? This genius thing, it doesn’t allow even a single mistake, that’s the problem.”

She said it jokingly, but she must’ve had a hard time.

It’s not just any small company’s program; it’s Eclipse’s, a villain organization.

“So, are you not managing the fan club these days?”

I changed the subject and asked about the fan club management she loves.

I also wanted to confirm that strange news I heard yesterday.

“Hehehe, oppa. What do you take me for? This genius hacker Narin? Of course, I’m handling both perfectly!”

“I see. Impressive.”

Narin’s confidence was overflowing.

I clapped my hands, impressed by her.

So, you knew all along?

“Then, can you explain what that Maker Challenge is?”

“Sure.”

“And why it spread so much.”

“…Gulp.”

Her smile was bright, but her voice was strangely cold.

Narin started sweating and glancing at me nervously.

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