The Spy and the Purge
I finished tidying the sofa and had just fallen back asleep in my room when the notification sound for a Line message woke me up. Mmm, what time is it…? It was around ten thirty, so I must have slept for a little over an hour or two. I turned on Line and saw that the message was from Hanasaki Sayaka.
Oh right. We were supposed to meet for lunch today.
If she really trusted me, she wouldn't be sending messages like this… It was still two hours before our appointment time, yet here was Hanasaki Sayaka spamming me.
I sighed and typed on my smartphone.
Replying with that mountain of text in just three seconds… It was almost scary.
I stretched, took a shower, and brushed my teeth. I kept my outfit simple — jeans, a white t-shirt, and a jacket. I'd been wearing suits to the company every day lately, so on weekends I made sure to dress simply and comfortably. Thankfully, with a body like mine, anything looked good on me. By the time I finished dressing, it was 11:20. I still had some time left.
In that case… there was one thing I needed to take care of.
Now that the training was over, I had to give Kawaji Emiko the twenty million yen I'd promised for arranging Group 74. Still, pulling out twenty million yen right now felt like a waste. The exchange rate was currently at three hundred dollars, but it would soon exceed a thousand. Taking out twenty million yen now would mean that money would be worth sixty million yen later. In times like this, I needed to make a win-win proposal for both Kawaji Emiko and myself.
I picked up my phone and called Kawaji Emiko.
"Ryuta-kun? What's up? What's up?"
Even though she asked what was going on, her voice was bright. She must have already guessed I was calling about the twenty million yen.
"I contacted you because I have a proposal for you, Kawaji Emiko-ssi. It's about the twenty million yen I promised you."
"Don't tell me… you're not saying you can't give it to me now, are you?"
"It's not that. You can choose one of two options. The first is to receive the twenty million yen immediately, as we originally agreed."
"And the second?"
"Receive thirty million yen instead, but wait one month."
"Ah…! Yeah, that's definitely a win-win. I make an extra ten million, you make an extra ten million, and all it costs is waiting one more month."
From a working adult's perspective, waiting one month to receive more than a year's salary was an obvious choice. As expected, Kawaji Emiko picked the second option.
"I'll go with the thirty million in one month. By the way, when are you coming to the gym next week? I haven't been able to go during training and I really want to work out after so long…"
She must have missed my big-sized hot bar that she hadn't tasted in a while, because she asked when I'd be at the gym.
"Now that training is over, I'll head straight there after five. Come whenever it fits your schedule and I'll take care of you anytime."
"Thanks, Ryuta-kun~! See you next week~♡"
After ending the call with Kawaji Emiko, I slowly got ready to head out. I sent Hanasaki Sayaka, who was probably waiting anxiously, a simple Line message saying I was leaving now, then got into the car. I set TERT as the destination and departed.
It was lunchtime and the road toward Tokyo's bustling district was a bit congested. It usually took about forty minutes, but since I'd left with ten minutes to spare, I shouldn't be late. When I parked at the TERT parking lot, I was about five minutes late. My Line was already flooded with messages from Hanasaki Sayaka — everything from "You didn't get into a car accident, right?" to "Please make sure the autograph is perfectly fine."
I replied that traffic had been heavy and I was now in the parking lot, then took the elevator. When I got off, the same massive security guard from last time was waiting.
"Please show me your invitation."
At the guard's words, I showed him the QR code Hanasaki Sayaka had sent. He scanned it with some device, nodded, and handed me a piece of paper. It was the same non-disclosure agreement as before. I signed it roughly and handed it back. The guard said, "Have an enjoyable time…" I wasn't exactly here to enjoy any pleasures, though.
I headed to the first-floor lobby where I'd promised to meet Hanasaki Sayaka. There she was, looking like some kind of addict — anxiously shaking her leg and biting her nails. If her fans saw this, they'd be shocked. A young actress with both acting talent and stunning beauty behaving like this. Or maybe she did this often, which was why her agency packaged her with a mysterious image.
"Hanasaki-ssi."
"Ah, you're finally here! Taira Ryuta-ssi!"
She greeted me so enthusiastically that it seemed like she'd been waiting for three hours. Being five minutes late wasn't great, but her overreaction made me feel a little annoyed. I suppressed that irritation and handed her the envelope containing Fujigasaki Rinka's autographs.
There were three in total, each on a different photo of Fujigasaki Rinka, with the message "Be happy, Sayaka-ssi!" written on them.
"You've been waiting for this more than for me, haven't you?"
"Was it that obvious? Hehe."
Asking if it was obvious after acting like that… wasn't that shameless? Well, if it weren't for the autograph, we probably wouldn't have met at all, so of course she wasn't waiting for me.
"Let's go eat lunch now~!"
"Where are we eating today?"
As I'd heard before, TERT had four restaurants: Japanese, Western, Chinese and Asian, and Central/South American and African. I was curious which one we'd go to. Last time we'd eaten at the Chinese and Asian floor.
"Today we're having Mexican food."
"Mexican? Is there a reason for that?"
Hanasaki Sayaka looked at me with a surprised expression. It wasn't a pleasant surprise — it was more like "How can this guy not know?"
"Your master, Fujigasaki Rinka-nim, is fighting a Mexican challenger in UMC, isn't she? You didn't know that?"
Hmm… As her disciple, I really didn't show much interest in Fujigasaki Rinka. The way she looked at me like "Is this guy really her disciple…?" Even if I was indifferent, wasn't that a bit too much?
"I've been busy with work lately and couldn't pay attention. Thanks for letting me know. I should send Master a message of support."
"Ah~ You said you've been busy recently, right? I heard from Aris. She was sad that she hasn't been able to see you much because you've been so busy, Taira Ryuta-nim."
Only then did Hanasaki Sayaka drop her suspicious gaze. We went to the restaurant and ordered. I got carne asada, tacos, and a burrito. Hanasaki Sayaka ordered a chimichanga, which was a fried burrito. It was quite heavy food for an actress, but she said her schedule had just ended so she could eat freely.
The Mexican food I hadn't had in a while was delicious. The housekeeper auntie was good at Japanese, Chinese, and Western cuisine, but she didn't make other Asian or Central/South American dishes. Eating it after so long was really good. Still, since she'd heard I was Korean, she said she was learning Korean food. Since the housekeeper auntie was skilled, I was looking forward to that too.
After we finished eating, Hanasaki Sayaka, who had been admiring the autographs with a satisfied expression, asked me to take a commemorative photo with the autographs, so I did. After the meal, I parted ways with her, but I still had time before meeting the members of Group 74 and the plus-ones, so I didn't leave TERT. I went to the massage floor that Hanasaki Sayaka had recommended, got a full-body massage, and soaked in warm water. By the time I came out, the timing was perfect.
I'd decided to hold the training center graduation party at the Prime Hotel, where I'd previously stayed with Han Yugyeong and where we'd been attacked by assassins. The hotel had a buffet and I'd rented a large room for the party. Because they had failed to prevent the previous attack, they felt sorry and gave me a significant discount. Even with the discount, the cost of a buffet for fifteen people plus the large party room was quite burdensome in the current situation. But when I paid with my card, by the time the bill came due I would have sold all my Health Miracle stocks and become a cash-rich man, so I paid without hesitation.
After the massage, I headed to the Prime Hotel feeling refreshed. When I parked in the Prime Hotel lot and went to the first-floor lobby, fourteen beautiful women were waiting for me. People around us kept glancing over, wondering what was going on with so many beauties gathered in one place.
"Mentor-nim~! We've been waiting!"
"The other groups didn't throw a graduation party as fancy as ours~."
Being instantly surrounded by fourteen women made the sweet scent of female bodies wash over me. Ah, I can't get hard yet. Hold on, my Johnson…
"Shall we start with dinner at the hotel buffet first?"
"““Yes~!”””
They all answered in perfect unison. Since we were going to go wild from tonight until tomorrow, they all needed to charge up their energy properly.