TL | Chapter 43 | Are You Alright Now?

“Why didn’t you bring him today? Weren’t you sticking to him like glue?”

At Liam’s question, Iden tilted his head slightly. After watching Liam’s soft smile for a moment, he seemed to understand and let out a short sigh.

“Because he’s hurt.”

Liam chuckled at Iden’s response.

“No matter how far away I am in South Korea, did you think I’d know nothing about it? I already heard he just has a slight fracture. You practically locked him up at home.”

“If others heard, they’d misunderstand. I’m just being cautious for his safety.”

“Then, who am I sitting in front of right now?”

“Since the Underboss called me.”

It was clear that if it weren’t for Liam’s summons, Iden wouldn’t have come.

“An honor, then. That you’d risk danger to come see me.”

“Let’s stop the jokes here. I have a lot of work to deal with since I’m out anyway.”

Iden checked his watch and stood up. Liam merely lifted his gaze to look at him without standing up as well.

“Work?”

“The casino business—it needs wrapping up.”

“Oh, I thought maybe you were off to finish the guy who tried to kill you.”

Liam joked lightly, but Iden didn’t join him in laughter. As Liam stared at Iden’s cold, hardened expression, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll be heading back to the United States in a few days, now that I’ve rested up. Before that, show me that guy’s face. Let’s have a meal together or something.”

“…….”

Normally, Iden would’ve replied with an agreeable answer, even if just out of politeness, but this time he turned his gaze without saying a word.

“Don’t tell me you’re too stingy to even show him off?”

At Liam’s playful remark, Iden scoffed as if it were absurd.

“I never promised to bring him along each time.”

“You’ve already met him anyway, haven’t you? You’ll see him occasionally from now on.”

Liam let out a slight laugh at Iden’s implication that public encounters would suffice. Come to think of it, Iden had never officially introduced “Ha Seowon.” One day, this Ha Seowon from South Korea simply appeared as Iden’s head of security, and it was only later that Liam learned Iden’s frequent trips to South Korea were because of him.

“Next time, we’ll see each other in the United States, then.”

“It won’t take long.”

Acknowledging Iden’s intent to wrap things up here as soon as possible, Liam nodded. Once Iden left to attend to his tasks, Liam motioned to his attendant, who had been waiting nearby. As the attendant approached, the smile faded from Liam’s face.

“Information on this Ha Seowon, who’s by Iden’s side?”

“We couldn’t find anything. Even with investigations, all we found were old records on Ha Seowon… We’re certain they’re living together in the Consigliere’s house. There’s no record of the fingerprint-locked door having been changed.”

“Still using the house he shared with ‘Ha Seowon’? With fingerprint recognition?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Could they have the same fingerprints?”

“We haven’t confirmed it directly, but it seems that way since the door lock hasn’t been replaced.”

Liam frowned at the uncertain response.

“Maybe they’re using a keycard or something?”

“No, that’s not it. The Consigliere is so thorough with security that they didn’t even create a keycard.”

Liam let out a long hum at the attendant’s answer.

“If it’s not that he’s deliberately keeping him from leaving, could it really be that a dead person has come back to life?”

He shook his head, muttering aloud to himself as if the thought made no sense.

“Anyway, it’s a relief that Iden’s finally taking action.”

Having come to a light conclusion, Liam glanced at the coffee cup Iden had left and smiled. Frankly, it didn’t matter much to him who Iden’s lover was. What mattered was whether or not Iden performed his role as Luciano’s Consigliere properly.

**

Barely arriving at the building lobby, someone grabbed Seowon’s arm. That sudden movement made Asher, who’d come in with him, reflexively reach for his knife to aim at the stranger, but Seowon stopped him just in time.

“It’s fine. It’s someone I know. Go ahead inside.”

After seeing who had grabbed his arm, Seowon addressed Asher. Still holding the hilt, Asher glanced at the person, then gave a slight nod before turning to leave.

“Hah!”

It was only after Asher left that Jian exhaled loudly.

“What the heck? Who’s that guy, anyway?”

Her mouth spilled out curses as she blinked, still stunned with wide eyes. Seowon glanced at Asher, who was standing by the elevator, concerned he might understand her swearing. Fortunately, Asher either didn’t care or didn’t understand what was being said and didn’t look back.

“Let’s talk over there.”

Unable to let her continue badmouthing Asher so close by, Seowon pulled Jian to a café on the side of the lobby.

“Why is it so hard to see you lately? What happened? You haven’t been answering calls properly.”

The moment they sat down, Jian fired off questions.

“Well…”

None of her questions were easy to answer. If he told her about the shooting on the day of the auction, she’d no doubt flip out. The reason he hadn’t answered her calls was that Iden had confiscated his phone for a few days. When Iden commented, “It’s not like you have anyone calling anyway, so you don’t really need it,” Seowon had let it go. He hadn’t expected Jian would reach out during that time.

The reason Iden had taken the phone was because they figured whoever hired the killer might now target Seowon. Min had explained that they’d installed a blocking program in advance to prevent tracking his location via his phone.

So, neither the auction incident nor the phone confiscation could be explained to Jian.

“Well? Just ‘well’?”

Jian caught onto his vague answer, her expression full of dissatisfaction.

“Did you forget our promise? If you don’t stay in contact, I’ll go to your parents and tell them you’re alive and well, remember?”

That would be a problem.

“I was sick for a few days. That’s why I didn’t answer.”

He quickly made an excuse, and Jian’s expression changed instantly.

“Where? Were you very sick? Did you go to the hospital? Ah, but you can’t go to the hospital, can you? Were you taking your meds properly?”

Luckily, the possibility of a gunshot wound didn’t even cross her mind.

“Iden’s hyung called in a doctor from Luciano, so I received proper treatment.”

Though it wasn’t the Ryu she imagined, he had indeed seen a doctor and been treated, so it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Are you okay now?”

Jian reached out, touching Seowon’s forehead to check for a fever, and only then seemed to relax a bit.

The injury was on his back, thankfully. If she had touched his back instead of his forehead, his reaction would have given it away.

“I’m all healed up; that’s why I came to work.”

He smiled to reassure her, though Jian still looked skeptical.

“Someone who never even gets a cold…”

She didn’t seem to fully believe he’d been sick.

“Don’t tell me…”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down, inspecting him from head to toe, even turning him around to check his back before tilting her head.

“What…?”

Worried she might’ve guessed something, Seowon tensed up and asked.

“I thought maybe you got shot or something, but you’re fine.”

Her sharp observation startled him. Thank goodness he’d worn a bulletproof vest. Outwardly, he looked fine, so Jian hadn’t noticed anything.

“As long as it was nothing.”

In the end, Jian seemed relieved, not finding any hints of what had happened. Seowon held back a wry smile.

“See? You knew it too.”

Jian blinked at him, confused at the sudden remark.

“You know nothing strange is impossible here.”

Her lips pursed at his comment, as though she knew but didn’t want to admit it.

“That’s your situation, not mine. I’m stuck in a lab, anyway. You’re the one different from me, being by his side all the time.”

“Still, this is Luciano’s place.”

While her position in the lab meant she was rarely in danger, the tiny chance couldn’t be ignored.

“I already left the company I was at before. I’ve got nowhere else to go. So unless you’re quitting too, don’t keep nagging me.”

Seeing it as useless to argue, Jian covered her ears with her hands. Seowon chuckled in disbelief.

“Then what will you do if I’m not here?”

“Planning on going back to the United States?”

He’d mentioned it not because he wanted to go back to the U.S., but because he wondered if his presence here might not be so stable. Yet, he didn’t bother to correct her.

“Then I’d have no choice. It’d probably even be safer here if that guy left Korea, don’t you think? Besides, they’re offering three times the pay. I’ll work hard for a while, then slowly look for somewhere else later.”

Jian didn’t intend to settle with Luciano permanently. For now, she was sticking around because of her concern for Seowon.

“This isn’t all because of me…”

“This isn’t for you. I’m doing it for my own peace of mind. You know how I am. I need to see it with my own eyes to be at ease.”

She’d always had that tendency. Although…she hadn’t been this intense before. Perhaps she’d become more vigilant because her friend Seowon was dating a member of the mafia. It seemed that her new level of concern stemmed from the fact that Ha Seowon was dating Iden, a member of Luciano’s mafia.