Chapter 103
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 103
There was no way my especially good eyes had suddenly gone blurry.
It could be someone who looked similar, but the odds were slim.
So for now, let's just nail it down: that man in the street was Han Soo-hyeok.
Why had he come here?
I thought it over, but nothing in particular came to mind.
If anything, the questions only piled up.
"Why......."
Why was Han Soo-hyeok in Verona?
He was someone who, for personal reasons, rarely left Korea unless he absolutely had to, so brushing this off as a chance encounter left a bad taste.
And so my ass naturally lifted off the chair.
"I'm gonna step out for a bit. Keep eating the pizza."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
I left Cheon Seo-yoon behind and slipped out of the restaurant.
After spotting Han Soo-hyeok, who was already striding off into the distance, I sent out Fly A and Fly B.
Then I sat on a bench beside the fountain that stood in the middle of the street like a local landmark.
If I followed recklessly and got caught, that would be the start of a second disaster.
Glowing tattoos and all that aside, I might end up wearing funeral clothes instead of a suit.
So I kept as much distance as possible.
Bzzzz.
Fly A and Fly B flew at top speed and turned the man presumed to be Han Soo-hyeok into confirmed Han Soo-hyeok.
Viewed from left and right, it was definitely Han Soo-hyeok's face.
"X—ing pain in the ass."
His tone and voice were Han Soo-hyeok's too.
Han Soo-hyeok, apparently in a foul mood, grumbled as he scratched at his long hair and entered the portal station platform.
"Is he trying to travel somewhere?"
Fly A and Fly B followed him in, keeping a suitable distance.
Han Soo-hyeok walked over to a vending machine in the corner of the waiting area, got himself a cola, and chugged it in one go.
"Kyah."
He crushed the can like a sheet of paper, tossed it toward the trash can, and sat down.
He sat with his legs arrogantly crossed and even let out a buuurp, so there was no one around him.
.......
Everyone kept sneaking glances and edged away from him.
It probably wasn't only because of his rough behavior and his misfit-looking clothes.
The aura seeping out of him was that of a predator.
Like a male lion lounging idly on the savanna, people instinctively avoided him.
But as is the way of the animal world.
Young, immature creatures are originally fearless.
"Excuse me."
A little girl with big, bright eyes came up and stared at him, and Han Soo-hyeok asked indifferently.
"What."
The Western girl in a yellow dress, hugging a rabbit doll, pointed at the trash can next to the vending machine with a slightly angry face and opened her mouth.
You something something. Manners something something.
It was English.
But I could understand the basics.
The can you threw just now missed the trash can.
So pick it up and throw it away properly, you rude mister.
That was roughly the nuance, and since she was getting angry while mixing in hand gestures, Han Soo-hyeok seemed to get the gist too.
"What, kid?"
The atmosphere chilled in an instant.
Han Soo-hyeok's already thick eyebrows twitched, and he glared at the child with force in his already fierce eyes.
The child didn't back down either and glared back with her arms crossed.
Sparks flew in the air.
But the people around only looked for the parents. They just watched.
"That little brat."
Then, an unexpected situation unfolded.
The male lion who had reluctantly gotten up, Han Soo-hyeok, trudged over, picked up the fallen can, and put it in the trash can.
"Happy now? You fearless little runt?"
Han Soo-hyeok smirked and returned to his seat.
The child gave a thumbs-up.
Great, excellent, good uncle, blah blah blah—she rattled off praise before being led away by her parents, who had appeared late.
Han Soo-hyeok crossed his legs again as if nothing had happened.
The people around stole glances as if surprised, but I nodded calmly.
Because I had roughly expected it.
That man was especially weak to children.......
It was karma he carried because of his past, but thanks to it, you could say his minimum humanity was guaranteed.
As the reason Han Soo-hyeok was a Demonkin but not a villain, there was a rather complicated story behind it.
"How long am I supposed to wait?"
Just then, Han Soo-hyeok, who had been stretching languidly, reached into his coat and pulled out a portal ticket.
Thinking it would be good to at least know his destination, I quickly moved Fly A forward.
I zoomed in as much as possible and checked the ticket.
From Verona To Nice
......What.
But that city name felt familiar.
I checked again, wondering if I'd misread, but N.I.C.E.
Not "nice." It was definitely Nice.
"Why is he going to Nice?"
If it were for sightseeing, he should be going to Paris.
When this unexpected point of contact appeared, the unease that had been squirming in me from before doubled.
Bzzzz.
But at that moment, Han Soo-hyeok's phone rang.
"Oh, old lady. I'm almost there. I just need to stop by the mansion and grab the item, right?"
* * *
Italy means pizza, pizza means Italy.
But now that I'm eating it, DoXno's and PiX Hut might actually taste better.
Cheon Seo-yoon, left alone in the restaurant, chewed her pizza slowly, mulling over these thoughts.
Then she glanced at the clock.
When is he coming back? Can I just eat all of this by myself? It won't taste good cold.
She thought again.
When that got boring too, she picked up her phone.
The search term was men's suits.
She figured she needed at least some knowledge to give advice, so she looked it up.
"Hm."
Cheon Seo-yoon scrolled down with a fairly serious expression.
She imagined Park Ha-yul's face pasted onto the model images to picture what would suit him.
First, a clean black suit with a white shirt.
"That works."
A light gray suit somehow reminded her of a hairtail fish, but with a black shirt underneath, it didn't seem bad either.
"Add this one too. This one's pretty too......."
Cheon Seo-yoon took screenshots one by one, collecting decent designs.
About five minutes passed like that.
"Why are there so many?"
She hadn't noticed while picking, but looking closely, almost every suit looked fine.
"Ahh."
Cheon Seo-yoon realized belatedly.
It wasn't that the clothes were fine. It was that the face was fine, so they looked that way.
For example, when she tried the same suit on Lee Dae-ho, the vibe died instantly.
It looked like a debt-collector's blocky suit.
"Low-key an overpowered character......."
Cheon Seo-yoon nodded, newly impressed.
Family, looks, height—those were originally impressive, sure, but she'd thought the hopeless personality and terrible grades were beyond saving.
Lately, though, things had changed a bit.
He was still prickly, but softer than before, and as for grades, well.
It was just that he himself had no interest. His actual skill was beyond that, wasn't it?
She didn't know for sure, but he probably had the skill to place within the top 100.......
"No, but why isn't he coming back?"
Cheon Seo-yoon, who had been running through all sorts of thoughts, finally picked up her phone.
She was just about to send a text, wondering if something had happened.
Bzzzz.
[Sorry. Something urgent came up, so I don't think I can come right now. Contact Baek Sa-young and.......]
A text from Park Ha-yul arrived just in time.
"Ah, what the hell."
For a second, a crumb of the pizza she was chewing popped out.
No, we came all the way to Italy, and now there's something urgent?
And I'm his partner.
The club president had stressed over and over that we should spend the morning schedule together.......
As irritation and a faint sense of disappointment settled over her, Cheon Seo-yoon slurped at the cola in front of her.
And she decided not to care.
If it was about being cool, that was Cheon Seo-yoon. Wasn't she a perception-type person close to 100% P?
"Let's enjoy the remaining time."
Cheon Seo-yoon pumped herself up and lifted her sagging shoulders.
Biting into a slice of pizza, she called Baek Sa-young.
After a few rings, the call connected, and she immediately asked.
"Where are you?"
"Huh? We're at the souvenir shop. Why, is something up?"
"No, just asking if you want to hang out."
"What about Ha-yul?"
"He said he has something to take care of for a bit."
At that, Lee Dae-ho's voice came through the receiver.
"What, Cheon Seo-yoon got stood up?"
What do you mean, stood up?
"Excuse me. That's not it, okay? Get him away from the phone."
"You go."
Once the murmuring on the other end settled down, Cheon Seo-yoon asked again.
"After the souvenir shop, where are you going?"
"Oh, we're gonna go eat pizza."
......Pizza.
I already ate.
I'm stuffing down two whole pizzas by myself.
It's so greasy my stomach is churning.
Thinking about sitting in another restaurant made the time feel wasted.
"Hang up for now. I'll call you back."
"Huh? Okay."
Cheon Seo-yoon hung up and thought it over.
She wanted to spend the remaining time walking the streets and soaking in the atmosphere of Verona, but if she met up with them, it would be pizza again.
But she happened to be looking up suits.
Park Ha-yul didn't seem to have time to go buy one.
So.......
Cheon Seo-yoon, who had been tapping her fingers on the table, eventually sent a text.
[Hey, if you don't have time, want me to buy the suit for you? I've got nothing to do anyway.]
* * *
A mansion and an item.
If things overlapped to this degree, naturally one hypothesis came to mind.
The place Han Soo-hyeok was heading to now was the mansion I had been looking for.
The item he was going to retrieve was the booster.
Even if it wasn't certainty, it was at least a strong enough hypothesis that I couldn't overlook it.
So I made up my mind.
I'd think about the consequences later and follow him for now.
While Han Soo-hyeok walked briskly, I switched Fly B to stealth, low-noise mode.
I attached it to the duffel bag he was carrying.
I immediately turned on my phone and booked a portal to Nice, then carefully followed Han Soo-hyeok into the portal.
It did bother me that Cheon Seo-yoon was waiting, but this was more important to me, so I had no choice.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
The signal that had been cut because of the portal came back as soon as we arrived in Nice.
The GPS reception range was a maximum of 2 km, so there was no worry about losing it.
So as far back as possible.
I tailed him so slowly it was embarrassing to even call it tailing.
Han Soo-hyeok moved ahead without hesitation, as if he knew the exact location of the mansion.
Then he raised his hand toward a passing taxi.
He practically blocked it to a stop and knocked on the window. Thump thump.
When the driver rolled the window down slightly, Han Soo-hyeok stuck his face in and spoke smoothly.
"Driver, let's go together. I'll tell you the destination."
He spoke in Korean out of nowhere and crooked his finger.
No matter how much Korean was a global common language, could someone really be that brazen?
If that was an ability, then it was an ability.
The taxi driver nodded and opened the door.
I couldn't tell whether he understood or was just scared, but one thing was certain.
He probably couldn't even dream of ripping off a tourist.
Anyway.
After Han Soo-hyeok left, I caught a taxi too.
"Driver, let's go together. I'll tell you the destination."
I copied him exactly, but I got refused two or three times.
The last taxi only opened its door when I said I'd pay double.
I chased after Han Soo-hyeok while checking Fly B's signal.
After driving for about twenty minutes, we entered a quiet coastal area before I knew it.
"......?"
That was the moment when dizziness hit me along with a new sense of familiarity I'd never felt before.
Maybe the memories of the knife scars were overlapping, because the unfamiliar scenery began to feel familiar in a strange sense of déjà vu.
"Oh, here, here."
Then I heard Han Soo-hyeok's voice.
I had been following at a distance of a little under 2 km, but since there were few people around, I stopped as well.
For the taxi fare, Han Soo-hyeok paid 50 dollars. I paid 100 dollars.
X—.
Arguing here would only waste time.
I paid coolly and got out, and a fresh sea breeze swept over me.
I focused on the screen Fly B was transmitting.
Han Soo-hyeok strode forward as if he knew his destination.
Before long, a scene matching my memory was transmitted to the screen.
A road lined with cypress trees like an entrance.
But there was no mansion.
Han Soo-hyeok was walking as if that was his destination, but there was no mansion.
"What the."
Just as I tilted my head, Han Soo-hyeok reached out toward the last tree on the right side of the row.
That moment.
Bzzt. Crackle.
A shaking screen, an unstable connection.
The screen stopped immediately, but the last scene Fly B captured was vivid.
Because on the low hill where there had been nothing, a mansion suddenly appeared.
A two-story old house with an orange roof and ivory-colored bricks.
It hadn't risen up. The space itself had changed.
"......It was a magic space?"
I muttered quietly and thought.
Meeting Han Soo-hyeok today had been a stroke of luck. If I had come alone, I would never have found it.......