"Ha Tae-ung."

The moment we shook hands lightly, the familiar notification sounded.

—You have encountered an in-between person.

Another in-between person?

The system read an in-between person much like a gray one.

It was someone who could go either way, good or evil.

Judging only by his looks and the air around him, he was clearly mafia.

The people he'd been with earlier had all given off the same dark energy.

And yet the disposition the system confirmed was in-between.

Just goes to show you can never tell people by their surface.

—You can ACQUIRE Italian.

—Or EXPLOIT.

Since it recommended no other ability, apparently there was nothing to gain from Matteo but his mother tongue.

"Acquire."

I said it quietly, almost a whisper. The more languages you know, the better.

And exploiting a person just to equip myself with Italian made no sense either.

"I know. Yours is the most famous name of the night."

His English was pretty fluent too.

"Famous in a good way?"

The Italian flowed out of my mouth naturally.

Matteo's eyes went wide for an instant.

"Wow! You speak Italian?"

"Some."

"Hahahaha! Wonderful!"

Abroad, nothing closes the distance between people as fast as a shared language.

"What? Tae-ung speaks Italian too?"

"He's good at French too, isn't he."

"Is there anything he can't do?"

My friends whispered among themselves beside me.

Matteo laughed, looking pleased, then glanced over toward Liang Jianguo.

"Thanks to you, I enjoyed quite a show."

"Do you like paintings?"

"No."

Matteo answered without the slightest hesitation.

"I like watching Liang Jianguo get humiliated. Like most Italians."

"……" He wasn't what he looked like, and I liked him a lot for it.

"You're a candid man."

"Here, candor is a pretty expensive luxury."

"Is there a particular reason you're spending that expensive luxury on me?"

Matteo's gaze deepened.

"Would you believe it if I said I want us to be friends?"

"I'd like to hear the reason."

A mafia hyungnim, older than me.

You can't just come at me because I'm young. I'm not that easy a guy, you know.

"I…