AGENT 46

Yongnae, momentarily stunned by Seo Soo’s question, could not offer a quick reply. However, Seo Soo—with a face that showed absolute certainty that Yongnae must have made that wish—let out a short pfft of a laugh. Then, with that angelic face, he whispered to Yongnae like a devil.

“I need you, so stay by my side.”

Honestly, when someone with a face like that says something like that, how many people could refuse? Yongnae dared to assert that there would be absolutely no one in this world.

Nod—

At Yongnae nodding as if possessed, Seo Soo looked back at the temple statue in front of him with a satisfied face, as if he had expected it to turn out that way from the start and that there were no surprises.

In fact, Yongnae felt as though if Seo Soo said he was in danger right now and asked if he could die in his place in exchange for a single kiss, he would have nodded to that, too.

In any case, why did Seo Soo say he needed Yongnae? Seeing his attitude that it would have been a waste if he had died yesterday but nothing could be done, it wasn’t that he felt affection and wanted him nearby for that reason. No matter how much of a lifelong single Yongnae was, he had at least that much intuition. That meant he was useful in some way, which was likely because of his sense of smell. That must be why he had tested him to see if he could make it here.

“There is a loach.”

Sure enough, Seo Soo immediately broke the ice to state the reason why he needed Yongnae. But Yongnae, upon hearing only that word “loach,” grasped Seo Soo’s objective at once.

“…The curly-haired one?”

The only loach stirring up trouble in Yiwon was the curly-haired one from the Triads who was currently embezzling E8. Seo Soo had known all along that curly hair was siphoning off drugs, and that must be why he put a tail on him. That was how he knew through reports that curly hair had tried to kill him and the Black Horse Gang yesterday.

“As expected, you’re smart—.”

Seo Soo, having praised Yongnae, moved his stationary feet and walked away from the shrine to the side. Yongnae followed right behind him.

“I know who is embezzling it, but I don’t know where it’s going.”

He didn’t know where it was going? If you tail someone who is embezzling, wouldn’t you eventually find out where the end point is? Just as he knew in advance that followng curly hair yesterday would result in the deaths of the Black Horse Gang and himself.

“Strangely, we lose them in the middle every single time—.”

They lose them in the middle? What kind of evasion tactic are they using to escape every time? Did the embezzler notice someone was tailing him and use a trick like recruiting one more person to split off at a fork in the road? But if it were something like that, they couldn’t lose them every time. Seo Soo wasn’t a fool; he would have placed twice as many people to tail them the next time.

That meant they were using some unique method to vanish every time. Since he couldn’t figure out that method for the life of him, Seo Soo was asking him to either figure out that method or follow the scent of the drugs to find out where they were headed. However, there was one problem.

“…But for the time being, I don’t think he’ll be siphoning any.”

The curly-haired one had said so. That he would keep a low profile for a while. That meant there would be no embezzlement for the time being. He didn’t know how long that period would be; it could be a month. It could be two months.

“Probably so.”

“…Did you know?”

“Yes, because I made it that way on purpose—.”

He made it that way on purpose? To make it so they couldn’t siphon drugs for a while? Then, what did he intend to do since they couldn’t tail them immediately?

“Even if only a week passes, they’ll run out of drugs over there soon. Then the bait will be taken immediately.”

“But, even so, what if the curly-haired one keeps a low profile and doesn’t siphon drugs?”

“He’ll seek out another place. It’ll likely be Won.”

The person talking with curly hair back then had been quite sharp about receiving a small amount of drugs. If so, as Seo Soo said, he would immediately seek out someone else and propose an embezzlement. Seo Soo said that would be Won Club, but how could he know who he would contact at Won Club… Ah.

“The yellow-haired one…?”

The face of the yellow-haired man who had dragged him to the second floor that day suddenly flashed through his mind. Looking at him that day, he seemed to hold a fairly high rank within the club, and his slick appearance suggested a face that would definitely embezzle drugs if the bait were taken.

“Do you remember?”

Seo Soo’s gaze flew straight toward him upon hearing Yongnae’s mutter.

“…A little.”

“Which part?”

Which part? Because of that yellow-haired man, his memories of that day were inaccurate and tangled up at random.

It felt like the one who did that to him that day was Seo Soo, but he wasn’t certain. If he opened his mouth first and Seo Soo said no, he would just become a gay man who acted like a perverted sex addict toward Seo Soo’s face.

“…He drugged me.”

“Ah—.”

So, he felt he should answer with only the facts, excluding the parts of his memory that weren’t accurate.

“And what else?”

But at Seo Soo asking if there weren’t any more memories, flinch—Yongnae’s steps following behind Seo Soo came to a halt.

What else, he says?

Did it mean that other memories of the yellow-haired man should exist? The yellow-haired man had dragged him to the second floor and fed him strong liquor and drugs there. And his memories with a sober mind ended there.

But, that wasn’t the end?

“…Is there, something more?”

Yongnae felt an unknown fear and a sense of loathing rise up dizzily from beneath his feet.

“I guess you don’t remember.”

“….”

“It was fun—.”

No way, no way.

Was the person he shared his body with that day not Seo Soo, but the yellow-haired man…? Goosebumps erupted over Yongnae’s arms.

He had been unsure, but from the moment he knew Seo Soo had visited Won Club, he had a strong feeling that the one who touched his important place was Seo Soo. Even if it wasn’t, he wanted to believe it was. But was it the yellow-haired man and not Seo Soo?

Thinking about it, he had vaguely felt that it might be so himself. He had followed him up to the second floor complacently, thinking we’re both men, what could happen—, but the final face of the yellow-haired man telling him it was good stuff while drugging him had been very lewd. He had lost consciousness while thinking it would be rape at minimum and having his organs harvested at maximum.

But seeing what Seo Soo was saying now, it seemed the damn anus-touching culprit was indeed the yellow-haired man. Finding out who the culprit was made him incredibly flustered and annoyed, but what made him angriest was…

“….”

That was fun?

Even knowing he was dying, he had felt good about Seo Soo’s cold-heartedness in saying it would have been a “waste” if he had truly died, but toward Seo Soo asking if he didn’t remember the incident with the yellow-haired man and saying it was “fun,” he felt a strange wave of disappointment. No, was it natural for disappointment to wash over him? Because the former was a feeling regarding him, and the latter was indifference?

Yongnae was trying to analyze even this situation objectively. Even though he was disappointed either way.

“Anyway, someone will approach Jang Jinsu over there before long.”

Jang Jinsu was likely the yellow-haired one. Yongnae, whose mouth was pouting a little, nodded instead of answering. To anyone, his expression and actions showed he was a bit disappointed, but Seo Soo calmly moved on to the next words as if he weren’t even curious about such things.

“Should I assign Wei or Suji to you?”

Weizhen and Lee Suji. They were the ones who had accompanied Seo Soo to Korea. They were likely subordinates directly under Seo Soo, his right hand; assigning one of them meant he would guarantee the safety of Yongnae, who had nearly died, by attaching one of his own reliable people.

“Suji, perhaps?”

Suji and Weizhen were quite reliable even in Korea, which was unfamiliar to them; in their home ground of Hong Kong, they would be extremely reliable in terms of safety and arranging countermeasures. Here again, Yongnae was momentarily touched by Seo Soo. To think he would consider attaching one of them rather than a subordinate beneath them. He felt that for someone so cold-hearted, he was quite important to him.

However, from the mouth of Yongnae, who had been sticking his lips out with a somewhat sullen look, an unexpected name popped out.

“Seo Soo.”

“….”

“You.”