Bastard NPC Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Surprisingly, Theo didn’t say anything. He silently watched me with a look that seemed to say, Look at this. He then rested his chin on his hand as if daring me to say more, raising his eyebrows.

“And by the way, darling. What’s this ‘showing your breasts’ nonsense? If you talk like that, it hurts my feelings. Then I’d want to explode again, right? It’d just be a hassle for you. Right?”

– “Explode?”

“Of course. I’m human, too.”

Not pleased with taking on the hassle himself, his previously softened expression slowly hardened. Noticing the change on the screen, I quickly spoke before his mouth opened, almost as if preemptively.

“So, let’s make sure we avoid any unpleasant situations, yeah? You know what I mean, darling?”

At this point, I expected him to bark back, but instead, he simply studied me with a calm gaze as I forced a smile, offering no reaction. As the silence stretched on, my courage began to fade, and the sense of reality I had tucked away started to peek out. Ah, maybe I’ve pushed too far again.

Ah, whatever. I’ll just apologize and wrap this up quickly.

As I blinked, about to speak, Theo on the screen smiled brightly and rubbed his eyes.

– “What should I do, darling?”

He laughed, his shoulders shaking, for a while, then stared intently into the camera, whispering softly. My instincts, sensing the shift in the predator’s energy, went on high alert, sending a warning signal. 

A bad feeling swept over me, and I had a sense that something unpleasant was about to be said.

– “My dick is going to explode.”

And of course, my bad feeling was right. Ugh, damn it. Shuddering, I scrunched up my face and without a second thought, hit the end call button.

“How the hell do I deal with this crazy guy?”

I grumbled, waving my middle finger at the now black screen, only to notice the couple from earlier, who had been sunbathing behind me. They glanced at me like I was some crazy woman. The man even subtly hid his girlfriend behind him.

“Have a beautiful love. Good luck.”

I gave them the most harmless smile I could muster and walked past them, heading off the sandy beach. However, their eyes didn’t leave me, and it wasn’t until I made a loop around the area that I could finally return to Black’s house.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It was a call I absolutely had to take.”

It seemed like he couldn’t care less whether I came in or not. As I opened the fence gate and hesitantly stepped inside, Black, who had been assembling a firearm, glanced at me.

“Boyfriend?”

“No.”

“It seems like you talk to him every day.”

“He’s a creditor. I owe him something.”

“Don’t you have a lot of money?”

“It’s not money, I owe him something else.”

Unlike other days, Black seemed to have more questions, as he half-turned to look at me. He raised an eyebrow, as if to urge me to keep talking.

“Freedom and happiness?”

“……”

“Future?”

“That’s quite grand.”

Black smiled faintly, and I forced a bitter smile, steeling myself with a sense of solemn determination. Normally, I would have played along just enough to win Black’s favor before grabbing a hoe to lighten the mood, but today was different. 

This was the first time we had talked for so long, and it felt like an opportunity.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Actually, I came because of that. I have a request.”

I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, causing his movements in assembling the firearm to come to an abrupt halt.

“Ah, so that’s what you came for?”

“Yes.”

“You should’ve said so earlier. I thought you wanted to be friends.”

What? Do I have to pull weeds to be friends? That’s not friendship, that’s just a lackey, isn’t it?

For some reason, Adam came to mind. Even though they weren’t close, he acted all buddy-buddy, and I had mocked him for it. There was a distance between Adam’s idea of “friend” and Black’s, but maybe, just maybe, they were actually friends. I didn’t know that at the time.

“Come inside.”

It was now the fifth day since I stepped into this house’s garden. Finally, I was able to enter the house. 

Following Black, I looked around the charming interior as much as the outside, and my phone vibrated.

 

 

He was truly worse than Confucius. No, why was this guy more closed-minded than me, a person steeped in Confucianism? And yet, his lower body was free-spirited.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

I was too weak to rebel, and having vented a few days’ worth of frustration earlier today, I asked Black for permission and headed back into the garden.

I quickly threw on the clothes I had left on the bench and snapped a quick photo. But if I sent it now, I’d definitely get criticized. 

First, he’d nag me about where I parked the car to send it so quickly. Second, the background of the photo didn’t even have a beach vibe, so he’d find something to complain about.

 

 

After sending a convincing message and calculating an appropriate amount of time, I felt a strange gaze. Black, standing by the window, was watching me. 

His expression was like the couple at the beach earlier—looking at me like I was a crazy woman. It was sad, but I understood. I must have looked like a woman possessed, rushing outside to take a photo as if I’d received some divine revelation.

“I’m addicted to social media.”

As soon as I stepped back into the house, I offered an explanation. Despite a nod as if to show understanding, his eyes couldn’t hide his skepticism. 

Giving up on further explanations, I sat where Black suggested and opened the photo album. Then, I showed him the photo of the researcher that Theo had sent me.

“This is the target.”

Leaning forward, Black enlarged the photo with his long fingers, carefully inspecting the researcher.

“This man?”

“Yes.”

“Is he related to Bernard? Oh, I heard rumors recently about a researcher being kidnapped. Is this the researcher?”

“Yes. That’s him.”

His bright eyes focused on me. Sitting back on the sofa with his back against it, Black quietly examined me, as if trying to gauge the connection between me and the researcher.

“Why that researcher? Do you hold a grudge against him?”

“……”

“Well, I don’t need to know that much.”

When I shut my mouth, Black nodded as if in agreement. I had no intention of explaining the details, but I couldn’t deny that it was somewhat appreciated. Unlike others, he didn’t pry.

“Then, why not do it yourself? Bernard’s not some pizza delivery guy, no matter how high and mighty he thinks he is.”

But before I could catch my breath, the second round of questioning came. Fortunately, it was a question I had anticipated, so I gave a bitter smile and opened my mouth.

“I retired from that, you know.”

“Why? Did you hurt your head?”

“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, can you take on this request?”

“As long as the pay is right, of course.”

I was relieved. The weight of the anxiety that had been pressing on me for days lightened, and I felt as though I had found some kind of hope. 

At that moment, I wanted to grab Black’s hand and jump around in excitement, but I simply asked him to wait for a moment. I excused myself once again, before standing up quickly. 

I then made my way toward the car, parked on the side of the road behind Black’s house, and with the burden lifted, my steps felt lighter.

 

 

I was so excited and thrilled that I even sent him a picture and said something nice.

 

 

Theo had the knack of ruining any good mood with just his messages. For a brief moment, I wondered if it would be peaceful for everyone if I just sent him away instead of the researcher. But the thought didn’t last long. If I failed, everyone would die—me, Black, Adam, and the researcher.

“Sigh.”

I let out a troubled sigh, but before he could nag me again for not replying, I picked an excuse and sent a message back. Then, I grabbed the money bag that had been sitting in the trunk for the past few days and returned to Black’s house. 

Black was outside, organizing the firearms laid out under the parasol, and I placed the heavy money bag on the table.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the deposit.”

Black opened the zipper of the bag and glanced at the pile of bills inside, then gave a faint smile.

“Since you brought it with such effort, I’ll accept it today. The rest, just transfer to this account.”

I had brought the cash because I thought it would be necessary for this kind of request, but as expected, my common sense didn’t apply in this world. 

I nodded, and Black, moving the heavy bag onto a chair, handed me the assembled gun.

“What did you want from me? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out, so I asked Adam. He said that you had a serious head injury and wanted to learn how to shoot again.”

“Ah, yeah. But it’s really not necessary.”

“Come on, try it. You worked hard pulling weeds, so I should at least return the favor.”

“It’s really fine. And besides, I get handcuffed even if I just hold a frying pan.”

I silently chewed out Adam in my head for uselessly running his mouth, and waved my hand dismissively. But Black’s persistence wasn’t easy to ignore. 

He insisted that the police rarely show up here, and even if they did, he would take responsibility. Reluctantly, he offered me the gun. And as if he had been preparing for this moment, there was even a target stand set up in one corner of the garden. 

The more I refused, the more awkward it became for both of us, so I had no choice but to accept the gun.

He was indifferent but precise in his instructions. Eyes forward. Shoulders back. Hold the body firmly, like support. Breathe to steady the tremors. Your index finger is too deep, pull it back slightly.

I had planned to take just one shot and be done with it, but without realizing, I became focused, paying close attention to the sensation in my fingertips.

“Fire.”

Huffing out a breath, I slowly squeezed the trigger. Bang—with a heavy recoil, the bullet pierced the target.

Beeeep…

The sound of the gunshot, no matter how many times I heard it, still hadn’t become something I could adapt to. But what shocked me more than the noise or the surprise of my first shot was the mark right in the center of the target.

Oh my. What’s this? Why am I good at this?