The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

The next day, District One — home to the government complex and the courthouse.

The lunch hour, when office workers would be done eating and settling into their break.

I sat by the window of a top-tier café favored by high-ranking officials, waiting for someone.

Just as my coffee was going cold —

Ding-ling—

"Director!"

The café door opened and a white-haired woman came running in.

Ma Dohee.

"Over here."

Why is everyone rushing to leave?

Amid the strange sight of people scattering en masse like the parting of the Red Sea, Ma Dohee pattered toward me as if I were the only person in the room.

"Thank you for coming when you must be so busy."

I greeted her with the softest smile I could manage, trying to make a good impression.

But the instant she got a look at my face, Ma Dohee — mid-approach — abruptly whipped around and turned her back.

?

About three seconds ticked by.

"Hoooof……"

I heard the sound of a deep breath, and then she spun back around and came over.

One hand pressed firmly to her chest, over her heart, for some reason.

"You really… did get in touch…!"

"Ha ha, I did promise I would."

I was the one supposed to be begging her for information — the warm reception left me oddly grateful.

There were two reasons for meeting with her, actually.

First, scouting a location for the guild relocation. And second — the real purpose behind today's meeting.

To find out where the hell that "Icarus" place was actually tucked away.

According to Oh Taejin, the old Chae Junhyeok had been a regular there — but the problem was, the current me hadn't the faintest clue where it was.

After a whole night scouring the internet, all I'd managed to dredge up was tabloid trash.

hey but does Icarus actually exist lol

1 postAnonymous Board

dying to go, been searching like crazy, all i find is rumors and not a single dude who's actually been. urban legend or what?

└nah it's real. but normies can't even get near the door.

└it's a VVIP secret club, only bigwigs and diamond-spoon kids allowed.

└my older cousin interviewed for a valet gig there, said they blindfolded him so he couldn't see where they were going ;;

└rumor says District Two. but nobody knows where. anyway f'in exclusive club.

A secret club whose location didn't turn up a single hit in the information age — enough to drive anyone crazy.

I couldn't exactly ask Oh Taejin, so after tearing my hair out all night, the answer I'd landed on was Ma Dohee.

A high-ranking official — who likely moved in those circles — and yet she had no history with the old Chae Junhyeok, so I could fish around casually without raising any red flags. The only person who fit.

Even if Ma Dohee hadn't been there herself, she has the rank — she'd know through her network, right?

Having run through that calculation, I turned another gentle smile on the figure across from me.

"What'll you have?"

"Caffeine doesn't sit well with me… I'll have a peppermint tea."

Watching her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as she answered, I went straight to the counter, placed the order deftly, and came back to the table.

When I set the steaming teacup down, Ma Dohee cupped it in both hands and glanced up at me.

"So… why did you call me out? It's only been a few days — I didn't expect to see you again this soon."

The slight urgency in her voice brought me up short.

Damn! Dragging a working person out of her office on her precious lunch break!

Being basically a freelancer, I hadn't stopped to consider how sacred an office worker's lunch hour was — my mistake entirely.

Feeling like some entitled jerk who'd hijacked her lunch hour, I hurried to the point.

"Ah, I shouldn't keep a busy person too long. Let me get straight to what I wanted to ask."

"What…? Ah, no. I, I'm not busy at all……."

"Nothing complicated — I wanted your advice on the guild-relocation site we talked about the other day, so I asked to meet."

"Ah… so it was that. Right……."

She looked oddly deflated for a moment, but soon rallied — she'd already scouted some suitable places, she said, and launched into a proper briefing.

"So, the only districts in Seoul where a person can live decently right now are One through Seven — you knew that, right? From Eight on out it's either abandoned ruins or industrial zones, so it's not habitable."

"Right."

"Of those, District One belongs to the government, District Three to the Bureau, and District Four is a research complex. That really only leaves Two, Five, Six, and Seven as options."

She tapped the table lightly.

"The lower the number, the vastly higher the security and cleanliness. If you're thinking guild relocation, District Two is by far the best fit."

District Two, huh.

The premier residential area for the top brass of the government and the Bureau, and the prime real estate where the major guilds all had their headquarters.

Bawi Guild's own headquarters sat right in the heart of District Two.

"So I picked out a few sites to match Nest Guild's requirements."

Ma Dohee tapped the smart device on her wrist, and a three-dimensional blue hologram map bloomed in the air.

A meticulously rendered map of District Two filled the space above the table.

"Here, here, and this building."

Her finger pointed to three spots in turn.

"All three are currently vacant standalone properties. The first already has a full training facility, so you save on renovation costs. The second has the newest defensive barriers in District Two. The third has the best transportation and accessibility. If you're moving in immediately, one of these three is your best bet."

Looking at the holographic map, an honest sound of admiration slipped out of me.

"Wow… when did you even put all this together…"

Ma Dohee coughed and looked away, but she couldn't hide the corners of her mouth, pulled up as high as they'd go.

"Ahem… it's nothing much. I just happened to have to survey the Seoul districts recently……"

"I had no idea where to even start looking. Thanks to you, one big mountain is out of the way."

At the sincere compliment, Ma Dohee's pale cheeks flushed lightly.

Trying to hide how pleased she was, she just fidgeted with the teacup in both hands.

The mood's good right now, right?

With her guard fully down after my compliment and her mood clearly lifted —

Now was the time to bring up my real reason for being here.

Stroking my chin with an air of feigned seriousness, I opened the topic.

"By the way — isn't there a club in District Two? My guild members are still young kids, so I'm a bit worried about the surrounding environment."

Ma Dohee's eyes went round and she let out a small "Oh."

"Ah…? You don't mean Icarus?"

Bingo!

Just as I was celebrating inwardly, her next words nearly made me spit out my coffee.

"You used to go there yourself, Director, so you already know — right? Regular people can't get anywhere near the place, so there's no chance the kids would run into it……"

…she knew?

Just how much of a delinquent had Chae Junhyeok been, that even someone meeting him for the first time knew he practically lived there?!

Inwardly grabbing Chae Junhyeok by the collar and shaking him hard, I kept up the most composed front I could on the outside.

"I've stopped going lately… I was just asking in case the entry procedure had changed. It's on my mind, for the kids' sake."

The moment I laid on the responsible-adult act, Ma Dohee's eyes sparkled.

"Oh my…. Ahem, the family-man side of you, thinking of the children like that… it's just wonderful. A man like that must be great at dating, too — and marriage……."

Kind words in, kind words out — as the saying goes.

The compliment I'd handed over seemed to have come back handsomely; I broke into a pleased smile.

"Ha ha, thank you for the compliment. Since I think of the kids as my own, I guess it comes out that way."

Looking strangely moved by my answer, she leaned slightly forward and offered, careful,

"Then… would you like to go with me?"

"To District Two?"

"Yes. To look over the candidate buildings. And while we're there, check out Icarus, too."

What a windfall!

I cheered inwardly.

I'd been at a dead end — I didn't even have the location, let alone a way in — and here was a kind human GPS walking right up to me on her own two feet!

Unable to hide my joy, I broke into a broad smile and nodded.

"If you're willing to go that far, I'd be so grateful! I've been wanting to see it with my own two eyes!"

At my delight, Ma Dohee's face lit up.

"When should we go, then? I can work around whatever schedule you like! Tomorrow works, the day after works, my weekend is wide open too!"

Wait — an office worker willing to give up her weekend to help me? She's a genuinely good person!

Impressed inwardly, I answered gently.

"Ha ha, I'll check my schedule when I get back and be in touch. Let's set it as soon as we can."

"Yes! I'll be waiting!"

After that, we passed the time in warm, easy small talk before parting ways from the café in good spirits.

That evening.

"Kyahahahaha! Did you hear that?! I got asked on a date!!!"

The shy figure from the café was gone without a trace.

Ma Dohee was rolling on the floor, her cheers close to shrieks, a mad, glittering obsession in her eyes.

"Haaa… the Director's got to be into me! Do you know how many times he smiled at me today?! And the compliments — so many! I slipped in the whole dating-and-marriage angle and his reaction was amazing! Kyaaaa!"

In front of her, three holographic screens glowed blue.

A tiger icon, a fan icon, and a plain silhouette icon.

Just then, a coarse sneer burst out of the tiger icon, blinking red.

[Date my ass. From the sound of it you're the world's biggest sucker. Not enough to be his errand girl, you're personally walking him to the door? Hey, you got played by that pretty face. You're a mark. A total mark.]

At the provocation, Ma Dohee's face twisted.

"You mad dog, you wanna die?! Pretty-face scam my ass — my Director is a beauty just breathing! Anyone who couldn't hold a candle to the Director's looks better shut his damn trap!"

[What'd you say?!]

Just as the Mad Dog was working himself up into a frenzy, a smooth voice floated out from the fan icon.

[All right, all right, that's enough, both of you. Ma Dohee, you did splendidly. Mad Dog and I have already been exposed — it's become tricky for us to get anywhere near the Director.]

"Right? Haaa… I didn't even go looking for him, and he reached out first — this is fate, real fate! To think the intel I dug up scouting sites for a Gate breach would turn out to be so useful to the Director!"

Ma Dohee had been writhing in ecstasy, but soon her eyes flashed and she made a suggestion.

"So, what do we do? This time, should I just grab an opening and abduct him?! One bodyguard's nothing — I can handle that easily!"

Ma Dohee was already gleefully going on about how she'd fully outfitted a holding cell in her basement for the Director, when the fan icon swayed gently in her direction.

[I'd love to do it right now myself, but… we'll have to postpone that delightful plan a little.]

"Oh, why?! I want to bring him now!"

[It seems Chae Ganghyeon caught wind of us moving to abduct the Director in District Eight the other time. For now, we need to tread carefully.]

At the Fox's quiet explanation, this time the Mad Dog reared up, spitting mad.

[The fuck?! Tread carefully my ass! Just rip the whole lot of them to shreds! Why the hell do we have to worry about those Bureau fucks and Chae Ganghyeon?!]

[Because for now, their infrastructure and information network are useful to us. Until we have the power to be fully independent, at the very least, we need to play nice and wait.]

Deftly quieting the Mad Dog as if soothing a child, the Fox turned back to Ma Dohee.

[In exchange — while you're together this time, could you gather some very detailed information about the Director from the people around him? What he used to be like, what sort of crowd he ran with, that kind of thing.]

Just then, beneath the plain silhouette icon — silent this whole time — a short line of text appeared for the first time.

[…is this order connected to how you've been digging into the Director's past lately.]

At the weighty message striking dead center, the Fox's smooth laughter flowed pleasantly through the speaker.

[Correct. There's more than one or two suspicious things about him.]

The fan icon blinked in an unsettling rhythm.

[Starting from the day he chucked that fire extinguisher… the man is dramatically different, as if his very soul had been swapped out — wouldn't you say? I'd assumed it was a passing whim, but I've got a gut feeling I should dig deeper.]

[If it's your instinct… it'll be worth something.]

[Well, at present it's only a hunch. So, Ma Dohee — enjoy your date, and observe the Director's every move down to the last detail.]

"Tsk… fine! Digging through my beloved's past is a fun job in its own right! Big deal, I'll comb every inch of it! Kyahaha!"

On Ma Dohee's chilling, chirpy reply, the three screens filling the air winked out all at once with a bzzt— of static.

In the hushed silence of the empty room —

Alone now, Ma Dohee cupped her flushed cheeks in both hands and smiled.

"Aah… Director. I can't wait to see you……."

And the very next day, the Director got in touch again.

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