Chapter 67: An Unsettling Truth

When I opened my eyes, it wasn’t my familiar bedroom, but a different place.
Thinking I had made a mess after drinking again, I hurriedly sat up and looked around.

The room felt both familiar and strange.
But I could faintly feel Hyun Taewoon’s wavelength in the room.
Looking closely, I realized it was the room I had used when I first came to his house.

It seemed he had brought me to his house.
When I retraced my last memory, it was of me vomiting in front of him.
To have thrown up in front of him was an embarrassing act.

As I was going over what had happened yesterday one by one, I suddenly felt something strange.
Although I wasn’t a strong drinker, it was a little suspicious that I had gotten so drunk from drinking champagne that I had lost consciousness.

Since I was an S-Class guide, it was possible that someone had tampered with my drink.
But it could also be an over-the-top thought, and for now, I only had a hunch, so it seemed I would have to investigate it separately.

Since it was also strange to be here like this, I stood up, and I noticed that I was wearing what looked like new pajamas.
Fortunately, my underwear was my own.

I hurriedly looked for my clothes, but they were gone, so it seemed they were somewhere else.

I gently opened the door and went outside, and his wavelength was lingering in the familiar hallway.

I couldn’t understand why he had brought me to his house.
My house was right next door, and since there were many Association staff at the party, he could have asked for help.

I looked for him to grasp the situation.
He was sitting on the living room sofa, so I could find him easily.

“You’re awake?”

As soon as he saw me, he greeted me lightly.
I was dumbfounded at that and walked briskly towards the sofa and asked.

“Why am I at your house?”

“You were drunk yesterday, so I brought you here.”

“Still, you didn’t have to bring me to your house.”

At my words, he was silent for a moment and then said slowly.

“I wanted to be with you longer. I’m sorry.”

At his all-too-honest words, I wasn’t even angry, just dumbfounded.

“Still as selfish as ever.”

“I’m sorry. Still, since you’re here, it felt like we were back in the old days, so I was happy for a moment.”

At his words, I also looked around his house.
It was the same as the last time I remembered it.
I could also see the greenhouse on the terrace.
Since I had returned to the past, the greenhouse shouldn’t have been there, but I was a little surprised to see it.

He must have noticed that I was looking at the greenhouse, as he looked in that direction and said.

“I made the greenhouse this time. It felt empty without it.”

“I didn’t ask.”

Seeing that he knew about the existence of the greenhouse, it seemed certain that he had regressed like me.

“Want to go into the greenhouse?”

He asked cautiously, looking at my face.
But even if he made a greenhouse now, he and I could not go back to that time.

“No. And to be clear, I have no intention of going back to the old days.”

“I know. It’s just that it’s been a long time since we were alone like this, and I didn’t know when you would come to my house again, so I asked.”

“Never mind that, where are my clothes?”

“They were dirty, so I sent them to the dry cleaner.”

If I couldn’t change my clothes right away, since my house was right next door anyway, it seemed better to go back as soon as possible.
I moved to the entrance without saying goodbye to him.

“Have breakfast before you go.”

“Why would I have breakfast with you.”

At my words, he had a sad face, but I had no intention of having a cheerful breakfast with him.

In the end, he also seemed to have given up and followed me silently.
And as I was putting on my shoes, he said.

“I think it would be better for you to refrain from drinking.”

“Who are you to tell me.”

A surge of annoyance rose in me at his nagging.
I was already fuming about my foolish actions from yesterday.

“You collapsed after drinking at the American party last time too.”

At his words, I stopped my hand, which was holding my shoelace, and looked up at him.
I had no idea how he knew that.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was the one who took you to your room.”

What…?

The moment I heard his words, my whole body froze.
The memories from the US, which had faded a little over time, came back to me vividly.
The kiss with a person whose face I didn’t even know was now replaced with him in my mind.

To think that I had only just now realized that the person I had kissed that day was him…

Heat rose from my neck to my face in shame at my foolish actions.
How absurd must I have seemed to him, kissing him while drunk after having said I disliked him all this time?

“Forget about that day. You were very drunk.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you not to drink too much.”

I no longer looked at his face and quickly opened the front door.
But before I closed the door, he spoke again.

“Shinui, the reason I returned to the past is for you. I don’t want you to die a second time.”

At those words, I couldn’t close the front door and looked at him.
He was not the arrogant person I had known.

“The feelings you gave me, I’ll repay them several times over.”

In the end, I avoided his eyes and closed the door.
But for a long time, my body wouldn’t move.

The image of him from a moment ago kept coming to my mind.
Anyone who has ever liked someone would know.
A sincere gaze that cannot be faked.

Since it was a gaze I never wanted to see from him, I tried to erase the event from my memory and got on the elevator.
He always had to be the bad guy to me.

When I returned home, Wonjae, who was in the living room, ran to the entrance.

“Hyung! I didn’t get any calls from you. Where have you been? The Association knew where you were but wouldn’t tell me. Do you know how worried I was?”

He said with a deep frown, unlike usual.
He had a gaunt face, as if he hadn’t been able to sleep properly.

“I’m sorry. My phone died.”

“Still, you could have at least contacted me. Where did you sleep?”

“I slept at the Association hotel.”

“Really? But what are those clothes?”

He said in a still-suspicious voice and looked me up and down.
At that, I realized I was in my pajamas.

“I bought new ones because I threw up yesterday.”

It wasn’t me who had bought them, but him, but it was true that they were new.

“Hyung, you threw up yesterday? Is your stomach okay now?”

“I’m fine now. I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you.”

I said with a small smile, but he still had a worried face.

“I was really worried. Did you eat before you came?”

“Not yet. I came as soon as I woke up.”

“Then let’s eat together.”

I had no appetite, but I felt sorry for him, who had waited for me all night, so I went to the kitchen with him.
Fortunately, it seemed Sung Yohan was not here today.

“I want to put a tracking device on you.”

“I’m not going to drink anymore.”

“But I’m still worried.”

I told him not to worry, but he said he wouldn’t leave my side from now on.
I smiled slightly and ate my food.

But even as I ate, his last face kept coming to my mind.

The weekend that ended the week had come.
He went out, saying he had business at the Center, and I rested at home.

I was bored of being home alone, so I came out to buy some snacks.
I planned to go to the convenience store near my house.

Since many people recognized me these days, I went out wearing a mask and a hat.

When I entered the convenience store, the clerk greeted me.
I greeted him with a nod, chose a few snacks from the snack corner, and took them to the counter.
But the clerk recognized me.

“A-are you perhaps S-Class Guide Lee Shinui?”

I had covered almost my entire face, so I had no idea how he had recognized me.
However, since I had already been caught, I didn’t want to hide it, so I nodded.

“Ah, yes.”

“I really like you. I even joined your fan club.”

“Fan club?”

“Yes. Actually, I worked here because I heard you lived in this apartment. I feel like I’ve won the lottery.”

He showed me his phone screen.
It was a cafe with over 300,000 members.
I knew that my personal information had spread a lot due to the US gate and that people were very interested in me, but I had no idea there was even a fan club.

“Um, could you possibly take a picture with me? And an autograph?”

“I don’t think I can do a picture, and I don’t have an autograph…”

“Then please at least write your name!”

The clerk took out a notebook and gave it to me.
In the end, I wrote my name with a ballpoint pen.
But then I heard a click.
At the sound, I looked up and saw the clerk holding his phone and taking a picture of me.

“You can’t take pictures.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll delete it.”

The clerk said he would delete it, but to be honest, I didn’t believe him.
Feeling a sense of unease, I hurried back home.

I sat on the living room sofa, opened a bag of snacks, and out of curiosity, I looked up my fan cafe.

I wanted to see the posts, but I had to sign up to see them.
In the end, I joined the fan cafe with the nickname [ㅇㅅㅇ].

But on the latest post, there was a picture of me at the convenience store.
It seemed the convenience store clerk from a little while ago had posted it.

“What the…. He said he would delete it.”

When I checked the fan cafe posts one by one, there were many pictures that seemed to have been taken from a distance.
Since there were also pictures taken inside the training wing, it seemed that Awakened or Center staff had also joined this cafe.

I had never thought that there would be this much interest in an S-Class guide.
It was also scary that stories about me that I didn’t even know were being posted in real time like this.

There would be people who liked me in the cafe, but there would surely be people who disliked me as well.
Thinking that it wouldn’t be all good for me, I sent a message to Jinseok about closing the cafe.

A few days later, the fan cafe was closed, and I was relieved, but soon, news came that another cafe had been opened again.