Black Badger

The day of the salon arrived in no time.

After being discharged from the hospital and loosening up my body a bit, it was already the day of the salon. The event started at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

A sweet weekend, like honey.

Around lunchtime on Saturday, I headed to Yoon's house.

The tidy home always looked the same every time I visited. The residents opened the door for me but didn't show their faces. They were all in their rooms, preparing for the evening engagement.

So, the first one to approach me as I waited quietly in the entrance was Ami.

"You bought the suit at a great place, Hilde!"

She wore a navy blue dress.

A pendant necklace with white mother-of-pearl glowed softly, creating a pleasant contrast with the navy. It was a silk dress that fell to her ankles—nothing flashy, but formal and elegant.

Ami clutched the dress with her left hand and came bounding down the stairs barefoot.

The senior with the round eyes brightened up as soon as she saw me.

"It's from the place the youngest brother recommended, right? They've been consistently good since we were kids."

"Thank you."

I was satisfied with my suit too.

I had firmly rejected the tailor's suggestion that a lighter color would suit me just fine and chosen black instead. I didn't want to stand out unnecessarily in a gathering of prominent people.

Ami kept coming over to admire my suit.

As I complimented her dress, Yoon emerged from inside.

"You're here."

He was dressed head to toe in black.

"You went with something safe."

"Don't you plan to wear anything but black for the rest of your life?"

I suggested it seriously.

Yoon just raised one eyebrow and lowered it, showing no other reaction.

I meant it, though. My mentor wore a black suit, and it made his face look much more alive than when he wore his white lab coat.

Yoon shoved one hand into his pocket and reached out with his right to tighten my tie firmly.

"Watch what you say when we get there."

He advised me casually, as if explaining the lunch menu.

"Ears are everywhere. Your wrist looks a bit plain."

"It suits Hilde well."

A husky voice came from inside the house.

The boss, finished with his preparations, walked out. I bowed my head in thanks and took a closer look at the pale man.

Ye-hyeon wore a sleek gray suit with a subtle green sheen that made his face look even paler.

Ami asked as she saw Ye-hyeon approaching.

"Brother, you didn't end up wearing the gray suit after all?"

"The checkered pattern felt too casual..."

"Hmph."

Ami pouted.

Ye-hyeon looked flustered, scanning her expression awkwardly.

It just seemed like the round-eyed senior was throwing a little tantrum.

Yoon grumbled bluntly.

"Choi Ami. Talk like an adult."

"Please don't be annoying."

This sibling pair was consistently weird too.

Anyway, I had met the dress code. Ye-hyeon and Ami lavished praise on my suit. At this level, I wouldn't get picked on at the salon.

As we headed to the car, I received a crash course on salon etiquette. Things like the order of using utensils and basic manners.

I was told that just knowing the basics was enough as I got into the spotless white Bentley.

The salon was held at the A-Tac chairman's residence.

We didn't talk much on the way there. Ye-hyeon in the passenger seat kept his eyes down, silently working on his phone. Yoon and Ami, sitting side by side in the back, stared out the window in silence.

I also shut my mouth wisely after glancing at the seniors through the rearview mirror and focused on driving.

The sharp tension from the three of them was suffocating.

*

There were two checkpoints before we arrived.

Once the final one was cleared, a massive mansion came into view outside the car window. I had thought Ye-hyeon's house was luxurious enough, but the one before me now was on another scale entirely.

Even though I tried not to act impressed, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the growing mansion.

Were they really that rich?

We stopped the car in front of the open main gate.

The security personnel opened the doors for us. I hurried out and followed the seniors as they walked into the garden.

The garden shone beautifully in the bluish evening dusk. The strategically placed lights dotted around made it even more stunning.

I was too tense to take it all in properly, though.

The salon was held in the annex behind the main building.

But we were first invited to the reception room in the main building.

Because we had to greet the A-Tac family separately.

I stood quietly by the door and watched Yoon and Ami exchange greetings with the A-Tac family.

Yoon shook hands with the elderly gentleman.

The man in the gray suit with thin-rimmed glasses spoke in a courteous voice.

"It's been a while, Yoon."

"Big brother."

Yoon replied dryly.

"Long time no see."

There were three people in the room.

All of them were advanced in age. Two men and one woman. None of them resembled Yoon or Ami. But they all had neat black hair and black eyes, and they wore suits that exuded wealth.

The man called big brother shook hands with Yoon and Ami before turning his gaze to Ye-hyeon.

"Supreme Commander."

"Chairman Choi Hyun-jun."

Ye-hyeon smiled professionally and shook his hand.

"I hope you've been well."

A-Tac.

In a world where the threat of creatures still loomed, it was the company that handled the most vital foundational industry for Center Core. A-Tac produced core maintenance devices. They also made military supplies and IT products, with other lines as cash cows, but A-Tac's brand identity was the core maintenance device.

It was a product built on Yoon's patents.

The reason money kept flowing into Yoon's account without fail.

The life-support device for humanity, which was always operational.

A-Tac only produced the devices, while their management was handled separately by the Core Management Corporation. But that didn't make the company unimportant.

Every time there was territory expansion, Black Badger Headquarters contacted A-Tac. Even without such a massive event, they received regular reports from A-Tac.

The company's chairman, Choi Hyun-jun, asked.

"No plans for territory expansion? It's been quite a while since we last heard anything related."

"We were preparing, but the creatures have been restless lately."

Ye-hyeon smiled faintly.

"I'll reach out first when the time comes."

"We'll be waiting."

"Thank you for taking good care of our lacking youngest."

The woman with her hair neatly tied back smiled slyly, arms crossed.

She was the president of an insurance company that had spun off from A-Tac.

She looked at Ami without erasing her eye smile.

"Our youngest just won't grow up."

Ami blinked her round eyes a couple of times.

I watched as she started to say something but closed her mouth when Ye-hyeon responded. He greeted her smoothly, just as he had with the A-Tac chairman.

"President Choi Hyun-young. If anything, I'm the one receiving help from Ami."

It seemed like every word had to be chosen carefully.

The one who broke the stiflingly rigid atmosphere was the man who had been frowning faintly.

The second son of the Choi family.

"The creatures aren't rampaging—it's just that the elders can't agree on which territory to expand."

"Hyun-seok."

"Choi Hyun-seok."

As soon as the displeased remark ended, the chairman and president scolded him simultaneously.

In that moment, only Ye-hyeon smiled wryly.

It was a formal smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"In the end, the final decision on that territory rests with me."

"You talk so slick for a puppet of the elders."

"Choi Hyun-seok!"

"Choi Hyun-seok. If you're going to keep acting like this, leave."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

While the chairmen fumed, Yoon asked in a puzzled tone.

Of course, no one was fooled into thinking it was a genuine question. I watched in stunned admiration as my mentor masterfully put on an expression of 'I'm asking purely out of innocence.'

"I remember it not being this bad. Or is it that your days are numbered and I just don't know?"

"Forgetting the grace of being taken in by those beggar bastards and running your mouth!"

"Choi Hyun-seok! I told you not to lump Ami in with him!"

Choi Hyun-young snapped sharply at the second son.

...Wasn't the point of her anger a bit off?

But no one seemed surprised. As Choi Hyun-jun sighed, Choi Hyun-seok huffed, and Ye-hyeon maintained an eerily blank silence, Yoon and Ami's gazes turned to President Choi Hyun-young.

My mentor stared at her sullenly.

"Isn't the favoritism a bit much every time?"

"I only like normal people."

Choi Hyun-young was unapologetic.

She added with an expression as if stating the obvious.

"Ami is cute and lovable, but you're creepy."

I held back the laughter, Hildebert.

I pressed my lips into a straight line, barely containing the laugh threatening to burst out. It wasn't the mood to laugh, so I put all my effort into it.

Her tone of 'Why do you keep asking why I state the obvious?' and Yoon's utterly unoffended face were hilarious.

Ami nodding as if to say 'Yeah, the youngest brother is a bit creepy' was funny too.

Fortunately, no sound escaped.

But I guess I hadn't suppressed it as well as I thought.

The president, who had been smiling at Ami, rolled her eyes and looked at me.

"But Supreme Commander, whatever possessed you to bring an ordinary badger to a place like this?"

Feeling the stares flying my way, I hurriedly lifted my head.

Everyone in the Choi family was looking at me.

"Even if he's Poden's special guest, you wouldn't bring a general badger to a gathering of such dangerous people, right?"

"Mr. Talev."

Choi Hyun-jun walked over to me and extended his right hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Choi Hyun-jun."

"Ah."

I quickly shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Chairman."

I also shook hands with the eldest daughter and second son. Choi Hyun-young smiled at me during the handshake, but Choi Hyun-seok didn't smooth out his furrowed brow.

Once the formal greetings ended, the chairman turned his gaze to Ye-hyeon.

"I heard Mr. Talev is a new recruit badger."

"Yes. His mentor is Yoon."

There was a brief pause in the Choi family's movements at Ye-hyeon's calm response.

But they were certainly seasoned. Except for Choi Hyun-seok, the other two froze as if a pause button had been pressed momentarily, but they recovered without widening their eyes or choking.

Choi Hyun-jun even replied.

"You must have your reasons."

"No, big brother. It was the HR Director's decision."

"Then the HR Director must have had their reasons."

Choi Hyun-jun hurriedly glossed over the topic.

And he shifted the subject as if he didn't want to dwell on it further.

There was no need to react that strongly.

Or was that the normal, sensible reaction?

Anyway, the Choi chairman steered the conversation back to why he had brought me here.

Since Poden invited me, and so on.

Of course, that wasn't the straightforward answer they wanted.

"I thought he was just an ordinary badger from what I saw in the article. Even when I heard Poden specially invited him to the salon, I figured it was just to draw some attention with a half-decent badger. But if he were that ordinary, you wouldn't have turned down the invitation when the elders said they were coming."

"He's an ordinary badger who won't lose his life even seeing the elders' faces."

Ye-hyeon replied without erasing his faint smile.

"For now, that's the only way I can explain it."

"Is he a new face from the high command?"

"No. Ska and Gilbert are doing plenty well enough."

"Then is he being groomed as one of the elders' retainers?"

"No."

Ye-hyeon's voice grew firm in response to Choi Hyun-young's musing question.

The Supreme Commander replied politely but with a chilling edge.

"Hildebert is my man right now."

The Choi family stared at me intently.

But I had no words to retort. After all, this was news to me too.

I had only recently learned that there were multiple elders. I had never seen them in person, of course, and I didn't even know exactly what an elder's retainer was.

All I could feel was gratitude that Ye-hyeon had firmly claimed ownership over me....

As I withstood the incoming stares, I tilted my head slightly.

They observed me for a long time.

In the reception room filled with the pleasant scent of solid wood.

Choi Hyun-jun slowly broke the heavy silence that filled the room.

"If he survives, we'll be seeing him often."

Not fully understanding his words, I quietly bowed my head.

*

Ye-hyeon expressed to Ami that he would prefer if she didn't attend the salon if possible.

Because people who wouldn't do her any good were coming.

The round-eyed senior didn't seem surprised or upset. Instead, she nodded calmly as if she had expected it and said she would go to her adoptive father's place before disappearing.

The Choi family said they had matters to handle before heading to the salon venue.

So Yoon, Ye-hyeon, and I went to the annex first.

The annex was bright and airy.

A vaulted ceiling opened up the view. Crystal chandeliers sparkled from above. Tall windows and pristine white tablecloths.

People dressed impeccably engaged in pleasant conversation.

It was a stately space where it was hard to find any detail that hadn't been meticulously attended to.

Finger sandwiches. Pastries. Biscuits and chocolates. Fruit and wine jellies. Sparkling water. Sherry. Butter-slathered bread and scones. Roasted meats with vegetables and potatoes, beef steak pie. Salmon meunière. Fried oysters. Thinly sliced turkey and ham.

The menu was strangely classic.

Was that the theme? Or the hosts' taste?

Either way, the chefs must have worked hard.

I thought I'd fill up on those later. Just the smell was whetting my appetite.

As I looked around with growing anticipation, I nearly bumped into the seniors who had stopped walking.

Yoon and Ye-hyeon had halted in front of a table with finger sandwiches and gray eggs.

"Hilde."

"Yes."

"While we're here, try not to stray from my side unless absolutely necessary."

Ye-hyeon said, his gaze fixed on the far end of the vast hall.

"You can't have a private meeting with the elders."

I followed Ye-hyeon's gaze.

The ones whose existence I had inferred from the Supreme Commander's office but hadn't heard any further explanation about. The powerholders who called someone like me a Titan and wielded influence over Ye-hyeon that he couldn't ignore.

Those who fully enjoyed the privilege of ageless bodies but whose very existence was unknown to civilians.

It wasn't hard to pick them out where Ye-hyeon's eyes landed.

Influencers, successful entrepreneurs, celebrities, politicians. Even among the star-studded guests invited here, their presence stood out because of their own star quality.

Even if they were smiling brightly, the aura they unconsciously exuded couldn't be ignored.

Getting close would mean being devoured.

I looked at the tall platinum-haired middle-aged man and the middle-aged woman with her wavy silver hair tied up, then muttered.

"Their aggression isn't hidden at all."

Ye-hyeon turned to me with wide eyes.

The Supreme Commander looked at me with genuine surprise, then spotted the pair I was watching and blinked several times.

Then he burst into laughter.

"Let's go say hello."

After a while, he collected himself and curved his eyes beautifully.

"It seems like it'll be fine."