I kicked him as hard as I could. There was a resounding 'bam' in the room.
I had assumed he would avoid it, but unlike my guess he didn't avoid my kick. He grabbed his stomach with his hand and took a step back. There was a relaxed smile back on his face. Instead, I was the one that found myself surprised by the turn of events.
I tightly held the hair stick Yves had used to break my magical device. Then, I shoved him back to gain more ground, then tripped him and subdued him. He was subdued without a fight, but kept that fake smile on his face.
"Wow, to attack a school senior like this. Isn't this too much?"
I regained my senses at his joking tone.
"...….ah."
I had never seen him when I was at school, but he was definitely my school senior. It looked like he was aware that I recognized him as a senior as well.
Mm, yeah. Academy life was pretty important too.
"You're right, sorry."
I put away the hair stick I had pointed at his neck and helped him get up. Then, I even dusted off the dirt on his knees.
"..."
Yves raised a single eyebrow at my swift change in attitude.
Looking at his actions, I was reminded of the novel plot. Cory and Hylli were so kind and innocent compared to the original novel that it was hard to remember the plot with them, but he was different. He was similar to the original novel's character, who had been described as absolute trash and a psycho. Thinking of, I thought I could remember a bit more about his character.
Yvnes Lunaasha.
Sadly, there wasn't too much of a description in his hovel. The only thing I was absolutely sure of based on my dreams was that Yvnes was described as a person full of hatred and distrust towards humans.
He was a truly tenacious person. It was almost habit for him to ruin others' lives for his goals, and betrayal was just something he did every day. He was figuring out different ways to make situations beneficial towards him as he breathed, and was an overall exhausting person to be around.
So basically, Yves was the total opposite of me. I was earning money to stay with everybody around me. On the other hand, he was earning money to throw everybody away.
But he was similar to me in that both us were single-mindedly running towards our future, without even glancing at the present. Or, was I wrong? I was probably more relaxed than he was.
I didn't remember how he fell in love with Hestia because it was so vaguely written. Whatever. This asshole's dating life wasn't something I cared about.
I didn't know why I kept dreaming about it, but my dreams were being very useful these days. For now, I gave up trying to fight him with smarts. I didn't know what, but I knew that he wanted something from me and that he would stay in my life until he got it.
If running away was impossible, then I needed to find common ground with him. We were attending the same academy, he was my senior, and he knew my weak points so I didn't have to attack him without reason. Especially because my opponent was Yvnes.
I was scared of what he was thinking and how he would act so I couldn't even move freely. It felt like even small movements could be used to attack me.
I thought about something else. When I stayed deep in thought in front of him, he quietly watched me then began to speak.
"You're wondering how I figured it out, right?"
He stopped using that dumb title. I liked that a lot more. It was easier to be wary of his real state than his fake form.
"Not really."
"You know your friend Hestia. I liked her so I was watching her, and you were always with her."
I said that I wasn't curious but he didn't listen. He just kept saying what he wanted.
Anyway, how interesting. For him to find out who I was because of Hestia. Anyway, based on his personality, for him to remember me meant that I was usable to him. For example, like an ojakgyo.
...….he couldn't have possibly done all of this to use me as an ojakgyo, right? But based on the actions that he took towards Hestia in the novel, it wasn't a reach for him.
If he was watching me because of Hestia, then his learning my identity was just bad luck. It wasn't because I made a mistake or because I was clumsy. I relaxed slightly because of that. It wasn't something that I had missed. That meant that other companies would have less of a chance of finding me.
"So, what are you going to do with my identity?"
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I'm not going to do anything. My current self feels extremely benevolent towards you."
'It's the first time I'm meeting you though.'
He really did seem to have positive intentions towards me. I didn't really know why. When I kept looking towards him warily, he just smiled as if he understood my reaction.
"Anyway, Shunivalen. It looks like you were up to some cute things in the past."
I didn't do anything to look cute for you.
That's what I wanted to say, but me in the present was just scared by Yves, who was towering above me unlike Cory and Hylli. Of course, I didn't show that I was scared. I just swallowed my saliva as I tried to reign in my anger.
His eyes were curved into a half moon as he spoke. This was a slightly different smile from before. It wasn't a dangerous, kind of condescending smile, but something a bit harder to decipher. I could feel a bit of enjoyment in that smile.
"One of the companies that you dug into was a small company that my father owned as a hobby."
Oh, then I couldn't say that my identity was revealed because of Hestia. I was unlucky. Damn it, I thought there was something fishy about my records.
He might have disliked his father, but he was working under him so I thought he was going to have to take care of me somehow. I raised my wariness levels again.
"My father was in a bit of a problem for a while because of you. It was the first time I felt so delighted."
His reaction was a lot different than what I was expecting. That, that was a positive statement right? Was it okay for him to be so happy when his father, the leader of the guild, was in so much trouble?
They were in a father-son relationship, and because of their leader-employee relationship, wasn't he supposed to be more positive towards him? At my sausage link line of questions, I frowned.
I tilted my body and sat down on a chair when I felt the air of the room change. When I took a seat to hear his story, Yves smiled slightly. He removed his dangerous aura and sat back down.
I was surprised. At how fast that dangerous air had dissipated. Then his actions back then was to make me scared.
"To be honest, my father wanted to make you our person and told me to do so. Not just as a regular employee, but someone who is completely our person. Executive-level."
"What happens if I become someone who's all-in?"
Yves flashed me a smile when I asked.
"What do you think?"
Whenever I asked a question, he kept dodging the answers from before.
I'm asking because I want to know. Instead of responding, I just stared at him. He kept quiet before beginning to speak.
"I can't tell you everything, but I'll give you a short summary. The Lunaasha guild seems flashy on the outside, but if you dig deeper we're just a huge syndicate. Our guild was originally a famous information trading post in the underworld, so we're connected to a lot of illegal activities."
I knew the weight of the information he was giving me. That, that. How could he give me such expensive information like this?
"For you to become our person, it means that regardless of your social status, you're becoming part of our syndicate. A high position in our syndicate may be a very honorable position, but if you enter you'll start from the bottom so you'll have a very hard time. More because you bought the resentment of the leader."
He frowned as he talked about having a hard time.
"Joining us is very easy: you just have to sign your name on a paper with a crescent moon like the one I gave you."
He smiled as he held up the paper from before. No wonder I felt a weak form of magic on the crescent moon: it was a trap. I didn't really know what trap it was yet, though.
"If you sign the contract, a special type of magic will activate and you'll bear the mark of the crescent moon on your skin. Then you'll have to serve the guild for as long as you live.
Yves pointed at the moon tattoo on the nape of his neck.
"If you betray them?"
"Mm, I tried it a few times, but I don't recommend it. This looks like a tattoo, but it's actually poison. You're still young and you don't have immunity over poison, so you'll probably die before you get the antidote."
He smiled as he spoke something that sounded absolutely incredulous. In the novel, there wasn't any detailed explanation about Yves' situation. It just summarized Yves' suffering in a single sentence. 'He lived a life where he betrayed and was betrayed.' That was it.
"Don't sign the contract."
Yves said as he ripped the contract. He just said to sign the contract, but now he says not to. I was sure that he was testing me before.
"I really like you, so I'm going to give you a choice, Shuraina."
Yves wiped off the smile on his face and spoke, looking serious.
"Your situation isn't too good right now. You caught the eye of my father, and now he wants you in our organization no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're the child of a noble. It's just a simple snap to take care of a noble child. You understand how titles mean less these days."
He drew a diagram as he continued to explain. I told him that I understood with just his words, but he continued to sketch my face as he explained further.
"From the moment you came into this building, the guild leader probably assumed you would be signing the contract. Then, regardless of if you want it or not, every request coming to you will stop. It'll probably be blocked by my father."
"...…"
What an absolutely wild thing to say. That I would have probably signed as soon as I stepped foot here? That my requests will stop? What the hell did that mean.
"Isn't your family's finances in an emergency right now? If the requests stop, things will probably get bad."
At his words, my face scrunched up. I didn't know how he figured out all of that information, but he was very well aware of my current situation.
"...I thought we were getting discount coupons and advertisement flyers more often than before. Was that a ploy to reel me in using my mother?"
Instead of a verbal response, Yves just smiled.
"The guild leader told me to make you sign that contract no matter what, and I usually make sure to accomplish what I've been asked to do."
A chill went through my body. What the hell.
"So here's what I'm suggesting. The contract's been ripped to shreds anyway, so go back and fold your Shunivalen business, or get the payment listed on the contract and help me."