Fate Online: Shadow

Michael was coming out of the hotel after cleaning up after his breakfast.

Hailing a taxi over, he went inside saying, "Insa dong please"

"Yes sir" answered the taxi driver with a smile as he curiously looked at the foreigner at the back through the rear view mirror.

'What a handsome young man. He looks even better than those idols I see on tv. I wonder if he's an idol or something?'

The taxi driver must be an enthusiastic person that not even a minute later, he started talking to Michael with his broken English.

"Are you...you a...idol trainee? Can you speak...Hangul?"

Michael flinched a little bit as he raised an eyebrow as he wasn't expecting for the driver to suddenly start talking to him.

"I speak...a little bit"

The taxi driver was a little relieved and replied, "That's...good, so...you an idol trainee?"

"Me? No….not an..idol trainee. Vacation, yes" replied Michael with his broken hangul, a little helpless and annoyed at himself that he should have learned Hangul during his free time back then!

The driver opened his mouth in understanding, saying, "Ahh~! I see, you...good looking"

So both men suddenly started talking to each other in their own broken language that they aren't fluent with. It's like a scene out of a comedy skit, because one guy is speaking English while the other is speaking in Hangul, and they're only doing so that they could allow each other to perfectly understand what the other wanted to convey.

Which was a serious matter to both men, but funny to the eyes of the others.

And so both men slowly got to know each other during this exchange, and Micheal also learned that the man's name is Kwang Soo, who is just two years older than him and a somewhat aspiring actor.

"What an interesting dude. I hope he becomes a successful actor in the future" mumbled Michael as he watched the taxi drive off as soon as Kwang Soo dropped him off somewhere in Insa dong.

Michael smiled and wore his fedora, before slowly making his way towards his destination for today while under the hot gazes of a few women he passed by.

And a few minutes later, Michael arrived near Kyungsung Bar and Inn and saw a few people leaving the place with joy etched on their faces.

'So this place still operates normally just like a regular inn' with that thought in mind, Michael had once again entered the establishment a second time.

When Michael came walking inside, Fox had quickly noticed him from the corner of her eyes. But she didn't greet him and instead focused her attention on the elderly customers before her, with a few of them already drinking this early in the morning.

'They seem like people just living around the neighborhood' thought Michael as he walked past the small group of eldery who were either eating breakfast or drinking soju.

"Na Eun, I heard your daughter got a full scholarship from a prestigious high school?" said a gentle looking old woman as she sipped on the tea in her hands.

'Na Eun's her real name? It sounds better than her codename, Fox' Michael has a smile on his face as he couldn't help but eavesdrop on them because he was on a table close to their location.

Thinking about her two daughters brought a smile on Fox's face, "Yes, Grandma Song. Ara will be attending Hanyang State University High School in a month or so. While Eunji on the other hand, became the top of her class. Both of them make me so proud!"

"Aigoo~! It makes me so envious that Old Lee has such good granddaughters! Most of my grandchildren are troublesome, it makes me worry about their future!" said a bald old man in exasperation that's mixed with envy as he downed a small porcelain shot glass filled with soju.

While Fox was busy entertaining her customers, a young lady wearing a beige apron quietly approached Michael and softly asked, "Good Morning sir, what can I get you?"

"Ohh, give me an iced coffee please" Michael turned his head around and replied with a smile.

"Okay sir, just give me a couple of minutes" replied the young lady with a business-like smile before slowly walking away.

'Huh? That was weird, my charming smile had never failed me ever since I came back' Michael was startled there as he didn't expect that his charming smile doesn't seem to have an effect on the young lady just now.

On the other hand, it also made him relieved that his new look had not become exaggerated ever since he came out of the shell of his old self.

'At least there's still women out there who aren't easily swayed just because someone is particularly good looking' he sighed to himself as he knows that a woman like that is a rare catch, someone that a man should never lose or he'll regret it for a long time!

It wasn't long before the young lady came back and gave him his iced coffee before quickly going back to her work.

'I wonder how long I have to wait?' wondered Michael, then he slowly observed his surroundings and a thought occurred to him that made him realize one thing about this place.

'Now that I think about it, I've never seen a branch office that's an Inn before. It had always been a prestigious hotel or a high class club, as those kinds of businesses makes good smokes screen of the real dealings in the shadows'

Michael glanced at Fox who was laughing happily as she conversed with the elderlies and thought, 'She must have been pretty high up before she retired if she was allowed to use such a simple business as a cover up, but...how come I've never heard of her before?'

"After all, not anyone can open a branch office" mumbled Michael to himself as he looked away while sipping his drink.

He didn't need to wait too long as only a few minutes had passed before the group of elderlies left the place with a bright chatter amongst themselves.

"Did I make you wait too long? I hope I didn't delay any of your appointments today"

When the elders finally left, the bright smile on Fox's face quickly melted and was replaced by a cold look as she walked over to where Michael is and sat across him

"No, besides it was only a few minutes. Let's get to the point, I'm pretty sure you know why I came here" placing his coffee on the table, Michael didn't even bother with formalities as he went straight to the point of their business today.

"Ma'am, your tea"

Then suddenly from out of nowhere, the same young lady from earlier came over and placed a cup of hot tea before Fox, which made Michael raise an eyebrow, because after all, both of them are about to discuss a sensitive topic that an ordinary person should not be hearing.

When the young lady walked away, Michael stared straight at Fox who was calmly drinking her tea.

"What? We weren't even talking about anything sensitive" and Fox just laughed it off as she ignored the look that Michael is giving her.

Michael just lightly snorted at that, as he wasn't in any position to lecture her on how she runs this place.

"Anyway, care to explain about the job you sent to me last night? You should know that my scope of activities isn't part of your country, unless the job was directly sent from HQ" said Michael in a voice that only the two of them can hear.

Fox calmly placed the tea cup on the table and answered simply, "My place, my rules"

Bang!

Michael angrily slammed his hand on the table when he heard that, while Fox, who saw that coming, quickly picked up her tea.

"Aren't you being too unreasonable?! I'm pretty sure you have others out there who can do this, as I have no plans to look after an idol!"

Fox didn't seem to mind his outburst as she just calmly replied, "Ohh that, the person who was suppose to take it suddenly got bogged down with the ongoing civil war in the middle east"

"Besides, isn't the pay generous? You'll be able to leech off from him for a decade"

"Only if he makes it big!" Michael snorted as he crossed his arms.

Fox chuckled as she lightly sipped her coffee, "Ohh, he will~"

Michael raised an eyebrow when he heard that, "What do you mean he will? Are you a fortune teller now?"

"HQ plans to take over the company after that guy is...kieek!" Fox's pair of eyes slowly became cold as ice as she uttered those words with a cutthroat gesture at the end.

"So take the job, and deal with it, Mr. Grey"

"Tsk! Dammit!"

In the end, he couldn't change anything and could only click his tongue, to his annoyance.

"So I really didn't have much of a choice in the end, huh?"

"Indeed" Fox couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Michael's indignant expression.

She didn't even bother to tell him that she wouldn't have been left with no choice but to cancel it if Michael came back here the moment he received the notice last night.

Because she only received word of the company takeover from the HQ earlier this morning!

"Anyway, I just realized this earlier, but Fox isn't your real alias, isn't it? Because I've never heard of you before" asked Michael, still a little irritated while sipping on his iced coffee.

"Oh that, I took on the name Fox when I retired, but before that...people called me...Rabbit"

Spurt!!!

Michael was calmly drinking his coffee when he suddenly spurted the coffee from his mouth towards Fox after he heard what she said at the end of her words!

He hastily stood up while giving her a napkin to wipe herself saying, "You know what! I suddenly remembered that I have an appointment after this, and sorry about the coffee, but it was delicious!"

Then he fled from the scene like a frightened rabbit and didn't even bother to look back!

'Dammit! Rabbit! She's that f*cking Rabbit!'

'Of all people, I just happened to meet her!'

'I knew there was something wrong when I heard that HQ suddenly wanted to take over such a small entertainment company, and it must have been all because of her!'

Rabbit, a legendary figure in the underground world alongside Zero.

Her track record was even more impressive than when Michael was still active on the field.

A person he shouldn't mess with, even when the said person is already retired!

Better not not anger a sleeping tiger if you still want to live long!

When Michael, Fox was left sitting there all by herself, and another surprising thing is that, she didn't even feel disgusted to lick her lips before wiping her face.

"It actually taste good, it seems Somin is getting better at her job"