A short while later.
The three of us gathered in the office. The Boss and I stood in the middle of the room with Go Sangwon between us.
“We'll move out now.”
“One moment.”
I quickly grabbed the coat off the standing rack and gave it a few brisk shakes to knock off any dust that might be on it. Then, smoothly, I went to drape it over the Boss's shoulders.
He slapped my hand away.
“...Don't need it.”
“It's freezing out.”
He'd been holed up in that corner of a room for so long he'd lost all sense of the season. If he kept hacking away like that and caught a cold on top of it, things would only get worse.
But the Boss refused to put the coat on right to the end. When I offered it one more time, he actually glared at me.
“You trash...”
For all his talk, no fist came flying, which meant he wasn't really angry.
“Then I'll wear it?”
I promptly slid my arms into the coat.
“We'll be moving indoors, so there's no need to worry about the cold. Also, that coat is mine.”
...
“...Ah, this was yours, Go Sangwon-hyung? You should've said so sooner. I thought it was mine.”
I've got something similar at home, after all... I muttered, half to myself, and Go Sangwon nodded. He didn't look particularly put out.
No wonder it looked expensive.
With a touch of regret, I returned the coat to its rack.
“Then let's move out.”
The moment I took Go Sangwon's hand, a floating sensation rose in my chest. When I opened my eyes, we were standing inside what looked like a wealthy household.
A clean interior done mostly in white. Through the glass windows, the peaceful sprawl of the city was visible. It was a fairly tall building, and judging by the staircase along one wall, the unit had two floors.
Taking in the view, a memory surfaced out of nowhere.
I came here once in my past life too.
Normally Go Sangwon would bring the contract targets to the hideout himself. But this day was a rare exception, the Boss had gone out in person, which was why I remembered it.
There wasn't any special reason behind it.
“I'll check the second floor.”
With that, Go Sangwon went up the stairs alone. I was probably here as the escort, so I stayed put beside the Boss.
I stood obediently, eyes wandering, careful not to give him any reason to find fault with me. It was coming back to me, slowly...
Inside the study, second shelf from the top, a secret safe disguised as a novel...
“Open it.”
The irritable tone snapped me back to reality fast. The Boss was now standing in front of the bathroom.
“Yes.”
As I approached, I sensed someone moving on the other side of the door. Without hesitation, I threw it open.
“...Eek.”
I locked eyes with a man crouched awkwardly on top of the toilet.
The man flailed and tried to shove himself through the small window above the toilet. But the window was so tiny he couldn't move properly. I grabbed the leg dangling out and hauled.
“You're the homeowner, right?”
“Gh, gwaah!”
Splash!
“Bleh.”
I'd asked politely and gotten a jet of water to the face for it. Was he holding a water gun or something?
Water shot up my nose. While I was busy coughing, the man bolted out the bathroom door. The Boss had stepped aside from the doorway, hands off the whole time.
I wiped my face with a hanging towel and walked out into the living room.
The man was sprinting toward the entryway, dripping water everywhere. On a second look, it hadn't been a water gun, the water was coming from his fingers. He couldn't control it, but he was apparently an awakened.
That was about when I caught on to why the Boss had brought me along.
Despite all the commotion, Go Sangwon was still nowhere to be seen, apparently still on the second floor, and the Boss had the air of a man who trusted I'd handle it somehow.
...I really don't want to use my power, though.
The penalty flashed through my head. Still, if I dealt with this cleanly in one shot, I wouldn't need to use my power again for a few minutes.
With no other choice, I pressed a hand to the water-soaked floor. Thanks to him fleeing and trailing water everywhere, he'd be easy to catch.
I let out just enough electricity to give the man a quick jolt.
“Argh!”
[Penalty triggered: 〈Restriction〉 in effect. (00:10)]
The fleeing man dropped where he stood. I grabbed one of his legs and dragged him over to deposit him in front of the Boss.
The Boss peeled off a glove. The skin on the back of his hand was revealed, lumpy and warped, like it had been melted by fire. He bit into his thumb with a fang, and blood welled up.
“Let's make a contract.”
The man started thrashing, eyes wild with terror.
“No...!”
“Tch.”
Did I jolt him too lightly? His struggling was so frantic that my grip slipped. The man crawled across the floor, dodging my hand. I heaved a deep sigh.
“You don't know how the contract works, do you. Don't worry. I'll help you out.”
Hoping he'd stop being such a nuisance and calm down even a little, I tugged the corners of my mouth up. I pinned the man's arm down by force and pricked his thumb with a safety pin.
“There we go, you smear the blood on like this...”
Maybe because I'd pricked him so timidly, no penalty popped up. Then again, if a prick this small triggered a penalty, I'd never get through daily life.
I squeezed the blood-beaded finger, pressing hard to draw it out. Once it seemed like enough had come, I lifted the man's arm.
I brought the bleeding finger up against the Boss's thumb.
“Stamp it down, nice and firm.”
The two thumbs rubbed together. Blood mingled and trickled down the fingers. The Boss twisted his mouth in distaste.
“...From this moment, your life is bound to me.”
The eyes behind the mask turned red.
“If you harm me, you die. If you disobey my orders, you die. If you lie, cough... you die.”
He must have just meant to kill the man, because the terms were shorter than usual. The man wasn't even given a chance to speak.
The two hands slowly parted. Go Sangwon, having approached at some point, wiped the Boss's hand clean with a handkerchief.
Pulling his glove back on, the Boss asked,
“Where's the item?”
“I-It's, it's in the bag...”
I pulled the bag off the man's back. Go Sangwon carried the backpack over to the Boss.
The Boss rummaged through it and drew something out. An old-looking, leather-bound book.
So he'd come all the way out here in person just to find that.
Pages flipped fast, rustling. After skimming through the book in a matter of seconds, the Boss clicked his tongue and shut it one-handed.
“This is all?”
The man flattened himself to the floor, trembling.
“I'll look for more! If you'll only spare my life...!”
Thud.
The Boss threw the book to the floor. His irritably pressed lips parted.
“Die.”
That one word was the end of it. Eyes bulging, the man vomited blood and let his head drop.
No movement. So that was it for today's job, then.
I figured we'd just leave, but the Boss walked over to me. He laid a hand on my shoulder.
“Why'd you hesitate before using your power?”
“...Did I hesitate?”
I blinked.
“...”
The Boss murmured low, right against my ear.
“That bastard you let live, don't make me regret it.”
That bastard? Was he talking about Yeom Hajae?
“You won't regret it.”
What kind of story was he writing in his head this time? I couldn't say for sure, but it was definitely a complete misunderstanding.
When I grinned wide, the Boss said nothing more and brushed past me. I quietly watched him take Go Sangwon's hand.
If the Boss ever found out I'd lost my power because of the penalty...
“We're heading back.”
“Yes.”
I didn't take Go Sangwon's hand. I still had work left to do.
“Boss.”
Honestly, the mood wasn't really right for bringing this up, but.
“Would it be alright if I stayed a little longer?”
This house was, in more ways than one, too good to give up on. I made a circle with my fingers and waved it, and the Boss whipped his head around.
“...Do whatever you want.”
“Haha, thank you.”
The two of them left me behind and vanished. Alone, I licked my lips.
“Now then, where to start...”
If my memory was right, the police would be here soon. But I was confident I could find everything faster than before, so it wasn't really a problem.
First, the study with the safe.
Just as I went to take a step, the man lying on the floor caught my eye. More precisely, the ring on his ring finger.
“Hm.”
I crouched down, planning to slip the ring off his hand. With rigor mortis yet to set in, the finger straightened easily.
...
My hand, mid-slip, stopped dead. This situation, somehow it felt familiar.
“A ring pried off a corpse's hand, that's bad luck...”
“...Ah.”
In an instant, all my excitement drained away. I set the man's hand back down. Plenty of other things to swipe around here. I dusted off my knees and stood.
After that, I dug through every nook and cranny from memory, sweeping the valuables into a jewelry box. I'd found them so quickly that I had time to spare. My gaze drifted naturally toward somewhere new.
The second floor, the place I'd never gotten around to in my past life for lack of time.
With a light step, I headed up the stairs.
And was immediately disappointed.
One child's room and one bathroom. No one would hide anything valuable in a place like this, so it was a waste of time. I was looking around the room crammed with study guides, about to leave, when-
“...Choo!”
“Hm?”
Was there a rat in the wall or something?
