Connections Are a Merchant's Wealth - 6
Lee Seoyeonn hadn't let her guard down for a single moment since the man stepped into her home.
This man...
She was well aware that there were no shortage of people targeting hunters or Academy students. From the perspective of an ordinary person, snagging a hunter for marriage through sheer luck was an enormous stroke of fortune. There were plenty of women chasing male hunters, and plenty of men chasing female ones.
I need to chase him off as gently as possible.
In her mind, Jeong Isu had already been branded as "the shameless scoundrel seducing her daughter with sweet talk."
She had no choice but to stay on alert.
...He's handsome, though.
They talked. After the transaction for the items, they got down to business.
"Please don't see my daughter anymore."
Of course, she didn't expect a single sentence like that to make him back off. Yuha was a beauty. On top of that, she carried the status of "Lee Seoyeonn's daughter," and it was all but certain she'd become a powerful hunter someday.
I don't know how much he makes as a salesman, but it's peanuts compared to marrying my daughter.
And according to the rumors, Yuha owed this man a debt. Considering Shin Yuha's kind nature, it wouldn't be easy for her to coldly cut him loose.
If he just held on, a rosy future awaited. Yuha would eventually become an adult, and Lee Seoyeonn couldn't interfere in her life forever.
I have to separate them now. No matter the cost—
Some powerful hunters dealt with leeches clinging to their families through high-handed methods. But Lee Seoyeonn was the head of an independent guild. She was strong herself, but her guild lacked the backing that corporate-sponsored ones enjoyed.
Unlike her peers, she couldn't mobilize the police or control the media. If this man harbored a grudge and started blabbing about a scandal with Yuha, it might not faze Lee Seoyeonn personally, but it would ruin Yuha's future as a hunter.
Whatever he wants, it's fine. Just make a demand. Money? I'll give him as much as it takes. Stay away from my daughter...!
In that brief moment, countless thoughts raced through Lee Seoyeonn's mind. So she missed his immediate response.
"O-oppa! What are you even saying?!"
What she did hear was her daughter's voice. Yuha's.
"...I'm sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment and missed your answer."
"Ah, I understand... I said I won't see your daughter again."
Huh?
Seoyeonn couldn't help tilting her head in confusion.
She had many friends. They'd often struggled with "annoying romantic interests" clinging to their daughters, sons, or even themselves.
But for him to accept a breakup notice from Yuha's mother—rather than Yuha herself—so readily?
Is it because I'm Lee Seoyeonn?
If so, maybe he hadn't known Yuha was her daughter and had approached her just as an "Academy student." Unless he was seriously aiming for marriage, the baggage of "Lee Seoyeonn's daughter" would be too much for a casual fling.
We're lucky. But I need to make sure he keeps his mouth shut...
She thought it was over. But behind her, Yuha was erupting.
"No way, oppa! Are you seriously doing this? Mom's amazing and all, but just because she glared a little?!"
"Yuha. You should listen to your mother."
"I don't wanna."
"I'd love to listen to your mother."
"Ugh... You traitor!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way."
Watching them, Seoyeonn bit her lip hard.
First love... it must have been.
The man was ruthlessly cruel. He could have gently coaxed Yuha with kinder words or brushed it off as unavoidable, but he'd shoved her away without mercy.
Of course, this was exactly what Seoyeonn had wanted. Dating an adult as a student wasn't fitting for an Academy cadet who should be studying and training hard.
But...
She could feel Yuha's initial playful anger turning genuine, intensifying. They'd been seeing each other for a short while, even if briefly, and his unhesitating rejection felt heartless. It bothered her.
Her emotions pulled her toward joining her daughter in raging at him. She knew it was irrational, so she held back.
"And, just to avoid any misunderstanding... Yuha and I weren't actually dating."
"Pardon?"
Seoyeonn's eyes widened.
They sure looked like they were...
If they truly weren't together—if Yuha had been unilaterally crushing on him—the difference in their attitudes made sense.
"Can you prove it?"
It was a pointless question. He'd already declared he'd end things with Yuha. Seoyeonn knew that, but she couldn't help herself. She just wanted to satisfy her curiosity. She needed to know why her daughter had gotten involved with him in the first place.
"...I have a recording. Shall I play it?"
"Yes."
"O-oppa! Don't! If you play that, I'll really get mad. Last time was unavoidable, but now—"
Ignoring Yuha's pleas, he opened the file from their last meeting.
A voice bursting with energy and vibrant liveliness filled the room—Yuha's.
My daughter...
Guild life kept her busy. Ever since Yuha entered the Academy and the dorms, she'd felt their bond drifting. But hearing her daughter's carefree chatter brought an inexplicable warmth.
Her girl could smile that brightly.
...He's dangerous after all.
At the same time, her wariness of the man before her surged.
This isn't something words can fix. Yuha's stubborn... Even if I keep them apart, she'll seek him out...
If he kept up this attitude of "I don't want to meet you, but you're clinging so I have no choice," things could escalate. If he'd been the one desperately pursuing her, Yuha could brush him off easily.
But in this situation, no matter what he did, Yuha wouldn't tell anyone. She'd bear it alone.
He didn't seem like a bad guy, and that made him more dangerous.
"Do you have a recording from the first day you met Yuha too...?"
"Yes."
"Let me hear it."
She wanted to know what tricks he'd pulled to make Yuha fall so hard. What words he'd used to shake her heart like this.
"Oppa... No, really, you can't."
"As Yuha says, it's a pretty personal conversation, so that might be difficult."
Seoyeonn bit her lip.
"Play it."
She had to know. She needed the details of their relationship.
She saw his eyes flicker.
/////
Ha, this is complicated.
I bit my lip hard.
Lee Seoyeonn being more reasonable than expected is definitely good news, but...
Purely from a safety standpoint, what I needed to do was clear.
Haa...
If I revealed that recording, Yuha would genuinely get angry at me. She treasured her mother; she wouldn't stand for a third party like me exposing her vulnerabilities without permission.
But... even if Yuha has great potential, she's still just a student right now?
If she threw a tantrum and cut contact, it wouldn't be a huge loss for me.
Lee Seoyeonn right in front of me was far scarier.
The rational choice is...
Ignore Yuha's feelings entirely, show Seoyeonn the recording to prove nothing happened between us. Yuha, pissed off, would try to cut ties, and things would naturally go Seoyeonn's way.
Done. No risks.
But settling for that feels like such a waste...!
The opportunity swaying before my eyes tempted me.
It's Lee Seoyeonn. The real Lee Seoyeonn. I'm sitting here talking to her one-on-one?
Once the fear of death faded, greed started creeping in.
If I just obey her here, I'm only dodging danger.
Yuha and I cut ties, no reason to talk to Seoyeonn alone anymore. Retreat quietly, satisfied with survival.
Like hell I can do that!
She's not someone I could ever meet under normal circumstances. A chance to see Lee Seoyeonn in her own home? Might never come again in my lifetime.
I couldn't let it slip away like this.
They love each other.
You could tell from their eyes. Seoyeonn and Yuha weren't enemies. They loved and cherished each other so deeply that misunderstandings and conflicts were inevitable.
If I can just create even a tiny debt—
Seoyeonn's cold gaze began looking down on me.
"I told you to play that recording. Is there something in it I shouldn't hear?"
"Ah, Mom! Don't!"
"You stay quiet. So, Mr. Jeong Isu. Your answer?"
I bit my lip, then stared her straight in the eye.
"...Ha?"
She looked at me with faint astonishment, as if it were absurd. Then she bared her killing intent.
Ugh...
Scary. Terrifying. My hands and feet trembled.
I felt like a rabbit standing defiantly before a tiger. It hurt. My survival instincts screamed.
I wanted to abandon everything right then, beg forgiveness, and obey her.
But... if I were going to settle for that, I never would've started!
Calm down. Steady yourself. This woman—Lee Seoyeonn—doesn't intend to kill me. She's just slightly wary.
It was like a bear or big dog's harmless play that could still tear flesh from a rabbit. She had no intention of killing me. She loved her daughter. Acted for her daughter.
She might not value my life, but she would value her daughter's relationships.
She couldn't ignore my words. Not as lowly merchant Jeong Isu, but as "the man who knows Yuha," she couldn't dismiss my advice.
"Hunter Lee Seoyeonn."
"Speak."
"Just once—even just once would be fine...!"
Terror made my body shake. My voice, my vocal cords, my teeth rattled like a candle in the wind.
But human emotions and expressions overlap in countless ways. It wasn't hard to make her misread mine.
"Please... I beg you..."
I feigned emotion. Let my fabricated fear sweep through the torrent of my real feelings.
Trick her into thinking I trembled not from fear, but from anger and injustice—
"Won't you ask your daughter yourself?"
I fired the words like bullets.