I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

19.

Jian said as he took Sehun to the sink to wash his hands. Sehun nodded while playing with Jian’s fingertips, his hands covered in soap bubbles.

Shortly after, fried rice filled with ham and vegetables, along with rolled eggs, appeared on the table.

“It’s been a while since I cooked, so I’m not sure how it will taste.”

In his previous life, Jian’s meals mainly consisted of ramen and triangle kimbap. The gosiwon was too small to cook anything, and he lacked both time and money, barely managing to fill his hungry stomach.

This was also the first time Jian had cooked earnestly for someone else. He felt nervous as he placed the steaming rice in front of Sehun.

Sehun, his face flushed, looked at the fried rice and grabbed a spoonful with his fist-like grip.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

At Jian’s words, Sehun puffed his cheeks to blow on the food before filling his mouth with rice. Seeing the child’s face brighten, Jian smiled with satisfaction and started eating a bit later.

Though they looked different, the affection in their eyes as they looked at each other was the same.

* * *

“Hello, boss. It’s even nicer to see you again today.”

“…Welcome.”

Jian, who was drying a freshly washed cup with a towel, greeted the customer without hiding his discomfort.

The suspicious customer had returned. But today, he wasn’t alone; he had brought a companion. The face peeking out from behind the customer stirred Jian’s wariness.

Large eyes that seemed to take up half the face sparkled with curiosity.

“Hyunsu, say hello. What did I tell you about greeting adults?”

“Hello.”

The child who stepped forward greeted in a clear voice, though somewhat hesitantly. Jian’s expression inevitably softened, weak to children.

Jian bent forward with a warm smile to meet the child’s eyes.

“You have very good manners. Nice to meet you.”

The child responded to the compliment with a shy smile. He looked about six or seven years old.

Yet he was taller than Sehun. His clear pronunciation and face without a trace of shadow showed he had been raised with a lot of love.

“I’m Yoo Hyunsu and I’m ten years old.”

The child introduced himself while grabbing his brother’s hand beside him. To the child who liked pretty things, Jian looked even prettier than the ball-jointed doll his brother had recently bought him.

Especially Jian’s light-colored eyes made him want to touch them.

‘Yoo Hyunsu…’

The smile gradually faded from Jian’s face as he heard the child’s name. His trembling gaze alternated between Sehun, who was now hiding behind him, and Hyunsu.

Hyunsu looked up at Jian with a broad smile. His round eyes were full of goodwill towards Jian.

While Sehun’s appearance was cuter than any child Jian had seen before, Hyunsu was no less adorable.

Especially his round eyes and chubby cheeks filled with baby fat were so lovable that it made one want to give him everything.

Jian screamed silently in his mind. After all, Yoo Hyunsu was the name of Su in the novel Jian had read.

Seeing a child with the same name as Su and outstanding looks, it was harder to think he wasn’t Su. At this point, it also became certain that Sehun was Gong.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

In the novel, Gong and Su clearly met for the first time at twenty. Since he hadn’t read to the end, he didn’t know if there was a hidden past between them, but that’s how it was up to the part he had read.

But now, both were ten years old. It was far too early for the original story to begin.

Something felt terribly wrong. Jian’s mind flashed with the numerous things Sehun had done to Hyunsu in the novel.

Looking at the innocent faces of the children now, he felt guilty even though he hadn’t done those things himself.

“Who is that?”

Hyunsu, noticing Sehun, blushed. While Jian was pretty, Sehun, who looked younger than him, was even prettier. His small heart pounded, feeling like he was seeing a living doll.

“He’s… my brother.”

Jian managed to speak. He bit the inside of his cheek to regain his composure.

The mysterious man who had caused this situation watched with interest, arms crossed, as the two kids exchanged glances.

“Brother, can I play with your brother?”

Hyunsu tugged at his brother’s hand. The child seemed to naturally assume Sehun was younger because he was much smaller.

“…Not brother.”

Sehun said in a small voice, his eyes stern. Hyunsu stood on tiptoe with his hands on the counter to hear Sehun’s voice better.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Big brother…”

Ignoring Hyunsu’s question, Sehun called out to Jian. He disliked both the man in front of him and the newly appeared kid.

Ever since he noticed Jian looking at Hyunsu with a similar gaze as when he looked at him, it became hard to breathe.

Big brother is mine. He should only look at me.

He grew anxious, fearing that the soft-hearted Jian might give attention to Hyunsu too. The power hidden inside him started to stir in response to his emotions.

Feeling like his power might burst out uncontrollably, he forced out tears and whimpered.

“Sehun, what’s wrong?”

Surprised, Jian bent his knees to meet Sehun’s eyes. Sehun shook his head and wrapped his arms around Jian’s neck.

Jian, familiar with the child’s behavior, picked him up and stood, giving an apologetic look to the suspicious customer and Hyunsu.

“My brother is quite shy around strangers. What would you like to order?”

While he felt sorry for Hyunsu who wanted to play with Sehun, he needed to take their order and send them away quickly.

He also needed time to sort out his thoughts. He wasn’t sure if it was okay for Sehun and Hyunsu to meet like this.

He even felt guilty, thinking that his actions might have somehow altered the flow of the novel.

“But I want to play with your brother…”

Hyunsu pouted, showing his disappointment. Hyunwoo, Hyunsu’s brother and the head of South Korea’s largest intelligence organization, stroked his brother’s head and ordered two drinks.

“One iced Americano and one strawberry latte, please. The regular price for my brother’s drink, right?”

“Yes. I’ll make them right away.”

As he ordered, Hyunwoo watched Jian making the drinks while holding Sehun, as if observing him.

Sehun, who had been resting his forehead on Jian’s shoulder, slightly lifted his head to look at Hyunwoo, then quickly turned away.

Hyunwoo smiled amusedly, the corner of his mouth curling up. There was a reason he had revisited the café, bringing his brother along.

‘No matter how I look at it, he seems to be a survivor from that laboratory.’

Right now, he was secretly using his Insight skill. While his publicly used Hunter ID stated B-rank, he was actually an A-rank Hunter. The Insight skill was his only S-rank skill.

Thanks to this skill, he had created an intelligence organization as soon as he awakened as a Hunter and became the largest information broker within a year.

Despite using the skill, he couldn’t glean anything from Sehun.

His skill was the best among Insight skills, able to discern names, ages, and several distinctive features even when used on ordinary people.

The fact that he couldn’t learn anything meant that Sehun had a special power.

‘And this café owner is an undisclosed S-rank Hunter.’

He had used the Insight skill on Jian yesterday. One of his guild members had informed him about an interesting post on the community, and feeling bored, he had visited Jian’s café.

After confirming Jian’s S-rank status, he had inwardly whistled. It was fortunate his Insight skill was S-rank; otherwise, he too would have mistaken Jian for an A-rank Hunter like others.

‘There were rumors about the Director hiding an S-rank Hunter, but I didn’t expect them to be true.’

Usually, the truth mixed in rumors was at most 10% in most cases. But this time, he had caught a big fish.

Hyunwoo considered how to use this information and decided to observe Jian a bit more.

‘Two pieces of information to stir up the Director.’

He had stumbled upon the secret illegal experiment laboratory while digging into the Director’s background, following breadcrumbs of information.

A joyful smile spread across his face as he thought of the Director, who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed even if pricked with a needle. He had always vowed to unmask the Director someday, and now the opportunity lay before him.

“Your drinks are ready.”

“Here.”

Hyunwoo handed his card to Jian to pay and gave the strawberry latte to Hyunsu. Despite holding his favorite strawberry latte, Hyunsu kept staring at the back of Sehun’s head, who was still in Jian’s arms.

Hyunwoo smiled, almost sighing, at his brother’s intense gaze. He seemed to understand his brother’s feelings.