TS 053

[Hyung, you’re coming to the main house today, right?]

He had been so out of it that he had forgotten. Yoon Taehwa, who had checked the message, let out a low sigh.

It had been a while since he had visited the main house. Yoon Taehwa looked around the garden with dry eyes. The expensive trees that his grandfather had painstakingly raised stood in their places, beautifully landscaped.

It was a scene that would make anyone stop and take it in, but Yoon Taehwa walked on with an indifferent face. It was obvious he would be scolded by his grandfather if he was late for dinner. It wasn’t that he disliked visiting the main house, but there had been something that had been bothering him all day, so it wasn’t easy to manage his expression.

‘I have no idea where he’s holed up.’

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say; it had been bothersome when he was following him around, but now that he had vanished without a trace overnight, that in itself was concerning.

‘Suryeon-hyung? Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since this morning.’

‘Shall I look into it?’

‘It’s fine. He’ll get in touch if something’s up.’

Seeing as Kim Hye-na was also absent from the Center, he thought they might be moving together on an Ant-related matter. He didn’t always report his whereabouts, so he had thought nothing of him moving without a word, but today, he was particularly bothered. The last expression he had seen wouldn’t leave his mind.

‘Isn’t it a bit much to make a fool out of someone who’s worried about you?’

Lee Woojin’s voice overlapped.

‘Anyway, don’t say things like that in front of other people. It only hurts the person who was worried.’

It was difficult to judge whether it was something he should apologize for.

Yoon Taehwa shook his head slightly to shake off the useless thoughts. Now that he was at the main house, fulfilling his duty as a grandson was the priority.

He entered the house with familiarity and bowed his head to a familiar face. It was the chief secretary who had worked with his grandfather for a long time.

“It’s been a while.”

Following the man’s amiable greeting, Yoon Taehwa also put on a smile.

“It has been a while.”

“I heard you had a lot going on yesterday, I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

“Grandfather’s blood pressure must have gone up.”

“Haha. Isn’t the stock market something that fluctuates with every dungeon or terror attack?”

When he threw a light joke, the man smoothly caught it.

“The Senior Managing Director and the youngest young master have also just arrived.”

He thought he might have seen Yoon Taeseon’s car in the garage. Yoon Taehwa nodded and walked at a pace that was neither fast nor slow. It was a habit from being an Esper, but also an influence of his grandfather, who valued a proper gait. He reached his destination in no time.

“I’m late.”

Yoon Taehwa bowed to the man sitting at the head of the table. It was Chairman Yoon, the founder of Taeseong and his grandfather.

“Late, you rascal. You’re right on time.”

The man, who smiled until wrinkles formed around his eyes, gestured for him to sit. When he turned to the table, his older sister, Yoon Taeseon, was on Chairman Yoon’s right, and Yoon Taein was on his left, with one seat between them. It seemed his parents were not present.

“It seems you only called for the grandchildren.”

Yoon Taehwa began, sitting in the seat his younger brother had left empty.

“Mom and Dad had dinner separately yesterday. They had a business trip today. Anyway, you can’t see your noona?”

“You seem to be doing well. I heard you might get a promotion soon. Congratulations.”

“What. You heard about that too? If Yoon Taehwa knows, I think the whole nation must know.”

“I slept over at hyung’s place the other day. We talked then.”

“So the youngest one told you? That’s right. As long as our grandfather doesn’t get whimsical, my promotion is confirmed.”

Yoon Taeseon, the most sly of the three, put on a grinning expression and ostentatiously flicked her hair over her shoulder. Chairman Yoon burst out into a hearty laugh.

“It feels good to see my grandchildren gathered together after a long time. Let’s talk while we eat.”

The food began to be served immediately. It was a neat Korean-style meal tailored to Chairman Yoon’s taste. Yoon Taehwa, who wasn’t a picky eater and preferred Korean food over that of other countries, picked up his chopsticks in time with his grandfather’s movement.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Yes. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

He realized, anew, that it had been a long time since he had eaten a home-cooked meal. He had no particular complaints about the Center’s cafeteria, but it did feel subtly different. Suddenly, Han Suryeon’s voice, worried about his empty refrigerator, brushed past his ear.

“What happened yesterday?”

“What about it?”

Even to his own sister’s question, Yoon Taehwa replied drily.

A bloody conflict between siblings over succession, such a cliché did not exist in this family. Putting aside the fact that the eldest son had started his Esper activities at fifteen, in the first place, Yoon Taehwa had no interest at all in the company’s affairs. It was a stark contrast to Yoon Taeseon, who had shown great interest since she was young.

“The monster that appeared in the Han River.”

“Noona, let hyung rest. Would he want to talk about work even at the main house?”

“This is why we have dinner together at the main house, to talk about these things, youngest young master.”

“Don’t call me young master.”

Yoon Taein reacted exaggeratedly, as if he had the creeps. Thinking he knew the reason, Yoon Taehwa just put the seasoned vegetable side dish into his mouth.

“I heard there was an explosion at the Center too.”

Chairman Yoon, who had been watching the grandchildren’s argument that wasn’t an argument, naturally joined the conversation. Yoon Taehwa nodded his head.

“A bomb went off in one of the buildings.”

“It’s a relief that no one was hurt.”

Pavel, who had been moved to the bomb shelter, was of course safe, and there were no other casualties. It was because it was rare for people to be on the top floor, and as Pavel moved his whereabouts, the Espers who had been guarding him had also moved.

“Thanks to that, I got chewed out less by the higher-ups.”

“Didn’t that issue get buried because of the monster intrusion?”

“That too.”

This time, too, Yoon Taehwa replied indifferently. Chaebol family or what have you, they were no different from other families, just an ordinary sister and brother.

“Whew, I wonder how much of a loss we took because of that.”

Yoon Taeseon sighed and poked a piece of braised short ribs with her chopsticks.

“You have to look at it in the long run, Taeseon-ah.”

“It’s a relief that you say so, Grandfather.”

This was the reaction of a family that could remain composed even when a monster appeared in Seoul; the entire Republic of Korea was abuzz with the story of the suddenly appeared monster. Yoon Taehwa, who lived mainly at the Center, was not unaware of that fact. He was actually more at ease with his family’s nonchalant reaction.

‘Time is the only answer for this to die down.’

For the time being, he would have to endure being cursed at to death. It was also because a rumor that the disaster had occurred because they had failed to discover a dungeon had swept the internet. The traces found on Bamseom were top secret, so it was a rumor the Center couldn’t counter.

“Has the Center building been restored? Should I pull some strings?”

“I’ll gratefully accept the thought. It wasn’t a big explosion, and the Center’s budget is enough.”

It was a proposal that Shin Ae-hi would have readily accepted if she were here, but Yoon Taehwa refused.

“Is it okay that a bomb went off? The video looked insane. My classmates were talking about it all day too.”

“It only went off in one place. It’s fine.”

He couldn’t go around blabbing information about a bomb that was still a prototype. When he gave a vague answer, Yoon Taeseon chimed in while eating the braised short ribs.

“It reminds me of the bomb that Hernandez made this time.”

At the familiar company name, Yoon Taehwa frowned.

“Have you heard anything?”

“I only know that it’s still a prototype. It’s rumored to be for killing Espers. The name was really cute. Was it Chestnut, or Acorn.”

On the day Pavel was captured, thanks to the information Han Suryeon had brought, the Center was able to obtain general information about the bomb. The place of production was the American arms manufacturer, Hernandez Inc.

“For killing Espers? They make all sorts of things.”

Chairman Yoon’s eyes narrowed. His whitish eyebrows twitched along the deep wrinkles.

“They say it’s called a killing weapon because its power is strong, though you can specify the blast range. I think it’ll be used more in other countries with guilds rather than ours. The power struggles between hunters are intense.”

“Tsk tsk.”

He clicked his tongue, as if it wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear at the dinner table.

“Please understand, Grandfather. Elijah Hernandez there is a cra… ah, no. He’s famous for being a nutcase.”

It was a name Yoon Taehwa also knew. There were rumors that he was an intelligence-type Esper, but they were rumors whose authenticity could not be confirmed. The recent high-flying success of Hernandez Inc. was also largely thanks to that man.

“Anyway, second young master, why do you ask about that all of a sudden? Are you interested?”

“We’ll see.”

“Hmm.”

When he answered ambiguously, Yoon Taeseon narrowed her eyes and gave a sly, mischievous smile.

“That man is entering Korea this weekend.”

“What for, in Korea.”

Yoon Taehwa narrowed his brows. Since he was a big shot, the Center would know as soon as he entered the country, but this was the first he was hearing of it.

“There’s probably no special reason. It seems he just flits around here and there whenever he feels like it. He’s a party animal.”

It seemed he would have to request the Center to track his movements. There was a high possibility that the bomb used this time was also something stolen from the Ants, but it wouldn’t be bad to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

“What’s the source of the entry news?”

“I received an invitation.”

“An invitation?”

“He’s throwing a party and asked me to come play. I was thinking of going since it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him for business purposes.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t going, Noona?”

Yoon Taein, who had been listening quietly, chimed in.

“I’m not going. It didn’t seem like a place where business talk would go on. The party theme is a masquerade ball. As if this were the Middle Ages.”

Her elegant lips parted, letting out a scathing criticism.

“There won’t be any productive conversation even if I go to a place like that… Once you sober up and wipe your mouth, it’s over, so I’ll have to meet him for business later.”

“The invitation, do you still have it?”

Yoon Taehwa slowly opened his mouth.

“I have it. Why?”

“Give it to me.”