“Please lend him to me.”
Cha Seohu repeated the demand, bold as ever.
“......”
Representative Seo blinked slowly and finally set down his fountain pen.
Creak, he leaned back against the chair, folded his arms, watched Seohu for a moment, and spoke.
“What are you going to use him for.”
“I can’t say that.”
Representative Seo let out a faint laugh.
“You’ll have to at least say what for if you want me to feel like lending him.”
“I’ll use him well and return him, so just lend him.”
As if I want to take Mook Jeongho along.
Seohu said flatly,
“I only need him on the night four days from now. And put in a command so he listens.”
“Hm.”
With an unreadable expression—permission or refusal—Representative Seo straightened again. He took up the pen and resumed working through the papers.
“......”
“......”
An awkward silence settled over the office.
Watching him, Seohu’s face gradually twisted.
Three minutes. With his patience draining fast, Seohu finally barked first.
“Okay, what do you want?”
Only then did Representative Seo answer.
“The location you’ll go to in four days. The list of companions. And until then, you’re not to leave the district.”
“I do need to go out once.”
“Then give up on Mook Jeongho.”
“That won’t work.”
“Why do you have to go out.”
If he was going to lead the people designated by the quest into an unidentified rift, he had to explain and set it up.
After a short hesitation, Seohu answered simply.
“Because I have to request cooperation?”
“Then have them come here.”
Representative Seo replied in the same flat tone, eyes still on the files.
“They’re ones you see all the time anyway, aren’t they? Starting with the Yesung guildmaster and the Circle vice guildmaster. And the Association.”
“This time is different.”
If it were Park Minhyuk, at least he was easy to sweet-talk.
'Eun Woojeong, that bastard. If I call, will he even pick up?'
He had gotten the number before. But the guy was so capricious he couldn’t be sure.
While Seohu wavered, Representative Seo kept silent—meaning he wouldn’t indulge him any further.
If he didn’t accept the three conditions, he couldn’t take Mook Jeongho. There was no other way.
In the end, Seohu sighed and nodded.
“Fine. I’ll have them come here.”
“I’ll send Mook Jeongho to match the departure time.”
Permission came quickly, as if he had known all along that Seohu wouldn’t win.
'Ugh, insufferable.'
Clicking his tongue, Seohu turned his back ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) without a reply.
Because of fussy Representative Seo, he now had to make the ask and even have them come into the district.
Grumbling, he took Cha Sahyeon’s hand and left the office for the elevator.
On the way down to his room. As the doors opened on the lower floor, Sahyeon’s brows drew together just as someone crouching in the corridor sprang up.
“Hyung!”
With hair even more washed-out peach than the last time, Kwon Seoyul ran up beaming. Seohu’s face contorted just like Sahyeon’s.
“Hyuuung, I missed you!”
Kwon Seoyul came up and, making a show of it, hugged Seohu’s arm and pressed close—on the side opposite the hand holding Sahyeon’s.
Seohu tried to shake him off. He didn’t budge. Fucking S-rank.
“I didn’t see you, so I thought you had some other mission.”
“C’mon, with you here, where would I go? I couldn’t come till yesterday because access was restricted~ Haeil-hyung is on a mission though!”
Right. Having Kang Haeil gone was at least something.
With a sigh, he entered the room holding Sahyeon’s hand in his right, Kwon Seoyul hanging off his left arm.
“Let go.”
Only once they were inside did Kwon Seoyul obediently release him.
“What’s Hyun Dowoon doing.”
“Huh? Dunno. Don’t care.”
Tilting his head, Seoyul wore a face that said, Why should I know what Hyun Dowoon is up to?
Only two days back in the district and the stress was already piled high. Giving up on conversation, Seohu picked up his phone.
Thankfully, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun readily agreed to come to the district.
The surprise was Eun Woojeong: not only did he pick up when Seohu expected to be ignored, he seemed quite interested when he heard about the district.
— Hm, that’s somewhere even our Spiderweb hasn’t managed to get into.
After a brief silence, Eun Woojeong spoke.
— I’ll go. Tonight works, right?
“...Forewarning: at least come in through the main gate. Don’t try another entry and get yourself killed by the detection system.”
— That won’t happen.
He chuckled lightly.
— A few idiots died trying to break in before. I’m well aware it’s dangerous.
What a brag.
Scowling at the phone in Eun Woojeong’s stead, Seohu ended the call without a goodbye.
A few hours later.
One by one, those designated by the System arrived at the district—Mook Jeongho excepted.
Thanks to Representative Seo’s prior orders, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun came through the main gate, were met by the gate manager and servants, and reached the central building without incident.
The problem was Eun Woojeong.
However he’d taken Seohu’s words, he did pass through the main gate—by climbing over the high wall instead of through the door.
In all his life he’d never seen someone scale that height using a skill just to get over.
— I mean, really. That height...
Hearing the manager’s incredulous report, Seohu rubbed his brow.
— Assistant Team Leader Mook tried to step in; we barely talked him down. What should we do, young master?
“...I’ll send someone now. Just keep an eye on him so he doesn’t run somewhere else.”
— Understood.
Seohu ordered Kwon Seoyul, who was snacking beside him.
“Hey. Go fetch our guest.”
“Ugh, why me again!”
“Who else? You want me to go?”
Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun, sitting blankly on the sofa, were guests and couldn’t be sent. And separating Sahyeon from him was out of the question—who knew what would happen.
That left only utterly useless Kwon Seoyul. Why this brat was camped in his room to begin with, he had no idea.
“Get lost.”
“Fuck!”
Seoyul, feeling put upon, hurled the snack bag and stormed out.
Haa. Seeing Seohu sigh, Ryu Sunghyun gave an awkward smile.
Before long, Seoyul returned as told, bringing Eun Woojeong. As on the snowy mountain, Eun Woojeong’s white hair fell around a face covered by a mask.
More riled up than when he’d left, Seoyul stomped in and rushed straight at Seohu.
“Hyung, that bastard’s a total psycho!”
He jabbed a finger at Eun Woojeong, seething.
Judging by the ruckus on the way, Eun Woojeong still looked relatively neat, while Seoyul’s shirt was torn here and there and his hair stuck out in all directions.
“He digs under your skin like crazy, that son of a bitch! You think I don’t notice?”
“You did? I thought you wouldn’t. You don’t seem to have a brain for picking up on things.”
“What? You little—...”
“Enough.”
The racket made his head throb.
Catching Seoyul’s arm as he snarled and lunged for Eun Woojeong, Seohu let out a weary breath.
Eun Woojeong shrugged, all innocence.
Thinking back, he’d met Seoyul during the Gwanghwamun incident while disguised as an actor. Seoyul just didn’t know they were the same person.
“If you’re going to keep getting in the way, get out. Back to your room.”
“...I can shut up.”
Even while glaring daggers at Eun Woojeong, Seoyul stubbornly refused to leave.
'What is wrong with him, honestly.'
Giving up on understanding Seoyul, Seohu jerked his chin at the sofa for Eun Woojeong, then sat opposite Kwon Taehyuk.
Moving only after Seohu did, Eun Woojeong took the seat right beside him as if it were his by right. On the other side sat Sahyeon.
“Wow, what the—ugh...”
Losing the seat, Seoyul sulked, went behind Seohu, crossed his arms, and leaned there.
Skipping all pleasantries, Seohu went straight to the point.
Four days from now. He laid out the unidentified rift, and the address Lee Seowon had given. They would have to go in and find a way to eliminate it.
“So this unidentified rift is also something the cult did.”
Ryu Sunghyun, who’d listened with a hard face, touched the corner of his mouth and asked.
“Yes. Most likely, as before, there’ll be a suspicious flower inside—the so-called source of the energy. If we remove it, I think that will do it, but I can’t be sure. Who knows what outlandish crap the cultists have done this time.”
“Considering the last irregular rift, leaving this unidentified rift alone would be extremely dangerous.”
“Dealing with it in advance is safest.”
Ryu Sunghyun and Kwon Taehyuk agreed to go in order to eliminate the threat.
“Sounds fun, so I’ll go. You’ll settle up afterward, right?”
“Settle up, my ass.”
Even the one he’d worried about most, Eun Woojeong, accepted readily.
All that remained was—
“There’s one more who’ll go with us besides us.”
At their puzzled looks, Seohu hesitated, then continued.
“There’s a hunter in the district named Mook Jeongho. He’ll come too.”
“...Mook Jeongho. If that’s the name I’m thinking of.”
Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes chilled instantly—he’d just had a grand brawl with Mook Jeongho in front of the Association days ago.
Eun Woojeong didn’t care—he didn’t know the man. And Ryu Sunghyun, who had only brushed past him during a previous visit to the district, had no particular objection.
“This lineup already seems sufficient. Why include him specifically?”
Even as he asked, Kwon Taehyuk relaxed his stiff gaze with a look of realization.
“Ah, did you receive an order? As in, you’ll only be allowed out of the district if you take him... is that it.”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Beating his own drum and even providing an excuse—Seohu promptly ran with it.
'Huge win.'
From behind Seohu, Kwon Seoyul shouted, aggrieved,
“What? Why only him? I want to go! I’m going too!”
Ignoring him completely, Seohu smiled thinly.
“Then four nights from now. We depart immediately.”

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