By Zephyria A sweet scent tickled the tip of his nose, and the soft hair and the cold sensation of the Gas mask touched the back of his neck as if burying into it. Eui-jae shuddered without realizing it. He wasn’t slow at assessing situations, but his head wasn’t working well.
Thump, thump, thump…. The rapid heartbeat, belonging to someone unknown, echoed loudly. Crimson light and the sound of the TV faintly flowed out through the half-open door.
In the corner where the light didn’t reach, Cha Eui-jae was embraced by Lee Sa-young. To be exact, he was kneeling awkwardly, half-riding on Sa-young’s legs. Eui-jae blinked slowly.
‘…What is this?’
Even after roughly grasping the situation, that was the only thought that came to mind. Only questions increased in his head. Why is this bastard crouching in front of the door right now, and why is he suddenly pulling me in for a hug? Why? It seemed like the only time this bastard initiated physical contact was when he was sick at the Artisan Exhibition.
Did he get hurt somewhere? But there was no distinct smell of blood. Then is it an internal injury…?
As his head spun, a leather-covered thumb brushed against Eui-jae’s hand. It seemed he hadn’t let go of the hand he grabbed when pulling him in earlier. Eui-jae voiced the thought that came to mind.
“What’s with you all of a sudden? Are you sick somewhere?”
A blunt reply returned from near his ear.
“Just because.”
“Just because doesn’t mean the conversation ends there. Hey, get up. What are you doing pathetically in the corner like this?”
If the bastard was fine, there was no reason to stay caught like this. Eui-jae, who replied curtly, shook the hand he was being held by. However, Lee Sa-young didn’t let go of his hand; rather, he gripped it tighter and intertwined their fingers.
Eui-jae widened his eyes and looked at Sa-young’s head, which was buried in his neck.
“What are you doing?”
A low voice retorted as if complaining.
“Just stay like this for a bit.”
“Stay what, stay… ”
Even while muttering curtly, Eui-jae stopped trying to pull his hand away. Being held still like this made him feel like a bamboo wife. Sa-young’s fingers, holding his hand, moved slightly, tickling the knuckles of his hand.
Eui-jae, who let out a short sigh, stared blankly at the swirling Black Hole and opened his mouth.
“So why… were you doing this here?”
“……”
“If you came, you could have knocked on the door, like last time.”
He recalled that day, which felt like a scene from a horror movie. The Gas mask who abruptly urged a deal on the person who returned after sending the uninvited guest Jung-bin away and was doing the dishes. Until then, he was just a rude psycho. Since when did they become so informal? Eui-jae rolled his eyes.
In fact, there was nothing more frightening than time in the world. Nothing remains unchanged in the face of time. People, and the relationships between people, are bound to change.
Eui-jae, who had brushed past eight years, was the same. Seeing the rude psycho grow into a colleague he had built a reasonable amount of trust with. If it were the old days, he would have kicked him away and thrown him into a pile of trash.
At that moment, Lee Sa-young opened his mouth.
“If I’m doing this…”
“……”
“I thought you might come out.”
Eui-jae’s eyes widened. Sa-young raised his head, which he had been burying. A thinly curved eye shape was visible beyond the lens. A small laugh was mixed in his voice.
“You really came out.”
For some reason, those eyes seemed happy.
Eui-jae, who had been staring at the pupils beyond the lens, subtly averted his gaze and changed the subject.
“How long has it been since you came out of the Invasion Dungeon, and you’re only coming now?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought you’d come and ask me this and that…”
“That’s how it turned out. For various reasons.”
“Why were you late? Were you busy?”
The movement of his fingers stopped. After a brief silence, Sa-young replied.
“My feet were tied under the pretext of investigation.”
“Investigation?”
“I had to make excuses that I didn’t see some precious person. Well, it was a lie that wouldn’t work in the first place.”
Perhaps the Awakened Management Bureau was trying to find out something about J and was grilling him.
Well, the Awakened Management Bureau wouldn’t have let him go easily. With an unprecedented situation piled on top of an unprecedented situation, they would have tried to get some information. Even if it meant forcibly holding onto someone like Lee Sa-young. They must have been desperate in their own way. Eui-jae asked.
“What about Hong Ye-seong or Ga-eul?”
“Yoon Ga-eul is a senior in high school, so it was taken into consideration, and Hong Ye-seong… I think he was there.”
So that’s why the mask didn’t come. Eui-jae sighed briefly.
“Those guys at the Bureau of Rift Management are still like that.”
“……”
Sa-young only shrugged his shoulders without answering. He seemed tired for some reason.
‘…Is this okay?’
Eui-jae hesitated, then raised his free hand and began to stroke the round head. Honestly, Lee Sa-young’s hair was soft and felt good to stroke. Sa-young, who had raised his head slightly as if he was about to say something, replied slowly.
“It’s okay. I also handled one thing thanks to you… Jung-bin was also discharged from the hospital.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, well… If he knows the value of his life, he won’t bother me any more, either…”
It was the most welcome sound he had heard. Eui-jae asked.
“Is Jung-bin okay? Can he move?”
“He’s wearing an arm cast, but he was moving around just fine.”
It was a nonchalant tone. He couldn’t keep up with the tone that jumped around like a ping pong ball depending on the topic of conversation.
Something else caught on the fingers stroking his hair. It seemed to be a string that fixed the Gas mask. Eui-jae pushed his finger into the string and pulled it up. Sa-young raised his head. At the same time, the Gas mask string came off, revealing his face. He had a slightly frowning expression.
Eui-jae was satisfied as he hooked the Gas mask string on his finger and spun it around.
“What are you―”
“Take off the Gas mask when you’re talking to people.”
“……”
Sa-young released the hand that was wrapped around his waist as if he had never done so and stepped back. He couldn’t go far because it was an iron door, but he didn’t let go of the hand that was intertwined. Eui-jae clicked his tongue.
“Ah, I’m telling you, you don’t have to worry about the Poison. I’m fine.”
“Why, does J have an S-class detoxification trait or something?”
“……”
Lee Sa-young’s sarcasm sometimes hit the nail on the head. When Eui-jae closed his mouth, Sa-young narrowed his eyes.
“…Do you have it?”
“…Um.”
“But why are you throwing up blood?”
The conversation returned to its original place again. Eui-jae told the truth with a sullen face.
“The trait didn’t work at that time. I guess it was because it was the first Poison he had ever eaten.”
“Ah… you want me to believe that?”
“It’s true.”
“Does it make sense that the trait doesn’t work?”
What could he do if that was the truth? In fact, the real problem was that Lee Sa-young’s Poison was so strong that the trait couldn’t detoxify it at once. However, Lee Sa-young’s deep-rooted distrust showed no signs of disappearing.
Sa-young was still glancing at Eui-jae with suspicious eyes. It was to the point where he looked like a detective comparing a suspect to a composite sketch. Eui-jae stared blankly at the old iron door Sa-young was leaning against and opened his mouth.
“But do we have to be doing this in front of the door?”
“Why.”
“Isn’t it possible to go inside the store and talk? Why are we sitting in the corner like this?”
“I wanted to get some fresh air.”
“Bullshit… get up, get up.”
Eui-jae bounced off his knees and got up, then grabbed the hand that was still intertwined and pulled it hard. Strength was put into his arm as if trying to resist, but Eui-jae’s strength was stronger. Eventually, Lee Sa-young also staggered up and stood up.
Eui-jae grabbed each of the intertwined black fingers and untangled them. Sa-young sullenly stuck his hands in his coat pockets. Eui-jae raised both hands.
“Okay, that’s it. All done? That was fun.”
“Yeah, well…”
Sa-young gestured towards the store with his chin.
“I heard the deadline is more important than me, so I should let you go.”
At that moment, Eui-jae’s body stiffened. It was because he felt secretly pleased by Lee Sa-young’s sarcasm.
‘I’m crazy…’
Eui-jae quickly went through the open door and grabbed the broom. And at the moment when he approached the door, holding the broom like a baseball bat to chase out Lee Sa-young, who had become a rude bastard again.
“Cha Eui-jae.”
Eui-jae stopped in his tracks at the longing echo of, “J.”
Through the gap in the glass attached to the iron door, Lee Sa-young, who was slightly bent over, was staring intently at Eui-jae. His thick lips twitched.
“Eui-jae, J. Eui-jae, J, Eui-jae…”
Sa-young, who had repeated it several times, stared silently at Eui-jae. His lips were faintly curved. He asked leisurely.
“I’ve been wondering why you named your Hunter name that way.”
“……”
“I get it now…”
Sa-young smiled, drawing out the end of his words.
“You just reversed your name to make J.”
“……”
“How simple.”
He was annoyed, but he couldn’t refute it. That was actually right. If someone knew both Cha Eui-jae and J, they could easily guess it, but since there was no one who knew both, it was relatively safe. But not anymore.
Lee Sa-young, who smiled satisfactorily, raised his hand and waved.
“I wanted to ask you. From a long time ago.”
“……”
“I came to confirm that today.”
“……”
“Because I can now.”
He looks at Sa-young’s face. There was no sign that he was lying. Sa-young grabbed the open door and pushed it all the way. Just before the door closed, a low greeting came through that narrow gap.
“Good night, Hyung.”
Thud, the door closed. Eui-jae repeated the last words that he hadn’t heard properly, but that he had heard clearly.
“This is also what I wanted to say.”
Cheers erupted from the TV. Only then did Eui-jae come to his senses and take out his cell phone and business card from the front pocket of his apron. And just as he was about to enter Min-gi Seo’s number into his cell phone, a text message arrived.
010-XXXX-XXXX: This is Seo Min-gi. I have information, so I will visit tomorrow.
It was a message from Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo.