Ch.100Chapter 100. Let’s Get Hit, You Bastard (2)

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jake Prime’s lawyer.”

“……”

Coward.

Bringing an adult to a kids’ fight?

I frowned, shook hands with the lawyer once, and sat back down.

“Today’s conversation will be recorded in full.”

“Huh.”

This was enough to drive me crazy.

I was planning to have a moderate conversation between men, but this lawyer guy seemed determined to ruin it all.

But how does a kid who’s barely grown have a personal lawyer anyway?

Kids are supposed to learn manners by getting beaten up when they’re young.

This is why rich kids are…

“Why did you call me here?”

“……”

“Mr. Cuss’s father?”

“……”

Damn it. Knowing I was being recorded made it impossible to speak.

The thought that carelessly spoken words could become grounds for a lawsuit…

I felt a strong urge to emergency-call Juliane right now.

‘You can do this, Jinsoo Kim!’

It’s not like I’m some idiot who can’t speak without cursing or making sexual jokes.

Speaking without giving grounds for a lawsuit should be easy enough.

“Nice weather today.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“How are you doing today?”

“What? Well, I’m… doing okay. Yes.”

“……”

What should I talk about now?

Damn, this is maddening.

After filtering my thoughts two or three times in my brain, only a few drops of words came out.

At this rate, it would take all day.

“Jinsoo. Why are you acting so uptight?”

“What? I’m uptight? Me?”

“Yes.”

“I’m being quiet because I’m observing and exploring the situation.”

“Stop talking nonsense and just go for it, Jinsoo. Don’t act like a coward.”

“……”

Coward?

Did he just call me a coward?

I can’t believe this shit.

Say it directly.

Goddamn Jinsoo Kim is leaving.

“You little piece of shit.”

“Urk?! Excuse me?”

I slammed my hand on the desk and lowered my voice.

Even though I don’t know much about American law, I know enough to understand there’s no bullshit law like defamation here.

I wouldn’t get handcuffed just for cursing a bit.

“Spit it out. The day of the shooting. What were you doing alone with Cuss in the supply room? Report by the minute. Now.”

“B-by the minute?”

“Yeah, you bastard.”

“Uh, well… After the siren went off, so around 12:51, I was in the supply room getting physical education equipment…”

This crazy guy actually started explaining minute by minute.

At 52 minutes he spotted Cuss running, let her in, at 53 minutes they sat back-to-back, and so on and so forth…

I listened with my arms crossed, occasionally glancing at Cuss to gauge her reaction.

She wasn’t denying or correcting anything, so it all seemed to be true.

“And around 08 minutes, Cuss was shivering and said she was cold…”

“So you hugged her? When she said she was cold, you just went ahead and embraced her?!”

“N-no! I just took off my cardigan and put it on her! I swear to God I never touched Cuss with any ulterior motives!”

“Is that true, Cuss?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

Ugh.

Why is it true?

This is ridiculous.

A silver-haired beauty is trembling right in front of him, and he didn’t even touch her?

Is this guy gay?

“Hey. Don’t misunderstand, let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

“Are you gay?”

“Uh…?”

This fucking bastard.

Seeing his expression turn to bewilderment, I was certain.

So he’s a gay.

That was somewhat reassuring.

At least he wouldn’t be lusting after Cuss.

“A-actually…”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not sure myself…”

He hung his head low.

Oh for fuck’s sake.

Not gay but bisexual.

That means Cuss isn’t out of danger after all.

My head was aching, and I held my forehead while what’s-his-name continued his explanation.

“It was around 14 minutes. That’s when the gunshots started again in rapid succession. They sounded close, so I thought bullets might penetrate the walls or door. So I covered Cuss with my body to protect her…”

“So you did hug her? Is that your excuse? Huh?”

“There was no physical contact! I just covered her with my body! I swear to heaven!”

“Is that true, Cuss?”

“Um… I’m not sure. I was just curled up in fear, so I don’t remember if our bodies touched or not.”

“See, you bastard? She says she’s not sure. That means you did embrace her.”

“How does that make any sense?!”

How does it make sense, you bastard?

Because it’s suspicious, that’s why.

Having a silver-haired, absolutely gorgeous girl trembling in fear right in front of you, and you only cover her without hugging her or groping her chest? Does that make any sense?

You were guilty from the moment you were trapped in that supply room with her.

“Tell me the truth. If you’re honest, I’ll forgive you.”

“But I am telling the truth!”

“Can you swear you didn’t touch her at all?”

“Well… maybe our fingertips… might have touched…”

“See, you bastard!”

He’s confessing with his own mouth.

How dare this kid who’s barely grown touch my kid?

If that lawyer wasn’t here, I would have beaten him to a pulp right now.

“But the space was so small, our bodies could have touched!”

“What did you say? Mr. Lawyer! If I punch this bastard right now, would that constitute grounds for a lawsuit?”

“Yes, it would.”

“Grrrr…!”

This is really driving me crazy.

Normally, this is where I’d break his nose and then forgive him.

This primitive system called law was interfering with a conversation between men.

“I’m sorry, sir!”

“What?”

“I’m truly sorry! I caused the misunderstanding from the beginning. Even if there was unintentional physical contact, I definitely acted to protect Cuss. This fact remains unchanged. I just hope you’ll believe me.”

“……”

He bowed his head to me in apology.

He must have heard somewhere that this is how people apologize in Asia…

I didn’t like it at all.

But looking at Cuss still clinging to my shoulder, my resolve wavered.

Cuss had definitely said this guy was nice.

She wasn’t stupid enough to not notice if someone approached her with bad intentions.

As much as I disliked it, I had no choice but to trust this guy who looked like he might grow up to be a pimp.

“Damn it. I’ll believe you. J… J…”

“Jake, sir.”

“Right. Jake.”

Like I’d forget your name.

I’ll probably remember it forever.

Anyway, judging by the fact that he wasn’t mentioning anything about Cuss’s true identity, he didn’t seem to have figured it out properly.

According to Cuss, her tentacle had touched his knee.

He probably thought it was a hand or a thigh or something.

If so, that was a relief for me.

I wouldn’t need to put on a show to silence him.

“But, Mr. Cuss’s father.”

“Drop the ‘father’ part.”

“Why, sir?”

“It sounds weird. Just call me mister.”

It felt uncomfortable being called “father” – like I was meeting my daughter’s boyfriend she brought home.

“Yes, mister. Then I’ll ask my question.”

“Go ahead.”

“This might be rude, but… what is Cuss’s identity?”

“Kuhup?!”

I almost spat out my coffee.

Did I just hear that correctly?

As I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, Cuss silently pulled out a tissue and wiped my mouth.

“What the hell did you just say?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“No, I genuinely didn’t hear you. What did you say?”

“I… I asked what Cuss’s identity is…”

I hadn’t misheard.

This bastard had already figured out quite a bit.

The fact that he mentioned “identity” rather than asking something like “Does she wear an extreme dildo between her legs?” or “Does she wear an anal plug tail?” made it clear.

He might not know she was an alien, but he was certainly convinced that Cuss was something different from a human.

“Identity…”

I clicked my tongue while looking at Cuss.

Judging by her pure gaze and tilted head, she hadn’t been paying attention to our conversation at all.

If she had understood, she would have been the first to panic about being discovered.

“I don’t know either.”

“Excuse me?”

What wind was blowing?

I found myself speaking honestly.

I don’t know either.

No one would call an alien creature that enters and controls a human body a human.

But what if that creature is adapting to human society and cannot leave the human body for several years?

Isn’t that essentially human?

Except for the tail, isn’t it no different from a human?

It was a difficult question.

Since I hadn’t reached a conclusion myself, I couldn’t give a hasty answer.

“I don’t know either, so think about it yourself.”

“Ah.”

“But whatever conclusion you reach, if you spread it to others, I won’t forgive you then.”

I wanted to threaten him by saying I’d have Cocobol, the king of the slums, torture him in all sorts of ways, but I couldn’t with the lawyer present.

I could only hope he would understand the nuance.

The moment this bastard spread the word that Cuss was an alien, even as a joke, that would be the end.

I had to pray that I wouldn’t have to storm in with a gun for a “you die, I die” scenario.

“Do you understand?”

“I understand… I, I was mistaken. It’s not an identity that can be defined by a single word.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“There aren’t just two identities in this world! I’ll take your words to heart! I’ll try to define it myself! Of course, if Cuss doesn’t want me to spread it, I have no intention of doing so!”

“Uh… right…”

His passionate declaration made me feel relieved yet strangely uneasy.

It felt like we weren’t communicating well.

I decided to attribute it to my mood or my imperfect English.

“Mister! I feel so much better now! Thank you!”

“Uh, what for…”

“I’ve had an epiphany! I now realize that identity doesn’t matter! What’s important is what’s inside, right?”

Is this bastard…?

Is he referring to the alien creature inside Cuss’s skull?

“Mr. Cuss’s father!”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Now that I’m certain in my heart, I can say it! I… I think I like Cuss!”

“……”

He bowed his head so low it looked like he might slam it on the desk.

For a moment, my mind went blank.

After about three seconds of processing the situation, I felt blood rushing to my head.

“Would I get sued if I hit this bastard now?”

“Even if you were sued… according to common law, you might be found not guilty.”

“Really? Then take some hits, you piece of shit.”

“Argh! Ack! Ack! Father!”

“Who’s your father?!”

I immediately grabbed him by the hair.

My only thought was that I needed to catch and punish this bastard.