Responding as if it was nothing, Choi Yoon was rather taken aback. He had never thought about the police pointing guns at civilians in this day and age.

On the other hand, Han Seo Jung seemed calm, as if such things were still happening somewhere.

“There’s no harm in being careful.”

At the end of her words, Han Seo Jung buried her face in Hambak’s fluffy belly. The white little fox had an almost resigned expression and stayed still as Han Seo Jung did as she pleased.

Eventually, unable to endure the belly rubs any longer, Hambak started to growl. The tiny creature had quite a temper.

Han Seo Jung put Hambak down in the yard, showing clear signs of reluctance.

The baby fox, seemingly dizzy, shook its head a few times and then pattered across the short grass towards the restaurant.

“This place is strange, isn’t it?”

Han Seo Jung looked at Choi Yoon while putting her hands in her pockets. She continued, pressing the grass with her toes.

“It doesn’t make sense, does it? Humans openly embracing yokai. Even halting their livelihoods to go to the county office, linking arms, holding hands, and singing. Getting angry and worried as if it were their own problem.”

Throughout her speech, Han Seo Jung looked straight at Choi Yoon.

“We really get along well here. There are no distinctions. But the government keeps trying to draw lines. We can’t accept that. Absolutely not.”

Her voice was light, and her lips were curved in a smile, but her eyes were not. They were cold, as if on guard.

“We’re sincere. To each other. But you don’t understand that, do you?”

Although it was just Han Seo Jung speaking, Choi Yoon felt as if the entire village was pushing him away.

“We’ve built something here, bit by bit, and suddenly with your intervention, you’ve become like our representative. Without knowing how we live. Without being from here. Without understanding how we feel about each other.”

“I…”

“Why did you come down here?”

Han Seo Jung asked and laughed. It was a sneer. The question was harsh.

“Did it seem like the world was changing? Did it look like the government might change next year?”

Han Seo Jung didn’t give Choi Yoon a chance to answer.

“If you thought it was an opportunity for image-making, I guess it worked out. The whole media is hailing you as a hero. As if you came down here for justice, giving up your schedule.”

“What’s your point?”

“I’m curious about the reason. Why you’re going this far.”

“Well…”

“Don’t give me that ‘I want to help because it’s my hometown’ nonsense. You only lived here briefly when you were young, what hometown?”

Choi Yoon was curious why she kept trying to find a motive in him.

People seemed to want to find an intensely personal story behind Choi Yoon’s actions. As if without a tear-jerking background that anyone could nod to, they couldn’t trust even his entry into this situation.

However, Choi Yoon believed that anyone with their head on straight would act this way. He also believed that the weight of the action wasn’t different even without an emotional reason.

If someone else had been called to that place and heard that terrible proposal, they could have come down here, taking the side of the citizens despite the disadvantages. Whether they had a connection to Jangcheon County or not.

He believed that was the right thing to do.

“If you suddenly decide you can’t handle this and just drop everything, what happens to us next? Are we abandoned?”

“That won’t happen.”

“You say that so easily. While you’re already having such an influence. Come to think of it, isn’t it all because of you that those kids can’t go to school?”

“I’m sorry it turned out this way, but it would have happened eventually. It’s better to face it now when everyone is paying attention than to struggle alone and lonely.”

“No. This happened because you came. Because you got involved.”

He didn’t feel good about it, but he found it interesting.

He wanted to hear more about what Han Seo Jung was thinking. However, what came flying after that obvious gaze was an unexpected question.

“How do I look to you?”

Caught off guard, Choi Yoon hesitated. How? He asked defensively.

“Are you asking because you want to be a celebrity?”

Han Seo Jung’s eyes widened, then she burst into laughter. After laughing out loud for a while, Han Seo Jung asked again.

“Not that. Just how do I look? My impression.”

“Why are you asking? I don’t have any particular thoughts.”

“I don’t look like a yokai, do I?”

There was a moment of silence.

Only after a breath did Choi Yoon understand what Han Seo Jung was saying.

Han Seo Jung’s smile deepened.

“I’m mixed, you know.”

A yokai mix. It felt strange. Mixed-bloods were rare to begin with, but the casual attitude of revealing it first was unfamiliar.

“My dad is a dragon. My mom is human.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I thought I should reveal it before making a proposal. For fair play.”

“What proposal?”

“You’re going to stay at this restaurant until the emergency order is lifted, right?”

“So?”

“Don’t stay here, come to my house.”

The smile disappeared from Han Seo Jung’s face. It was chilly. Even when expressionless, her naturally upturned lips gave a kind impression, but Han Seo Jung was clearly warning now.

He wanted to laugh it off as just a green kid’s talk, but strangely, his closed mouth tensed up.

“I like that elder sister. As soon as I’m not a student anymore, I’m going to propose and marry her. It’s quite uncomfortable for another man to stay at the restaurant for so long.”

“Ms. Tae Rin probably has a boyfriend.”

Han Seo Jung’s eyes widened. Then she frowned deeply.

“Which crazy bastard?”

My manager Yoo Ji Ho.

Choi Yoon spoke indirectly.

“A beauty like that can’t be single.”

“Elder sister doesn’t have a man. She has a future husband though.”

“Future husband?”

“Me.”

Big dreams. Han Seo Jung’s face was so serious that Choi Yoon couldn’t even laugh.

“Oh? You look dumbfounded. Wearing someone else’s clothes and not even grateful.”

Choi Yoon’s eyes widened. Han Seo Jung pointed at the clothes Choi Yoon was wearing with her chin and said,

“Those are my clothes. You didn’t use my toothbrush too, did you? I put a name tag on it.”

Choi Yoon furrowed his brow. He asked, wondering if it could be true.

“What did you write? Han Seo Jung?”

“Kim Tae Rin’s husband. I wrote it clearly. There’s a lot of my stuff here besides that. I understand that you suddenly got trapped here with nothing, but if you’re going to use my things anyway, why don’t we just go to my house?”

Ah, so the toothbrush owner is here.

It was ridiculous. How many men are there for one Kim Tae Rin? He needed to confirm.

“Where is your house?”

“It’s close. Just down there.”

“You mean in this neighborhood?”

“Yes. It’s a bit far from school, but I don’t like dormitories.”

Choi Yoon stared at Han Seo Jung with furrowed brows. What is this situation?

So there are two men? At least two. One tall older man living far away. One younger neighbor who freely mixes his belongings here.

Han Seo Jung lightly shook her head, ruffling her hair. Even with just a slight smile, a pretty dimple formed on one cheek. Choi Yoon thought it was quite attractive. With that open atmosphere, she must attract quite a few women.

Even if it seems to be just a one-sided love right now.

He asked once more.

“You must stay here often.”

“That’s why my clothes are here.”

“Then you must know Ms. Kim Tae Rin well.”

“Of course.”

“So she doesn’t have a man. Except for you.”

“You’re making me repeat myself. How could elder sister have a man? I’m dying trying to woo her into living together since she says she’ll grow old and die alone without dating.”

Han Seo Jung’s casual tone. Clear expression. She seemed quite close to Kim Tae Rin.

Trying to keep several possibilities open, Choi Yoon didn’t quite catch what Han Seo Jung was saying. He asked again.

“What did you just say…?”

“I asked if I could call you elder brother.”

What is this kid saying? Is she crazy?

“No.”

He answered flatly.

Han Seo Jung didn’t seem particularly affected. Far from looking disappointed, she had a clean expression as if she had expected this. Choi Yoon felt like he was dealing with a child, but his voice came out coldly.

“Even if you say you like her that much, marriage isn’t something you can just push through one-sidedly like that.”

“Well, we won’t know unless we try.”

Han Seo Jung shot back without backing down and took a step closer.

Choi Yoon didn’t step back, but he didn’t hide his displeasure.

Han Seo Jung pressed in a threatening tone.

“So are you coming or not, to my house?”

“I’m not going.”

“Don’t bother elder sister and just come to my house. While I’m asking nicely.”

“I said I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is my home.”

He spat out shortly.

Han Seo Jung’s shoulders stiffened slightly. Immediately after, her face turned cold.

“That’s not the real reason, is it? You don’t want to come because I’m mixed, right? You don’t even want to talk to me now, do you? I know it all.”

Choi Yoon stared impassively at that clear and young face, with jaw clenched as if gritting teeth.

You’re lucky. No wings, no tail, no horns, not even the common scales. Features that went beyond normal to be likable. She looked just like a perfect human. The yokai blood that should be half mixed in couldn’t be found anywhere in Han Seo Jung.

A mixed-blood with no manifestation point. It’s a rare case. He had heard it happens occasionally, but this was the first time seeing it in person.

Wondering if he might have missed something, like sharp canine teeth or firmly curved nails, Choi Yoon looked deeply at Han Seo Jung.

Han Seo Jung frowned sharply. She looked utterly fed up.

“You won’t find anything no matter how much you look. I was born without any manifestation points to begin with.”

Han Seo Jung tapped the ground with her toe. The damp soil, wet from rain, splattered near Choi Yoon’s feet.

“So you’re saying you want to filter out people like me through a full investigation, those who look human but aren’t completely human. But I have no intention of hiding that I’m mixed. When I go downtown with my friends, I don’t even enter the no-monster zones. Yet the government treats people of my background as liars from the start.”

Choi Yoon finally understood why Han Seo Jung had preemptively revealed that she was mixed.

Because if she didn’t say it first, the other person would naturally assume Han Seo Jung was human, and when Han Seo Jung later revealed that she was mixed, the situation would often go awry.

So it was a defensive action that might seem confident at first glance. To avoid getting hurt.

Han Seo Jung spoke as if spitting out words.

“I saw the broadcast. What you said in front of Jangcheon County Office. Why do you say things you don’t mean?”

“I may have lied a bit, but I’ve never said anything I didn’t mean.”

Han Seo Jung’s expression became confused for a moment.

There was a sound from inside the restaurant. Han Seo Jung didn’t turn around, but Choi Yoon met Kim Tae Rin’s gaze over Han Seo Jung’s shoulder.

Meeting Kim Tae Rin’s gaze straight on as she stood at the restaurant entrance with furrowed brows, staring this way, Choi Yoon said,

“Even if you were human, I wouldn’t go to your house.”