Chương 105: S.05 Time to Fly 06(03)

Scene 02_03_Falsehood. Yu-seok: I'll take the Guide with me right now. Because that path — for me — seems to be the one that wins. Yet So-hui, stabbed deep at the waist by the dagger, made not a single notable move. Keeping her gaze quietly down on Yu-seok, So-hui drew out the hand she'd had in her pocket and, as if to make a show of it, merely crooked her wrist at Yu-seok. Scene 02_04. After tossing the cigarette stub to the floor, Yu-seok ground it out with his foot and slowly raised his wrist.

Around one of Yu-seok's wrists, a single strand of green 실타래(Sil-ta-rae_Skein of thread) was wound. Wearing a faint dry laugh, Yu-seok pulled the green skein-thread free, let it drop to the floor, and looked again at So-hui and Yeon-su, who stood before him without the slightest movement. So-hui twitched the corner of her mouth and shook her head. So-hui: That — uh — ajeossi, you can't take me either, so just quietly do as you're told. That way you'll at least get to catch a few crumbs.

Yu-seok lifted the corner of his mouth as well and nodded. Yu-seok: So then — when the time comes I hand over Yeon-hui, and I'm to, what, abduct the Guide or some such? I'm already plenty sick of the sight of my younger sister Yeon-hui's face alone …. I may not be able to treat the Guide with the care she deserves. So-hui: And you can actually pull off an abduction? At So-hui's flat jab, Yu-seok nodded too, as if conceding the point. Yu-seok: If you don't mind, let me have the details separately.

I came having dropped what I was doing, so I need to head back up. Yu-seok folded his two hands together again and bowed deeply at the waist. So-hui didn't bother to stop him. She only gave a half-hearted bob of her head. Yu-seok climbed into the jeep he'd driven in, started the ignition, and was gone from the spot in no time. In the market alley, where the sun had set, the crowds come to buy their evening groceries were thronging in all the more. So-hui: That's a relief. Yeon-su: Hm?

So-hui: Looks like the Weeping of Immolation isn't ready yet. I'd come along with Si-yeon just in case. So-hui's steps, about to head back toward the parking tower, came to a deliberate halt. So-hui: No, hold on — is that, actually, the worse thing …. Scene 02_05. A short while later, the sound of heeled steps came up the steel stairs. Tidying her thin spring jumper, Si-yeon turned toward the stairs where the sound had come from.

Unlike at their first meeting, Yeon-su's expression had lightened considerably — but So-hui, if anything, looked to be carrying on with a nagging worry. Scrunching her face as if she couldn't make sense of it and scratching roughly at the nape of her neck, So-hui faced Si-yeon, who had come up to her. Si-yeon: Well — that bitch didn't show so much as her nose, did she? So-hui nodded with her face still scrunched. Yeon-su: Damn, but — you two are seriously badass.

At Yeon-su's sudden small exclamation, So-hui and Si-yeon looked over at her. Yeon-su: I figured I'd have a fight to the death with that bastard today, but seeing you chase him off with a single thread for real, I kind of feel like I've still got a long way to go. And calling me out here too — it feels like it was to get my tangled-up head sorted, and somehow, it all turns like clockwork, freaking incredible. So-hui: Got a weight off your mind now? Yeon-su nodded.

Yeon-su: Reckon I can hand her over a bit more lightheartedly now. At Yeon-su's guileless exclamation, Si-yeon swung her foot and pecked lightly at Yeon-su's shin. Clutching her skinny leg, Yeon-su went hopping on one foot. Pushing her worry back for a moment at least, So-hui twitched the corner of her mouth. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Scene 03_01. It looked as though a fair while had passed since they'd parted from So-hui's group.

The dusky light had long since gone over, and on the broad expressway only the streetlamps standing in a row burned brightly. Seated at the wheel, Yu-seok drove on with a listless gaze. Looking off into the fairly far distance, Yu-seok — as if, in the midst of mulling something, he'd come to a conclusion — let out a sigh at the open road. Yu-seok was not alone. Beside him, the unconscious Yeon-jin sat in the passenger seat.

Passing the northwest tollgate, Yu-seok pulled a cigarette from his pocket, set it alight, and rolled the driver's window down. The frigid night wind of early spring rushed into the car, but Yeon-jin, sitting unconscious in the passenger seat, did not stir in the slightest. Having flipped open with one hand the lid of an empty canned drink set by the gearbox, Yu-seok tapped fine ash into it and again blew a long stream of smoke from his lips.

Past the tollgate and bound for the city center, Yu-seok's jeep rattled as it went over a speed bump. Scene 03_02. Yeon-jin's eyes snapped open. Unable to recall things easily, Yeon-jin hurriedly raised the body she'd been sleeping facedown and looked around at where she was. The scene she took in from where she sat was all too familiar. It was her own office. Turning her dazed eyes along with her head, she glanced at the window set behind her.

The lights of the entertainment district, where deep night had settled, crept up faintly beneath the large window. Without even composing her dazed eyes, Yeon-jin turned her head back like a machine and stared blankly down at the ledger laid before her. From beyond the firmly shut door, a small voice came through. Seong-hyeon: I'm coming in.? At Seong-hyeon's familiar voice, Yeon-jin couldn't manage a reply in time, but the firmly shut door — heedless of that — burst open.

The din of the corridor, drunk on revelry, pushed in through the opened gap. Dressed in an elegant evening gown, Seong-hyeon strode in and seated herself on the sofa. Seong-hyeon: Why are you sitting like that? Just give me my schedule. At the ordinary everyday past that began trickling back to her bit by bit, the dazed Yeon-jin belatedly let out a small sigh. Checking the ledger, Yeon-jin all but tore off a memo sheet and wrote out Seong-hyeon's schedule. Yeon-jin: Hey. Baek Seong-hyeon.

At Yeon-jin's brusque voice, Seong-hyeon, who'd been seated on the sofa, sprang to her feet as if it were a bother. The fairly tall Seong-hyeon carried her high heels over to the edge of Yeon-jin's desk. Handing the finished schedule to Seong-hyeon, Yeon-jin only then parted her lips to ask something. Yeon-jin: Today — when did I come in. At Yeon-jin's dazed, irritation-laced question, Seong-hyeon, schedule in hand, gave no answer for a moment. Letting out a small, unreadable breath, Seong-hyeon spoke to Yeon-jin.

Seong-hyeon: You got hauled in blackout drunk by the hand of some crazy bastard, so why are you asking me that? At Seong-hyeon's lightly joking reproach, Yeon-jin pressed a hand to her head and propped her elbow lightly on the desk. Yeon-jin: Got any hangover meds? With a sigh, Seong-hyeon rummaged through the small bag in her hand and pulled out a case of little pills. Popping the lid and shaking one pill out, she set it listlessly on Yeon-jin's desk.

Seong-hyeon: Hey — are you, like, seeing that guy who hauled you here, sis? Yeon-jin tossed the pill on the desk into her mouth and swallowed it dry, offhand. At Seong-hyeon's question, Yeon-jin mulled something over. Yeon-jin: Why bring that up all of a sudden? Seong-hyeon: What do you mean why. He's clearly a son of a bitch, so what's a person like you so hard up for that you'd meet a bastard like that — and not just meet him, you go and drink yourself stupid on top of it? You lonely??

You could be picking up the come-ons the local councilman's son keeps throwing, but instead you meet some nobody nobody's heard of? Quit busting out Jiral about me having no eye for men, and you just take care of your — At Seong-hyeon's continued nagging, Yeon-jin let out a slightly bigger sigh. Stopping up Seong-hyeon's pouring nagging, Yeon-jin let a sunken voice slip to her. Yeon-jin: You — It was a voice laced with a short, deep sigh, Yeon-jin's head laid back against the desk chair as if resting on it.

Yeon-jin: Mind your own. Quit raising Jiral about my lot in life. Keep flaking out and skipping without a word like last month, and I'll seat another girl as the ace. Scene 03_03. FLASHBACK Beside the jeep parked in the deep underground lot, Seong-hyeon stood. Jin-ju, beside Seong-hyeon, and another hostess carefully propped up the insensible Yeon-jin, set her down, and headed for the gold elevator with her draped over them. Seong-hyeon signaled with a jerk of her chin for them to go up first.

With only the two of them left, Seong-hyeon offered Yu-seok a cold voice. Seong-hyeon: What are you trying to pull this time. Yu-seok drew a cigarette from his thick coat pocket and bit it. At Seong-hyeon's pressing voice, Yu-seok said nothing in particular, only slightly lifting the corner of his mouth. Yu-seok: Still getting by without being found out — lucky you. Seong-hyeon: I'm asking what you're up to. Yu-seok: Just because you ask, do I have to answer?

Seong-hyeon: Because by now you and I are both demoted lots. Yu-seok: I'll forgive the cheeky way you deceived me. It was surely something the Guide and Lee Si-yeon put you up to. A long stream of smoke poured out. Watching the long, heavy smoke of Yu-seok's cigarette, Seong-hyeon let out a small sigh and folded her arms. Shedding her tense expression, Seong-hyeon fired back at Yu-seok's light sneer. Seong-hyeon: We really should've just killed you back then — Si-yeon sis is too soft-hearted, really.

Look at her, leaving trash like you alive. Yu-seok: Must be nice, being simple. Seong-hyeon: Doing nothing but spreading my legs, turns out there's no need to live all complicated. Living needlessly complicated like you — does it change anything? When you'll never be able to beat the sisters anyway. At Seong-hyeon's sneer that wouldn't yield to the end, Yu-seok nodded, a smile held on his lips. Yu-seok: You're on good terms. Better than I'd have thought. Seong-hyeon: Of course. Si-yeon sis even forgave me.

And hearing you got screwed over because of it felt pretty damn good, too. Tossing the shortened stub to the floor, Yu-seok scuffed his shoe over it and snuffed out even the smoke rising from the butt. Yu-seok: Well, so what. Going to run to them and beg them to spare your boss's life? They won't be moved by you spreading your legs. Seong-hyeon's sneer could not continue. Yu-seok: Ah — you'll have tried all that already. To the Oldest and Lee Si-yeon, at least.

Seong-hyeon bit down softly on her lip and unfolded her crossed arms, lowering them. As Seong-hyeon's fingers stirred, the sound of white sheets of paper rose from the empty underground lot. Yu-seok snorted and turned away, leaving Seong-hyeon. Not so much as glancing at her, Yu-seok let his voice slip to her. Yu-seok: Someone's chasing me around saying they like me — what reason do I have to turn it down. I covered it as just a heavy drinking spree, so go buy some hangover meds and head in. She'll wake soon.

Scene 03_04. Seong-hyeon, who'd forced down the words that had risen to her throat, let out a ground-caving sigh and headed for the coffee machine set in Yeon-jin's office. Pressing the button without much thought to brew the coffee, Seong-hyeon set the warmly brewed cup on Yeon-jin's desk. Yeon-jin glanced at the cup set on her desk. Lifting her gaze from the ledger, Yeon-jin took the cup steaming up white wisps and lightly wet her lips.

Having drunk the hot coffee, Yeon-jin twitched her lips, watching Seong-hyeon, who couldn't bring herself to leave the spot. Yeon-jin: Now that Si-yeon's gone, in the end there's no one but you now. Seong-hyeon: I came on my own two feet. Yeon-jin: Fair enough — I did do Si-yeon dirty as fuck. Seong-hyeon: No — it's a relief. Yeon-jin: The thing with Si-yeon — you know all of it? At Yeon-jin's difficult question, slipping out as if grumbled, Seong-hyeon gave a small nod.

Yeon-jin: And yet how is it you stuck around to the very end? Seong-hyeon: I told you. I came on my own two feet.