Chapter 309: 37. A Pleasant Interview
When I arrived home, I saw Do Yehyun asleep on the living room sofa.
'Why is he sleeping here?'
Had he really been waiting for me? Maybe he heard me moving around in the living room, because Do Yehyun slowly opened his eyes. When I lightly tapped the cheek of the bastard, who was staring blankly without finding focus right away, his gaze slowly rose.
“Jehyun?”
“Why are you sleeping here?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“You must be tired. There’s still a little time before work, so want to sleep more?”
If we left on a slightly tight schedule, he could still sleep for two more hours. At that, Do Yehyun blinked as if conflicted.
“Why are you thinking about it?”
“Are you going to sleep too?”
“Yeah. Want to go to my room?”
“Yes.”
It was funny how he answered so quickly, without even hesitating.
“Want me to carry you?”
“.......”
“What are you thinking about?”
“I can go by myself....”
“Then go by yourself.”
“Carry me, please.”
What the hell?
I picked up Do Yehyun, who had awkwardly lifted himself from the sofa, and carried him to the room. After I set him down on the bed, Do Yehyun stared at me quietly with eyes that seemed to have woken up.
“What?”
“What did you talk about with the Haeseong Guild Master?”
“There was something I needed to look into, and I needed the Haeseong Guild Master’s ability. I went over there.”
“What’s this bloodstain here?”
“Ah.”
Do Yehyun touched near my neck and spoke with a faint crease between his brows.
“It’s not that you got hurt here....”
“You’re sharp.”
“Were you hurt?”
Do Yehyun activated his Skill before I could even answer.
Moonlight’s Protection (S) activates.
Soon, along with the feeling of my body calming down, the faint pain that had still remained disappeared. I had definitely thought I was fine, but apparently a subtle internal injury had been left behind.
“A little?”
At my words, Do Yehyun briefly lowered his gaze and stared at my arm. Then, somehow knowing, he calmly began rolling up my sleeve. When he did, the mark from the fiend merge was there, lighter than before but still clear.
Do Yehyun examined it calmly, then asked,
“Did you go to a Dungeon?”
“No.”
“You didn’t even go to a Dungeon, but....”
“Well.... I’ll have to look into it a bit. I’m fine right now.”
“What about the clothes? Did you change because of the blood?”
“Yeah.”
Do Yehyun’s hand brushed over my arm. Since it wasn’t a wound anyway, the mark had no reason to fade even if he activated his Skill.
“You said you were going to sleep. Are you awake now?”
“Yes.”
“You look tired for that.”
“.......”
“Sleep.”
Thinking I should wash off the blood on my neck and everything else, just like he said, I headed to the bathroom.
By the time I finished a quick shower and changed clothes, Do Yehyun was still awake and had not fallen asleep.
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
“I think... I woke up.”
For someone saying that, the sleepiness had not completely left his eyes, though. I got into bed and turned toward Do Yehyun, who had gone stiff beside me.
“I’m kind of sleepy.”
“Then sleep.”
“You’re going to watch that while I sleep?”
“.......”
He didn’t say no.
I had drawn the curtains, but since they were not blackout curtains, faint light was slowly coming in through the fabric. In the end, I closed my eyes.
As I was dozing off, I heard Do Yehyun shifting beside me, so I patted around his arm a few times, meaning he should stay still. Then he said in a quiet voice,
“Jehyun, I... don’t mind even if you don’t tell me everything.”
“Yeah.”
“But I think I’d be really happy if you told me.”
That was probably true. Do Yehyun was the kind of bastard who would quietly accept anything I did.
And I was the one who needed Do Yehyun, too. Not simply because I coveted his healing ability, but because he was someone I had never once seen, even across those countless deleted rounds.
He was not a variable that would eventually twist and change.
He was a bastard whose very existence was, to some degree, a variable, so I absolutely had to keep him beside me.
Half-asleep, I muttered,
“You’ll know everything eventually, you....”
After that, did Do Yehyun answer?
That much, I could not tell.
***
Since I woke up later than usual anyway, I took my time getting ready too.
“Jehyun, aren’t we late?”
“We are.”
“.......”
While eating a simple breakfast, I calmly sent Seok Jiwon a message.
I think I’ll be a little late.
Seok Jiwon
Huh?? Why?
'They’re fucking fast.'
I sent back a suitably honest answer.
I woke up late because I was sick.
Seok Jiwon
You were sick...?
If it’s a Dungeon injury, you can take the whole day off.
I was going to tell the Guild Master,
but the Guild Master probably knows better than I do, right?
What the hell?
After staring in disbelief for a moment at the way Seok Jiwon had gone ahead and reached a conclusion all on their own, I answered roughly.
I’m still coming in. I contacted you because I think I’ll be a little late.
I’ll come to work with Hunter Do Yehyun.
Seok Jiwon
Why with Hunter Do??? Is Yehyun sick too?
He’s a healer.
We live together, so we usually commute together.
Seok Jiwon
You live together????
They didn’t know? Then what had they thought this whole time when we usually came to work and went home together? That we were carpooling?
Admiring Seok Jiwon’s fascinating thought process, I sent a rough reply.
We’ve lived together from the beginning.
At that, Seok Jiwon erased and rewrote the reply for quite a long time, then threw out a strange question.
Seok Jiwon
Are you two brothers, by any chance?
'What kind of bullshit is this now?'
How could anyone mistake us for brothers when even our family names were different?
'No.'
Come to think of it, I had plenty of bastards with different family names as siblings too.
Now that I thought about it, I had met a real “younger brother” in the Dungeon. I checked Choi Yujun’s contact.
'Hm?'
I had only meant to check the contact and move on, but an unexpected message had arrived.
Big bro
I-I thought about it and did Dad do something bad to you?
I thought maybe that could be it because our dad is kind of;; a psycho
If he did, I’ll apologize for himㅜ....
Big bro, is there any artifact you need? I’ll buy it for you!! I’m buying it because I’m grateful, so you can pick something without feeling bad. I get a lot of allowance, so if I scrape together everything I can without getting caught, maybe around thirty million?ㅜ I think I can spend that much
No, maybe thirty-five million?... Anyway, think about it comfortably and reply!!! Thank you so much for today, big bro!!
Why had this bastard become such an idiot while I wasn’t looking? No. Technically, on this side, this bastard had never seen me even once, so maybe this meant he naturally grew into this kind of idiot if left alone.
I read Choi Yujun’s message, ignored it, and replied to Seok Jiwon again.
Seok Jiwon
The two of you have kind of a similar vibe.
We’re not.
The answer arrived a moment later.
Seok Jiwon
Yeah, I figured.
What the hell were they talking about?
I ignored Seok Jiwon’s final reply, finished the rest of my meal, and got ready to leave.
Today, too, I made Do Yehyun take the wheel and calmly climbed into the passenger seat. After driving for one day, his skills were definitely better than yesterday.
“You’re good. No accidents yesterday?”
“Ah.... Almost none.”
“......?”
What did “almost none” mean? I was about to ask again, but cleanly gave up and encouraged Do Yehyun instead.
“Yeah, impressive.”
After that, we went through a few minor crises, but Do Yehyun arrived at the Haeseong building with better skill than yesterday and even managed to park.
When I went up to the office and sat down, the work assigned for the morning was already pouring in. Most of it was appraisal work, so I roughly wrote the appraisal reports and sent them off. When I lifted my head, Seok Jiwon had come up beside me holding coffee.
“Good morning.”
“It’s noon.”
“Ahem.... Hey, don’t answer so coldly. Have some coffee.”
“Thank you.”
Seok Jiwon handed me the coffee, glanced around for a moment, and said,
“Jehyun, you’re really handsome.”
“Out of nowhere?”
When I glanced at Seok Jiwon at the sudden bullshit, they looked around and awkwardly strung together more compliments.
“Yeah, you’re handsome. And... first of all, you’re tall, you have a good build, and you kind of look rude? Anyway, you look exactly like what kids these days like.”
“What’s the point?”
“Want to go to training?”
Training? What kind of training were they talking about that they were praising someone who came in late this much?
When I only stared silently at Seok Jiwon instead of answering, they began explaining on their own.
“There’s a training session the government is forcing us to do. Actually, they call it training, but it’s kind of... more like an event. There’ll be some photos, reporters will come, and there’ll be some interviews. Since Haeseong is basically Korea’s representative guild, we need to send a few people from our side too.”
“.......”
“So I thought about it, and you seemed suitable. You’re handsome.”
“Tell the Guild Master to go.”
When I replied indifferently, Seok Jiwon’s expression turned subtle. Maybe they had noticed the shopping bag I had placed on the desk, because they turned the topic elsewhere.
“What’s this? Why did you bring it?”
“I’m going to return clothes.”
“Your mobile gear?”
“No, the Guild Master’s clothes.”
“Ah-ha.... Mm.... I see.”
Seok Jiwon reacted calmly, as if they had heard something completely insignificant, then suddenly asked,
“...So you just come and go from the house? May I ask what the Guild Master’s home is like?”
“.......”
“Not because of selfish curiosity. I’m really curious. Like, what would the home of the head of Korea’s number one guild be like....”
“It’s just, well... there was a huge fucking bug there.”
“...Huh?”
When I answered roughly, confusion spread over Seok Jiwon’s face. While scrolling through an appraisal report, I asked Seok Jiwon,
“Then who’s going besides me? You said a few people have to go.”
“Me.”
“And?”
“...The Guild Master? Since, you know, Guild Master.”
Oh....
Had they asked Im Haekyung before suggesting it?
And Seok Jiwon gave me the answer with a bright face.
“If you say yes, I’ll report it to the Guild Master right away.”
“Well... yes. Fine.”
“Really? Got it. Thanks, hey!”
I watched Seok Jiwon tap my shoulder and walk away into the distance, then thought,
'I feel like they’re going to get yelled at after going up there.'