Chapter 591: A Stale Old Connection (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 591: A Stale Old Connection (10)
What should she say?
What should she ask?
How should she even look at him?
She didn't know.
She couldn't seem to organize her thoughts.
The fact that she had so rashly asked to meet him was proof of just how confused she was.
"So."
The man on the opposite sofa spoke with an air of complete ease.
"Why did you want to see me?"
Things she had considered trivial, yet had bothered her deep down, began to look different.
His eyes, gleaming with interest, as if curious what she would say.
The slight smirk that looked so arrogant.
And finally, even the trivial habit of tapping his knee with his index finger.
These were not things one could achieve simply by liking someone and trying to imitate them.
They were natural actions and habits, as unconscious as breathing.
‘They're all the same.’
He was a spitting image of her husband, Son Si-woo.
So much so that if she were to cover his face and voice, she wasn't sure she could even tell if he was her husband or not.
He had vehemently denied it.
No, he’d said, the person he loved had always been one and the same.
She wanted to believe him.
But the man before her kept jeopardizing that belief.
What in the world was this?
If he wasn't an illegitimate child, how could she explain his uncanny resemblance to her husband?
Feeling a headache from the vortex of thoughts, she frowned slightly and opened her mouth.
"...There's something I must ask you."
Kim Do-jin tilted his head at her words.
‘Something she wants to ask.’
No matter how much he thought, it was difficult to guess what the question might be.
‘From her expression, something is clearly wrong…’
Just as Han Ju-hee had grasped all his minor habits, he too knew her habits, big and small, better than anyone.
For instance, that frown.
She often suffered from frequent headaches when faced with a series of overwhelming events.
From that, it was clear something had happened to her.
Something difficult to handle, at that.
‘What could it be?’
It would be great if it was a problem with Hexagram.
Harboring a subtle hope, he answered magnanimously.
"What are you curious about?"
"It's... well."
Han Ju-hee hesitated, unable to get the words out properly.
It was difficult to broach the subject.
She couldn't just ask him to his face, "You're my husband's illegitimate child, aren't you?"
Even if he were, she couldn't blame him.
No child in this world chooses their parents.
So, she began cautiously.
"Have you... ever met my husband?"
What is this?
What's the intent behind this question?
He nodded cautiously and replied.
"...I have?"
They were a pair who were only a danger to each other, but the industry was small enough that they had met before.
It had been a pain pretending they were strangers, exchanging unpleasant glances.
Understanding his meaning, she shook her head.
"No, I don't mean professionally. I'm asking if you've ever met in private."
"......"
Kim Do-jin fell silent for a moment.
He thought.
What was the intent behind that question?
For her to be curious about a meeting between him and Son Si-woo, of all things…
‘Has she caught on to something?’
Perhaps she had started digging into the secret between him and Son Si-woo.
‘If so, how did she find out…?’
At first, he had assumed the fake who stole his body would be found out quickly.
Unlike this body, which had no connections, Son Si-woo's body had a family living with him.
But contrary to his expectations, the imposter wasn't caught.
The plan to buy time with a sabbatical, living in hiding and being careful with every action, must have been effective.
Even an idiot would have known that getting caught as a fake would not lead to a good end.
So he had been relieved.
He thought nothing would happen until he decided to reveal the truth himself.
But for her to suddenly show up and ask this meant she had sensed something from either him or Son Si-woo.
Just where, and how much, had she figured out?
Becoming extremely wary of her, he spoke carefully.
"Well, now."
He feigned indifference and asked her in return.
"Is that really why you wanted to see me?"
She answered immediately.
"Yes, it is. That's the only reason I called you, so please answer me."
"......"
Kim Do-jin was taken aback by her blunt reply.
It was a more unexpected reaction than he'd anticipated.
Especially since he knew she was a woman who rarely revealed her true intentions in conversation.
This made one thing clear.
Somehow, she suspected him and Son Si-woo.
And she was trying desperately to uncover the truth.
In that case, this was a crisis, but also an opportunity.
A chance to trade his information for something of equal value from her.
He hid his sense of crisis and put on the face of a gambler looking for an opening.
"Hmph... That's a difficult question to answer."
Her face hardened.
"...Why?"
"Well, I mean."
He paused deliberately.
After giving her mind ample time to run wild with imagination, he continued.
"A private meeting falls into a very personal domain. There's no reason I should have to share my personal stories with you, Hunter Han Ju-hee. Don't you agree?"
Han Ju-hee scowled at Kim Do-jin's response.
She understood exactly what he was trying to say.
‘He wants something in return.’
It was a mistake.
In her haste, she had forgotten the most basic tactic of hiding her intentions.
Which meant that to get what she wanted, she would have to concede a point from the start.
She let out a small sigh and asked him.
"...What do you want?"
"There's a lot I want."
There were many things he wanted to obtain.
But before that, he had to gauge something.
How highly did she value his information?
And what could he get for it?
"For instance... information about Hexagram."
Her face quickly froze over.
"I don't have much information on them either."
"Heh... You joined hands with an organization you know nothing about?"
That answer didn't fit her meticulous nature at all.
She replied without wavering.
"That's why I joined them."
"......?"
"Because I couldn't find out anything even when I gave it my all."
She had tried to catch their tail out of sheer stubbornness, but she had failed every time.
All she ever caught were a few strands of hair left in their wake.
She was intrigued by their elusiveness and had opened a dialogue with them.
And she learned that their ideals weren't so different from what she desired.
"If there's one thing I can tell you,"
Their gazes clashed mid-air.
"give up on confronting them, now. They're hiding far more power than you can imagine."
She was being sincere.
It was heartfelt advice, containing not a shred of provocation or mockery.
But she had momentarily forgotten something.
"Aha... is that so?"
She had forgotten that the man before her was very much like Son Si-woo—a younger Son Si-woo, at that.
In his prime, he had been a contrarian who threw a fit whenever he heard the word "impossible."
"This is getting more and more exciting."
Only when she saw him lick his dry lips, his expression thrilled, did she belatedly realize her mistake.
Realizing her words couldn't persuade him, she shook her head and said.
"In any case... it's difficult for me to give you a satisfactory answer regarding them."
It didn't seem like a lie.
At this, Kim Do-jin was once again lost in thought.
In that case, what price should he make her pay?
Then, something suddenly came to mind.
A fundamental question he had held deep in his heart.
"Their goal was to turn the world upside down, wasn't it?"
"That's right."
They believe that the Awakened are beings chosen by God. Special beings granted extraordinary abilities that humans could never possess.
Some say they should be called the new humanity, while others call them superhumans.
The names they use are different, but the meaning is clear.
They are beings distinct from ordinary humans.
That is why they are so dissatisfied with the current society.
Why should beings like us have to clean up after ordinary humans?
Why are ordinary people still the ones leading most of the world's nations?
Shouldn't we be the ones ruling over them like the heavens above?
That's why Hexagram wants to flip the world.
To place ordinary people below and themselves in the heavens.
The Awakened and humans.
Furthermore, a new class society, strictly divided between Hunters with outstanding combat power, other Awakened, and finally, ordinary humans, with rights and authority granted differently according to that hierarchy.
What they desired was none other than such a world.
And for Han Ju-hee to have sided with them meant she held a similar ideal.
No matter how much he thought about it, Kim Do-jin couldn't understand her.
She was already part of this society's ruling class.
She could obtain anything she wanted and achieve anything she desired.
So what more could she possibly lack?
"You already have everything. What could you possibly lack that would make you join Hexagram and try to overturn the world?"
"That's..."
Before she could answer, Kim Do-jin continued.
"And don't give me some vague answer like last time, about wanting something you can't have right now. That's not worth hearing."
"......"
He pressed her further as her face grew pale.
"Tell me the specific reason."
Why did she have to join them?
Was it related to her estrangement from the husband she loved so dearly?
Han Ju-hee squeezed her eyes shut at the sharp question that pierced her to the core.
After a long moment of deliberation, she opened her mouth with difficulty.
"...It's because of my family."
Hearing this, Kim Do-jin's face twisted in devastation.