Iheon let Heemin continue speaking formally to him, never correcting him, but every ti Heemin referred to Seo Heemin as a separate entity, Iheon’s expression subtly twisted in displeasure.
It was clear that he still believed Heemin was playing so kind of ga to deceive him.
Before Iheon could throw out a sharp remark, Heemin decided it was best to wrap things up quickly.
"I’ll just read my book."
"Co ho early tomorrow."
Co ho early? Did I hear that right?
The unexpected response left Heemin montarily speechless, staring at him in a daze.
"I’m leaving."
With a short, emotionless farewell, Iheon turned his back and walked out the door.
"Have a safe trip!"
There was no warm response like ‘I’ll be back.’
A person might have felt disappointed that their farewell went unanswered, but Heemin only smiled, feeling more cheerful than ever as he returned to his room.
Finally, he could put his plan into motion.
A thrill spread through his chest, sothing akin to the excitent of the night before a school trip.
He was genuinely curious—how would Cha Iheon react?
***
The day of the grand escape had arrived.
If it had been Seo Heemin, he would have run away yesterday, when the owner of the house had been absent the entire day.
But Heemin had chosen today—when Iheon had promised to co ho early.
The reason was simple.
He had no intention of repeating the sa foolish mistake Seo Heemin had—the reckless suicide stunt that had ruined an important business deal.
Every ti Heemin read novels, he never sympathized with the protagonist. Instead, he felt for the minor characters around them.
Sure, those dramatic events were necessary for the plot, but what about the people who had to quietly clean up the ss behind the scenes?
Though he hadn’t entered the workforce like his older sisters, he had done enough part-ti jobs to witness all sorts of nonsense.
A coworker who abandoned their shift to chase after an ex-girlfriend, leaving everyone else scrambling.
A drunk couple causing a scene in a bar, screaming at each other in a heated argunt, only to make up monts later and start making out in front of everyone.
For them, it was a romance.
For everyone else, it was a disaster.
The mont Iheon found out Heemin was gone, he would go completely mad.
But Heemin didn’t want to cause trouble for the people around him.
He didn’t want to bring his company to a standstill because of his disappearance.
He didn’t want to see Iheon swinging a golf club at his subordinates in a fit of rage.
This was still a novel world, but that didn’t an he wanted to live in constant chaos.
Heemin had no interest in seeing innocent people suffer.
After carefully drying his hair, Heemin glanced at the clothes he had set aside the night before and picked up a plain white T-shirt—exactly the kind that would stain easily if soda were spilled on it.
[What do you want for lunch?]
When Heemin stepped into the living room, Ms. Ahn was vacuuming. She lowered the device and held up her phone, showing him a typed-out ssage.
Today, for so reason, he was craving street food—ran, gimbap, tteokbokki, deep-fried snacks.
But if he gave an honest answer, he’d lose his chance to use the phone.
Instead, he said, "How about pizza?"
It was a harmless enough suggestion that didn’t raise suspicion.
Nodding, Ms. Ahn handed over her phone.
Heemin carefully adjusted the angle so the security caras wouldn’t catch the screen before quickly checking the call log.
Wooshin Capital – President Cha Iheon
010-9X24-0709
Since the novel had never explicitly stated Iheon’s phone number, Heemin had assud that, like the house address, it would be sothing completely unrelated to reality.
But seeing his friend’s number from his real world on the screen—it gave him an odd feeling.
‘I changed my phone, so I had to get a new number. Save this one.’
‘0709? Not 0722? Why didn’t you make it match your birthday?’
‘Soone else was already using it, so this was the best I could get. But hey, your birthday’s in September, and mine’s in July. Makes it easy to rember, right?’
‘Ah. Yeah. That makes sense. I’ll never forget it.’
In his real world, his friend had no choice but to take whatever number was available.
But in this world, it was obvious—Cha Iheon had chosen this number because of Seo Heemin.
Strangely enough, rather than being creeped out, Heemin thought to himself—that’s just so like him.
If the number had been different, he might have even been a little disappointed.
But there was no ti for idle thoughts.
He opened a search engine and looked up Haesong Psychiatric Clinic.
After morizing the address, he checked how far it was from Lake Park in XX City, then placed an order for pizza.
"Sorry, I took a while to decide on the nu."
Heemin deliberately left his search history intact.
If he erased all traces, the bla would surely fall on Do Junyoung and Kwak Yoonseong.
He needed to make it clear that they had nothing to do with this.
Returning the phone to Ms. Ahn, Heemin forced himself to stay still and wait patiently for her to start cleaning the master bathroom.
Seo Heemin, during his first escape, had stolen cash from Ms. Ahn’s bag before running away.
In this day and age, who carried cash for living expenses?
But given the nature of their work, the money likely couldn’t be transferred via bank account.
That was the only way Seo Heemin’s escape made sense.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
After finishing the living room, Ms. Ahn put on her rubber gloves and finally entered Iheon’s bedroom.
The mont she disappeared, Heemin stood up from the couch and quietly made his way to the secondary kitchen, where she always left her bag.
Even though he had grown up with little, he had never been desperate enough to steal from others.
But this was necessary.
And this wasn’t real, anyway.
Cha Iheon’s money was Seo Heemin’s money.
Borrowing just a little wouldn’t hurt.
He carefully unzipped the bag, his heart racing in anticipation.
Even more than that ti he had sneaked into the kitchen at night.
Thump, thump.
As expected, a thick envelope of cash was inside.
Instead of taking the whole thing like Seo Heemin had, Heemin only grabbed two fifty-thousand-won bills.
Iheon would surely pay for the hospital visit, so all he needed was enough for a taxi and so snacks.
After safely tucking the money into his pocket, he returned to the living room and casually picked up his book.
When the doorbell rang, Heemin nearly jumped.
It’s here!
Ms. Ahn erged from the bedroom and took the money to pay for the pizza.
When she returned without any signs of noticing the missing bills, Heemin let out a silent sigh of relief.
[Eat up.]
It was a Best Quattro Double Cheese Edge pizza.
He usually would have been thrilled, but his stomach churned with nerves.
Instead of pouring hot sauce on the pizza, he reached for the accompanying bottle of cola.
Pop!
The mont he twisted the cap, the carbonated liquid foad over, exploding in his hands.
The bottle must have been shaken during delivery.
His white T-shirt was instantly drenched in dark soda.
Well, there went lunch.
But right now, fixing his relationship with Cha Iheon was more important than food.
"You go ahead. This is sticky—I need to shower again."
Ignoring Ms. Ahn’s surprised expression, he gestured for her to sit before hurrying away.
His whole body slled sickeningly sweet from the cola.
Ordinarily, he would have wanted to wash up.
But there was no ti.
Quickly changing into the clothes he had set aside, Heemin turned on the shower in the bathroom—then walked to the front door.
"I'm heading out."
Muttering under his breath, he quietly closed the door.
For the first ti in his life, he was about to commit a real act of rebellion.
His fingers trembled as he pressed the elevator button.
Finally, the short escape—the long walk—began.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened.
And for a brief mont, a terrifying thought crossed his mind.
What if Cha Iheon is standing right there, his eyes bloodshot with rage?
A cold sweat ran down his back.
His legs nearly gave out.
Ding—
The elevator reached the first floor.
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