263 Gate disappears 1 (1/2)

Taesoo's sight turned to the cup on the table as the smell of coffee filled the room. It was a familiar scent, but one that he hadn't had the chance to smell for months.

”Coffee? Have you grown it here?” Taesoo spoke in disbelief. There was a lot contained within that question.

”Yeah. I brought it over to this world.”

Taesoo nodded and took a sip from the cup. His body trembled as he felt the familiar, bitter taste of coffee.

'It's amazing. What happened in those years?'

Taesoo seemed to be very calm, more than what any normal person would show. He even withstood Jinpok's vicious presence when they met at the beginning without any problems. His presence was enough to make people cower and even pee in their pants in fear if they were weak-minded. Taesoo always had courage, but it wasn't to this extent based on Joonbum's memory.

”I guess you've been through a lot,” Joonbum calmly commented.

Taesoo nodded. ”How about you go first? Or you want to hear me out first?”

”You can go first, man,” Jinpok replied. It seemed that he was still salty about Taesoo.

Taesoo smiled, ”Sure, I can go first. So, should I start around the time you two disappeared through the gate?”

”Yeah.”

”So… when you- uh, Your Majesty? Should I mind my manners?” Taesoo asked as he glanced at Jinpok and Doral. Joonbum glanced at both of them and shook his head.

”It's okay. Let's just address each other like the old days.”

”Is that so?” Taesoo nodded.

”Hah! You've got some nerve!” Jinpok scoffed but Taesoo just smiled.

”So I used the medicine you gave me when you disappeared that day. I think I was crazy back then though. To think that I would use some weird medicine on my wife and daughter…”

Taesoo's body shook as he reminisced about the old days. Jinpok also seemed to realize the gravity of the story to come and calmed down.

”Thank you.” Taesoo bowed to Joonbum. Joonbum nodded.

”As you warned, I never said a word to anyone. It was easy to see why you warned me when I saw my wife and daughter recovering in front of my eyes at that moment. What if I didn't trust you? What if I let people know about what happened? Maybe I would be dragged away somewhere…”

Taesoo shook his head.

”I was so glad, but that also made me afraid. I quickly sent them to a remote countryside so no one would know that they recovered. I couldn't even let my relatives know. It was then that the problems started. People came to the shop you gave to me.”

”Came to you?”

”It was the government intelligence.”

Jinpok became curious and so was Joonbum. Taesoo took another sip and continued.

”So you had sold gold. Very high quality too.”

”Oh, yeah. I did… along with some gems.”

”The gold you sold wasn't just normal gold - it was very pure. I think the video you uploaded also became the root of their questions. They said it was just a routine investigation, but they were trying really hard to find you.”

”Really?”

”Yeah. I think some foreign intelligence was also looking for you.”