Chapter 143

I pulled back from his lips and gave Do Yehyun a rough summary. Maybe because I skipped parts, he didn’t look fully convinced, but in the end he nodded and said he understood.

Watching him leave, I thought for a moment.

If I can handle Cheonmyeonggyo, whatever comes after can be solved one way or another. In that case, is the thing I should be paying attention to somewhere else?

'Joo Seowon.'

Since we got back to Korea, even accounting for me being personally busy and barely home, the frequency of bumping into him had dropped way too much.

I never avoided him, so this had to be deliberate on his part....

Well, I could guess the gist. Didn’t he say he was embarrassed?

'Hmph.'

If I admit a few things, that night I did push too hard. My temperature was way up, and I had a laundry list of things I didn’t like, so once the impulse lit, I vented it in a way that wasn’t exactly healthy.

And beyond libido, there was a whole lot of satisfaction that hit me right in the head.

'I should talk to him.'

After talking with Yehyun, the thought solidified: time to grab Seowon. At this point I’d given him plenty of time to sort himself out. I mulled it over briefly, then called him right away.

“Seowon.”

—......

“Answer.”

—I’m driving.

That shows up just fine on the tracker. I tossed a flat reply back at his pointless comment.

“You can’t multitask that much? Yes you can.”

—Why... did you call.

I took a second to line up what I wanted to say. We hadn’t talked face-to-face in a while; there was a lot to cover.

But instead of going straight to the point, I snorted and asked,

“Funny. I need a reason to call you?”

—So you called me just because?

“I do have something to say.”

When I said that short line, I heard a small inhale on the other end. I paused, then started with business.

“Get back in touch with Ryu Taejun. This time, proactively. Make it clear you want to meet, or persuade him some other way—I don’t care.”

—...Huh? Ryu Taejun? Ryu Taeyoung’s younger brother?

“Yeah.”

—Why?

Why, he says. Because it’ll be useful. Even aside from having found Jin Haedo’s location, it’s best to wring out whatever info we can. For that, squeezing a believer is the best.

I tidied the artifacts strewn across my desk one by one and answered,

“I’m going to Jinsando. Cheonmyeonggyo’s base—the place where Jin Haedo lives. You remember.”

—...I do. But you’re really going?

“You knew I was going.”

—......

“For the record, I’m not taking you.”

—...Why?

A hunter with a tracking skill. On a strange island, that’s plenty useful—but something else mattered more.

Jin Haedo is a man who manages and keeps dungeons open, so if we storm his base there’s a high chance we’ll set foot in one of those warped dungeons. Dragging in someone with dungeon trauma—what are the odds that ends well? Slim.

'If the Trust Covenant doesn’t trigger like last time, we’ll be lucky.'

I still intended to pull him into a dungeon—just not right now.

“Because you might die.”

—......

“If you die, I die.”

I’d already confirmed how the Trust Covenant bites; the risk needed trimming.

With that said, I moved on immediately.

“Oh, and while you’re contacting Ryu Taejun, look into Ryu Taeyoung too. It’s been a while since anyone got through to him, but from the articles it’s not like he’s gone off the grid. Whether the brothers fell out or whatever—if we know it, we can use it.”

—Use it.... ...Got it.

“And track Wang Tiansin and Kang Sojeong too. Those two can go on the back burner. That business is already wrapped.”

—...Okay.

Well, that should do for now. He tossed out an obedient okay and clammed up again.

I waited out his silence for a bit, then said the last thing I had to say.

“And...”

—...What?

“Feels like it’s been a while since I saw your face.”

—That’s because you’re always out and about....

“Don’t talk shit. I’m commuting from home. If it’s like this, you’re the one avoiding me. Was that on purpose?”

—......

I wasn’t trying to interrogate him. Asking just made me genuinely curious.

Whether it’s embarrassment or because it reminds him of that night, whatever his reason, it was obviously about what happened on that trip. What the hell is he thinking, to act like this?

“Do you regret it?”

But the feelings he showed didn’t read like a one-off impulse. He does impulsive things around me a lot, sure, but he himself is more methodical than you’d think. That’s why working together was a bit of a grind, too.

After a long while, he answered in a tight voice.

—I don’t know. Me neither....

Hearing it, I realized I hadn’t specified the subject.

'Huh. Was I asking if he regrets the sex?'

I checked his location as he answered. He’d stopped near the house; looked like he’d parked and was just sitting there without getting out.

“Don’t be like that.”

—......

“You’re going to be living with my face anyway. Obviously.”

Regret it, stew on it—just don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. I considered going out to see him and talk in person, then dropped it.

“If you’ve got a complaint, say it. Have I ever not heard you out?”

—There are... more than a few things you haven’t!

He suddenly snapped, and I let out a short, hollow laugh. I cut the smile and wrapped up.

“Fine. That’s enough for now. Come up and get some sleep.”

—......

“And starting tomorrow, don’t avoid me.”

—...If I do?

“That’ll be unfortunate. For you, not me.”

—What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Figure it out yourself. Instead of answering, I signed off.

“Then good night. See you tomorrow.”

—Hey, Seo Jehyun!

I hung up. If he really has a problem... he’ll come find me.

***

Right then, Seowon had his forehead resting on the wheel. The dim cabin light barely fought back the darkness of the parking space, painting his reddened ears.

A shame he couldn’t put a name to kept dragging his mind around.

He never lets anything just slide. If you can tell I’m keeping my distance, give me some time. In every way, Seo Jehyun felt like he was going to break his brain.

'What? Do I regret it?'

What exactly was he asking me if I regret?

At first he thought the question was about sleeping together on impulse, but thinking about it, maybe not necessarily.

'Why the hell did I say I liked him?'

He’d admitted long ago that Seo Jehyun got under his skin. But if he was going to just like him, he could’ve kept his mouth shut and stayed quiet—why poke it and make this mess?

'No... fuck, that night was weird.'

But as soon as he thought it, he corrected himself. The mood that night had been off.

Sure, he’d also been losing his mind for days thinking about Seo Jehyun, but that night he was off, too.

After meeting Kang Sojeong and getting through the auction schedule, his head had been packed with other thoughts.

Was it because of that stray mention of Seo Jehyun’s family? Or the scar on his back, clear as day?

The back—muscle built from stupidly clean living, set on good bones—was nice by the numbers, but there was a bigger scar than he’d expected there.

'He said it happened when he was a kid...?'

At the time, when Jehyun said he’d spilled hot water, Seowon let it go without thinking, but looking back, a scar that big doesn’t happen from just spilling hot water.

It was weird that he, not the guy with the scar, was hung up on it... but there was no helping it. Once he started paying attention, every little mark Seo Jehyun lived with got under his skin.

On top of that, now the other roommate at home had started to grate on him too. To the point he felt like ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) things had been better when they grabbed each other by the collar over a misunderstanding—his relationship with Do Yehyun had gotten awkward.

He hadn’t expected social skills from a guy who’d been rolling around there, so at first he’d made an effort to be friendly. Even if there wasn’t much reaction, he could let it slide.

What twisted it was seeing how excessively Yehyun relied on Jehyun. The second he clocked it, a heavy crash of self-awareness clobbered him.

'On a twenty-year-old...'

He’d just turned twenty-one now, but that still left a six-year gap. And objectively, the kid was good, which made it more annoying.

'Fuck, what am I doing?'

He’s not the type to have thoughts like this, so whenever he got this far, he reset to the beginning.

Seo Jehyun.

Throughout the auction, he... wanted to see him. Just one floor up and he could’ve seen his face, and still. Even though he’d been dropped into strange territory for money more than once, he wanted to see him so badly it was ridiculous.

Maybe that’s why? Something he’d normally close out somehow on his own—this time, the moment it hit, he called Seo Jehyun. It had felt urgent then, but with time, he could see it had been something he could have solved—clunky and time-consuming, but solvable.

But the second he saw Jehyun’s face, he felt relieved... and something else, something odd. A subtle feeling you shouldn’t have about someone two years younger, like suddenly having a backer, a guardian. After a lifetime of jobs where if you blow it you’re fucked, it was the first time he’d met someone who said, If you’re about to get fucked, call me. And then the guy actually showed up every time things were about to go to shit and pulled him out.

'I shouldn’t be like this.'

Just like Jehyun had said... he’d been leaning on him without realizing it.

Having called him in, now came the next problem. Even after handling it as smoothly as usual, Jehyun’s mood didn’t look great.

He talked fine, his attitude wasn’t so different, and yet you could read that subtle displeasure.

Was it like, You said you wanted me to rely on you, and you call me for this bullshit? Or disappointment that the guy he dragged in didn’t do the job right? Whatever it was, he didn’t want Jehyun thinking like that.

Then, when Jehyun cut off anything about himself, a wave of unbearable anxiety surged up.

Once the floodgate opened, it shot off in another direction. Why did he bring up Do Yehyun, why tack on explanations for something that was already over?

...He knew the reason, too.

Because, like Jehyun said, he was hurt. He was jealous.

He hated himself for it—hated it to an absurd degree—and then, in a snap, that feeling turned into blame.

The thought he’d denied all along—he’d gone up to grab him by the collar thinking I want to kill you for asking so casually if he liked him. But once they were close, he wanted to kiss him.

That was all.

It pissed him off even more that a kiss landed without feelings made his mouth open up just fine, and yet the sensation of his lips being sucked while the initiative was stripped away felt good. No, that’s not why it felt good; it was that the whole thing—kissing Seo Jehyun—felt good.

'And what came after....'

Seowon squeezed his eyes shut. If he kept thinking he wanted to die, but his thoughts ran off on their own.

'...Fuck. Why?'

Kissing he could chalk up to Jehyun’s nonexistent chastity—no answer to be found there—but sex? What state of mind had he been in to have sex?