“Dad, what’s wrong?”
Seojin, who had been staring blankly at the black screen, suddenly came back to his senses when a small hand tugged at his clothes.
“Ah, nothing. It’s just… Dad has to go somewhere urgently, so I called someone to watch Euni for a little while.”
“You’re not taking Euni?”
At the uncertainty in the child’s eyes, Seojin shook his head.
“No. We’ll go together, and Euni can just wait in the car for a little while.”
“Okay!”
Seojin stroked Euni’s cheek when she answered so confidently, then hurried over to the cabinet. He snatched up the smart key inside and firmly took the child’s hand.
Just as they stepped outside, a car glided to a stop in front of the villa.
The person who got out of the driver’s seat was Yoon Haegang.
Manager Kim emerged from the passenger seat.
“Oh my goodness, Seojin! Where are you planning to go this late at night with Euni?”
Manager Kim hurried over in an instant, making a fuss.
Behind him, Yoon Haegang stood with his arms crossed, looking their way. His gaze plainly said that if Seojin had something to say, he should hurry up and say it.
Seojin sighed.
“That number you looked into for me earlier. The one you said wasn’t voice phishing. Actually, that was the number that called Shin Seyoung. And those gangsters are at Shin Seyoung’s place right now, causing a scene.”
“Huh?”
Manager Kim’s mouth slowly fell open as he took a moment to understand what Seojin meant.
Then he quickly glanced toward Yoon Haegang.
But Yoon Haegang did not seem to care about Manager Kim at all. His eyes remained fixed on Seojin.
“Why are you going there?”
His voice was flat, but the chill beneath it had the power to make a person tense.
Seojin answered while making an effort not to tighten his grip on Euni’s hand.
“A child around Euni’s age got caught up in it. He called me crying because he was terrified, saying scary people had barged in. I couldn’t just leave him like that.”
That was the fundamental reason Seojin had been unable to turn away.
If Shin Seyoung himself had asked him for help, Seojin would have called the police and stayed out of it.
But the moment he imagined a child trembling behind nothing more than a flimsy door, he simply could not ignore it.
“Noh Seojin, when I look at you……”
Yoon Haegang paused.
“You really do stick your nose into everything.”
Unable to deny it, Seojin merely shrugged.
The muscle in Yoon Haegang’s jaw twitched faintly.
After staring down at Seojin as if pressing him into the ground with his gaze, he turned toward Manager Kim.
“Manager Kim, call the police.”
“Yes. I’ll do it right now.”
As soon as the order was given, Manager Kim took out his phone.
“There. Satisfied? Now take your daughter and go back inside.”
It was a perfectly reasonable suggestion from Yoon Haegang’s perspective, but Seojin refused.
“No. I’ll go myself and handle the rest. Boss, please watch Euni for a little while.”
“What did you say?”
A deep furrow appeared between Yoon Haegang’s brows.
He did not bother hiding his disbelief, but Seojin stubbornly buckled Euni into the child seat in the back.
‘I can’t let Yoon Haegang keep getting tangled up with Shin Seyoung.’
From the way things were going, if Seojin backed out now, the main bottom and the sub yandere top would end up meeting.
That was exactly the development Seojin wanted to avoid most.
Yoon Haegang suddenly burst out laughing.
Seojin looked at him with wide eyes.
Manager Kim, who had just finished his call, also wore an expression that said he had no idea what was happening.
“Fine. Do whatever you want. I’ll drive too.”
Yoon Haegang swallowed his laughter just as quickly as it had appeared, then sat down in the driver’s seat before Seojin could say anything.
Still bewildered by how rapidly the situation kept changing, Seojin finally snapped out of it and climbed into the back seat.
Manager Kim got into the passenger seat last, and the car sped through the alley.
“Turn into that alley up ahead!”
Since Yoon Haegang obviously did not know where Shin Seyoung lived, Seojin diligently gave directions from the back seat.
Thanks to that, it did not take long for them to arrive.
A police car was already parked in front of the house.
“Euni, wait here for just a little bit. Dad will be right back.”
“Okaaay!”
Euni kicked her feet and answered energetically.
Seojin crossed through the gate with Manager Kim, who had already gotten out.
“I’m telling you, we were only talking.”
“I understand, sir. But we received a report that the disturbance was disrupting people’s rest. Please leave now.”
“Who reported us? Who was it?”
“I can’t tell you that. Gentlemen, please disperse now.”
Listening to the police officer stubbornly use honorifics despite clearly knowing they were gangsters, Seojin hurried up the stairs.
Sure enough, in the cramped space were three rough-looking men and four police officers.
Beside them stood Shin Seyoung and their little client, who was sniffling as he clung to Seyoung’s thigh.
“Oh dear, what in the world is all this? And who might these gentlemen be?”
Manager Kim naturally inserted himself into the conversation as though he owned the place, smoothly taking control of it.
Meanwhile, Seojin gestured for the other two to come over.
Shin Seyoung, who had been standing there blankly, belatedly came to his senses and staggered over with the little client.
Once Seojin confirmed they were following, he led the way back down the stairs.
They had barely stepped outside and taken a breath when the gangsters appeared shortly afterward, their faces twisted into ugly expressions.
“You better get that compensation money ready, got it? Huh? Next time, we’re not leaving like this, so you’d better be prepared!”
The gangster with a half-shaved head shoved his face toward Shin Seyoung and threatened him.
Then he spotted the police coming down the stairs, spat on the ground, and led his men away.
The gangster, who had seemed as though he would leave quietly, glared at the expensive foreign car blocking the narrow road.
Anger immediately flared up.
“Damn it, who the hell parks a car like this?!”
The gangster lifted one leg high, about to kick it.
Bzzzt.
The driver’s door opened.
His eyes met the man sitting inside.
In that instant, the gangster froze as though someone had pressed a stop button.
The murderous pressure pouring from those dark, cold eyes made every hair on his body stand on end.
“Ghk!”
The gangster sucked in a startled breath and involuntarily stumbled backward.
Then, muttering curses for no reason at all, he abandoned his group and bolted away in a panic.
After all of them disappeared, Yoon Haegang’s gaze shifted toward Seojin.
At that moment, Seojin had first calmed the little client down and was asking Shin Seyoung what he planned to do.
“They’ll definitely come back. Do you have somewhere you can stay for a while?”
Shin Seyoung seemed to think about it before shaking his head.
Seojin had already guessed what his situation might be, but at the expected answer, he gently bit down on his lower lip and released it.
“What about a friend from school? Or someone you’re close to. Or, I don’t know, maybe someone you met recently who helped you out.”
The last part was Seojin testing whether Shin Seyoung might already be in contact with the main top.
But Shin Seyoung did not seem to catch the implication and only kept shaking his head.
“Um… When you were sick last time. You got a business card then, didn’t you? Haven’t you tried contacting that person?”
“What?”
Shin Seyoung stared at Seojin in confusion.
His house had just been wrecked and he had been threatened by gangsters, so his face made it obvious he had absolutely no idea why Seojin was suddenly bringing that up.
“What about anything from that person?”
“Uh, nothing. But what business card……?”
At his obvious lack of recognition, Seojin became flustered in turn.
“Ah…. So it hasn’t happened yet.”
Only belatedly did he realize that it was not yet time for the two of them to become entangled.
“Seojin? Why? What’s wrong?”
While Seojin stood there at a loss, Manager Kim came over after finishing up inside.
“Well, it’s just… I think those people from earlier are going to come back. I’m trying to figure out what we should do.”
Now that things had already gone this far, Seojin briefly considered steering Shin Seyoung toward contacting the main top for help.
But judging by Shin Seyoung’s reaction, it was clear that the two of them had not yet truly begun their connection.
The problem was that this meant Shin Seyoung had nowhere to rely on now.
Leaving him here was a problem, but telling him to go stay at some lodging facility did not sit right either.
While Seojin was worrying over it, Manager Kim grabbed him by the arm.
“Seojin, come here for a second. I need to talk to you…….”
He pulled him a little farther away from Shin Seyoung and whispered quietly into his ear.
“Why don’t you let him stay with you for a little while?”
“What? Me?”
The look Seojin gave Manager Kim clearly contained the question, ‘Why me?’
“Why do you think? He’s one of our special management targets, remember? So do me a favor. This is your chance, your chance!”
Seojin stared helplessly at Manager Kim, who had somehow managed to misunderstand even this situation perfectly.
How on earth was he supposed to straighten this out?
His gaze shifted toward his car.
And met Yoon Haegang’s eyes directly through the driver’s seat.
“Haah… Fine. I’ll do it.”
It seemed he would have to start by untangling the mess that had begun with Manager Kim.