451

 [Chapter 128]

[The Heart That Knows the Answer (4)]

On the evening when players protected Yokohama.

Han Seo-hyun spent time having a sincere conversation with Han Do-young after a very long time.

It may have been almost the first time since she was born.

"Your engagement will be broken off as soon as we return to Korea. They won't be able to find fault since they committed a crime too."

"...Yes, Dad. Thank you."

"It feels like it's been a really long time since I heard you say thank you to me."

Since she realized how heavy the name of Sirius was.

Han Seo-hyun always treated her father only as the chairman of Sirius Group.

She just followed orders.

Because her emotions were nothing but irrational for Sirius.

So she killed her emotions and didn't try to show her dissatisfaction to her father.

But that was rather the root of the problem.

"How was your study abroad life in Japan?"

"It wasn't all bad. Maybe it became a valuable experience. But what was strange... It seemed like people's lives weren't that different in Korea or Japan."

It was a lack of communication.

Father and daughter had been mistaken all this time.

Father, Han Do-young, didn't decide her engagement just for profit. His decision also considered his daughter's happiness.

Therefore, if she had refused, he would have withdrawn the engagement.

And through this occasion, the two were able to understand each other's thoughts.

"It seems I've been putting a heavy burden on you all this time. I thought it was all for you, but it seems that rather made you suffer. I'm sorry, Seo-hyun."

"No. I didn't say anything until now either. I'm really sorry."

"Really... I'm so glad. If anything had happened to you because of my greed, I..."

"Dad, why are you crying? And I'm alive like this."

Father and daughter cried and laughed facing each other.

She smiled because her father's gaze towards her was warm.

All this time, she had been consciously avoiding her family's gaze.

"By the way... Seo-hyun, are you really okay? When your engagement is broken off, then for you too..."

"I'm fine."

Soon Han Do-young looked at her with worried eyes.

It's an engagement made a very long time ago.

It was a marriage talk between Sirius and YH that everyone in political and business circles knew about.

So if the engagement is broken off, she and Choi Ye-jang will become gossip inside and outside political and business circles.

The man is somewhat okay.

The problem is that the person who suffers in these matters is usually the woman.

People who like to slander others will try to tarnish her image with baseless words.

Though it probably won't happen since Sirius is ranked 2nd in the business world, in the worst case there was a risk her marriage prospects could be blocked.

"Honestly, I... don't care about things like my marriage. So it's okay."

"...I see."

"Of course, if it could harm the group, I would also..."

"No, there's no need for that."

But she wasn't interested in marriage from the start.

She answered as if she didn't care even if her marriage prospects were blocked.

Of course, it would be an exception if it affected the group.

That's when her father stopped her words.

"I was thinking wrong. It's your life, not mine... If that's what you think, I don't want to force marriage on you anymore. Seo-hyun, do as you like."

"..."

Do as you like.

The moment she heard those words, ripples appeared in Han Seo-hyun's eyes.

Han Do-young looked straight at her and continued speaking.

"Come to think of it, Seo-yeon said she wanted to succeed me since she was young, but you didn't show interest in management. Why didn't I understand that, I'm really pathetic."

"...No. I knew how you, Mom, and unnie thought about me. Don't be like that too much."

"If that's the case, I'm glad... Anyway. From now on, I'd like you to live as your heart desires. I can leave management and such to Seo-yeon... Do as you like."

Han Do-young smiles warmly.

Han Seo-hyun nodded reading the gentle emotion.

And she couldn't help but ask.

"Then... Can I marry the person I want?"

"...Huh? Didn't you just say you weren't interested in things like marriage?"

"...I mean if."

She added in a quiet voice.

As if he didn't expect such a question, Han Do-young made a flustered expression.

He falls into deep contemplation.

Han Do-young who wanted to introduce a man matching his daughter soon─.

"─Okay, if you like him that's fine. I won't say anything either. Just as long as he's not a bad guy. You know what I mean, right?"

"Of course. I know too."

Han Do-young who came to an answer after much deliberation.

Han Seo-hyun giggles.

Then Han Do-young bursts out laughing too.

And he subtly probes─.

"─Is it perhaps someone I know? Surely you're not thinking of making a new engagement right after breaking off the engagement? That's a bit..."

"There's no such person. I said if, didn't I? And I won't commit such a thing thoughtlessly either."

"Hoho... Right, you must have something in mind. I won't stop you."

Han Seo-hyun feigned innocence to the end. Meanwhile, the corners of her mouth rose high.

He decided not to pry further.

☆

Yokohama was currently in the midst of damage recovery work.

As a result, all schedules for high academy students were canceled.

It was natural that exchanges with the Japanese academy were canceled too.

Moreover, with the port half-destroyed, it was uncertain whether they could depart on the scheduled date.

In the end, the academy's schedule itself became disrupted.

"It seems the damage was small here even though the station was nearby."

"Kaguya-sama was on the upper floor. They say she minimized damage by deploying the power of <White Silver> in the early stages of the incident."

"Ah, I see."

Fortunately, Kaguya took measures. She promised to support whatever was needed while students stayed in Japan as repayment for helping with rescue operations.

Thanks to that, though the schedule was disrupted, students could explore the Japanese city without being constrained by money.

"There's a Korean restaurant here too?"

"There's one in most department stores. I sometimes went to nearby department stores when I missed Korean food..."

In this situation, Eun-ha was exceptionally employed as Han Seo-hyun's exclusive player.

Of course, even though he was an exclusive player, what he actually did was just follow her around sightseeing the city.

"Jjamppong soup should be like this after all... How much I wanted to eat this."

8th floor of Yokohama Takashimaya Department Store.

Eun-ha who toured the city with Han Seo-hyun since morning ate lunch at a Korean restaurant located on the 8th floor.

The waiter brought jjamppong.

Eun-ha who tasted the red soup nodded with satisfaction.

"Is it delicious?"

"You don't know. I came all this way just to eat this, you know?"

"I know. I've heard it several times today."

Han Seo-hyun chuckled.

She splits wooden chopsticks in half and stirs jajangmyeon.

Then she puts Eun-ha's portion on the side plate received in advance.

It was an action ingrained in her body when she sometimes went to eat with him when she was in Korea.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha scooped up soup and suddenly held it out to her.

"Here. Huh?"

"...It's delicious. Why?"

"No. I was just thinking it's unusual for you to eat without complaining."

Then Han Seo-hyun who carefully tasted the soup while brushing back her hair.

Eun-ha made a bewildered expression.

If it was the her he knew, she would have hesitated and complained something.

Then she would have eventually pretended she had no choice and drank it.

But she put his spoon to her mouth without any complaint.

"Why are you making a fuss over this?"

"...Somehow you seem to have become really easygoing while in Japan?"

"I was always like this."

"No you weren't..."

"Don't just eat jjamppong, try the sweet and sour pork too."

"..."

There was one more surprising thing.

She picked up sweet and sour pork with her chopsticks and held it out to him.

Eun-ha was surprised by her uncharacteristic behavior and blinked while chewing the sweet and sour pork she put in his mouth.

"How is it? Is it delicious?"

"...It's delicious."

She asks with her arms on the table.

He who swallowed the sweet and sour pork blankly answered her question.

Eun-ha couldn't adapt to her he met after a long time.

What's with this noona?

She wasn't originally this kind of person...

Eun-ha kept blinking.

Soon he arbitrarily concluded that the time they hadn't met changed her.

"Here, noona eat too."

"I told you not to call me noona."

"How is it?"

"...It's delicious."

"And jajangmyeon tastes better eaten with pickled radish."

"...Thank you."

He feels like playing pranks for no reason.

Eun-ha played a prank using the word 'noona' she dislikes.

While doing so, he put sweet and sour pork in her mouth as she did to him, and even put pickled radish on her jajangmyeon.

Before they knew it, the two were moving their chopsticks to pick up side dishes for each other.

"Come to think of it..."

"What?"

She who was chewing jjamppong Eun-ha fed her glanced behind.

A round table not far away.

Friends Eun-ha called earlier were sitting there.

It was because he called them thinking of his friends when he heard her say she would let him taste Korean food.

"There are many people I don't know... Are all those people going to join your party?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Han Seo-hyun asked curiously.

Eun-ha readily answered.

Then she turned her head completely and closely examined the faces of friends she hadn't seen before.

She saw Yoon I-byeol's eyes in the middle and trailed off with a "Hmm".

"It seems there will be over 10 people if you add the people I know."

"Yeah, well... Somehow the number of people increased."

"It's not party scale."

Eun-ha shrugged his shoulders.

It was all because of his greed.

As he gathered promising talents, the number of people increased.

Eun-ha is also aware of this fact.

That the scale has become too large to call it a party.

"So I'm thinking of maybe making an alliance binding 2-3 parties for now."

"Wouldn't it be better to make a clan rather than an alliance then?"

Han Seo-hyun pointed out.

Eun-ha closed his mouth.

Her words did have a point.

Parties and alliances only differ in number of people, but the given authority isn't much different. Compared to that, clans are given quite a lot of authority.

For example, in wartime situations, clans were above small unit groups like parties.

But parties are given independent action rights.

However, with authority comes responsibility.

Clans have to respond to national requests and sometimes get caught up in conflicts of interest.

On the other hand, parties could be given independent action rights depending on the case.

So before regression, the Mist Flower Party was able to act separately by receiving recognition of independent action rights from Fairy Im Ga-eul.

Considering the disasters that will occur in succession a few years from now, Eun-ha thought a party with the authority to move freely was perfect.

"What's the reason you're trying to make a party even like that?"

However, Han Seo-hyun didn't know the intention he was hiding.

So she expressed doubt.

Eun-ha fell into thought.

Soon the answer he gave was─.

"─Because I want to do as I please."

Eun-ha looked out the window.

Dots are moving.

They are people doing recovery work.

A few years from now, similar scenes will be seen in Korea too.

It will be worse than this.

"To make a clan, the procedures are complicated and it takes a lot of time and money. You have to come under the Mana Management Agency's control in wartime situations... You have to attend meetings often too..."

There were many other reasons he wanted to make a party.

Above all, the reason he preferred parties was because he had experience operating a party before regression.

Since he did it once, he naturally had confidence he could operate it better the second time.

"So what are you ultimately trying to achieve?"

Just then Han Seo-hyun cut off his words.

It was a serious tone.

Eun-ha looked at her.

"I'll gain the power to prevent anyone from touching my people."

It was an ambiguous statement.

Nevertheless, she didn't try to demand further explanation.

She didn't deny it saying it's nonsense either.

"You could probably do it with your power. But you know what?"

Rather, she affirmed.

And she opened her mouth to say the next words.

"You're going round and round now."

"...Round and round?"

"Yes, round and round. Why are you trying to take a difficult path when there's an easy path?"

Han Seo-hyun who frowned saying she couldn't understand.

Eun-ha was at a loss for words.

Rather, he couldn't understand her words.

Then she sighed.

"If you make a clan instead of a party, you could advance more smoothly than you think. But I don't understand why you're obsessed with parties."

"Parties are easy to make, and troublesome issues..."

"Parties have a lower entry barrier compared to clans. But the given authority is incomparably lower than clans."

"But independent action rights..."

"Yes, the advantage of parties is flexibility as you said. Depending on the situation, they're given independent action rights and exempted from annoying obligations."

Eun-ha says something.

Seo-hyun accurately points out the key points and refutes his words.

She moves her lips.

"Instead, parties can't stand above clans in the chain of command. If you try to stand in a higher position than clans, do you think all clans will leave a party trying to go against the chain of command alone? Why are you trying to make enemies that don't need to be made?"

"..."

"I don't know what position you're ultimately aiming for... But someone who tries to stand above others should also know how to rule those below. But when a party that doesn't belong under anyone tries to rule someone, do you think others will acknowledge that?"

"That's..."

"Above all─."

"..."

"─If a party saves 10 people, a clan can save 100 people. Someone trying to live on a national scale should naturally move on a national scale. Why on earth are you trying to move on a small scale?"

"Ah..."

Hearing the last words.

He felt like he was hit hard on the head with a hammer.

Her words were right.

"You should know how to command, not work. You should reform from the top, not from the bottom. You have the power to do that, don't you?"

The life <Undead > No Eun-ha experienced was the life of those below.

He who only looked up from below couldn't get used to the sense of looking down from above.

Naturally, his way of thinking was like that too.

That's why even now, even before regression, he only acted on a 'small scale' while dreaming of a 'large scale'.

"If you properly establish merits from the start, you could be given independent command authority even as a clan. Then you would be able to command not just a single clan, but groups belonging under it."

On the other hand, what about Han Seo-hyun?

Han Seo-hyun, the direct line of Sirius Group, lived a life as someone above from birth.

Naturally, her way of looking at the world was on a national scale.

That's why she evaluated his way of thinking as irrational.

And irrational words often have aspects that are synonymous with inefficient.

"Do you understand now?"

"...Yeah."

Eun-ha had to admit.

That her opinion was more efficient.

Nevertheless, the problem hadn't completely disappeared.

"...The procedure to make a clan is complicated. You need to find a clan-exclusive office... pass a financial soundness review, and have conflicts with local clans when entering..."

"Why are you saying such weak things. It's not like you."

"..."

"A leader doesn't need to do everything. Can't you leave such things to an administrator? Finding an office isn't difficult... You can easily pass financial soundness with the group's sponsorship, can't you?"

"If you receive the group's sponsorship like that, you have to be controlled."

"Wouldn't that be up to you? If you really hate that, you can make it with just your own funds, Eun-ha. It's not like you don't have enough money. Why do you keep saying weak things?"

Since she started talking.

Han Seo-hyun stabs Eun-ha's dagger.

Eun-ha couldn't refute anything.

To the point he felt like an idiot.

"I'll... think about it once."

"Okay then. In my opinion, I think it would be better to make a clan after all."

For now, Eun-ha nodded.

He decided to think about it calmly later.

Whether a party is more helpful.

Or whether a clan is more helpful.

If he ends up making a clan... Choosing an administrator would be a task too.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha inwardly agonized.

He who had never done administrative work had no choice but to leave all tasks to an administrator.

That much, the administrator's position becomes impossible to ignore.

It wouldn't be wrong to see them as the actual clan lord.

In the end, if he's thinking of making a clan, it meant he needed to recruit an administrator who was capable, would follow his orders, and wouldn't betray him.

But just then, as if reading his mind─.

"─If you need an administrator, tell me. I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"I'm someone who's received management lessons since childhood too. Though I'm not as good as unnie, I can handle clan administration. And... I'm planning to receive clan administrator education at a university in Korea from next year."

Han Seo-hyun said.

Eun-ha doubted his ears.

"...Your family allows it? No, you don't have to do group management?"

It's nonsense.

For Sirius Group's direct line to take on the role of a mere clan's administrator.

Does she think Sirius Group will stay still?

But she blew away such doubts of his at once.

"─Father allowed it too."

Proudly selling out her father.

Han Seo-hyun smiled.

☆

Han Seo-hyun, was it?

She's a very pretty person.

Watching her sitting next to Eun-ha by the window seat, smiling at him, Yoon I-byeol couldn't deny the thought that suddenly occurred to her.

"...What kind of person is she?"

At the same time, she couldn't help but ask.

Just who is that person.

For Eun-ha to have gone around the city with her all day today.

Also, why are those two sharing food so intimately like that.

They're just like lovers.

"I don't know well either. Just that she's Sirius Group's direct line?"

Kim Min-ji replied to her as if it wasn't a big deal.

As if the jjamppong in front of her now was more important than Eun-ha.

"She's someone Eun-ha has known since childhood. Since there's no connection with us, now I just think, oh there's a person who looks pretty like that?"

Min-ji adds while slurping up noodles.

She eats deliciously.

In contrast, Yoon I-byeol hadn't been able to eat a single bite for a while.

The noodles are swollen to the point of bursting.

"That unnie is quite famous in political and business circles. She's extremely pretty. So there was a big fuss a long time ago when news came that YH Group's Choi Ye-jang oppa was getting engaged to her."

"...Engagement?"

It was just then.

Cha Eun-woo satisfied her curiosity while crunching on pickled radish.

Yoon I-byeol turned her gaze to Eun-woo.

Eun-woo nods and explains in detail what kind of person Seo-hyun is.

"But um... This isn't certain so I don't think I can say..."

"Tell me."

"Um..."

He talked too much about others' stories.

Cha Eun-woo who suddenly realized that soon made a troubled expression.

Nevertheless, Yoon I-byeol was stubborn.

In the end, Eun-woo who couldn't overcome her gaze continued speaking.

"Looking at how things are going, I think their relationship may have soured. Um... sorry, I'll stop here."

Cha Eun-woo laughs awkwardly.

Yoon I-byeol couldn't pry any further.

Instead, she looked at Han Seo-hyun and No Eun-ha.

He doesn't smile at me like that...

He doesn't put food on my plate like that...

No Eun-ha's face is exceptionally kind. Moreover, the sight of him putting pickled radish on her jajangmyeon is too dazzling.

I'm envious.

Jealousy wells up for no reason.

So when she was about to closely observe Han Seo-hyun's every move to find faults─.

─Huh?

Their eyes met.

Han Seo-hyun was looking at her.

Yoon I-byeol flustered and floundered.

But Han Seo-hyun turned her head away from her with a relaxed smile.

Soon she brushes her hair behind her ear in front of Eun-ha.

Then she opens her mouth shyly and eats the sweet and sour pork Eun-ha hands her.

It's all pretense.

She seems to be saying it's delicious.

Meanwhile, Han Seo-hyun secretly glances at her─.

─Sh-she smiled!?

Yoon I-byeol saw.

For just a fleeting moment, she saw her raise the corners of her mouth towards her.

"...Ugh..."

Yoon I-byeol gripped her chopsticks.

Though Han Seo-hyun no longer even gave her a glance.

She kept glaring at Han Seo-hyun. If their eyes met, she was determined not to lose the staring contest this time.

She was frustrated, and frustrated again.

"─Don't do that too much."

"...Huh?"

"I said don't do that too much."

It was then.

Jung Ha-yang who had been quietly eating jjamppong opened her mouth.

Yoon I-byeol was bewildered.

"Since he's meeting Eun-ha after a long time, let's not do that too much."

Jung Ha-yang smiles bitterly.

It was somewhat pitiful too.

Nevertheless, she seemed to be enduring.

I... don't like it.

But Yoon I-byeol couldn't understand at all.

She couldn't understand Jung Ha-yang either.

Ha-yang, is Eun-ha only that much to you?

She thought to that extent.

Soon Yoon I-byeol became convinced again.

That she was the only one who liked him most in the world.

Not Jung Ha-yang, not her.

The only person who can understand No Eun-ha is herself who likes him the most.

Meanwhile─.

"─I'm scared of Seo-hyun unnie..."

Jung Ha-yang shuddered.

She who once received teachings from Han Seo-hyun knew very well.

Han Seo-hyun shouldn't be turned into an enemy.