Ha-eun and the Queen IV

After visiting a nearby ice cream store, they headed to Ohjin's house with an ice cream cone in each of their hands.

"Is this your house?"

Isabella licked her strawberry ice cream while looking around.

—A small home that was a little under 100 square meters.

It was a normal house with two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a moderately sized kitchen and living room.

"To be more accurate, it's Ha-eun's house since she's the one who bought it."

Though his own money had bought a portion of it, it was a house bought mostly with Ha-eun's money that she had saved up and loaned.

"Wait… a house that Ha-eun bought?"

Isabella narrowed her eyes.

"Do you both live together by any chance?"

She had already known where Ohjin lived through investigating beforehand, but she hadn't expected him to be living with someone else.

"Heh. Ohjin and I have always lived together."

Ha-eun shrugged as if she was pointing out the obvious.

"Starting from way~~~~ before Ohjin met you."

"…"

"Why? Got any complaints?"

"N-No! Of course, not!"

Isabella shook her head with a panicked expression; her curly blond hair shook like the fur of a scared poodle.

"It's not that I have any complaints, but…"

Isabella glanced around the house a single time and spoke in a worried voice.

"I was just… wondering if it isn't a bit uncomfortable for two people to live in a house this cramped."

"Uuk!"

That time, Ha-eun's shoulders flinched.

"Y-You!"

Ha-eun was just about to say something with a heavily scrunched-up face but suddenly stopped in her tracks.

What Isabella had just prepared as a present was a luxurious mixed-use apartment building.

The exterior of the gorgeous apartment building that was like that of a 5-star hotel resurfaced in her head.

"…"

It was already obvious that a living space the same size as her house would be much more expensive in that luxurious apartment building, but Isabella had straight out bought everything from the first floor to the rooftop of that apartment building.

Simply attempting to compare their value was comical.

"Hehe. Indeed, it is a bit uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"Shut up!"

Ha-eun chewed on her lips and took a step back.

Thinking about it now, that house was also a house she had given to Ohjin as a surprise present.

-This is our house now!

Her face heated up as she recalled the memories of boastfully shouting out in front of the surprised Ohjin.

"It's not uncomfortable."

The answer came from Ohjin's mouth.

"…Ohjin?"

"The house we used to live in was much smaller than this one. I haven't felt uncomfortable once while living here."

"…"

Isabella's expression slightly stiffened, and on the contrary, Ha-eun's lips rose up brightly.

"Hehe, you heard him, right? Ohjin said that he isn't uncomfortable at all~~"

She needlessly stuck close to Ohjin's body and boasted.

"Oh, but not being uncomfortable doesn't mean that it's comfortable, right?"

"Uuk."

"I believe that a man like Ohjin needs a house fitting of his greatness."

Thick veins started to pop out on Ha-eun's forehead.

"Great?! This house is enough for Ohjin!"

"Hmm. Despite having lived with Ohjin for a long time, it appears that you don't know much about him."

"…I don't know?"

"Ohjin is someone who will soon become a worldwide hero."

—A voice filled with conviction.

Her heated gaze headed to Ohjin without a single wisp of doubt.

"…him? A worldwide hero?"

Ha-eun avoided Isabella's eyes and mumbled.

Come to think of it, she had heard similar words from Vega before.

-This child will become an existence greater than any other.

They were words that were hard to imagine targeted at the Ohjin she knew and had lived with.

'Shut up.'

Why was everyone else talking about Ohjin like they knew better than her?

'Who in this world knows about Ohjin better than I do?'

She knew.

—His true appearance.

—The miserable and heartbreaking memories.

—How he looked to be a crane that was floating peacefully on a serene lake but had his legs struggling desperately beneath the surface.

She was the only one that knew.

'Ohjin… isn't anything like a hero.'

Grip—

Ha-eun clenched her fists with an anxious expression.

She suppressed her uneasy mind that was worried that the Ohjin she knew would float far away.

"Well… let's talk about that later."

Isabella's eyes shone as she examined the house's interior.

"Where is your room? I want to take a look around."

"It's over here."

Ohjin indicated a certain room.

"Would it be okay if I went inside?"

"There really isn't much to see."

"Hehe. Still, I want to take a look."

Isabella smiled innocently and opened the door of the room Ohjin had indicated.

"Wow. So this is your—"

Snap—

Isabella's exclaiming words suddenly cut off.

The two beds that were in the corner of the room…

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she looked inside the room once again.

"D-Do you… both use the same room?"

"Yup. That's right."

Ha-run tilted her head like she was getting surprised by the obvious.

Isabella turned her head around to face Ha-eun with a dumbfounded look.

"B-But aren't there two rooms? Then what's the room over there for?"

"That room is the storage room. Well, it's pretty much empty though."

"…Then just why?"

Isabella looked at Ha-eun and Ohjin with a stupefied expression.

"Why? It's only natural that Ohjin and I use the same room."

It looked like Ha-eun didn't give a single care in the world about two fully grown-up adults of different gender using the same room.

"…"

Isabella's face stiffened.

"I… see."

Click, click, click—

She bit her fingernails with a somewhat nervous look.

Her eyes which were soft and gentle like the autumn breeze suddenly cooled down.

'Fuck.'

Ohjin's eyes opened wide as he observed Isabella from the sidelines. An intuition that said 'this is dangerous' ran down his spine.

Ohjin quickly stepped forward and explained.

"Ha-eun's body is a bit impaired. We're using the same room so I can take care of her."

"Ah."

A short exclamation left Isabella's mouth.

Her eyes headed to Ha-eun's right leg.

She was standing so naturally that you couldn't tell on the surface, but it couldn't fool her eyes.

"Hehe. So that's why."

A soft smile was put on her face, and her cold eyes returned to how they were.

'Phew.'

Ohjin was somewhat assured.

'This is terrifying.'

It felt like he was holding onto a bomb that could explode at any moment.

Anxiety several times worse than when Vega and Ha-eun had psychological warfare pushed down on his shoulders.

"Ah, it's about time to eat dinner."

Isabella, who was looking around the house for a while, suddenly clapped her hands.

"Could I borrow your kitchen for a moment?"

"Yes, but most of the remaining ingredients are for Korean food."

"That's fine."

Isabella rummaged around the fridge, took out ingredients, and started to cook skillfully.

Sizzle!—

She stir-fried pork and rubbed it in red chili paste, and then put in the vegetables cut into nice portions, sprinkled a slight amount of sugar, and seasoned it with soy sauce.

"…Isn't she Italian?"

Ha-eun poked Ohjin and asked while looking at how Isabella cooked.

"Yeah."

"Then how does she know how to make stir-fried pork?"

"…I don't know."

Even worse, she was several times more proficient in making the dish compared to Ha-eun.

"I practiced recipes before coming to meet Ohjin.

"Why go out of your way…"

"Hehe. I wanted to personally cook a dish for you like before."

Isabella put on a gentle smile and put plates containing stir-fried pork on top of the dining table.

"Try it out."

"Thanks for the food."

Ohjin and Ha-eun sat by the table and picked up their chopsticks to put spoonfuls of meat into their mouths.

"…!"

"H-Holy crap."

—How the red chilli paste's spiciness and the smokey flavor spread out.

—The sauce's perfect combination of sweet and salty.

'Seriously, I think it's five times tastier than when Ha-eun made it.'

There was also the fact that Ha-eun was bad at cooking, but Isabella's cooking skills were also exceptional.

"N-No way."

Ha-eun's hand that held the chopsticks trembled as she felt a deep sense of defeat.

"Does it suit your tastes?"

"Yes. It's too delicious."

Ohjin nodded as he shoved stir-fried pork into his mouth.

"What a relief."

Isabella didn't even touch the stir-fried pork and leaned her chin on her hand while blatantly looking at Ohjin eat. Her eyes were fond as if she was looking at her adorable lover.

"…"

Ohjin looked at her with perplexed eyes.

'Is that an act or is it sincere?'

Despite knowing her identity, it was hard to tell if her display was a meticulously decorated act or if she was being sincere.

'If… if it's sincere.'

Her strange obsession with him didn't seem to be simply as prey.

Thinking about it logically, someone wouldn't present something worth dozens of millions of dollars to a mere prey, no matter how overflowing with money they were.

There was also no reason to show outright jealousy of Ha-eun.

'And if that's the case—'

Ohjin looked at Isabella with narrowed eyes.

If she sincerely felt affection towards him…

'—I can use her.'

—The 3rd ranking Executor of the Black Star Organization.

—The Queen of Leeches, thirsty for blood.

He could control her to his liking.

'Though it'll be difficult to do so at the moment.'

If he could drag her completely on his side, he was certain it'd be a massive amount of help when facing the Black Star Organization in the future.

'And if it happens, the disaster in two years will naturally be prevented.'

In any case, there were too many reasons for him to maintain a good relationship with her.

"Then I'll take my leave now."

Isabella got up from her seat after they finished their meal.

"Use the apartment however you like once the construction is finished."

"Thank you."

He was thinking of renovating the gifted apartment to use as his training facility.

"Oh, right. Could I ask for one favor?"

"Just give me the word."

There was no request he wouldn't accept with her having gifted an entire apartment.

'I'd even breakdance outside in my underwear if she told me to.'

He even had the confidence to do a windmill and air tricks.

"Could you speak to me more comfortably?"

"Pardon?"

"It's just that I feel you're holding yourself back."

"…Is that really it?"

"Yes!"

Isabella shouted out as her eyes shone.

"Okay."

Ohjin smiled while nodding his head.

"Thank you."

A bright smile was placed on Isabella's mouth.

"Isabella, you speak comfortably, as well."

"Fufu, no. This is more comfortable for me."

Isabella lightly shook her head.

"How long will you stay in Korea?"

"I'm planning on staying for a while. There's something I need to take care of."

"Something you have to take care of?"

"Yes. It's something I want to investigate personally."

Cold killing intent flashed in Isabella's eyes for an instant.

'Investigating…'

Ohjin's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't hard to predict what she was planning to investigate.

'The Owls.'

—They were the only ones that would get the Queen of Leeches to act directly.

'As expected, meeting me isn't the only reason she came to Korea.'

"Alright. See you next time."

"I'm going to get angry if you don't contact me again, okay?"

She placed her hands on her hip and purposely tried to put on an angry expression.

"Haha. I'll contact you often."

Isabella turned around and walked away. Ohjin's lips curved up as he looked at her back which gradually became more distant.

'Those bastards will probably go into panic once they find out the Queen of Leeches is on the move.'

And if so…

"This is the perfect time to go owl hunting.'

It was time to put into practice the method of gaining explosive growth in a short amount of time that he had thought up last time.