"Can you describe his appearance?"
"The moment my eyes landed on him, everything else just… disappeared. It's like the universe dimmed itself on purpose, just so he could stand out even more. That soft silver hair—messy in the most unfairly perfect way—caught the light like it was made to be admired. And don't even get me started on his eyes. That shade of blue isn't normal. It's the kind of blue that pulls you in, like you'll drown in it willingly and thank him for it after."
And his expression… calm, distant, like he's above everything. Like no one could ever reach him. It makes me want to try even harder. It makes me want to be the exception.
The officer gave him a few judging glances before putting down his notepad and pen as he spoke, scratching his forehead hairline.
"Uh... are you talking about Esper Wi Hajoon?"
"Yes! You could tell immediately?"
With a smiley but not smiling face, Rim Young nodded once. The police officer glanced back at his colleagues with a troubled expression for a moment. No one else came forward. It was solely his duty to help this person then.
"I'm sorry to say this, but he doesn't have an official guide, and if he receives guidance from anyone, no matter who it is, everyone down to a newborn baby would be aware of it."
"That's because we have been in a secret relationship until now..."
Blinking too much and too fast, he turned, slightly shying away, as he explained. The officer gave him one more chance.
"And what's your name?"
"Huh?"
"Your name? Also other details. I will give you a form to fill-"
"But I don't know my name."
"..."
The police officer was stunned to a standstill and stared at his words. Smiling at his own clumsiness, he asked the police officer:
"Can we actually start with that? Can you find out who I am?"
***
[A few hours prior to his glorious plan's execution.]
When you find yourself in an unfamiliar place, what do you do first?
Glancing around the room that was clearly not his studio apartment, he thought: Ah, I must've passed out, and someone must've taken me into their house as to not leave me out on the streets. How kind of them!
He got up from the bed that was messy and started making the bed to show his manners. This much was necessary; he had slept and used this bed after all. At that moment, a blue transparent screen appeared before him and, like a slideshow, went on to say a lot. Standing on the side of the bed, he took a good minute to realize he had been kidnapped!
Ah! I knew this would happen someday!
"Do you really have to observe my every action?"
In a dejected voice, he tried to gain a little bit of freedom. He didn't like how his actions would be observed; that would just make him self-conscious, and he would then make a million more mistakes than usual.
[....The system has to watch over the participant in order to judge if the participant has any potential or not.]
"Will I be discarded if I don't have any potential?!"
[Yes, to make room for new participants.]
"How unfair! I am trying my best out here..."
[You have yet to step out of your bedroom, participant #555.]
"I'm speaking for my future self. Alright, tell me the details."
After an hour of conversation with the system, he was more well-versed about the kidnapping situation. The system was actually quite lenient and not as strict as he had thought.
For instance, he was put in a very normal family, and this house was owned by his family.
Coming out of the room, he went out to find a courtyard with a wooden bench to lie down in the sun and a tree overhead. Sitting on it, he viewed the house covered in green vines and flowers with a smile.
"This is actually my house?"
He asked the system for the third time. To which the system replied all the same:
[Yes.]
After graduation, he had been breaking his bones to find a job, barely surviving on the pocket money he was given by his aunt. He almost couldn't believe he got a free house.
How nice...
"Ah! Gramps, come here! Come here."
Seeing the elder passing by from the open gate, he quickly called the old man. Springing up from the bench, he surrounded the grandpa.
"Do you see this house? How is it? Isn't it such a beautiful and cozy house?"
The grandpa, not bothered by him, began to inspect the house with squinted eyes.
"Hmm... I can't see that well these days... let's see... hmmm... Good... it's a good house. It will last you generations."
"Really?! Generations! Awesome!"
After his excitement, he belatedly realized he wouldn't have any generations to pass this house down to because he was only attracted to men....
"Should I sell it when I grow old then?"
[You have to clear the objective first before anything, participant #555.]
"Ah, that too! I almost forgot about it... hahaha..."
He laughed awkwardly by himself. How could he forget the most important part? He was inside the world of a novel. The very novel that he had read recently and had been fixated on because of the villain of the novel, Wi Hajoon. He was also here. Somewhere under the same sky.
Although he would love to just glaze Wi Hajoon and live out peacefully in reality, he had to interfere and guide the main character Su Iseul and the male lead Hyeong Ki to a happy ending, possibly the one where they end up together. The plan he had thought of just a few seconds ago was to, by any means, distract the villain. If Wi Hajoon stays distracted by his antics, the main character and the male lead will naturally develop their relationship and end up together.
It was such a foolproof plan. Even the system didn't have anything bad to say about it. The system actually encouraged him to go for it if he were planning to end his life by the villain's hands. But that was fine.
The system was his kidnapper. Of course, he had to do what the kidnapper told him to do, or else he would definitely have to face something far worse, right?
He would rather die by Wi Hajoon's hands than his kidnapper's, and if he does succeed, he'd be set free!
Determined to execute his plan immediately, he tripped on empty air as he was stepping inside the house.
Good thing someone from behind caught him on time.
"That was easy. This is the brother you were talking about?"
The one who caught him was a tall, buff man with tattoos. Beside him was a thinner man of the same height.
"That's him, boss."
Both of them seemed to know him. The man that was called 'boss' grinned, tightening the hold on his arm instead of letting go.
"You don't look that young... so how about you start paying your interest or sell the house to me?"
The house he had just gained was in danger of being sold out to loan sharks already?!