Precautions of a Snakepit - Chapter 100 (The End)
“Um, a creator?”
Top Dog answered a little hesitantly.
‘He’s a mobster, after all.’
Won felt a bit bitter, wondering if her expectations were too high, when Top Dog continued.
“… I’m often told I look like one, but the music is not what it seems, right?”
She paused at the unexpected information.
“Wait, you make songs?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You mean songs, like composing songs?”
“Yeah.”
Top Dog calmly affirmed. Won was taken aback. It was a job she didn’t consider and found a hard time believing it.
‘A composer? This guy?’
He didn’t seem to be joking. Top Dog wouldn’t be so dense as to make a joke at a moment like this.
“Then what about the title she called you earlier?”
“Oh, it’s a meaningless title. I don’t actually run any businesses, I just produce music.”
She wondered if maybe he was like a hands-off boss. Maybe there was a different management structure?
It didn’t matter what the answer was. She was curious about his job, and it wasn’t an interrogation where he was required to reveal everything to her.
“What kind of music do you make?”
“Pop music.”
“Like the kind sung by singers on TV?”
“Yes, very much.”
“… Do any of your songs get played on the radio?”
“Well I bet if we go somewhere crowded right now, we’ll hear one of the songs I wrote about ten times?”
His responses really intrigued her despite her caution while asking about a potentially sensitive topic.
She was impressed. She wondered what it would be like to be on the streets of the city and hear the songs played. Maybe it was because she had no connection to that life, but she could never imagine it.
“You must be doing pretty well.”
“Well, a little bit.”
There was confidence in the way he smiled back at her without denying it. Won stared into his face with newfound interest. He was arrogant and laid-back, but not in a bad way.
“Did it hurt your career since you had to be hospitalized?”
“Not really. The songs that were released while I was in the hospital hit #1, #2, and #7 on the annual charts.”
Won was about to ask what the annual chart was. She was so out of the loop that even if she heard about it, she wouldn’t have a clue. She guessed she would just take his word for it that he was doing well. The fact that he was a composer didn’t seem so out of place. She realized that his brother was also a painter, which made her think he would have had a talent for the arts. He was pretty good at drawing himself.
‘Maybe a strange personality is unique to the arts…’
She might have gone too far by insulting an artistic family.
“Anything else?”
Won was taking a moment to collect her thoughts when Top Dog interrupted her. Won looked up at him with a strange feeling. It made her stomach churn to see him be so nervous.
He knows what it means. That’s why her sudden stop made him feel uneasy.
She sighed.
‘I’m screwed.’
She thought he was adorable.
She didn’t want him to feel uneasy.
She can’t believe he felt this way about this guy. She felt like her life was going down the wrong path in real time. Worse, she didn’t feel like turning around or backing out of it.
‘It’s not like I’m just being nice or he’s a stranger.’
In the end, her only option was to ask him the most casual question.
“What is your name?”
Top Dog stared at her for a moment, then brightly smiled. It was a look that could melt winter’s snow.
“Rak-hyun Seo.”
Won thought that name was perfect for him. There wasn’t a letter in it that wasn’t assertive.
Now it was her turn to give herself away. If she wants to get to know him, she has to reveal herself to him. It was a fair trade.
She slowly opened her mouth.
“My real name is…”
***
“You’re almost healed.”
Won looked at his unbandaged back and made a quick impression. The doctor nodded in agreement.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”
“Please make sure there’s as little scarring as possible, doctor.”
She turned to him with a ceremonial request.
“I’ll be out of here in a minute, so stay for a few moments.”
Leaving the hospital, she went upstairs to her office. It looks like a normal hospital, and it accepts patients from the public, but this is the building of her organization. Her office is staffed by her organization’s employees. It’s where she chose her current temporary home.
Swiping her card, she entered the office and walked straight to the door labeled as “President’s Office.” She knocked on the door and was greeted by a beautiful woman.
“It’s been a while, Won. How are you?”
“I’m well.”
After exchanging a few more brief words, the woman cut to the chase.
“It’s been a month as of today. Can I take him off our radar?”
As long as he’s cohabiting with her, he’s “managed” by the organization. Today is their last scheduled day together, so as soon as they move out of the temporary residence, he will be removed from the organization’s control. If he is no longer involved with her, they will go their separate ways.
“That’s…”
The woman’s eyes widened at Won’s answer.
“I see, I see, we’ll deal with it that way. By the way, I have a new assignment that might be a good fit for you, would you be interested? I’ve put it on hold since you were on break.”
“No thanks.”
Won didn’t plan on coming back for a while. She wanted to take at least half a year off.
The woman obediently nodded.
“Okay, off the record, and to paraphrase… retirement isn’t a bad idea.”
Won stared at the woman, taken aback by the out-of-the-blue suggestion. The woman smiled and continued.
“You’d be lucky to get out of this job with your limbs still intact. You’ve made enough money, after all. Of course, we’d like to keep our No. 1 Agent on active duty for as long as possible, given your phenomenal 91% mission completion rate.”
Won wondered if the woman could read her thoughts. The word “retirement” had come up once in a while. For now, it was a vague possibility, but if she finds something else she wants to do, she might do it. But it was still a long way off.
After returning to the hospital, she moved back home with him.
At home, in the temporary residence they agreed to share for a month, they packed their things and got into their respective cars. He got in his car, she got in hers, but the place where they arrived was the same.
They met in front of the elevator in the underground parking garage and took the same elevator up. Only one button was pressed.
Getting off first, he hurriedly unlocked the front door and held it wide open. He grabbed her luggage and carried it inside and called back to her.
“Come in, pretty girl.”
Won shook her head from side to side and stepped into the foyer, closing the door behind her.
The house was… surprisingly, open. She was slightly disconcerted by the unusualness of having an open floor plan instead of a small hallway and walls separating the doorway.
She wondered why the house was so large if it was only meant for a single person.
“You can use any of the rooms that are free, and if you have a specific room you want, I can get furniture later.”
He grinned. Top Dog had been like that since yesterday and Won wondered if something had happened to his face that would prevent him from making any other expression.
“Here, then.”
Won picked out a decent-sized room. Even with a queen-sized bed, there was still plenty of room, so she had to think about what else to put in there.
“Let’s get a bed and a desk…”
“Why do you need a bed?”
Top Dog questioned her.
“I need to sleep, too.”
“Your bed is already in there, though?”
Pointing to his room, he added with a smirk.
“It’s king size.”
“… What if I don’t want to sleep with you?”
“I told you that even if we fought to death, we’d still sleep together, sweetheart.”
“That’s advice for married couples.”
Won rubbed her forehead. Her head already ached.
‘Was moving in together the right decision?’
Life in the penthouse on the 27th floor was not going to be pretty, especially at night… As she thought about that, she stiffened at the voice that suddenly flashed through her mind.
“One, a future that is exactly what you want it to be. A normal life. Ninety-one percent, twelve times, twenty-seven floors, two. The other is the future you don’t want. An unconventional life. Lots of snakes, debauchery, and immortality.”
That was what the shaman had said the day he read her future.
‘Ninety one percent, twelve times, twenty-seven floors, two.’
“Of course, we’d like to keep our No. 1 Agent on active duty for as long as possible, given your phenomenal 91% mission completion rate…”
91% mission completion rate.
Twelve times the compensation received by Target.
The 27th floor penthouse.
So that makes two…
‘What’s two?’
She reflexively touched her stomach.
Top Dog lifted her up like it was nothing. Spinning her around in circles like he was performing a ritual, he held her close, smothering her, and whispering to her in a husky voice.
“I’ll love you until you’re sick of me, Yeon-seo.”
That he, Seo Rak-hyun, would do that forever.
She decided to throw herself into an unclear, but sweet future.
AHHHH ITS OVER AND IM SO UPSET BUT SO HAPPY AT THE SAME TIME I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS STORY AND I HOPE THE REST OF U HAVE TOO!!!!
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