Chapter 19: Date with Kim Heejin (1)

Suho Kang's POV

"You sure I can stay at your place?" asks Gyeongchun Rim, clearly doubtful.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll talk to Hansu," I say nonchalantly.

"If you're sure, then okay, but I want a raise compared to my deal with Myeong Seong," he says, looking at me seriously.

"Nah, you'll get a raise only if you find anomalies later," I say, slightly annoyed by his greed.

I know Hansu will end up discovering his true identity. He's literally been to North Korea several times and has a friend in a similar situation to Gyeongchun Rim.

So yeah, I know Hansu will quickly figure out the nature of my "friend" here.

I just want him to sympathize with his situation so he can either call Mr. Kim or help him really settle in South Korea.

During the rest of the ride with Gyeongchun Rim, we talked about various useful and useless things.

For example, how his training in North Korea went and if he'd like to go back there someday.

He avoided answering some personal questions about his relatives, but I suspect he just doesn't have many memories of that.

So yeah, he must be a case like manager Kim.

Of course, I didn't push him since I know how scary North Korea is in the PTJ universe.

They're very extreme with their training methods and brainwashing.

"I see you've brought a friend," Hansu Seong declares after spotting me with Gyeongchun Rim.

I just hope it'll be easy to have Gyeongchun Rim stay here for a while. I need him in my future organization.

He just needs to be under my supervision until I have enough influence in Chunwoong.

"He's my buddy, his name's Gyeongchun Rim," I introduce as calmly as possible, as if I hadn't brought a teenage killer to my guardian's home.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Gyeongchun Rim declares with a polite bow.

"I see, but tell me Suho, why are you bringing me a North Korean as your first friend?" Hansu declares, slightly opening his eyes that were initially narrowed.

Shit, why are things never simple with this old man?

While I was slightly disturbed by his words, Gyeongchun Rim quickly threw a knife at Hansu.

"Indeed, I guessed right," he says, leaning to dodge the knife.

"Next time, improve your South Korean accent since any North Korean could identify you," Hansu explains as he stands up.

He hadn't really taken a fighting stance, but an enormous pressure was emanating from him. Seems like I screwed up.

Especially since Hansu's combative aura seems to have awakened Gyeongchun Rim's killer instinct.

As I had guessed, Gyeongchun Rim quickly pulled out a few knives from his clothes before trying to charge at Hansu.

Luckily, I was able to grab him by the shoulder at the right moment before unbalancing him to pin him to the ground.

"Calm down, he's my legal guardian," I say in a low voice to his ear.

"But he figured me out, it's dangerous," Gyeongchun Rim declares, squirming.

"I don't know why you're hanging out with a kid like that," he says, leaning towards me and Gyeongchun Rim on the ground.

"But I can see he's already killed, and not just once," he says in an emotionless tone.

"He's not a bad person," I say seriously.

In truth, yeah, Gyeongchun Rim is a bad person morally since he literally kills for money, but it's not entirely his fault.

He's been trained from a young age to kill, and when he finds himself in a calm environment like South Korea, he couldn't fully integrate due to lack of real friends or family.

He just continued to practice the only thing he learned. I'm sure I can convince Hansu that he's not bad at heart.

"I trust your judgment, Suho, since I know you're rarely wrong," he says, unknowingly referring to my eyes of misfortune.

"But you're forgetting Taehoon." The moment he mentioned Taehoon's name, I no longer saw Hansu as my taekwondo and kyokushin karate master, but as a father concerned for his child.

"I'd never bring a dangerous person near Taehoon," I say sincerely. Gyeongchun Rim won't harm Taehoon, and I'll be with him almost all the time.

"Alright," he says, standing up before turning his back to me.

"Will your friend stay here just for dinner, or do you want to keep him here for an extended period?" he asks as he walks away.

"I would've preferred him to stay until I come of age, but a few months is fine," I say honestly.

Hansu simply nodded to show his agreement before disappearing into the house. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for him to make.

"Can you let me go now?" asks Gyeongchun Rim, still pinned to the ground by me.

"Oh, sorry," I apologize, getting up.

"Your guardian... Is he a professional?" Gyeongchun Rim asks in an intrigued tone.

"I don't really understand what you mean by 'professional,' but Hansu is among the strongest I know," I say honestly.

In the end, Gyeongchun Rim was successfully installed in the house.

...

"Hey, I'm here!" a voice echoed in my direction.

It was Kim Heejin. She looked completely different from her usual appearance at school.

She was wearing feminine clothes that strangely accentuated her figure, and judging by the smile starting to form on her lips, I think she caught me analyzing her.

"Like what you see?" she questions, full of confidence and pushing her chest forward.

Although she's still growing, I can tell she'll have a good size in her twenties.

"Indeed," I say without hiding my gaze. She had already caught me taking a look, so might as well own up to it.

"You're really shameless," she says, feigning anger before smiling and grabbing my arm.

"So, where's this karaoke?" I ask directly as we walk.

During our little stroll, my arm was firmly held by Heejin.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she replies, slightly frowning.

"Can't we go eat something first?" she continues without waiting for my response or approval as she's already dragging me towards a waiting car.

Once inside, she asked the driver to take us to a restaurant I've never heard of.

"You look uncomfortable," I could hear a hint of pride in her words as she observes me.

I'm sure she thinks she's impressed me, but in reality, I'm not really comfortable with all-black vehicles with tinted windows.

I was kidnapped by this kind of vehicle back in the day in my life as Josue.

"It's because of old memories, don't worry about it," I say honestly.

"I see," she says, nodding. She seems curious, judging by the looks she keeps throwing at me.

"I can talk about that story if you want," I offer. We still had plenty of time ahead of us, and I could see she was starting to feel awkward.

Despite her dominant attitude towards her friends, she's still a teenager in the end, with her moments of hesitation and embarrassment.

At my suggestion, she nodded without hesitation. So I started telling her a modified version of me with Isabelle.

In this version, I beat up the kidnappers and got out alive.

"Haha, I know you're strong, Suho, but beating criminals..." She clearly didn't believe me. Of course I lied about the end of the story, but the current me can easily beat the idiots who killed me.

"I'll show you one day that there aren't many people who can beat me," I say bitterly as she mocks me.

Note to self: avoid lying when talking about myself to a girl. I feel like Usopp.

In the end, I managed to dispel the embarrassing atmosphere in the car, and Heejin was able to converse more easily with me.

"We've arrived," declares the man at the wheel.

We got out, and as expected, I was in front of a very nice restaurant.

"Admit it, you're surprised," she says with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, but next time I'm choosing the restaurant," I say, half-joking.

I still have a lot of money for a 16-year-old, but I've recently wasted a ton of resources, so this restaurant is clearly going to bleed me dry.