Shinhye eyed the bowl of rice as if it was her first time seeing food in a bowl. Steadily, after furrowing her eyebrows, she asked, “You have Himcha brought it up here for me?”

Relaxed, Youngjae merely nodded. But when Shinhye kept quiet, he spoke for her, “I heard you don’t eat breakfasts on collect days? How would you be able to face those gangsters if you lack energy?”

A gentle smile spread across Shinhye’s face as she replied seconds later, “Don’t worry. My energy comes from protecting this place and the people here,” there was a pause before she switched the topic, “but how are you doing? You’ve only been here a few days but you’ve been dragged into an ongoing war between us and them. Will making yourself known to them causes you any trouble later?”

Youngjae smirked a little. He never thought she was capable of worrying about others’ feelings. With his head tilted a bit, the man answered in a soft yet audible tone, “It’s been fun. The people here treat me like family more than my real family ever did,”

Shinhye leaned back in her chair, “Then, you don’t have a desire to leave anymore?”

He shrugged with his lips pursed. “I do want to find out where the rest of my friends are and if they’re alive,” briefly Youngjae’s eyes widened. Why is he often off-guard when he’s with her? Exactly like when he’s with Himchan. “I mean, I’m sure they’re alive and well but—”

“Did something bad happened?” Shinhye asked. From her tone alone, Youngjae knew he can’t fool her by trying to dodge it. And momentarily he wondered how the future is. Did that bat ever struck him or was he already dead? Did Yongguk succeed in killing everyone off? Will he ever get back to the future to see Himchan, Junhong, Jongup, and Daehyun’s faces again? Youngjae lost his train of thoughts when Shinhye knocked on the wood between them. “Youngjae?”

“Huh?” As he gazed into her eyes, he noticed she was still anticipating his response, “Oh…. No, nothing bad happened. We, or I, just got separated from them,” Youngjae wondered if it would be safe to tell someone that he was from the future. Would they react the same way the characters in movies were depicted? Will they lose all respect and trust for him? Will they believe him..?

Shinhye hummed before answering, “Do you have their names? You never know, I may know who they are and where they are,”

Youngjae waved her off. There was no way she’ll know since their names are different. Besides, Himcha, Yonggon, and Daewon may all look like his friends but they’re not the same person. These were men who have lived before Youngjae’s time, so it would be hard to say they’re the same person. Then he blinked and realized, he has yet to meet Junhong and Jongup. But even if that was the case, will he really be able to see each of s' lookalikes?

“Don’t worry about it. If it’s meant to be I will run into them someday. If it wasn’t meant to then so be it. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Youngjae mumbled as he readjusted himself in the chair. He was the type that can’t sit in one spot or position in a long time. He’ll become bored or began aching.

Shinhye bobbed her head before revealing, “About tomorrow. Can you stay in your room when they come?”

Surprised by her odd request, Youngjae jaw dropped a little, “Why?”

“Can’t you just do that? Since I allowed you to take over today, tomorrow you should stay out of it,”

Youngjae arched a brow as he crossed his arms, “You’re not going to say it’s for my sake, are you? Why? Did those thugs threaten to do something unexpected if they see me again?”

The woman’s eyes and mouth gaped, “H-how did you know? Did you hear everything he said?”

He scoffed. Why are they somewhat alike? Was he Shinhye in his past life? “He? Ah, was it that Sunggyu? Or his leader? If it was the leader then that means he sees me as a threat,”

Shinhye cocked her head to the side, “You’ve arrived at that conclusion so fast. How did you know?”

“It’s obvious,” Youngjae said as he shook his head in annoyance, “when someone who’s been power tripping for so long is hit with hard truths, they will react in a violent and aggressive manner. In other words, they would do whatever to get rid of that threat. Which in this case is me,” Youngjae pointed to himself with a growing smile. “Having someone trying to get rid of me brings me closer to home,” he scoffed with a sneer, “this is getting fun.” When he’s done enough mumbling to himself he turned to Shinhye, “I can’t do what you’ve asked. I’ll be there tomorrow and this time I’ll wipe the smirks off their faces for sure,”

“Young—”

“Eat before the rice gets cold. I have a date soon so I’m stepping out for a moment. Leave the bowl here when you’re done, I’ll come back and collect it later,” without another word he got up and quickly exited the room. Despite Shinhye trying to stop him, Youngjae shut the door to her office as he noticed Yonggon standing by his room.

“Was that rice for Shinhye? If you’ve told me that I would have given her more,” he said.

Youngjae sighed, “Even if she said she’s fine, you should at least bring food to her room. What kind of cook ignore his boss’s general needs?”

Yonggon scoffed offensively as Youngjae headed downstairs. The cook gave the empty space Youngjae once stood a dirty look before hissing under his breath, “Just because they like him now, now he’s acting like he owns this place. Don’t let me get my hands on him,” he cursed before going into his bedroom.

Downstairs Youngjae was greeted by a blushing Seyeon as she waited for him to come down. “Did Shinhye eat it?”

Baffled by her question Youngjae waited to answer her after he h