Please Cooperate In The Execution Of S-Class Official Duties - Chapter 50

“Would you like the same course?”

The restaurant manager asked carefully. Meanwhile, Yuri’s manager also sneaked into the room.

“The sequence wouldn’t be right then, so it’ll be fine.”

Seheon continued to refuse coldly. Disgruntled, Yuri puffed her cheeks at Seheon, who sat diagonal to her.

“Oppa, you’re being sooo cold.”

“Just leave if you don’t have any business. I’d definitely told you that I’m in the middle of a date.”

Yuri stole another glance at Hara. The woman, who was wearing thick glasses, kept smiling at her.

Shin Yuri was a little annoyed by that.

‘Are you truly tactless, or do you really feel that unbothered about my presence?’

Shin Yuri was the youngest member of Korea’s most famous idol girl group. It’s already been seven years since she’d debuted, but her time as a trainee was longer. Since she’d lived as an aspiring entertainer since she was in elementary school, she could say that she was a veteran that’s weathered through various storms. Of course, aside from dating.

Ever since Yoon Seheon was her next door neighbour oppa, she’d kept following him. Her reason for becoming an entertainer was also simple. It’s because of Yoon Seheon. The details about the situation are omitted.

On the other hand, thanks to a ten-year age gap, Yoon Seheon has never seen Shin Yuri as a woman.

Therefore, Seheon had deliberately shown his girlfriends to Shin Yuri, who’d constantly pursued him, several times. Of course, they were bothered by Yuri’s presence every time.

‘I’m this pretty.’

Yuri pushed back her long, beautifully curled hair. When she inspected her reflection on the restaurant’s windows, she practically looked flawless. She was wearing makeup for broadcasts, so it gave off a resplendent feeling, but it didn’t matter as the restaurant’s lights were dimmed.

‘How can you feel unbothered by my presence?’

However, Yuri became a little less confident as she glanced at the woman before her. She was still smiling as she looked at Yuri. But Yuri wouldn’t have imagined that she was repeating internally, ‘I’m not going to make it obvious that I’m a fan!’

Otherwise, was she… Was she just an insincere woman? Yuri decided to test her and batted her long eyelashes deliberately.

“What do you mean, if you don’t have any business? My business here is seeing your face, Oppa.”

Although she smiled cutely, Yoon Seheon didn’t budge.

“Don’t speak nonsense.”

“Why were you so late, Oppa? Oppa’s reservation was for 6pm, and I thought I was going to die while waiting. Oppa, did you know that I’d starved for around 2 hours?”

At those words, the woman in front of her suddenly bowed her head. Without knowing that Kang Hara was internally screaming, ‘If I knew that this would happen, I would’ve done whatever it takes to smash the dungeon a little sooner,’ Yuri felt a slight satisfaction.

‘Has she understood? Has she just realised that I like Yoon Seheon? Is she calculating how much she can’t compete with me?’

But before that, Yuri’s manager added in a flash. She just wanted to prevent rumours that the youngest member of the best girl group in name and reality was pursuing Anchor Yoon Seheon.

Of course, it was familiar to her, who’d watched Shin Yuri do this for seven years, but no matter what, Kang Hara was someone they’re meeting for the first time. She had to at least make an excuse.

“Ah, we stopped by because we happened to be recording at the Han River. Haha.”

“Recording at the Han River?”

Seheon raised an eyebrow at those words.

“Didn’t I just release a solo? It’s a music show.”

“If it’s a music show, why are you doing that at the Han River?”

Yuri grumbled as she tapped on the table lightly with her cutely painted nails.

“Oppa doesn’t even know that I’d debuted as a soloist, and yet you frequently ask me things like that.”

“It’s none of my business whether you release a solo or a couple.”

“Oppa, your words are really mean.”

Even so, Yuri continued speaking.

“Since it’s a pre-recording, we decided to film it along the Han River. But the stage would only be completed at night. So I came to eat.”

I’m still waiting for this year’s holiday. You can wait a little bit since you’re a soloist, right? When he asked like that, I really wanted to hit the PD.

Hara and Seheon ignored the grumbling Yuri, and inadvertently made eye contact. Only then did they vaguely realise what the penalty for failing the quest meant.

[Failure of Yuri’s concert]

“Where at the Han River?”

“There’s a water-coloured stage between Seogang Bridge and Mapo Bridge, haha…”

The manager added again.

Goosebumps rose in an instant. Hara couldn’t help but hug her arms. Seheon’s eyes also widened.

It was simply written as the three bridges sealed off until the end of next year, but that was clearly a phrase with the premise of casualties.

If Hara had failed to stop the gate at Bamseom Island in advance, it was possible that Yuri might not live to see tomorrow morning’s sunrise.

Unknowingly, Hara and Seheon breathed a sigh of relief in unison. Coincidentally, it happened at the same time, Hara looked at Seheon in slight surprise while Yuri’s gaze turned sharp.

When their gazes met, Seheon let out an “Ah!” and explained succinctly.

“This is my mother’s friend’s daughter.”

Wow, that’s great. Hara had already heard the explanation that they lived in the same neighbourhood when they were children, but Hara envied Seheon once again. He must have seen Yuri when she was young.

Whether he knew what she was thinking or not, Seheon expressed his gratitude warmly.

“Thank you.”

“Ah……”

“All of a sudden? What’s there to be thankful for?”

Unaware of their conversation’s context, Yuri asked, “Huh?” but Seheon didn’t even change his tone as he cut her off with, “There’s just some circumstances.” Then, he gave Yuri’s manager a meaningful glance. It meant to drag her out stealthily.

With a laugh, the manager grabbed Yuri’s shoulder.

“Yuri, we should get going now.”

“Ah, I don’t wanna! I want to talk to Oppa!”

“I got a message from the PD, telling you to standby soon.”

Ahh! Yuri was angry, but as soon as the PD was mentioned, it didn’t seem like she had the intention of ruining the recording.

She pouted at Hara, before suddenly smiling and holding out her hand.

“Please take good care of my Oppa.”

“Oh, yes.”

Startled, Hara jumped up belatedly, wiped her hands on her pants, before shaking her hand.

“I was so surprised when he was drawn into a dungeon not too long ago, and I’m so worried about how he hasn’t fully recovered……”

It was a blatant check. Whenever Yuri said something like this, the expression of Seheon’s girlfriends always looked bad. It was a line that anyone could tell that that should be said by a girlfriend.

It was evident that the next lines to follow would be, ‘Ah, yes……’ or a sharp response like, ‘That isn’t something you should care about, is it?’

Then, Yuri would flinch and say, ‘Oh my, when Oppa’s mother died, she requested me to take good care of Oppa……’ If Yuri cried while saying the same words, it was game over. So far, none has won against Shin Yuri.

Sure enough. The woman’s face hardened, and her grip on Yuri’s hand tightened. ‘What’s this, are you trying to grab it painfully? I’ve been doing pilates for 5 years. Something like this doesn’t hurt at all,’ as Yuri thought that with a face akin to a cat that ate the canary, it stiffened at the woman’s next words.

“Ah, don’t worry. I… Yoon Seheon-ssi…”

What ‘I’? Before Yuri could finish that thought, Hara added solemnly.

“I’ll definitely protect his life.”

Yuri’s eyes grew bigger.

“What?”

Soon afterwards, a loud laugh resounded.

“Hahaha!”

Seheon couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Dumbfounded, Yuri tried to question Hara, but the restaurant’s staff stood at the door awkwardly with plates containing the next course.

And her manager was also rushing her. So Yuri wasn’t able to ask what the heck that meant.

“What the? Does that mean she’s very angry because of me, so she’s going to beat up Oppa? Does that mean that she’s going to spare his life? Unnie, did you hear that? Isn’t that one a total four-dimensional?”

[T/N: four-dimensional usually means an eccentric/slightly odd person that’s unlike others in thinking or mannerisms]

At the other side of the room, the sound of Yuri questioning her manager gradually faded.

The staff set down the plate and left with a smile.

And up until then, Hara was cooling her bright red face. Next to her, Seheon was laughing so hard that he teared up, and eventually used a napkin to dab the corner of his eyes.

“I’m sorry……”

“N—no. Obviously, I’m very thankful. That you’ll protect my life.”

“Well, you said she was really worried, so I unknowingly…”

Hara, who wanted to say something trustworthy, only then realised what she’d said after hearing the sound of Seheon’s laughter belatedly.

Four-dimensional. Yuri’s evaluation about her was clear.

It was like an icy cold dagger being flung into her heart…… Four-dimensional… She couldn’t say anything if Yuri had really thought so…

Seheon returned to Yuri’s seat and sat down while a dazed expression appeared on Hara’s face. His face was still filled with laughter. But he still bowed his head.

“I should also apologise.”

“Ah, what is Anchor Yoon apologising for……”

“It’s because I tried to use Kang Hara.”

Yuri has liked Seheon since she was very young, and whenever Seheon had a girlfriend, she would always follow him and start a fight like that. Naturally, after Yuri left, Seheon would always fight with his girlfriends.

But today was a little different. A strange jovial feeling permeated throughout Seheon. He felt apologetic towards Hara at the same time.

“Use?”

“Yuri has liked me a lot since she was young. But Yuri — well, you might not know her age, but……”

“Twenty-four years old!”

“Ah— you’re aware? Yes, we have an age gap of ten years.”

Seheon felt rather embarrassed.

“That child was four to five when I’m in middle school, so even if she acts immature…… I wasn’t able to cut her off in the end.”

“You were cutting her off very well though……”

“……I was trained unintentionally.”

Ahem, Seheon cleared his throat.

“Anyways, I’d improvised and called you my girlfriend…… It was meant for her to stay away, but Yuri was rude to Hara-ssi. I apologise for that.”

“Ah, no. I liked it a lot!”

Hara replied in a loud voice unknowingly. After Seheon’s eyes widened, Hara made an excuse belatedly.

“Oh, that’s…. I also like Yuri-ssi’s group. I really like their songs…… aren’t they very famous.”

“You didn’t seem like the type that would like celebrities.”

“I don’t?”

“Am I wrong?”

Kang Hara, who’d been hesitating up till a few moments ago about whether she should confess about the incident where she grabbed Yoon Seheon’s sleeve after crying about he who only says ‘Oh, really’ during the shopping mall fansign event, calmly replied.

“Oh, of course. I don’t watch TV all that much.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Who would watch idols on TV these days? In a world where broadcasting stations would edit music programs and upload them on X-Tube.

Seheon smiled softly. “Hahaha……” Hara laughed listlessly.

* * *