Chapter 337

The night before the Chuseok holiday, a significant number of employees remained at the Yeouido Research Institute, lighting it up brightly.

State-of-the-art bulletproof vests for military and police use, firefighting equipment and gas masks for firefighters, safety devices for safer quadcopters, functional shoes and sportswear for land sports, soccer, baseball, and all other sports, and the still-in-development spear capsule—over 130 future necessities for humanity were being developed here, oblivious to night and holidays.

These individuals, intoxicated by the thrill of creating their own worlds, saw the holiday as an opportunity to immerse themselves in their work in a quieter, more focused environment.

Although the unmanned security system was operational, the on-duty SSS Agents would take turns to ensure an even tighter security posture.

The pride of belonging to a world-leading company filled the cafeteria staff, who would undoubtedly keep the lights on all night for them.

The lights in the rooftop house also remained on late into the night.

Feeling guilty for resting while others worked late, Jin Hyuk tried to return to the office after his workout but couldn’t.

Because of the radiant Hong Soo-jung, who appeared dragging a suitcase like someone about to go on an overseas trip.

“Mom will find out if you keep coming here so often. You have to go to the countryside tomorrow morning.”

“Hehe~. I couldn’t resist coming.”

Hong Soo-jung was gradually becoming more like Yoo Se-ra.

It seemed that the mature demeanor she had developed to balance Jin Hyuk was reverting to her original self.

Still, thanks to the proactive Hong Soo-jung, Jin Hyuk’s love life was as sunny and hot as a midsummer afternoon.

It was always hot, but that didn’t mean he neglected his workouts or work, nor did his performance drop. Son Jin-hyeok was a pro among pros.

With the various skills he had learned from another world, he had also become a pro in other fields.

“What, what, what can’t you resist—what is that~?”

“Ehe~. I mean I can’t resist wanting to see you. What are you thinking, oppa? I’m just being natural, huh? Where are you going? Why aren’t you coming here?”

“Yes~, I’m coming~.”

Jin Hyuk, who was subtly trying to head to the kitchen, scurried over. He looked like a steel ball being pulled by a magnet.

‘If Soo-jung calls, I have to go.’

As he sat quietly on the sofa, Hong Soo-jung, sitting close, rummaged through her bag.

“Ta-da~! Hehe~.”

With a sunny smile, Hong Soo-jung pulled Jin Hyuk’s hand and slipped a ring onto his finger.

“I saved up the allowance you gave me to buy this. Money isn’t just money, you know.”

“This is my first time wearing something like this.”

“I really wanted to do this. If it’s uncomfortable, you can take it off.”

“I won’t take it off.”

The base seemed to be platinum.

It had gold patterns, and in the center was a red gemstone the size of a grain of sea salt.

A ruby.

“What are you doing? I should put one on you too.”

“Hmm~.”

Taking the ring, Jin Hyuk knelt before Hong Soo-jung.

In the posture of a major criminal.

“Ahaha~! What is that~?”

“I’ll only kneel before Soo-jung.”

“But kneeling like a criminal is weird. You should stand up on one knee.”

“Ah, is that so?”

One is already standing, ah, not like this.

I should have done this earlier.

“That’s not the right finger.”

Ah, it’s not for the pinky finger.

I should have tried wearing a couple ring earlier.

“I told Hye-jeong I’d sleep over and meet you in the morning to go together.”

“Hye-jeong? I don’t remember having a friend like that.”

“Ehehe~. Since there’s no such friend, I won’t get caught even if I stay out.”

What on earth does that mean?

Does it mean that if you commit a crime without tools, you’re innocent?

“My mom used this method a lot when she was dating my dad, and she was never caught.”

Hmm.

Was she really never caught?

I have a reasonable suspicion that grandpa just pretended not to know.

“But lying to your mom is a bit—.”

“Oppa, who’s more important to you, my mom or me?”

Pretending to be upset, Hong Soo-jung crossed her arms.

“Both are important.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Who isn’t important? Your mom is like family to me. Of course, Soo-jung is important, but that question is a bit unfair.”

Sigh~. This isn’t it. Hong Soo-jung scratched the side of her head.

Time to change tactics.

“Oppa, are you very tired?”

“No.”

Being with Hong Soo-jung made his stamina multiply, but he wasn’t tired.

That’s the kind of man Son Jin-hyeok is.

“It’ll be hard to stick together alone in the countryside.”

“Soo-jung’s words are always right.”

For the youth starting out, which is heavier: the desire for each other or the guilt towards their parents? The answer was obvious. Once you shed the clothes of guilt, only strong desire remains.

The two youths, now matching couple rings, began to burn even brighter, decorating the bright living room even more splendidly.

Chomp chomp~.

Jang Gun-i, who had been chewing on a dog treat at Jin Hyuk’s feet, disappeared towards the entrance as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

Grr~.

Those rascals are starting their meal again.

*

Vroom~.

Jin Hyuk’s eyebrows twitched at the sharp engine sound announcing the morning.

‘Ah, has the captain arrived? Probably starting the engine to go to the countryside.’

His face twitched uncontrollably in the dazzling sunlight, and his back screamed in pain from sleeping on the sofa as if he had fainted.

‘Ouch, isn’t this kid uncomfortable?’

Hong Soo-jung was asleep in the arms of her prison oppa. Just like that night 15 years ago when they first met and fell asleep.

The only difference would be the presence or absence of clothes.

Ka~.

The habit of drooling was still there, but it didn’t seem to be hand, foot, and mouth disease.

‘How comfortable must she be to sleep without clothes? Or is it just exhaustion?’

Not wanting to wake her from her deep sleep, he draped a crumpled blanket over her. Then, a suspicious sound was heard from afar.

Beep beep beep~.

‘Hmm? Beep beep beep~?’

Home invasion?

Click~.

Door lock disengaged.

The pilot doesn’t know the door lock password.

What little sleepiness remained was startled away.

Jin Hyuk’s mind began to spin rapidly.

The only person Jin Hyuk had told the password to, aside from family, was one person.

And if that person could come by quadcopter…

‘Ahhhh!’

Quickly, quickly!

He urgently shook Hong Soo-jung’s shoulders.

“Soo, Soo, Soo-jung~. Wake up.”

“Ung~. I want to sleep more~. Mom doesn’t know~.”

“Dad knows! He’s here!”

Mom is probably on the quadcopter too!

“Eeek!”

There wasn’t much time.

Hong Soo-jung was equally shocked, scrambling without even putting on clothes.

Clank~.

‘Ahhhh!’

Again, there wasn’t much time.

The path from the entrance to the living room was a single-turn hallway, not too far. It would take about 10 steps for Hong Ki-jun.

There wasn’t enough time to hide in a room or bathroom, and hiding would mean a 200% chance of being seen by the person entering the hallway. As a grown woman, she couldn’t show her naked body running away from her dad.

Hong Soo-jung quickly hid behind the curtain.

The rest was up to Jin Hyuk.

He quickly pushed the clothes under the sofa and stood in a position to shield Hong Soo-jung from the view of the incoming person.

‘Ah!’

I should put on pants.

‘Ahhh! It got caught in the zipper.’

Seeing the sight of the naked girl running away, he reacted, and with no time to put on underwear, a disaster unfolded.

Tears welled up, but he quickly put on a T-shirt to cover up.

A voice was heard from the entrance.

“Ohoho~, Jang Gun-i, long time no see. Are you doing well? Good, good. Good boy, our Jang Gun-i.”

Hehehe~.

At least Jang Gun-i was buying some time.

Jang Gun-i is truly the best friend.

He must have come from the countryside knowing something like this would happen.

Finally, Hong Ki-jun entered the living room.

“Ah, father, you’re here~.”

Jin Hyuk bowed deeper than ever.

“Yes. I thought you were sleeping since you didn’t come out after hearing the plane, so I came in. Are you just waking up now?”

“Ah, yes. I overslept. I’m sorry.”

Jin Hyuk kept bowing in a formal posture, one hand on his lower abdomen.

“No. You should sleep in on your days off to detox.”

“Ah, did you come to take me to the countryside~?”

Glancing around, he saw two quadcopters sitting nicely on the landing pad beyond the opposite window.

‘Damn. I couldn’t even distinguish the landing sound from the engine start. I’ve become too lazy.’

Hong Ki-jun’s expression wasn’t great, so Jin Hyuk felt like a heavy rock was pressing on his chest, suffocating him.

“I was planning to wait here with you until Soo-jung arrived, then go together…”

Hong Ki-jun rolled his eyes.

That cold, sharp gaze suffocated Jin Hyuk.

It was clearly a look searching for traces of his daughter.

‘…was planning, was planning…’

He must have noticed.

Ah, there are shoes at the entrance too. I meant to put them in the shoe cabinet, but Jang Gun-i made a fuss, so I left them there. That left a trail. Temporary revocation of the title of best friend.

‘Ahhh, embarrassing, sorry…’

Should I confess and ask for forgiveness, or should I stay quiet since he might not know yet?

Unable to meet his eyes, Jin Hyuk fidgeted with the hem of his T-shirt as Hong Ki-jun moved.

“The Yankees have been bothering us lately, so there are things to discuss.”

“It’s probably because of the military expansion, right?”

“Yes. Since we’re on the topic, shall we discuss it?”

Even as he said that, Hong Ki-jun, with his hands behind his back, glanced at the bedroom door, peeked into the kitchen, and quietly opened and closed the bathroom door.

Jin Hyuk was on edge.

That’s clearly a show of force, asking where I hid his daughter.

“It’s better to just leave it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Soo-jung—ah, I mean America.”

“Just leave it?”

Hong Ki-jun stopped searching and looked at Jin Hyuk.

“Since it’s an armament aimed at the Arab world, not us, and their weapon technology is decades behind ours, even if they target us, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s fine to let them live in their illusion of being the world’s police. It’s a world where humans live, after all. As long as no threat comes to us, it’s okay to take a step back…”

Hya~, our oppa is so cool. Whisper whisper~.

A sound like a kitten purring was heard from somewhere.

Hearing Jin Hyuk’s answer, Hong Ki-jun laughed awkwardly.

He was laughing, but his gaze was unusually sharp.

“Hmm. You’ve become quite relaxed. Your generous thoughts remain. You seem like someone who’s found a turning point.”

“Tha, tha, thank you for being on my side.”

Be on my side, yap!

Don’t notice the turning point!

“It seems like you’ll need time to prepare, so we’ll go ahead. It’s not like we’re making the rest of the family wait.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll join you once I’m ready~, yes. I’ll come.”

Without answering, Hong Ki-jun turned around and said in a cold voice.

“Don’t be late. Everyone waiting is older than you.”

Hong Ki-jun’s cold tone was something Jin Hyuk had experienced a few times, but this was the first time it was directed at him. Hong Ki-jun’s voice was trembling noticeably.

‘The adults are just an excuse. It’s probably the betrayal because of Soo-jung. I should kneel and apologize now—. No. I promised to only kneel before Soo-jung.’

Even as an adult, she’s still a precious gem; how angry must he be?

Even if Hong Ki-jun thinks terribly of Jin Hyuk, if Jin Hyuk were in his shoes, he’d be angry too. Yet, the fact that Hong Ki-jun didn’t slap him right away shows he’s a gentleman among gentlemen.

As he left the living room, Hong Ki-jun stopped and turned his head.

“Soo-jung is coming with oppa, right?”

“Yes, dad. Eek~!”

The curtain, which had been cheerfully answering, twitched in surprise, and Jin Hyuk bowed his head deeply.

‘Hey, you…’

Because it’s sunny, because the curtain is cheerful, because it’s the first day of the Chuseok holiday. It was an even more awkward morning.

Sigh~. I can’t kill those guys. Those rascals. They should at least give me time to prepare mentally… I should replace those SSS guys who didn’t report… If they had just reported, the shock would have been less… What would Yoo Se-ra say if she knew? Hong Ki-jun’s muttering trailed down the hallway.

Clank~.

As he opened the front door, Hong Ki-jun left one more remark. Through clenched teeth.

“I’ll keep it a secret from Soo-jung’s mom.”

“Thank you, father!”

Thud~!

As if a giant had stepped on him, Jin Hyuk’s knees buckled on their own.

A samurai swearing loyalty to a family enemy would look more dignified.

***

“Ahhhh~! Oppa, look at that! A flock of geese is flying!”

“Hmm~. That’s cool…”

But that’s a flock of crows.

They’re the local regulars seen around here.

Hong Soo-jung isn’t afraid of her dad. In fact, they have a friendly relationship. That’s why Hong Ki-jun’s sense of betrayal would be even greater.

Anyway, since she treats her dad like a friend, she can be so cheerful even after being caught red-handed.

‘Sigh~. Am I going to get fired?’

When was the last time I felt like I was being dragged to prison on the way home?

Was it the last time I got kissed by little Hong Soo-jung?

‘Damn. That kid was the same back then.’

Suddenly, anger surged.

Hong Soo-jung was there every time Jin Hyuk was in an awkward situation.

Enjoying the open view provided by the quadcopter, Hong Soo-jung felt a sharp gaze and looked at Jin Hyuk.

“Why, oppa~?”

Hehe~.

‘She’s really pretty. Our Soo-jung.’

Idiot.

But I can’t hate the kid who’s always been on my side.

He tightly held Hong Soo-jung’s hand.

“I love you, Hong Soo-jung.”

“Heehee~. I know. But why the formal speech?”

“It just came out like that.”

Why did the formal speech come out?

He didn’t bother to think about it.

“Heehee~. I like it.”

Becoming like Yoo Se-ra. So what if she does?

Even if she’s immature and scatterbrained, may she be forever happy and forever radiant, this kid.

Vroooom~.

Flying slowly at 300 km/h.

The quadcopter cut through the air above the Sampo Dam.

“Ahhh~! Oppa, look at that! The sea is sparkling!”

That’s a freshwater lake.

“Really, really dazzling~.”

“Soo-jung is the most dazzling in the world.”

Captain, let’s go a bit slower…

Thinking that home is getting closer is scary.