Declaration of Extra Strike

Time seemed to stop the moment his eyes met a beauty with a gorgeous face. He soon realized he was the man with the hair he had been staring at and looked at him with disinterest.

“Are you….”

“Why, do you have something to say?”

He raised his eyebrows at the pale eyes that he did not intend to avoid. A trembling voice returned to the words spoken in a quarrelsome tone.

“…… Kang Eui-jin?”

I froze without blinking at the words uttered from the man’s mouth. I had to work hard to manage my expression so that he could not tell that I was flustered.

‘How does he know me?’

Of course, Joo Ho-hyun had to resemble my handsome face, but no, the resemblance wasn’t at the same level to look exactly the same……. 

Under Tae Je-heon’s control, my appearance has never been revealed to the outside. Even when he appeared in public, only a few close aides knew what “Kang Eui-jin” looked like because he covered his face with an item. This man was certainly not among them.

Whatever it was, it was clear that it was an unwelcome situation. If it goes into Tae Jeheon’s ear…….

The mere thought of it gave me goosebumps. In the elevator that just arrived on the first floor, I pushed people out before the door was fully opened.

“…Jin! Wait!”

“You got the wrong person!”

I ran straight, ignoring the man. However, as soon as he left the examination center, his arm was caught with a rough hand. He was surprised by his monster-like power, unlike his angel-like appearance.

“Why are you like this? I’m a busy man.”

“Kang Eui-jin!”

You crazy guy?

I suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him to one side in case anyone heard my name.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s only for a moment. I’m not a suspicious person….”

“What you’re doing is very suspicious. I told you that you had mistaken me for someone else. What’s wrong with you?”

The man didn’t budge, even when he was tired of using honorifics, took a business card out of his arms and held it out to me.

“I’m Seong San-ha, the leader of the Cheon Rang Guild.”

“SEONG SAN-HA?”

I doubted my ears. I didn’t expect the name I heard from Yeon Seungyeon just a few hours ago from the guy in front of me.

A few months ago, the guild leader of Cheon Rang changed, from Seong Hwon to Seong Sanha.

I got a business card that reached all the way to my chest by accident. A gold leaf glistened on the stiff, high-quality paper.

「Cheon Rang Guild Leader Seong Sanha」

Cheon Rang guild leader; he was too close to Tae Je-heon even if it was just a guess. Nox and Cheon Rang are worse off than their enemies, but this is…….

Seong Sanha, who came close to the stage, grabbed his shoulders with both hands. His gaze persisted from my upper lips to my lower lip.

“What are you doing here? Why are you at the center…….”

“Let go, what are you talking about?”

I don’t know about the grandfather, but there was no man named Seong Sanha in my memory. When I looked at him with alert eyes because I couldn’t figure out why he was doing this, Seong Sanha looked around with sharp eyes and grabbed my arm.

“Let’s get out of here and talk.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I saw the wrong person. I’m not the one you’re looking for. I’m the center guide.”

Seong San-ha’s mouth closed. However, I could feel thinking this when I stared at the golden eyes that hid behind his eyelashes.

‘You don’t believe me.’

I threw out the hand that grabbed me, pretending to be more brazen.

“I was wondering who you were talking about……. Kang Eui-jin? He’s dead.”

The man’s expression, which was unwavering no matter what he said, was finally shaken. I kept on talking regardless.

“I was wondering why you’re doing this to me. Do I look like Kang Eui-jin?”

“…… do you mean you’re really not him?”

“Why are you looking for a dead person whose funeral has already been done? I don’t know what your relationship is, but stop denying the reality and accept that he’s dead.”

“……he is not dead.”

“What do you mean, not dead? His cremation has already been done, so I’m sure his soul is gone and crushed.”

“Stop.”

Seong San-ha’s expression hardened in an instant.

What do you mean, “stop”? You should keep your affection very low so that you can’t speak out again.

“I’ll let you go this time, but don’t do this anywhere else. I feel like you will be screwed projecting a dead man on me. If they know that the leader of the Cheon Rang Guild is following the dead, how many people…….”

Seong Sanha became strangely closer as he talked, and for a moment, a strong fist hit his face. The body that flew away hit the tree behind it.

“Keuk—.”

As soon as I got up on the ground, the hands with white gloves grabbed me by the collar. A voice that barely suppressed anger murmured sarcastically.

“Keuk, let go of this…….”

“I certainly saw it wrong. You’re…There’s no such thing as…”

“Even if you caught the dead and Kang Eui-jin managed to come back alive…….”

“You’d better not put that name on your dirty mouth.”

Seong Sanha smiled with his eyes bent and let go of my hand as if he were throwing away trash. His body fell to the ground with a flop. Seong Sanha murmured as he tilted his head.

“You’re not Kang Eui-jin……yet why are you posing like Kang Eui-jin?”

“I, uh……Damn it.”

“You’re still behaving like him even now.”

Seong Sanha, who leaned over, reached out and wrapped his hand around my cheek. It felt like the inside of my mouth was being torn apart as I felt pain in the hand pressing against my cheek. Only suppressed groans escaped from the grip of the mouth.

“Ugh……”

Seong Sanha, who regained his relaxed attitude at some point, could not hide his violent eyes as he looked through my face and muttered.

“Did you come after me in the first place? With such a similar face……. What is this, an item? A skill?”

I was dumbfounded. What a total nut job. He’s such a nutcase. And he’s the guild leader? Cheon Rang is really behind. It was obvious that Seong Hwon would not be able to close his eyes even if he died! He’s still alive, but anyway.

At the rough touch on the face and being turned around, the blood eventually slipped through the lips.

“Lu..natic. Yes, I followed… You know, since I was already mistaken with Kang Eui-jin.”

“Haha, even till the end…..”

Turning away with a crazed look, Seong Sanha muttered as he climbed onto him, who was forced to lie on the ground, unable to rebel, and began to look for something.

“I won’t let you install this face again.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

The more I struggled, the more I seemed to provoke him.

The fist-sized stone in the holy white gloves was horribly out of place. The ends of the eyes were wet with physiological tears.

‘Fuck, I can’t get plastic surgery with a potion…….’

I closed my eyes tightly to the shadow above my head. The tears that gathered flowed down my temples and eventually onto my face……..

“What?”

The pain did not come. However the body that pressed on me from above still remained the same.

I couldn’t bear it any longer because of the pain that I didn’t know would end. When I slowly opened my eyes, there was Seong Sanha’s face, instead of the stone in my vision.

He was looking down at me with a shocked face, frowning. When I looked at him with a wet and blurred gaze, Seong San-ha was pursing his lips, closing his eyes tight as if he were enduring something. 

As soon as my eyes were opened again, white gloves covered my eyes, and a bright light covered my face at the same time. Along with a comfortable and warm sensation, the burst wound was healed in an instant.

It was a moment of non-defiance. Having been hit in the heel, I blinked in shock, feeling dazed. The heavy weight disappeared from the body.

“Thank Kang Eui-jin for this.”

Seong Sanha, who shook off the place where he had touched me as if he had buried something dirty, looked down at me with cool eyes and said,

“If you act like Kang Eui-jin again and catch my eye next time.…. I promise to change that disgusting face then.”

Struggling with the feeling of poor heels after Seong Sanha left, I grabbed Seong Sanha’s business card that was left in my hand while looking at the sky.

“Fuck.”

***

The driver of the bus I rushed on wasn’t Oh Na-yeon. 

The bus driver this time also talked a lot about how everyone was getting speech education at the center. There was also an ordinary person who was a center official on board. I was able to ride the bus as she chatted comfortably with no hesitation. Thanks to her, my bad mood that was caused by Seong Sanha lightened up.

While talking about the center, there was a moment of silence when she heard that I was suffering from amnesia.

“What? Amnesia?”

“Yes.”

Play

Unmute

“Oh…… I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about? It’s not like I have amnesia because of you.”

The official hesitated, though she answered with little consideration. The bus driver looked in the mirror and suggested in a bright voice.

“I’ll be off work if I reach the last stop, so how can I drive two of our guests?”

“Really? I like it! On the road where we can see the sea!”

“I am on my way home from work anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Then I’ll treat the driver and the Guide to a cup of coffee.”

“Hahaha, let’s go!”

As expected of the driver, he guided us to really scenic places.

“The penthouses over there are places where high people live. The bridge right in front of us is Paganism, the symbol of our center.”

“Pagan? The name is not that good.”

“I guess so, right? Who the hell built this…….”

“Hahaha. I like it though.”

“Driver! Please stop in front of the cafe over there. The coffee over there is delicious.”

“All right.”