sidetrack 6 part2

Translator: Qiuqiu-chan

To avoid some confusion in this chapter, italicized paragraphs are flashbacks.

Remember to hover over (not click) the coloured numbers in the text. If nothing appears, you may just have to scroll to the end of the chapter.

Inconvenient, yup. ¯_(ツ)_/

When Mason is interacting with others, the author tends to use the name ‘Haley’, even when it’s in third person. But when Mason is interacting with Noah, the author uses the name ‘Mason’.

A fact, I found both interesting and slightly annoying when translating.

After thoughtlessly cutting off the unfortunately timed phone call of Vic’s and turning off his phone, Mason firmly pressed a hat down on his head and disappeared into the crowd.

The man in the black raincoat walked quite a long distance. Mason’s legs were slightly numb, and due to the light drizzle his clothes were damp, which caused his body to feel cold. ‘It’s so annoying, should I just call out loudly to check his face?’ Mason contemplated doing so for a bit, but it was obvious that doing it that way would be much more troublesome. It would be dangerous for him to run up and grab the man’s shoulder. If it was his original body, before they even took a few steps, he would have already grabbed that lowlife and pinned him to the ground. But this type of activity would be too difficult for Haley’s body. However, thinking about it, the opponent has a small frame, it might be possible…..

“……….”

It would be a stupid thing to do…… Mason licked his lips. Living as Haley was much more comfortable and easier than living as Mason Taylor, but there was so much difference between the physical abilities that there were a lot of restrictions on behaviour. ‘What to do.’ While pondering over it, Mason kept following the man. The man disappeared into a slightly deserted road. ‘Perhaps he got wind of being tailed.’ Mason thought. But that wasn’t it, the man went into a small shop and bought a packet of cigarettes and some alcohol. ‘So he’s a lowlife that does all bad things.’

Mason started tailing him more closely than he had in the beginning. After all, whether the man was staff or an actor, wouldn’t it be possible to casually go up and say hello like acquaintances? Pretend to have met by chance, exchange greetings, identify his face, say, “I’ll see you again on set.”, and then leave. There was a possibility of being thought weirdly of but it wouldn’t be bad. However, it would be troublesome if the man wasn’t staff or an actor…. The lowlife walked into an alley. Just as Mason walked a bit faster and tried to follow him into the alley.

“….-!!”

Someone grabbed him from behind by the shoulder and pulled him back. “Hup”, without realising he let out a gasp of surprise. A large, cold hand firmly blocked his mouth. No way, he was being tailed? Mason felt cold sweat running down the back of his neck, he raised his head and the cap he was wearing caught on the other person’s chin. That person slightly furrowed his brow.

“No….”

Noah. Mason’s lips soundlessly formed1 the name of the man who had appeared from behind and embraced him. Once again, with a face full of frustration, Noah was standing behind him.

“Noah, this place.”2

Before he could finish saying, ‘How are you here, at this place.’ Noah grabbed Mason’s wrist and with a cold face, roughly dragged him away. Phil and a bodyguard were waiting in front of a car parked by the side of the road. Because of those two’s appearance, people who were passing by glanced at them and stopped walking.

“Ugk.”

Because of Noah’s fast paced walk, Mason’s leg throbbed and he let out a groan, Noah came to an immediate halt. The wrist that was grabbed also had red marks appearing on it.

“Noah, how on earth are you here at this place?”

Mason panted, out of breath. Noah took a deep breath, swept his hair up to the side, and slowly turned. Mason rubbed the wrist that he had let go and looked up at him.

“What am I doing here, you ask.”

Noah bent his head down to look Mason in the eyes.

“That’s a question I want to ask you. Didn’t you say you were going out for a walk?”

A walk? To this distance? Noah sneered and laughed. Mason, who was going to insist that it was a walk, instead shut his mouth. No matter how you look at it, Noah’s face was that of one who would refuse to just let it go.

“You went after the stalker yourself…… I can’t even imagine what on earth you were thinking.”

Noah said, as if he were genuinely curious. Mason licked his lips. Since when and where did Noah start following him, that his senses did not even catch it. Was he following from the beginning? No matter how focussed he was on the stalker, it wasn’t enough to not have noticed that.

“Why. Did the stalker seem small and short enough to be easy to catch?”

“I, it wasn’t that…. the face, I just wanted to identify it.”

Mason tried excusing himself by saying it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t that he didn’t think about how it would be good if he caught the stalker. However, he didn’t completely forget about his body’s condition. Noah replied, “Oh, is that so. How fortunate. How great. That you didn’t do it.” however, his face became more infuriated.

“And after identifying, what then? That person would also know that you’ve identified him. After that whatever will be, will be?”

“No, that isn’t….”

‘I’ve been contemplating on what to do, so I came all the way here….’ Mason trailed off the rest of his sentence and secretly looked around at his surroundings. The current hottest Hollywood couple with very rare media exposure, the Haley couple. Not only did they appear on the streets, but the atmosphere around them was sharp and like that of a fight. People were stopping and staring or holding up their cell phone cameras. Although his own image was originally that of a troublemaker, Noah the amiable gentleman getting upset on the street, it would be shocking in the eyes of everyone. Mason grabbed Noah’s wrist and turned towards Phil. He opened the car door and Mason led Noah to the car. Before the paparazzi could do anything, the car had already left.

“………..”

The pupils of Noah’s green eyes shook with suppressed anger and annoyance. Mason licked his lips and carefully choose his words. It felt as if he should say something, but other than stupid excuses, he couldn’t think of any line to say. After following the stalker and identifying his face, honestly, he hadn’t thought about what to do at all. In his past mercenary years, his reckless actions during operations were because he was confident in his ability of escaping bad situations. Mason thought he had been conscious of Haley’s delicate body, but in retrospect he hadn’t. He had been pretending to think rationally, while his body had actually been acting upon his emotions.

“…..I’m sorry.”3

Noah’s green eyes were shaken, similar to a few days ago when he apologised after fainting on set and angering him. However, this time he didn’t say, “That’s right. I also, was too extreme.” He merely closed his mouth and faced forward again.

“I have to eat alone today?”

Mason, who had gone down to the restaurant4 during dinner time, asked Phil to repeat himself. He had known that Noah was angry earlier in the afternoon, but he didn’t know that he would actually refuse to eat together. It was because when he stayed at Noah’s house, no matter how busy they were, they had always eaten dinner together. ‘When we meet during dinner time, I should apologise again.’ Mason, who had thought that from the bottom of his heart, showed a face with an expression that said he had no idea what to do, the longer that Noah didn’t appear. He rubbed his forehead and asked, “Very…. he must be very busy?”

Whether he was too busy to eat or if he was skipping the meal because he was angry, Mason tried sounding out by asking Phil. Phil said with a curt face.

“Same as always.”

“….I see.”

He must be very angry. Mason sat back down with a bitter taste in his mouth. An empty and lonely dining table. Noah’s empty seat was quite unpleasant to the eye. Mason firmly grabbed hold of Phil.

“What about you?”

“Yes?”5

“Are you not going to eat?..Since you’re going to eat anyway, let’s eat together.”

“No, I will separately….”

“I know that you dislike me, but wouldn’t it be alright if we had at least one meal together?”

Even though he knew he was giving Phil a difficult time, he still held on tightly. He was anxious and frustrated due to making Noah angry, so he was in the mood to bother someone.

“…. I clearly told you before, that I do not dislike nor hate you.”

Phil answered with a calm face, then sighed and sat down. Right away, the maids brought in the food. There was nothing but the small sound of tableware clattering. Instead of peeling the shrimp, Mason stared at Phil. Just like Noah, Phil quietly ate his meal.

“Did the two of you grow up together since childhood?”

Mason tacitly inquired. Come to think of it, ten years ago, Phil had still been at Noah’s side assisting him. Back then it wasn’t this much of a professional secretary feeling, however from a young age Phil had received training to become Noah’s assistant.

“Yes. -did Mr. Raycarlton tell you about this?”

“Well…. something along those lines.”

Mason nodded his head lightly. The Phil from back then had left a very vague impression. He remembered work matters from 10 years ago, yet the only thing he remembered about Phil, was when he came to see Mason the day before his one month of work was over.

At that time, Phil was a young man in his early twenties and he had made all sorts of offers and propositions he could to Mason. Houses, cars, an exclusive contract, as long as he remained in the States, anything possible would be done for him.

When Mason asked curiously, ‘Why are you doing things to this extent?’

‘Just for a bodyguard from a mercenary company, for one person, why are you doing this much?’

Phil answered, ‘From a young age, I’ve been receiving training to become Noah’s assistant.’

‘I’ve been taught my entire life for that reason alone.’

‘If you do not protect Noah, won’t my lifelong duty disappear?’

The Phil from that time was a child that gave of the smell of freshly cut grass.6 Mason acted in a business-like manner, but he had some difficulty speaking. ‘Whoever it is…. a bodyguard that is more skilled than me, will be able to protect him.’

‘There is also someone like you by that child’s side.’

Due to Mason’s words, Phil’s face which always had a professional expression, crumpled and he made a tearful face.

Back then, Mason couldn’t understand at all why he had shown such an expression, why he had said that sort of thing. But thinking back now, he could understand the meaning of that sentence.

“I’m glad that you didn’t lose your job.”

“…..pardon?”

To Phil, and of course to Mason, the fact that Noah was alive was an extremely joyous thing. In answer to Phil’s curious face, Mason laughed as if he didn’t mean anything and speared some shrimp and vegetables with his fork.

Hmm, anyway, what to do. Mason contemplated with some difficulty. For the time being, going to meet Noah and apologising, “I won’t do it again.” and, “I’m sorry.”. Would that be the best thing to do. Truthfully, he wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t ever do such a thing again. He didn’t want to become the type of man who was all talk, but when he thought about the furious Noah, ‘let’s try to get out of this situation for the time being’, that type of feeling took hold of him. Even though he wanted to be a bad man, there was no helping it.

“….-today, on the streets, for stopping Mr. Raycarlton, thank you.”

“Pardon?”

“Nowadays, personal phones and the internet has developed so much, that there isn’t much different between regular people and the paparazzi. If Noah Raycarlton had been filmed having an argument on the streets with his lover, it would have been so noisy that we likely wouldn’t have had the time to have a meal like this.”

Although there are a couple small, discordant rumours going around, they are currently being stopped.- Phil said in a slightly tired manner and Mason chuckled with a smile.

“Well, the fact that Noah can get angry, people would be surprised.”

Most likely, no one will believe that Noah was getting angry on the street with his lover, but rather that Haley Lusk had made a big problem again. Of course, this time he had been in the wrong-…Mason once again let out a big sigh.

“…What do you think about Mr. Raycarlton?”

“What?”

Mason tacitly and carefully inquired while lifting his head.

“What I think of him… much more short-tempered and sensitive than what people think and see of him…. handsome, has a lot of money, and seems as if he has some bad taste.”

As Mason’s emerging thoughts started flowing out, Phil said, “Ah, no.” and stopped talking. He made a slightly embarrassed face.

“….I was talking about emotionally.”

“However, you seem to know quite well.” he said. Mason looked, with the stoicism of an interviewer, at the staring Phil.

“Is that so.”

Mason put down the tableware that he was holding.

“I don’t think that’s a matter that you should be meddling in.”

He had asked for a meal, not to air out the depths of his heart. Phil let out a small sigh at Mason’s flat words.

“It’s not that I dislike or hate you, rather I am uncomfortable and worried.-You have that sort of aspect.”7

This man was similar to someone Phil knew. Phil was uncomfortable and worried due to that. At first, anything weird or doubtful about Haley Lusk, he had thought ‘it must be because he’s a different guy in reality’, and so he became careless. He wouldn’t care about someone who stayed within boundaries, but for a person who stepped out of line, there was no mercy.

If you liked someone, it’s natural to try to look good to people around that person. Everyone who had tried to approach Noah, had attempted to look good in front of Phil. But when they tried to ask one more question about Noah, they had no idea what to do if Phil made an expression of inconvenience. He hadn’t received that sort of treatment from Haley.

Even while saying ‘I know that you don’t like me.’ or ‘I’m aware you hate me.’ Haley had never attempted to change anything. At the base of the matter, that type of cold feeling made the words ‘although I invite you to have a meal, don’t cross the line.’ unnecessary to be said. He was indifferent and dismissive to others. He was similar to the man who had left to Afghanistan, the man whose mind would not be changed, despite many people trying to keep hold of him, whether it was the Raycarlton husband and wife or Phil.

‘Why do you only like these type of people?’

While thinking about how Noah’s tastes were as strange as always, Phil stared at the man in front of him.

“Mr. Raycarlton is a man who is mentally weaker than he looks. It’s not that I’m attempting to meddle, but rather it’s because I am truly worried for him.”

Phil placed the tableware he was using down, drank water, and finished up eating saying, “That person, is someone who depends highly on others. How high8….. basically everything. To me, the fact that he is alive and living like that, I’m amazed and due to that, every single day I am nervous. Truthfully, the fact that you were able to grab his attention and are together like this, there are many times when I can’t believe it.”

Due to carefully choosing between words that he shouldn’t say and words that he should, Phil wasn’t sure whether he was able to convey his meaning properly. Haley wore an indifferent face, while he listened halfheartedly. Phil let out a small sigh.

“….that person, he isn’t angry, he’s scared.”

When Phil hesitatingly said that, Haley lifted his head.

“Because a man that he held in regard as very precious, quite recently died…..”

Phil said this, while worrying that it might make Haley’s mood bad and cause the two of them to have a bigger fight. He knew he was presumptuous speaking on this subject, but there was no way he couldn’t. Just like 10 years ago, when he forwardly propositioned and tried to hold onto Mason, Phil was now holding onto Haley.

“……………”

At his words, Mason licked his lips and rose from his seat. He let out a short sigh and Phil felt nervous.

“Where is Noah right now?”

Haley asked, Phil hesitated and then answered, “He is in the second floor study.” Sighing and wearing such a calm face, there was no way to know what he was thinking. Whether he was going to argue because he was in a bad mood, Phil was utterly unable to tell.

“Continue eating .”

Haley patted Phil’s tense shoulder and walked out of the restaurant. Phil sat stiffly for quite some time, before letting out a long sigh and rubbed his face with both hands. After contemplating for a while, ‘did Mason already know about Haley’….. although the thought came to mind…. it wasn’t something that mattered.

Mason stood in front of the second floor study door and contemplated for a bit. As soon as he had heard Phil’s words, his first thought was, ‘As I thought, I should go see Noah.’ However, contrary to what he thought, when he stood in front of the door, he felt slightly nervous.

‘….that person, he isn’t angry, he’s scared. Because a man that he held in regard as very precious, quite recently died…..’ the dead person who Phil spoke of, Mason knew quite well who they were. It was himself. Mason let out a small sigh and then knocked on the door. ‘tok tok’9,

1– I’m not 100% sure on the accuracy of this part. I couldn’t figure out what the author was trying to say. Very roughly, 달싹였다 could mean ‘shake, move slightly’, and with the context I would say he was mouthing Noah’s name. However, 달싹였다 could also mean ‘licked/licking/smacking’, if I went with the second definition, that would mean Mason was attempting to lick Noah’s name… lé scream. I don’t know. ¯_(-_-)_/¯ Korean can be a pain in the ass. So much sentence-context based meanings.

2– 여긴 means ‘here/this place’. However,여친 which means ‘girlfriend’, was originally in the raws. The translation would then be, ‘Noah’s girlfriend’… it’s a typo.

3– I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this last time, but Mason is using the very formal way of apologising.

Quick Korean Lesson!:

죄송합니다 = very formal and respectful

미안합니다 = formal

죄송해요 = polite

미안해요 = polite

미안해 = informal

미안 = very informal, equivalent to saying ‘Yo, my bad.’

4– Yes, the raws said restaurant. I guess Noah is just that hella rich? Is it really a restaurant if it’s only for one person tho?

5– Phil is using the respectful way to say ‘yes’.

6– Someone who is young and inexperienced. Similar to the expression ‘wet behind the ears’.

7– Phil means that Mason is a person who gives him a feeling of being uncomfortable and worried.

8– Is his dependence.

9– Onomatopoeia knocking sound.

This is roughly half-way through sidetrack 6, which is the last sidetrack of ‘Kill the Lights’.

I didn’t pay that much attention to how easily things flow, I was translating rather quickly, so it may be a bit rough around the edges.

Let me know if you find any mistakes or if anything is confusing.\n