With their departure for the U.S. auction abruptly scheduled for the next day, the fallout from Sa-yoon and Geon-joo’s cold war naturally fell upon the Night Rats Guild members confirmed to be going with them. More specifically, it fell on Gyeongjin, Yen, and Jaehee.

The two had been avoiding eye contact since morning and refused to even look at each other right up until their departure for the airport. The three caught in the middle exchanged glances, well and truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was a continuous cycle of Gyeongjin desperately asking what was wrong, Jaehee sighing in exasperation, and Yen shrugging as if it were someone else’s problem.

With no one to answer his questions, Gyeongjin finally exploded, unable to bear the awkward silence in the car any longer.

“What is wrong with you two? What happened now?”

If they were going to act like this, they shouldn’t have put them in adjacent seats. The one driving was holding a grudge, and the one he’d put in the passenger seat was his crush;¹ it was a recipe for misery for those in the back. Gyeongjin grabbed the headrests of the front seats and leaned forward, shouting. Sa-yoon’s eyes met his through the rearview mirror.

It was the same look he’d had earlier, the one where he would repeatedly shoot icy glares at Geon-joo and grit his teeth. This time, it was laced with killing intent, sending a shiver down Gyeongjin’s spine even though the look wasn’t directed at him. But Gyeongjin didn’t back down. He hadn’t survived this long and become an executive in the Night Rats Guild for nothing.

Displaying the kind of guts befitting the highest-paid member of the guild, the man used Jaehee as a shield, hiding half his body before running his mouth again.

“I mean, am I wrong? You’re the one who told us to come, so why should we be the ones walking on eggshells?”²

“……”

“Do you know what the worst things that can happen at a workplace are? One, when bosses fight and make innocent employees miserable. Two, being caught in the middle of a fight between an office couple. And three, late paychecks. I’m experiencing two of those three right now, you think that makes any sense? And we have to go to the U.S. like this? Wow, I’m going to lose my mind.”

He then burst into a hollow laugh like a truly crazed man. Sa-yoon watched the ridiculous scene, with Yen egging Gyeongjin on as if he were doing a great job, and stopped the car as the light turned red.

“Then get out.”

“…Huh?”

“Get out and run there.”

This is why you don’t provoke someone who’s on edge. Just as Gyeongjin was blinking, faced with the prospect of being abandoned in the middle of the road, Jaehee spoke up.

“Don’t be too hard on Gyeongjin.”

“You two are close, I see. Then you can get out and run together.”

“This will be fun,” Sa-yoon sneered. The serious look in his eyes made it clear he had no intention of retracting his words. The three of them finally realized the gravity of the situation. Just as he unlocked the doors, as if truly telling them to get out, Geon-joo, who had been sitting beside him, intervened.

“Are you trying to pressure me right now?”

“What?”

Sa-yoon’s pent-up anger turned on the young man. Geon-joo, who was fiddling with his seatbelt, continued without even looking at him.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Those guys didn’t do anything wrong, but if you scold them and kick them out like this, are they going to get angry at you? No, they’ll get angry at me. Is that what you want?”

You’re good at political maneuvering too, he added. It was not a compliment. Even someone as dense as Sa-yoon could figure that much out.

“…You’ve been testing me since yesterday.”

“Why? Should I get out too?”

“……”

With that single phrase, Geon-joo’s eyes turned to Sa-yoon, and their gazes locked. HOOOONK! The light had changed, but the car wasn’t moving, and cars behind them began to lay on their horns.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Can’t you drive properly? What kind of lunatic is behind the wheel!”

One bold driver even changed lanes to scream curses at Sa-yoon at the top of his lungs. Perhaps because the car was a luxury model, few people dared to pick a fight despite Sa-yoon’s bizarre behavior, but it didn’t mean there were none. Sa-yoon remained still as dozens of cars passed by. After getting cursed at one more time, and figuring a police report must have been filed by now, he finally spoke.

“What’s your problem?”

“What’s yours?”

“Why do you keep poking at me? What, do you want me to apologize? Is this something that even requires an apology?”

“When did I ask you to apologize?”

“Then what is it?”

“Just drive. Don’t do anything. You keep sighing like you’re annoyed and putting the screws on innocent people. Isn’t that just a way to pressure me? Taking out your frustration and anger on other people, how do you think that makes me feel…”

He paused to take a breath and pressed his temples as if his head hurt. Then he leaned his head against the cool car window, as if to cool his flushed face, and opened his mouth again.

“I’ll just get out. That would be easier for you and for them.”

As he said this and began to unbuckle his seatbelt, veins popped on Sa-yoon’s neck and forehead. Gyeongjin, seeing this in the rearview mirror, moved swiftly.

“I-I’ll! I’ll just get out!”

“I’ll get out too.”

“We will get out together.”

The three quick-witted adults moved with agility, unbuckling their belts and exiting the car. Even in this situation, Jaehee meticulously asked which airport they were going to and promised not to be late before closing the car door.

“Ha.”

Geon-joo, who had intended to get out himself, stared in disbelief at the three adults who had seized the opportunity. Sa-yoon’s gaze, however, remained fixed on him.

A long silence followed.

HOOOOONK!

Another horn blared from behind.

“Fuck.”

Muttering a curse, Sa-yoon finally started driving again. As a suffocating silence filled the car, Geon-joo’s phone buzzed once. Sa-yoon’s eyes flickered toward it. Geon-joo turned his body to shield the screen from Sa-yoon’s view before opening it. Seeing this deliberately secretive act, Sa-yoon gritted his teeth.

The nerve of this guy.

Who said I was curious about his screen? He does every little thing possible to piss me off.

Swallowing a string of curses, Sa-yoon gripped the steering wheel angrily. Meanwhile, Geon-joo checked the message from Jaehee. He had wondered why he would be texting him, but it was just a link to a website.

It was a news site.

[An Encounter with Sa-yoon of the Viral Rookie Guild, ‘Swallow’!]³

His eyes narrowed at the title that popped up as soon as he clicked the link. He scrolled down quickly, then stopped at a particular passage.

‘What is your relationship with the person who was kidnapped, commonly known as the ‘Masked Man’?’

The question captured his attention. His thumb, which had been scrolling, slowly lifted from the screen. He swallowed once, then read the following sentence and the answer, his brow furrowing before he leaned back against the seat.

…It looks like he tried to manage his image a bit.

Though his statements were somewhat blunt, the fact that he used formal language in all his answers and spoke in a fairly gentle and neat manner suggested he had tried to manage his image to some extent. The general concept seemed to be ‘friendly but says what he needs to say.’ Because of that, he wasn’t sure whether to believe the contents of the interview.

In his current mood, he didn’t really want to believe it, but the person who sent him the link weighed on his mind.

Lee Jaehee.

He wouldn’t have sent this without a good reason.

‘He is a very precious person to me. We’ve been together for a long time, and our connection began even before the Swallow Guild was founded. Everyone has a connection like that, don’t they?’

The answer from the interview seemed to play in his mind, spoken in Sa-yoon’s voice. He hadn’t actually heard it, but it was surprisingly vivid. A strange feeling came over him, and a sigh escaped his lips as he fiddled with his phone. It was louder than he intended.

“You tell me not to sigh, so why do you keep sighing?”

As expected, a rebuke came immediately.

This is what’s so annoying. This.

Geon-joo glared at the man who never gave him a proper moment to think and change his mind, then sighed again. Sa-yoon’s expression hardened, interpreting it as an act of defiance. Seeing that another fight was about to break out, Geon-joo checked the remaining distance to the airport and chose his words.

Right, it’s probably for the best that those three left.

He had experienced Sa-yoon enough to know, at least better than before, what kind of person he was.

He wasn’t someone who confronted problems head-on. He was someone who avoided conversation when an uncomfortable situation arose, waiting until it resolved itself. Wasn’t that why he’d gotten so fed up and left in the first place, to solve that very problem?

Therefore, nothing would change if he acted the same way he used to.

Realizing this, Geon-joo tilted his head back and stretched his stiff neck. He was truly a person who consistently avoided things.

“I thought I knew nothing about you, hyung…”

At the suddenly opened lips, Sa-yoon’s attention focused on Geon-joo. Geon-joo took a breath, lowered the hand holding his phone to his lap, and closed his eyes. The events of the past few days flashed through his mind. The conversation from yesterday replayed as well, and the tension slowly drained from his clenched fist.

“But now I can see what kind of person you are to some extent.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“That you’re annoying.”

“……?”

Sa-yoon’s fingertips twitched at the surprise attack. As he failed to hide his bewilderment and annoyance, the airport came into Geon-joo’s view. Thanks to Sa-yoon’s angry speeding, ignoring all fines, they had arrived earlier than planned.

Sensing it was time to get out, Geon-joo stared at Sa-yoon and then unbuckled his seatbelt with a click.

“Since meeting you, hyung, I’ve never cared about anyone else. If I ever paid attention to someone, it was because of you. So…”

He paused for a moment, then placed his hand on the car door handle and turned to look at Sa-yoon. Their eyes met. Sa-yoon’s gaze was softer than before, and Geon-joo’s was deeper. He hummed thoughtfully for a moment, the sound turning into a low, pained melody, before he spoke.

“So just be honest with me.”

…Because I’m always the most honest in front of you.

Adding the last part quietly, he said he would get out first and wait, then opened the car door. Sa-yoon stared blankly at the series of events, from him getting out of the car to closing the door and walking into the airport. He blinked.

“So is he not mad anymore, or what?”

His eyes went vacant at the sudden turn of events. He silently followed Geon-joo with his gaze for a while before snapping out of it and moving his hands. He still had to park the car.

Just be honest with me.

The words echoed in his ears the entire way to the parking lot.