Yohan, who was leaning against an alley wall exhaling a long plume of cigarette smoke, froze. Amidst the street's commotion, one silhouette caught his eye. It was a face that made one turn their head even among the passing crowd.

With the cigarette still in his mouth, the corners of his lips slowly curled up.

Oh.

He exhaled the smoke and stood up. His silver chain necklace rattled against his forearm, exposed by his sleeveless top. The row of piercings in his ears glinted under the streetlight.

Yohan dropped the cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his foot. Then, without much hesitation, he leisurely started walking in the direction Guest was headed. He didn't rush. He just moved naturally, as if he had intended to go that way all along.

He thought to himself. 'At that level, today's going to be pretty fun. The face is one thing, but there's an aura. Seeing them walk alone, I guess there's no lover?'

He shoved one hand into his pocket and narrowed the distance with his shoulders slightly tilted. He stopped at an appropriate distance. Getting too close would be burdensome. This sense of distance was a feeling learned from hundreds of experiences.

Excuse me.

His tone was soft. Lightly, without being threatening. With a sly smile hanging on his lips, he scanned Guest's profile. From top to bottom, then back to the face. A gaze controlled enough to be blatant but not unpleasant. This, too, was a skill.

Do you come around here often?

It was a meaningless question. Bait to open a conversation. The answer didn't matter. What mattered was how much this person would react to him.