6. Encounter (2)

"Moon Jin-soo. Date of Birth March 9th, 23 years old this year. An only child, lost both parents due to the first dungeon break tragedy. Abnormal sensitivity to guiding. Occupation: former idol, some part time jobs. Unaffiliated, unregistered, and unofficially tested A-rank Esper specializes in supportive abilities of debuffing skill and hidden buffing skill."

The sound of a paper document being turned could be heard.

"The details written here are: binding or paralyzing debuff skills with a penalty of taking the same debuff if the enemy is of a higher rank or numbers. Activation traits are sparkles of gold dust surrounding the body and the target. Hidden buffing skill that doubled the target's power and reduces the fatigue at the same time. Activation condition is maintaining physical touch with the intended target, and the special trait is the eyes shone bright golden while activated."

Kang Tae-yang's gaze that was focused on the detailed report on his hand went to the stunned man in front of him with a smirk.

Moon Jin-soo unintentionally swallowed dry saliva.

How come that he himself didn't know what rank he is, but the person he just met today knew it. Did he say 'unofficially tested'?

"You did a background check and undergo an Esper rank test on me?"

The Guild Master shrugged his shoulders as he put down the documents aside.

"It's my patient's medical records that I personally requested. How could you say it that way? I'm hurt, Jin-soo ya."

So it was it then.

Moon Jin-soo frowned at how shameless the man's answer is. Considering his opponent's position in power and rank, Kang Tae-yang could easily have a hand in the political world, so basic background check isn't something to be surprised about.

The description about his abilities actually surprised him a little, but not to such extent. He used it for a couple of hours during that day in front of Soleil's Deputy Master, and seeing Park Hyun-sik's personality and capability as an S-ranked person, he might be able to grasp his abilities somehow.

However.. in cases of determining a talented person's rank, as far as he knows, official government are obliged to take a part.

They'll make Espers undergo various tests and check ups to be able to diagnose the rank and ability details.

Although Espers could feel other's power and presence and assumed their ranks based on it. It's like the instinct felt when met someone more powerful, or weaker, or of the same aura as yourself. Even so, it's not 100% accurate.

Unless you're a high ranking Esper such as this guild master in front of him.

"But how the hell.."

I didn't undergo one since every little details of my information will be kept in their database, and my profile and personal contact would appear if someone searched up my name.

So when did I.. no, when did he.

As if a light bulb appeared on top of my head, the suspicion made me took a step back, "Did you, when I was unconscious–"

Contrary to how wary Moon Jin-soo is, Kang Tae-yang calmly looked at him with an innocent smile plastered on his face. Just like in the old days, that smile of his looked as if a blinding halo shining brightly around his prettily handsome face.

"Don't worry, the person who diagnosed you is a trusted one of mine. It'll be kept as a secret so it won't leak out."

That didn't answer anything, damn it. I put a hand on my forehead as it felt like the headache is coming back.

"Kang Tae-yang sunbaenim, you really– haa..." I mumbled with an exasperated sigh.

If you weren't my senior in the entertainment world, I would probably punch you for violating my privacies.

First and foremost, it's unnerving that he doesn't only grasped my basic information, but also the details of my abilities as an Esper which the government doesn't even have.

I couldn't help but be wary of him.

"If you had that much information already, that probably means you've been informed about the details of the dungeon break, don't you?"

So why bother calling me here. Are you trying to get along just because you knew I'm an old acquaintance?

"Hmm"

At my argument, Kang Tae-yang smiled even wider at me. Why are you smiling so happily? It's suspicious so please stop it.

Kang Tae-yang's long legs strode closer to me while I took a step back each. When he got too close, I needed to lift my face up to be able to look at his face. Even though my height is above average, it can't be compared with someone over 6 feet tall.

One of Kang Tae-yang's big hands brushed against my neck, and slowly made its way up to my ear. The feeling of skin to skin contact sent me shivers as he stroked my earlobe.

Kang Tae-yang stared at the round black color of Moon Jin-soo's piercing reflected the light as it was being fiddled with.

"I guess I do want to get along with my old acquantaince, my Luna." He whispered low to me as if he just read and answered my thoughts.

Kang Tae-yang's long fingers slipped to the mask strap behind my ear and pulled off the black mask covering my face at ease. The mask fell down to the floor helplessly. My eyebrows frowned in displeasure as I stared at the object on the floor.

"Don't call me that."

"I want you, Jin-soo ya."

Haish.. I guess this side of you never changed.

If it were me in the past I would've naively thought it was just his concept images to gather more fans or give exciting fanservices. Turns out it's just this man's actual personality.

'I didn't know back then because I worked as a solo idol, who collaborated as a trio group with him and one more idol that debuted as a duo with him.'

But it was just a temporary collaboration so I didn't think much about Kang Tae-yang's behavior. Cold sweat formed on my forehead.

"Don't say things that would lead to misunderstandings, Kang Tae-yang sunbaenim."

"I meant it, though."

The man ducked his face to get closer to my side. I could feel his breath tickling my ear.

"Your abilities would be useful, Jin-soo ya."

Useful enough to clear hard dungeons easier. In fact, if people knew Moon Jin-soo's hidden abilities, people would still covet it no matter what rank it is. Not even his right hand deputy master could deny it.

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

"Playing dumb as usual, are we?"

Moon Jin-soo's eyebrow twitched as he heard the criticism. I tried hard to control my expression.

"You're mistaken. Just like what the result said, I'm just a support type A-ranked Esper. My abilities are not suited for combat since I can't even use a mere 30% of it and the high burden I'll be dealing with right after. And my physical abilities are even lower than that of a C-rank."

The corners of Kang Tae-yang's lips pulled up as he hums at my rebuttal.

"How can you keep denying your own abilities. It's amusing to see. But, you know, Jin-soo ya.."

Despite the sweet voice calling my name familiarly, those eyes which are staring straight at me felt cold and calculative.

"I want you to assist Soleil Guild whenever we got assigned to high leveled dungeons or national ones. Just like what I said before, your abilities would be useful, and it's no exaggeration. Of course this is an offer, so in exchange.."

The man leaned back, the corner of his eyes went down as his gaze never left mine.

"With my assistance, I could help you live without your fears."

My fears..

The words ringing inside my head as it brought back unpleasant memories. I chewed the bottom of my lip.

If I accepted his offer here, that would mean I would join Soleil and work under him. There's no way I would stay as an unregistered Esper as well. It would only lead to unwanted attention.

"You can do your job even without my assistance, since it's your obligatory as an Esper and Guild Master to ensure the safety of the citizens. I'd rather not deal with these kinds of things. I'll excuse myself."

I turned around from my spot and headed towards the door. No matter how tempting the offer is, this man in front of me erupted a bad feeling.

He's dangerous, and honestly I don't think I could trust my back to someone who did questionable things without any sense of shame.

Just as my hand was about to turn the door knob, something grabbed it and stopped me. I could hear the deep low voice next to my ear.

"That's unfortunate. Well, I'll let you off for now and persuade you next time. Until that day comes.."

One of his hands that was trapping me came close and stroked the corner of my cheeks from the side.

"I sincerely hope you agree with my offer, Moon Jin-soo." his hand that was holding mine on the door knob loosened and slowly went to my waist.

The SS-rank aura felt overpowering to the point it feels like my whole body is petrified. It's way more powerful and ominous than the S-rank Park Hyun-sik's. My legs trembled slightly as I felt the massive difference in rank.

Kang Tae-yang who lowered his head, buried his face on the nape of my neck. A tingling sensation went straight to my spine as I felt warm breath brushing against my skin.

This crazy—

"Stop this and please let go now–!"

I tried to peel off the hand hugging my waist and struggled to break free. Kang Tae-yang meekly loosened his grip and took a step back.

That's it. My past sunbae in the entertainment world or not, I can't tolerate this any longer. I'm leaving.

Before Moon Jin-soo completely closed the door, he frowned as a low bitter voice could be heard behind him.

"I'll be waiting for you."

***

The door of his office slammed shut. The SS-rank stood blankly at the door where Moon Jin-soo just left.

Oh dear, seems like his hoobaenim was really annoyed because of his offer. Or was it because of what he had done? Well.

Walking towards his work desk, his hand reached towards a black colored device on top of the desk, a phone, and put it on his ear.

"You heard everything, don't you?"

"Loud and clear~"

The other side of the call chuckled brightly.

"Still, you teased him too much. Don't you feel sorry for him?"

"Hmm. His expression was quite fun to see, though."

A frustrated whine could be heard from the call.

"Argh! This is unfair, I wanna see my Jin-soo too—"

"Ours." Kang Tae-yang corrected him.

"Ah this goddamn— yes yes, OUR Jin-soo. Sighs.. even though I'm the one who got those prophetic dreams and told you to investigate that shady dungeon in Chungmuro.."

Kang Tae-yang sat down on his chair as he listens to the call receiver's grumbles. He leaned back on his chair and stared at the already setting sun in the sky.

His mind trailed off as he slowly brought his hand up, stroking a piece of accessory on his ear.

"So? Aren't you coming back here, Kim Tae-ra?"

The other side of the phone that was spouting gibberish fell silent for a while before replying.

"...You know I have to take care of important matters here first. I'll definitely coming back to Korea, though! Ain't no way I'm gonna let you have our hoobae all for yourself! You better behave nicely to him!"

"I did, though?"

"You did a background check on him as well as forced him undergo talented person medical check up while he's still unconscious, Kang Tae-yang. What in the hell way is that behaving nicely?"

"It was necessary."

"You really.. waargh— just! Don't make him run away, you hear me? We had a goddamn hard time searching everywhere for him!"

Then he remembered briefly the sight of Moon Jin-soo turned his back and left his office.

"Well. At one point, he did run away today."

"He did?!"

"No need to worry. I've marked him."

"You did WHAT?! Hey Kang Tae-yang! You just met him again after all these years and you– you dog!"

Kang Tae-yang let out a mocking scoff at the angry voice from his phone.

"Logically speaking, I am a dog."

"I can't believe I heard that from a wolf shapeshifter.."

The man's sigh on the phone could be heard, exhausted by the behavior of his old colleague during their time in the entertainment world.

"But well, it's good for emergency measures, I guess.. I almost lose my shit when you texted me saying your deputy master found him but he's unconscious because of the dungeon break incident."

The call receiver fell silent for awhile, then he continued in a low tone.

"We can't lose him now.. and you know that best, Tae-yang ah."

A bitter smile formed on the said man's lips.

"You don't have to remind me. I'll hang up now."

The man turned off the call with a click and put down his phone. Eyebrows knitted when he closed them, vivid memories being replayed again and again like never-ending movie scenes.

And when he opened his eyes again, all he could see was his own shadowed reflection on the window glass.

We can't lose him.

Not again.

***

Moon Jin-soo pushed the elevator button down to the first floor of the building. His mind is still in tangles after what Kang Tae-yang just said.

Sure, deep down he knew his abilities are useful enough. But becoming an official Esper and participating in dungeons was another matter.

Everytime the face of Kang Tae-yang popped into my mind, it felt like I could hear him talking in auditory hallucination. It's annoying.

'Let's forget it. Forget it.'

As the elevator signaled that it had arrived at the designated floor with a ding sound, I went through the opened door and walked towards that looked like the building's exit. My pace stopped in the middle of the hall when I met a familiar face standing still, as if awaiting my arrival.

"Oh, um.. I finished the talk with the guild master so I'm planning to go home now." feeling awkward, I blurted out towards the S-ranked man in front of me, although I don't really know if my reasoning is of importance for this man.

Park Hyun-sik kept staring at Moon Jin-soo with his mouth shut, before he reached out something inside his suit inner pocket and gave it to him.

It's a new face mask, the same looking one as before.

It took him awhile to realize that he got so irked to the point he had forgotten that his mask was taken off. No wonder he felt eyes staring daggers at him. The smaller man accepted the mask gratefully and wear it.

Moon Jin-soo's light brown eyes glanced towards the lobby glass entrace. The sky outside has already gotten dark.

"Thank you for your help for the past few days, and I'm sorry for troubling you, Park Hyun-sik ssi. Now if you'll exc–"

"I'll drive you home."

"Pardon?"

I thought I heard it wrong, but Park Hyun-sik said it once again.

"I'll drive you back home. Let's go."

"Yes? No, I mean, wait a minute.. there's no need for you to.."

I'm confused. Why are you suddenly like this? We're not close enough for you to drive me home, so what gives?

Seeing my puzzled expression, Park Hyun-sik looked stern.

"I insist. You just got discharged, and the Guild Master has ordered me so you returned safely." he said with resolute.

'The guild master'..? Was that sunbaenim really worried because I just got discharged?

I was about to open my mouth and refute, but seeing Park Hyun-sik's resoluteness, it felt uncomfortable to refuse him. And I don't want to cause a scene, since many people are already glancing towards our spot even now.

With a bitter smile hiding behind my mask, I nod my head slightly and accept his offer. Thus, Park Hyun-sik's expression became more relaxed with a small smile, and he led the way towards his car parked near the building's entrance.

Moon Jin-soo felt troubled by the excessive kindness, but thinking twice, going home this way is definitely better than him taking public transportation.

Park Hyun-sik opened the front passenger seat door politely and I thanked him as I sat down. When he sat down at the driver's seat and turned on the car's engine, I turned on the GPS route to my apartment complex, then we finally left Soleil Guild building.

As the passenger rested his head on the window, night scenery passed by as the vehicle moved smoothly.

Neither Moon Jin-soo nor Park Hyun-sik striked a conversation first, so the situation inside the car is quiet.

'It's peaceful, though.'

It's great and he appreciated the silence. It calmed his mind and felt like relieving the accumulated headache from the previous events. Just when he thought he'll get home in no time, that was when

Groowl

The cries of a stomach begging for food could be heard somewhere.