Chapter 209
Chapter 209
Jimin had worn a bikini, which revealed her slim figure, and paired it up with a cardigan . She walked past Sungyoon to reach s.h.i.+nhae .
“The fish was over there?”
“Yes . ”
“Let’s just look at the fish so that we don’t startle it . If we surprise it, the fish may become mad . ”
“Yes!”
s.h.i.+nhae firmly gripped Jimin’s hand, and they swam a bit forward to have a clear view . However, they stopped at an appropriate distance from the fish and submerged their heads into the water .
Whenever the fish changed their direction or speed, s.h.i.+nhae would make an exclamation and laugh . On the other hand, Sungyoon looked a bit dejected, and he kept scratching his head .
“She stole s.h.i.+nhae from you . ”
A voice came from behind Sungyoon, and he turned around to see Jiyoon . Jiyoon had accompanied them on the trip at Jimin’s insistence . She had worn a very modest one-piece swimming suit today .
“Yes . She was stolen from me . ”
“Their relations.h.i.+p really is like the relations.h.i.+p between a mother and daughter . ”
‘Mother and daughter?’
For a brief moment, Miyun appeared in Sungyoon"s thoughts . However, he quickly erased all traces of that thought .
However, the situation wasn"t far from Jiyoon"s words .
“I owe a lot to the President . This includes everything she has done for s.h.i.+nhae . It isn’t an exaggeration to say the President is like another mother to s.h.i.+nhae . There are no other ways to view it . ”
“Is that so?”
Jiyoon discreetly stole a glance at Sungyoon’s face .
“Mr . Sungyoon, you look like a boy whose mother was stolen away from him . ”
Sungyoon let out a bashful smile . Seeing that, Jiyoon also laughed .
After saying goodbye to the fish that traveled deeper into the ocean, Jimin and s.h.i.+nhae looked around for more fish . However, they became surprised by the scene between Sungyoon and Jiyoon .
***
As the three adults and s.h.i.+nhae played in the ocean, Emily, Grace, and Chelsea lay down next to each other and tanned their bodies . Chelsea had untied her bikini top, and she let the warm sun bathe her back .
She pulled down her sungla.s.ses and looked toward the ocean .
“He really doesn’t leave s.h.i.+nhae even for a moment . ”
A pout appeared on Chelsea"s face . The two women beside her also looked toward the ocean .
“His daughter is everything to him . ”
“Still, he should at least make an attempt to get along with others . ”
Chelsea normally wore a stained lab coat and old-fas.h.i.+oned thick gla.s.ses . Today, she had gone out of her way to wear a bikini, yet Sungyoon was only focused on playing with s.h.i.+nhae .
Grace didn"t know what else to say, so she just laughed . Unlike the other two, Emily"s gaze toward the ocean contained a bit of envy .
“Those two really look like a married couple . ”
Sungyoon had returned to s.h.i.+nhae’s side . The little girl was now happily laughing and playing with Sungyoon and Jimin . Emily was gazing at this wholesome sight .
“They have a lot of history together . ”
“Now that I think about it, Ms . Chelsea, you have been friends with Mr . Sungyoon for a while, right . ”
“That’s right . I met him around the time when he entered Jimin’s company . ”
Chelsea"s mind took her back to those days .
Sungyoon had been handsome, but a dark and dreary atmosphere used to surround him back then . A conversation with him would always be uncomfortable . Before him, all the Connectors who had joined Jungb.u.m had screwed Jimin over . So Chelsea had seen him in an even more negative light at the start .
But the Sungyoon she was seeing right now had completely changed .
Unlike Emily and Grace, Chelsea"s vision was ordinary, so she was unable to see Sungyon’s expression . However, she could tell that the dreary atmosphere that used to hang around him had lessened a lot over time .
‘Of course, he"s still too brusque . ’
In the end, Chelsea pouted once again .
“How was Mr . Sungyoon in the past?”
The shy Emily mustered her courage and asked . Grace looked interested in the topic too .
“I’m not sure . I don’t know too much about his past self . Even though I had met him early on in his career, he was a Connector who raided the labyrinth every day, and I was a researcher who was stuck in my lab all day . I’m pretty sure, Ms . Emily, you know more about him than me . You"re with him in the labyrinth almost every day . ”
Chelsea flipped the question on Emily, and Emily became fl.u.s.tered .
“A-after Mr . Sungyoon helped me, I just followed him around . There isn’t much to it . ”
“Oh my! You don’t have to be so humble . You"re our precious member who supports and heals us . We can enter the labyrinth without any fear because we have you, Ms . Emily . ”
Emily’s face turned red at Grace"s compliment . However, a small smile had appeared on her lips too .
“Anyway, are you sure it was ok to leave behind Mr . Tim?”
As Grace had said, Tim was nowhere to be seen .
Although the number of people had increased in the trip, it was originally supposed to be a vacation for Sungyoon’s party . So Tim"s absence was odd .
“He said he’d go somewhere else with his girlfriends . He"s even thinking about marrying them . We had spent quite a while on the Moon this time, so he hadn"t seen them for a long time . He probably wants to spend the vacation with them . It"s understandable . ”
“Is that so?”
Emily had spoken about it as if it were no big deal . Chelsea didn’t know much about Tim, so she just took Emily’s words at face value .
However, Grace thought differently . She was Tim"s comrade, so she knew Emily’s explanation sounded a bit off . Tim almost wors.h.i.+pped Sungyoon, so there was no way he would turn down an opportunity to go on vacation with Sungyoon .
However, Tim knew Sungyoon almost never spent time around women in his personal time . Sungyoon had no lovers, which made people think he swung for the other side .
‘He probably didn’t come here because of Ms . Emily and us . ’
It turned out that everyone on this trip was a woman aside from Sungyoon and Tim . Moreover, all of them were interested in Sungyoon . Of course, this put Tim in an awkward spot . So he decided to skip this trip with the expectation that something would develop between Sungyoon and the women .
“It"s too bad that he couldn’t come with us . However, he"s having fun, so we should too . Should we continue gossiping about our leader?”
The other two women were a bit dumbfounded by Grace’s words, but that expression only lasted for a moment, and they had a very fun conversation about Sungyoon .
***
“Ah~ Ahng~! Nyam!”
s.h.i.+nhae ate the big piece of meat skewered on a stick .
The meat was grilled just now, so the juice ran down s.h.i.+nhae’s mouth . While eating, s.h.i.+nhae grabbed the cola bottle and drank its contents . The drink tickled her throat .
“So good!”
The little girl shook her head and laughed .
The sun had completed its job for the day, so it was setting behind the mountain . The Moon had appeared to take its place . The sky looked like black velvet studded with diamonds . And underneath this very beautiful night sky, Sungyoon’s party was having a barbeque .
The skewers had scrumptious meat and vegetable, and their delicious fragrance hit everyone"s nose . Sausages and corn were also being cooked on the sides .
“Gulp! Gulp! Koo-ooh~!”
It had been a while since Chelsea could drink beer without worrying about the price, so she didn"t hold back . She was already on her third beer .
s.h.i.+nhae sat next to her . Her left hand held a skewer, and the right a c.o.ke bottle . She looked up at Chelsea with eyes full of excitement .
Soon, she started copying Chelsea and downed the c.o.ke .
“Koo-ooh~!”
When the c.o.ke was finished, she even made a sound similar to what Chelsea did . This made Chelsea uproariously laugh .
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! That was pretty good, s.h.i.+nhae . ”
Chelsea hugged s.h.i.+nhae, and the little girl burst out laughing .
“… Ms . Jimin?”
“Why, I oughta!”
Chelsea’s behavior was a negative influence on the child’s education . So before Sungyoon could finish his sentence, Jimin moved toward Chelsea in a threatening manner . First, she put s.h.i.+nhae in the care of Jiyoon, who was eating her food on the other side of s.h.i.+nhae . Then, she glared at Chelsea .
Seeing her friend"s sharp eyes fixed on her, Chelsea let out an awkward laugh and made up excuses .
Jiyoon didn’t like what she was seeing, so she made sure s.h.i.+nhae couldn"t see it as well . She cut off the little girl"s line of sight to the two women and gave her a new plate of food .
“The President is really scary . ”
Usually, Jimin was cold and calm; she was never fl.u.s.tered, no matter the situation . Whatever task was thrown at her, she silently finished all of them . She was the ideal career woman . So this version of Jimin surprised Emily .
“The President and Ms . Chelsea are old friends . They are on very familiar terms with each other . ”
Sungyoon spoke as he flipped the skewers before the meat could burn . Then, Grace, who had been cooking the sausages by his side, took the opportunity to ask a question .
“I heard you"re visiting someone tomorrow?”
“Yes . I purposefully scheduled the vacation here because I wanted to meet him . If it were only me here, I would"ve met him much sooner . However, I had to play with s.h.i.+nhae, so I delayed it . ”
In two days, the vacation would already be over .
“Who are you meeting?”
Emily was interested .
“He"s a 1st Gen Connector like me, and a powerful one qualified to enter the Great Labyrinth . ”
“Is this about the heartbeat you can hear?”
“Yes . ”
Sungyoon subconsciously rubbed his heart . Emily and Grace looked worried . Sungyoon had been helped by an unknown power, and as of now, this power had only been beneficial . However, this could change in the future . It was the source of their worry .
Fear always came alongside the unknown .
“I hope you can find a clue this time around . ”
“I really hope so too . ”
As he responded to Emily’s words, Sungyoon looked at the sky full of twinkling stars .
***
A new morning arrived .
Sungyoon left s.h.i.+nhae in the care of Jimin and Jiyoon and went to look for the 1st Gen Connector . s.h.i.+nhae was a bit down when she learned that she would have to be separated from her father for a short time . However, she got over it soon since she was too busy having fun .
Of course, Sungyoon was both half-disappointed and half-relieved by s.h.i.+nhae’s reaction . With those complicated emotions, he left for the road . Since Grace and Emily were Connectors, they decided to accompany Sungyoon .
Soon, they arrived at a house with a front yard filled with palm trees . The house had been made with white bricks, and it looked to be straight out of a fairytale . Moreover, the ocean was not far from the house and could be seen clearly from here .
“This is a great location . ”
“It really is . London is dreary all year round . I’m really envious of places like this . ”
Emily and Grace kept looking at the picturesque house and scenery, while Sungyoon pressed the doorbell next to the front gate .
“Who is it?”
“I contacted you before . My name is Sungyoon Woo . Are you Adam Lee?”
“Ah . Please wait a moment . "
The gate soon opened, and Sungyoon’s party entered the front yard .
Click!
As they walked inside, someone opened the front door and exited the house .
“Welcome, Knight . I never expected to really meet you in person like this . ”
A man with black hair and brown eyes welcomed Sungyoon .
“Ah . You came here with the Princess and your other party member . Please come in . ”
On the outside, Adam Lee looked to be in his mid-twenties, and his voice sounded young too . However, the way he spoke and acted gave away the fact that he was old . From what Sungyoon knew, Adam Lee was over seventy years old .
The party followed the man into his house . There wasn’t much furniture inside the house, and it was only limited to the essentials . However, the furniture was placed in a strategic manner so that the house didn’t look empty .
Lee asked Sungyoon’s party to sit in the living room and went to bring coffee and biscuits .
“I’m sorry, Princess . I don’t have any black tea . ”
“It’s fine . I like coffee too . ”
Grace replied while displaying a small smile . She smelled the fragrance of the coffee .
The four of them exchanged small talk for a short amount of time . Sungyoon and his party members complimented Lee on his house and view, and Lee also showed a lot of interest in the man called the Knight .
After they got to know each other, Sungyoon brought up the topic he wanted to know most about .
“I came here today because I have a question I would like to ask you, Mr . Lee . ”
“Yes, I know . You want to know about the heartbeat that we can hear?”
Lee"s face, which had a pleasant expression until now, hardened in an instant .