Chapter 113: Chapter 113

[SO FUCKING handsome.]

But it felt somehow illegal for Yool to admire Song Moonho’s younger version.

The old man insisted on coming with him to the meeting place where he agreed to meet Maru. But he didn’t want Song Moonho to catch attention, so he told him to put on a disguise.

He didn’t expect the ahjussi to drink a potion that would make him look younger, though.

Now Song Moonho looked like he was in his late teens to early twenties. He was still tall, but his body wasn’t as muscular as it was in his forties. Having said that, he was still pretty lean.

[But his fashion sense...]

Song Moonho styled his hair in a messy way and covered his eyes with his bangs while wearing a pair of eyeglasses with huge rounded rims. He also wore a red plaid shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.

[He only pulled it off because he’s so freaking handsome even with his eyes covered.] The source of thɪs content is novel[f]ire.net

"Enjoying the view again, Yool-ssi?"

Yool sipped his ice coffee loudly before he answered. "Nah, not this time. I’m not into younger guys."

Song Moonho smiled that damned charming smile of his again. "Then I’m glad I was older than you."

"You’re too old for me."

"Well, at least Han Graham is younger than you so I won’t worry about him stealing you from me anymore."

There was a lot to unpack from that statement, but Yool had selective hearing.

"Graham-ssi is a year older than me."

"Yes, he is a year older than Gong Yool-ssi," Song Moonho said, smiling teasingly. "But I think Yool-ssi is older than Han Graham."

[This ahjussi is really convinced that I’m not the real Gong Yool.]

Song Moonho was right, but there was no way in hell Yool would admit that.

[Not to Ahjussi, of all people.]

"Graham is older than me," Yool insisted, acting dumb. "Whatever you’re thinking is wrong, okay?"

Song Moonho just smiled before he sipped his coffee.

Yool raised his head and had to control his expression when he came face-to-face with Maru.

Yes, his favorite idol.

[Gong Yool was an idol who debuted before Maru, so I’m still a sunbae to him.]

It seemed like Maru had just been to a schedule because he still had his full make-up on, and he was dressed like he usually did during a concert.

Fortunately, the café was almost empty.

The old couple who were a few tables away from them didn’t care.

[Fortunately, I know this spot is always almost empty, so I asked Maru to meet us here.]

Yool stood up and extended his hand to Maru. "Thank you for coming, Maru-ssi."

"O-Of course," Maru said as if he was shy, and then he accepted his handshake. "It’s an honor to finally meet you up close, Yool Sunbae. I often see you with Actress Wonhee and Do Ahyeon-ssi in my fanmeetings and concerts, but the three of you always leave before I could even say ’hi’ in person."

Well, Yool and his friends enjoyed Maru’s music a lot and they saw Maru as their "son." But the three of them still thought it was weird for adults to obsess over young idols. Hence, they tried to maintain a decent distance from the child.

[But Maru’s songs saved Kpop, so we stan.]

"We just didn’t want to disturb a child in the middle of work," Yool said. "We’re happy and contented to watch you from afar."

After saying that, he invited the idol to sit down.

Then Maru noticed Song Moonho who didn’t even move from his seat.

"That hyung is my... uh, manager hyung," Yool lied with a straight face. "Hyung, this is Maru. You know him, right?"

Maru and Song Moonho exchanged short yet polite greetings.

Yool immediately changed the topic to get rid of the awkwardness. "Maru-ssi, as we told you on the phone earlier, my crazy fan broke into my house and stole some of my stuff. And then she posted them on a sketchy site to sell them. May I know how you ended up buying my things?"

Maru blushed before he explained. "I often look up myself on the internet. It just so happen that the site I was on had an ad promoting the sketchy site where most Kpop merchandises are sold second-hand. I scrolled for a bit and saw my photo cards. The back part of the cards was also posted, so I immediately knew that those were the cards I signed for you, Sunbae. I always put a star mark on the cards that I sign for you, after all."

"Oh," Yool said, quite surprised. "I’ve always wondered what those stars mean. I thought you put stars on all the rare photo cards that you sign."

Maru smiled and shook his head. "It’s star for Sunbae, heart for Actress Chu, and a diamond for Do Ahyeon-ssi. I know that the three of you are my top fans, Sunbae. So, I always make sure to give you extra fanservice."

"Wony and Ahyeonnie will be glad to hear that."

"I’d love to meet them , too. I’ve always wanted to thank the three of you for your support."

And the Song Moonho decided to ruin that precious moment by clearing his throat and changing the subject.

"Maru-ssi, did you bring Yool-ssi’s stuff?"

"Oh, right," Maru said, nodding. And then he put the huge paper bag that he had with him on the table. "I bought all the items that the seller who sold my photo cards because I thought it was strange."

"You didn’t think that I was the one who sold them?"

"Sunbae wouldn’t do something like that," Maru said while shaking his head. "You always tell me during fanmeetings that you treasure all the photo cards that I signed, after all. And I had a bad feeling because the seller said they just wanted to get rid of all the items she was selling. That was a red flag, like they were trying to get rid of some evidence. I was about to reach out to your former agency to ask for your number because, Sunbae. But you beat me to it."

Well, it was Song Moonho who found the buyer of the items that the thief sold.

[But I don’t want Maru to get involved further, so let’s just say it was me.]

"I bought all the items that the seller posted because I thought they belonged to you, Sunbae," Maru explained. "I wanted to return them to you."

"Thank you, Maru. I mean it," Yool said sincerely. "You saved my life."

"It’s nothing, Sunbae," Maru said shyly while pulling out the mini safety vault from the paperbag. "This is what you need, right? I asked the seller what was inside, but they told me they hadn’t opened it yet. That was the biggest red flag that triggered the warning bells in my head. I knew right then that the things they were selling were all stolen items."

[I’m glad they didn’t even try to open the vault!]

Yool couldn’t help but pat Maru’s head. "Good job, you smart kiddo."

"T-Thank you, Sunbae."

"How about the photo cards?" Yool asked nervously. "Actually, I’m more bummed that I lost them."

Maru grinned and gave Yool a thumbs up. "I brought them as well, Sunbae."

[I WASN’T genuinely loved.]

That was a huge blow for Wonhee.

She sat in the passenger seat while looking at the colorful lights of the skyscrapers in front of her.

Ahyeon, who was driving the car, looked worried but didn’t say anything.

Wonhee couldn’t even assure him that she was fine.

[Because I’m not fine, and I can’t even lie to myself.]

Wonhee thought Lee Seodam chose his ambitions over her, and it was something that she could accept and understand.

But the revelation that Seodam secretly hated her a little was really painful.

[Oppa said there’s a thin line between love and hate, but why do I feel like he hated me more than he loved me?]

Now Wonhee understood why Seodam never stood up for her against his family.

It wasn’t that he was too busy to pay attention to her.

Seodam neglected Wonhee on purpose because she was a bitter reminder of the choice he didn’t make– that he let his circumstances change him for the worse when kindness was always an option.

"I wanna go to where Yejun is," Wonhee said weakly. "Let’s go to the Blue House."

Park Ruda flinched when he tried to get up.

He was sore all over, and his back was killing him.

It was because Lee Seodam was rougher than usual.

His Hunter went to his place that evening and dragged him to bed right away without even letting him finish his dinner first.

"What are you doing there, Seodam?" Ruda asked, confused. "Did the System send you a message?"

Seodam was standing in front of the window wall in his boxers while staring blankly into the space. It was obvious that he was looking at his Status Window, and it was also clear that he wasn’t happy with what he was seeing. "My status level dropped."

"My Status Window says I’m currently back as a B-Class Hunter."

"Hunters raise their levels, not the other way around," Ruda commented, knitting his eyebrows. "So, how did you return to your original awakening level?"

"That’s what I want to know, too," Seodam said, turning to Ruda with empty eyes. "Park Ruda, what should I do now?"

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