#61
The fact that Dal-pyeong was a hidden master item dealer and the creator of the measuring device that was broken last time was something Ha-seong first heard from Do-hyeok that day. No wonder he felt some kind of extraordinary master’s aura when they shook hands. As expected, Ha-seong’s intuition wasn’t wrong.
“He said he’d make a new measuring device.”
“Really?”
That was truly welcome news. Lately, he’d been having troublesome dreams where the measuring device kept talking to him. Dreams where it kept poking at his guilt, asking why he broke it, why he made it so miserable, and he’d even casually asked Cha Do-hyeok about it – but now it would be remade.
Ha-seong looked at Dal-pyeong unpacking his luggage in the inner room on the first floor as if he were looking at a benefactor. Come to think of it, that room looked more like a storage room than an actual room. When Ha-seong said it wasn’t appropriate to give such a room to an elderly person, Do-hyeok said with a serious expression that this person would probably be the healthiest among them all.
“And grandfather wanted that room, so don’t worry about it.”
Well, even if Cha Do-hyeok was a cold-blooded bastard, he probably wasn’t the type to disrespect elders. But there was one thing that puzzled him.
“He doesn’t seem to be your real grandfather…”
The combination of Do-hyeok and grandfather Dal-pyeong was quite refreshing. The combination of the one and only S-rank hunter and a hidden master item dealer. Moreover, seeing how casually they got along, it seemed like they’d known each other for quite some time.
“Something like that.”
Do-hyeok dismissed it curtly. They weren’t family, but they were close enough to be like family. Come to think of it, Do-hyeok had once hinted that he lost his family in an incident 10 years ago. Had Dal-pyeong taken care of him when he was left alone?
Ha-seong was imagining Do-hyeok’s family circumstances by himself when:
“Hyung. Come in.”
Do-hyeok went to the room where Ha-seong was staying and gestured for him to come. When did he go all the way over there?
“Why?”
When Ha-seong entered, Do-hyeok locked the door.
“Take it off.”
At the words that followed, Ha-seong just blinked his eyes. What did he just hear? When Ha-seong tilted his head sideways, Do-hyeok paid no attention and pointed at Ha-seong’s clothes. So he really meant to take off his clothes.
“…Are you really a pervert?”
Why are you trying to make a perfectly normal person take off their clothes? Ha-seong asked seriously, but Do-hyeok only frowned as if he couldn’t understand. Then, thinking it would be faster to show through actions rather than words, he picked up the ointment tube from the desk and shook it.
Then Ha-seong let out a low “Ah.” That ointment was what Ha-jun had given him along with the medication that day. It was a medicinal item that helped wounds heal well, and according to Ha-jun, it would be good to apply it about 5 days after discharge.
Was today already the 5th day? As Ha-seong tried to calculate with a stupid expression, Do-hyeok shook his head and urged him to hurry up and take it off.
“I think I can apply it myself.”
Ha-seong scratched his cheek. Other things aside, it felt a bit embarrassing to ask someone to apply medicine while having his upper body bare.
“Are you some kind of gymnast, hyung?”
“Huh?”
“Even if your hands can reach your arms, what about your side?”
True, the arm was the most severely injured, but the gunshot wound on his side hadn’t healed either. It was just less severe than his arm because he’d hastily deployed a shield, but even this was a major wound. So this part also needed concentrated application of ointment.
Finally deciding it would be better to receive help from a third party, Ha-seong slowly took off his upper garment. After agreeing that he would apply it to his arm himself and Do-hyeok would only apply it to the wound on his side, he sat on the edge of the bed.
Do-hyeok carefully unwrapped the bandage. As the wound was gradually revealed, Do-hyeok unconsciously frowned. The area hit by the bullet still looked quite deep, probably because it hadn’t healed yet. Judging by how close the distance must have been when he was shot, it was truly amazing that he could get up and walk around like this. He could somewhat understand why Seo Ha-jun had recommended hospitalization.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Not really if I don’t move.”
Do-hyeok opened the ointment cap, took an appropriate amount in his hand, and slowly applied it to the wound area. Then Ha-seong flinched slightly. Did it hurt a lot? Well, it was being applied directly to a wound, so it was natural for it to hurt. Do-hyeok moved his touch even more carefully.
But the more he did so, the more Ha-seong kept squirming.
“…Hey.”
“Yes.”
“That…”
Do-hyeok was looking at Ha-seong’s back and concentrating only on applying ointment to the wound, so he hadn’t yet noticed that his breathing was trembling. Finally, Ha-seong, who couldn’t stand it anymore, turned his head sharply.
“It tickles.”
“…”
Ha-seong’s face was slightly flushed red, as if he’d been holding back a lot. His earlobes and neck were originally pale, so it showed even more. For a moment, facing that expression, Do-hyeok felt his body tense up.
“I’m really ticklish, you know?”
When Do-hyeok’s touch stopped, Ha-seong let out the breath he’d been holding back. With his face still red, and perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed about saying he was ticklish, his attitude seemed somewhat dejected. To Do-hyeok’s eyes, this brought about a rather strange feeling. Not only was his body gradually tensing up, but he even felt an absurd sensation as if blood was rushing to somewhere below.
“So…”
“I’ve finished applying it to your side, so apply the rest yourself, hyung.”
Do-hyeok suddenly threw the ointment onto the bed and rushed out of the room like lightning.
“What the hell.”
Ha-seong stared at the closed door with a dazed expression before picking up the ointment.
Meanwhile, Do-hyeok came out of Ha-seong’s room and walked quickly.
“Hey, Do-hyeok, this…”
Dal-pyeong tried to say something to him, but Do-hyeok ignored him as if he hadn’t heard and went straight into the first-floor bathroom. Seeing this, Dal-pyeong was about to say something, but seeing Do-hyeok enter the bathroom, he muttered “He must have been in a real hurry” and turned back the way he came.
“…”
As soon as Do-hyeok entered the quiet space alone, he rubbed his forehead. After some time passed, the reaction seemed to gradually disappear. He looked down at his lower body. The front of his pants, which had been getting thick when he left Ha-seong’s room, had returned to its original form.
“Shit…”
He thought that if he had stayed a little longer, he might have gotten completely hard. It was an unfamiliar sensation. It couldn’t help but be an absurd phenomenon. Do-hyeok was so dumbfounded at himself that he stayed holed up in the bathroom for quite a while.
* * *
“Grandfather. Please have lunch.”
“Alright.”
When Do-hyeok went to work, naturally only Ha-seong and Dal-pyeong were left in the house. Since Ha-seong didn’t have much difficulty dealing with elders in the first place, he quickly struck up a conversation with Dal-pyeong.
“Ha-seong, you’re good at cooking too.”
“It’s just kimchi stew, nothing special.”
Ha-seong chuckled and ladled soup into Dal-pyeong’s bowl.
“Anyway, while you’re staying here, eat up all of Cha Do-hyeok’s food before you leave. Do you know how much money that bastard has?”
At Dal-pyeong’s words, Ha-seong laughed out loud. Ha-seong picked up his spoon, swallowing the words that he was planning to eat it all up with the money he received for his informant work anyway.
“Ah, grandfather, did you see Cha Do-hyeok leave today? I woke up at the usual time but didn’t see him.”
“That bastard seemed to leave early today.”
He had planned to send him off with a “have a good day” as usual, but when he woke up, Cha Do-hyeok was nowhere in the house. He wondered if he had woken up late, but that wasn’t the case. So there are days when he leaves early too, he thought the guy was quite diligent despite appearances.
“But grandfather, why don’t you ask me anything about myself?”
When he had almost finished his rice bowl, Ha-seong spoke up. When Dal-pyeong came here, Ha-seong had only explained himself as a Nameless employee who had circumstances that led him to be indebted to them. But Dal-pyeong didn’t ask what those circumstances were, what kind of employee he was at Nameless, or why he was staying directly at the guild leader’s house.
At first, he thought Cha Do-hyeok had made up some story about him, but looking closely, that didn’t seem to be the case either. So he was a bit curious.
“What’s there to ask? I’m too old to be curious about every detail of young people’s affairs.”
Dal-pyeong dismissed it, saying he only came here to make a measuring device.
“Besides, where is there a person without circumstances? I have them, you have them, and even Cha Do-hyeok has his own circumstances.”
Is this what they call the dignity of an adult? Ha-seong nodded and admired inwardly.
“It seems like grandfather has known Cha Do-hyeok for a long time.”
“Of course, about 10 years ago? I took in and raised that bastard when he was young.”
So that’s why Cha Do-hyeok said he was like family. Still, it seemed like Do-hyeok wasn’t alone at every moment in his life, which gave Ha-seong a subtle sense of relief.
“Did grandfather take him in and raise him after Cha Do-hyeok’s parents passed away?”
Ha-seong became a bit curious about the inside story. In the past, he would have had no interest in such private matters, thinking his relationship with Cha Do-hyeok was purely business anyway. But now he wanted to know a little.
Ten years ago was the time when the Gate incident that shook South Korea occurred. He vaguely thought that Dal-pyeong had raised Do-hyeok, who had been left alone by that incident.
“Do-hyeok’s parents passed away?”
But Dal-pyeong showed a somewhat puzzled expression.
“I’m not sure if that bastard’s parents are dead or alive.”
“What?”
“Do-hyeok was alone from the beginning.”
And from Dal-pyeong’s mouth came a somewhat unexpected story.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
Dohyeok having another type of awakening