Fair Trade

Sei was deeply worried about how to react to Yuri’s words wisely.

In the first place, the context of the conversation itself was different. She had said, ‘I can’t go out with you because my life would be in danger,’ while he responded with, ‘I won’t kill you if you tell me that you want to part ways.’

Haa, now I can brag about a mafia boss asking me out…

However, there was also no point in keeping her mouth shut about it as the probability of being confessed to by a mafia member was much lower than winning the lottery.

If she was lucky enough to be a grandmother celebrating her 100th birthday, today’s events would be a Thanksgiving story.

Sei eventually chose silence as her response. Like a girl with a zipper for a mouth, she picked up a spoon and began to finish the leftovers on her plate.

“Are you not going to answer me?”

Despite the man’s grievance-filled tone, she shrugged her shoulders and shoved the pasta and broccoli into her mouth.

Amused by her nonchalant and calm reaction, Yuri smiled and wiped the sauce from Sei’s mouth with his thumb.

“Okay, I’ll interpret your silence as a ‘yes,’ so from today onward, we’ll be lovers.”

Sei almost spewed out her food for the second time that day and shook her head vigorously.

“Then, shall we start tomorrow?”

She chewed everything in her mouth and swallowed it, then put down her spoon loudly. She had to change the subject somehow. If she became Yuri’s lover, she was sure she’d suffer from all kinds of kidnapping threats.

“I’m really curious, have you ever been in a relationship?”

“If I’ve never been in a relationship at this age, don’t you think there must be a problem?”

“Yuri, how old are you?”

He blinked his eyes as if he had heard an unexpected question for a moment, then lightly shook his head and smiled.

“I didn’t realize that I’ve never told you before.”

“For dating… I think the parties involved need to trust each other. Of course, good feelings between the couple are also important, but… When it comes to trust, I can’t trust you, Mr. Petrov.”

Yuri read the sincerity in Sei’s black eyes. But he didn’t feel good when he found out that she really meant it. This was also one of the bizarre aspects of the woman.

“If trust is the basis of dating, then I guess I’ve never been in a relationship. This would be my first relationship.”

Her jaw dropped at his overly straightforward conclusion.

“I am 35 years old in the Korean age. I’m long past the age to flirt like kids. Are you sure you’re ready to handle everything?”

“Thirty-five?”

“Yes, why? Is there a problem?”

Sei shook her head because she thought something bigger would happen if she had said she had a problem with that.

“No, I just had a vague guess about it. So… can you please tell me what the situation is? I know Valentin will just keep coming for me. That’s why I told him that I had nothing to do with you. I’m a little… scared. My dad was framed and put in jail. The man who made the deal with Lily, the man who falsely accused my dad, it’s Valentin… Not Gavin.”

As her voice became smaller, Sei looked up and watched him attentively listening to her. When she looked into his eyes, the words that she had been holding onto spilled out one by one.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t end up like them. That’s why I don’t want to be exposed to dangerous situations…”

A hand touched Sei’s cheek as she blurted out her fears. Yuri said as he stared at her with a smile on his face, “It depends on whose protection you’re under. As long as I protect you, that won’t happen.”

He added quietly, “To do that, we need to get closer.”

“And… your father, Jang Young-guk, may refuse parole.”

Her eyes flew wide open.

“Why?”

“He might be in more danger if he goes outside. It might be better to stay protected in a safe place.”

“… He’s in prison. How will he be protected there?”

“Gavin is the smartest FBI agent that I know of and he has a good head on his shoulders. That means such a man wouldn’t have put Jang Young-guk in prison due to a mistake or due to his emotions.”

“Then…”

Pinching the slightly dazed Sei’s cheek, he stood up with his hands on the table. The wind fluttered his hair.

“After you’re done eating, let’s go for a walk. I hate feeling bloated. I need to digest all this food.”

Sei wanted to ask what he needed to digest when he hadn’t eaten anything. But she got up quietly and followed Yuri. She felt instinctively that she had to stick close to him in order to hear the story through to the end.

In addition, if she didn’t tread well from this point on, the safe old age that she always dreamed of reaching would become an illusion. Yuri smiled as he watched her get up smoothly despite her doubtful expression.

“I have someone to introduce you to. Actually, Camille has been waiting for us for a few hours already.”

*  *  *