A few days later.
Baki returned home—well, to his apartment. As soon as he entered, he heard Vin Jin rapping. "Damn! Did he actually take our advice seriously and start practicing rap for real?"
He took off his shoes and went to the washroom to freshen up. As he was entering his room, he noticed another figure through Vin Jin's slightly open door. "Hmm...? Who's that?"
He pushed the door open and found Vin Jin practicing with another person.
Duke looked at Baki, a little frightened. Actually, Baki had some kind of odd aura that made people afraid of him. Baki praised, "Damn, kid! You can sing that well? Are you Vin Jin's friend?"
Duke nodded. "Yeah."
Seeing the nervous Duke, Vin Jin took control of the conversation. "Welcome home, Baki-hyung. Meet my friend Duke. I've been practicing rapping with him for the past few days."
"Oh! That's great. You guys continue. I'm going to rest."
As he was leaving, he saw Sujin enter with some snacks. She greeted him, "Welcome home, hyung. Do you want some snacks?"
Baki shook his head. "It's okay. Where's Seongji?"
Sujin answered, "He's at the convenience store. It seems Teacher has taken a liking to a coworker."
Baki asked, surprised, "A GIRL?!"
Sujin shook her head with a nervous smile. "No. It's a boy. He seems to have recently moved here."
"Oh. That's good." Baki said as he left. Once he entered his room and lay down on the bed, his phone notification rang.
Ding!
He checked his phone. The notification read:
"Baki, don't pry into unnecessary things. You're doing well—don't overreach."
Baki smirked. "Did the old man find out so soon? I guess he's the director for a reason. Whatever. Not like he can stop me or anything."
For the past few days, Baki had been searching for information about Charles Choi. To his surprise, this man had been his client a few missions ago. On the surface, Charles Choi was an extremely successful businessman who had entered the mainstream in the last four years.
It had also been four years since he met James Lee at Cheonliang. So he was sure he was looking into the right Charles Choi. He ran a company named HNH, a conglomerate that owned smaller businesses.
---
On the other hand, Vin Jin, Sujin, and Duke sat down in a circle. Vin Jin asked, "Hey Duke, do you want to perform together at the upcoming festival?"
Duke nodded. "Yeah. I've been writing a song, but it lacks melody. I just can't find a suitable singer."
Vin Jin nodded. "What about that Jeong Gi guy?"
Duke shook his head. "He doesn't like me, to be honest. If I ask him, it'll create an awkward situation."
Vin Jin nodded. "Yeah, you're right." Then he noticed Sujin watching something on her phone. He asked, "Hey, what are you watching?"
Sujin immediately moved her phone away. "N-Nothing!"
Vin Jin's fuse short-circuited. "Huh?! Did my sweet, innocent Sujin get corrupted?"
He immediately clasped Sujin's hand and grabbed her phone. Sujin cried out, "Don't do it, Vin!"
But Vin Jin turned on the phone. It showed videos of her playing with Yenna. Seeing the cute videos, Vin Jin was lost in them. Sujin quickly snatched her phone back. "Why would you do that?!"
Vin Jin scratched his head. "I had to make sure you weren't doing something bad, okay?"
Sujin looked away. "Hmph!!!"
Suddenly Duke said from the side, "Hey Vin, do you want to open a Paprika account? You can livestream as we practice."
Vin Jin asked, "What's a Paprika? Isn't that a vegetable?"
Duke shook his head. "No, no. Paprika TV is a livestreaming platform."
Duke explained what Paprika TV was and how it worked. Vin Jin listened carefully. After Duke finished, Vin Jin said, "Yeah, we can do that. It'd be good to have some pocket money."
---
Days passed by.
The festival day finally arrived. All of J High was decorated. Students from J High and even other schools gathered there. There were many stalls too.
Seongji Yuk came to the school on Baki's bike, carrying Yenna in a baby carrier. Behind him was Sujin.
They parked the bike. Since the school was blasting music, Yenna started crying from all the noise. Sujin quickly took out earmuffs and a pacifier. Seongji put the earmuffs around Yenna's ears and placed the pacifier in her mouth. Finally, she seemed to calm down.
Nearby, many students looked at Seongji with lovestruck gazes. Suddenly, Vin Jin approached them while dragging Eli along. Eli didn't try to resist.
Seongji saw Vin Jin with Eli. Vin Jin had already told him everything beforehand. Seongji himself was a little confused about this matter. After all, Eli was just a kid, so he wouldn't be able to take on Yenna's responsibility. But he just hoped the kid would come back. After all, he was missing his own daughter's growth.
Vin Jin called out, "Guys, let's go inside. The auction's about to start."
Seongji Yuk nodded. Everyone went to see the auction. It was an awkward situation, to be honest. Even though they saw Eli, they couldn't acknowledge him. After all, anything they said now might ruin the joyful atmosphere. So Seongji shelved anything he wanted to say for later.
Since they were about to watch the auction, they decided to get some food.
"Hey... Fresh hot bread is ready! Buy now and get a free coffee! Step right up!"
Seongji glanced at the shop and decided to buy some bread. As he walked to the bread stall, he attracted many girls. Though he felt quite awkward, there was nothing he could do.
Ho Jeon and Hwan Kim were bickering with each other when a voice called out.
"Guys, can I get some cream buns?"
Hwan immediately looked at the customer. His eyes widened with surprise—not because of the customer, but because of the long line behind him.
"Huh? When did the line become so long? Did God bless me because of my hard work or something?"
He immediately packed some bread for Seongji. Seongji paid and left. Hwan asked the next girl, "What bread do you want?"
The girl sneered, "Tch! Why would I want bread? I just wanted to stand behind that handsome oppa."
One after another, the girls left. Hwan Kim clutched his chest. Ho Jeon immediately rushed over. "Hey! Are you okay?!"
Hwan cried out, "Our baking department... is it truly coming to an end?!"
Since there was still time before the slave auction started, Seongji and his group went to see the fashion show. To be honest, it was absolutely, ridiculously hilarious.
Especially the guy wearing something like a shark costume. Even Yenna started laughing at him.
Gah! Gagah!!!
Finally, the auction started. Many students gathered to bid. Seongji Yuk ate bread and watched the auction. He had only come here to try to talk with Eli and make him meet his daughter.
One by one, all the auction "slaves" were sold. Since Eli was with them, he didn't participate. Seongji wondered, "What do these girls do after buying them?"
It was finally time for the last auction. Daniel Park walked onto the stage. All the girls gasped.
"The fashion department's Daniel Park!"
"Ohh!!!"
"Awesome!"
"He's the real deal!"
Vin Jin side-eyed Sujin to check if she was looking at Daniel. But he found that Sujin was busy playing with Yenna. He released a breath of relief. "Thankfully my innocent Sujin isn't corrupted yet."
Seongji praised Daniel. "That kid's a good boy." Vin Jin asked, "Teacher, do you know him?"
Seongji nodded. "He's my coworker's friend. He's the one who actually found him the job. It seems they're quite good friends. But I don't see Daniel here, though."
Vin Jin scratched his head. "Teacher, the one on stage is Daniel."
Seongji was surprised. "No wonder they're friends. They even share the same name."
Suddenly, Seongji noticed someone very dangerous. "What's he doing here?!" he thought as he looked at Gun, who was following Crystal Choi.
It seemed they were there for the slave auction. Crystal Choi won Daniel. Finally, the event seemed to come to an end. Seongji looked at Eli. "Eli, come with me. I have something to talk about."
Some girls from the beauty department surrounded Eli. "Hey Eli, are you free? Who's this handsome oppa with you? Is that his daughter?"
Nearby, Vin Jin clicked his tongue watching this. "What an absolutely shameless bastard!"
Eli finally declined everyone and went to the parking lot with Seongji.
Seongji turned to him. "Why did you do that, Eli? I won't blame you. After all, you're still young and can make mistakes."
Eli kept his mouth shut. Seongji rubbed his forehead in frustration. Yenna, who was in the carrier, started extending her hands toward Eli.
Gah! Gah! Guuh!
Eli looked at her with a pained expression. Seongji covered Yenna's eyes and slapped Eli. "Damn! I didn't think I'd get angry. She's your daughter, Eli! And that's a fact you can't deny. Doesn't the thought of her growing up without knowing who her father is haunt you?! Why would you even leave in the first place?! Do you think we'd truly believe someone who says you pressured Heather for an abortion? The Eli we knew would never do that. Or did you not trust us? Did you think we'd believe it? Or did you just run away to escape the responsibility?!"
Tears were dripping from Eli's eyes. He couldn't even look up at Seongji's face. Seongji continued, "Did you know? Warren, Sally, Max, Derrick, and us—everyone waited for you to return. Warren and Sally are still running Hostel in hopes that you'd come back someday. Why did you have to betray everyone's trust, Eli?"
Eli muttered, "Monster... I'm a monster... because of me, Heather is... in this state. I-If I stayed... I don't want anyone... else to get... hurt..."
Seongji looked at Eli with a pained expression. The things Eli had suffered as a child were absolutely horrible. Seongji shook his head. "No, Eli. How could someone who cares this much be a monster? You're not a monster, Eli. Don't go down the path of self-blame."
He clasped Eli's shoulder. "Don't worry. We're all here for you. We'll all take care of it."
"Yes, Eli. You shouldn't worry. How could the big daddy of Hostel be a monster? And even if he is one, then he's a good and foolish monster," Sally said as she walked in. Behind her was Warren.
Eli looked at them in shock.