My fingers twitched slightly within his warm grasp as the name Roxanne drifted across the table in his quiet, familiar English. I looked over at him, my single jade-green eye blinking in curiosity as he leaned a fraction closer, his face still holding that bright, telltale blush of a teenage gamer about to risk it all.
"Roxanne, You remember the Pocky challenge back on Earth, right?" Tae-man whispered, his golden-crimson eyes shimmering with a sudden, brilliant flash of inspiration.
The memory clicked in my brain instantly. Back on Earth, the legendary game played by couples and light-novel characters alike… two people biting opposite ends of a chocolate-dipped biscuit stick, eating their way to the middle until their lips inevitably met.
Before I could even voice my realization, Tae-man reached into our shared basket with his free hand. He didn't have a chocolate biscuit, but he pulled out a long, perfectly straight, golden-fried potato wedge. With a mixture of absolute, terrifying bravery and intense romantic determination, he placed one end of the hot fry firmly between his lips, letting the rest of it dangle out toward me. He went completely still, his eyes locked onto mine, silently issuing the ultimate challenge right in front of my high-tier military family.
A fierce, burning wave of heat rushed right back into my cheeks, my face turning an incredibly vivid shade of crimson. My massive blood wings gave a sharp, flustered flutter behind my back, scattering a tiny burst of scarlet sparks into the wisteria shade.
"Oh my goodness!"
Evelyn gasped, leaning so far across the table her brown hair nearly fell into her milkshake. The bioluminescent green tips of her locks flared a wild, ecstatic green as she gripped Elicia's arm.
"Look at him! He's using a local fast-food substitute for an Earth courtship ritual! Big sister, you can't back down now!"
Elias looked like he was about to physically combust, his jaw dropping in absolute horror as a dangerous wisp of black shadow mana flared around his duster.
"What in the heavens is he doing with that potato?! If he attempts to…"
"Elias, quiet," Elicia interrupted, her voice a firm, smiling whisper as she cast a gentle but absolute containment wave over our older brother, forcing him to watch in stunned silence.
I stared at Tae-man, looking at the intense, earnest devotion shining in his eyes. The cynical bounty hunter inside me told me this was entirely absurd, but the girl named Roxanne from Manila simply wanted to give him this victory.
Leaning forward slowly, my silver hair falling forward to shield my face from the rest of the restaurant, I closed the distance between us. My heart was hammering a frantic, echoing rhythm against my ribs. I tilted my head slightly, my fangs flashing softly under the amber lantern light, and gently bit down on the exact opposite end of the crispy, golden fry.
Tae-man's eyes widened, a look of profound, overwhelming happiness washing over his features as our gaze locked at point-blank range.
Crunch.
I took a soft, deliberate bite, the warm, savory flavor of the potato registering mechanically on my palate as the distance between our faces violently shrank to mere inches. Tae-man took a bite of his own, his chest heaving with a nervous, shallow breath.
Crunch.
Another bite. The world around us seemed to completely fade away into a quiet, warm blur. The bustling noise of the 7th District, Evelyn's giggles, and Elias's muffled internal crisis all vanished. There was only the sweet, intoxicating scent of the wisteria canopy, the warmth of our intertwined hands beneath the table, and the boy from Seoul who looked at a scarred, silent demon as if she were the entire universe.
With one final, synchronized bite, the last fraction of the potato wedge disappeared, and the soft, freezing edge of my lips brushed directly against his warm ones in a fleeting, breathtakingly gentle kiss.
A deep, vivid blush burned across my pale face as I slowly leaned back into the wooden bench, my wings folding tightly against my spine in a defensive, thoroughly flustered squeeze. Tae-man slumped back beside me, his face completely matching the crimson color of his armor, a dazed, completely victorious smile plastered across his lips.
The silence at the table was absolute, a sudden, heavy vacuum in the middle of the crowded 7th District terrace.
Elias looked like a man who had just witnessed a high-ranking fortress fall to a single, low-tier recruit. His mouth hung open, his leather-gloved hand frozen mid-air as he gripped a fry that was now completely forgotten. The terrifying, edgy shadow mana that usually surrounded him didn't even flare; it had completely short-circuited under the sheer, unadulterated shock of what he had just witnessed.
"I... he... they..."
Elias stammered, his tough, black-ops captain persona entirely reduced to a sputtering older brother. He slowly turned his head toward Elicia, his eyes wide with a mixture of betrayal and horror.
"Grandma, tell me I didn't just see a vanguard recruit use a side dish to compromise our sister's lips."
"Oh, hush, Elias, It was absolutely beautiful. A bit unconventional with the choice of food, certainly, but the chemistry was flawless." Elicia beamed, her maternal aura practically glowing with pure, unmitigated joy. She clasped her hands together, her crimson eyes crinkling as she looked at us with deep affection.
Beside her, Miss Karrie let out a soft, sophisticated giggle, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she adjusted her posture.
"I must say, Valentine certainly knows how to execute a high-risk tactical maneuver when the pressure is on. That took remarkable courage."
Meanwhile, Evelyn was practically falling off her bench. She was clutching her stomach, her voluptuous frame shaking violently with breathless laughter as the bioluminescent green tips of her hair flashed like a chaotic festive display.
"Ahaha! Look at his face! Look at her face! Big sister is completely immobilized! The Crimson Phantom has been officially defeated by a potato wedge!"
I couldn't even bring myself to look at her. I sat perfectly rigid against the rustic wooden backing of the booth, my face burning an incredibly deep, vivid shade of scarlet that didn't seem to have any intention of cooling down. My silver hair fell in a protective curtain over my cheeks, and my massive crimson wings were squeezed so tightly against my spine they were practically vibrating. My heart was thumping a wild, frantic rhythm against my ribs, the lingering warmth of his lips still sending a dizzying rush of Earthly nostalgia straight through my demonic core.
Beside me, Na Tae-man looked like a man who had just cleared the final, impossible boss of a major campaign. He was slumped back against the bench, his face completely matching the bright crimson hue of his armor, but his golden-crimson eyes were wide and glaze-focused with absolute, unadulterated euphoria. A dazed, incredibly goofy smile was plastered across his lips, his gamer brain completely locked in a state of profound validation.
Slowly, his trembling fingers tightened their grip on my right hand beneath the table, anchoring himself back to reality. He cleared his throat roughly, trying to summon back even a fraction of his confident Seoul bravado as he looked over at me, his voice dropping into a soft, genuine whisper.
"Man... talk about a critical hit, That was... way better than any light novel illustration, Roxanne." Tae-man murmured in English, his smile softening into something incredibly sweet and earnest.
I let out a slow, shaky breath, the intense blush on my cheeks slowly settling into a warm, comfortable flush. I didn't pull my hand away from his. Instead, I quietly turned my head, my single jade-green eye locking onto his flustered, happy face from behind my silver bangs.
"You are incredibly reckless, Tae-man, If Elias's containment wave had broken, you wouldn't have survived the immediate counter-attack." I whispered back in a low, gentle voice, the mechanical coldness completely absent from my tone.
"Worth it," he replied instantly, a cheeky, triumphant grin breaking through his embarrassment.
Under the shifting purple canopy of the wisteria vines, as the warm twilight lanterns of the entertainment district continued to hum and flicker, our chaotic, hyper-powered family dinner slowly resumed its rhythm. Elias finally recovered enough to aggressively interrogate Tae-man about his daily training parameters, Evelyn kept making kissing noises whenever I reached for a fry, and Elicia continued to smile warmly over her drink.
The dangerous realities of Andromeda were still waiting for us outside the terrace gates, but right here, in this crowded, noisy booth, the displaced souls of Earth had found a perfect, unyielding sanctuary.
"Alright, that's enough! Hand coordination test over, vanguard punk!"
Elias finally roared, his voice cracking slightly as he slammed his tankard onto the table, shattering the brief romantic spell. The shadow mana around his duster began to puff out in little, frustrated cloud bursts.
"I am officially enforcing a six-inch tactical buffer zone between you and my sister. If your thumb so much as twitches toward her fingers again, I'm calling a full-scale Bureau lockdown on this entire district!"
Tae-man gave a tiny, involuntary squeak but stubbornly didn't let go of my hand, merely shifting his posture so his iron-leather armor blocked Elias's view of our intertwined fingers.
"Hey, the party leader already cleared the parameters, Captain! You can't retroactively nerf my positioning!" he yelled back in a mix of Alatist and frantic English gamer slang.
"I am the dungeon master of this family, kid, I nerf whatever I want!" Elias snapped, pointing a fry at him like a dagger.
Evelyn was practically crying tears of absolute joy at this point, her forehead resting against the cool wood of the table as she thrashed her legs under the bench.
"Ahaha! 'Nerf your positioning!' Oh my gosh, Eirene, where did you find this guy? He speaks like a malfunctioning archive script and he's completely unfazed by an S-rank threat!"
I let out a soft, huffed sigh, the intense heat in my cheeks finally mellowing into a comfortable, deeply grounded warmth. My silver hair fell back over my shoulders as I leaned just a fraction closer into Tae-man's side, my folded crimson wings giving a relaxed, heavy ripple against the booth.
"Let him grumble, Tae-man, Elias's combat efficacy drops by forty percent when he hasn't had his dinner. He's mostly administrative posturing right now." I whispered softly in Alatist, a rare, teasing glint showing in my single jade-green eye.
"Hey! I heard that, Weird Eyes! I am highly efficient at all hours!" Elias barked, though he finally snatched a handful of potato wedges and stuffed them into his mouth, effectively silencing his own tirade with carbs.
Across the table, Elicia gently clinked her milkshake glass against Miss Karrie's, her crimson eyes glowing with absolute contentment as she watched the chaotic, beautiful mess unfold.
"To unexpected reunions, And to the families we build in the light, no matter how deep the shadows get." Elicia said softly, her graceful voice carrying a deep, sisterly peace that seemed to soothe the remaining tension in the air.
"To unexpected reunions," Karrie echoed with a warm, knowing smile, her eyes shifting toward Tae-man and me with silent approval.
As the night deepened over the 7th District, the ambient hum of the wisteria terrace wrapped around us like a shield. The corporate deadlines, the threat of the High Bureau, and the heavy burden of my missing tongue didn't matter here. For the first time since the speeding van in Manila ended my old life, the world didn't feel like a cold, tactical mini-map.
After a few hours of endless sisterly teasing, administrative bickering, and a few more fiercely guarded glances under the table, it was time to part ways. We stood outside the restaurant terrace, the cool night air refreshing my still-flushed cheeks.
Na Tae-man stood close to me for one last moment, his golden-crimson eyes holding a lingering, incredibly soft warmth that completely bypassed his usual cocky gamer persona. With a reluctant but deeply happy smile, he finally let go of my right hand, giving my fingers a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"See you back at the main quest line, Roxanne, Don't let your big brother run too many security audits on you tonight."
"Travel safely, Tae-man," I murmured back in Alatist, my mismatched eyes softening as my crimson wings gave a relaxed, quiet fold against my spine.
Miss Karrie offered a graceful, respectful bow to Elicia and Elias, adjusting her coat with the pristine
poise of a former academy scholar.
"Thank you for the wonderful evening, Principal Elicia, Captain Elias. It was a thoroughly refreshing break from our usual duties."
"The pleasure was ours, Karrie," Elicia replied with a warm, maternal smile, while Elias merely gave a gruff, thoroughly exhausted nod, his arms tightly crossed over his leather duster as he kept a hawk-like eye on Tae-man until the boy finally turned around.
With their takeout baskets securely in hand, Karrie and Na Tae-man turned away from our group, their figures silhouetted against the amber glow of the district's floating lanterns. Together, the two displaced world-crossers stepped off the main thoroughfare, leaving the loud, neon-lit entertainment sector behind as they began their quiet journey back toward the sanctuary.
As they walked through the cobblestone streets, the modern cadence of their fluent English drifted back through the cool night air, a private bond shared between a former Seoul NEET and a Manila altar server. Tae-man was undoubtedly bragging about his "successful romance route parameters," while Karrie likely offered her usual strict, deeply caring academic commentary. They navigated the winding, shadowed alleyways with practiced ease, moving steadily toward the towering stone crucifix and the safe, candlelit sanctuary of the Catholic church where Muhammad, Chul-yeong, and Father Columbia were waiting.
Standing between Evelyn and Elias, watching his retreating form disappear into the night, the heavy, tattered cloak of the Crimson Phantom felt lighter than it ever had before. The sanctuary was safe, my covert team was expanding, and the strings of our past lives were weaving a future that felt entirely worth fighting for.