Chapter 195
I nearly bowed to Seo Dawon and shouted thank you at him. However, without giving a chance to languish in gratitude, he shot a cool look. “However, this ti I’ll need solid evidence.”
He spoke as if he would no longer tolerate these sorts of words in the future if I couldn’t figure out what was so suspicious about Bae Jaemin.
I thought Seo Dawon had infinite trust in Jung Garam, but I flinched when that belief was shattered. At so point he would draw the line and treat as the head of a guild would. “…Understood,” I said.
However, Seo Dawon was the one to draw , who had flinched at his attitude, back into an affectionate mood again.
Seo Dawon looked at before placing his hands over my bangs. Then, with an expression that didn’t hide how cute he found , he began tousling my hair.
“What is this, all of a sudden…” I had never even received this sort of affection from my father; naturally, I freaked out and avoided his hand.
However, Seo Dawon ignored my attitude and continued as normal. It was as if, now that official business had completed, we moved onto a private conversation. “Did you eat?”
“I didn’t…”
“Eat with .”
“But, Ryu Hyerin-ssi and you are…”
“What about Hyerin-ie?”
When I looked like I wanted to bite myself at the slip of the tongue, Seo Dawon only laughed instead of interrogating further. It was as if he knew what I wanted to say…
“There’s still a few hours left until dinner,” he said.
“……”
“If not, do you want to join Hyerin-ie and later?”
“What? No! I don’t want to.”
“It’s better to eat with just the two of us, right?” Seo Dawon had clearly never been rejected before. Eventually, I sighed and followed his lead.
* * *
“It’s good to see you, Seo Dawon-ssi.”
Seo Dawon took , in his car, to a luxurious restaurant on the city outskirts. The appearance or the service level of the staff was quite extraordinary; the nu we were handed had no prices listed. Nevertheless, the spacious restaurant was filled with people.
Even among those gathered, Seo Dawon was a spectacle. Because the restaurant boasted an open floor plan, I could feel the others’ piercing gazes; trying to ignore the stares combined with the pressure of such a high-class restaurant, it was hard to stay calm.
“The fish here is decent.” Of course, Seo Dawon was calm. Furthermore, before I could peruse through the nu properly, he had finished ordering my share.
Considering how I could barely pronounce the nu items, it was probably better for Seo Dawon to choose. However, I inwardly sighed when I thought about what his proficiency in these sorts of situations ant for his life experiences.
“Ohoh. If it isn’t Seo Dawon-ssi!”
However, those thoughts were cut short. Soone suddenly, and quickly, approached our table.
I turned towards the approaching people, wondering if I should block their approach, and opened my eyes wide. Another familiar face again. To be exact, one of the approaching n was the last person I had expected to see.
‘…That’s Moon Issak?’
The nerves in my body alighted sharply as I stared at Moon Issak. Perhaps he noticed my gaze–he glowered at without blinking once. 1
His gaze was more vigilant and weighty than what I rembered from when I was in my own body… What was more concerning were the people in Moon Issak’s company. In particular, the chubby man at the forefront wore a smile–in contrast to Moon Issak’s impassive face–as he reached a hand out to Seo Dawon.
“Congressman-nim.” Speaking of smiles, Seo Dawon’s bright smile filled his face as well. I–how should I say this… Should I say that I felt elents of steadfastness, reliability, and professionalism from that smile? I inadvertently stared, startled by the Mage’s expression.
Moon Issak’s companions, who seed to be on their way out after a al, blushed and smiled heartily when they saw Seo Dawon’s expression. The chubby man grabbed Seo Dawon’s hand and continued on into a more private conversation. “Ohoho, it’s been almost 2 months since I last saw you in Jeju.”
“That’s right. How have you been?”
“Hahaha, ? Well, I’m always the sa. Rather than , I think our Guild Master-nim 2 would have been far busier.” The man at the front of the party clung onto the Mage’s hands, busily raising his voice–it was as if he were announcing to all here his life’s most important networking connection.
In particular, he kept on using words like ‘Red Lotus’ and ‘Guild Master,’ like he wanted everyone in this restaurant to recognize Red Lotus’s Seo Dawon.
If it were , I wouldn’t be able to maintain a straight face next to such a burdenso person… Seo Dawon didn’t even cringe and was perfectly attuned to the other’s beat.
And, Moon Issak was…
‘He seems to…hate Seo Dawon a lot?’
He stood far away from the Mage, eyes lowered and mouth closed in a tight line. Still, the negative emotions that he could not fully bury had perated into his body language.
Surprisingly, though, Seo Dawon talked happily with the ‘Congressn’ surrounding him before finally turning towards Moon Issak, as if he just now noticed the man. He called out in an innocent voice, “And this person is…”
“Ah! He’s administrative assistant Moon Issak… He’s a very competent friend. 3 Didn’t you see him once in Jeju?”
“Did I?”
“…Nice to et you again. I’m called Moon Issak.”
Seo Dawon only grinned after receiving Moon Issak’s greeting. That was to say… he dragged the lull until the person who had greeted him felt a bit ashad.
However, the other lawmakers didn’t rebuke or say anything to Seo Dawon. They simply smiled genially and moved away, promising to et again ‘next ti.’ Moon Issak bowed deeply and slowly straightened his back again. I clearly saw that he looked as if he was holding in his irritation before he twirled around and left the restaurant.
“Do you…hate Moon Issak?” When dining service, which had been paused temporarily due to the interrupting conversation, I stirred the soup in front of and asked the Mage an abrupt question. The relationship between Seo Dawon and Moon Issak concerned .
However, Seo Dawon responded indifferently, as if it weren’t a big deal. “No?”
“But then, why…? Um…”
“You want to know why I gave him a hard ti?”
“Yes…”
“He was weirdly abrasive from the first ti we t.”
“Huh….?”
“Well, live a long enough life and there will be people you hate for no reason at all. I guess he just didn’t like .”
Moon Issak picked a fight with him first? However, Seo Dawon seed to have used his status and connections to skillfully ss with him–to treat him as subordinate…
Perhaps he read sothing from my expression, Seo Dawon lightly took a sip of his soup before saying, “So, I decided to give him a reason.”
“Ah…”
“But, the funny thing about him… Now that I’ve ssed with him a few tis like this, he waited for in the bathroom and attacked the last ti I was in Jeju island.”
“What did you say?” I looked at Seo Dawon, surprised.
However, he simply blinked his eyes and shrugged, as if he were reminiscing about sothing quite amusing. “He endures well. Garam-ie, is he possibly to your taste…?”
“Huh? W-What?”
“I smashed the bones in the back of his hand, and he didn’t groan even once.”
Crazy….. What on earth happened between you two? Furthermore, doing things like that… What was with him reminiscing about sothing like that as if it were sothing fun? I lost my appetite; I placed down the spoon that I had been using to stir my soup.
“What’s wrong? It doesn’t taste good?”
“It’s just… Mm, I’ll eat later.”
Seo Dawon was being kind when he asked that question, but I refused him while cold sweat. I rembered the few tis I rebelled against Seo Dawon since I had t him. I even called him a pervert… Now that I think about it, there were many fortunate incidents where the Mage had let slide.
‘Seo Dawon is… incredibly generous to those that he considers within his boundaries.’ 4
Then, sothing abruptly occurred to . What did Seo Dawon think when Ryu Hyerin betrayed him?
“Hyung… Hypothetically…”
“Hm?”
“If I were to make a huge mistake in regards to Hyung… Will you forgive ?”
“What is this all of a sudden?”
“…It’s just, well… Things like that could happen in life.” Though I pretended to be joking, the ends of my sentences sounded shaky.
Seo Dawon stared at absentmindedly, “What would constitute a ‘huge mistake’?”
“…Ruining what Hyung has been working towards, losing all your money… A mistake that would ruin Hyung’s life.”
“And how could you make a mistake like that?”
“So, that’s why I said hypothetically…” I stabbed my innocent soup with my fork while avoiding Seo Dawon’s persistent eyes. Now that I’d spoken out loud, I wanted him to dismiss my words as emotionally charged nonsense.
“If you beg for forgiveness, I’ll have to grant it at least once.”
“……”
“After all, that’s what you do with mistakes.”
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TL:
Seo Dawon: “So, I decided to give him a reason.”
That’s the level of pettiness I sotis aspire to have.
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