Chapter XCII - Unreasonable Requests

“So let me get this straight. . .” Irene said, nervously walking around the living room while Arthur sat on the couch. “You mean to tell me that your grandfather owes someone four hundred and twenty million won?”

“That’s what they said,” Arthur confirmed while his head.

“What are we going to do? You don’t even know who her brother is.”

“I know where she worked, so I’m sure we could find out.”

“Art. . .” Irene sat down next to him, grabbing his hand. “That’s an insane amount of money that I can’t even ask my parents for, and what makes matters worse, we don’t even know how dangerous they are. You mentioned that Moon has Qi, so does that mean she has a chance of beating you? What if there are more of them? What if they go after someone else? I’m sorry for asking so many questions, but I’m terrified of what might happen to you.”

“Take a deep breath.” Arthur placed his hand over Irene’s, attempting to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. “We gotta address one thing at a time. First, let’s talk about money. We’re not gonna go to your parents and ask for help. However, I’d be thankful if you could take Sophie in until all this is resolved. I’d feel safer knowing she’s not home alone. Wait. . . That won’t work since Amelia is there with you-”

“We’ll manage just fine. . . It’s not a small apartment.”

“Talk to your sister first. I’m also not sure if they’d try something so it might be dangerous for you guys to even stay there. . . We can always think of something else.”

“I will, but she’ll just repeat what I said.”

“That’s fine if she does.” Arthur showed a weak smile. “Safety. . . That’s our top priority. Obviously we can’t just find that much money out of nowhere, but I’ll try to come up with a solution for the next time we meet. Until then, all we can do is keep ourselves safe. Now, I ain’t worried about me, but Sophie, you and the others are at risk. Luckily school hasn’t started yet, so we have time to resolve this.”

“What do you mean you’re not worried about yourself?” She sounded angry.

“I’ve been through worse. . .” Arthur sighed, loosening his grip. “Even if she had more Qi or has reached higher cultivation, odds of beating me are as close to zero as they could get.”

“That just sounds reckless!” she raised her voice. “What if they take you by surprise?”

“If they took me by surprise the first time around, I’d be in trouble. However, now that I’m alert-”

“I’m glad that you’re confident, but I’m still scared for you,” Irene interrupted, letting a sigh escape her as she leaned her head against his shoulder. “You’ll be helping your grandfather, and will be tired. What if they come after you in the meantime?”

“Irene, I promise you I’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “I. . .”

“What?” Irene looked up at him, noticing that he suddenly went quiet.

Arthur struggled to tell her the truth, afraid of how she’d react. However, even if he never wanted to take a life again, if it came down to it, he’d do it for the sake of keeping those he cared about safe.

“Nothing. . .” He shook his head, faking a smile.

“You can’t do that,” she protested. “We’re in this together, and no matter what, you have to tell me everything. It’s not just some kids fighting at school, so whatever it is just say it. Otherwise, I’ll be constantly worried about what you’re hiding.”

“It’s not that simple,” he whispered, averting his gaze.

“Look at me.” Irene gently cupped his face, guiding it toward her. “I know that look. It’s the same one that tortured me last time when you were worried about losing me if you told me your secret. You might think it’s hard to figure out what you’re thinking, but it’s pretty obvious. God forbid you ever played poker. . . Arthur, you better not make me go through that again.”

Looking her in the eyes made him question a lot about himself. Arthur was sitting with a woman who not once allowed fear to control her actions and was adamant about having her way. It made him wonder if he even knew himself.

Arthur was the type of person who’d do anything to achieve his goal without a second thought. He handled pressure easily and was always cool-headed when making decisions. While that much hadn’t changed, he found himself often afraid or anxious about losing those he cared about ever since reincarnating. It made him wonder if he even knew who he was. If they were in the world he came from, would he have done things differently?

“What if I take a life?” Arthur said, looking at the hand that cupped his face. “What if I was forced to kill to keep you safe?” Irene just silently listened, allowing him to speak. “I promised myself I’d try never doing so again, but ever since I met you and the others, the fear of losing someone kept eating away at me. I’m willing to do anything to keep you all safe, even if it means killing someone. I’m not going to deny what the place I came from made me able to do, but the fear of disappointing you or worse, you becoming afraid of me. . . it’s unbearable. I’m not asking you for permission, but if it comes down to it. I’m willing to risk you never speaking to me again or anyone else if it assured you were all safe.”

“I knew it.” She sighed, squeezing his cheeks with the hand that cupped his face. “Why do you think I asked you about your past? It’s because I wanted to know who you really are. You think I haven’t thought about that?”

“I’m sure you have, but we’re talking about me potentially killing someone in this life.”

“Look. I’m not going to sit here and act like that wouldn’t be a big deal, because it is. I’d never want you to have to do that for any reason; however, I’ll be damned if you think I’d ever leave you for defending me. If anything, I feel safer knowing you’d do whatever it takes to keep us safe instead of you begging and crying while hoping things get better.”

“But would you still be able to look at me?”

“I’m looking at you right now. It’s not like you’ve never done it before,” she reminded him of the obvious. “Should the soldiers that fight to keep our families safe be condemned to a life of solitude?”

“No, but-”

“You’re not talking about murder. You’re talking about keeping your family safe from those that want to harm it. I’d never be afraid of someone like that. So stop thinking about useless things like that, and focus on what’s truly ahead of us. Okay?”

Arthur nodded while looking her in the eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

“We’ll resolve this, I promise,” Arthur said confidently. “I’ll have to talk to Tjay’s father.”

“Huh, why?” she asked, letting go of him.

“His father owns a mercenary company, so he-”

“A mercenary company?” Irene looked at him, baffled.

“You know. . . where you hire bodyguards?”

Irene couldn’t help herself and burst into laughter. “You mean a security company?”

“That’s it.” He sighed. “Okay, okay. . . You knew what I meant, so does it even matter?”

“Sorry,” she said, trying to calm down.

“It’s practically the same thing. Besides, that’s not important now.”

“You’re right,” she said, still smirking a bit.

“So yeah, I’ll talk to him and see if he can help.”

“That’s a good idea. You should give Tjay a call.”

“I’ll take you home first and pick you up later so we can go to the hospital together if you’re still willing.”

“Don’t even bother asking that. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my sister and see to have Sophie sorted out.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Standing outside Jong Yoon-gi’s office, Arthur took a deep breath before knocking on the doors.

“Come on in,” Tjay’s father said.

Walking in, Arthur saw him sitting behind his desk, looking at paperwork. Like last time, he had alcohol served on the table, but his clothes did not match the work environment as he worked in a tracksuit while wearing reading glasses.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, sir.” Arthur respectfully bowed.

“Nonsense,” Yoon-gi said, lowering the paperwork and leaning forward on the table with his hands crossed. “My son told me what happened, and you have my prayers.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“No need to be so formal.” He chuckled, gesturing to Arthur to sit down. “Want a drink?”

“A glass couldn’t hurt,” he said, sitting on the cushioned black chair.

Pouring him a glass, Yoon-gi looked at Art and said, “So, how can I help you?”

“I’m here to ask for your help. . .” Arthur averted his gaze, taking a sip.

“I assumed as much.” He leaned back into his chair. “You’re unaware, but my son already asked me to help you and your sister now that your only guardian is unable to take care of you. School’s starting soon, and you’ll have no time to work and earn the money you need. Knowing how far you’re willing to go for your friends and that you’ve been nothing but kind to Tjay, I couldn’t refuse even if I wanted to. So don’t worry about such trivialities. Focus on school, and we’ll talk about the future. Okay?”

“I’m afraid that my request dwarfs your kindness.” Arthur sighed, knowing that what he was about to ask for was ridiculous.

“Hmm?” He looked intrigued. “What is it then?”

“Our life turned into a far worst nightmare than what even your son knows. I’ll explain the details, but what I need is for you to keep those I care about safe, which includes your son and my grandfather that would need to be moved to a private hospital.”

“Safe? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“Far bigger than you could imagine.”

“I’m listening,” he lowered his voice.

“This morning, an unknown group approached our house and revealed to us that my grandfather had a debt of over four hundred million won, which he had to pay back. They attempted to break into the house and trash the place while threatening to beat up my girlfriend and my sister had she been home. Of course, their plan failed miserably and they retreated for now.”

“So it’s not a question of if but when they’ll retaliate.”

“That’s right,” Arthur confirmed, setting the glass back down on the table. “It could be in an hour or weeks from now, but they’ll come for sure. While I’m not worried about myself, the others are in danger.”

“That’s a lot of money he owes.”

“I know, and I’m not foolish enough to ask for help with that.”

“Do you plan to resolve the issue alone?”

“Yes. It’s up to me now that my grandfather is in a coma.”

“You’re asking for a lot. To move him to a private hospital is quite expensive, and I’d need to send bodyguards to watch over everyone without them noticing. I assume you don’t want them knowing?”

“That’d be ideal. . .”

“It seems you’re aware of just how much you’ve asked for already. On top of that, you’d still need financial support.”

“My girlfriend won’t allow us to starve or stay homeless,” Arthur said, looking disappointed that it might come to that. “However, I’ll find a way not to burden her. After all, it should be me taking care of her, not the other way around.”

“Irene Jones, was it? My son told me you got together with her. I’m glad you were sensible enough to come to me rather than her parents. It would’ve hurt your relationship, despite what the young lady thinks.”

“I’m aware.”

“And you’re still unwilling to teach my son about Qi?”

Arthur expected as much, but he still hoped to go without doing so.

“I’m aware of how selfish that sounds, but no. I’m not willing to teach Tjay about Qi.”

“Even if I offered to pay off your grandfather’s debt?” he asked, taking Arthur by surprise.

Arthur gritted his teeth, looking hesitant to answer. However, remembering what Irene told him about speaking his mind, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“I’m grateful for the offer, but the reason I refuse is not that I don’t want to teach him, it’s because I can’t.”

“You can’t?” He looked confused by Arthur’s answer.

“That’s right.” Arthur gazed into his eyes. “Technically I could, but it would cost us our friendship, and that’s something I value a lot. I’d be willing to beg on the ground if I had to for the sake of protecting my family. They are incomparably more important than my pride. However, if you’d refuse my request, I’d consider accepting to teach Tjay for their sake.”

“Would you be willing to work for me then?” He sighed, understanding that it was not worth ruining his son’s friendship that he expressed many times a life-changing.

“I can’t.” Arthur shamelessly said.

“Why?” Jong Yoon-gi was running out of ideas.

“Because I’d be useless since I’m going to be exhausted for who knows how long.”

“I’m not sure I follow?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I have a way of helping my grandfather recover, but that requires me to infuse internal energy into his body which will help maintain and potentially even improve his condition.”

“He suffered from a stroke, didn’t he?” Jong Yoon-gi asked. “Brain cells don’t recover from such an injury.”

“Internal Qi is capable of completely reconstructing one’s body. Restoring something such as brain cells is far from impossible.”

“Is something like that truly possible?” Jong Yoon-gi asked, accepting what Arthur said while staying a bit reserved.

“It is, but it’s hard to pull off. The process also leaves me completely drained of energy, so I’m no more than a waste of space afterward.”

“Since you’re leaving me so little to work with, could you at least teach us your method?”

“The best I could do is show you. However, the method I use is extremely dangerous and could kill the one using it, and until I’m done curing my grandfather, I wouldn’t be able to help anyone master it.”

Arthur wasn’t worried about showing such a technique as it would take them over a hundred years to master or for them to be equally as talented as he was.

“How did a seventeen-year-old boy learn all that?”

“That secret is why I can’t teach Tjay. If possible, I’d like to keep such a thing to myself.”

“You’re really not giving me any room to negotiate.” He chuckled. “Fine. I shall see to it that your grandfather is transferred to our medical ward in the building. He’ll be safe and you’ll have free access for as long as you need.”

“Thank you.” Arthur stood up and bowed again. “I’ll make sure to repay you once all of this is over.”

“Relax. We'll talk about that once things blow over.” Jong Yoon-gi sighed. “Sit down and let’s talk about the people your grandfather owes money to.”

With the issue of safety resolved, Arthur finally allowed himself to breathe.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.