Chapter 142 – Although Selfish.

“Mister, what’s going on in my house?”
“I heard you were coming to the academy today, so I just stopped by to check.”

I asked casually, but why is he clearing his throat at my question?
Maybe it’s because I’m worried about whether it came out well?

“Hehe, let’s do something like that.”
“Anyway, the house looks nice.”
“How much did you put your brain into buying this house last year? Oh, you’re a secretary in the back?”
“Yes.”
“Sit comfortably. Watch my mind. Mister, would you like to sit down for a moment?”

A handsome secretary in a suit was standing next to him, holding a briefcase.
At the uncle’s words, “Oh, sit down,” Her face slightly blushed as she sat down, and after a while she headed toward the kitchen.
Although I hadn’t been able to pay anything since I came back home after such a long time.
As soon as I served him a cup of coffee, a slight smile came to the man’s eyes.

“I’ll have a drink, ma’am.”

It was then.
Kim Joo-won, who had changed his clothes comfortably, sent me a slightly puzzled look when he came out of the room and saw the uncle and the secretary.

“Ah, that’s right… Joo Won-ah, this is Mr. Jang Min-cheol, the person who helped me.”
“Oh, hello.”
“I’ve heard a lot. My name is Jang Min-cheol.”
“My name is Kim Joo-won. Then, feel free to talk to me.”

Maybe he’s not used to this kind of situation.
A guy who wouldn’t have had a deep relationship with someone while living as a regressor, and he wouldn’t have experienced that person entering his residence.

‘He breaks the other side of the world well, but he has such a cute side.’

But, did the secretary reflect the image of that guy in a different way than I did?
I wonder if you felt something from the fact that a guy who is primarily attracted to his appearance and has a hard-to-approach look is difficult for people.
Kim Joo-Won stared blankly until I turned her gaze to her for a moment.

“Hmmmm.”

It caught my attention right away.
Something felt strangely wrong.
The fact that I felt a bit greedy for the man I had to roll over in the future, driven by someone’s own desire.

“Oh, no. You came out well. You said you were Kim Joo-won, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not that different, we have something we want to ask you, Mr. Yeonhwa.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“Give me the employment papers.”

If it’s fortunate, it’s about being a human being who distinguishes between public and life.
The secretary called Yeonhwa held out one of the two envelopes to the man.
She’s been promoted from managing director to vice president by the way.

“It’s nothing else, you retired as a guardian this time, right?”
“Yes.”
“So there was something I wanted to take as a senior bodyguard for our Hyeonseong.”
“Sorry.”

After all, such a busy person can’t just come.
However, Kim Joo-won’s reaction was quite unexpected.
The cafe part-time job he wanted to leave a few days later was also something he wanted to do while he was away for refreshments before returning to school.

“Yes?”
“Uh, if you’re a bodyguard, you’re sure to get into dangerous situations. That’s why…”
“Ah.”

Mincheol looked at me for a moment.
Perhaps, with eyes as if he had come to visit after seeing that he was a retired guardian who had graduated with honors.
He looked at me and Kim Joo-won for a moment, then nodded.

“You’ve done this rudely. Being a bodyguard for someone who has someone to protect.”

Be the one to protect
Actually, I don’t know if he trains more, but in the current situation, I would be a practical force.
Doesn’t that mean powerless?

“Yes. So I appreciate the suggestion, but it seems difficult.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll leave this one out.”

A subtle smile bloomed on Mincheol’s face.
Kim Joo-won looked at him for a while with a face that did not understand why, and was about to go into the room saying, “Then, let’s go.”
The man cleared his throat and immediately brought up the next matter, drawing his attention for a moment.

“And, as the lady requested earlier, I looked for locations, mainly in quieter places.”
“Already? That’s fast.”
“How long have you been asking for it, and I’m going to take care of it. Mr. Yeonhwa, the next document.”

But already, my guy said he didn’t want to do it right now.
Looking at Kim Joo-won, he refused when he offered to open a cafe, but now an expression of interest was on his face.

“Can I see you too?”
“What…”

In fact, no matter how much he and I live together, we are still not officially family.
Minchul pondered for a moment, then nodded, saying, “Well, that’s right.”
Of course, I wasn’t going to decide just yet after hearing the explanation.

“Personally, I recommend this place, but you can walk around…”

Kim Joo-won was staring at a document as if he had already made up his mind.
I don’t know what that place has to do with him.

“Looks like it’s already been decided.”

Uncle Min-cheol said that while looking at the documents that Kim Joo-won couldn’t take his eyes off.

“Iknow, right.”

I guess I’ll have to ask later.
I answered the man and took the documents separately.

* * *

When he returned home after seeing Mr. Min-chul, who had finished his business, Kim Joo-won was standing on the veranda and staring blankly out the window.
What did that document mean to him?
It’s just a report that somehow analyzes what kind of building it is and where it’s located around.

I got up.
No one knows how long it will take for him and me, who have too much time left to do.
Really, literally such a break where you can relax comfortably.

“Kim Joo-woong.”

When I cautiously approached him and called his name, Kim Joo-won looked away and said, “Huh?”
I gently hugged the guy standing on the veranda window sill from behind and carefully asked, “Is there anything interesting?”

“No.”
“So you’re just staring?”
‘Uh.”
“I couldn’t take my eyes off the document earlier. Where was it… My workout? Right?”

Instead of answering, Kim Joo-won nodded his head.
This place is the world in the novel I wrote, and at the same time, it is a real world based on him.
Even if he is my main character, there may be some settings I don’t know about.

“Why, what’s there?”
“Hmm…”

I waited for an answer while watching the guy who was silent for a while.
Is it because I don’t want to answer?
Or do you need some time to organize your thoughts?

“The nursery school where I lived as a child.”

Wait a while.
However, what came out at the end was an answer that was slightly out of my expectation.

‘Ah.’

Come to think of it, he was an orphan.
Without even knowing his parents, he was abandoned in an orphanage.

“It’s not a good memory, but the name of the town reminds me of it.”

Then, I didn’t go there because I wanted to go there, but I did it because I was reminded of my childhood memories.
His words brought back memories from my childhood.
Even though his parents were present, he entered the orphanage disguised as not present and concealed his identity.
Those days when I fought and studied every day there, I was lucky enough to be noticed by a sponsor and started to live like a human being.

“Parents, they said they weren’t there…”
“Huh.”

It hurt my heart because it reminded me of bad memories.
The setting that I was an orphan, which I thoughtlessly wrapped up in order to give the main character a tragic narrative, was still with him.
Even if these are nothing to him now, those memories will never be forgotten.

‘So.’

The moment we first met.
Why did Kim Joo-won react so violently when he remembered what Lee Seo-ha had done to him in the previous episode?
I buried my face in his back, thinking I could understand why he did such a thing to me.

“I said before that my parents died because they were swept away by the other world.”
“…Uh.”
“Actually, it’s all a lie. I was abandoned at an orphanage, so I don’t even know my mom and dad’s faces.”

In addition, the fact that I was the one who gave him such memories made me feel sick.
Rather, if he had a normal family but lost his parents to the other world, would he have suffered less than he does now?

“If you said you didn’t even know your parents’ faces, the kids ignored you.”

To him, people are difficult to connect with, and at the same time he wants to bring them to the end.
Because it must have been that kind of thing.

“But it’s okay now. Even though the process is wrong, you are there, and our Sae-ah is there too.”

Tears come out of your eyes.
He wouldn’t even dream that I was the one who gave himself that fate.
He probably doesn’t even know why Lee Seo-ha treated him like that.

But, what if he finds out?
What if you find out that I am the root cause of all your unfortunate fate and times?

Pity, pain.
And the fear mixes together and flows from your eyes in the form of tears.

“Huh? Something’s damp on my back…”
“Do not look back.”

Of course, I don’t want to worry him, so I pretend to be as indifferent as possible.
Acting out my voice, I hold on tight so that he doesn’t see me like this.
Of course, it’s absurd to catch him with my weak physical abilities for an Awakener.
Even so, the guy stays still even if I express my doubts with “Huh?”

But even that for a while.
I can’t hide my trembling shoulders, and soon the fact that I’m crying is revealed to him.

“Seo, Seoha? Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
“Hey, oh, nothing.”
“It’s nothing. I’m really okay now? So don’t cry.”

I cried like that in the arms of the embarrassed guy.
Although selfish.

With the fear of revealing my identity.