CHAPTER 109: SONG HA-EUN AND THE LEECH QUEEN (4)

The three of them stopped by a nearby ice cream shop before heading home.

Isabella glanced around his apartment while licking her strawberry ice cream. “So this is where you live, Mr. Oh-Jin.”

It was a modest house just under a hundred square meters with two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a reasonably sized living room and kitchen—a typical family home.

“Technically, it’s Ha-Eun’s house since she bought it for me.”

Most of the down payment was from Song Ha-Eun’s savings and a mortgage she'd taken out.

“Wait... Miss Ha-Eun bought this house for you?” Isabella asked, squinting. “Don’t tell me... you two live together?”

In truth, she had looked into Kwon Oh-Jin's home beforehand, but she hadn’t discovered that he wasn't living alone.

“Ha! Of course. We’ve always lived together.” Song Ha-Eun shrugged as if she were stating the obvious. “I’ve been living with him since waaaaay before he met you.”

Isabella silently stared back at her with an almost cold look.

“What? You got a problem with that?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

Isabella quickly shook her head, acting flustered. “N-No! Of course not!”

Her platinum-blonde curls bounced like the fur of a frightened poodle.

“I don’t have a problem with it, but...” She glanced around the house, her tone suddenly laced with concern. “Wouldn’t it be rather uncomfortable for two people to live together in such a cramped space?”

Song Ha-Eun flinched at the comment, and her face scrunched up. “Ugh! Y-You...!”

She was about to clap back but suddenly stopped in her tracks, thinking of the luxurious apartment Isabella had prepared as a gift for Kwon Oh-Jin. Its fancy exterior flashed in her mind.

Even if the two apartments had been the same size, the value of Isabella’s would have been much higher. In addition to that, Isabella had bought the entire building, all the way from the first floor to the very top. The difference was almost laughably vast.

“Hehe. It is a little uncomfortable, isn’t it?” Isabella mocked.

“Shut up!” Song Ha-Eun bit her lip and took a step back. She suddenly remembered that this house was also a surprise gift she'd given to Kwon Oh-Jin.

Her face flushed with embarrassment as she recalled how she'd proudly puffed out her chest back then as she told him, “This is our new home now!”

He suddenly uttered, “It’s not uncomfortable.”

Isabella looked at him, stunned. “Mr. Oh-Jin?”

“The house we used to live in was much smaller than this. From the day I moved here, I haven’t felt uncomfortable even once.”

Isabella’s face stiffened while Song Ha-Eun’s lips curved into a bright smile.

“Hehe, did you hear that? My Oh-Jin says he’s never felt uncomfortable.” She puffed out her chest and leaned closer to him.

Isabella giggled, almost mockingly. “But he didn’t say it was comfortable either, did he?”

“Ugh.”

“I believe someone as great as Mr. Oh-Jin deserves a house that matches his stature.”

Song Ha-Eun’s brow twitched, and a vein throbbed visibly at her temple. “Great, my ass! This house is more than enough for him!”

“Hmmm. For someone who’s been with him for so long, you don’t really seem to know him that well.”

“Huh? What is it I don’t know?”

“Mr. Oh-Jin is destined to become a world-renowned hero,” Isabella confidently declared, fixing her fiery gaze on him.

“A world-renowned hero, huh...?” Song Ha-Eun muttered, averting Isabella’s gaze. Now that she thought about it, she'd heard something similar from Vega in the past.

“This child is destined to become the greatest of them all.”

It was hard for her to imagine they were talking about the Kwon Oh-Jin she'd known for so long.

Everyone needs to shut the fuck up. Why do they keep acting like they know him better than I do?As if there’s anyone like that...

She knew the real Kwon Oh-Jin as well as his miserable past.

The swan looks calm as it glides across the lake, but its feet paddle frantically beneath the surface. Oh-Jin... isn’t some kind of hero.

She clenched her fists with unease, suppressing her anxiety that he would one day drift far away.

“Well... let’s talk about that later,” Isabella said, keenly scanning the rest of the house. “Where’s your room, Mr. Oh-Jin? I’d like to see it.”

“It’s there.” He pointed to one of the bedrooms.

“Is it alright if I take a look inside?”

“There’s not much to see, but go ahead.”

“Hehe, I still want to check it out.” With an innocent smile, she opened the door and looked inside. “Wow, so this is your—”

She suddenly noticed two beds in one corner of the room and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“W-Wait, are you two... sharing a room?”

“Yeah. So?” Song Ha-Eun shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

Isabella turned to her with a raised brow. “But there are two bedrooms in the house, right? What’s the other room for?”

“Oh, it's being used for storage, though it’s practically empty.”

“Then why...?” Isabella looked back and forth between Song Ha-Eun and Kwon Oh-Jin with a baffled expression like an Indian seeing a British soldier for the first time.

“Why? It’s only natural for me to share a room with Oh-Jin.”

Song Ha-Eun's tone and expression didn't carry the slightest hesitation about a grown man and woman sharing a room.

“I see.” Isabella began biting her nails, and her once gentle gaze turned icy.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes widened in alarm. Shit.

Faced with an instinctive sense of danger, he quickly stepped forward. “It’s because Ha-Eun’s physically impaired! We share a room so I can take care of her.”

“Ah.” Isabella's gaze quickly shifted to Song Ha-Eun’s stiff right leg, something most others wouldn't have noticed from her perfect stance.“Hehe

, I see. So that’s why.”

Her warm smile and soft gaze promptly returned.

Kwon Oh-Jin patted his chest. Phew. This is nerve-wracking as fuck. I feel like I'm sitting next to a ticking bomb.

He felt several times more anxious than when Song Ha-Eun and Vega had their usual bickering.

Isabella clapped her hands after taking a good look around the house. “Oh, now that I think about it, it’s almost dinner time! Could I use the kitchen?”

“Sure, but most of the ingredients in there are for Korean dishes,” he replied.

“That’s alright.”

She rummaged through the fridge, pulled out ingredients, and immediately started her work. She cooked up some pork and mixed it with gochujang, chopped up vegetables into bite-sized pieces, sprinkled a little sugar over them, and seasoned it all with soy sauce.

Song Ha-Eun jabbed his side as she watched. “Isn’t she Italian?”

“She is.”

“Then how does she know how to make jeyukbokkeum[1]?”

“... You tell me.”

On top of that, she pulled it off way more naturally than Song Ha-Eun.

“I practiced the recipe before coming to see you, Mr. Oh-Jin,” Isabella said.

“Why go through all that trouble...?”

“Hehe, I wanted to cook for you myself like last time.” With a smile, she plated the jeyukbokkeum and placed it on the table. “Please, give it a try.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

Kwon Oh-Jin and Song Ha-Eun picked up their chopsticks and took a bite.

“Mmm!”

“H-Holy crap.”

A burst of smoky flavor and the spicy kick of red chili paste filled their mouths while the salty-sweet sauce perfectly complemented the tender, juicy pork.

Honestly, this tastes a thousand times better than what Ha-Eun makes.... not that she was ever a great cook in the first place.

The chopsticks trembled in Song Ha-Eun's hands as she was engulfed by a deep sense of defeat. “I-I can’t believe this.”

“Does it suit your taste?” Isabella asked.

“Yeah. It’s really good,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied as he devoured the contents on the plate.

“Hehe, I’m glad.” She rested her chin on her hand, gazing at him affectionately as he ate like someone admiring their beloved lover.

He glanced back at her with a conflicted expression. Is this all an act, too?If it is real...

The strange obsession she directed toward him could possibly be more than just a predator’s fixation on its prey.

Come to think of it, it's not normal to hand a billion-won gift to your prey even if you've got wealth to burn. Her blatant jealousy toward Ha-Eun is also odd...

He narrowed his eyes at Isabella.

If she really has feelings for me... then I can use her.

He could potentially manipulate the Leech Queen, the third-ranked Executor of the Black Star Society, to suit his needs.

It's not easy to pull off now... but if I can bring her over to my side, she'll be a real advantage to have against the Black Star Society. Plus, it'll prevent the catastrophe that takes place in two years.

There were plenty of such reasons to maintain a good relationship with her.

After the meal, Isabella stood up from her seat. “I’ll take my leave now, then. Feel free to use that apartment however you like once the renovations are done.”

“Thank you,” he replied. He planned to repurpose it into a training facility.

“Oh, by the way, could I ask you for a small favor?”

“Anything.”

She had given him an entire apartment building. What favor couldn’t he fulfill in return?

I'll go outside in my underwear and breakdance if she asks me to. I’ll start with a windmill and finish with an air track...

“Could you just call me Isabella?”

“Pardon?”

“When you add ‘Miss,’ it feels so... distant.”

“Is that really all you need?” he asked.

Her eyes faintly sparkled. “You could speak casually to me, too.”

He chuckled softly and nodded. “Okay.”

A bright smile spread across her face. “Hehe, thank you.”

“You can speak casually too, Isabella.”

She giggled and shook her head. “No, I feel more comfortable speaking this way. Well then, I’ll get going now.”

“How long are you planning to stay in Korea?"

“It might be a while. I have some things to take care of.”

“Things to take care of?”

“Yes. There’s something I need to investigate personally.”

For a brief moment, her eyes flashed a cold, murderous aura.

He squinted. Investigate something, huh? Must be the Owls.

There was no one else the Leech Queen would go out of her way to investigate in person.

I knew it. She didn’t come to Korea just to meet me.

“Alright. See you next time,” he said as he saw her off.

She bitterly planted her hands on her hips. “If you go all silent on me like last time, I’ll get mad, you know?”

“Haha, I’ll keep in touch more often.”

With that, she turned and walked away with a smile. Watching her retreating figure, his lips curled into a sly grin.

If the Owls find out the Leech Queen's making a move, they’ll be thrown into chaos. And then...

“It’ll be their time to get hunted.”

The time had come to put his plan into action. A once unrealistic method that would allow him to grow much stronger quickly.

1. Spicy Korean pork bulgogi marinated in a gochujang based sauce with lots of fresh garlic and ginger ☜