23:HNH Associates [3]
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The tension in the room was the kind you could feel in your bones. Yuujin stood there, staring at Aera. His face was expressionless, but his eyes didn't leave hers. She wasn't smiling, wasn't soft—her gaze was sharp, tense, like she was dissecting him in her head, piece by piece.
James stood beside Yuujin, hands in his pockets, scanning the table as if measuring every single person.
Then a voice broke the silence.
Not deep, not high—somewhere in the middle. Not beautiful, not ugly. Cold in its neutrality.
"You still didn't explain why you need us."
It was Yamamoto Himazaki.
James turned his head toward him, slow and deliberate.
Then another voice followed, this one cocky and playful but edged with menace.
"Yeah, yeah. Tell us, Jamie-chan."
Kurosawa Hideyoki.
James didn't answer right away. Instead, he moved to his seat. Yuujin stayed where he was, Nobure shadowing him like a guard dog. James sat down, one leg draped over the other, elbows resting lazily on the armrests.
He glanced at each of them.
"Now," he said, voice low but sharp, "I'll tell you what I need—and what you can do."
Aera turned her head toward him. Yuujin too.
Everyone else leaned in, if only with their eyes.
"Since all of you are in Korea illegally…" James let his gaze drift toward Yuujin for a split second. "…excluding Mr. Yuujin, of course… allow me to propose a little deal."
He didn't wait for a response.
"Crexa," he called, voice like a blade sliding out of a sheath.
Crexa nodded, vanished for a few moments, then returned with a small black chest in his hands. He set it in front of James like it was fragile.
James flipped it open and spun it around for everyone to see.
Inside—three rings.
One white.
One gold.
One black.
The dim lights made them glow faintly, almost ominously.
Hideyoki's lips curled into an excited grin, eyes wide with interest.
Yamamoto stared with his dead fish eyes, the kind that hadn't held hope in years.
Aera looked at them like she was staring through a window at a view she didn't care for. No sparkle, no emotion—just emptiness.
Miguel didn't even seem to notice. His mind was elsewhere, chewing on thoughts he wasn't going to share.
James was watching them all, reading every twitch, every breath.
Then Yuujin's voice cut through.
"Tell us straight." His tone didn't waver. His eyes locked on James like he was daring him to lie.
"What do you really want?"
James smiled like someone who enjoyed being challenged.
"Nothing much," he said. "I want you all to—"
He leaned forward suddenly, bowing slightly, his presence pressing down like a weight on the air. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"Work with HNH Associates."
No one flinched, no questions from the table. They'd either guessed it already or didn't care.
But Yuujin wasn't like them. His brows creased slightly—he could tell too many things here didn't add up. He'd barely been in the room and James was dropping names, titles, jobs like he was hosting a fucking dinner party.
Yuujin opened his mouth, ready to speak, but Hideyoki beat him to it.
"That's it? You want us to just do that?" His tone was playful, but his eyes weren't.
James chuckled. "Not just that."
He sat up straighter, smile sharpening into something fox-like.
"And one more thing…"
His voice dropped lower, like a whisper made for the whole room to hear.
"Keep my associate safe… especially from Generation 2."
Hideyoki let out a short laugh and stood. "Hah… Don't worry. I'll keep it safe."
James nodded. "Good. Now, you can all go."
Chairs scraped. Miguel stood first, already heading for the door without looking at anyone.
"Except Mr. Yuujin," James said, that damned smile still on his face.
Aera lingered a second too long, still staring at Yuujin with those dead, calculating eyes. Yuujin met her gaze for a heartbeat before looking away.
One by one, they left.
The door closed.
Now it was only James Lee, Crexa, Nobure, and Yuujin.
Yuujin was still standing, facing James.
The night outside was growing darker. Inside, the air was colder.
And the tension… the tension was just getting started.
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Next Chapter: Everything is becoming clear to me.
Author Note:Rushed