Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

He pulled back his shoulders as he took a deep breath . It felt as if the fresh air was sending stimuli to his five viscera . The air on earth was delicious, and it couldn’t be compared with the stale air in Armstrong city .

‘Is anything out of place?’

Sungyoon had entered the restroom and kept rearranging his hair in front of the mirror . He also sniffed at his clothes .

He had almost looked like a beggar on the moon, but that Sungyoon was nowhere to be seen now . He had taken a shower and had washed his clothes . Before he departed for earth, he had paid a lot of money to gain access to a shower stall and a laundromat .

One might think he was going on a date, but that wasn’t the case at all . He had cleaned himself for Shinhae . It was all for her .

‘Last time, I really didn’t have any money, so I came back looking like a beggar . I have some breathing room now . There is absolutely no reason to meet Shinhae in a dirty state . ’

It didn’t bother him if he went on a date with a beautiful woman wearing wrinkled clothes . He didn’t mind going out with uncombed hair . However, he couldn’t do that when meeting Shinhae . He always wanted to show the best version of himself to his daughter . It was what he desired .

When he made sure nothing was out of place, he went towards the space center where Shinhae would be waiting for him with Jimin . Soon, he caught sight of his daughter . She was peeking towards the exit to see when her father would be coming out .

“Shinhae!”

“Dad!”

As always, Shinhae ran towards him at full speed as soon as she saw him . She shot towards her father like a cannon . Sungyoon easily caught her with his body .

“How are you?”

“I’m good!”

Shinhae had tears in her eyes, as she rubbed her cheeks against him .

“You don’t stink this time, dad . ”

“I made an effort . ”

At that moment, he knew he had made the right decision . He had let out a sigh when he had seen the enormous cost of using a shower stall and the laundromat for the first time . But, all the regret of spending so much money evaporated into thin air at this moment .

“My daughter... Let me get a good look at your face . ”

Sungyoon put Shinhae in front of him, so he could get a close look at her face .

Her face was cute, and her eyes shined bright . In Sungyoon’s eyes, she was the most beautiful girl in this world .

“Hmm? I haven’t seen these clothes before . ”

“Unni bought it for me!”

Shinhae pointed backwards . He caught sight of Jimin, who was watching the father and daughter reunion from the back . She had a soft smile on her lips .

“Did she? It is very pretty . Did you thank unni?”

“Yes! I said ‘Thank you very much’ a lot of times . Unni bought me a lot of other things too . ”

It seemed he, once again, owed a lot to Jimin once . While he had been away, she had provided for Shinhae in many ways . Jimin treated his daughter like her own daughter or a sister . Sungyoon felt favorable feelings grow towards Jimin in droves . There was still a chance that she was trying to get in his good grace by taking care of Shinhae . But if that was her plan, it was very effective . Even if she worked him like a workhorse, he wouldn’t complain at this point .

Sungyoon held Shinhae’s hand as he walked towards Jimin .

“Were your travels good?”

“Yes . Thank you very much for taking care of Shinhae until now . ”

“It’s nothing . I do it because it is something I like to do . ”

She still maintained a cold expression when dealing with Sungyoon . However, her cold visage broke whenever she looked at Shinhae . She had a beautiful smile on her lips .

The three of them slowly walked towards the exit . The people around them kept glancing towards them . A sufficiently handsome man was walking with an eye-catching beauty . A very cute child held both of their hands, as she let out a bright laughter . One might say they were the image of an ideal family that one might see in a drama . Of course, the two of them would deny that this was true . The child wouldn’t know the implications, so she would tilt her head in confusion .

“Is that your harvest?”

There was surprise in Jimin’s eyes as she looked at the three large bags being dragged by Sungyoon .

“Yes . I brought back a lot more than before, so I had to pay the carriage fee . ”

Of course, the fee was outrageously expensive . Sungyoon frowned at the memory of having to spend so much of his money .

“... that’s amazing . ”

Jimin was an owner of a small company, and she couldn’t provide much support to Sungyoon . Despite these disadvantages, he had entered the labyrinth by himself and had gained so much in a short amount of time . This wasn’t something that should be possible . Her last two employees, together, had brought in less than half of his harvest in the same short period of time . No, there could be no comparison .

‘I might have to make a contract with a professional company that deals with transportation of goods . ’

Jimin had made preparations beforehand, but she realized that she needed to accelerate one of her plans .

However, that wasn’t the only thing that caused her to be surprised .

Jimin’s eyes widened when Sungyoon handed over his Devices and Gems for storage .

‘He has more now?’

The number of Gems and Devices had gone up in number . It wasn’t just the quantity . The quality of the rank of the Gems he possessed had gone up . It was a very big jump . If he could use them, he would immediately be assigned a Personal labyrinth .

“It seems I have a lot I have to hear from you . ”

“I have a lot to tell you . ”

As they watched the Devices and Gems being stored, the two talked to each other . However, they didn’t go any further into that topic .

Afterward, the three of them got into Jimin’s car, and they drove to Seoul . Sungyoon was back to his nice house after three months .

* * *

It had been awhile since Sungyoon enjoyed a long break . He played with Shinhae all day except when she was at the kindergarten . Aside from that, he had nothing to do, so he lazed around the house . He lived like a wastrel, yet he had earned the right to do that .

He hadn’t been able to wash every day on the Moon . He consumed water and vitamin packs daily for sustenance . He was able to occasionally eat potatoes and sausages . Hence, he was very glad that he could live like an actual person on earth . He could eat what he wanted . He could wash his clothes and himself daily .

Still, it was about time to end this lifestyle of living like a wastrel . The vacation given to him by Jimin was coming to an end, and it was time for him to report to her . He had to tell her what had happened on the moon .

It had been a while since he’d visited his company, but nothing had changed . Sungyoon opened the door as he entered the building .

As always, not a single employee was present inside the company .

‘I wonder if the president is in her office . ’

He was about to knock on the door to her office .

“I told you to give up on that!”

A loud noise could be heard from within the office . Sungyoon had been about to knock on the door, but his hand froze . He felt a sense of deja vu . He had experienced this not too long ago . The so-called mother of Jimin had barged into the office around three months ago . She had caused a big ruckus like this .

‘Did that woman come back again?’

According to Jimin, her mother was a trash that could give his ex-wife a run for her money . Naturally, displeasure rose in his chest . However, it wasn’t Jimin’s mother . The voice was clearly the voice of a man .

In the past, he had waited outside of the door . He had waited for the conversation to end . However, this time, he knocked on the door . He thought that Jimin might be in a similar situation as last time when her mother had visited .

Knock! Knock!

He had knocked pretty hard, so the people inside should have heard it . As proof, the ruckus inside immediately quieted down .

“Please enter . ”

As expected, Jimin was inside . He heard her call out . She sounded really tired .

Sungyoon opened the door and entered the room . The first thing he did was to make an assessment of the situation inside .

As always, Jimin was sitting behind her desk . She had a frown on her face, and she was massaging her temples . It seemed she was dealing with something troublesome . There was a stranger standing on the other side of the desk . This man had been the one to yell out .

It seemed the man was disgruntled by something . He glared daggers at Sungyoon . Sungyoon swore this was the first time seeing this man .

“Do you have a guest?”

Sungyoon had heard the commotion outside, but he spoke in a calm manner .

“It’s fine . He’ll be leaving soon . ”

“Noona!”

The man yelled out in anger . Sungyoon became surprised by how the man addressed Jimin .

‘He is her brother?’

Her mother had yelled at her, and now her brother was yelling at her in the office . He didn’t know the exact relationship between the two, but her relationship with her family was a bigger mess than he had originally surmised .

Jimin didn’t even blink when her brother raised his voice .

“I would like to hear your report . ”

Jimin decided to act as if Woosung wasn’t even there . His face turned red, but she didn’t even spare him a glance .

Sungyoon hesitated for a moment, but he decided to go along with Jimin’s plan .

‘What should I tell her first?’

Sungyoon carefully went over his thoughts .

“First, I would like to talk about the Gold Gem you gave me... . ”

The chance of him being able to enter the Great Labyrinth had gone up . Sungyoon wanted to tell her the good news first, so he spoke about the Gold Gem .

However, the first one to react to the news about the Gold Gem wasn’t Jimin . It was Woosung .

“Gold Gem?”

Woosung’s expression became oddly distorted .

Woosung had a rough idea about Jimin’s current state of affair . Her business had been a failure for the past couple years, and she was running a massive deficit . He also knew that Jimin didn’t have personal connections, that she could use to raise money . There was no way she would be able to buy a Jewel Rank Gem . It was very difficult to acquire one .

That meant there was only one possibility .

“Did you really give that to him?”

“It is none of your business . ”

Jimin was cold as she responded . However, Woosung couldn’t let it go .

“What nonsense are you spouting! That’s our father’s keepsake!”

Woosung was overcome by his anger, so he slammed his hands down on the desk . He yelled louder than before .

Crunch!

He had the strength of a Connector . The slam elicited an ominous sound from the desk .

‘It was something left behind by her father?’

Sungyoon became surprised by this fact . He hadn’t given much thought when he had received the Gold Gem alongside the Purple Gems . He thought it was just an item that would be able to save his life once . He never expected it to be an heirloom left behind by her father .

Jimin didn’t deny his assertion, so it seemed that her brother was telling the truth . Sungyoon knew she was obsessed with anything that had to do with her father . The fact that she had handed over her father’s Gem was very surprising .

“I’ll say this again . . . ”

Jimin’s sharp eyes glared at Woosung, who was panting . Even as a Connector, Woosung flinched when faced with her glare .

“This is none of your business . ”

Her voice was sharp as a blade . It was cold as the wind of Siberia during winter . Her voice was dripping with ice . Woosung flinched once again . From personal experience, he knew his noona was beyond angry right now .

However, Woosung was no longer a child . He was past the age where he would back off because his sister glared at him .

In many ways, it would have been much better if he backed off while crying . It was what he had done in his childhood . His inflated ego made the situation worse .

“What? Did you fall for this man or something?”

Woosung looked at Sungyoon as he made that sarcastic remark .

Sungyoon’s outer appearance had returned to his 20s, so he was quite handsome . As a Connector, he didn’t have a single ounce of fat, and he looked full of vitality . He probably looked much better than himself at his prime during his 20s .

“He has that look . He looks like a casanova that leeches off women . ”

Woosung kept insulting Sungyoon . Of course, Sungyoon’s sense of self had bottomed out already, so his words were useless . It barely hurt him .

“You said you want to find father, yet you gave our father’s keepsake to a man of this caliber? Do you really want to find traces of our father...!”

Slap!

A pale hand slapped Woosung’s cheek . Woosung stopped speaking . He looked at Jimin with a stunned expression on his face . His cheek stung, so he reflexively put a hand over it . She was a normal woman, so she couldn’t cause much pain to him, who was a Connector . However, her slap had been enough to cause emotional shock .

“Get out . ”

She had already gotten out of her chair and was pointing towards the door . Flames of anger were burning in her eyes .