IKC C25

by berry

Chapter 25

The chill in his eyes had vanished, replaced now by an expression that could not hide his perplexity.

“What’s with your hair, and what happened to your clothes?”

It seemed my hood had shifted to one side, a mess much like Sehan’s cardigan earlier. He adjusted my clothes and brushed my hair aside with his fingers.

“I told them never to treat you roughly.”

Tsk. His face was full of irritation as he clicked his tongue.

“Is there some sort of instruction manual for using Lee Taegyeong? I really have no idea how to deal with you.”

What do you mean “deal with me”? You always do whatever you like and then pretend to think it over.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Perhaps my silent stare was making him uncomfortable. He frowned slightly at me.

“What? What now?”

Sehan shrugged, pulling a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. My gaze shifted instantly to the cigarette in his hand.

“Fine. Is this what you want?”

His large hand crushed the cigarette pack with a snap. My brows knit in tandem.

“If Lee Taegyeong wants it that way, I can manage it. From now on, I’ll quit—”

Before he could finish, my hand shot up to cover his mouth, startling him so much his upper body tilted.

[Time remaining: 5 minutes!]

“Forget what I said earlier.”

His brown eyes widened slightly.

Even now, Sehan was dealing with all kinds of pressure—and here I was, about to add to it.

The mission mattered, but I didn’t want to make things harder for him when he couldn’t even hide his low spirits today.

“If holding back on smoking is going to stress you out, then it’s worse. Just do whatever you want.”

I pulled his cardigan back up into place and gave a few pats to those square shoulders the fans were so proud of.

“Just know this—this hyung only acted like that because he cares a lot about you.”

“Who’s the hyung? You forgot my birthday is earlier than yours?”

“I’m talking about mental age.”

“Ha, unbelievable.”

[Time remaining: 3 minutes!]

I stepped back from him, one pace, then another.

“I’ll be going now.”

I said it, but found it hard to turn away. Sehan’s eyes held a peculiar look as he watched me.

“So, is today’s mission over?”

“I said there’s no such thing.”

I spread my arms slightly toward him, trying to appear at ease.

“I was just thinking… if I say it’s for your sake but end up making you feel worse, then that’s no good. So I’m going to be more careful from now on.”

In truth, it wasn’t something that would take long.

If I could just eliminate my inferiority complex, it could all be resolved within a month—with Sehan safe, no cost to him at all.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Not knowing my inner thoughts, he furrowed his brow with mild displeasure yet again.

“Whatever. I’ll just do whatever Lee Taegyeong says.”

He followed me down the stairs, and together we stepped out of the emergency exit.

“I’d walk you to the company, but I’ve got work I need to finish today….”

“Don’t worry. Go on up.”

[The time limit for the quest to prevent the penalty has expired!]

I gave his solid back a push toward the elevator.

After a few reluctant steps, he turned back to look at me. My spirits lighter now, I raised a fist toward him.

“Seong Sehan, fighting!”

“What’s that?”

He smirked faintly, as if amused. Either way, I was glad I got to see him smile today.

[Accordingly, the penalty will now be enforced!]

“Taegyeong.”

Without moving toward me, Sehan spoke again.

“I had a really shitty day today.”

“Ah….”

What happened? Who did…—I kept my mouth shut before asking too quickly. Not when he looked more relieved than I did.

“But thanks to you, I’m fine now.”

“That’s good.”

When I nodded, he gave me a lovely eye smile—this time, one born of true feeling.

“I wonder how I ever lived without you.”

Ah… I stifled the sigh that threatened to escape. This is all your fault, you idiot.

“Didn’t you say you’re busy? Aren’t you going?”

“I’ll call you.”

Turning immediately, Sehan strode toward the elevator.

[Seong Sehan’s death accident has been moved forward—from January 8 next year to December 8 this year!]

I watched him enter the elevator before turning away.

To the status window, I wanted to say—stop wasting your effort on useless things.

“Don’t talk nonsense. That death accident of Seong Sehan will never happen.”

[Inferiority score: –1]

…

[Current inferiority score for Lee Taegyeong:]

[Congratulations! 70 points!]

It didn’t surprise me. The score drop was natural.

Seventy points is nothing to celebrate. If the status window doesn’t interfere, I’ll be at zero soon enough.

Marching out of Baeknyeon Entertainment’s entrance with confidence, I suddenly stopped dead.

“Oh!”

“Lee Taegyeong-ssi.”

The assistant manager was leaning against the glass door, waiting for me.

“Ah… Assistant Manager…!”

His expression had grown far more severe than just annoyed—his face was downright intimidating. That’s when I remembered the violent scene from earlier.

“Lee Taegyeong-ssi, you’re done here?”

Something about his presence felt dangerous, as if he should have a dragon tattooed across his back.

I wanted to flee back into the building, but there was no point—it would only get me caught again.

“I—I’m sorry!”

“Let’s not do that again, all right? You could get hurt.”

“Yes! Absolutely… I’ll be careful!”

“Then let’s go.”

I hurried after him toward the parking lot.

“Assistant Manager, I can take a taxi.”

“Let’s make it easy, huh?”

Suddenly, the fact that none of my protests mattered frustrated me.

“Honestly, I’m uncomfortable. I’d much prefer going alone.”

“It’s not good for celebrities to wander around alone at night.”

“I’m not a celebrity yet.”

Regardless, he still opened the front passenger door and waited for me. With no energy left to argue at this late hour, I got in quietly.

Well, at least I’d save on taxi fare.

Even so, seeing him behind the wheel kept me from saying anything pleasant.

“But Assistant Manager, please don’t go grabbing and carrying me like that anymore… it was genuinely unpleasant.”

“I’ll apologize for that. But you have to understand—if it’s about protecting Sehan, I might get a little rough.”

My hands froze on the seatbelt.

“Protecting Sehan…? Wait—does he have a dangerous stalker?”

“No, nothing like that. Anyway, if I upset you, chill out.”

The car glided forward, but my thoughts grew increasingly tangled.

Surely it wasn’t true that Sehan was in such danger he needed protection… right?

I pulled my phone from my hoodie pocket, but that was all—I couldn’t bring myself to call him.

Maybe the reason he’d been struggling wasn’t just the solo album or fan backlash. Then what was it…?

Just as Sehan couldn’t know everything about me, I couldn’t know everything about him—and yet, that truth weighed heavily, making me feel both hurt and stifled.

“Sigh….”

It was all pointless. For now, there was nothing more important than saving Sehan.

Forget everything else—that was the only thing to focus on.

“Ha… I’m going to go crazy.”

After sweating all morning to learn the revised choreography, I was exhausted and hungry. On top of that, one look at the entertainment news drained what little appetite I had left.

“What, they didn’t have enough news to run? Why so many articles like this?”

The fandom for Perfect Puzzle, “Summer,” had sent a protest truck to Baeknyeon Entertainment, and it was plastered all over the headlines.

<‘Puzzle Breaker’ Seong Sehan!>

<‘Summer’ demands the removal of Seong Sehan, who is breaking apart the solid fandom!>

On both sides of the dark truck, red and blue slogans screamed their fury so vividly it felt like they might leap out of the photographs.

“Haa…!”

It hurt to keep reading, so I shut my eyes.

“Taegyeong, let’s eat first.”

Geonwoo-hyung, who had been checking the news with me, rose to his feet.

“Sehan’s not going to care about this much. Right now, the important thing is our debut, right?”

“Yes….”

He was right. I needed to give my all to the opportunity in front of me. Gathering my strength, I sprang up from where I’d been slumped.

“But, hyungs…”

The younger ones, huddled together, looked over at us.

“This… this doesn’t feel right.”

“What is it?”

Jeongmin handed me his phone and pointed at the screen.

“This is spreading all over the communities right now. The subject sounds like it’s Sehan-hyung….”

My hand clenched tightly around the phone.