Chapter 41 – Peacemaker

Lee Yu-jin begged her manager relentlessly and barely obtained permission. The manager repeatedly requested her not to cause trouble and to return on time, and also asked Se-min. Se-min responded confidently.

“Don’t worry. Since I’m more famous, people won’t even know she’s there because they’ll be looking at me.”

“That is true.”

The manager was also convinced. Lee Yu-jin got angry and hit the two men in turn. Se-min avoided getting hit any further.

“Then, please take good care of Yu-jin.”

They said goodbye to the people and left the shoot location. Since Se-min still used a scooter, they had to settle things nearby.

“I thought you said your friends are coming?”

“That’s for the second round.”

“What is the second round?”

She immediately made a gesture of drinking something.

She had already planned an unexpected drinking session.

“I’m telling your manager.”

“Drinking a little is fine. Manager oppa won’t say anything either.”

“You have a girl group image.”

“I’m old enough; people would dislike it more if I acted fake.”

She was the oldest member even in Honey Biz. She said that although she was not the leader, she looked after the members as a spiritual pillar. The youngest member was still a minor.

Hold-ups over the menu lasted for a while, but eventually they headed to a franchise restaurant.

Se-min ate vigorously, and Lee Yu-jin nibbled, perhaps managing her diet.

“If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”

“No.”

At that, Se-min tried to order one more. Lee Yu-jin stopped Se-min and shared her portion.

“So annoying. I can’t even eat as I wish, but you eat well alone.”

“You’re not going to eat that either, right?”

“I will eat this. I’m eating it. Don’t you touch it.”

Lee Yu-jin lightly hit Se-min’s forearm.

Hitting was totally her habit.

Se-min thought that if she hit him again, he would trigger a rebound barrier using aura to correct her hand habit.

Soon, people who recognized the two emerged. In Lee Yu-jin’s case, she at least covered her face by pulling down her hat, but Se-min was advertising that he was Raider Lee Se-min starting from his attire.

People whispered their names. Not only Se-min’s name but also the group name Honey Biz was heard quite often.

Se-min ordered one more, not satisfied with taking Lee Yu-jin’s, and in the meantime, a customer approached and requested Se-min’s autograph.

He was wearing a souvenir jacket similar to Se-min’s.

“Are you Lee Se-min-nim? I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but I’m a huge fan. Could you sign for me?”

He handed a felt-tip pen to Se-min.

“Yes. Where should I sign it for you?”

“On the souvenir jacket.”

He offered his back.

Although the details were different, it was a dragon souvenir jacket like Se-min’s, and since the color was light blue, the ink showed.

Se-min showed off his autograph, which had taken shape through repeated practice.

“What is your name?”

“It’s Park Yeong-gil.”

“Yeong-gil…”

Se-min left his autograph and wrote something else below it instead of the man’s name.

To the Demon of Sangnam.

“What is that?”

Lee Yu-jin, who was watching from the side, stared at Se-min. What on earth was the reason for labeling a fan as a demon?

However, the man named Yeong-gil looked rather more touched.

“As expected of the Raider…!”

“It’s only natural.”

The two shook hands.

“You have a cool name.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep cheering you on. The way you stopped the Missing Gate alone not long ago was really cool.”

“It will be even cooler in the future.”

The man bowed his head and prepared to return.

Se-min held him back.

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“Are you not taking a photo?”

At Se-min’s suggestion, they even took a photo.

The celebrity Lee Yu-jin was merely crumpled in her seat, nibbling her salad. Only then did Park Yeong-gil show that he recognized her, telling Yu-jin-nim to cheer up, but he did not request an autograph.

Having sent him away, Se-min wore a strange smile of victory.

“Your expression is a bit annoying.”

Some people secretly took photos of their seats from other tables.

They pretended to look elsewhere, claiming they wouldn’t be caught, and silently took pictures, but it was completely visible. Se-min asked, cutting the steak.

“Are you okay?”

“Why? Afraid a dating rumor might break out?”

“No, I thought people wouldn’t know who you are.”

Choking on those words, Lee Yu-jin coughed, drank some water, and hit Se-min again. Se-min was about to use the rebound barrier but held back. It did not hurt much.

Se-min paid and came out. Lee Yu-jin grabbed Se-min’s sleeve and led him.

“They say the kids have already taken seats, so let’s go.”

Se-min was led by her. He had driven his scooter, but there was only one helmet. They took a taxi to the location.

***

The sun set, and the city’s neon signs lit up.

They reached a tavern.

According to her, the rooms were all partitioned, so it was a place celebrities or Raiders dropped by when they wanted to have a quiet drink.

When they reached the room where the group was located, several people were already sitting. They were warmly welcomed. There were two men and two women.

Lee Yu-jin, who was leading the way, paused briefly and pushed Se-min into the seat first.

And she sat down.

Se-min could soon know the reason.

“Yu-jin, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

Lee Yu-jin had placed Se-min as a shield between herself and one man.

As soon as he arrived, he sought her out first without even greeting Se-min. The estimate was clear just from the way he gestured with large swings of his arms.

Lee Yu-jin introduced them in turn.

“This is Han Yeon-woo, who is debuting soon, and this is Miki, who will debut together.”

The two women were idol trainees. They were friends who had not even debuted yet. According to Yu-jin, they belonged to the same company. They were friends she had close ties with when she was a trainee, and they were said to be highly talented.

The two greeted with bright faces.

“Hello. We heard a lot about you from Yu-jin!”

“Nice to meet you. So happy to see you.”

“Yes. I am Lee Se-min.”

Both had clean-cut idol images, but Miki surprisingly had a husky voice. She seemed like a member in charge of rap, originally from America.

“And…”

Lee Yu-jin placed an arm on Se-min’s shoulder and continued the introduction.

“Over there is Yeon-woo’s friend Lee Min-jae. You know Black One, right?”

Se-min did not know, but he nodded for now.

“And over there is Min-jae’s friend Jin-hoon. Park Jin-hoon. He is a Raider like you.”

Se-min felt uncomfortable under the gaze of Park Jin-hoon, who was glaring at him from beside him.

The man named Lee Min-jae, a member of the boy group, waved at Se-min and showed a fair smile. He was a handsome youth idol. On the other hand, Park Jin-hoon, who sat beside Se-min, leaned back deeply as if having no interest, perhaps not wanting to be outdone by him.

“And you all know, right? My high school classmate. The famous Raider.”

Again, Lee Min-jae and the two women clapped. Park Jin-hoon nodded.

“Can I look at the sword once?”

Han Yeon-woo asked Se-min. Se-min shook his head.

“It is not really something worth looking at.”

“But I want to see it.”

She made a feigned disappointed expression.

Since I am better than the sword, just look at my face.

At Se-min’s reply, the girls burst out laughing. Lee Yu-jin also smirked and hit his shoulder.

At the unhesitating touch, Miki secretly asked them.

“But are you two really not in a relationship?”

“Just friends.”

“Considering that, sister looks too comfortable?”

“Me?”

Lee Yu-jin shrugged her shoulders and wagged a finger toward Se-min. Miki and Han Yeon-woo looked at each other and laughed.

“Right?”

“Yeah. Even sister’s habit of hitting is only like that with close people.”

Se-min hardened his expression.

It seemed he looked easy.

They only knew each other in high school, and as adults, this was only their second meeting since the previous broadcast, so where was she carelessly wielding her hand?

Se-min pointed out while eating snacks.

“Correct your hand habit. That hurts.”

“What does a Raider mean, hurt?”

Lee Yu-jin was about to hit him again, but withdrew her hand under the gazes of the people watching her.

“We aren’t that comfortable, guys. Lee Se-min, right?”

“Right.”

Se-min replied readily.

“This is the first time we met privately since I dropped out. So, hitting each other in an uncomfortable relationship… Hey, you’ll get scolded.”

Lee Yu-jin hit Se-min and then poured a glass.

The people at the table had already drunk a certain amount, as several empty bottles were placed. To catch up, glasses were concentrated on Se-min and Lee Yu-jin.

Han Yeon-woo kept prying, curious about the relationship between Se-min and Lee Yu-jin.

“Then, was choosing Se-min oppa over Ahn Seong-jun back then also just friendship?”

Lee Yu-jin shrugged her shoulders.

“That was sincere, though?”

“See. There is something.”

“They told me to choose one of the two. Relatively, Se-min fits my type better than Ahn Seong-jun. Relatively.”

“Why Ahn Seong-jun?”

“He was really not great when he was a high schooler.”

“So that interview was real.”

“So after fighting with Se-min…”

Se-min, fearing that the story of him getting beaten up by Ahn Seong-jun would come out at this rate, quickly changed the subject.

“Let’s all have a drink.”

As Se-min suddenly poured alcohol, Lee Min-jae student laughed.

“Brother, you seem to like alcohol.”

“I don’t dislike it.”

Since acquiring the Tai Chi Wisdom, alcohol was meaningless to him. Once he got drunk past a certain point, Se-min’s body instinctively expelled the drunkenness. Therefore, even if he drank alcohol, there was no need to be careful.

As more alcohol went down, Park Jin-hoon stood up from his seat, saying he was going to the restroom.

And when he returned, he changed his position. He sat next to Lee Yu-jin and requested of Se-min.

“Se-min-nim, please give me my glass.”

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“Because the inside seat is uncomfortable for me.”

He gestured to Lee Yu-jin to move in a bit more.

Se-min scratched his head. Getting involved in this kind of matter was a pass. In the first place, he had only come because of his connection with Lee Yu-jin, and he was not of a personality that liked socializing.

Se-min handed the glass to Park Jin-hoon and whispered into Lee Yu-jin’s ear.

“Should I get rid of him for you?”

“Huh?”

Lee Yu-jin looked at him, then shook her head.

“It’s fine.”

Park Jin-hoon spoke to them.

“What kind of secret talk are you two having like that?”

Se-min smirked.

“It is a secret because it is a secret talk.”

“…”

His expression was not good. Lee Yu-jin also shifted her hips slightly and stuck close to Se-min.

Park Jin-hoon cleared his throat and quietly poured his own drink.

“Brothers, you are Raiders, but isn’t there something that connects between Raiders?”

Lee Min-jae said.

Park Jin-hoon tilted his head.

“Well. There isn’t much overlap with Se-min-nim. Even more so since he is a Platinum.”

He was a Green-mark Raider.

“Se-min-nim, by any chance do you know a person named Yoo Sung-jin?”

“Yoo Sung-jin? I think I’ve heard of him.”

He did seem to have met someone named Yoo Sung-jin at one of the raids he performed in the past.

“I belong to the same company as him.”

“Ah, is that so. He had good skills. His aura was very clean.”

“Right? That is our company’s characteristic. The aura method is top-notch. I joined just looking at that one thing.”

“You chose well. No matter what anyone says, you can only climb up if the aura method is good.”

“Right? I am a Green now, but I want to become like Se-min-nim in the future.”

As he threw praise, Park Jin-hoon opened up. Although he had been on guard due to his feelings for Lee Yu-jin, he also admired Se-min as a Raider.

As the drunkenness rose, each other’s voices grew louder. Jin-hoon talked eagerly and drank alcohol as if his throat was burning.

Han Yeon-woo and Miki began to sing their song, saying they would soon be able to see it on TV, and Lee Min-jae tried to film it but was stopped by them.

“It will be a big deal if that leaks. This is a secret song. Delete it, delete it.”

“Only me and my members will watch it.”

“Do you want to die?”

Suddenly, Park Jin-hoon answered his phone and left the room.

Having not returned for a while, he soon opened the door with a perplexed face.

“Excuse me…”

Behind him, there were other people.

“Is it here?”

Snickering, two men entered. They scanned the room.

“We are big brothers Jin-hoon knows, is it okay to join?”

Se-min could tell they were aura-compatible individuals. They were invisibly emitting aura. It was deliberate pressure.

Ordinary people who did not possess aura would be intimidated by that momentum.

A coercive air filled the inside of the tavern.

Everyone looked at each other, and then Lee Yu-jin opened her mouth.

“We also all met as friends for the first time in a while…”

“It’s good to play all together. There are more friends in another room, but we stopped them all and only we came.”

Cutting off their words, they pushed Park Jin-hoon aside and stepped into the room. As they did so, the two pointed at Lee Yu-jin and snickered at Park Jin-hoon.

“Is that her? She’s pretty.”

“Brother. Too suddenly…”

“We said we’d help you. Look at this kid hesitating.”

The voices were heard.

Se-min grew rapidly tired.

His belief was not wrong. Wherever a Raider was involved, trouble arose. It was only not long ago when he was entangled with Jin Bu-sik, yet these kinds of guys appeared again.

Look at the aura they were emitting.

Through control of aura, they could intimidate ordinary people. Standing defenseless before an existence that could kill one with a single finger was an immense pressure. The harmful effects manifested in various ways.

“You are So-jin-nim, right? Is our Jin-hoon not good? I heard a lot. I hope things go well.”

“Brother.”

“Why, you punk. A man has no guts.”

The man spoke and sat down, finding a seat.

Han Yeon-woo and Miki moved their seats far away with stiff faces, but he sat even closer.

“These ladies are also beautiful. Celebrities are different. Since we are Raiders, killing magic beasts and making money is our everything.”

“They are people who live in the sunny spot.”

“Are we in the shade?”

“Since we see blood every day, is it blood pudding?”

“Puhahaha.”

The man who had put his arm around Park Jin-hoon’s shoulder spoke to Lee Yu-jin.

“Is Jin-hoon not good? Then how about me? How about choosing the worse person between the two and kicking the loser out?”

“What confidence do you have, you.”

“For a man, it’s confidence.”

Se-min poured a drink alone.

When he was with Noh Hak-jae in the past, Noh Hak-jae suddenly drank liquor while looking at the Hell Gate.

‘When you see that, you can’t help but drink.’

Se-min also agreed.

He couldn’t help but drink.

As the sound of trickling alcohol was suddenly heard, the men’s eyes turned to Se-min. Se-min drank a glass of soju alone. He was not drunk. His senses were clear.

“Yu-jin.”

Se-min deliberately called her.

It was a suddenly soft and gentle low tone.

At that voice, even Lee Yu-jin looked at Se-min with an absurd face. Se-min continued speaking in that greasy tone.

“Between me and that impolite friend, who is better?”

Amidst everyone’s gaze gathering, Se-min placed his fingertips on his chin and made a melancholy expression.

Lee Yu-jin let out a pfft and burst into laughter.

And she called his name.

“Lee Se-min.”

Se-min nodded and winked toward the man standing beside Jin-hoon.

“Get out.”

The intimidation they emitted had disappeared before they knew it. The Tai Chi Wisdom dissolved all coercion in the area. The men’s aura was pushed back by the Tai Chi Wisdom and shriveled into their dantians.

The Tai Chi Wisdom coiled on Se-min’s back and blazed.

They hesitated.

“Who are you…”

The man who had sat next to Han Yeon-woo first stood up. His companion stopped him and whispered in his ear.

“Hey, it’s Lee Se-min.”

“Who is Lee Se-min?”

Perhaps remembering belatedly after saying so himself, the man’s expression changed. Twitched his lips, he stared at Se-min.

“Ah, that guy acting up because he got a little famous lately?”

As his words grew rough, Park Jin-hoon also stopped him.

“Brother, let’s go out for now and next time…”

“What do you mean go out?”

Se-min said.

“Didn’t we agree that the one who loses the face match leaves?”

Lee Yu-jin refuted.

“It wasn’t a face match.”

“Then what was it?”

“Synthesizing personality and this and that, at least…”

“Don’t fall for me.”

“Are you crazy?”

At their peaceful conversation, the man’s face stiffened further.

The atmosphere of the room had already turned its back on him. Even if he tried to emit aura to create an atmosphere of fear again, Se-min’s Tai Chi Wisdom rendered all attempts in vain.

It seemed his pride did not allow him to back down like this. Dried up from caring even about his feelings, Se-min just tapped the handle of the claymore leaned beside him.

He left the room with a stiff face.

Once they all disappeared, Lee Min-jae, who had been quiet, said.

“There are really a lot of troublemakers among Raiders.”

Then he smiled toward Se-min.

“Ah, not you, brother. Jin-hoon-i hyung isn’t like that either, but there are really a lot of people who boast blindly like that sometimes.”

“Right. I really hate it.”

“If there are celebrities or somewhat pretty people, they really act like that. There was a person like that before too.”

Since Se-min also deeply sympathized with the problems of Raiders, he opened his mouth about what he had normally been curious about.

“Look. There is something I’m curious about.”

“Yes.”

Everyone concentrated.

“I beat Ahn Seong-jun and I also beat that guy just now. Where is my limit? Did I choose the wrong job?”

“…”

Se-min stood up abruptly, sat next to Lee Min-jae, and posed.

“Now, Lee Se-min, Lee Min-jae. The winner is?”

Everyone pointed to Lee Min-jae without hesitation.

Only Lee Min-jae curved his eyes gently, wore a pure white idol smile, and pointed at Se-min.

He defeated in both personality and looks.

“The loser leaves.”

Se-min grew sullen, stood up, and headed for the door. Lee Yu-jin asked with a laugh.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Restroom.”

Leaving the room and heading toward the restroom, he heard the three gathered earlier talking about something.

Park Jin-hoon spotted Se-min and was flustered.

Se-min passed them by without minding.

“You there.”

Behind him, the man called Se-min. Se-min turned around and shrugged his shoulders.

“What is it, mister who lost to me in looks.”

“This bastard.”

His face flushed red. Park Jin-hoon stopped him, but he did not seem to listen.

“You seem to be acting up because you are sparkling for a moment right now.”

He thought that was rather the man himself, but since Se-min did not expect right thinking from these kinds of people anyway, he let it pass.

“You’ll get scolded big time like that. Do you know who is in the room I was in?”

“I’m not curious, so just go. Don’t bother me.”

Se-min erased the playfulness from his face and stared at him. He flinched.

Se-min was a Platinum-mark, and in terms of the operation of aura, he was a master above that. He could do the exact same thing as what the man did playing with aura when entering the room.

The man raised his voice further so as not to be intimidated.

“Ahn Seong-jun and the Peacemaker people are there. You think you’re great because you got on TV, right? Before the real deal, you are nothing.”

Ahn Seong-jun’s name came out here.

The Peacemaker he belonged to was an elite organization that only those of Platinum-mark or higher could join. They also did not share raids with other companies. It was a unique group that conducted raids solely under their system and tactics.

They were people evaluated to be even above the Big Three in their ability to dispose of raids.

In addition, the leader of Peacemaker was a Black-mark, of which there were only five in South Korea.

“Ahn Seong-jun is here?”

Se-min showed interest.

A connection had been made in the Kesia raid, but he had been unconscious. At that time, he saved Se-min’s life.

It was strangely uncomfortable to have a debt to a bastard entangled with bad fate.

“Where is that bastard?”

“You keep speaking informally…”

“You spoke informally first.”

As Se-min approached, he flinched. He tried hard to pretend to maintain composure, but he was visibly intimidated by Se-min.

Se-min smirked. He was just returning the exact same behavior he had received, but the man had an extremely aggrieved look in his eyes.

“I won’t hit you, I won’t hit you.”

Se-min tapped his shoulders. His face flushed red.

Se-min said.

“I want to say hello to Ahn Seong-jun, where did you say he is?”

He did not open his mouth.

The answer was heard from elsewhere.

“Looking for Seong-jun?”

A man asked them, coming out of the restroom.

Perhaps because they were of the same group, the man made a bewildered face.

“Jeong-hee hyungnim.”

“I can hear all of your voices. It’s noisy while I’m pissing, seriously.”

He said, tapping his crotch.

“What did you guys do where to get into a dispute again?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Did you pick on an innocent person again?”

“It’s not that…”

I knew it. Don’t do that, seriously.

He reacted with a chuckle.

He was a man who looked to be in his thirties or forties, with thin eyes that constantly held a smile. He was slender, but the momentum of aura emanating from him was difficult even for Se-min to gauge.

He was a master.

However, it was unknown how much of a master he was.

Se-min did not know who this man was.

“This friend mentioned Seong-jun. Do you know each other?”

Se-min shrugged his shoulders.

“Yes. Not a good connection, but we know each other.”

“Right. The look in your eyes is good.”

He glanced at Se-min’s clothes.

“Your clothes are cool too.”

Se-min felt good to meet someone who recognized his souvenir jacket. Se-min fluttered his souvenir jacket once.

“You are also very dandy, Brother.”

Although they did not know each other well, since the man whom Park Jin-hoon, who was the same age as him, called brother, was called brother again by Park Jin-hoon, he must surely be older than Se-min. His appearance was also older.

Se-min called him Brother right away.

He also had an appreciative expression.

“If I were just a few years younger, I would have dressed up like you, little brother. It’s a shame.”

“It’s a relief. If you had even dressed up, Brother, it would have been so dazzling that I couldn’t look.”

“Look at this fellow, you really put honey on your tongue, huh? Hahaha.”

His face relaxed immediately.

“Do you want to see Seong-jun before you go? He is drunk and out of his mind right now.”

“If it’s okay…”

“It’s fine. You guys come back in too. Why are you saying you’re leaving.”

“…”

“You should drink more with me. You young fellows.”

Wrapping his arms around the two men, Se-min, and Park Jin-hoon all at once, he pushed them into a room slightly further away.

The inside was wider than the room Se-min was in, and several men were already dozing on the sofa.

The table was filled with liquor, soju, and beer, to the extent that it was impossible to gauge how much they had drunk.

“Now, let’s drink.”

Se-min realized that the young man slumped in the corner was Ahn Seong-jun. Se-min had never expected that the guy he met again would be in such a state.

Like a machine, the man naturally began to mix alcohol to make bomb shots.

“We should drink, we must drink.”

Only then did Se-min realize why those two bastards had come to Se-min’s room and made a fuss. They had come to them to escape this man.

After making the bomb shots, he touched the lying ones in turn.

No one woke up.

He tapped Ahn Seong-jun with his foot, and when there was no response, he shrugged his shoulders.

“For Peacemaker and MNT. Come on, let’s toast.”

What kind of position did he hold in Peacemaker to act so carelessly with anyone like that?

Se-min accepted the bomb shot.

Park Jin-hoon and the two men also received it awkwardly. He eventually woke up a few more and put glasses in their hands.

“One shot!”

Everyone drank it down.

Se-min almost spat it out while drinking.

The alcohol content was very high.

“Hey, you drink well. You are a Raider too, friend, right? You’re young but you’re a Platinum. Do you want to join our company?”

He was already seeing Se-min’s level.

Se-min asked him suggestively.

“By any chance, Brother, you are…”

“I didn’t introduce myself. I am Oh Jeong-hee of Peacemaker.”

Oh Jeong-hee.

Se-min realized.

He was the leader of Peacemaker.

He was the possessor of the Black-mark, of which there were only five in South Korea.

“If you are Seong-jun’s friend, you can work together. Hey, wake up. Ahn Seong-jun.”

He kicked Ahn Seong-jun.

Ahn Seong-jun faintly opened his eyes. Shaking his head as if doubting the sight he saw, he lifted his head again.

The eyes of Se-min and Ahn Seong-jun met.