Theo stared into those curious black eyes. In silence.
His hand went to a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead, carefully pushing it aside. And, with that same hand, he gently squeezed Cappie's cheek.
"Because I wanted to..."
He answered naturally, the simplest and truest explanation one could give.
She laughed, not in mockery, but with that kind of pure, unpretentious joy, as if she had gotten the answer she already expected from him.
To save or not to save people you could save... it was a somewhat ambiguous question.
For some, it could be a waste of time. After all, those people had no connection to them.
For others, it was a duty, as if having powers/abilities automatically meant you had to use them for everyone.
But for Theo, it was simply because he wanted to.
He didn't need a noble reason, nor a philosophical justification. It wasn't about obligation, nor about idealized heroism.
And that choice, as simple as it was, showed who he really was.
Cappie continued to look up at him, her face still under his hand, as if trying to understand why something so obvious to Theo was so confusing to her.
"You really are strange, host. If it were others, they wouldn't even care about letting thousands of people die."
Theo smiled, his eyes half-closed.
"I know. Maybe I'm a bit of an idiot compared to them."
Cappie blinked slowly, processing that.
She repeated the word.
"But... a good idiot, my idiot."
She shifted subtly, snuggling her head even deeper into his lap.
Theo looked at her without saying anything, and then, as if he had just been affectionately insulted, he squeezed both of her cheeks at once, making her face compress slightly.
"Ah! Ow-ow! Why are you pinching my cheeks, host?!"
She protested, trying to speak even with her cheeks squished, which only made it funnier.
"Where's the love for your host, huh? Shouldn't you have said, 'No, my host is not an idiot.' You should have self-corrected me. My perverted system."
She laughed, her voice muffled by her own cheeks.
"Hey! I only agreed in silence, you were the one who called yourself that!"
She spoke with a pout formed between his fingers, still clamped on her cheeks.
Theo narrowed his eyes.
"Even so, you should have said the opposite."
Cappie looked at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. Seriously, what did she do wrong?
"There. You're free now."
As soon as Theo let her go, she jumped up, facing him while massaging the spot he had pinched.
"Heh! Trying to hide them won't stop me from pinching them again, Cappie."
He leaned towards her...
Cappie shrank back on the couch, her eyes half-closed with suspicion, following his every move.
"Don't you come at me with that look like you're going to attack again, host..."
Theo kept his gaze fixed on her, without saying a word, his body leaning slightly forward, like a patient predator about to pounce.
She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh or show fear.
"Don't you dare. I swear I'll bite your hand."
He raised his eyebrows as if to say "really?" and slowly extended his fingers, almost in slow motion, towards her face.
She clutched her hands even tighter around her cheeks, wanting to protect them as if they were precious treasures threatened by a cruel plunderer.
And then... at the last second, diverting his hand like a magic trick, Theo lightly flicked the tip of her nose with two fingers, letting out a soft and absolutely outrageous "boop!".
She exclaimed, about to say something, but he was already moving.
Without waiting for any complaints, Theo stood up with his usual calmness and walked towards the hallway.
"I'm just going to take a shower and I'll be back to make lunch..."
Theo said casually, as he disappeared down the hall.
Cappie was left on the couch, holding her nose with one hand and her dignity with the other.
South Korea - Jeju Island
Jeju Island was located south of South Korea, surrounded by the sea and isolated enough to seem like a world apart.
It was famous among visitors for its beaches, dormant volcanoes, charming cafes, and the fact that everything there seemed to be in slow motion.
But Jeju wasn't just a pretty backdrop. It was also the "Hawaii of Korea."
About half a million people lived there, mostly Koreans, but with a very distinct local accent and a different way of life.
The island's inhabitants were called "Jeju people/Jeju saram," and many had deep roots there, from families who had lived for generations on that land surrounded by wind and stone.
They were known for being "proud of their local culture," and with good reason. The island had its "own dialect," "Jeju-eo," so unique that many mainland Koreans couldn't even understand it properly.
And then there were the "haenyeo," the women divers, a living symbol of the island's strength. They dived without tanks, just with wetsuits and courage, to fetch shellfish from the seabed. Most were already over 60... and yet they could outlast anyone in terms of endurance.
The island's economy revolved around tourism, fishing, and farming, mainly "tangerines," which basically dominated the landscape at certain times of the year.
Even with so many visitors all the time, Jeju never lost its identity. It was still possible to walk through quiet villages where everyone knew each other, or stop at a small market where the lady at the checkout would ask where you were from with a suspicious smile.
Inside one of these small markets, Theo was leaning against a counter, his eyes fixed on the fresh tangerines stacked neatly.
Some still had green leaves attached to the stem, as if they had been picked that morning.
The ambient sound was simple: a local radio playing an old Korean song, the occasional jingle of coins being passed at the register, and the soft rustle of plastic bags.
The lady behind the counter, in a floral apron and her hair in a bun, looked at him with curiosity. She didn't seem suspicious, but she clearly knew he wasn't from around there.
"First time in Jeju?"
She asked, her heavy accent drawing out the syllables in an almost sing-song way.
Theo nodded, picking up a few tangerines and placing them in the wicker basket beside him.
"Yes. Enjoying a bit of a day off."
What Theo said wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
In reality, he had come to Jeju to get a closer look at one of the plots of land that Yeonha's mother had recommended as a good option for building a house.
After making lunch in the morning, he took advantage of not having classes that day and decided to use the free afternoon to personally explore each of the five locations. He was currently at the fifth and final one.
"I see. You seem like a big city kid, maybe from Seoul?"
She said while weighing the tangerines, with a sly smile and eyes narrowed by experience.
Theo managed a small smile, and then shook his head slightly.
"Almost... I'm from the United States of America, but I currently live near Seoul."
The lady looked at him with an unchanged expression, but without losing her welcoming smile.
"Your Korean is very good, child."
"Thank you for your words."
She wrapped the fruit with extra care, as if offering something to an important guest.
For the Jeju saram, visitors weren't just tourists; they were the reason their homes still had lights at night and food on the table in the morning.
They were what kept the island alive, even when their children left to study in the Capital and never returned.
"It's good to see young people looking to visit us and buy some of our specialties. Most just want to take pictures with the haenyeo and leave."
After saying these words, she moved away to attend to another customer, a man in a hat, with sun-tanned skin and the smell of the sea, probably a local fisherman.
Theo stood there for a few more seconds, observing the interior of the small market. The wooden shelves were crooked in some corners, and the fan turned slowly on the ceiling, as if even the heat had learned to be patient on the island.
With the bag of fruit in hand, Theo walked out the door, greeted by a light breeze. The sound of the entrance bell tinkled behind him, and the afternoon sun was already beginning to turn the sky golden.
'I think I'll check with the girls first.'
Among the places he had visited, Jeju Island and Suwon were the locations he had liked the most, and now, he was undecided on which one to choose.
Turning into a narrow and somewhat empty street, Theo stored his fruit in his dimensional storage, and just as he was about to activate his teleportation magic to leave...
'What a small world, huh? To think I'd run into the famous phantom thief and the muscle head here.'
A few meters ahead, two people were walking calmly side by side. The woman, with a few freckles on her face and a relaxed expression, looked like just another local citizen returning home.
The man beside her, absurdly tall and with shoulders too broad for his cheap jacket, carried his own bag.
To anyone else, they would be just two island residents, maybe even a couple, but Theo knew who they were.
Jain Valerin and Cheok Jungyeong. Yellow Seat and Red Seat of the "Chameleon Troupe". Members of one of the most wanted criminal organizations in the world, if not the most wanted, were now walking calmly in front of Theo.