Chapter 8: The Unlikely Encounter

“And what if they did kiss? They say he’s a miraculous face genius; if it were me, I’d have done it a dozen times over.”

“You’re going to get into serious trouble, being so obsessed with looks.”

“Don’t talk like an old fogey. Being pretty and handsome is the best. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been Mr. Lee Doha’s manager all this time.”

‘Old fogey’ — the word stung Lee Doha’s heart. The latter part of her statement sounded somewhat like a compliment, yet it hardly felt that way to him.

Having seen people on the internet gush about him being a ‘male god’ or ‘sculpture,’ he found such words hard to believe. Far from being pleased, he only felt a renewed sense of shame.

Lee Doha ran a hand over his gaunt face.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about. Are you afraid of turning gay?”

“Hey!”

Lee Doha finally yelled out, exasperated.

Startled by his own outburst, he lowered his body and glared at Kim Yoon-hye. She, however, didn’t even blink.

“No.”

While it truly wasn’t the case, his recent history made the denial sound rather pathetic.

“I…”

Lee Doha furrowed his brow. He simply stared at the innocent shrimp resting in his bowl.

“Just enjoy it, go with the flow. It’s another world, after all.”

“…”

“No one can stay here forever, so why not do as you please? Especially since you, Mr. Lee Doha, can’t remain here for long.”

“Why?”

Kim Yoon-hye seemed rather annoyed by his question.

“Seriously. It’s time you started being more aware. You’re an Insodouble, Mr. Lee Doha. Having a high mediating magical power means it consumes a lot of your contractor’s magic. No matter how much Emperor Orphenos is hailed as a miraculous incarnation, there’s a limit to what he can do.”

‘Hmm.’ Lee Doha found himself speechless. As she said, he had acted without proper awareness, causing his contractor to spit blood. He truly felt it was time to get his act together.

Yet, he also felt a pang of unfairness. While he wasn’t particularly ambitious, he had never been one to act so carelessly in his life. Lately, however, even he felt as though he was repeatedly making foolish mistakes.

With nothing to say, a heart full of resentment, a strange surge of pique, and an odd feeling in a corner of his chest, he was utterly bewildered.

Overwhelmed by this bizarre mix of emotions, Lee Doha rested his chin in his hand and idly poked at a shrimp in his untouched fried rice. He had no idea where his life was headed next.

“…But, in that supposedly great Empire, a proper doctor…”

“Huh? Wow!”

A boisterous exclamation cut Lee Doha off. Most wondrous and strange occurrences in the world were typically related to special abilities and contractors. Given that Aira was a place dedicated to researching such matters, such a naive exclamation was rarely heard there.

Lee Doha turned his head to see a boy in a school uniform.

The boy, carrying a tray and accompanied by a few others, strode purposefully closer. He was clearly heading straight for Lee Doha.

In the briefest of moments, Lee Doha gestured to Kim Yoon-hye, who was already slurping down her *naengmyeon*. ‘Who is that?’ he conveyed with his eyes.

However, before Kim Yoon-hye could even set down her bowl, the teenager was already standing beside them. He placed his tray on their table.

Lee Doha instinctively raised an eyebrow and leaned back, surprised by the boy’s brazenness.

“You’re Mr. Lee Doha, right? An Insodouble?”

“…”

While Lee Doha wasn’t particularly shy, he also wasn’t amiable enough to readily smile and play along when a complete stranger abruptly approached him, acting overly familiar and delighted.

After a moment of silent observation, Lee Doha asked impassively.

“Who are you?”

“Oh?”

The teenager looked flustered, as if the question was entirely unexpected. From Lee Doha’s perspective, it was a perfectly natural inquiry. However, the boy’s demeanor suggested he might be a celebrity who didn’t typically need to introduce himself.

‘Is he an entertainer?’ Lee Doha wondered briefly, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing him before. He was genuinely a stranger.

“Ah, I apologize. My name is Yoo Seo.”

“…?”

Despite the introduction, Lee Doha still looked utterly clueless, prompting Yoo Seo to grow fidgety and, rather pitifully, embarrassed.

The face Lee Doha had initially thought as ‘white as a steamed bun’ now flushed a deep red.

“Uh… well, I’m a special ability user. I’m also a contractor. My contractor is from Iristirium, too.”

“Ah.”

As Yoo Seo rambled on about himself, Lee Doha, who had been blankly staring, suddenly had a brief memory flash through his mind. ‘Oh Han-ul, Yoo Seo — want to meet an Insodouble.’ The memory of that thought.

Yoo Seo. Given how frequently their name appeared on portal homepages, they were likely one of the most publicly active contractors known to the world. They appeared in commercials, movies, dramas, and variety shows.

In essence, they were an entertainer. Lee Doha hadn’t realized they were a minor.

Finally, seeing that Lee Doha recognized them, Yoo Seo’s face lit up.

“I’m a huge fan! I really wanted to meet you. You don’t come to Aira often, and I can’t just go looking for you. I wondered if I’d ever see you even in Iristirium. I did an interview, but that was… Oh, please don’t misunderstand! That was truly just an interview. I didn’t have any ulterior motives or anything. Anyway, I never thought I’d actually see you here!”

‘They talk a lot.’ ‘Their friendliness was out of this world.’ Lee Doha thought, watching their brightly smiling face.

He found himself at a loss, unsure how to respond to the rapid-fire barrage of words. As he stood there, letting Yoo Seo’s flailing hands hover awkwardly, Kim Yoon-hye, who had by now neatly wiped her mouth and reapplied her lipstick, came to his rescue.

“Mr. Lee Doha is practically a caveman, Seo, he knows nothing. Hello, senior. Hello, Deputy Manager.”

“Yoon-hye noona, what’s a caveman?”

It wasn’t even that funny, yet Yoo Seo burst into peals of laughter. Lee Doha, having been abruptly labeled a ‘caveman,’ was dumbfounded.

Kim Yoon-hye, after greeting the people who had followed Yoo Seo, pointed at the boy.

“Here he is, the doctor.”

“What?”

“He’s one of the Korean contractors who frequents Etreze. His special ability is…”

“Ugh, Noona!”

Yoo Seo yelled, flailing his arms wildly as he leaned halfway across the table. It was a desperate attempt to silence Kim Yoon-hye.

Though his hand didn’t reach her, Kim Yoon-hye did close her mouth, albeit with a look of indifference. Yoo Seo’s face, which had almost calmed down, once again flushed bright red.

While the behavior was sudden, Lee Doha understood it perfectly.

Indeed, the world was filled with all sorts of special abilities. Some had activation conditions, some didn’t, and even abilities that seemed similar often had completely different principles and processes.

It would have been convenient if they could simply be called ‘telekinesis’ or ‘clairvoyance,’ but that wasn’t the reality. Perhaps that was why the names Aira gave to special abilities upon identification were… quite metaphorical.

So much so that special ability users often hesitated, feeling embarrassed to introduce their own abilities to others. This was why most abilities remained unknown, even if they weren’t strictly secrets.

The most well-known ability was likely ‘Rewinding Clockwork,’ belonging to another Insodouble, Ursula. Compared to others, this was quite a mild name.

“I’m not exactly a doctor, but, uh, my special ability is related to healing.”

Lee Doha raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Kim Yoon-hye, who, looking entirely unsurprised, offered further explanation.

“The imperial palace in Iristirium is called Etreze.”

“Oh, Hyung, you really don’t know anything!”

Yoo Seo said with a bright laugh. There was no malice whatsoever on his clear face.

Kim Yoon-hye was one thing, but even Yoo Seo. At this point, Lee Doha had no choice but to admit that he wasn’t just ‘uninterested’ in this field, but downright ‘ignorant.’

‘I need to study.’ Lee Doha reflected.

In any case, as Kim Yoon-hye had metaphorically put it, if he was called to the imperial palace to heal a descendant of King Danjong, like Yi Sun-sin in the Roman Empire, it meant his special ability was truly extraordinary.

Yet, his honest first impression gave no hint of such grandeur, making it quite surprising.

Whether such thoughts showed on his face, or if Yoo Seo simply discerned Lee Doha’s ignorance, which Kim Yoon-hye had dubbed ‘caveman-like’ during their brief exchange, he kindly began to explain.

“My special ability is one thing, but Irina… Irina is my contractor, and she’s the commander of Iristirium’s Imperial Knights. So I used to go in and out of Etreze anyway. Then I saw His Imperial Majesty just once, and wow — it was incredible! No matter how much I begged Irina to let me see him again, she’s so rigid, truly impossible to sway. It never worked before, but this time, I saw His Imperial Majesty up close! Wow, it was seriously amazing!”

‘Ahem.’ Someone cleared their throat from behind him. Yoo Seo, who had been passionately rambling in excitement, snapped his mouth shut and quickly glanced over.

One of his companions, a man who looked roughly Yoo Seo’s age and had been patiently holding a tray, gave him a pointed look. Yoo Seo pursed his lips and gave a sheepish eye-smile. The man let out a deep sigh.

Lee Doha was certain. ‘Yoo Seo is a total pretty-boy fanatic, a typical high schooler of this era.’

Furthermore, his apparent handling team seemed to be guiding the teenager in proper Korean usage. Given his contractor was the Imperial Knight Commander, his speech, with all its ‘Your Majesty’s’ and such, seemed to have been ‘patched’ to resemble his contractor’s.

Whatever the case, it had little to do with Lee Doha. What *did* concern him was the condition of his contractor, Siohan Orphenos.

“If you treated him, why is he still so sickly?”

“That’s because all his energy was drained! Hyung really sucked up all his magic!”

Yoo Seo’s face remained bright, but his words were anything but. At the mention of ‘sucking up all his magic,’ Lee Doha’s expression shifted strangely.

‘Ahem-ahem.’ The man behind Yoo Seo cleared his throat once more. Yoo Seo shot a quick glance, then, realizing his words were a bit harsh, softened them. He scratched his cheek.

“Uh… what I mean is, summoning you drained so much magic that his basic stamina wasn’t recovering well. At that point, either time would heal it, or more magic would need to be poured in. But Emperor Orphenos is your contractor, Hyung. And you’re an Insodouble. It’s hopeless… no, um. I managed to restore him to some extent with my ability, but Irina’s magic ran out, so I couldn’t do any more.”

Yoo Seo quickly rephrased his words, but Lee Doha knew he was right. This situation was indeed hopeless. Both the circumstances, and Lee Doha himself, who couldn’t grasp anything.

All special ability users were potential contractors. They had the possibility of being summoned at any time if they found a compatible partner, which was why they received mandatory training.

Hence, most special ability users would think about contracts, or about the person who might become their contractor somewhere out there, at least once. Yet, Lee Doha swore he had never once considered a contract.

He was Lee Doha, who had persistently refused thirty-three tenacious summons.

So, the current situation — where he had made a contract but the summoner was struggling to call him — should have been unwelcome. The problem was, it wasn’t.

Lee Doha simply admitted it. He wanted to see his summoner one more time. Whether it was to punch that ‘miraculous incarnation’ in the face and knock out his perfect teeth, or for any other reason, he just wanted to see him once more. He wanted to hear him call his name, just one more time.

[Hwairam.]

‘Yes, just like that.’