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"Why do you trust me?" San asked Hongjoong, a curious glimmer in the boy's eyes as he did so. "I mean, I am the enemy after all and you openly welcomed me into your house. We're alone and there's no one to stop me from killing you right now."
It took the Kim faction heir a moment to respond, not expecting that sort of question to come out of his mouth. "Because you're Mari's friend," Hongjoong answered him, peering down the hallway they were in to make sure no one saw them. If anyone from his faction caught San on the premise they'd immediately switch into attack mode and try to kill him, and he wasn't looking for any blood on his hands right now. "Anyone who is a friend of Mari's, I can trust. No matter how... odd they seem."
After making sure the hallway was clear, he urged the Seo Faction member to follow him. If he just made it to his room before anyone could catch them, then he could successfully hide San until Mari returned. Sure, the whole reason he was here in the first place was to help them search for clues on Wooyoung's whereabouts but he just didn't feel safe with San wandering around his home alone. There were only so many people who would listen to Hongjoong if he tried to distract them on his own, it was too much of a risky move to try and proceed with the plan without Mari.
"Why do you trust Mari?" San ended up asking him as the two stopped at the staircase that led to the upper floors. Hongjoong turned towards the rival faction boy with a skeptical face, unsure as to why he was asking such strange questions. He smiled at the Kim Faction heir, his face turning catlike as he continued to speak. "You trust me because you trust Mari, so there's got to be a reason you're putting so much faith into her. You even agreed to bring me straight to the heart of the Kim Faction, there's so much damage I could cause just by being here."
Hongjoong stood in silence for a moment, his brain turning its gears into a desperate attempt to find an answer that would satisfy San's desires. Though when he couldn't come up with a response fast enough, he laughed at him. "You trust her because you like her, right?"
Reluctantly, he nodded.
"Both of you are so weird, you know that?" He asked Hongjoong, skipping past him like a rabbit and stepping up the stairs. "I know I was the one who encouraged Mari to set up this plan of having dinner with your dad and all, but in reality? I really don't trust you. Neither of you has any reason to trust each other either. You're the heir to the Kim Faction and tried to kill her and she's the heir to the Seo Faction and lied to you, but look at you now! Putting your lives into each other's hands without second guessing, you're crazy."
"I know Mari has no reason to trust me as much as she is right now," Hongjoong admitted, fidgeting with his hands as he began to pick up the pace to catch up with him. "But why don't you trust me?"
