Chapter 4 Part 8

Perhaps finding it strange that he would say such a thing while passing by the restroom right in front of them, the guy who first spoke asked again. Jeong Tae-ui shrugged.

“I can’t go unless it’s a familiar toilet near my room. I’m a bit sensitive, you see.”

“Haha, what a strange fellow.”

He laughed in disbelief but said nothing more.

Jeong Tae-ui lightly put his hands in his pockets and continued walking. He passed by a group of men from the Europe Branch. As Jeong Tae-ui walked right past, one of them seemed to take a step forward, but then two or three groups from this branch, who had been watching from a distance, immediately showed signs of approaching. It was as if they were ready to fight immediately if even a finger was laid on one of their own.

The man from the Europe side who had tried to approach Jeong Tae-ui hesitated for a moment, but after exchanging glances with his colleagues, he crossed his arms again and stepped back. Consequently, the colleagues who had been ready to help Jeong Tae-ui also backed off.

Good grief… I can accept my own danger, but how can I walk around comfortably knowing I’m a potential fuse?

Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue inwardly. The camaraderie of colleagues he wasn’t even close to felt awkward, like wearing ridiculous clothes, and brought a hollow laugh.

Only after experiencing such incidents a couple more times could Jeong Tae-ui reach his room.

Perhaps because it was located at the end of the hallway, foot traffic ceased near the room. Neither his own colleagues nor the men from the other side were visible. One Europe-side subordinate could be seen looking in his direction from a slight distance, but he seemed to have no intention of approaching and causing trouble. Instead, he was staring intently at Jeong Tae-ui with a very peculiar expression.

Jeong Tae-ui gave him a puzzled look and then opened the door.

“Honestly… a path of thorns would be better than this.”

Jeong Tae-ui, letting out a sigh and clicking his tongue, muttered to himself and inwardly braced himself as he opened the door.

Their relationship was already so tense that merely passing each other in the hallway could provoke a confrontation, so what would happen if they met in the same room? Tou’s talk of territorial invasion might not be a joke after all. Seriously, if anything happens, I’ll just have to grab my books and run.

Jeong Tae-ui stepped into the room with a heart pounding, almost with a sense of anticipation, wondering what kind of menacing brute would be occupying his room, and then stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the person inside.

There was one person in the room.

The man, who was sprawled out on Jeong Tae-ui’s bed, casually turning the pages of a book as if he had lived there for a long time, merely glanced up at Jeong Tae-ui when he heard the door open.

That book you’re reading right now, it’s worth $3500. You shouldn’t handle it so carelessly.

But the words caught in his throat and wouldn’t come out. It was because he recognized the man at a glance.

Jeong Tae-ui’s gaze was fixed on the man’s face.

His translucent face was so pale it looked sickly. His delicate features were clearly visible even behind thick-rimmed glasses. He might have seemed like a diligent and gentle researcher quietly dedicated to his work in some lab, but facing those slender eyes that stared directly at him, his heart turned cold.

Jeong Tae-ui knew that man. A vivid, dark red mark etched into his memory.

League-row… it was Rick.

The man whose face, with a slight eye-smile, had stained the screen with blood.

Jeong Tae-ui, entranced, closed the door behind him, only to regain his senses and regret it after he heard the door click shut. Why had he closed the door? It might not mean much, but keeping it open would have given him a sense of connection to the outside, easing his mind even a little. Or it would have been better for making a quick escape.

Now he understood the meaning behind the bizarre expression of that Europe guy who had stared at him when he entered this room. That guy already knew who was staying in this room.

You damn bastard. Even if he’s someone from the Asia Branch you guys treat like an enemy, as fellow human beings, you should have shown some concern when someone’s life was on the line!

Jeong Tae-ui, who had previously ignored Tou and other colleagues’ countless denunciations of the Europe Branch members, felt a fierce resentment towards a Europe Branch member for the first time.

“Owner of this book?”

While Jeong Tae-ui was chewing on curses in his mind, Ilay League-row’s quiet voice reached him.

Jeong Tae-ui flinched.

It was a low, quiet voice. That strange sound, seeping into his ears like water, was something he had never expected or imagined. Moreover, he had never once associated such a feeling with the voice of this man, Ilay League-row.

Holding up the book and asking quietly, he showed no signs of suddenly lunging to cut Jeong Tae-ui’s throat or cover him in blood. Instead, the faint smile on his lips made him seem rather amiable.

“No… it’s a borrowed book. It’s rare, so I need to handle it carefully and return it, which is why I came to get it.”

“Are you taking it now?”

Ilay League-row asked again, sounding regretful. A look of disappointment spread across his face, as if he had been reading a very interesting passage.

“I think I can finish it in about two or three hours. Could you wait a bit?”

“…It doesn’t matter.”

Jeong Tae-ui replied with a strange feeling.

Somehow, it was different from what he had imagined. Chatting like this, it felt like he was dealing with a normal person. Could he have misremembered that crazy bastard’s face? The video quality wasn’t very good, so maybe it wasn’t even his face. …No, that couldn’t be right.

Watching Ilay League-row smile broadly and say, “Thank you,” Jeong Tae-ui briefly doubted his memory, but his eyes had never been wrong about people before. Especially not with such a striking individual.

“Well, he’s not a lunatic, after all. No matter how crazy he is, he can’t be operating at full abnormality 24/7, right?”

“Hm? What did you say?”