1.
Seeing Siwoo still didnât understand the situation, Takasho grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the Presidentâs Office on the second floor.
âOh, my soul friend, Shin Siwoo! Looking good, arenât you?â
As soon as the door was closed, Takasho opened his arms and embraced Siwoo tightly.
The scent of strong perfume wafting from him made Siwoo feel embarrassed somehow.
He had been looking forward to meeting him, but when he actually did, instead of feeling something like âGlad to see him again after a long timeâ, he was all flustered, asking âWhat the fuck is going on?â in his head.
âDude, why do you look so different? What the fuck? You arenât using a filter, right?â
Takasho took out a bottle of alcohol and a pair of glasses, pouring both glasses to the fullest.
His luxurious watch flashed in the middle of the gesture as a bonus for the show he put on.
âOh, câmon, who do you think I am? Hokkaido's legend! The man with a six-story pagoda of flesh! The number one ace of Kabuki-cho! Mimaya Takasho!â
Seeing the way he laughed frivolously as she flopped down the sofa reassured Siwoo that this guy was indeed the Takasho that he knew.
He was just wearing a different set of clothes than he used toâhis loosely fit work clothes with patches here and there.
Now, he looked like a young and rich businessman. Well, at least that was how Siwoo would introduce him to someone if they were to see his current appearance.
âMan, I havenât been drinking these days since I need to take care of myself and stuff, but thereâs no way I wouldnât drink now that my dear friend is here! Câmon, drink them up!â
Damn, he seems to live quite the life now, huh?
Seeing that his friend whom he was worried about was doing so well, Siwoo let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Since the cheerful atmosphere fit perfectly with his plan, Siwoo took out his âsecret weaponâ from his luggage.
âNice, just add this and it will be perfect.â
âT-ThisâŠ?!â
Takasho, who was sitting on the sofa, spreading his arms wide, relaxing, jumped up the moment he saw what Siwoo had brought out.
It was one of the secret weapons that he brought for the occasion.
Instant ramen.
Of course, it wasnât a normal instant ramen.
It was a 6,000 won ramen that used liquid soup as its broth, allowing one to taste the authentic taste of a genuine tonkotsu ramen.
âI remember you bitching about wanting to eat ramen, so I bought some for you. Fifty packages of these things.â
âF-FiftyâŠ? T-This is⊠Ichiran Ramen! My favoriteâŠ!â
Takasho hugged the ramen that fell into his embrace, almost rolling on the floor.
He looked exactly like a drug addict who found a secret crack stash somewhere.
âS-Siwoo-sama⊠T-This Takasho is glad to be your friend⊠P-Please know that back then, when I used to call you josenjin...1 I-It was all a jokeâŠ!â
Tears welled up in his eyes.
This was when Siwoo found out that a Japan Mainlanderâs dogeza was on a completely different level than the one he was familiar with.
âOi, Takasho, do it over. Stand up and give me another dogeza.â
âYes, my lordâ! No, my king!â
After that, Siwoo emptied his two bags in front of Takasho.
The content of his bags included potato chips, Japanese cigarettes that Takasho said he missed, some comfortable underwear, razors along with the replacement blades and so on.
There were also various Japanese snacks, instant film cameras and their films, even pictures of his favorite actresses.
Since Siwoo lived in Gehenna once, just like him, he knew how precious those things to him were.
That was why he made a whole list of things to buy this good friend of his and bought everything in that list for him before coming back to Gehenna.
âAhhhâŠ! Aaaahhhh!! I love this so muchâŠ! I think I can flyâŠ!â
Now that he saw his friend rolling around the ground happily, he let out a smile in satisfaction over a job well done.
2.
The two men proceeded to chat over a bag of potato chips and ramen.
Takasho gave Siwoo the answer he had been so curious about.
âAfter you left, I did a lot of thinking. Like, a loooot of thinking. You were once a slave, just like me, yet you succeeded in studying magic and got your freedom back. It made me think that Iâve been spending my life in vain, wasting my life awayâŠâ
There was an ecstatic expression on his face when he boiled the water for his ramen. The face he made when he took a good slurp of the ramen made it seem like he was going to cum or something.
As someone who gave him this gift, there was nothing more joyful for Siwoo than seeing this expression of his.
âThatâs why I decided to chase after my dream.â
âYour dream?â
âTo become an owner of a host club. To become the true Lord of the Night.Like they said, a man should dream big. I donât want to waste my life satisfying those witches while I donât gain anything tangible for it.â
Takasho gulped down his drink, then patted his chest.
âSo, I went to see Countess Adonai. As you know, her company takes a big hold on Gehennaâs logistics. I told her to lend me some money so I could start a business.â
âShe just lent it to you?â
While it was true that Takasho was adored by quite a few witches, he was still a slave.
No matter how remote this building was, it still required quite the sum to open up a shop in THE biggest marketplace in Lenomond TownâŠ
âYou gotta owe it to my explanation. I told her that there just isnât enough entertainment in Gehenna, particularly in regards to where the witches could satiate their lust.
âLike, there were only two places that they could go and do that; the Velvet Brothel in Tarot Town and Levana Grand Bath in Ars Magna Town.
âThereâs a gap between those two places and this place could enter that gap perfectly.
âThis is a place for the witches who arenât wealthy enough to sign up for a membership at the Grand Bath. Itâs also the perfect place for the witches who just want to feel the sensation of falling in love, not a physical relationship, but a gentle push and pull between a man and a womanâŠâ
âAnd she accepted just like that?â
âWell, I had to put my life in line first, of course. If my business didnât profit within a year or it didnât break even in three years, Iâd become her test subject.â
Siwoo let out a chuckle.
Because he thought this was just his usual morbid joke.
But, Takashoâs eyes were serious.
They were, undoubtedly, the eyes of a man who was ready to risk his all.
âDude, are you crazy?â
âItâs still better than wasting fifty years of my life for nothing. Like they said, you only live once.â
â...â
âShin Siwoo, just in case youâre thinking that Iâm joking around⊠Iâm dead serious.â
His words made Siwoo feel nauseous.
He genuinely thought that it was good that his friend could finally spread his wings to fulfill his grand ambition, but he still thought that risking his life for it was too much.
If something goes terribly wrong, I should ask Master for her helpâŠ
Thereâs no way Iâd just let him become a guinea pig for some random magic experiment.
Of course, he didnât say that thought out loud, so their conversation continued without a hitch.
âSo, how is it going for you?â
âWell, weâre still in the preliminary opening stage. I can see that the business has a lot of potential, though.â
âHow do things work here exactly?â
âWell, we take the good-looking slaves among the City Hallâs slaves and educate them, while the alcohol and such were supplied by Countess Adonai herself. You see, the reason why I went up to see the Countess is because she is the only one who has a deep influence in both the City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce.â
Even after Takasho continued his explanation, the whole thing still sounded incredibly reckless and clumsy.
But stillâŠ
âDude, I donât know what to say. Thatâs coolâŠâ
âI know, I think so too whenever I see my face in the mirror.â
Siwoo genuinely thought that he was cool.
Not because of his new appearance, but because of the fact that he was determined enough to risk his life to achieve his dream.
âAnyway enough about me, itâs been a while since we met, how have you been? Got any girlfriend yet?â
Girlfriend, huh�
Well, sheâs not really a girlfriend, but quite close to that, I guessâŠ?
The most uptodate noveđĄs are published on frŃewebnoŃ”el.Æoàč.
I should introduce her to him later.
âOho, look at your face, so you do have one. Is she a witch?â
âDamn right she is.â
âOh, damn, show me her pic! Whatâs her name?â
âSharon Evergreen.â
âWoah, even her name is pretty! Câmon, let me see her pic~â
Siwoo then opened his phone and showed him a few pictures of Sharon.
Takasho flicked through the phone to take a better look at the pics.
None of them looked amazing or anything.
After all, Siwoo and Sharon spent most of their time watching movies or eating out somewhere and both werenât exactly the perfect occasion for selfies.
Siwoo also wasnât a professional photographer.
However, Sharonâs good look and amazing bust turned even the clumsily taken pictures into works of art.
âYou fucking josenjin.â
As Takasho looked through the pictures, his eyebrows raised up in fury.
âAre you telling me that you went on dates with this girl, going all lovey-dovey, asking each other âWhat do you want to eat today?â, then you two went on and fuck a ton? Then in the morning, you woke up, rubbed your sleepy eyes, shared a morning kiss and a hearty cup of coffee with her, and while she was making you the coffee, youâd grab her butt as your eyes met?â
âWhat the fuck? How did you get all that right?â
Fucking hell, this guy.
Iâm scared now.
âYou traitor!â
âShut up, you are the one who played around with a bunch of witches at once!â
âHaah⊠Siwoo, I told you many times, those witches just arenât in the equation at all. Fuck, Iâm so envious of you now⊠Fuck it, Iâm gonna study magic.â
As Takasho kept on scrolling Siwooâs gallery, another thing made him almost burst into tears again.
He found another witchâs picture.
Eloaâs.
This particular picture was taken fairly recently. What happened here was, Siwoo was randomly taking a picture of the sunset when Eloa suddenly photobombed him.
Of course, Takasho didnât know any of this. His body shook even more than before.
âOi, josenjin. Who is this?â
âAh⊠Just a witch that I know. Sheâs teaching me this and that.â
âThis and that? This and that you said!? Dude, are you fucking with me right now? Is this why you came to see me? So that you could show off your women to me?!â
âShut it, why do you care so much?! Hey, stop scrolling! Give me my phone back!â
Takasho was losing it at this point, the speed at which he scrolled through Siwooâs gallery became faster and faster.
After Eloaâs picturesâwell, there werenât many of themâcame the twinsâ pictures, which were taken back when they visited him in the Modern World.
When he saw them, Takashoâs hand suddenly stopped.
Reflected on the picture was Siwooâs face being crushed by the twinsâ faces from both sides.
After they took the picture, the twins were arguing with each other because one of them occupied more space in the picture or whatnot.
In any case, anyone who looked at this picture could tell how close they were to each other.
âThe Gemini twins⊠Oi, Shin Siwoo! Didnât you tell me that you are just looking after those two?!â
âJust give me my phone back quickly!â
âA thief who learns late doesnât know when dawn comesâŠâ
Siwoo freaked out and took his phone back.
He completely forgot about this particular picture.
Meanwhile Takasho, who was wearing an exasperated expression earlier, suddenly smiled in satisfaction.
âRight, come to think of it, Iâm the one who taught you all those things. A studentâs success is the teacherâs success as well.â
âWell, I canât refute that.â
If anything, Siwo knew more than anyone that Takashoâs advice worked wonders.
âAnyway, what are you gonna do now? Wanna work in our place for a bit?â
âNah, Iâm gonna head back to the Modern World later. Donât worry, Iâll visit your place often before going back.â
âThat so?â
Just a while ago, he was raging, perhaps from jealousy, but now there was a soft smile on his face, as if his behavior just now was just a joke.
In fact, it really was a joke.
After all, he was the kind of person whoâd give a bigger push to his friends when things were going well for them.
âBring your girlfriend over next time, okay? Donât worry, Iâll praise you to high heavens in front of her.â
âSure. Actually, when I told her stories about you, she did say that she wanted to meet you at least once.â
When they were about to continue their small talkâŠ
-Knock, knock!
After the knocking sound, the door was opened and the blonde man that escorted Siwoo in came into the room.
âIâm sorry to bother you while you two are having such a great time, but, Hyung, someone from the Chamber of Commerce is here. They want to have a word with you.â
âWhat does he want?â
âHe is the one in charge of the alcohol supplies, I think. Thereâs a problem about tariff or something like that.â
âHuh, really?â
Takasho immediately rose up to his feet, tidying his disheveled suit.
He tapped Siwoo on the shoulder as he stood up.
The moment he straightened his body, the usual Takasho was gone, replaced by the full-fledged businessman Takasho.
âSorry to cut our time together short, Siwoo. I need to take care of this thing now.â
âOh, câmon, donât be sorry. Iâm going to visit often anyway.â
âAlright. Anyway, itâs nice to see you doing so well. Next time, letâs have a real talk over some good booze, okay?â
After saying that, Takasho walked away.
Siwoo was about to follow and leave the room, but the blonde man stopped him, though there was a hesitant expression on his face.
âUm, excuse meâŠâ
âYes? Is something the matter?â
âAre youâŠumâŠclose to the witches?â
âYes. For now, at least.â
âI donât know if I can say this but⊠Can I ask you something? The thing is, HyungâŠâ
When he was about to say something, Takashoâs loud voice echoed from behind the door.
âWhat are you doing, Paul? Come with me!â
âYes, Hyung! âŠSorry about that, please donât mind me. I have to leave now, excuse me.â
But, in the end, the blonde man had to leave without the chance to say what it was that he had in /genesisforsaken