SRSYT C16

Chapter 16

The Friday of tension and reversals passed, and the weekend flowed by as if none of it had happened. Seojin woke late with Euni, ate, spent time making mud pies at the playground, and even floated toys in the tub for a water fight.

This is happiness, after all.

A weekend spent soaking in the quiet peace of ordinary days ended, and the new week passed uneventfully too.

Most of the time it was just him and Manager Kim in the office. Yoon Haegang would appear now and then, sit on the sofa as if he had come to watch, and vanish again, but the choking pressure from before had eased.

Seojin roughly guessed the reason was the change that started Friday night, after they sat across from each other and ate a late snack. That had been a strange stretch of time. They had only emptied one can of beer each with a pot of ramyeon between them, and yet, oddly, his heart had been easier than it was at the office.

Maybe it was because Haegang, for all that he had barged in so suddenly it was almost a problem, had gone home without much fuss.

“Seojin-ssi, if you’re not busy, want to leave?”

Staring blankly at the monitor, Seojin snapped back at Manager Kim’s welcome words. The clock, as always, said four-thirty.

“Shall we?”

By now he knew Manager Kim said it out of consideration because he had a child. Seojin did not refuse. He packed up at once.

“Yeah. I’ll look at this one last thing and go. You head out first, Seojin-ssi.”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“No, no. Someone wants a background check on another person, so I have to do it.”

It was definitely not work Seojin could do. That was only possible because Manager Kim had once been a police officer.

“Then I’ll go ahead. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, bye, Seojin-ssi! Have a nice evening with Euni.”

Thanks to Manager Kim making things easy for that reason, Seojin called the daycare, picked Euni up, and stopped by the neighborhood playground on the way.

“Appa, can Euni play on the slide?”

“Yes. Just come down carefully.”

“Yeees!”

A couple of kids were already running around the equipment. Watching Euni toddle over and join them, Seojin sat on a bench.

It was getting warmer these days, and the cool evening wind sliding through his hair felt pretty good.

“Um, hello.”

Then a familiar voice came from behind him. Seojin turned. Shin Seyeong stood there, looking fresh even in just a white shirt and faded jeans.

“Ah… hello.”

Seojin smiled awkwardly, then smiled properly at Seyeong’s glad face. They lived close enough that running into each other now and then was possible, but honestly, he was not that pleased.

Why do we keep meeting like this.

He wanted distance from these people somehow.

“Class just ended. I stopped home for a bit and saw you sitting here on my way out. I thought I should at least say hello…”

And when Seyeong spoke to him that warmly, Seojin could not very well not talk. What was he supposed to do, when Seyeong was a kind, gentle character.

“Ah, I see. Are you feeling all right? You seemed to have a pretty bad body-ache cold that day, so I was worried.”

Seojin asked after him first, calling it a body-ache cold. Seyeong blinked, startled, then caught the meaning a beat late and nodded.

“Yes. Thanks to you I rested well at home, and I’ve been getting better little by little. Thank you for that day. If it hadn’t been for you, it could have been really bad.”

“I’m glad you rested well.”

Seojin meant to wrap the conversation there and part ways. They only knew each other’s faces. He had helped for a moment. This much should be enough. Seyeong seemed to have nothing more to say either. He gave a light nod and was about to move on when a cheerful ringtone burst from his pocket.

He hurried to pull out his phone, checked the number, tilted his head, and answered.

“Yes, hello. What? Father hurt someone? What do you mean… How badly was the other person hurt?”

A shadow fell over Seyeong’s face in an instant.

“Haa… five hundred for a settlement. How am I supposed to… No, reporting it… just a moment.”

Listening from the side, Seojin’s eyebrow twitched. Anyone could hear it was a classic voice-phishing script.

The types that worked on children living apart from their parents. Sudden need for cash. Becoming the perpetrator. An account getting stolen. And so on.

“W-wait. Haa… I only have three hundred on me right now. Even that… yes, yes.”

Seyeong did not live with his father either, so he was falling for the lie and was about to send money on the spot.

“Wait… just a second!”

Seojin shot up and grabbed Seyeong’s arm in a rush. Startled, Seyeong’s eyes went wide like a rabbit’s.

“Hang up right now.”

At the firm words, Seyeong’s pupils shook with confusion.

“That’s a scam. So hang up first.”

“Ha, but they said Father caused an accident… they even know his name. It’s not like this is the first or second time…”

Wanting to trust Seojin’s blunt cut-off, Seyeong rattled off his father’s name and how much of a problem the man was.

Well. He was always jerked around like this. That was how he had left room for the secondary top to step in.

“That’s voice phishing.”

Seojin said it again, putting weight behind it. The reason he was this sure was obvious. This was the incident that followed right after Shin Seyeong’s heat.

In the original, it had been the secretary’s doing. This time, Seojin had not done it. Then who was moving now?

Yoon Haegang’s order?

Or some other interference?

The thought cut off when Seyeong’s phone vibrated again and the call dropped.

“Uh, what do I do? It’s that call from just now.”

Seyeong looked at Seojin, at a loss.

“Pick it up for now. We have to check whether your father is really in trouble or if it’s a scam.”

“How… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Ask one thing at a time and see if anything is even a little different from what they said before. What your father did, where they are now. If they dodge or the story changes, the chance it’s a lie goes up.”

When Seojin told him calmly, Seyeong swallowed and nodded.

“H-hello. Yes… but what did Father do, exactly? Uh, how much? Where? Yes? Mm…”

After a few pointed questions, Seyeong’s face changed. Suspicion entered eyes that had been locked in fear, and his gaze gradually hardened.

Just as Seojin had advised, the other side’s claims did not line up.

“I understand. I’ll hang up now.”

Seyeong said it fairly firmly and ended the call. Seojin let out a breath of relief too. They would know Seyeong had caught on now, so they probably would not try anything else.

But only for a moment. Seyeong’s phone rang again. Seeing him only glare at the screen, Seojin realized it was the same number.

“W-what should I do about this?”

Seyeong looked at Seojin with eyes that wanted help.

“We should find out whether it’s just a scam or some other problem. First we need to know who the other person is, but there’s no lead right now, so don’t pick up.”

When Seojin said it calmly, Seyeong nodded as if he could relax.

“Should I block the number?”

“Then they might call from another phone, so I think it’s better just not to answer. More than that, try contacting your father. See if there really was an accident.”

Only then did another direction occur to him. Seyeong hurried to place a call.

“What do I do? He’s not picking up… Haa, he’s always hard to reach anyway.”

Of course. Who was Shin Seyeong’s father. A typical problem character who pushed the main bottom into hardship.

He was just as good at going under, and there was no telling how much he burned his child’s insides.

“Um… could you look into who this number belongs to? I-it wouldn’t be free. I’ll pay a request fee.”

“Ah, ahh…”

At Seyeong’s careful request, Seojin realized one thing.

Whatever this is, I can’t pull my foot out.

No matter how much he kicked, he could not escape the extra’s role, written for the protagonists.