Lover

7

First to Leave, Last to Arrive

As soon as the fire alarm went off, I had no choice but to move. Lee would probably be picked up by Department 2. Not my problem if he doesn’t.

Just as I was putting the toilet lid back in place and turning off the sink, Riegel came in. He was holding a black shirt in his hand. Thankfully, he had abandoned his Adam costume and was dressed like a normal modern person.

…No, that long hair is too long for a normal modern man. But let’s call it individuality. Maybe it’s a kind of individuality that can only be expressed in modern times.

“Put this on.”

I hastily put on the black shirt he threw me and came out. He opened the door. In the living room, the guards who had already finished preparing for evacuation were waiting for us. As Riegel stood beside me as if escorting me, the four guards surrounded us. And just as the guard in front opened the room door.

The smiling face of the Department 2 Chief appeared.

“Hello, this is the National Security Bureau.”

The chief said with a fake smile, in a tone reminiscent of “We love you, dear customer―”.

“Drugs have been detected in the hotel. All hotel guests must go through procedures with the Security Bureau. You’ll cooperate, of course?”

Wow, impressive.

I was a bit amazed. It means they’ve arrested them for drug offenses as soon as I mentioned the drug smell.

You can’t arrest people for drug offenses just because they smell a bit like drugs. The smell isn’t physical evidence. In that short time, the Department 2 Chief had secured physical evidence and taken them into custody.

I remembered what Lee had been messaging earlier. Lee was probably exchanging messages with the chief while messaging me. The Department 2 Chief was checking if Lee could possibly persuade me to approach Riegel. And as soon as she received a negative response, she set off the fire alarm to comfortably guide the people inside out.

She really deserves to be the chief.

The timing is quite impressive.

“Do you have a warrant?”

Riegel didn’t say anything. The guard next to him asked the question. At this, the Department 2 Chief smiled brightly.

“This is Security Bureau business. Why would we need a warrant?”

The National Security Bureau gets warrants after the fact. The international community always criticizes Rotman as a backward country because of this. Well, when I go abroad, our country doesn’t seem very advanced either, so I have nothing to say. But this was a socialist country 20 years ago. How democratic could it be? I think we’ve made a lot of progress. The reality of this country is that people who think we need to develop more, those who think we’ve developed enough, and those who think this direction is regression rather than progress are fighting fiercely.

“This is Mr. Sebastian Riegel. The eldest son of Mr. Michael Riegel of the Riegel Group. …Don’t you need one?”

“No, I don’t think we do.”

Even if they’re from the Riegel Group, why should we give them special treatment?

The Department 2 Chief’s face was full of mockery.

So when you become a department chief, you can go toe-to-toe with chaebols like this. Impressive, really impressive.

I decided to just keep my mouth shut and stay still. She didn’t give me any attention at all. Although it must be true that she was furious saying she’d kill me, the fact that she showed no expression towards me was very befitting of an operations chief. She’s probably the type of person who could smile warmly enough to melt the world even in front of her parents’ murderer. Of course, that murderer would end up with a very painful end, unable to even collect their bones.

While I was thinking about various trivial things, the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense. The guard glanced at Riegel. His face said he would clear a path if desired.

Without realizing it, I checked the faces of the Department 2 Chief and the people behind her.

They wouldn’t be that easy to deal with.

The chief had already confirmed the level of the guards. There’s no way those four behind her are all there is. Rather, she might be provoking them. If they attempt to break through, she might be planning to charge them with obstruction of official duties and really lock them up for interrogation.

Will they take the bait?

It was when I gave Riegel a look. He, who had been quiet, looked at me and smiled slightly.

“Don’t worry.”

His tone was affectionate, like an older brother comforting a younger sibling.

Riegel shifted his gaze back to the chief and answered expressionlessly.

“Take us in, then.”

“It’s not an arrest, it’s cooperation.”

“Cooperation implies I have free will, and this is forced detainment. So, take us in.”

Riegel crossed his wrists and held them out.

“If you need to?”

It was as if he was saying to put handcuffs on if necessary. This made things difficult for the chief.

Riegel is making it clear now.

You are forcibly detaining me now, and I won’t stand for it.

The world may criticize our country as a dictatorship wearing the mask of democracy, but it has changed a lot since the socialist era. One of those changes is the emergence of freedom of the press. Of course, we don’t have as much freedom as other countries, but it’s no longer an era where they can just grab anyone and imprison them as a political criminal like in the socialist days.

If Riegel decides to wage a public opinion war, the Security Bureau can’t win. Riegel is a sponsor who puts ads in all newspapers. Of course, the newspapers won’t completely ignore the Security Bureau, but they all leave some loopholes.

“…If you won’t cooperate, what can we do?”

The chief, who seemed to be calculating gains and losses in her head, suddenly smiled brightly and stepped aside. Riegel said “Thank you,” with a face that didn’t look thankful at all.

The chief going toe-to-toe with a chaebol is impressive, but a chaebol who can put down a Security Bureau chief with just his tongue is also impressive.

I’ve seen something interesting. Yeah, I guess this makes up for the bad luck I’ve had today.

There are people above people. It’s not just a case of someone who runs being above someone who walks, but someone riding a rocket above someone who flies. While inwardly delighted, I tried to pass by the Department 2 Chief without showing it on my face.

However, she grabbed my wrist. Despite her slender fingers, she had quite a grip.

“You’ll stay behind.”

What?!

Even as she saw my eyes widen, she was confident.

“You’re not related to Mr. Riegel in any way, are you? You need to cooperate, right?”

The Department 2 Chief was holding me back.

What? Excuse me?

I was looking at her in disbelief when I felt a chilling gaze from behind. When I turned my head, Riegel was looking down at the Department 2 Chief, or more precisely, at my wrist that she was holding. His gaze was fiercely cold.

Finally, he laughed.

“Of all things…”

He muttered. When the Department 2 Chief called me a ‘fruit fly’ earlier, I only felt her irritation towards an uninvited guest who had disrupted the situation. But now, in Riegel’s pronunciation of “of all things,” I could smell contempt.

Just as I thought this was a bit unexpected, Riegel spoke.

“I’ll cooperate. So let go of his hand.”

Riegel’s voice had a tone of ultimatum. A feeling of ‘I’ll overturn everything if you don’t listen.’ I thought, what could he possibly do against the Security Bureau, but still, I didn’t want to see what would happen next.

The chief must have felt similarly, as she immediately let go of my wrist.

“I’ve let go.”

Seeing this, Riegel quietly looked down at my wrist and then nodded. Only then, as if somewhat satisfied, he arrogantly jerked his chin.

“Lead the way, for coop-er-ation.”

It’s clearly poison in the name of cooperation.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as the expressions of the Department 2 guys behind the chief were not good. However, the chief was calm. Even though she was the one drinking that poison, she was back to her ‘We love you, dear customer’ expression, smiling brightly.

“Let’s go. A bus is prepared.”

At the chief’s spiteful words, Riegel snorted.

“Ha, a bus.”

As the son of the Riegel Group’s chairman, I wonder if this man has ever ridden a bus in his life. No, maybe I’m thinking too highly of chaebols. He must have gone to school, right? I can’t gauge his age well, but if I assume he’s around my age, it means he went to elementary school during the socialist era. Even if he was the son of the Riegel Group, he must have ridden a bus at least then. Yeah, he must have gone on field trips at least. Surely.

As I was walking behind the chief, Riegel whispered to me.

“It’ll be my first time riding a bus.”

If he had said it was my fault, I would have retorted immediately, but there was no mention of it being my fault.

Ha, you’re a master at walking the tightrope.

When I didn’t say anything, Riegel laughed. It was a bit strange. Until just now, he seemed a bit upset with the chief, but after speaking one word to me, his mood seemed to have improved.

Why? I didn’t say anything special to him.

Seeing the bus, I was even more dumbfounded. It really was a prisoner transport bus. Moreover, I’m riding this bus as a person of reference? No, in the first place, I’m not even a suspect but a person of reference, so why am I riding this bus? But it seemed they really were going to take everyone from the hotel to the Security Bureau, as there wasn’t just one or two buses. Of course, the front was chaotic.

And I started to see guys from Department 1 who had come to sort out this mess at the request of Department 2. They must have already been briefed about me, as they all pretended not to know me. They didn’t even give me a glance. But somehow I could tell. They were just one step away from dying to make fun of me.

Ah, I’ll be the butt of jokes for a hundred years.

I guarantee that someone must have taken a picture of me getting on the prisoner transport bus and sent it to our team. Our team guys must be laughing their heads off now. Those disloyal bastards.

Feeling endlessly depressed, I just stared out the window. What was that free alcohol worth to suffer this pain? Why am I here? Who am I? I am…

“How old are you?”

How old am I? Huh?

When I turned my head, Riegel, sitting next to me, was wearing a splendid smile that only a handsome man could make. Yeah, you need good features to make a smile like that. Otherwise, you’d just get cursed at for being obnoxious.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m curious if you’re older or younger than me.”

“Then you should tell me your age, Mr. Riegel.”

Despite my grumpy response, he showed no sign of backing down.

“I’m thirty-one.”

Hmm. I looked at Riegel’s face carefully again. Maybe it’s because he’s handsome. He looks exactly thirty-one, but also younger, and even if he said he was forty-five, I might have thought, “Oh, I see.” Of course, I would have thought he looked incredibly young for his age, but somehow his face… it’s like a robot that’s just been released, with no sense of manufacturing date.

“I’m younger than you.”

At my words, he made an indescribable expression.

“I see. This time I thought I’d be younger.”

“Pardon?”

“I guess it doesn’t always go in order, this thing.”

I don’t understand what he’s talking about and I don’t want to care. I turned my gaze back to the window.