Chapter 40: Dinner With a Mind Reader

Park Se-hoon, who had been flustered with his mouth agape, quickly grasped the situation upon seeing Jin-yeop and Noh Young’s unchanged expressions.

Skill.

The woman before him wasn’t a fortune teller; she had used her skill on him.

“That’s right, a skill.”

Joo-yeon answered naturally, as if she could hear Se-hoon’s thoughts, and Jin-yeop picked up his wine glass with a somewhat strange expression.

“Don’t feel too sorry.

Considering the value of the gift I received, just a meal would be too unconscientious.”

She said this, proudly raising the Tifone watch on her wrist.

“It suits you well.”

“Thank you for the sincere compliment.

Unlike some people.”

“I was sincere too.”

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

“…”

“Anyway, let’s eat before the food gets cold.

I made too much for just the two of us, so I would have been disappointed if no one ate it.”

At this, Jin-yeop expressed his thanks and picked up his spoon, as did Noh Young.

The only one sitting still, unable to move, was Se-hoon.

“Eat.

I didn’t put poison in it or anything.”

“…”

“Would I do something like that to food the four of us are eating together?

Even if I could, I don’t mess with food.”

Her tone and voice were completely different from when she had spoken to Jin-yeop.

There was no way food would easily go down his throat in this atmosphere, but Se-hoon had no choice but to pick up his spoon, as if eating mustard with tears.

Soon, the only sound in the house was the clinking of utensils against dishes.

Amidst the quiet silence, Joo-yeon continued eating naturally, focusing on Se-hoon.

In fact, Joo-yeon didn’t need to ask him anything.

Because in the midst of this confusing situation, even knowing that she was using a skill on him, Se-hoon couldn’t stop the thoughts swirling in his head.

Just telling himself not to think couldn’t make him stop.

His head was filled with all sorts of jumbled thoughts – how he had ended up taking such a request, how he had gotten caught up in this absurd situation.

Joo-yeon filtered through the incessant stream of thoughts and remembered only the important information.

Se-hoon kept glancing at Joo-yeon’s face, but her expression was so calm that he couldn’t read her at all.

He couldn’t even tell if she was currently using her skill or not.

“Keep glancing at someone else’s wife, and I might pluck your eyes out.”

Just then, Noh Young, who had been silently eating, threatened, and Se-hoon squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head.

The quiet meal ended about thirty minutes later.

Seeing that everyone had put down their utensils, Joo-yeon stood up and guided Jin-yeop and Se-hoon to the living room.

“Yeong-ah, there’s dessert in the fridge, right?

Want to bring it with something to drink?”

“Yeah.”

Noh Young obediently prepared the refreshments as Joo-yeon instructed.

Jin-yeop, sitting on the living room sofa, gestured with his eyes for Se-hoon, who was standing helplessly, to sit on the opposite sofa.

Se-hoon hesitated and then sat down.

Afterwards, Joo-yeon came over and sat on the empty sofa.

She crossed her arms and slowly spoke.

“What are you planning to do, Jin-yeop-ssi?”

“I’m thinking of just letting him go.”

“Is that so?”

Joo-yeon nodded nonchalantly, but Se-hoon, on the contrary, stared at Jin-yeop with a somewhat surprised expression.

Jin-yeop spoke.

“What, did you think I was really going to kill you?”

“It was possible…”

“Right, it was possible.”

“…”

“It’s also a method to win a bid for a dungeon, take you there, and kill you without anyone knowing.

I’d be the prime suspect, of course… but well, I wouldn’t care.”

Noh Young brought juice and cake, set them on the table, and sat next to Joo-yeon.

“If I burn you to nothing, leaving no trace, at worst I’d rot in prison for a few years.”

Jin-yeop’s eyes were serious, though ‘at worst’ seemed like an odd choice of words.

“Please let me live, I really…”

“You were just following orders?”

“…”

“The whole world is talking about that bastard and me.

It would be a lie to say you had no idea how the photos you took would be used.”

“…”

“I’d have to say you were complicit to some extent.

You can’t claim you’re innocent.”

Jin-yeop stared blankly at the terrified Se-hoon.

“Well, I’m not really going to kill you.

I have no intention of doing that.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

At Noh Young’s question, Jin-yeop answered readily.

“I’m going to just let him go.

That works in my favor.”

“…”

“Go back and deliver all those lovely photos to your client.

You need to get paid for your work, don’t you?”

“Among those photos, there was also the new Guide from Vibes.

Even if I’m okay, he’ll definitely get involved in this.”

When Noh Young asked worriedly, Joo-yeon took his hand and quietly shook her head.

Noh Young did as she said and fell silent.

It seemed she had already read what Jin-yeop was thinking.

“But there’s one condition.”

“W-what is it?”

“You can talk about what happened at the department store, but you must keep silent about the fact that you followed us here.”

“…”

“Do you understand what I mean?”

At this, Se-hoon quickly nodded.

He was already in a situation where Joo-yeon, through her skill, had seen everything from the details of the request he received to who the client was.

Moreover, among the various thoughts floating in his head, there might have been personal information about himself as well.

Now that the woman had read all of that, Se-hoon had no other choice.

If he blabbed recklessly, he really might be taken to a dungeon and killed without anyone knowing, just as Jin-yeop had said.

“I absolutely, absolutely won’t tell.”

Se-hoon promised several times, then shot up from his seat, bowed his head repeatedly, and apologized.

Then, as if fleeing, he ran out of Noh Young’s house.

Soon, only the three of them remained in the house.

Only then did Noh Young pick up his fork, eat some cake, and mutter in a dissatisfied tone.

“Don’t you think you let him off too easily?

A misstep and I, a married man, could have had a scandal with you.”

“Kang Jung-hoon knows you.

He also knows there’s no benefit in bringing up your story.”

“Still, you never know, right?

Like you’re deeply captivated by my irresistible charm and clinging to me…”

“Are you crazy?”

At Noh Young’s playful muttering, Joo-yeon slapped his shoulder.

Noh Young exaggeratedly dropped his fork and joked that his shoulder might have come out of its socket.

“Jin-yeop-ssi probably already guessed, but it’s his doing.

There was a one million won retainer, and it seems he was supposed to get another million if the photos turned out well.”

“More than anything, it’s a bit surprising that he did this for just a million won.

He could make more than that by clearing an E-class dungeon.”

“Well, he can’t clear E-class.”

“Really?”

As Noh Young asked in surprise, Joo-yeon nodded.

“By creating a quiet atmosphere on purpose, all sorts of thoughts were running through his head.

He kept saying things like ‘don’t think about it’ in between, which was noisy, though…”

“…”

“He has a stealth skill, but his awakening grade is low, so it seems inefficient.

So I guess he makes a living that way.”

“…”

“The strange part, in my opinion, is why he bothered to send someone that you, an A-class, would eventually notice, Jin-yeop-ssi.”

Joo-yeon was right.

Even if he had been too preoccupied to notice right away, it was something he would have eventually caught on to.

Even if Jin-yeop himself hadn’t noticed, someone accompanying him, like today, might have.

“That’s why I let him go.”

“Huh?”

“Since he sent someone I would eventually notice anyway, I think there must be another intention.”

“…”

“That person seemed to really not know anything and was just following orders.

Of course, he probably had his suspicions.

So that intention is exactly that.”

“…”

“Kang Jung-hoon probably thought that after I discovered the photos and checked them, I would guess like anyone else.”

Ah, he’s trying to catch me having an affair.

That kind of thing.

Probably anyone, knowing the relationship between Jung-hoon and himself, would have quickly inferred that.

If he was going to do something so transparent, Kang Jung-hoon might have had a different intention.

“Probably that bastard thought I would delete the photos and let him go.

Or, he thought I would come and warn him.

But I did nothing, and even sent the photo data back untouched.”

“…”

“Then what choice will that bastard make?

That’s what I’m curious about.

Since I can’t figure out what he’s trying to do, I had no choice but to send him back.

Only then can I find out.”

Jin-yeop said this, scooping up cake with his fork.

He didn’t like sweets, but his head was throbbing, and he wanted to put something in his mouth to soothe it.

“And besides, those photos are useless anyway.

After that commotion at the department store, could he use them?

That would just be advertising that he was the one who sent someone to tail me.”

“Isn’t it quite common to tail a spouse suspected of having an affair?”

“That’s true.

But we’ve already announced that we’re separating.”

“…”

“So what’s the point of finding evidence of an affair now?

He should have filed for divorce with evidence of my infidelity, not handed me an uncontested divorce agreement.”

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