TOIGC 72

Chapter 72 …

Five Birds with One Stone (2)

<Hey, out! watch>

Right as Choi Deok-bae shouted, Yoongi threw up a hand to shield his temple while intentionally hurling himself against the restroom wall with a loud thud.

Watanabe had probably envisioned seeing Yoongi sprawled out on the floor in a pathetic, half-exposed heap, but Yoongi had already zipped up beforehand, so no such embarrassing wardrobe malfunction occurred. Still, the fact that he had managed to land a clean hit on Yoongi was enough for Watanabe to break into a smug sneer.

“Who the hell do you think you are, crawling out of Choseon… A weakling like you trying to pick a fight with a Japanese man gets you exactly what you deserve.” <Will Get Hey, Taking a and are at beating for? his in kid! lights look of out! piece pride punch this trash? up waiting what you>

Instead of springing to his feet, Yoongi deliberately pushed Watanabe’s buttons even further.

Must run in the family to have a pot in your name, seeing how easily you fly off the handle. Did your parents pick that out for you? Was it your uncle, or your dad? Ah, wait—since the two of them are literally the same person, I guess it was a joint decision.

Watanabe completely snapped.

He had barely managed to keep a lid on his temper until now, primarily because his parents were, in fact, biological siblings. Even though their family’s formidable political clout had allowed them to pull strings and doctor the official paperwork to make everything look legitimate on paper, Watanabe had eventually stumbled upon the dark truth about his heritage. Having that absolute taboo trampled on by a lowly Chosenging—someone he viewed as dirt—was enough to send him into a blind, uncontrollable rage.

Of course, driving Watanabe to this exact state of fury was precisely what Yoongi wanted. Naturally, he hadn’t known about Watanabe’s disturbing family background beforehand, but it made the outcome all the sweeter.

“Die! Just die! Die, you bastard!”

Shrieking like a madman, Watanabe unloaded a flurry of kicks directly at Yoongi, who had curled up against the base of the wall, leaving deep, distinct footprints all over Yoongi’s jacket.

Guess the guy skips leg day.

As an active model, Watanabe naturally fell on the exceptionally slender side. Male models generally split into two categories: the chiseled muscular types and the walking-skeleton aesthetic. Watanabe firmly belonged to the latter camp, meaning his frantic kicks packed zero actual horsepower.

Even so.

“Gah! Argh! Aaaaargh!”

Yoongi let out a blood-curdling shriek, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance of utter agony. At the same time, he kept twisting the knife in Watanabe’s deepest insecurity.

“So it’s true! Your dad really is your uncle!” “You little piece of shit!”

Watanabe’s savage screaming, Yoongi’s theatrical wails, and the echoing thuds of kicks reverberating off the tiled restroom walls were more than enough to pierce the soundproofing and spill out into the hallway. Finally, they succeeded in drawing out Yamada and the rest of the entourage from the conference room.

“You absolute bastard, where do you get off…”

As the door swung open, Watanabe’s outburst rang out clearly for everyone to hear. Right on cue, Yoongi squeezed his eyes shut and played dead.

“Yoongi!”

Seo Jong-hoon lost his mind the second he saw the scene, charging into the restroom and tossing Watanabe aside like a ragdoll before scooping Yoongi up into his arms.

“Aack!”

Caught completely off guard, Watanabe went flying backward, colliding hard with the two Yakuza thugs and sprawling across the floor, though absolutely nobody cared.

“T-this is a disaster!”

Yamada shrieked in horror. Nakamura’s face drained to a ghostly white as he scrambled toward Seo Jong-hoon, who was carrying the motionless Yoongi.

“T-to the nurse’s office…” “Shut your trap! What nurse’s office? We need to get him to a hospital right now!” “B-but we need to administer first aid…” “I said shut the hell up!”

Just as Seo Jong-hoon prepared to storm out of the Hermès Japan building, a sharp, mechanical click rang through the air.

Click! Click!

Two rapid shutter snaps followed in quick succession.

Startled by the sound, everyone whipped their heads toward the source.

“Y-you, what on earth do you think you’re…”

Before Yamada could finish stammering out his question in a trembling voice, Cho Jung-woo tossed the camera straight to Cha Pil-gyu instead of answering.

Nod!

With a sharp nod, Cha Pil-gyu bolted out of the Hermès Japan office with blistering speed, and Seo Jong-hoon immediately sprinted right behind him carrying Yoongi. Cho Jung-woo chased after them at top speed as well.

“S-stop them!”

Watanabe yelled out once he finally processed what was happening, but all three men had already vanished from the building.

Hermès headquarters was absolute total chaos.

They had gone through hell and high water to dispatch their newly signed star model to the Japanese branch for a high-profile photoshoot, only for a violent assault to break out right inside the branch office. To make matters worse, the primary aggressor wasn’t some random outsider, but one of the branch’s own contracted models, magnifying the fallout exponentially. It was serious enough that Fabien actually hopped on a transatlantic flight straight to Tokyo.

“Are you alright, Yoon-san?!”

Rushing straight to the hospital room instead of the regional branch office, Fabien took one look at the situation inside and choked on his own breath.

Looming large in the room were massive, burly U.S. soldiers decked out in full military uniform.

The U.S. military being here means…

The moment Fabien caught sight of Guster, he looked ready to pass out on the spot.

“G-Guster-san…”

Even if Guster didn’t have direct, day-to-day involvement with Hermès corporate, everyone at headquarters knew exactly whose granddaughter Meryl was, sending Fabien’s carefully waxed mustache trembling in sheer terror.

“I hear my prospective granddaughter-in-law’s fiancé just got physically assaulted, so I figured I’d drop by…”

Fabien felt the room spinning violently before his eyes. Guster had casually dropped the designation of prospective granddaughter-in-law’s fiancé right out in the open. Then, catching sight of Meryl standing nearby sniffing back tears, Fabien felt like he had been dragged straight down to the seventh circle of hell.

“Fabien, what on earth were you people thinking? Of all places, how does something like this happen to Yoongi right under Hermès’ nose… How am I even supposed to look him in the eye after this…”

Though Hermès headquarters was completely innocent in the matter, Fabien couldn’t dare utter a single word of defense in front of Meryl.

“I am deeply, truly sorry… I will head straight over to the branch office shortly to get to the bottom of—” “What is there even left to investigate?!”

Meryl slammed a set of three photographs down onto the floor.

The pictures scattered across the tiles, and with every single photograph Fabien picked up, he felt another wave of dizziness wash over him. One showed Seo Jong-hoon carrying an injured Yoongi; another captured Watanabe sitting miserably on the floor flanked by his Yakuza thugs; and the final photo captured the wider scene.

Anyone could tell at a single glance that Watanabe had savagely beaten Yoongi, primarily because of the distinct boot print stamped squarely across Yoongi’s clothes—a print that matched the exact tread pattern of the shoes Watanabe was wearing.

“Oh, god…”

As Fabien’s hands shook uncontrollably, Guster quietly reached down and scooped up the photographs from the floor.

“Just in case, I think I’ll hold onto these.” “Erm… if you leave those photos with me, I can use them as concrete evidence for headquarters…” “Do you take me for some naive child born yesterday?!”

Guster’s sudden roar made Fabien’s neck turtle backward into his collar. Truth be told, just as Guster suspected, Fabien had indeed been plotting a way to quietly make those incriminating photos disappear depending on how the situation played out.

“Get out of my sight!”

Ultimately, Fabien was booted out of the hospital room and forced to head straight to the Hermès Japan branch office empty-handed. Moments later, the U.S. soldiers brought by Guster took up post outside the hospital room door as well.

“You can open your eyes now, Yoongi.”

At Meryl’s bright, cheerful prompt, Yoongi fluttered his eyes open.

“Everyone’s acting skills are top-tier, aren’t they?”

The hospital room wasn’t just occupied by Meryl and Guster; Seo Jong-hoon, Cho Jung-woo, and Cha Pil-gyu were all gathered inside as well. In short, every single one of them had executed Yoongi’s meticulously scripted play to absolute perfection.

“I was genuinely terrified, you know. I thought you actually got hurt…”

As Meryl gently stroked his forehead with soft hands, Yoongi closed his eyes to savor the touch and replied softly.

“It honestly was a bit risky. The punk’s very first swing came straight at my temple.” “What?”

Startled by the admission, Meryl instinctively tightened her grip, making Yoongi feel like his scalp was stretching backward.

“Well, I blocked it, of course. Anyway, since the guy has a short fuse, the rest played right into our hands. If we play our cards right with this incident, Meryl, you won’t ever have to stress about working as a captive exclusive model for Hermès again.”

Hearing those words, Meryl looked at him with melting eyes.

“You went through all this trouble just for me?” “To be honest, I always felt a bit guilty about getting you roped into that exclusive Hermès contract in the first place. I firmly believe that kind of choice should always belong entirely to you, Meryl.” “Yoongi…” “Plus, as a nice little bonus, the people we didn’t like are about to get unceremoniously canned. At the very least, that punk Watanabe is going to get kicked out of Hermès just like a pot boiling over and getting tossed off the stove.” “Truly killing two birds with one stone.”

At Guster’s remark, Yoongi chuckled.

“Make that five birds with one stone. We’ve successfully engineered a massive psychological debt from Hermès.”

Guster nodded slowly, his respect and trust for Yoongi deepening by the minute.

With a kid like this, I can hand Meryl over to him down the road with absolute peace of mind.

Truth be told, Yoongi could easily have executed this entire scheme entirely on his own without telling anyone. There was no actual functional need for the rest of them to play along in an act. Yet, Yoongi had laid all his cards on the table for them, successfully cementing an unbreakable foundation of trust.

Four birds with one stone, indeed. Guster, along with Seo Jong-hoon, Cho Jung-woo, and Cha Pil-gyu, felt their loyalty spike instinctively, deeply impressed by the sheer tactical brilliance of the man they served.

“The real MVP of this whole operation is Uncle. Snapping those photos right in the thick of it made our case completely airtight.”

At Yoongi’s praise, everyone turned toward Cho Jung-woo with warm smiles and a round of applause.

“To be honest, it was my first time ever traveling abroad, so I had my camera slung around my neck just trying to soak in some tourist vibes. But once I saw how things were developing, I had this gut feeling we might need solid proof, so I just started snapping.” B”As expected of a top scorer from the Judicial Research and Training Institute!”

When Yoongi gave him a thumbs-up, Cho Jung-woo offered an embarrassed smile and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Expect a nice fat bonus later on.”

The combination of public praise and a monetary reward stretched Cho Jung-woo’s smile from ear to ear, lifting the atmosphere in the room to an all-time high.

“Hermès will probably reach out with an official response sometime tomorrow. Until then, I’d like to get some rest—do you guys mind stepping out for a bit?”

At Yoongi’s well-timed request, the group smoothly cleared out of the hospital room.

Well, everyone except Meryl.

Since even Guster didn’t raise any objections, only Yoongi and Meryl were left behind in the private suite.

“I missed you.”

At Yoongi’s words, a soft blush bloomed across Meryl’s cheeks.

“It hasn’t even been that long since we last saw each other…” “So, are you telling me you didn’t miss me at all, Meryl?” “N-no way!” “It must have been tough having to act in front of a bunch of strangers like that, but you did amazing. Thank you.” “Thank you for what… I’d gladly do a lot more than that if it’s for you.”

Under normal circumstances, the shy Meryl would never have been able to pull off a performance like that in front of Seo Jong-hoon, Cho Jung-woo, and Cha Pil-gyu. But the sheer driving force of love had empowered Meryl to completely override her social anxieties. And because the context was so explosive, even Fabien hadn’t suspected for a single second that Meryl’s panic was an act. The emotional impact was monumental, successfully driving home the narrative to headquarters that their star exclusive model had been profoundly alienated and wronged.

“So, give me a kiss.” “Huh?”

Meryl blinked in sudden disorientation.

“A kiss. Up until now, it’s always been me stealing surprise kisses. Back when we were ten, and again just recently. Those kinds of fleeting moments don’t leave any lingering aftertaste.” “W-wait. That’s…”

Her face flushing a brilliant shade of crimson, a flustered Meryl darted her eyes frantically around the room, completely at a loss for what to do.

“I thought you said you’d do anything for me. Guess that was a lie.”

Seeing Yoongi put on a playfully pouty expression, Meryl let out a soft groan of defeat. Finally, resigning herself to her fate, she leaned her upper body forward toward the lips of the boy lying in the hospital bed.

And silence.

Amidst a delightfully prolonged silence, Yoongi grew up just a little bit more.