Chapter 35
1.
“Hey, go outside and wait.”
Yiming's expression changed completely the moment he saw the stockings.
“Lowen, have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Perfect. It's lunchtime, so have a drink with me.”
“To dine with Lord Hyangju? That's an honor, and then some.”
That was a good sign.
As with any culture, an invitation to eat in this city did not simply mean filling your stomach.
Think about it.
Someone like Yiming offering to treat you to a meal decent enough not to embarrass himself.
In a city where anything even a little upscale sent the price into the stratosphere, it also meant a meal worth at least 50,000 bios.
As a man myself, I could understand Yiming's feelings.
If it was the stockings Director Ceres had worn and taken off, that was enough to buy a lavish meal.
I followed Yiming's invitation for lunch and headed to a quiet private room.
“Sit down, relax. Want another drink?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good! A hero ought to drink well!”
The private room felt like one in a high-end Chinese restaurant.
Looking at the round rotating table, I was suddenly craving sweet-and-sour shrimp and jjajangmyeon on a platter.
“By the way... this really is the genuine article, right?”
“Of course. You can verify it here if you'd like.”
Yiming looked half out of his mind.
With burning eyes as if appraising a work of art, he carefully caressed the stockings I'd given him earlier.
“The transparency is, hmm... exquisite... The calf area has a slight snag, and, ssshh... haaah... Ceres's lemon scent mixed ever so slightly with sweat is the best... No doubt about it, it's the real thing. Top-grade, too.”
“......”
That's giving me the creeps.
If you saw a fish caressing a worm while fishing, maybe that would feel like this.
I hadn't expected him to like them that much.
Soon enough, dishes spilled across the table.
Dongpo pork, drunken chicken chilled after being simmered in shochu and medicinal liquor, Buddha's delight stewed with shark fin and matsutake mushrooms, and so on.
Wow! It's a feast after so long!
A lavish spread beyond my expectations.
No need for sweet-and-sour shrimp with this!
“Lowen, little brother, let's eat.”
“I'll eat well!”
And even the title had changed to little brother.
Yiming, this bastard. Just how much did he like me?
“Little brother, I received your gift well. So what is it you want to ask me?”
“Nothing too grand. I just want to keep a good relationship with Lord Hyangju.”
“A good relationship?”
Very well, then.
Let's take a look at why I came all this way while stuffing poisoned crab with Sunming,
and what that had to do with stopping Project Z.
Yiming of the Hyeon-gwi family and Director Gizela had joined forces
to turn Ceres's corpse into a “toy,”
but that didn't mean they'd become friends.
Their interests had merely aligned.
'Yiming probably still has the materials I gave him.'
'Hmm, insurance.'
'Yeah, Gizela might get the materials and start thinking differently. If things went south, he'd probably report it to Overnous. Until Gizela received those materials, he'd keep coordinating with Yiming.'
'But if Gizela used that to claim betrayal, would those materials prove that information was leaked by Lady Ceres?'
'Yes. There's a watermark.'
'No, why would you do something that dangerous...'
Anyway.
Gizela had no proof, so he couldn't move against Ceres right away.
Yiming was watching the situation carefully and not handing over any evidence.
Ceres was in a situation where a troublesome weakness had been pinned on her, limiting her movement.
Yiming was the first cog that could move this deadlock.
For example, what if Yiming informed Overnous Pharmaceuticals about Project Z?
Overnous would stop Project Z.
At the very least, it would be put on hold.
That's what Ceres said.
So whether by getting leverage on him or some other means,
the point was that if I wanted Yiming to act differently from the previous loop, I first had to get close to him.
And the most natural way to approach him was...
“Could you take me on as your zuobi?”
Zuobi (左臂), that is.
The pronunciation is a little funny, but literally, it means “left arm.”
It's a special employment arrangement especially developed among the Overnous Three Great Families, where saving face matters above all.
It's a very private matter, but one too embarrassing to leave to my right hand.
It refers to a fixer who handles those dirty jobs as backdoor requests.
My half-brother Sunming was Yiming's zuobi.
Yiming's feelings for Ceres were genuine.
On top of that, this guy was more of a pervert than I'd expected.
Since there was no need to have only one zuobi, I figured someone at this level could probably replace the “left arm” role Sunming had originally filled.
After gargling his mouth with sorghum liquor, Yiming let out a snort.
“Sunming. Did you get rid of him?”
“Pardon?”
My heart dropped.
Fuck, what?
Wasn't this bastard an idiot? Did he catch on that fast?
“No, he suddenly stopped contacting me. But then you show up at such a perfect time asking to be your left arm.”
It had only been a day since Sunming disappeared.
I thought it still wouldn't seem unnatural.
Was this the kind of intuition a senior in the Hyeon-gwi family needed, even if he looked sloppy as hell?
While I kept my poker face, Yiming waved a hand.
“Well, whatever. He's only my half-brother, and all he ever did was run errands for me anyway.”
“I'm sorry. I don't quite understand what you're saying.”
“Don't worry about it. It's none of your business.”
Damn, he's cool as hell.
Well, if he had cared about his half-brother, he wouldn't have left him as some rank-and-file nobody.
“Little brother, continue what you were saying. If I keep you as my zuobi, what can you give me?”
“I can keep bringing you ‘gifts’ like I did today, sir.”
Yiming, who had been shoveling in Buddha's delight, widened his eyes.
His sharp gaze turned dazed, and his cheeks flushed red.
“Be more specific, more specific. You mean you'll keep bringing stockings? The ones Lady Ceres wore?”
“Of course.”
“Heh-heh-heh, how in the world do you get those? I've tried many times too, but it's not easy.”
He'd already tried it...
Maybe Julien had snatched them all, so he couldn't get any?
“That's not all. I can procure something far more lewd than today's items.”
“L, lewder stuff?”
“I mean... I can get you things a little more daring.”
Yiming swallowed hard.
His face was losing intelligence in real time.
“Then... can you get high heels too? Worn ones.”
“......”
I'm not exactly a complicated person either, but this bastard was as transparent as glass.
After deliberately stretching out the pause, I flashed a grin.
“…What color do you prefer?”
“Red! I like red! You mean you can do it? You really can?! Wahahaha! Lowen, little brother, from today on you're my zuobi!”
“Xie xie, da ge! Then this younger brother's left arm will pour you a drink.”
“Yeah! Fill it to the brim!”
Successfully sealed the deal with a grinning Yiming.
Okay, for now.
First objective achieved.
“Lowen, did you know? The prettiest part of a woman's body is her feet. Ankle bones should be slender, of course. As for toes, length, shape, and proportion all matter.”
“Oh-ho, is that so?”
“I'll tell you something special, just for you. Stockings are worth four points. They're thin, and they show the shape of the foot clearly, so they're highly collectible.”
“I-I see.”
“Socks are... regrettably only worth three points. They cover the foot, but the outline doesn't stand out as much.”
“Shoes don't show the shape very well either.”
“Ahem! High heels are five points, five points! The fact that you can't see them well is exactly what makes them attractive. Besides, they let you secretly imagine the line from toe to heel, don't they? And the scent concentrated there is every bit as alluring as any matsutake mushroom. Also, there's...”
Got it.
Shut the hell up.
2.
Time flew by quickly.
Let's briefly review what had happened so far.
I got hired as Yiming's zuobi and headed straight to Mama Ceres.
“You want stockings again? You already took some from Ines yesterday.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I saw her then. Your daughter was truly lovely.”
“......What?”
“I mean, no— I promised Yiming a premium subscription. Could you spare me a generous amount?”
“…Tch, men.”
“And if it's not too rude, I'd also like to ask for red high heels. Worn ones would be even better, two pairs if possible.”
“That would be quite rude indeed. Why don't you just say you're going to use them yourself?”
“A misunderstanding. I'm into bunny girls.”
Though Ceres showed signs of disgust and even distrust, I got them anyway.
I wrapped up the gifts and tossed them to Yiming.
“Ooooooh!!! Lowen, little brother!!! You actually brought it back!!! You're a talent, a real talent!!!”
“Urgh, Lord Hyangju... it really wasn't easy.”
“Krrr! And you're humble too! If my little brother is this capable, how am I supposed to hold my head up as your older brother! Hey! Stop calling me Lord Hyangju and call me big brother!”
I laid the groundwork for building a deeper guanxi.
Day 7.
“…Cedric.”
As always, Arbel's dawn delivery had been completed.
“Ha, why do I get so happy every time I see you?”
“......?”
I collected Arbel as he toppled over with a question mark over his head, and took him straight to Isis for treatment.
In fact, both Ceres and Ines, the mother and daughter who'd previously fixed my eyes, could use healing magic.
Death-aspected powers were fundamentally opposed to life-aspected powers, after all.
Maybe they would even heal Arbel for free.
But I didn't trust the mother and daughter completely.
Just as my reckless trust in Akit Arang had killed me.
I might get a whole different kind of “Hieek! I'm dying!” if the mother and daughter saw Arbel and greed kicked in.
How should I put it.
Give them my body, but not my heart...
I'm treating Ceres with old-school courtesan-heroine energy.
That's what professionalism is.
“Arbel!!! Mmm... smooch!!!! Mwah!”
“Uuugh... uuuugh...”
“Whew! I'm practically bending my back in half saving your life. Get out there and work! Don't just lie there!”
“......”
Anyway.
After planting Arbel in the new studio apartment and showering his ridiculously cute cheeks with endless cheek kisses every single day, I headed off to work.
Parking him in a somewhat warm bed instead of a freezing little room made me feel a lot more at ease.
Meanwhile, my guanxi with Yiming was also building smoothly.
Of course, even after scoring points with stockings and high heels, it wasn't easy.
I'm actually an introvert, you know.
“Aigoo!!! Big brother! A blockhead like me could never beat you at mahjong!!!!”
“Wahaha! Lowen, look here. Mahjong isn't just about luck. Skill, mind games, the ability to read the table! That's what it's about!”
“As expected of you, big brother!”
I let him win a bit at the gambling table.
“Hey, you good-for-nothing bastard! Don't you have any manners? How rude can you be, lifting your chopsticks before your elder brother?!”
“S-sorry! I thought maybe the food might be poisoned...”
“What?”
“A mere fixer like me can die if need be, but... if something were to happen to you, Big Brother, the Hyangju of the Hyeon-gwi family, Overnous Pharmaceuticals would be finished!!!”
“You little bastard...”
I played the palace poison taster for him.
“Aigoo! Why's the drinking table so dead today! To liven things up, let me toss out a song that'll absolutely kill it!”
“Yeah! Go on, sing!”
“Wo ai~ Beijing Tiananmen~ Tiananmen shang taiyang sheng~”
“Great tune! Eolssu!”
I did my bit to liven up the drinking party.
“What are you doing? Why are you hugging my shoes?”
“Isn't the weather chilly these days? I was warming them in my arms so your feet wouldn't get cold.”
“Hey, Lowen, I told you not to do stuff like that. Acting all obvious just to suck up to me. You think I wouldn't notice?”
“Don't cry, big brother. A man's tears aren't for places like this.”
“You bastard... no, it's just that something got in my eye...”
I even laid on some famous Japanese Toyotomi-style brown-nosing.
And then, today—the long-awaited Day 10.
“Lowen... I mean... I may look rough on the outside like this... but inside, I'm a really fragile man.”
“Big brother, you've had way too much to drink.”
“I didn't... want to live like this... I just kept on living and ended up this way...”
Yiming drained his cup with reddened eyes.
I placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and spoke seriously.
“My revered philosopher Nietzsche said this: The one who wears a crown must bear its weight.”
“......”
“The way you're struggling like this, big brother. And yet the way you always pull through. That's why I'm proud to be your zuobi.”
A thick tear rolled down Yiming's cheek.
“What's wrong?”
“N-no, it's nothing... it's always like this.”
“You're lying to your little brother too?”
“N-no! It's not that...”
“Please tell me. I know this isn't ordinary. I've never seen you this troubled while serving you, big brother.”
“......”
“If it's something I can help with, I want to help.”
After hesitating for a moment, Yiming opened his mouth.
“…There's something I need to show you.”
Hah, yeah, yeah.
That took damn long.
I could tell.
Stage 2 had begun.
The time remaining until Project Z's outbreak.
5 days.