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Upon arriving at the villa, Cheon Geon-young opened the door and entered first. Stepping into the living room, Yoon Tae-ha noticed that a cleaner had entered and cleaned the place while they were away. With a tense expression, she first scanned the ceiling.
“Our people have been here.”
Cheon Geon-young, who had immediately opened the refrigerator upon entering the house, said to her,
“Our people?”
“Internal collaborators. People who believe what the Director-General is doing isn’t right and are willing to act proactively.”
“Did the anonymous angels leave a code or something?”
Yoon Tae-ha, relaxing her guard, went to Cheon Geon-young’s side and looked inside the refrigerator. Different types of sodas were lined up like soldiers in a row.
“Red, green, orange, black. If the soda cans are arranged in this order, it means our people have been here. They’ll visit periodically to check if listening devices or surveillance cameras are planted. If there are, they’ll let us know.”
“Does the arrangement change if there’s an anomaly?”
“If a suspicious object is found inside the villa, the positions of the green and orange cans change.”
“Memorized. I’ll get to drink plenty of soda while I’m here.”
“You can just pour it down the sink if you want.”
He closed the refrigerator and stepped back.
“We’ve double-checked, so from today, you don’t have to stay confined to the bedroom.”
The emotional turmoil of yesterday was nowhere to be found on the man’s face. Cheon Geon-young was treating her with surprising professionalism. He continued,
“Feel free to use the living room.”
Yoon Tae-ha narrowed her eyes. Was dividing the space a silent gesture asking her to act as if they hadn’t fought? Of course, she shouldn’t make the mistake of letting emotions interfere with work.
But Yoon Tae-ha realized that more than half of the mistakes she had made so far were due to her not being honest. Even if it was a conflict where neither could back down, they couldn’t just act like it never happened, could they? Yoon Tae-ha calmly asked his back as he returned to his bedroom,
“Is this how you normally fight?”
Cheon Geon-young turned around and coolly looked around.
“Who fought with you?”
Yoon Tae-ha let out a scoff of disbelief. Was he implying that it wasn’t him, but someone else, who had been growling at her at nose-to-nose distance yesterday?
“This conversation we’re having right now, it’s definitely not being heard by the Watchman, right? Because if they were listening, I’d be really embarrassed.”
“They can’t hear. And I never fought with you.”
The two stood far apart, raising their voices. Yoon Tae-ha thought their current behavior was animalistic. Like angry animals whose territory had been invaded, not attacking but just puffing up their fur.
“That’s exactly what I told my teacher the first time I fought with a friend when I was little. Do you know what my teacher said then?”
Cheon Geon-young turned his body with an expression that said he didn’t want to hear it and entered the bedroom. Just before the door closed, Yoon Tae-ha shouted at his thick head,
“You don’t have to grab someone by the collar to be fighting!”
Slam. She glared at the closed bedroom door for a while, then turned to head to the exhibition, not wanting to be late.
________________________________________
The international defense exhibition held on the main island of Nautilus City was NDEX. While various defense exhibitions had emerged since the Rift era, NDEX, held every two years, maintained its firm position.
Many defense companies wanted to seize the opportunity to promote the competitiveness of their products at NDEX. This was because military officials would keep an eye on technologically superior companies there, or remember private companies for future collaboration. Research personnel also made it a point to attend NDEX. Ark’s flexible atmosphere, which didn’t exclude outsiders, played a part in this.
Public attendance was allowed for some exhibition halls, where visitors could view indoor and outdoor exhibits or even experience some equipment. This year, with the Guilds’ goodwill competition also being held in Nautilus, it was expected that the number of general visitors would significantly increase compared to two years ago.
Upon arriving at the central area where the exhibition was held and touring four exhibition halls, Yoon Tae-ha personally confirmed that the prediction was correct. She mumbled upon seeing the crowds,
“There are so many people.”
The Central Hub, the main island’s center, was bustling with people. Officials were busy circulating between exhibition halls and conference rooms, while ordinary citizens, immersed in the aquatic city’s unique atmosphere, looked around curiously.
Tourists were often seen holding out cameras to each other to take photos against the backdrop of the waterways. The joyful shouts of children running towards the experience zone where they could directly operate miniature drones were also heard.
Cheon Geon-young stood beside Yoon Tae-ha, taking in the panoramic view of the aquatic city just as she was.
The stairs connecting the buildings where they stood provided an excellent vantage point for observing the surrounding scenery at a glance. Although it was espionage disguised as sightseeing, Yoon Tae-ha’s slim-silhouette two-piece suit and round-toed shoes added a layer of disguise. Indeed, there was less surveillance from plainclothes bodyguards than when she wore a holster on her thigh.
“It suits you well. The clothes you’re wearing now.”
Suddenly, Cheon Geon-young complimented her ‘shell.’ Yoon Tae-ha rolled her eyes and looked at him. Despite meeting many people at the exhibition hall, he didn’t look tired at all. It was a quality Yoon Tae-ha wished she had.
“That’s unusual. Hearing you give a compliment.”
“I didn’t think I was stingy with compliments.”
She shrugged, indicating her comment was meant casually. The emotional rift still remained, but it didn’t mean she wanted to cut off communication. It seemed Cheon Geon-young felt the same way.
Floating leisurely on the waterway directly in front of them were two-person and four-person capsule boats. Much larger vessels, shaped like inverted canoes, were docked at the edge of the waterway, boarding passengers. Yoon Tae-ha asked in a curious voice,
“What company makes those capsule boats floating over there? They look good.”
“General Technologies.”
“Do they make the big ones too?”
“Probably. They’re expensive, but energy-efficient, so orders are piling up.”
Just then, Cheon Geon-young noticed something. He placed a hand on Yoon Tae-ha’s waist and whispered softly as they descended the stairs.
“Woman walking a dog. 7 o’clock direction. Brown hair.”
Yoon Tae-ha spotted the woman running along the promenade beside the waterway but quickly pretended not to have seen her.
“She’s undisclosed. High-grade.”
Cheon Geon-young said softly. Yoon Tae-ha immediately realized that the woman engrossed in exercise was an undisclosed Esper working for the Director-General. Indicating that she had confirmed the Esper’s face, she replied in a bright tone,
“The dog is really cute. But it would hurt if it bit you.”
The undisclosed Esper didn’t slow down, presumably not primarily tasked with monitoring them, and moved away along the promenade.
Having descended the stairs completely, they left the area dense with indoor exhibition halls and walked towards the outdoor exhibition halls and experience zones for general visitors. As they entered the bustling plaza, tourists obscured their presence. Children with balloons tied to their wrists ran past them, shouting,
“We’re definitely going on the wheeled armored vehicle first!”
“Wow! Noona, you’re funny! We said we’d go on the amphibious vehicle first!”
“You? Noona, you? Do you want to die? And I already gave you my turn to operate the drone. This time, you give up your turn!”
The children, who appeared to be siblings, hung from their father’s legs, holding tickets. The father managed to soothe and appease the siblings, heading towards the end of the plaza to find his wife.
The area was broadly divided into two zones. With a path lined with short street trees in between, on one side, obstacle-clearing tanks capable of crushing even monsters displayed their magnificent might.
On the opposite side, spaces where tourists could experience state-of-the-art equipment awaited, starting with a glass greenhouse where visitors could directly operate miniature drones. A warning sign nearby indicated that drones were valuable and posed an external risk, so they could not be experienced outside the greenhouse.
Yoon Tae-ha, briefly thinking that Hong Eun-soo would enjoy it, stuck close to Cheon Geon-young to avoid the crowd.
“Chairman Cheon’s acquaintances seem to be bothering you quite a bit, as if they met a grandson they lost 20 years ago. Isn’t it tiring dealing with those people?”
“It’s about dealing with old people who want to talk to young people. It’s not impossible if you just have a little reverence.”
“If you show reverence twice, you’ll go on summer vacation together.”
“It’s not impossible. Though I’ll probably be on the return private jet alone.”
Yoon Jung-hoon, after taking over Chairman Cheon’s body, had been secretly associating with powerful figures who chronically committed crimes. Since his own reputation wasn’t being tarnished, his actions became even more unrestrained. Cheon Geon-young skillfully handled such individuals without revealing his true feelings.
While Yoon Tae-ha admired his composure, her stomach churned thinking of the self-loathing and disillusionment Cheon Geon-young must have experienced to reach this point.
“Want some ice cream?”
As they walked along the path painted in amusement park-like vibrant colors, Cheon Geon-young suddenly offered.
“Is there a place selling it?”
“They’re selling soft-serve over there. In front of the boy with the red balloon.”
“Oh, really. I’ll have some.”
“I’ll go get it. Wait here.”
Yoon Tae-ha, standing beside a street tree, watched the man with broad shoulders walk away. The outdoor shop selling ice cream wasn’t far. Watching Cheon Geon-young calmly join the queue, her lips twitched, and she felt a smile trying to escape.
‘It’s not a funny situation. We’re on a dangerous mission.’
Why was she like this? She deliberately pressed the tips of her shoes together, then separated them, trying to suppress the smile that wanted to break free.
A short while later, Cheon Geon-young approached, holding two soft-serve cones, one in each hand. The flavors were identical. He held out an ice cream.
“It’s half vanilla, half chocolate.”
“That’s my favorite flavor. Did you ask the owner for the best-selling flavor?”
He looked at her with a subtly softer expression. Yoon Tae-ha took a bite of her ice cream and suggested they slowly head back. She had diligently shown her face to the public as the Director-General instructed, and Cheon Geon-young also seemed to have finished his tasks.
The yacht crossed the calm sea, safely taking the two back to the villa.
This time, Yoon Tae-ha opened the kitchen refrigerator first. After confirming that there were no anomalies, Cheon Geon-young took out a storage device from the inner pocket of his suit and placed it on the island bar. Yoon Tae-ha picked it up to examine it, and he explained,
“It’s a server connector. I got it from outside.”
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