By Zephyria Life is Like a Boomerang
‘Yes, it’s okay.’
A soft voice whispers. Warm arms wrap around and hold my body.
‘It’s okay now.’
White light shattered behind my crumbling vision.
‘I….’
“…It’s time.”
Lee Sa-young opened his eyes. The moment the white ceiling came into view, he quickly sat up and removed the gloves from his hands.
Crash! Bang! Something heavy fell and collided with a hard surface. Sa-young quickly scanned his surroundings. The wires connecting his body to the machines had been abruptly pulled out, leaving the machines scattered messily on the floor. A sighing voice came from nearby.
“Are they going to break that easily? Why don’t you just smash them to pieces?”
It was Nam Woo-jin. He was sitting at a desk with his back turned, doing something. But Lee Sa-young did not retract the murderous intent he had revealed. His sharp purple eyes turned towards the corner. Jung-bin, who was standing there, quickly raised both hands and spoke.
“Lee Sa-young-nim, this is Jung-bin. This is Nam Woo-jin-nim’s laboratory located underground in the Seowon Guild. I brought the unconscious Lee Sa-young-nim here from the Artisan Exhibition.”
“…….”
The sharp aura that seemed ready to slit a throat just moments ago subsided slightly. Only then did Lee Sa-young realize he was lying on the LaccuraX bed in the laboratory. Nam Woo-jin grumbled irritably.
“You’ll have to pay properly for barging into my lab and commandeering the bed.”
“Of course. This place is safe, Lee Sa-young-nim. How much do you remember?”
The last memory lingering amidst the terrible pain was….
“Sa-young-ah.”
The hand wrapped around his back trembled so violently it was palpable even through the hazy sensations, and
“Hey, Lee Sa-young.”
The voice, always calm and decisive, was now cracked and wretched beyond recognition. Like the warmth that felt peculiarly hot, they were just fragmented sensations. And the owner of all that was….
‘Cha Eui-jae.’
Lee Sa-young frantically searched his pockets, pulled out his phone, and turned it on. Fortunately, there was some battery left. Cha Eui-jae, Cha Eui-jae…. Sa-young entered the memorized number into the recipient field and typed a short sentence.
[I’m okay]
Send. No reply came even after waiting for a long time. Anxiety crawled up the back of his neck.
“Well, then.”
Clap. A clear clapping sound and a voice cut off the flow of his consciousness. Sa-young turned his head towards the source of the voice. Nam Woo-jin had spun his chair around and was now looking at him. He crossed his legs and tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand.
“As soon as you wake up, you break someone’s machines, threaten people, check your phone, and… it seems you’ve even finished your urgent contact.”
“…….”
“Shall we talk a bit? This guy here hasn’t given a proper explanation.”
Jung-bin, with his arms crossed, shrugged his shoulders.
“Because Lee Sa-young-nim also needs to hear the detailed explanation.”
Sa-young roughly tore off the wires plastered all over his body. Nam Woo-jin let out a pained groan.
“Do you know how much those cost? Handle them a bit more gently.”
“Send me the bill. And who told you to connect this crap to me?”
“I hope you’ll consider my feelings, being startled when Jung-bin suddenly barged in carrying you. How’s your physical condition?”
“Fine.”
“Hmm.”
Nam Woo-jin scanned Lee Sa-young, who was sitting perched on the LaccuraX bed, with his white eyes. Soon, he nodded and began muttering to himself.
“You look like it. So, when you accept the System’s power upon Awakening, all pre-Awakening wounds are completely healed…. Of course, in your case, the state disparity before and after Awakening is particularly large. So, Awakening Grade and recovery intensity are proportional after all?”
“…Nam Woo-jin.”
Sa-young, who had swept back the hair covering his eyes, spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t cross the line.”
“…My mistake. Understood.”
A brief silence fell. Sa-young, irritably pressing his temples, opened his mouth.
“Jung-bin, explain the situation.”
“Yes. While I was having a private meeting with Gyu-Gyu-nim, Kang Ji-soo-nim came by, so I returned alone first. When I arrived at the scene, Lee Sa-young-nim had already collapsed. After assessing the condition, I immediately released the chains and administered the Poison that Nam Woo-jin-nim had given me.”
Nam Woo-jin, who had been resting his chin, lit up.
“Did it help with the rapid recovery a bit?”
Sa-young gave a small nod.
“More or less.”
“That’s a relief. If I get more Poison in the future, I’ll send it to the Wave Guild.”
“Since Honeybee took care of the other Hunters, I only gave general instructions before bringing Lee Sa-young-nim here to the Seowon Guild. Currently, I hear everyone has returned to their respective Guilds.”
“Bae Won-woo too?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Sa-young braced his arms on the bed and leaned his upper body back. His eyes, which had been scanning the empty air, soon turned towards Jung-bin.
“Did you hear the story?”
“Which story are you referring to?”
“…Well, you probably weren’t in any state to talk.”
Sa-young lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled. Faced with the eerie smile, Jung-bin still maintained a gentle smile.
“I said I’d collect this debt twofold, and to tell you that.”
“It’s the first I’m hearing of it, but I was prepared. It happened because of my carelessness, after all.”
“Yeah…. It’s good that you’re so reasonable.”
Lee Sa-young rolled his stiff neck once. His languid voice demanded.
“Tell me about the conversation you had alone with Gyu-Gyu, from start to finish.”
From the day after the Artisan Exhibition, which felt like a week in a single day, Eui-jae quickly returned to his peaceful daily routine. A life of waking up at dawn and serving Hangover Soup to Hunters. During ingredient prep time, looking after Ha-eun, and running the business again in the evening, closing the shop late at night—that was his daily life.
However, after the Artisan Exhibition, Eui-jae found himself staring blankly into space more often. Most of what came to mind during those times was Lee Sa-young. The sensation of that cold, hard body held in his embrace was still vivid. Is Lee Sa-young okay? Whenever that thought arose, he checked the text message Lee Sa-young had sent.
Sa-young : I’m okay
‘Okay, my ass.’
Truthfully, Eui-jae didn’t believe that text. Even if Lee Sa-young hadn’t regained consciousness, this country probably wouldn’t have allowed that fact to be disclosed. Because those in power must always appear steadfast and unyielding. So, that text could have been sent by someone else to conceal Lee Sa-young’s condition.
An inexplicable anxiety was gnawing at his mind moment by moment. Eui-jae repeatedly went as far as trying to send a reply, only to turn off his phone.
And Choi Goyo, as if lying in wait for the moment Eui-jae was being consumed by anxiety, showed up at the perfect time. It was already late, after the shop had closed.
Just as Eui-jae, still wearing his apron, was sitting in the hall fiddling with his phone, Romantic Opener, Choi Goyo, somehow managed to open the locked door from the inside and swaggered in, waving his arms. He cheerfully shouted.
“Hello there, Hyung!”
Fortunately, the sense of tact he’d acquired at Incheon Port hadn’t gone anywhere; Choi Goyo, after checking Eui-jae’s expression, quickly toned down his energy.
“Ahem, remember? On the day of the Artisan Exhibition, I took Grandmother to the hospital. I came to tell you about that! I meant to come right away, but I got busy and it got delayed a bit!”
“Ah….”
Damn, no matter how out of it I was, how could I forget about Grandmother’s hospital visit?
‘Are you a complete crazy brat, Cha Eui-jae?’
As Eui-jae’s face contorted fiercely, Choi Goyo’s shoulders shrank. Clinging sluggishly to the iron door, he trembled and asked.
“C-can I tell you?”
“Yes. Please tell me. How was Grandmother’s condition?”
“Yes, I brought copies of the diagnosis and prescription here!”
Choi Goyo hurried over, held out the documents, and began reciting what happened at the hospital as if rapping. Eui-jae quickly scanned the documents with his eyes while listening to Choi Goyo’s explanation. Fortunately, Grandmother’s knee condition hadn’t worsened in the meantime, and it seemed it would improve with consistent medication.
“That’s all!”
“Thank you.”
“Hehe, don’t mention it.”
At Eui-jae’s reply, accompanied by a sigh, Choi Goyo smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head. Looking at his face, the memory of the pungent Spaceship Delivery struck Eui-jae’s mind. The face of Lee Sa-young he saw as soon as he opened the door did too.
Damn it. As Eui-jae’s face instantly hardened, Choi Goyo promptly erased his smile and straightened his posture. Regardless, Eui-jae cautiously asked.
“How is… Sa-young doing?”
“Sa-, what?”
Choi Goyo’s eyes widened. Damn it. Eui-jae quickly corrected the term.
“Lee Sa-young, I mean. Lately, there’s been no separate work contact for him, so.”
“Ah, you were talking about the Guild Master. The term was so unfamiliar it took me a moment to understand. I don’t really know either!”
As expected, Choi Goyo was of no help whatsoever. As Eui-jae clasped his hands together in sudden regret, Choi Goyo busily rummaged through his pockets.
“Hehe, he’s someone who really likes Solo Play… Did he come to work today? Just a sec.”
“…You’re not contacting him directly, are you?”
“No! There’s the Wave Guild Blind, you see. Usually, when the Guild Master comes to work, the secretary team tells us to be careful.”
“Oh.”
Choi Goyo, after quickly scanning the screen, held out his phone.
“Want to take a look yourself? It’s fun.”
“Isn’t security important?”
“Eh, it’s just employees asking each other what’s for lunch in the company cafeteria today. They curse the Guild Master a bit too.”
Eui-jae took the phone and scrolled down. Beside him, Choi Goyo started chattering excitedly.
“My security clearance is a bit high, so I can see most posts.”
The first post that caught his eye was as follows.
《Wave Guild Blind》
Title: [Anonymous] So what happened at this J.E.J.?
He hasn’t been coming to work at 240 since J.E.J.
It’s their own league over there, no place to get info
Hangover Soup Spirit says she doesn’t know
Ji-soo-nim says no comment too
I’m dying of curiosity, seriously
He still hasn’t come to work. Is his physical condition really that bad? Did he even regain consciousness in the first place? Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck and frowned.
‘Should I go see him myself?’
Eui-jae scrolled down, wondering if there might be some information in the comments. And one sentence caught his eye.
Comments (10)
―Seems like Hunter Net is under information control too?
―For real, usually tons of bragging posts disguised as testimonials pop up, but this time there’s nothing.
―No articles either… Did 240 even win anything?
―I was looking forward to it, bummer.
―Nah, my cousin went to the Artisan Exhibition? He said he woke up and the Artisan Exhibition was over, and he was lying in some hall, and there was a hornet holding a knife doing headcount.
―WTF.
―What? Is that some hell where people who killed bees go or something?
―Hey, spill the details properly.
―Please make a separate post.
―Denouncing this and that.
Hornet… does that mean Honeybee? Honeybee was holding a knife and doing a headcount? It was a provocative phrase he couldn’t help but investigate further. Eui-jae quickly refreshed the page. Fortunately, the commenter had posted a new thread.
Title: [Anonymous] Gonna blow in 10 mins
Yaesung is yaesung
But he hit a wall from the very first sentence. What the hell is this bizarre word with maximally incorrect spelling? Eui-jae quickly gave up on arbitrary interpretation and decided to seek help.
“…Excuse me. What is ‘yaesung’?”
“Yaesung?”
Choi Goyo, craning his neck to check the post, giggled.
“Ah, you’re looking at that post. That one’s fun. ‘Yaesung’ means Hong Ye-seong. Search Prevention.”
“Search Prevention?”
“Search prevention. So even if someone searches for it, it won’t get caught.”
Yaesung is Hong Ye-seong. Then the first line is….
Hong Ye-seong did Hong Ye-seong.
‘Fck.’
Just from the first sentence, he could tell. The author of this post is the real deal.