"Please come this way, sir."

"Oh, thank you," said the Master while smiling affably. However, he wasn't as much at ease as his expression suggested.

'Hmm. This is rather awkward, isn't it?'

Visiting another country wasn't always fun times, especially for someone like the Master who had no choice but to get treated like a VIP. Surprisingly, passing through an airport as a Very Important Person could be a rather cumbersome affair.

Someone experiencing the privileged treatment for the first time might think it'd be a source of pride, but to the Master of the Round Table? It was nothing more than an annoyance he couldn't wait to get over with. Especially in the situation he was in right now!

"Who is that?"

"Dunno. Got a word from the top, though. We're not supposed to ask who he is."

"Oh? Is he maybe the crown prince from an Arabian kingdom or something? I guess not, judging from his attire? Did you say he's from the UK?"

"Yeah, I think so."

The Master's sensitive hearing could pick up on the whispers of the protocol assistants. Those folks probably thought they were whispering as quietly as humanly possible, but their voices still sounded as loud as an elephant stomping around to the Master's ears.

Of course, he didn't know what they were talking about, but the tone of their voices was enough to guess the contents of the discussion.

'This is why I wanted to travel using a regular route, but…'

Unfortunately, that was completely out of the question.

First of all, demanding people not to pay attention to a VIP arriving on a private plane was unrealistic. And that task was made even more difficult by the Master wearing a mask to cover his face!

Going through security checkpoints the conventional way while wearing a mask was obviously unthinkable. So, even if it was cumbersome and a little too attention-grabbing, the Master had little choice but to use the special gate reserved for international VIPs.

The preferred method in this kind of situation usually was to skip the airport check process entirely, get in the waiting vehicle, and get out of sight as quickly as possible. However, the Master couldn't do that this time.

After all, he was about to meet someone important in this very airport, wasn't he?

"This way, Master."

"Mm…!" The Master nodded briefly and walked ahead while being shown the way by his escort. However, he soon encountered another problem.

"What do you mean, we aren't allowed to go through yet? Then, when can we?"

"...Mm?" The Master cocked an eyebrow and glanced at the source of the somewhat-heightened voice. That sounded like trouble to his ears.

"My sincerest apologies, sir, but we don't know when you'll be allowed to pass. However, if you wait for a little longer…"

"What is this? We've already made a booking ahead of time, so why…"

"I'm truly sorry, sir."

The Master could see a young man accompanied by a woman heatedly talking to an airport official in a black business suit. Judging from the tone of their voices, they seemed to be demanding something from the airport official. ℞

"In that case, at least tell us how long we must wait," said the young man.

"I'm sorry, sir. We don't have any concrete schedule yet, and…"

"Gimme a freaking break…" The young man roughly scratched his head.

That was when the woman standing behind him grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "What are you doing! Don't overreact, okay? We can always wait, you know!"

"But, noona! We made an appointment, didn't we! They know we're supposed to pass through here at this hour, but now they are telling us we gotta wait for who knows how long!"

"Come on, Eun-Sol. Don't be naive and stop thinking that things will happen on time because you booked stuff. Haven't you already learned your lessons plenty of times in China?"

"But that's in China, noona! If we were still back in that place, I'd have already made myself at home."

"This is why I told you we should go through the regular gates, Eun-Sol! Stop raising a racket, okay? Are you trying to kill me through embarrassment?"

"A regular gate?! Did you already forget what happened the last time you tried to go through a regular airport gate? You paralyzed the whole airport after everyone rushed in to see you!"

"...Well, yeah. That did happen, didn't it?" The woman sneakily avoided the young man named Eun-Sol's gaze.

Eun-Sol glanced at the airport official next. "Besides, I wouldn't be complaining this bad if we came up with this idea. But it was the airport people who told us to do this, now wasn't it? Because of what happened the last time paralyzed the airport's operations! That's why I called them three times in the last couple of days to make sure everything was fine, you know!

"But now, they are telling us to wait indefinitely! That's what's been pissing me off, noona!"

The airport official apologetically bowed deeply. "We at the airport extend our sincerest apologies for this unfortunate mishap, sir. An unexpected guest has arrived, you see…"

"Unexpected or not, isn't the right thing to do here making the other guest wait…"

"Han Eun-Sol."

"…!" The young man, Han Eun-Sol, flinched grandly when the woman called his name in a cold voice.

She sharply glared at him. "I told you not to overreact, didn't I?"

"...My bad, noona."

"Making light of a serious problem is wrong, but making a mountain out of a molehill is just as bad, okay? Hey, you. Is this your version of a power trip? Is that it?"

Han Eun-Sol hurriedly waved his hands in denial. "N-no way, noona! It's definitely not a power trip, I swear! You know I'm in no position to do that."

"Really now? Even though what you were doing was clearly a power trip? Don't you know all sorts of unexpected things can happen in life? You can see that the airport people's hands are tied, so why keep causing problems for everyone?"

Han Eun-Sol groaned deeply.

'I'm not doing this because of me, you know!'

He was not someone to get annoyed by developments like this. He could even confidently say going on power trips was not a part of his nature. After all, he had been subjected to other people's power trips way too many times to do the same to some other unsuspecting victims!

Being treated like dirt was a part of being a celebrity's manager, though. Since his job was to humor the whims of oh-so-high-and-mighty celebs, producers, and directors, he knew how torturous it was to be victimized one-sidedly.

Even then, Han Eun-Sol stuck with this job for one reason, and one reason only!

He glanced to his side at the woman standing there with her arms crossed.

'...Pretty.'

Han Eun-Sol should have gotten used to her looks after spending so much time with her, but no. Her beauty still elicited genuine sighs of admiration every time he looked at her.

Of course, the woman accompanying Han Eun-Sol was none other than Choi Yeon-Ha.

Even though Choi Yeon-Ha had her arms folded across her chest while chiding Han Eun-Sol for his behavior, he still didn't miss the hint of anxiety in her eyes.

'Dammit. What should I do here?'

Choi Yeon-Ha and Han Eun-Sol really have been away from Korea for way too long.

If the situation had been different, they wouldn't have minded waiting for one, maybe two hours. Just the fact that they could breathe in the Korean air would've made them pleased as punch, after all.

Recently, the health-conscious Korean people were up in arms about all the fine dust blowing in from China. However, to these two recent returnees from their lengthy sojourn in the People's Republic of China?

Korea was a land of purity itself. Only by experiencing how much worse the fine dust situation is in China would all those complainers realize they were still having it good over in the peninsula!

That was why Han Eun-Sol wouldn't have minded waiting just to breathe more of this cleaner air. Coming home after so many months away had this power to put people's minds at ease, after all.

However, there was a small problem this time around… And that was to do with the fact that someone was waiting for them on the other side of the airport gate!

Taking time and leisurely waiting wouldn't have been a problem as long as no one was waiting for Choi Yeon-Ha's arrival right now! She didn't have any urgent meetings to get to, anyway.

But someone was waiting. And that person was one of those individuals that Choi Yeon-Ha paid the most attention to. And that meant Han Eun-Sol must also pay a looot of attention to this person!

No wonder Choi Yeon-Ha was anxiously standing there, unable to compose herself.

'Huh. You're the most anxious person in here, noona…'

Han Eun-Sol could only smack his lips. How would he have felt if something similar had happened to the… "past" version of Choi Yeon-Ha?

Maybe he would have applauded the karma's mysterious workings. Inwardly, of course. That was because the "past" Choi Yeon-Ha was fully deserving of…

'Oops. That's not what I mean. Well, it's true that that version of her did need to experience how it feels at least once, though.'

However, the current Choi Yeon-Ha was not the same person anymore. Or was the way Han Eun-Sol felt right now the result of his senses getting numb? Like a frog inside a gradually boiling pot of water?

In any case! There was no doubt in his mind that lately, Choi Yeon-Ha had become a decent human being.

Of course, other people might still view her as a witch. But those people who knew about her wicked ways might get shocked by this version and hurriedly ask if a fake had slipped under Choi Yeon-Ha's skin to parade around as her!

Funnily enough, that was why Han Eun-Sol was so much more irritated by this situation.

Choi Yeon-Ha endured so much on that side to wrap up the major production. And now, she was triumphantly coming home with all the weight off her shoulders… Only to encounter a frustrating delay like this!

Instead of rewarding her for her hard work, it felt like the heavens were still playing cruel tricks on her, and that frustrated Han Eun-Sol to no end.

Choi Yeon-Ha groaned. "Be patient, Eun-Sol. It can't be helped, right?"

"But, noona. He must be waiting for you outside…"

"I can explain the situation to him via DMs, anyway. It's not our fault, after all."

'Noona, it would've been better if you could use your considerable acting chops in this situation, too.'

While cameras were around, Choi Yeon-Ha's acting ability could rival even the best in the industry. However, in real life? Even Han Eun-Sol had to admit that her acting kinda sucked.

For instance, right now. Even though she was saying all those things…

"Noona, please stop biting and chewing your nails. Those were very expensive, you know?"

"Ng?! W-when did I?" Choi Yeon-Ha freaked out slightly, then hurriedly moved her hand away from her face.

Han Eun-Sol groaned again at this sight.

'Yup. I have no answers here.'

Their frustration was real, but so was their lack of solutions. It was too late to go around to the regular airport gate now. And demanding the airport staff to let them through wouldn't work, either. So, for now, maybe the only option left was to patiently…

"Please excuse us."

Han Eun-Sol's head snapped to the side when he heard that polite but firm voice.

'Mm?'

Even before he had a chance to notice it, several people had reached his position. This group consisted of people in black formal suits, and one person in particular stood out. This gentleman wore a slightly antiquated tuxedo, his face covered by a black mast.

'...Maybe he's a cosplayer?'

Or was it more correct to say he was on his way to a masquerade? From some angles, this get-up looked a bit comical, but from another angle, even Han Eun-Sol had to admit that it looked quite cool.

The wrinkles on the gentleman's jaw visible below the mask indicated his advanced age.

A man next to this masked gentleman, who seemed to be his escort, smiled and addressed Han Eun-Sol and the airport official. "Forgive us for this intrusion, but we couldn't help but overhear the conversation. If it's not too much trouble, do you mind if we go through the entry process together?"

"...Ah!" Han Eun-Sol's brows rose up slightly when the realization dawned on him. It seemed this group was the reason for his and Choi Yeon-Ha's delay.

'So, they are the VIPs?'

Or, should that be "super VIPs?" That sounded more accurate.

It was possible for the airport staff to view Choi Yeon-Ha as nothing more than some pretty-faced celebrity, but that still wouldn't make them behave unprofessionally and postpone her appointment indefinitely.

Rather than doing so, it'd be faster to finish up the entry procedure for Choi Yeon-Ha. After all, two people wouldn't need too long to pass the customs and immigration control, anyway.

Even then, the airport staff still chose to forego this seemingly simpler procedure. That could only mean that that gentleman with the mask was a VIP that this airport, and maybe even the country itself, must pay utmost respect to.

Han Eun-Sol curiously asked the escort. "If you don't mind me asking… Who are you people?"

"I'm sorry, but we won't answer any questions. We simply wish to offer you an opportunity to clear the customs with us to save some time, that is all. So, will you accompany us or not?"

That was when the masked elderly gentleman quietly addressed the escort. "I might not speak Korean, but the tone of your voice indicates you're being forceful and coercive."

Han Eun-Sol subtly cocked an eyebrow.

'English?'

The masked gent was definitely speaking in English. Han Eun-Sol didn't catch every word, but guessing the contents was still possible with what he managed to pick up.

The escort urgently bowed his head at the masked gentleman. "...Please forgive me for my immaturity, sir."

"Mm. Translate for me."

"Sir!"

The elderly gentleman turned toward Han Eun-Sol and Choi Yeon-Ha. "My apologies for inconveniencing you. We also did not foresee an event like this. Unfortunately, we can't yield this spot as someone is waiting for our arrival. In that case, would you be gracious enough to accept going through the customs together as our way of apology?"

"Yes, we will," said Choi Yeon-Ha abruptly with a cool nod even before the interpreter finished his job. "Thank you for your consideration, sir."

"S-sankyu for your c-care." Han Eun-Sol stuttered ungainly while trying to translate what Choi Yeon-Ha said.

The elderly gentleman smiled affably, then took the lead.

Han Eun-Sol hurriedly whispered to Choi Yeon-Ha. "I didn't know you spoke English?"

Choi Yeon-Ha haughtily replied, "Nope, I don't."

"Huh? Then how did you understand what he was saying?"

"I heard him say

'going'

and

'together'

, so there you go."

"…"

"And I'm a go-getter, aren't I?"

"…"

Utterly beyond help. This woman, she… She just couldn't help herself, now could she!