“Yoon Taehee. Chief Naja, Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit, Office of Narye.”
“Ah. Uh, yes. I’m Jeongju. As you know, I’m with the Fox Clan....”
Instead of his right hand, which was still in a half-cast, Yoon Taehee raised his perfectly good left and offered Jeongju a handshake. Carried along by the smooth lead, Jeongju took his hand before he quite knew what he was doing.
“I assu you already know a certain amount about the Office of Narye and about Naja.”
After withdrawing his hand, Yoon Taehee continued in a calm voice.
“First of all, I’d like to apologize. What happened that day was regrettable. The Naja from the Ritual Implents Departnt caused you serious harm. Even if it wasn’t sothing I was personally involved in, that’s a separate matter. As a fellow Naja, I still feel a moral responsibility for it.”
By then Yoon Taehee’s expression had turned serious, his voice low and steady. Jeongju looked inwardly surprised. He had not expected him to co at it so directly. Jaegyeom, on the other hand, was staring at Yoon Taehee like he’d lost his mind.
This was nothing like the attitude he had shown yesterday when they were alone. He’d said he had no regrets, no remorse, and that he hadn’t done anything wrong. Still, Jaegyeom could more or less see what he was up to. He was trying to win them over, dressing everything up in sleek, polished words.
“There are Naja who beco obsessed with oppressing others, with exploiting them however they can. It’s a tragedy born of human selfishness. A terrible thing. But I hope you’ll understand that not every Naja is like that.”
Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.... Jaegyeom turned his head away with a sullen face. If he’d followed his impulses, he would have cut in with a crooked You did that too, but he decided to let it go. He had joined hands with Yoon Taehee, after all. If they were on the sa side now, it was better for Jeongju and san to trust him than to keep doubting him.
“Then why did you ask Jaegyeom to beco a Naja?”
At that point, Jeongju asked the question with a puzzled look. From the sound of it, he didn’t seem to think all that positively of Naja himself.... At Jeongju’s question, Jaegyeom flicked a glance at Taehee. Surely he wasn’t going to tell the truth.
Then Yoon Taehee opened his mouth as though he had been waiting for exactly that.
“I want the Office of Narye to move in the right direction. If I have soone like my lord with , I believe we can bring about real change. That’s why I asked him to beco my colleague. Because my lord is a man of integrity.”
At the smooth-flowing speech, Jaegyeom stared at Yoon Taehee, dumbfounded. No, seriously, did this bastard grease his tongue before coming here...? Jeongju would never dream that what Yoon Taehee ant by “the right direction” was smashing the Office of Narye to pieces.
It sounded so plausible that Jeongju was already nodding along before he knew it. Right. Jaegyeom really is upright. Beside him, san was nodding too. Nod nod nod.
“I know you have a lot of concerns. I understand that. But I promise you in the na of a chief Naja that nothing like last ti will ever happen again. I intend to protect all of you and help you live safely.”
Yoon Taehee handed over the docunt envelope he had tucked under his arm.
“If you open it, there should be three docunts inside. One is the script for Jeongju’s coback project, one is my lord’s personal records—Jaegyeom’s, I an—and one is related to the house you’ll be moving into.”
As he took the envelope, Jeongju spoke with a bewildered look.
“What? What do you an, the script for my coback project?”
“My side caused the problem, so I’m taking responsibility for it as a fellow Naja.”
Still smiling, Yoon Taehee abruptly asked,
“Jeongju, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° do you happen to know Director Kwon Suncheol?”
After hesitating, Jeongju nodded blankly.
“Huh? Yes, of course I do. He’s one of the great young directors in the film world.”
The Director Kwon Suncheol Taehee had just ntioned was famous for making films of exceptional quality, and to Jeongju he was soone to admire from afar. Director Kwon had submitted many works to overseas film festivals and had an international reputation. But he was also known for being so single-minded that he rarely showed his face in public.
Every actor dread of working with Director Kwon. But the standard by which he chose actors was so inscrutable that very few people ever got the chance. Jeongju was no exception. He had asked around everywhere, hoping at least to make so kind of connection, but every attempt had gone nowhere.
Yoon Taehee smiled, then lowered his voice slightly.
“The truth is, he’s gifted. A long ti ago he got tangled up in sothing ugly, and I happened to help him out. That’s how we got to know each other. Ah, but you can’t repeat that anywhere, all right? It’s a secret. If Suncheol found out, she’d kill .”
At the casual familiarity of the way he referred to her, Jeongju’s eyes flew wide.
Suncheol? Forget rely knowing her—that alone was shocking enough, but calling her that...? If he was that familiar with her, then this wasn’t so ordinary acquaintance. Jeongju swallowed hard, stunned, and Yoon Taehee naturally drove the final wedge ho.
“I heard she’s starting a new project in the second half of the year. If you’d like, I was thinking I could connect you. It doesn’t seem like a bad choice for a coback project. What do you think? If it’s a Kwon film, public response will be pretty favorable too. I put the script in there, so have a look.”
This bastard.... Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes at Yoon Taehee.
“No way... Director Kwon Suncheol’s new film....”
Before anyone knew it, Jeongju was clutching the script tightly to his chest, his face overco with emotion.
And you call yourself a fox...?
“Take the tail off. You’re no fox.”
Muttering under his breath, Jaegyeom clicked his tongue. Maybe Yoon Taehee had heard it too, because he rolled his eyes toward Jaegyeom in a brief glance, then twitched an eyebrow. He seed to have imdiately grasped exactly what Jaegyeom was thinking.
“And as for my lord’s personal records, I made a few adjustnts.”
Pulling back his sleeve to check his watch, Yoon Taehee continued in an easy tone.
“To explain it briefly, I removed the paper trail linking him to Jeongju and created a new identity for him. So even if soone accesses either set of information, they won’t realize the two of you are connected. It’ll make it much easier to keep your identities concealed. Take your ti and look through it later.”
Once Jaegyeom beca a Naja, headquarters would naturally search his personal records. If that happened, Jeongju—who was listed in the docunts as his relative—would inevitably get caught on headquarters’ radar. Just as Yoon Taehee himself had dug up the connection between them before.
Because his rank was high, the authority Yoon Taehee held was just as broad. The man who had been their enemy yesterday and their ally today was now presenting himself as solid support. So that was what he had ant when he said, If you stand on my side, I’ll stand on yours.
“If you ever need anything done with official records from here on out, go through . It’ll be much safer that way. And if you need help with anything else, feel free to contact anyti.”
Yoon Taehee neatly made up for his earlier losses.
Jeongju, who had been complaining that he didn’t want to live in a house Yoon Taehee introduced, was now already flipping through the docunts and examining the property register for the place they were moving to. san, anwhile, was still maintaining his vow of silence, but for all that, he had begun drifting around Yoon Taehee as if sothing had put him under a spell. At that, Yoon Taehee smiled and waggled his fingers lightly.
“Little master.”
san glanced around, then shuffled over hesitantly. Yoon Taehee crouched down in front of him so their eyes were level. Then he rummaged through the hoodie pocket for a mont and, with a little ta-da, opened his palm. Resting there were several bite-sized chocolates and candies in wrappers. Taehee loved sweets and had a habit of carrying snacks around in his bag and his coat pockets.
Just as san’s eyes went wide and he looked down at the open palm, Yoon Taehee made a soft sound.
“Ah.”
Sothing had caught his eye. Mixed in among the candy was a small lighter. Crooking his mouth slightly, Yoon Taehee slipped it out and hid it at once.
“Not this one....”
With an embarrassed smile, he tucked the lighter back into his pocket.
“Here. Take them.”
Without thinking, san held out both hands side by side. Yoon Taehee filled them with sweets, then started explaining, “This one has jam inside, and this one has almonds....” Jaegyeom stood there watching blankly. Today, Yoon Taehee was showing an astonishingly normal side of himself. Sensible, polite, kind. Just like the first ti they had t in the library.
“.......”
All at once, Jaegyeom rembered that first mont. If he had never seen what Yoon Taehee was really like, wouldn’t he still be getting fooled even now? But he knew now. Behind that kindness was a cold face. Back when he hadn’t known that, it seed he had already been deceived more than once. Faintly, Jaegyeom recalled the disappointnt he had once felt toward Yoon Taehee. That old rough-edged feeling.
The Yoon Taehee who had put a bandage on him and told him to co by often. The Yoon Taehee who had lent him a necktie and asked him to be friends. The Yoon Taehee who had said, “Good job.” The Yoon Taehee who had left a music box by his pillow while he slept....
Where did the real him begin, and how much of it had been made up?
“...Hey.”
Still lost in the mory of the library, Jaegyeom spoke before he realized it. Yoon Taehee, who had been crouching there unwrapping chocolate for san, looked up.
“Yes?”
After calling out to him, Jaegyeom lowered his gaze slightly.
“Then... you’re not going to school anymore either...?”
At the limp question, Yoon Taehee looked at him quietly for a mont.
“No. I’m not.”
Perhaps because he was conscious of Jeongju listening, Yoon Taehee had been using polite speech ever since he arrived.
“Then who’s going to be in the library now?”
“Well... I’m not really sure....”
Yoon Taehee trailed off with a small lift of his brows, then whispered softly,
“I’m not interested in a school without my lord in it anymore.”
This bastard.... Jaegyeom frowned and was about to snap sothing back, then glanced sideways at Jeongju. Jeongju was waving the papers around with shining eyes.
“.......”
Jaegyeom looked back at Yoon Taehee with an odd expression, then opened his mouth.
“By the way. How did you get my number?”
“How did I get it? There are ways.”
“What? What did you pull behind my back this ti?”
“Not behind your back. Right in front of you.”
Yoon Taehee answered playfully, slipping a hand into his hoodie pocket. Jaegyeom blinked at him, baffled. In front of ? Being a complete beginner with cell phones, Jaegyeom had no idea that Yoon Taehee had stolen his number right under his nose. It had happened too fast.
“What do you an, right in front of ? How?”
In answer to the question, Yoon Taehee said that if he was so curious, he would show him directly. “Let see your phone.” After Jaegyeom handed it over, Taehee moved in close enough for their shoulders to touch and began explaining in a low voice. “Here. You punch in my number. Then if you place the call like this....” Yoon Taehee took out his own phone. “It cos through over here like this....” Jaegyeom blinked and nodded.
Once he understood exactly how his number had been swindled out of him, Jaegyeom’s reaction was simple.
“You’re slippery.”
At the flat jab, Yoon Taehee laughed under his breath.
“You’re only noticing that now?”
At the shaless answer, Jaegyeom shot him a glare, then subtly drew back as their shoulders brushed together.
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