Summer Vacation.
Su-ho arrived at a four-story building in Yeongdeungpo and pulled into the underground parking.
"This is it?"
"Yeah. Wanted to introduce you, Boss. I really like these two."
"How'd you get to know them?"
"Seong-min is eight years older than me. Been rolling under me ever since I beat him up when I was seven."
"Oh~ That's a long run."
"Yeah, and Ji-hyo's two years apart from me. Met her in Korea when I was thirteen. Ran into her when I went volunteering with my mom."
I watched Su-ho park cleanly.
Rumble.
"And the reason you keep them around?"
"You said you came from an orphanage too, Boss, so I got curious how that world works. I tagged along with my mom to volunteer, kind of checking things out, you know?"
"Uh-huh."
"There was this girl in the bathroom practicing stabbing a taped-up pillow with a knife."
"....."
"She was putting in serious effort. So I showed her a few things about handling a blade, and she just took it in quietly. Had real talent. Watching her, I kept thinking about the day I first met you, Boss. So I brought her along."
"And you helped her reach her goal?"
"Yeah. Turned out to be her older brother."
I figured listening any further would wear me out, so I stopped, got out of the car, and followed Su-ho into the elevator.
"Under Ji-hyo there are three friends who specialize in assassination. Under Seong-min, two druggie techs and a sniper."
We crossed a vast, empty space, and Su-ho walked into a room marked as a conference room.
The people who stood from their chairs when they saw Su-ho.
Eight people in total.
"Hey."
"".....""
"This is my boss. Everyone say hello."
"... Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Remember I came back half-dead that one time? That was the boss then too."
"".....""
Judging by their lack of surprise when they looked at me, they must have already known about Su-ho and my identity.
Two of them stood out most. A tall man in a suit who looked like he had OCD no matter who saw him, and a red-haired woman in a white hoodie, wearing a black mask over her face.
The woman's jaw kept moving, like she was chewing gum.
"... Want some?"
The woman held out a piece of gum to me.
"Oh! Ji-hyo must have taken a liking to you, Boss. She never gives that gum to anyone but me."
I accepted the gum Ji-hyo was offering.
Cola-flavored bubble gum.
There was one thing that felt out of place in an otherwise ordinary room. All kinds of weapons were set up in the back. No idea how they'd gotten them.
"... How did you get a machine gun?"
"My Chinese friends do good work, right? Pretty, isn't she?"
The saying that any firearm in Korea goes through either the government or the Gwangsu Gang's hands apparently wasn't just talk.
"Boss, wanna check out our vault?"
Following Su-ho's lead downstairs, we came to a room with an entrance built like a safe door.
Su-ho entered a passcode.
Stepping into the room after him, I felt genuine shock for the first time in a long while during this life as Si-yoon.
Six massive blocks formed into cubes.
Every one of them looked to be about the height of my shoulder, and one of them was made up entirely of 50,000-won bills.
They say the bad guys have all the money...
Then Ji-hyo pressed a button, and the far wall slid open.
I am certain that most standard military unit armories don't have as much as this.
Mostly 9mm rounds, but the variety was extensive, and I spotted several warheads too.
To a degree that honestly made me wonder how the hell they transported it all...
"And this is my collection!"
Su-ho confidently opened another wall panel.
And sure enough, just like old times, it was packed with all manner of edged weapons.
Su-ho excitedly showing off his toys like a kid bragging about his secret stash to his mother.
Every time he showed this kind of innocent side, I felt that same pureness I used to know from Cho-a in the past.
"This is a present for you, Boss. Picked it up forever ago just messing around, but the second I saw it I wanted to give it to you. You don't really care what kind of knife it is anyway, right?"
I looked at the folding knife Su-ho handed me, smaller than my palm.
The handle was designed with a black pattern on a pink background, and the blade was pink on a black background.
I don't know why everybody around me keeps trying to brand me as a pink freak, but then I thought about it and nodded, since my hair was already pink to begin with.
I picked up a 10,000-won note lying nearby, checked the blade with it, and slipped the knife into my pocket.
"Oh, and I've got knuckles on order for you right now, Boss."
"Knuckles?"
"Yeah, you know those pink ones? I had them designed exactly the same. Only difference is the color: black."
Su-ho held out a hand to Lee Seong-min, and Lee Seong-min handed over the printout he was holding.
A printout detailing every single thing, from the material they're made of to how to use them...
The printout with all the info on the knuckles was stacked as thick as my finger.
While we spent a while looking around, it seemed someone had ordered pizza, because by the time we got back to the conference room, it had arrived.
"Are they all ties you can't break?"
"Right? They're all like family to me."
The person called Ji-hyo pulled down her mask slightly—the first time she'd removed it the whole time—to eat pizza, and I saw her face was covered in small tattoos.
On the slightly pretty end of the scale for a regular person, I guess?
"Are they all good in a fight?"
"Mmm... Ji-hyo's definitely the best fighter, but you might be disappointed, Boss?"
From Su-ho's expression, it looked like he was hoping I'd assess them quickly.
Seems he wanted me to inspect the gems he'd found.
I chewed on a long stretch of cheese and looked at Ji-hyo.
"Hmm... Hard to tell just by looking. What's your main weapon?"
Ji-hyo pulled out her weapons and showed them.
Two daggers with a look straight out of some video game.
Pretty, yeah, but I'm not sure how efficient they'd be.
We introduced ourselves, kind of like a round of self-introductions, then headed to the upper floor.
Ji-hyo stripped off her outer layer and got ready.
Looking at her physique, which was more solid than I expected, it was clear Su-ho had trained her rigorously.
Ji-hyo tilted her head when I didn't take any kind of ready stance.
"What ready stance? Just come at me."
Her eyes twitched. Ji-hyo closed in fast.
Her ornate-looking daggers came at me with clear intent.
Even when I deflected them lightly, Ji-hyo's blades clung on stubbornly.
Whether she'd concluded that straightforward attacks were hard to land damage with, she started moving irregularly.
She switched her grip on the daggers in flashy patterns and threatened me up close, keeping it tight.
Her talent, definitely...
I spotted an opening and struck her chin, lightly.
Pow!
Ji-hyo crumpled straight down.
I left the unconscious Ji-hyo where she was and looked at Su-ho.
"Not bad. She's got real instinct."
"Right?"
Su-ho smiled like a kid introducing his friend to his parents.
The guy called Seong-min was also eager to spar with me, so I readily agreed.
Since beating up women isn't exactly my hobby, I went easy on Ji-hyo, but Seong-min was a guy, so unlike her, he got the shit beaten out of him.
After checking out the people Su-ho kept around him, I got in the car at his urging to head to the next place.
A house situated not too far from Park Ji-hoon's place.
The building's exterior was more ordinary than I expected.
"When my family isn't in Korea, I use it by myself. But right now, everyone's home. Is that alright?"
"Nervous?"
"Yeah. Introducing my family to you, Boss—that phrase has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"....."
While Su-ho was parking in the garage, his dad, Han Dae-ho, came out of the house.
Su-ho opened my door for me, then ran over to his dad.
The two of them chatted in English, like it came more naturally to them than Korean.
"Daaad~!"
"Su-ho~"
Not many dads would have the patience for a son past twenty acting like that, but the huge Han Dae-ho was smiling sunnily.
"Wanna play catch with your old man this weekend?"
I stood watching them, and when our eyes met, I gave a greeting.
"Hello."
Han Dae-ho looked at me once, then at his son, and nodded slowly.
"Well, nice to meet you. What's your relation to Su-ho?"
"Let me introduce you. She's a new friend I made recently."
I followed Su-ho's lead inside. The family stared at me like I was some kind of rare animal.
Stepping into the large living room, I saw rows of expensive-looking furniture, and next to the table there was a solid wood Go board.
I sat with dignity on a cushion in front of the guest table and brought the coffee to my lips.
A bitter taste that made my mouth pucker...
With great dignity, I put in eight sugar cubes, stirred, then poured in a ton of milk.
""......""
"I'm not much for bitter things."
Su-ho's father, Han Dae-ho, his mother, Lee Mi-ryeong, and Su-ho's older sisters all watched me without a word.
The much-younger brother, too.
"This is the first time I've ever seen Su-ho bring a girl home. I honestly thought my little brother was a eunuch."
"Hey! Calling your own brother a eunuch!"
Then Su-ho's mother, Lee Mi-ryeong, asked Su-ho.
"What exactly are you two?"
"We're getting married."
""!?!?""
I nearly spat out the coffee in my mouth.
"Ahem... There's, uh, a misunderstanding."
Su-ho instantly reacted to my words.
"What misunderstanding?"
"Me, I've already got someone I'm supposed to marry?"
Su-ho went rigid with shock the second he heard me.
"Liar... Who?"
"Um, there's someone named Jeong-yeon. Our parents have already basically sealed the deal?"
Seeing Su-ho totally frozen up, his mother shot him a pitying look.
And his sisters looked utterly fascinated.
Right then, Su-ho's father spoke up.
"Jeong-yeon... You mean the Hanseong firstborn, right?"
"Yes."
"I hadn't heard anything about an engagement. Marriage talks with our daughters had been floated, you see."
I read Han Dae-ho's expression.
He's pretending to be casual, but that's ninety percent bullshit.
Probably at the level of having mentally tagged him as one of several potential matches for his daughters.
"Is that so? Hmm, then there's no way I wouldn't have heard about it, though...?"
The second I hinted that we were close enough that any marriage discussion would be shared between us instantly,
Han Dae-ho's expression flinched slightly.
"I understand it's not a formal engagement."
"Mm, that's right. We haven't gotten formally engaged."
"Then that means there's still a chance for our son."
In the middle of sipping my coffee, as if deliberately dodging the answer, I looked at the little Pomeranian plopped right down next to me.
"So cute~"
"Yip!"
Han Dae-ho, who had just downed the bitter coffee, rested his chin on his hand and smiled.
"Our family is as good as Hanseong, if not better. Hardly inferior, wouldn't you say?"
How much of a shallow, greedy social climber did he take me for to say something like that?
I was slightly offended.
"Huh? Ah-ha. If there's been a misunderstanding, let me clear it up: I don't particularly care about things like a family having a lot of money or power?"
"....."
"In my life, other than my father, I've never once leaned on anyone."
"I see..."
"The money and power that me and the people around me need? I take care of that myself."
The word 'power' might sound a little arrogant when talking to a governor's son, but...
As long as I had the data Yoon Hyeong-seop handed over to save his own life,
I'd be able to wield considerable force even within Korea's political circles.
I've gathered more cards than you'd think up to now.
I looked at the Go board beside me.
It had a lot of stones placed on it, as if someone had been studying on their own.
"If it wouldn't be an imposition, might I request a match?"
"Ho-oh... You sound confident."
"Yep. I'll teach you a thing or two about Go."
"...?"
At the words 'I'll teach you' rather than 'please teach me a lesson' when requesting a match,
Han Dae-ho's expression crumpled outright for the first time, giving me a look like he thought I was some uneducated brat.
The type of personality that thinks of themselves as a massive iron fortress is always a direct target for provocations involving something they believe they excel at.
I speak from experience, having provoked Lee Gi-seok himself and made him feel the wall.
Doing it this way lets me burn my existence into the other person's mind and show that I'm more special than anyone.
Didn't Su-ho say his oldest sister, Han Su-ji, was eccentric and brilliant?
I'll make them all feel what it means to become ordinary in front of me.
Time to show them what a superhuman brain processing speed looks like...
Click.
Han Dae-ho tilted his head watching me place the stone.
He looked irritated, as if asking how I could say something like that when I couldn't even hold a Go stone properly.
Tak.
Click.
I looked at Han Dae-ho and smiled.
"Do you happen to play online Go as well?"
"Every now and then. Why?"
"Then, do you know the nickname 'Yuja12'?"
"Hmm... Can't say I've ever heard of it."
In the States, I'm famous as 'dbwk,' but oh well... No need to explain it.
"No? That's me, actually. Look it up sometime."
"I'm... not sure why I'd need to."
"Mm. You'll understand if you do."
"...?"