Lee Sayoung knocked on the door just as Uijae finished washing the dishes, cleaning, and preparing for tomorrow's business. It was such perfect timing that it felt like someone had been watching him.

Uijae peeked his head out from the kitchen to check the door, and upon seeing the black gas mask floating above the glass, his eyes widened.

“What’s up? All of a sudden.”

“I have something to say.”

The response was whispered. Was it yet another favor he wanted to ask? Uijae loosened the apron strings he had tied tightly and headed for the door. Sayoung stood patiently in front of it, as if waiting for him to open it.

With a slide, he opened the door, and the shadowy figure stepped inside without sitting down first.

“Have you been to Songdo?”

This was it.

Uijae made a sour face as he alternately glanced at the shiny black ticket and the black gloves holding it, along with the gas mask. This guy, whenever he thought to greet him warmly out of some accumulated goodwill, always pulled out a bomb from his pocket, making it impossible to welcome him. Moreover,

‘Why are black tickets so common?’

Aren’t these supposed to be rare, sought-after tickets worth tens of billions? The regulars at the hangover soup restaurant were causing quite a stir just to get their hands on one piece of this paper, so why was it that three of them rolled in right into his lap without him even trying?

Uijae averted his gaze from the ticket, which would intimidate any ordinary person, and tried to change the subject.

“Why did you come so late today?”

“Hmm?”

Sayoung tilted his head slightly and answered sincerely, “If I came during business hours, you’d give me the stink eye for ruining sales.”

‘Damn, why say it like that?’

Caught off guard by the direct hit, Uijae subtly looked up at the ceiling.

In truth, Sayoung was right. If he had come during dinner service, it would have created a Sayoung ZONE, meaning dinner sales would plummet, and Uijae would have been looking at him with a sour expression. He still was, in fact.

Sayoung muttered, seemingly for Uijae to hear, “They’re the ones scared and not coming near me.”

Somehow, the gas mask holding the black tickets looked gloomy. Even though gas masks don’t have expressions!

Nam Woojin’s words began to swirl in his mind like fog. The thoughts kept flowing, linking one to the other.

The gas mask kicking someone in the alley, Sayoung showing his black tongue, the gas mask brazenly appearing in a public service ad, the Prometheus experiment subject, Sayoung showing up with blankets and pillows, Sayoung sitting alone in a ruin melted by poison, Sayoung asking if he was okay after instantly melting the owner of a fracture, Sayoung mumbling with his face buried in J’s shoulder, and...

The child who was saved by J but was no longer J, now a jumbled mess of emotions he could no longer trace.

From the moment they first met until just recently, Uijae saw Sayoung as rude, bothersome, strange—someone who kicked his small, quiet life to the curb just by existing. Their first encounter had been the worst possible way to start things off. Besides the busy customers, it was Sayoung who caused the hangover soup restaurant to explode with noise.

But they say you see more as you know more. While unintentionally bumping into each other, Uijae had learned more than he expected about Sayoung.

“Um, think of it as a sort of shackle.”

This was what it meant to be shackled. A shackle of conscience? He was saying he had no shackles on himself, so he had shackled Uijae instead? Lately, he had been acutely aware of how much those guys had gotten worse.

‘Those rankers really need a good talking-to… they’re just too greedy…’

Whether or not Sayoung was aware of Uijae’s troubled feelings, he muttered again, this time louder than before.

“Maybe I should let you know how much I care about you.”

“Uh-huh, I know.”

Uijae responded listlessly and took a step back. However, Sayoung somehow caught that small movement like a ghost. His eyes shone from behind the gas mask.

“Where are you going?”

“Hmm? To the kitchen.”

“Aren’t you going to answer my question?”

“No... We have time. Let’s take it slow over a cup of coffee. Do you drink coffee?”

Even though it was a half-hearted excuse, Sayoung’s sharp demeanor suddenly softened. He looked to the upper left, as if recalling a very old memory. After a long silence, he muttered, “…I don’t know.”

What kind of ambiguous answer was that? Growing serious, Uijae crossed his arms and gestured.

“...Just sit and wait for a moment.”

To his surprise, Sayoung sat down without further comment. After confirming that he had removed his gas mask, Uijae stood in the kitchen, lost in thought.

‘Is it okay to serve coffee this late?’

Of course, caffeine wouldn’t affect an S-rank Awakened, and especially not someone like Sayoung… but there were feelings to consider. Even if the regulars at the hangover soup restaurant drank soju and didn’t get drunk, they still tried to drink more than two bottles every time.

Moreover, thinking back to the events at Sayoung’s house, it didn’t seem like he was a good sleeper either. As with all sensitive S-rank Awakened, they tended to have that trait.

At this point, he had no choice. He would have to show him his ultimate recipe that even a picky 9-year-old elementary school student would enjoy. Uijae pulled out a black bag and some SoBaeksan acacia honey from the fridge. A golden halo shone behind him as he firmly held the spoon.

[The characteristic Combat (S) integrated into daily life is now activated.]

Moments later, Uijae confidently approached and placed a paper cup in front of Sayoung. As Sayoung propped his chin with one hand and tapped on his phone with the other, he paused and asked,

“What’s this?”

“Mi-sut-garu.”

Not just any mi-sut-garu, but a special blend made with honey and white milk that Haeun had bought as a snack. Using a disposable paper cup meant less worry about dish costs. It was a win-win for both Sayoung and Uijae—he saved money while taking care of him.

However, a look of suspicion appeared on Sayoung’s face as he stared at the cup placed before him.

“What about coffee?”

“You don’t sleep well.”

“......”

Sayoung gazed at Uijae with a strange expression. Uijae clicked his tongue.

“Someone who can’t sleep properly has no business drinking coffee. Drink the mi-sut-garu.”

Sayoung put down his phone and gripped the paper cup, mumbling.

“It seems like you’re the same in that regard.”

“That’s why I drink water.”

“......”

Sayoung didn’t argue further and obediently removed his gas mask, placing it on the table. He then took another look at the paper cup and its contents, beginning to sip the mi-sut-garu.

Uijae sat across from him, sipping water while observing Sayoung’s face. Sayoung, licking his lips with that black tongue, blinked as his long eyelashes fluttered in response to the movement.

“Anyway, have you been to Songdo?”

Uijae shook his head, recalling the tickets he had stowed away in his blankets.

“No.”

He had traveled all over the country while active as J, but oddly enough, he had never visited Songdo. And he had no intention of going in the future. As Sayoung placed the empty cup down, he rested his chin on his hand.

“That’s good. You should go this time.”

“To Songdo? Why?”

“It’s probably noisy from all over the place these days.”

He pointed to the posters and flyers plastered on the wall. It would be stranger not to have heard about it. Uijae deliberately responded indifferently.

“Is it that Craftsmen Exhibition or whatever?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Why would I go there?”

“To go on a date.”

“Is the mi-sut-garu spoiled or something, damn….”

No matter how Uijae’s expression crumpled, Sayoung continued unabashedly.

“It’s a date proposal worth tens of billions, you know.”

Sayoung gestured toward the tickets neatly placed on the table. But for Uijae, who had carelessly tucked away around a hundred billion worth of tickets in his blankets, it wasn’t a compelling proposal.

There was no reason to go, but plenty of reasons not to. Uijae let out a long sigh and picked up the biggest and sturdiest shield he could find.

“I don’t have time to go to Songdo. I need to run the business.”

“You can just say you’re taking your grandmother to the hospital and close for the day. You only need to go on the day of the Craftsmen Exhibition.”

Sayoung’s response came without a hint of hesitation, as if he had expected this dialogue to occur, ready with anticipated questions and answers. He smiled leisurely.

“What will you do if they say your grandmother is sick?”

“Hey, using my grandmother as an excuse is…”

“If you’re really worried, I can say you’re taking her to the hospital, with the highest priority. What’s next?”

Fortunately, the highest priority had likely awoken well. After all, it had been a while since the Incheon Port incident, so that made sense. Uijae raised his second shield.

“How can a D-rank Hunter attend the Craftsmen Exhibition? What will you do if they ask where you got the tickets?”

“That’s okay, too.”

Sayoung rummaged through his inventory and placed a seemingly new gas mask beside the tickets. Two gas masks sat next to tickets worth tens of billions on the old, shabby green table.

‘Is this… what they call cognitive dissonance?’

Uijae felt as confused as he had been the first time he saw Sayoung’s public service ad on TV. Meanwhile, the actual subject of all this chaos, Sayoung, said calmly.

“You just say you’re from the Wave Guild’s secretary team.”

“…You want me to wear this?”

“It’s mandatory for the secretary team going out with me, so it’s not that unusual. Everyone will just go with it.”

No, if two gas masks walked around together, it would definitely attract attention. Even Uijae would turn his head if he saw two gas masks pass by on the street.

At this point, Uijae was debating whether to just curse at Sayoung and kick him out or to refuse politely. Sayoung, propping his chin with both hands and gazing silently, finally spoke.

“By the way, hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“When you went to the Seowon Guild…”

Sayoung asked with a gentle smile, “What did that bastard Nam Woojin say?”

“…….”

“Why are you being so nice to me today?”