/
I burrowed my heated face in my palms and ignored them. Rather, I tried to ignore them, but Kim Olim ignored my silent pleas for the servants to drop the subject. She continued, “Seo Dawon. If you have any sort of conscience, then you should never cross that line no matter how much Choi Lee-kyung clings onto you. You fool–do you think that a relationship is constituted just by accepting those who come and go–accepting those that enter your heart yet not grasping onto the ones that leave?”
The paladin sounded irritated and conflicted.
I gave the Mage a sidelong glance. When Seo Dawon met my eyes, I dropped my gaze, but the Mage bowed his head and whispered into my ear. The whispers were loud enough for all those in the room to hear, though. “If I were alive, Olim-ie would have been charged for criminal contempt and libel.” 1
“

”
“Well, she’s not lying–think about Sunjung-noona.” This time, Woo Ragi joined in on the conversation and mentioned someone’s name.
After a moment’s silence, Seo Dawon raised his head and smiled ominously at Woo Ragi. “Ragi-yah. How could you still hold a grudge just because a noona you liked confessed to me? So troublesome
”
Rather than flaring his temper, Woo Ragi chuckled as soon as the Mage finished speaking. “That’s right–you dated a woman who confessed to you without thinking about your friend. Trash.”
Seo Dawon paused again. “
Did you really like her?”
In lieu of an answer, Woo Ragi raised his middle finger at the Mage. 2
Though I wasn’t particularly fond of Woo Ragi, I somehow wanted to distance myself at least a few steps away from Seo Dawon. What the hell is wrong with his morals?
“Why are you distancing yourself?”
“

” I looked at him without responding. Seo Dawon raised his eyebrows before dragging me closer by the elbows.
Jung Garam, who sat on the bed and watched the ensuing scene with a shit-eating grin, burst into laughter. “Then this time, Ragi-hyung can steal Lee-kyung away!”
“That’s impossible. He’s so ugly that I don’t want to steal him away,” The swordsman retorted.
Hearing Woo Ragi’s rude answer, I felt no more pity for the swordsman whose love was stolen from him.
To be honest, I wanted to pat Seo Dawon’s head and praise him for a job well done. Who on earth says that someone’s ugly directly to their face? A guy has no right to be so dismissive just because they’re a bit attractive!!
Those words were even more impactful because they dropped from the lips of the most attractive man I’d ever seen. If I were to counter Woo Ragi by saying, ‘Likewise, you’re too ugly!’
He’d probably snort in disbelief.
“What’s with all the glares?”
“I’m not glaring at you.”
That guy started tantrums whenever our eyes met

So, I held onto Seo Dawon’s arm and gave a timid response. Woo Ragi looked as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw me standing close to the Mage, he pretended to vomit and began to exit the room.
“Hmmm. Anyway, back to Han Kiseok. I don’t think it’d be a bad idea to meet with him once,” Choi Kyung-sik said.
At the Alchemist’s words, Woo Ragi stopped walking. All the other servants, including Seo Dawon, stared at Choi Kyung-sik outright. Flustered, the Alchemist fiddled with his glasses and continued, “Ah, that is
 Apparently, Han Kiseok’s girlfriend is Lee Hana
 This person is currently working as an accountant for Geum Miyoung’s company. There’s a low chance
but perhaps he approached you for a deliberate reason
”
""
“Ah
”
“Let’s just cover our bases. Also, I don’t believe Han Kiseok-ssi wanted to meet up with Lee-kyung-ssi for affectionate reasons. Even if this is unrelated to Lee Hana, there probably is some other motive.”
Hearing Choi Kyung-sik’s objective analysis, subconscious anxiety bubbled up within me. I couldn’t gain a proper lay of the current situation because of my memories and complicated feelings for Han Kiseok.
Well, I suppose if he wanted to talk about feelings, he would have contacted me earlier. As Choi Kung-sik said, it was a little uncomfortable to pass this as a coincidence when the man had denied my existence for over a year before contacting me at this moment.
“Then
 should I keep our appointment?” I looked up at Seo Dawon; the mage stared back with incomprehensible eyes.
After a brief silence, he nodded, “Fine. But
Lee-kyung-ie, when I give you the signal, summon me immediately.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t know Han Kiseok’s ulterior motives, right? It could be dangerous.”
“Al
Alright.”
“For the signal, I’ll touch you like this.”
“Yeah
”
With that said, Seo Dawon pressed the pattern–the contract tattoo–on my ring finger.
* * *
“Choi Lee-kyung, what on earth? Why are you preening yourself while looking in the mirror?”
“I’m just taking a quick peek while drying my hair.”
“Dawon-ie hyung, isn’t Lee-kyung-ie super anxious right now? He’s choosing to wear such nice clothes to meet another guy.”
“Ah–Come on! Stop teasing me!”
Eventually, the time for my appointment with Han Kiseok was upon us.
Today was Saturday morning. Strangely, I stayed awake until dawn, unable to sleep. When he heard the sound of my tossing and turning, Seo Dawon came and used a sleeping skill, so I was able to narrowly sleep for five hours.
I considered forgoing breakfast, washed my body, and was choosing clothes in the dressing room when Jung Garam suddenly broke in and began telling on me to Seo Dawon.
Flustered, I eventually ended up wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. To be honest, it had been a long while since I saw Han Kiseok; I didn’t want to feel socially intimidated
 I fiddled with my expensive clothes
 For some reason, I felt like the Mage would stare at me strangely if I wore something like that

“The clothes you wear to the convenience store would be better than what you have on right now.”
“
Do I really look that shabby?”
“It sure suits your face.” Wo Ragi, who had been browsing my cell phone in the living room, poured out blatant bad reviews of my fashion as he made eye contact with me. I mouthed ‘You’re despicable,’ behind the swordsman’s back. I locked gazes with Choi Kyung-sik, who was entering from the living room; he smirked and feigned ignorance for me. Embarrassed for no reason, I paced around the front door.
Meanwhile, Kim Olim gracefully walked down from the second floor, as if she had finished all her preparations. I approached her–the only person that I felt comfortable conversing with. The Paladin stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw me. “You’ve awoken?”
“Yeah
”
“Where are you going today?”
“We planned to meet at Libre, in the Hub’s center.”
The Paladin’s tone made her words sound like an interrogation, but the woman’s tone was originally so firm and unemotive. She turned on the cell phone as soon as I gave her the name of my destination. After reading for a few seconds, she said, “Hmm
 After searching, I see that this place has been chosen by Users as the best cafe for a ‘good date course.'”
“What? No! I didn’t choose this location
”
“The place is structured a little improperly for us to efficiently stand on guard. The internet recommends the pretty outdoor tables, but sit indoors, preferably to the far left–the side with the emergency exit stairway.”
“
I’ll keep that in mind.”
In the meantime, Seo Dawon quietly opened the door to his room and stepped out. At a surface glance, he looked no different than usual. However, I kept observing his face, feeling nervous for no reason.
Fortunately, Seo Dawon didn’t say much, and, soon, everyone was ready to leave the house.
* * *
Perhaps Lackey was in a good mood because he was riding atop my shoulders after a very long period of being unable to do so,  The skeleton kept making a strange vibrating sound with its skull. Was it humming? I grabbed its scrawny calves and shook it.
[Clack clack cla-cla-cla-clack!]
The skeleton enjoyed it, clacking away with its teeth. It felt like more Users were staring at us as we passed, but somehow their gazes weren’t as bothersome as before. To others Lackey and I were alone, but, in my perspective, I had five servants accompanying us

‘How reliable
’
The meeting place, Libre, was a trending business not too far from where I lived; I could arrive within 20 minutes of walking.
Users on a date–lovers–occupied the cafe’s tables. Even though I deliberately arrived around 10 minutes earlier, it seemed like over 80% of the seats had been taken.
‘If all goes wrong, we might not even be able to eat here. I’ll have to grab some seats in advance
’ I thought.
“Lee-kyung-ah?”
“Yes?”
While looking for a seat next to the emergency exit stairway, as Kim Olim had recommended,  a low-pitched voice suddenly called my name from behind.
It was Han Kiseok.
Footnotes
patently false, Dawon-ah. In slang terms, flipped the bird. To those that aren’t in the know, raising your middle finger is akin to saying ‘Fuck you.’