Chapter 71: A visitor at the guild
Chapter 71: A visitor at the guild
"My name is Cheon Rian. I am nine years old, and I like to meet new people! Nice to meet you, mister."
Rian introduced himself to Joon on the other side of the office table, looking unimpressed. Cheon Areum glared at him as he spoke out.
"Why aren’t you impressed?!"
"My two-year-old niece can do this too. Why would I be impressed??"
At his inquiry, Joon shouted back, astounded by the situation. Holding his hand, Rian dropped his smile.
"I could also do this when I was two years old."
He clicked his feet together as he mumbled,
"I just wanted to greet myself properly..."
"I think he’s too exhausted from work. He just needs a little break, Rian. Right, Joon? How does an unpaid vacation of ten years sound to you?"
"....I was a little impressed, to be honest."
It seemed like Joon gritted out the words with difficulty. Cheon Areum wasn’t satisfied. Rian had lost his interest too; he glanced at the doors to Yoon Seoyul’s office and, slipping out of Cheon Areum’s hold, went inside secretly—but with Joon’s enhanced hearing, he immediately noticed and scrambled to follow after him.
"Why would you bring a kid in here? It’s giving me anxiety... ugh..."
"I would say he’s more well-behaved than me. Look, not a single thing has fallen out of place."
Coming into the office, Cheon Areum gazed at Rian in the distance, climbing on the chair behind Yoon Seoyul’s large table. Rian hadn’t displaced anything; he was just exploring in his eyes, but perhaps Joon’s eyes were seeing a different picture, as he began to panic silently, trying to grab onto Rian with his hands in the air around him.
Unbothered by the hands, Rian grabbed the matching pen holder from the table, sliding it to himself. He took out the flowers from his crossbody bag and neatly placed them in the pen holder—the same flowers he and Rian had built but couldn’t find a suitable place for.
"Do they have to be here? Why don’t we put them on the table between the couches?"
Joon tried to negotiate with Rian.
"You keep the things precious to you close, mister. They have to be this close to Yoon Seoyul."
Well-spoken—his not-a-baby-anymore, though he remained saved as ’my baby’ in his phone—younger brother explained and climbed down from the chair after completing his mission, coming back to him.
"Don’t be afraid of anyone. Go explore all you want, Rian."
Ruffling his hair once, Cheon Areum spoke to him, to which Rian’s face brightened up, and he continued to decorate the office.
"Did you restock my mini fridge?"
He had also bought a mini fridge for his ice cream and drinks, and it was Joon’s job to refill it. Thinking it was too hopeless, Joon finally resigned and sat down with Cheon Areum.
"I did, but it’s not like you eat anything during the day due to your morning sickness."
"Thanks for the reminder. I was starting to forget you don’t like me. Have you heard anything about Kihyun from the central bureau?"
"I haven’t."
"Don’t lie to me. Yoon Seoyul has never told you to keep secrets from me, has he?"
"I really haven’t. The only thing they’ve been bothering Master with is the new S+ class gate."
A new S+ class gate? Yoon Seoyul didn’t tell him about it. Well, he wasn’t exactly in any shape to go inside another one right now—more so because he was way too unstable. He was like a matchstick waiting for the slightest spark to catch fire.
"Has he gone to the central bureau to deal with them, then?"
"No, he went to put out a request for another watch after losing his. He went personally so they won’t take too long. Master is not someone who goes out to destroy something recklessly..."
"What’s with the shade today? Your master did exactly that not even that long ago."
Cheon Areum couldn’t believe he had to complain about his own husband to his secretary, who was under the spell of the main character.
"He only did that after rejecting their request for assistance four times—and after they threatened to contact you directly, bypassing the guild as the middlemen."
"Right... must be really urgent for them."
Cheon Areum still didn’t know if it was better that he got involved in this matter willingly before Kihyun dragged him into it unwillingly or not. But no—what he had chosen to do, the target wouldn’t change.
"Rian, I have to leave for a bit. There’s ice cream in the fridge. If you want something, ask Joon here, alright?"
Cheon Areum alerted Rian, who was running around the whole floor. He stopped to listen, going after the mini fridge after hearing about the ice cream.
"We will have lunch together. I will be back by then."
"No, wait—"
Joon put his hand on his shoulder to stop him in his tracks. Cheon Areum quietly glanced back at Joon with a dark look in his eyes. The hand was instantly pulled back, as if it was a mistake.
"I have work to do. I can’t take care of him. I don’t know what to do with him."
"You heard him, right? He likes meeting new people, so get to it."
"I am not here to babysit!"
"I haven’t been in a good mood lately. Don’t provoke me, Joon."
"..."
"He’s a well-behaved kid. He won’t trouble you, or if Aera or Jia are available, just take him to them."
Struggling to contain the negative energy wanting to take over, Cheon Areum gave his command with his eyes closed, as Joon stood in front of him, unable to say anything more to him.
*
The one who had been refusing to come meet him was none other than the person he was currently trying to surpass. Ignoring everyone—even the security, who wasn’t brave enough to stop him from entering the office of their guild master—Cheon Areum opened the door. There, he saw Han Kakta on top of a bright red couch, who was not busy at all but was keeping his word to Yoon Seoyul.
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