Inanima - English version

Chapter 2: Seoul

"Hi Dad, I just wanted to warn you that I'm back in Korea".

Soobin sighed, awaiting his father's response as he kicked a pebble into the sidewalk. He squeezed his phone tighter between his fingers, glancing at the hotel bar. He could clearly see his friends sitting at the table, in an uncomfortable silence. "Is there any problem?" asked the father, with the usual tone of who is in a hurry and has little time to lose. Especially with his son.

"No, but I preferred to check in person the sale of some archeological finds, Taehyun requested my help- Soobin said, watching the traffic flow in front of him- anyway I will not stay in Seoul too long". "Okay- the man cut short on the phone- I'm not at home now, but when I'll return to Korea we must seriously talk about a certain topic". "Okay, okay," Soobin blurted, wishing to finish that call as soon as possible. He had no desire to hear what his father wanted to tell him.

He put his phone in the back pocket of his pants, sighing again. He passed a hand through the dark hair, trying to find the courage to enter the hotel. Despite the apparent peace that Yeonjun seemed to have granted him, it was clear that for the archaeologist it wasn't all resolved. The return flight to Seoul was incredibly quiet and Soobin was grateful for the presence of Beomgyu and Kai, who had made the trip less awkward.

The boy walked through the door of the luxury hotel, fixing his white shirt inside the black pants. He walked up to the table where his friends were sitting. Taehyun wore an elegant dark suit, as he used to dress when he was in Seoul. In front of him were the three archaeologists, still with the sand and mud to encrust their clothes. Soobin tried to hide an amused smile as he noticed some of the desert dust in Yeonjun's dark hair. The arch aeologists looked around in a disoriented way, probably not used to that kind of luxurious environment. In particular Beomgyu stared at the surrounding place with wide eyes, as if he were a child on a trip to a castle. Taehyun, on the contrary, quietly sipped a coffee, his arm leaning against the back of the chair next to him, extremely confident as always.

"Here I am, I warned my father of our return to Seoul so he wouldn't get suspicious," Soobin muttered, sitting on the chair between Yeonjun and Taehyun. "Well, now we can discuss what happened," his best friend replied, arms folded to his chest. Kai glanced at Beomgyu to tell him to talk, but as he continued to look at the hotel bar where they were sitting, he decided to take the initiative.

"From the latest discoveries in the archaeological site we understood how the Inanima had a rich treasure with them, much larger than the precious finds we have already found among the sands- he explained, sighing- unfortunately, having sold the tablet with the code's translations increases the risk of the treasure being found by someone who wouldn't make good use of it". Taehyun looked down on Beomgyu, but the boy kept staring at the painted ceiling. Actually, it was ever since they met in that hotel that the boy deliberately avoided looking at him.

"I couldn't know, I simply obeyed Soobin's father's orders" Taehyun defended himself, raising his hands as if to free himself from any accusation . "That doesn't change the fact that the problem remains- blurted Yeonjun, who after all hadn't forgiven the two boys completely- and even though we are now trying to figure out where this damned treasure is, we should actually also try to block the sale of other finds that may have clues engraved". " The tablet has already been sold now, but I can definitely stop the other items if it can help lessen the problem we caused," Taehyun concluded. Soobin smiled optimistically, nodding, "I think it's the right solution. Beomgyu was right, asking you immediately was the best choice. Now we can decide the next steps, together".

Taehyun's head snapped towards Beomgyu, who had returned his attention to the discussion, hearing his name. Did he really propose to involve Taehyun? Even though he sold the archaeological site? Wasn't he angry with him?