an unfortunate change in genre

Part 17

Living exactly up to his hyung's expectations, Roksu was about to engage in his usual meticulously plotted out chaos. It had taken a few hours to convince Ron that he was indeed, for real, going to bed. And even then it was a sure thing that Ron was probably outside his door or some other equally creepy location to keep a close eye on the infamously foolish child.

Roksu had puzzled over this particular problem for quite some time before he'd found the solution. He needed to figure out what the swordsman knew and if he had details about the egg but he also couldn't reveal his identity. His actions were also being carefully monitored so even if he had any intention to reveal himself to the swordsman, that would be difficult if not impossible.

Roksu had used his knowledge of Korean to draw out the swordsman. He didn't have even the slightest intention of allowing the world anyone know about his connection to another world.

Besides, Roksu's only goal was the safety of the dragon. Dragons were definitely going to draw in trouble and thematic cliches and Roksu got hives just thinking about what chaos he'd be dragged into if he was forced to engage in all of that.

It already pained him that he had to maintain a relationship with the male lead of the novel. He absolutely dreaded what sort of life he might wind up leading if he allowed himself to get further sucked into the plot. He just needed to keep his goals simple and achievable.

Roksu's solution to the problem of identity had obviously been letters. He could more or less disguise his writing style, especially if he wrote in Korean, and it would enable him to learn what he needed to know without alerting those who would surely try to stop him.

However if the correspondence became elongated then there became an increasing possibility of it becoming discovered. Perhaps the swordsman would follow the mailman or Ron would find a letter, simply put it just couldn't be risked.

Roksu smiled deviously at his prize and pulled out the parchment, writing smoothly on the blank page in Korean.

<Are you there?>

The words melted into the page and Roksu awaited the response. Really, fantasy could be more useful than he imagined. The orbs used for calls made the lack of phones all but irrelevant and with this enchanted parchment, he'd be able to anonymously text the swordsman.

Billos, the man really did do the gods' work, had generously arranged for the mysterious swordsman to receive the parchment that was linked to this one through magic.

<Kim Rok Soo?> The ink that vanished melted into the words and Roksu felt rather accomplished. The swordsman had caught onto his hint and had replied to him in Korean as well.

It doubled the level of security for the correspondence. Anyone would think it was gibberish if they saw it. Considering all the sensitive information that Roksu intended to drag from the swordsman, this was a pretty satisfactory result.

Roksu tapped his chin though, the single disadvantage to this ploy was an inability to read the swordsman's expressions and reactions. If the man cut off contact early then he'd be back to the drawing board.

He'd have to create a rapport with him to ensure that he stayed in communication long enough for Roksu to get the answers he needed.

<You're Choi Han, right? It's nice to meet you.>

<Why are you looking for me?> The reply came faster and it was obvious that this man wasn't one for suspicious pleasantries. Or perhaps it had just been dwelling on his thoughts.

Roksu already had a cover story for this though. <I heard about a man matching your description. I thought you might be Korean too so I wanted to find you.>