The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 270

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 270
“Escape….”
Lee Yu-ji grew slightly tense watching Kwon Ik-seong hesitate.
That wouldn’t be possible for security reasons, or so she was about to say—
“Let’s go.”
But Kwon Ik-seong didn’t refuse.
It was an odd day.
Every day spent with Lee Yu-ji was.
So there was nothing strange about today either.
This impulsive plan.
What else could I do?
If Lee Yu-ji wanted to escape, then that’s what would happen.
Kwon Ik-seong was a man who lived by his principles, and another principle had just been born within those principles.
If Lee Yu-ji wanted to escape, all other principles would be ignored.
“Huh?”
Seeing Lee Yu-ji’s unexpectedly vacant expression, he unhesitatingly grabbed his own cross necklace.
Then he focused on the sounds coming from outside.
“Johnny’s out there.”
Footsteps, the occasional cough—that was enough to tell.
And I already knew what Johnny’s ability was.
Charisma.
I’d felt it since the airport.
Johnny possessed the ability to easily befriend people.
And he was using that ability.
Kwon Ik-seong was as perceptive of the changes occurring within himself as he was of external stimuli.
There was no way he could miss the strange sense of intimacy Johnny inspired in him.
And he could immediately sense that Johnny was confident in using his ability to disarm other people.
Kwon Ik-seong picked up his phone and called Ocean.
[…Ik-seong?]
Being called by name so familiarly wasn’t uncomfortable.
Just a bit…. inconvenient.
Why had the form of address suddenly changed?
It didn’t matter.
I spoke to Ocean in Korean.
“I need your help with something.”
I knew Ocean would grant my request.
Ocean replied in English.
[What is it.]
“I want to step outside for a bit. About an hour?”
Kwon Ik-seong looked at Lee Yu-ji, her eyes wide and round.
It was that easy?
[Okay.]
Ocean answered simply.
And a moment later.
I heard Ocean approach and sit down at the table where Johnny was seated.
[Johnny. Did you have breakfast?]
[Yes. How about you, Ocean?]
[Not yet.]
[Oh, I’ll take care of it for you. I was about to order room service anyway, but our system is so complicated, you know? You order, then go to the next room to pick it up….]
[Right. Thanks, Johnny.]
A natural request.
But that was bait.
Bait using Johnny’s character.
Johnny liked doing favors for others and using that to get what he wanted.
It was one of the tendencies those with the “mental” skill of charisma possessed.
[But you see.]
[Yes.]
[I didn’t get much sleep last night. Could you cover my shift for me? Wow, I’m exhausted.]
[Of course. That’s possible.]
Yet Ocean used it to obtain what he actually needed instead.
He would push Johnny out the door and take over the shift himself, ensuring the two of us could leave without anyone knowing.
Kwon Ik-seong understood Ocean, and so Ocean understood Kwon Ik-seong.
The easier it was to obtain information, the easier it was to learn how to use that information.
And how easily that could be applied to manipulating others.
That was probably why.
Why Ocean became a police officer.
Because I became one for the same reason.
To control myself—someone who could manipulate others so easily.
Soon I heard the hotel door open.
At the same time, I heard Ocean knock on the door.
“Come out.”
At Ocean’s words, Kwon Ik-seong opened the door.
Ocean tilted his head as he saw Kwon Ik-seong and Lee Yu-ji together inside the open door.
“You two… slept in the same room?”
“No!”
Lee Yu-ji spoke louder than she intended, then closed her mouth.
“I see.”
Ocean stared intently at Lee Yu-ji.
Kwon Ik-seong, knowing that Ocean was reading Lee Yu-ji’s emotions, furrowed his brow.
Was that… his own face?
The face he wore when looking at Lee Yu-ji.
Decidedly… an unpleasant one.
“If we end up sleeping in the same room, I’ll let you know. The ‘cleaning’ protocol changes when there are two people.”
“I’ll tell you if we have to share a room, but for now, let me step outside.”
“Go right. Johnny is preparing for room service in the left room. Use this card key, and don’t remove the item under any circumstances. No matter what happens. Report your location every ten minutes.”
Kwon Ik-seong accepted the card key from Ocean.
He didn’t say thank you.
Even though he knew this was wrong.
Not that he was escaping with Lee Yu-ji, but that he was using Ocean in that escape.
Because Ocean carried guilt toward him.

* * *
“Wow, Central Park.”
Lee Yu-ji’s face lit up with excitement.
The cross necklace was an item that changed a person’s face depending on the situation, so to someone wearing the same item, the other’s face appeared as their true self.
If they recognized each other as part of that environment, the face-changing might not work properly.
“I saw this a long time ago in 【Banto】.”
“【Banto】?”
“That Disney movie, you know. There’s a 【Banto】 statue here.”
“Ah. The one with all the sled dogs….”
Having said that much, Kwon Ik-seong briefly recalled the sled dogs from it.
Fluffy fur, large frame, adorable….
“…You resemble them.”
“Me? Resemble what? Banto?”
Lee Yu-ji’s expression hardened.
It seemed that wasn’t the answer she wanted.
Though he’d essentially called her a large dog—
Kwon Ik-seong corrected himself.
“The girl from the movie.”
At those words, Lee Yu-ji’s expression softened.
“Come on. I don’t look that sickly, do I?”
“No. You look quite healthy.”
“Right…?”
Lee Yu-ji cleared her throat and took a large bite of the ice cream Kwon Ik-seong had bought her.
“It’s delicious. The kind of taste that spikes your blood sugar.”
“Yes. Indeed.”
My heartbeat quickens beyond its usual pace.
My mood soars a little higher.
Every muscle in my body oscillates rapidly between tension and release.
My steps feel light.
But none of this was because of my blood sugar.
It was because I was with you.
He glanced down slightly at Lee Yu-ji, whose lips were smudged with ice cream.
I should wipe it away….
“Um….”
“Yes.”
Lee Yu-ji looked up at Kwon Ik-seong with a serious expression.
“Ocean really does seem to care about Team Leader Kwon quite a lot….”
“Ah, yes.”
Kwon Ik-seong’s gaze was still fixed on Lee Yu-ji’s lips, but he forced himself to look away as he spoke.
“Ocean is the child born from a woman who committed adultery with my father.”
Ocean’s real name wasn’t actually Ocean, but regardless.
I learned of his existence around the time I turned twenty.
Despite being quite perceptive, there was one thing I hadn’t anticipated.
Perhaps because I hadn’t awakened to it as a child….
Ocean’s age was similar to mine.
I naturally understood what that meant.
“Ah, yes….”
Lee Yu-ji lowered her eyes with the dejected expression of a large dog.
No matter how I looked at it, she resembled a sled dog, but Kwon Ik-seong changed the subject.
“I learned the details through Ocean while settling my father’s estate. Since Ocean’s mother and my father worked at the same company, it seems they came to the United States together after each getting divorced, and lived together. The two of them divorced again, and after my father, who had been living alone since then, passed away, Ocean ended up handling the inheritance.”
And that’s when Ocean found out too.
That I had an older brother who was only a few months older than me.
“That’s why. Ocean carries guilt toward me.”
“Ah. Um. Yes.”
“My mother….”
Kwon Ik-seong hesitated for a moment.
It wasn’t because the memory was difficult to recall.
I was uncertain whether it was right to tell this to Lee Yu-ji.
People don’t like to peer deeply into the inner world of someone they don’t want to grow close to.
But if it’s someone you want to grow closer to, you want to know them better.
And at the same time—
“Because Ocean believes my father passed away because of my mother.”
…you want them to know you better.
Kwon Ik-seong looked down at the startled Lee Yu-ji.
I don’t know what my expression looks like as I look down at her.
Ocean’s expression kept flickering in my mind, but I forced myself to erase it.
I erased my father’s face too.
I erased my mother, who tried so hard to tell me it wasn’t your fault.
That isn’t me.
I was different from my half-sibling, different from the father who had betrayed my mother, and different from the mother who had struggled to see her son—a boy who resembled his father as much as the father himself did.
He was here.
Before Lee Yu-ji.
He carefully wiped away the ice cream smudged on Lee Yu-ji’s lips with a tissue as he spoke.
“But that’s not our fault. We can’t take responsibility for things that aren’t our fault. We can only clean up after them.”
The two faces drew closer.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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