(Return pt.5)

─ I’m giving you advice because I can clearly see it won’t be good.

Raseti whispered softly, as if coaxing him.

─ I told you I’ve rescued other humans before. Among those who were rescued, I’ve never seen anyone sane who was as obsessed with what happened there as you are. It never ended well for any of them.

“Are you treating me like I’m crazy now?”

─ Then at least try to make an effort to live normally. Right now, you won’t die without meeting Lee Sun-ho. Lee Sun-ho isn’t your whole world. There’s no reason to stay locked up in the house just because Lee Sun-ho isn’t here.

Strength entered In-woo’s hand as he listened quietly. No one had come to this house, so how did Raseti know about In-woo’s activities?

“Are you monitoring me?”

There was a suspicious silence for a moment. After a while, Raseti cleared their throat unnecessarily.

─ …It’s for protection.

“You talk prettily pretending to be nice but you’re just stalking. I guess there’s no law about stalking in your Space Federation or whatever? Did you plant surveillance cameras in this house before putting me in here?”

─ I haven’t been monitoring inside the house! Really… I just watched outside for any intruders in case poachers might get you again. You haven’t taken a single step outside the house anyway.

“…”

While he might argue about other reasons, In-woo couldn’t dispute if poachers were the reason. He didn’t even want to recall the memory of being caught by poachers.

─ Anyway, if you want to meet Lee Sun-ho, I’d rather recommend getting psychiatric treatment first. If you meet Lee Sun-ho now and cling to him, you’ll never be able to escape from that time.

“I’ll judge that for myself.”

─ And it’s not good for Lee Sun-ho either. If you really care about Lee Sun-ho…

Angry, In-woo just hung up. The phone rang again. In-woo turned off the smartphone completely.

He couldn’t accept Raseti’s words. He didn’t understand why they were assuming such extreme situations in the first place. Thinking positively, couldn’t he and Sun-ho overcome things well together?

To Kim In-woo, they just seemed like someone who didn’t want to see him meet Lee Sun-ho. But since Raseti had no particular reason to prevent their meeting, the doubt faded without gaining legitimacy.

It was like this before, and even after returning to Earth, he still doesn’t understand how things work. Well, when has he ever really understood what was going on around him?

In-woo looked around. Raseti said they hadn’t installed any surveillance cameras in the house, but there was no way to trust the words of a suspicious alien.

Looking around with reddened eyes, In-woo searched every corner for surveillance cameras before giving up. Considering alien technology, they wouldn’t leave them in easily findable forms like on Earth.

Can’t he escape even after coming to Earth? He has nowhere to go, but he doesn’t want to stay in this house either.

In-woo searched the house and pulled out random clothes from the dressing room to wear. As if anticipating he would leave like this, there was a wallet placed at the entrance. Inside were 100,000 won in cash, a credit card with Kim In-woo’s name on it, and a newly issued ID.

In-woo frowned but then grabbed the wallet and went outside. He couldn’t leave without a single penny. But even with money, he had nowhere to go.

Where should I go?

In-woo’s aimless steps stopped weakly. In the huge city, Kim In-woo had lost his place to go. Even returning to where he used to live, In-woo still had no place to return to. At twenty-two, Lee Sun-ho was the only precious thing in his life.

After hesitating, In-woo recalled the news he had seen earlier. While he had nothing precious, he had plenty of past that clung to him pathetically. It might be good to deal with one of them.

Kim In-woo eventually headed to his former agency. If he went there directly and asked employees he knew, he might learn the detailed circumstances. It didn’t seem dangerous since there would be no one to force him to take sponsorship again.

But a company that had been in chaos just days ago due to the manager’s surrender couldn’t be normal. All the windows had blinds drawn, and people who looked like reporters were scattered around. Thinking it would be troublesome if he got caught up in it, In-woo turned away.

Then, someone put their arm around In-woo’s shoulder from behind. He was startled, but immediately a friendly voice followed.

“Oh, aren’t you Kim In-woo?”

“Uh…”

The person who approached In-woo was one of the actors who had been signed to this company before. A no-name actor like Kim In-woo. Since they weren’t particularly close, In-woo only recalled his name after thinking for a moment.

“Jun-young hyung?”

“Hey. Long time no see. Almost didn’t recognize you. Did you get taller?”

“…Yes.”

“You look better. Where have you been all this time? The manager was looking for you like crazy, but you were never around.”

“No, well, that…”

In-woo looked around anxiously. Did they have to talk about the manager where reporters were walking around? He had disliked Jun-young’s casual attitude like this before too. Either not sensing his dislike or pretending not to notice, Jun-young grinned and patted In-woo’s shoulder.

“Let’s not do this here, want to talk for a bit? I’m glad to see you after so long. Let’s go to a cafe. I’ll buy you a coffee.”

Though he wasn’t really interested, Jun-young didn’t seem like he would let In-woo go. Not wanting to cause a scene, In-woo followed him.

Since it was an unwanted meeting, In-woo ordered the most expensive drink next to Jun-young who ordered an americano. Jun-young’s face soured as if he was bothered by the few thousand won, but he pretended not to notice.

After sitting down, Jun-young started the conversation with simple greetings and talk about their surroundings. Naturally, the manager’s surrender came up as a topic. In-woo, who had been focusing on Jun-young’s words, quickly lost interest.

“So you don’t know why the manager suddenly turned himself in either?”

“How would I know, how could that bastard who was so greedy suddenly turn himself in? Unless he took money from somewhere and is taking the fall for something else.”

I see. That possibility seems more likely.

Though he hadn’t seen them many times, Raseti didn’t seem like they would directly interfere with humans. Their disgusted reaction suggested as much. In the first place, with alien thinking, they would probably just cleanly kill someone they didn’t like rather than do something strange like making them turn themselves in.

While In-woo was lost in thought for a moment, Jun-young also observed In-woo without saying anything. A somewhat sinister gaze examined In-woo up and down.

“But what have you really been up to? You look prosperous.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. How much did all those clothes you’re wearing cost?”

Only then did In-woo realize that the clothes he had randomly pulled from the closet probably weren’t in a normal price range. If they bought him a building worth at least several billion won as compensation, the items they filled it with couldn’t be cheap.

Come to think of it, Jun-young had always been the type to act friendly with successful actors and pick up the scraps that fell from them. He wondered why Jun-young was suddenly acting friendly when they weren’t even close, but it seemed he had caught the scent of money from In-woo’s changed appearance.

“Just, well…”

In-woo felt an uncomfortable unease from Jun-young’s gaze. Jun-young, who had been examining In-woo with a strange look, smiled knowingly.

“Did you get a sponsor?”

“Are you crazy?”

Goosebumps rising all over his body, In-woo stood up angrily. A sponsor? What nonsense was that? It was the strongest insult among words he could hear.

“Don’t get mad if it’s not true. No, I know your situation, and suddenly your circumstances improved…”

“It’s not like that.”

“I’m not criticizing. With your looks, it would be hard for things to go this badly, but they really got messed up because of the manager, right? It’s good if you caught a good opportunity.”

Jun-young remained shameless even as In-woo got angry. Having been quite close with the manager, Jun-young also knew that In-woo had refused sponsorship offers before. In-woo could clearly see what Jun-young was thinking now.

He probably thinks that after acting so clean, I finally got a sponsor, that I sold my body and came back draped in nice things. It was really infuriating.

“It’s really not like that… This is just… there were circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”

“I went through some bad things.”

“What bad things?”