Where Beans Are Planted, Beans Grow

"Hyung…"

"…"

"I really need to lock you up somewhere."

'Even if you say that while being tied up…'

Cha Eui-jae gave Lee Sa-young a wary look, but Lee Sa-young continued to mumble ominously.

"Every time I take my eyes off you, something happens, and you suddenly disappear…"

Crumple, the gas mask in the black hand was crushed as if it were paper. Kkokko trembled, perhaps due to the menacing atmosphere. Cha Eui-jae stroked its smooth head. Lee Sa-young's purple eyes grew even sharper, his head tilted slightly, and his curly hair flowed gently down.

"So…"

"…"

"Do you have any plans to explain why you suddenly disappeared and then showed up with that guy?"

"That guy… Do you mean me?"

Hong Ye-seong cluelessly pointed to himself and tilted his head. 'Shut up.' Cha Eui-jae barely resisted the urge to gag Hong Ye-seong. Despite everything, Lee Sa-young didn't even glance at Hong Ye-seong and only stared at Cha Eui-jae. Cha Eui-jae blinked several times, trying to send a signal.

"Um, Guild Leader. I will explain everything."

"Yes… go on."

Lee Sa-young, seemingly annoyed to the limit, pretended not to know even while making eye contact through his lenses. He even blinked in sync with Cha Eui-jae's blinking!

'Damn it, I can't explain everything here in front of Hong Ye-seong, you idiot.'

"Should I just explain? Lee Sa-young! Secretary! Can I explain?"

"You shut up."

"…"

Hong Ye-seong sulkily lowered his head.

"And let go of that shoulder hug."

The arm draped over Cha Eui-jae's shoulder slowly came down. Making Hong Ye-seong shut up with a word, Lee Sa-young leaned back on the sofa and nodded toward Cha Eui-jae, seemingly ready to listen to something to appease his mood.

"Well, you see…"

Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth and opened his mouth.

"Um? Hong Ye-seong-ssi. You've left the waiting room?"

A familiar voice was heard. With a puzzled expression, Jung Bin, a weary-looking Bae Won-woo, and a grumpy-looking Honeybee walked into the hall. It was a combination that gathered only those who had put up autographs on the wall of a hangover soup restaurant.

Cha Eui-jae quickly adopted the persona he had used in the morning, curling up and acting like a timid new secretary.

Honeybee, having spotted Hong Ye-seong, brushed her hair back irritably.

"You! Ugh… If you were going to postpone the auction, you should have just said so. Why did you have to sprinkle powder and cause trouble? Thanks to you, there was another incident."

"Incident? What incident?"

"Ask Jung Bin!"

Jung Bin, who had approached the three who were in a standoff, rubbed his chin.

"Um, I left a message asking Ye-seong-ssi not to come out, but it seems he didn't see it?"

"You're telling me not to come out, but everything looks fine? Nothing's broken. I even brought detox items thinking Lee Sa-young might have spread poison."

"Yes, luckily, we managed to stop him just before he used the poison. Thanks to Honeybee-ssi's quick action in hitting the alert bell, we were able to prevent it."

Jung Bin shrugged with a smiling face.

"Although Gyu-Gyu's shoulder was broken… Since the building wasn't destroyed, it's within acceptable limits, I suppose?"

"Oh, I'm truly sorry. Our guild leader is… always like this, but still. Please contact the Pado Guild if you need to."

Bae Won-woo bowed repeatedly. Lee Sa-young, watching them with an irritated face, spat out.

"He started it."

"Oh, Sa-young. Let's keep it down!"

"Haha, yes. Considering Gyu-Gyu-ssi started it, we only tied up his wrists, didn't we?"

Jung Bin's kind smile passed from Hong Ye-seong to the other gas mask beside him.

"Um, and who is this next to Hong Ye-seong-ssi?"

"Ah? This is the secretary from the Pado Guild."

"Ah, I see."

Jung Bin's soft eyes narrowed slightly.

"But why are the two of you together? Even if you were here when you entered, I didn't see you when I checked the hall right after the black powder disappeared."

"Because I kidnapped the secretary!"

"What?"

"Huh?"

At the sudden confession, both Jung Bin and Bae Won-woo widened their eyes. Lee Sa-young's gaze grew even more intense, but Cha Eui-jae ignored it and turned his head slightly, allowing Hong Ye-seong to excitedly continue as they had planned.

"No, I originally intended to kidnap Lee Sa-young. But since it was my first time using this powder, I couldn't tell what was what. So I told Kkokko to kidnap the gas mask, but it brought the secretary instead. Well, it's still young."

"Bawk?"

The longer he heard it, the longer he could understand Kkokko's cries. This time, the cry meant it was unfair. But Hong Ye-seong shamelessly continued.

"But I couldn't just kick him out right away. That would be too heartless! And I couldn't kidnap Lee Sa-young again. He'd get scolded by that tyrant boss if he went back out. So I was just offering him some tea. He looked so exhausted."

"…"

Jung Bin's gaze landed on Cha Eui-jae.

"May I ask your name?"

Deliberately making his voice tremble like a goat's, Cha Eui-jae answered in the highest, thinnest voice possible.

"Kim Seung-bin."

"Yes, Secretary Kim Seung-bin. Is everything Hong Ye-seong-ssi said true? Were you threatened or coerced in any way?"

"Yes, yes! The young master apologized for bringing me by mistake and served me green tea. He said I should stay for a while because he couldn't let me out immediately… And he introduced Kkokko to me."

Cha Eui-jae pushed Kkokko, whom he was holding, forward. Kkokko tilted its smooth head and let out a soft cry. Seeing the porcelain chicken, Jung Bin's gaze softened a bit. He poked Kkokko's blunt beak with his finger and asked.

"I see. May I ask one more thing?"

"Yes? Yes, of course."

"Where were you taken after being kidnapped?"

"Uh, it was a completely different place from here. It was a traditional house with a courtyard… Oh! There was also a kiln."

"I see…"

"Cluck! Bawk"

Jung Bin's eyes, which had been watching Cha Eui-jae, shifted to the chicken, which let out a long crow from his arms. Stroking the smooth chin of the chicken, Jung Bin smiled broadly.

"Thank you for your explanation. So, Hong Ye-seong-ssi, why did you intend to kidnap Lee Sa-young?"

"Huh? I had something to talk about with him!"

"Couldn't it have waited until after the Artisan Exhibition?"

"It couldn't, that's why. Anyway, I've explained my side, so explain your side now. What happened? What happened?"

As Hong Ye-seong urged for an explanation, Honeybee crossed her arms and sighed deeply.

"Well, you see…"

***

After the black powder that had obscured everyone's view disappeared, the hunters participating in the Artisan Exhibition found themselves facing the platform where only Hong Ye-seong's poster remained instead of the S+ grade weapon he had created.

"What's going on? Where did he go?"

"Is this a terror attack?"

"Kidnapping?"

"It can't be, Hong Ye-seong spread the powder himself."

"Are we really restarting in two hours?"

The sound of the hunters' murmuring filled the hall. The super hamsters, curious and sensitive, began to leave their partitions and look around.

Jung Bin, holding his forehead and groaning, directed the nearby Management Bureau hunters.

"Half of the staff should check the tickets of the hunters in the hall and guide them to wait in the waiting room. The other half will search the center with me to find Hong Ye-seong-ssi."

"Could he have gone to the waiting room?"

"That would be fortunate. But we must prepare for the possibility that he hasn't. Securing Hong Ye-seong-ssi's safety is our top priority."

After Jung Bin hurried off with the hunters, the remaining Management Bureau hunters started a ticket inspection one by one. However, because they worked in groups, their speed was slow, and unfortunately, they failed to notice the crucial encounter between super hamsters that needed to be avoided at all costs.

Gyu-Gyu strolled up to Lee Sa-young, who was standing and looking around. Leaning on the partition and smiling brightly, he spoke.

"Wow, it seems you have no intention of buying anything. Our second place, Lee Sa-young. The hornet has been holding a lot of paddles to get a weapon."

"…"

"You didn't touch the paddles at all? They're still in their original setup."

Lee Sa-young didn't even glance at him, taking out his phone and pressing a button to his ear. Gyu-Gyu, who had been watching him quietly, grabbed and released his half-tied hairband, letting the tousled hair scatter.

"You know~ I'm working on something right now? You probably know."

"…"

"It's a bit of a hassle, but it looked interesting, so I took it. It's fun to follow it precariously by a single thread."

The dial tone continues endlessly in Lee Sa-young's ear.

"But then…!"

Swish! A hairband turned into a sharp dagger, slicing through the air towards the pale neck under the gas mask. However,

"…"

Tuk! Lee Sa-young caught the knife with his hand without a hint of surprise, glancing sideways to identify its owner.

Gyu-Gyu shook his hand and smirked.

"Every time I tried to find something out, I kept getting blocked. It was starting to get really annoying, so I looked into it and found the Pado Guild's hand everywhere."

"…"

"I'm curious now. Why would the former number one refuse to cooperate when the country is looking for its national hero, and instead block everything tightly?"

Lee Sa-young responded coldly.

"It must be because you're not skilled enough."

"Sure, sure. Even with my lacking skills, I thought about it."

The smirk disappeared from Gyu-Gyu's face, replaced by a perfect poker face as he mouthed the words.

"Do you want J to stay dead forever?"

"…"

For a moment, the air around them went still. The hunters who had been listening to their conversation fell silent. Lee Sa-young slowly turned to face Ban Gyu-min. In his ear, the phone continued to emit an emotionless automated message.

—Unable to take your call, please leave a message…

"You want J to never appear again?"

"…"

Ban Gyu-min took a step closer, looking Lee Sa-young straight in the eye through the lenses, and spoke.

"J—"

***

"…After that, as you'd expect, Sa-young and Gyu-min had a huge fight. It looked like one of them was going to get killed, so I borrowed the call bell from the part-timer and pressed it."

"Thank you for acting quickly."

"Hmph, of course."

Honeybee snorted and fiddled with her hair, while Bae Won-woo covered his face with both hands and let out a long sigh.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry… I should have been with him. But this time, Sa-young insisted on moving separately with his secretary."

"Haha, what can we do about what's already happened? I'm just grateful the building wasn't covered in poison."

"But I acted quickly. Don't I get a reward?"

"Well, how about some hangover soup?"

"Three bowls and I'll think about it."

"Let's meet at the hangover soup restaurant after the Artisan Exhibition then."

"Oh, me too!"

Listening to the regulars talk about hangover soup, Cha Eui-jae couldn't help but glance at Lee Sa-young. Sitting on the sofa with his hands tied, Lee Sa-young was looking at Cha Eui-jae…

and smiling.