Chapter 72

Chapter 72

If we're talking about previous meetings, I couldn't think of anything other than the time Bae Jaemin shined a light on me at the <Tower of Command>. Cold sweat dripped down my back.

I couldn't have known that fateful meeting-less than one second long-would be so deeply engraved within his mind. I hesitated, the chance to lie had already passed; it felt like my thoughts were getting increasingly tangled.

Damn it. How should I concoct a plausible excuse?

[Seo Dawon: As expected, the 1st floor was bait. I think it's on the 2nd floor.]

[Seo Dawon: Kim Sangyoon and I both got out without getting caught.]

[Jung Garam: Hmm, I guess the security detail that went down will be returning soon.]

[Jung Garam: Oi, Choi Lee-kyung]

[Jung Garam: Are you still not done? I'm finished.]

[Jung Garam: ?]

[Jung Garam: Did something happen to him??]

[Seo Dawon: I'm coming to you]

My servants' timing could prove to be a huge problem.

They're planning to come to my location...I can't even contact them, either. I had no idea what would happen if those two met Bae Jaemin without any preparation.

In addition, I couldn't ignore what Jung Garam said.

If he couldn't find anything in his section, then the large painting behind me was likely to be the [Anti-vision's] anchor...I had to get rid of Bae Jaemin quickly and check the painting right away, but my mouth began to feel dry and cracked at the thought of dealing with such a large obstacle alone.

It would be dangerous if Bae Jaemin suspects me any more than he already does.

Besides, the staff who were dragging their trays away from us would probably not pass by us any time soon...If he were to place hands on me right now, no one would know.

"Maybe..."I lowered my head to hide my determined expression and pretended to be troubled. In the meantime, I rolled various excuses through my brain, thoughts surfacing and sinking.

He'd probably already conducted a background check on me, right? Didn't he send a scouting offer through Kim Sangyoon?

'Ah, come to think of it...Kim Sangyoon was there.' A bolt of lightning struck my head, and I raised my eyes to meet Bae Jaemin. "Maybe...We may have seen each other at a distance when I was getting carried by Kim Sangyoon..."

"When?"

"....During the raid at the <Tower of Command>."

His background check must have uncovered my relations with Kim Sangyoon and, to some extent, the [Barnasium] sales. And yet, he's not trying to kill me and instead approached me, asking if we've ever met in the past-asking me to reveal all that I knew...

'Maybe Bae Jaemin doesn't actually know everything about me?'

The relationship between the Red Lotus guild and me...The Necromancer contracts...I don't think he's placing such pressure on me because of these subjects. If he had those suspicions, he wouldn't approach me so carelessly...

No matter how much he searched through my past, the identity of my 'friend' who supplied me with [Barnasiums] to sell as a third-person avatar would never be revealed. Perhaps that mystery is tugging at him; thus, he approached me first to coax the answer out of me...

I gambled a bit by mentioning the keyword, [Tower of Command]. The admission that we met at the Tower would overlap with his knowledge of how Kim Sangyoon carried me through that raid. I thought it would be safe to talk about that raid, but nothing more.

Bae Jaemin answered, his doubtful expression still plastered in place, "Really? So you've never spoken with me before?"

"Yes. I've only seen you from far away."

"And we've never seen each other before the [Tower of Command]?"

"Then, why do you keep avoiding me?" Bae Jaemin tilted his head, as if something was bothering him.

I twitched-though my frozen facial muscles did not allow full range of movement-and stammered, "It's just, well...um...You looked really high-strung back then at the [Tower of Command]..." Then, acting as if I said something I shouldn't have, I apologized, "I'm so sorry...."

It was an intentional slip of the tongue.

As expected, Bae Jaemin immediately latched onto the lure. "I looked high-strung?"

Then, continuing my act of a man at his wit's end-caught up in an unexpected interrogation, stuttered, "N-no...It's just, when I first saw you...."

"Yes?"

"You didn't allow cameras...nor any filming...so..."

"Me?"

"Y-yes...They said that you requested no pictures in the Dungeon...So, our team left all the equipment behind."

"Ah......"

"So......Uh...To be honest, if someone who acted like that suddenly became so friendly..."

Bae Jaemin, who had been listening carefully, said, "That was because of safety...Ah, I see how this misunderstanding perpetuated." He nodded, chicly.

"No no, I...this is all my own misunderstanding..." I shook my hands quickly and offered a servile bow. Haven't I crafted a situation where, through unfortunate first impressions, I wanted to avoid such a finicky opponent?

Fortunately, my plan seemed to have worked; a gentle smile returned to Bae Jaemin's face. In fact, he looked a bit embarrassed...

Of course, I knew that Bae Jaemin had a wicked heart...but, if I were in the dark, I might have warmed to that clumsy smile that immediately melted this tense atmosphere.

I'm sure Bae Jaemin wasn't truly embarrassed-he must have practiced that smile a hundred or a thousand times.

"I shouldn't have asked so bluntly. Ah, I...when I'm hooked on one theory, I can't think of anything else. I'm so sorry to have troubled you." He neatly offered an apology, "You must have been so offended by my insistence," Bae Jaemin said, acknowledging his strange behavior.

"Ah, it's nothing...You're such a famous Ranker...I understand." I kept shaking my head, trying to comfort him. I looked up into his eyes, deliberately allowing a tinge of envy over his status to color my pupils.

Bae Jaemin's expression was so soft that I thought I had successfully escaped some amount of suspicion.

"So, according to Lee-kyung-ssi...You've never met me before, and it was quite burdensome to be confronted with someone who suddenly acts so intimate...Right? That's why you avoided me and kept running away?"

"Yes...? Ah, yes!"

"So you're just shy?"

".....yes...I...guess?"

"Ah, then thank goodness. Actually, I wasn't persistently chasing Lee-kyung-ssi around purely because of my suspicions."

"Huh?"

"I sincerely want to get to know Lee-kyung-ssi better. I just wondered, since Lee-kyung-ssi kept running away...But, if you're just shy, wouldn't it be okay for you to be at ease around me now?

How did he arrive at that conclusion?!

My mouth opened and closed like a fish on land; Bae Jaemin approached closer with a smile fixed upon his face, "Why not? We've seen each other three times now...Is it still hard to accept each other as a 'friend?'"

An indescribable pressure was emphasized on the word, 'friend.' Bae Jaemin, railroading over my hesitation, bowed his head and whispered into my ear, "You seem to have been very interested in these paintings...I've recently become interested in a certain piece. Shall we start talking from there?"

"......"

"It's a bit much to have a long conversation here...Why don't we move to my room and share a cup of tea?"

His words were a bolt from the blue.

Damn it...So, he *was* watching from behind as I observed the paintings with the monocle. I was unconfident in my ability to control my expression so I lowered my gaze. Since when? Did he also see me scrutinizing the lights? Shit, I can't tell how much he knows because of that glazed smiling face.

"If you don't want to, I guess I can't help it." Though Bae Jaemin caught me like a rat in his trap, he still aggravatingly shrugged as if I had the upper hand. I can't believe that someone could smile like that while presenting the other with a choice they can't refuse...Seriously, how evil.

"....Where is your room?"

In the end, I swallowed a sigh and gave into his silent demands. At my question, Bae Jaemin smiled until his teeth were slightly exposed. He then pointed behind me, "I'm in that far room at the end of the corridor."

As I followed his fingertips, I noticed a door that I had yet to see since it was hidden by the last painting-the last object I had to check.

"I always stay in that room when I come here. The room is spacious and quiet..."

"......"

"And I quite adore that painting too."

TL: Bonus chapter, thank you Beverly for the Kofi!

Also Stranger Danger! Don't go in strange rooms, MC!