IRLPLBIO Chapter 44 Part 2

The lid of the box in his mind rattled. The corner of the cloth covering it briefly fluttered, as if something was about to surface.

However, the moment Jae-gu, clinging to Kwang-cheol, peered up and asked, “Does it hurt a lot? Where does it hurt? Should I call a doctor?”, it vanished just like that.

“Nothing… Ah.”

Kwang-cheol, who had been burying his nose in Jae-gu’s hair while speaking, suddenly stopped moving. This was because he had made eye contact with Jeong Seung-dae, who was peeking his head through the half-open hospital room door.

“Who is that person? Did you bring him?”

Kwang-cheol’s nerves sharpened. This was because he faintly sensed an Alpha’s aura from Jeong Seung-dae. Although it wasn’t at a level that threatened him, the thought of Jae-gu, an Omega, having been close to him… unrefined emotions surged up again.

Unaware of Kwang-cheol’s feelings, Jae-gu calmly replied.

“He’s an investment expert who will help us. Leo Jeong.”

“Hello, I’m Leo Jeong.”

Jeong Seung-dae, not missing a beat, quickly stepped forward and extended his hand. Even though he knew it meant to shake hands, Kwang-cheol narrowed his eyes instead of taking his hand.

“Isn’t he a con artist?”

He trusted whatever Jae-gu did, but this time, he couldn’t understand why the word “con artist” suddenly came to mind. Watching Jae-gu’s flustered eyes roll sideways to meet Jeong Seung-dae’s gaze, he felt a little more annoyed.

“Jae-gu?”

“A, a con artist? He may look like that, but he, well, he studied abroad in LA…”

Jae-gu quickly picked up the excuses for Jeong Seung-dae. He was combining all the information he’d heard before to create Jeong Seung-dae’s fake resume.

Jae-gu himself might exploit others, tell a few lies, and pull a few tricks, but he didn’t want Kwang-cheol to know that. He wanted Kwang-cheol to only see and hear good things in the future. He wanted to make it happen for him.

Contrary to Jae-gu’s wishes, as he sided with Jeong Seung-dae, Kwang-cheol’s eyes narrowed further. Kwang-cheol, firmly crossing his arms as a sign he wouldn’t shake hands, scanned Jeong Seung-dae up and down. It wasn’t a gaze of observation, but one trying to find fault anywhere.

Jeong Seung-dae urgently gestured with his eyes at Jae-gu.

‘Stop! You’re not helping me right now! Don’t say anything unnecessary!’

However, it was a signal too difficult for Jae-gu to understand. Instead, Kwang-cheol cut off their communication and spoke.

“LA? You mean Los Angeles, right? Not that you came after pulling some machines in Las Vegas, did you?”

“Um… do you know me? Did we meet somewhere, or did you hear about me…?”

“…They’re, different?”

Jae-gu learned for the first time that those two places, “Los Angeles” and “Las Vegas,” were entirely different cities.

He had thought they were just different names for the same city, like Moscow or Mosco!

It was the moment his self-assessment, which had almost climbed from “idiot” to “less of an idiot” after doing something smart, plummeted to “total idiot.”

Jae-gu’s head snapped around. Sparks flew from his eyes.

“You… you, you con artist bastard…”

He turned his arrows of blame towards Jeong Seung-dae. Jeong Seung-dae, who hadn’t really conned him out of anything, waved his hands in exasperation. But Jae-gu didn’t see it.

“They say a con artist bastard lies about everything but breathing!”

Jae-gu landed a proper hook squarely in Jeong Seung-dae’s solar plexus.

Thwack!

“Gah!”

Jeong Seung-dae, folded flat like a folder, squirmed without even being able to let out a proper groan. He stretched his hands forward, perhaps to signal surrender or to tell Jae-gu not to come closer, but Jae-gu paid him no mind.

Kwang-cheol secretly smiled a little. If Jae-gu knew he was a con artist, there was no other problem. And with that kind of relationship, there would be no need to worry about Jeong Seung-dae doing anything foolish to Jae-gu.

…Kwang-cheol couldn’t recall that Jae-gu, who appeared as a flower-like Omega in his eyes, had personally beaten up a three-digit number of people.