Chapter 59

I finished the call with Joo Seowon and paid at the counter before heading back to the table.

“You said you’d be quick.”

“It ran longer than I thought.”

It hadn’t been that long, honestly. I slipped the phone I’d left face-down on the table back into my pocket and saved the recording. I doubted they’d had some dramatic heart-to-heart while I was gone, but you never know.

They were already done eating, so I finished up and stood. I’d sobered up just enough, so I promised to drive safe and got back behind the wheel.

The car felt unusually quiet at dawn. Do Yehyun isn’t the type to start small talk, so unless Im Haekyung or I spoke up, the ride would stay silent. I was running on low battery, and he looked like he had a lot on his mind.

'He’s the kind who makes other people fret over him, so what’s he thinking about so hard?'

I kept that thought to myself; no point poking the bear. We merged onto the expressway and entered Seoul.

While driving, I asked Im Haekyung, “Can you drop us at the SH building?”

“Going straight in to report? What about Yehyun-ssi?”

“I’m keeping him with me. I’m the one who ran the dungeon, so it’s better if SH hears it from me first.”

“Hm.”

I watched his reaction, curious if he’d tell me to also report that he’d gone through the dungeon with us. He just answered without fuss.

“Diligent. Reporting is a good habit.”

'That’s it?'

He went quiet after that. I pulled up by the SH building and got out. He climbed into the driver’s seat to take the car.

I rapped on the window to see him off; he rolled it down and showed his face.

“I’ll get going. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. The compensation was satisfactory and... mm, it was nice. That last bit of safe driving, too.”

He said it with his eyes crinkling in a smile. I looked at him for a moment, then dipped my head.

“Take care.”

“Ah, Jehyun-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“Are you really not going to answer my calls again? Feels like we’ve got a bit of a partnership now. We even talked.”

Strictly speaking, that “talk” had been one-sided mind control, but I decided to play along.

“I’ll pick up. Next time, how about we try a conversation that happens with mutual consent?”

Not a joke—dead serious. He laughed out loud like I’d told the funniest story.

'What a bizarre guy, seriously.'

“Jehyun-ssi, you’re a very unusual person.”

He said what I was thinking. Whatever. He glanced past me at Do Yehyun, then beckoned me closer. I leaned in, and he dropped his voice to a whisper.

“Someone died in the dungeon. Even if it wasn’t flesh exploding, or someone burning or getting torn apart in a gruesome way—first-timers usually... have nightmares. It can turn into trauma.”

“Right.”

“It’s an in-dungeon accident, so no one’s liable, but Yehyun-ssi seems new to dungeons...”

He trailed off and tilted his head slightly. Im Haekyung, worrying about someone’s mental health? Felt like I was witnessing the strangest thing on earth.

“It’s late. Get home safe. Even an S-rank hunter shouldn’t drive drowsy.”

He laughed out loud again at that, then rolled the window up. After watching him pull away, I headed into the SH building with Do Yehyun.

First, grab Seowon and get to a hotel.

***

I picked a nearby hotel where check-in would be fastest. It was a business hotel; instead of paying extra for a suite, we agreed to get separate rooms. I snagged an extra keycard for my room and handed one each to Do Yehyun and Joo Seowon.

“I’m going to sleep. If something urgent comes up, use this to unlock my door, come in, and wake me.”

“What about privacy?”

“If I’m naked, use your eyes and get out.”

“Uh...”

Seowon trailed off, probably remembering how I’d barged in on him right after his shower last time. Before heading into my room, I warned them once more.

“And no matter how urgent it is, wait at least three hours. Don’t wake me.”

“Got it.”

“...Yes.”

Yeah, that’s the minimum. With that, I stepped into my room. Shower and sleep first.

After a shower and brushing my teeth, I changed into a robe, crawled under the covers, and closed my eyes. My days and nights kept flipping lately—not a great habit.

'I need to pick a day and reset my schedule.'

Hm, maybe I should check one thing first. I could probably pass out the second I shut my eyes, but I was in that weird, alert state. I played back the recording of the conversation between Do Yehyun and Im Haekyung.

At first it was just static; after quite a while, their voices came through. Im Haekyung started.

[How old are you, Yehyun-ssi?]

[I’m... twenty.]

[Ah. I figured exactly twenty. Nailed it.]

[...Why?]

[You look so young you could pass for a minor, but I didn’t think Jehyun-ssi would bring a minor along. So I set the floor at twenty.]

Unlike Yehyun’s stiff voice, Haekyung’s was overly gentle. It didn’t feel like he was trying to lower a twenty-year-old’s guard so much as... like he was hitting on him.

'Was Seowon right?'

Maybe he really did flash a pretty face and coax a naive kid. I waited, suspicious.

[I’m not that young...]

[No... You and I are twelve years apart.]

[......]

[This was your first dungeon, right?]

[How did you...]

[You said you’ve never really used your skills. Most people practice using them once they start entering dungeons. Some healer-types do awaken without dungeon exposure, so I asked. Your skills looked pretty good. You might get scouted as ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ a healer later.]

He was toying with the kid. Haekyung chuckled between lines. He wasn’t guessing—he was almost certainly sure. There must’ve been a reason he hadn’t prodded when I was talking with Yehyun earlier.

[Then would you like this?]

[What is... No, I’m fine. I’m going to work with hyung.]

A business card? He’d contacted me by digging up my number without ever giving me a card, but for a twenty-year-old, he was all manners. Then again, even if he’d handed me a card, I wouldn’t have called. Despite Yehyun’s earnestness, Haekyung didn’t let up.

[Think about it later. It’d just be moving from SH to Haeseong. Embarrassing to say myself, but it’s a pretty good offer. Unusually so...]

[That’s not what matters.]

[The number of digits on your pay would change.]

[No. That’s not very important.]

[Are you two that close? He’s not your real brother, is he?]

[He isn’t. He’s just... an older guy I know.]

[Then between acquaintances, there’s nothing wrong with considering it this much. If it bothers you, you can tell Jehyun-ssi.]

His voice was soft as he coaxed Yehyun along. So he told me to soothe the kid out front, then pulled this crap in the back?

'Fox bastard.'

Yehyun went quiet, then spoke again, smaller than before.

[...I don’t think I’ll be going to Haeseong. I’ll just hold on to it.]

[Okay. If it bothers you, talk to Jehyun-ssi.]

[......]

[You won’t, though. Right?]

The last line was far clearer than his earlier gentleness. I knew it instinctively.

'That’s a skill.'

Maybe he tightened the Mental Domination a notch. No way to verify right now. And he had a way of speaking that made everything sound suspicious, so I had to doubt each and every move.

'If I leave it alone, I might be able to read Haekyung’s intentions through Yehyun...'

Problem was, I couldn’t tell if the risk outweighed the gain. I listened a bit more as they rambled about their likes and dislikes of bean sprout soup, then turned off the screen.

Im Haekyung. Among mental-types, no one could match him; his guild was the biggest in the country and a top-ten worldwide. Not the hidden boss in the original, but if we’re talking about his relationship with Kwon Taehan, he sat pretty firmly in the antagonist camp.

If someone like that doubted me, tried to mind-control me, and toyed with me as he pleased—what should I do?

An idea came to mind, but I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

'Sleep on it and think after.'

There was a mountain of other things I needed to check anyway. I turned off the lights and closed my eyes. My mind and body were both worn out; I fell asleep almost immediately.

***

I don’t know how much time passed. Drifting on the border between sleep and waking, I cracked one eye open, meaning only to check the time.

But the instant I slit my eyes, what I saw wasn’t a clock or a phone—it was a tall, pitch-black silhouette standing at the foot of my bed.

'Ha... he’s gotten a taste for this, hasn’t he.'

I scrubbed my face with one hand and spoke in a voice rough with sleep.

“Yehyun.”

He flinched, maybe not realizing I was awake.

“Is this your hobby now?”

After the second time, I could guess his thinking. When he was unsettled, Do Yehyun had a tendency to seek me out. Especially on days I’d come back from a dungeon.