AAGULT Ch 96

Chapter 96

 

The bar in this villa had a layout similar to the one Jaeha used to run. Even after five hours of rest, as he dragged his still-aching body inside, he was momentarily swept up in nostalgia at the memory of making cocktails for Aiden.

Strangely, the realization that his current circumstances were much better than back then left a bitter aftertaste. At that time, he would mumble in the morning that he wanted a guiding session, and again before bed. Now, all it took was the feeling of slight disappointment for him to selfishly push away Aiden, who was still offering him guiding—wasn’t that absurd?

“I found the entrance. But the locking mechanism is quite complex. I was afraid it might trigger an alarm if I touched it carelessly, so I figured it was best to wait until you woke up.”

Just as he said, the bar interior was disordered. A few glasses were tilted over, and faint dust was scattered across the floor. Beyond the traces left by their earlier acts, there were also signs that someone had clearly tampered with the area.

Below the bar table, a panel that would normally go unnoticed had been awkwardly pushed aside, and the shelves displaying bottles had been shuffled around, out of place. But since no entrance was in sight, Jaeha looked at him with confusion, prompting Aiden to move.

“Over here.”

He pointed to one side of the bar shelves. He then walked over to the spot and lifted a bottle—it contained blue gin. It looked completely ordinary, but with a slight twist, a faint ‘click’ sounded, followed by a low metallic reverberation from behind the shelf.

“About ten minutes later, it automatically closes.”

Soon after, the entire shelf slid quietly to the side. Perhaps it had been designed to open like that—it moved smoothly without the slightest scraping sound. Something about it reminded Jaeha of a device straight out of a spy movie, and the sudden tension had him wiping his sweaty palms against his thighs. They hadn’t even gone in yet, and he was already scared…

The concrete wall behind the shelf was revealed. At its center was a narrow iron door. Embedded in the door was a palm-sized panel, with a numerical keypad, a small unlit screen, and a blinking red sensor. It was an electronic lock completely out of place with its worn exterior. Next to the panel were traces where the paint had worn off from frequent contact. And… and it looked… incredibly familiar.

Because it looked remarkably like the entrance to the illegal guiding facility connected to the bar Jaeha used to run.

“…It’ll be trouble if we can’t find a way out from the inside.”

If luck turned against them, they could be restrained or imprisoned on the spot. Aiden was an exceptional guide craved by espers, and a veteran who had participated in numerous operations to dismantle illegal guiding facilities. Still, his physical abilities were close to those of an ordinary person. Jaeha was an esper, but a mental-type one, whose physical abilities were far inferior to other espers.

“Aiden, did you bring your guns properly?”

“Yup.”

“Let me see.”

Before attempting to open the door, Jaeha steadied his nerves and inspected Aiden’s outfit. Two guns he had packed were secured to the harness, along with a single dagger… Jaeha made sure everything was firmly fixed in place, afraid a misstep might cause injury. Aiden raised his arms slightly like someone getting measured for a custom outfit and let out a small laugh.

“Worried?”

“How could I not be…? Even if this is infiltration, it’s just the two of us. Our combat power…”

Jaeha trailed off. It was embarrassing and unpleasant to admit he wasn’t someone reliable. At that, Aiden placed his hand over Jaeha’s, which was checking the harness.

“If someone this jittery infiltrated Black Dragon alone before, how did you do it?”

“Yeah, I wonder…”

He chuckled awkwardly in embarrassment. Even that slight contact sent a bit of guiding through him, loosening his tension a bit.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll do great, Jaeha.”

“…You think so?”

“Of course.”

Aiden, for once, said something rational to reassure him. He slowly released Jaeha’s hand from the harness and grabbed one of the pistols. With a click, he loaded it.

“Better than I would.”

“Huh?”

Thinking Aiden was just preparing thoroughly, Jaeha stepped back—but Aiden’s comment held a strange implication. Jaeha asked again, wondering if he’d heard wrong, and Aiden smiled shyly with a bright face. A sense of unease started to grow.

“Just in case, you don’t know the door code, right?”

“…It does look familiar, but usually, they rotate the numbers pretty frequently…”

“That’s good enough.”

Even in his nervousness, Jaeha answered sincerely, watching Aiden cautiously. Yet, he still thought—no way, right?

“Uh, Aiden…”

“All right, if you’re ready, let’s go in.”

Bang!

“Ahhh!”

Bang, bang!

Aiden aimed at the entrance and suddenly started shooting. Even with a silencer, the sound of bullets hitting the metal door and the keypad shattering was loud enough to tear Jaeha’s ears apart. He quickly covered them and let out an undignified yelp.

“Hahaha.”

Bang bang bang!

Amid the gleeful laughter and gunfire, the lock broke down with a creaking noise, and the door slowly opened, accompanied by a bright, rhythmic alarm.

WEEEE-OOO. WEEEE-OOO.

Jaeha held back the urge to cry and looked at him. Their eyes met. The ends of Aiden’s delicately slanted eyes curled slightly upward. For once, light shimmered in those usually blank pupils, making them gleam beautifully.

He was… truly…

[Peekaboo.]

…having the time of his life.

Fortunately, the blaring alarm didn’t continue long enough to fill the entire villa. If that wailing siren had kept going down the entire length of the stairwell, Jaeha’s eardrums might have burst already.

As he descended the long stairs, grumbling with dread, Jaeha tensed like a glass about to shatter at the slightest touch. As the esper, it was naturally his job to protect the guide, so he positioned Aiden behind him and gripped the gun tightly, descending slowly.

“Relax.”

“How can I possibly relax…”

He could’ve gotten angry about the unauthorized action, but he didn’t. He merely resisted the urge to cry.

“Haha, it’s not like we had another option.”

“W-well, that’s true, but you could’ve been more cautious…”

“We were short on time too.”

“…”

As frustrating as it was, everything Aiden said was true. If it had been indecisive, hesitant Jaeha alone, he would’ve wasted time trying to find clues for the code, only for Aiden’s older brother to show up and catch them before they could even step foot inside.

“Stop worrying about nonsense and just answer me. So how did you manage to infiltrate last time?”

“Where… Ah, you mean the Black Dragon group? Eunyul helped me…”

“You seemed awfully familiar with it. I guess you weren’t just playing the role of a gatekeeper?”

Aiden, walking behind him, tapped Jaeha’s shoulder and spoke. He was so carefree, like a kid on a field trip, that Jaeha found himself answering earnestly before he could stop. His eyes briefly flicked toward Aiden, but he quickly focused again, straightening his gaze and speaking.

“The first time… I did try to sneak in once, but I got caught within a day…”

“…”

“…You can laugh.”

Aiden stifled a laugh, his shoulders shaking. Jaeha felt his face flush with embarrassment. He pressed his lips shut, and Aiden’s still-amused voice asked another question.

“Where was it that time?”

“…It was also the Black Dragon group.”

“Brave. Was that Kim Jiwon guy really worth it?”

‘Kim Jiwon guy’—the way Aiden referred to someone like an object had Jaeha momentarily tempted to retort. But instead, he focused back on the situation, tightening his grip on the gun and furrowing his brow.

The stairwell was dark, and the passage ran deep. Just then, the path curved, and Jaeha couldn’t answer right away as he felt along the wall. There were no more visible stairs, and it was so dark he couldn’t see clearly, so he raised his phone and turned on the light.

As soon as the flashlight lit up and revealed a door on the wall ahead, an arm suddenly reached from behind. With a swift motion, Jaeha’s face and jaw were grabbed. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but it exerted enough force to control his head, tipping it upward involuntarily.

Snapping back to awareness, he realized Aiden was standing several steps above him, looking down.

“Gasp…!”

He flinched—not because it hurt, but because the unexpected motion startled him. A memory of the company president flashed through his mind, making him freeze up. More specifically, the moment when the man had choked him in an attempt to “train” him, only to release him at the brink…

His heart sank with a heavy thud.

But just as his vision blurred, Aiden’s face suddenly drew closer. As his pupils, momentarily unfocused, contracted again, he returned to reality. Leaving behind the heart that had dropped and now pounded again, he slowly exhaled a trembling breath.

His hands had tensed as well, and he had almost accidentally fired his gun into the air. Wasn’t Aiden afraid? What if he got hit?

Maybe he was puzzled by Jaeha’s extreme reaction? Aiden squinted at him and smiled prettily.

“You should answer. I’m getting jealous, you know.”

“Is this really the time for that kind of talk…”

Then suddenly, Jaeha realized—trying to reason with Aiden logically wouldn’t get him anywhere. It might sound rude to say, but he was beginning to understand how to handle him.

Jaeha reached up and, hesitantly, cupped the man’s cheek. From this angle, looking up at him, any flaws would have been visible, but Aiden’s face remained flawless as ever.

“Of—of course I like you more than Kim Jiwon…”

“Really?”

“Really.”

It was a little childish, but… why did it look so cute? Was this just the effect of rose-colored glasses? Even though he had given his answer, Aiden showed no signs of letting go, so Jaeha tilted his head slightly and placed a soft kiss on his lips. It was a light, brushing kiss, but the man seemed satisfied and finally backed off.

“There was no need to kiss me too, you know.”

“…Really?”

“Yup.”

[Of course, that was a lie.]

“…”