#34
“Ah, um, Hunter Seo Yi-young. Am I being too chatty…?”
Hearing his name called, he snapped back to reality. He was embarrassed, wondering why such thoughts had suddenly crossed his mind.
“No, not at all.”
“Oh my… Really? That’s a relief then. Your expression was getting worse, so I thought maybe I was being too noisy.”
“Ah, no. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
When Seo Yi-young immediately denied it, the stylist’s cautious expression softened a bit. It seemed his thoughts about Choi Do-jun had shown on his face.
Anyway, because of that damned guy… Seo Yi-young shook his head as he started thinking about Choi Do-jun again. Enough. He shouldn’t think about him anymore.
As he was admonishing himself, the stylist carefully approached him.
“You have no idea how much my nephew adores you, Hunter Seo Yi-young. He’s been on the waiting list for the Awakening Counseling Center for years, and his turn finally came up, so he’s getting awakened this week. Um, if it’s okay with you, could I ask for your autograph later? I thought he might awaken a better ability if he received some of your energy.”
Seo Yi-young nodded willingly at the request, which wasn’t unpleasant at all. It wasn’t such a difficult thing to do.
After finishing the styling, Seo Yi-young looked in the mirror and let out a small gasp of admiration. Whatever magic they had worked on his hair made it look fluffy and bouncy. It swayed delicately with the slightest movement, making it seem like it wasn’t even his own hair. The hairstyle was also set to look softer and lighter than Seo Yi-young’s usual style.
Silently admiring how different professionals were, he headed to the photo shoot.
Finding Choi Do-jun in the crowded shooting location wasn’t difficult. Being so tall, he stood a head and a half above everyone else, making him immediately noticeable even without deliberately looking for him.
Dressed in a deep blue knit sweater and beige slacks, Choi Do-jun was talking with someone who appeared to be the shooting director. By the way, Choi Do-jun was wearing blue, so Seo Yi-young wondered why they had put him in a pink knit sweater.
Perhaps because it was for the photo shoot, the color seemed particularly vibrant. After looking down at his own sweater and then at Choi Do-jun’s outfit, Seo Yi-young felt a moment of dissonance and tilted his head.
“…Hmm.”
Something was different from usual.
But what was different? He couldn’t figure out the reason for this strange feeling.
“Oh, Hunter Seo Yi-young has arrived.”
The shooting director noticed Seo Yi-young and greeted him. While listening to the director’s explanation, Seo Yi-young kept wondering in the back of his mind why Choi Do-jun looked different from usual, until he finally realized the reason.
The reason Choi Do-jun felt different was that he was wearing casual clothes.
This was the first time he had seen him in such personal attire since meeting him. In the previous dimension, he had only seen Choi Do-jun in his sharply tailored suits, and in this dimension, he had only seen him in white techwear. Come to think of it, even at the previous hunters’ gathering, though he had been in casual clothes, they were all black, so they didn’t give off the impression of being casual wear.
Realizing this new fact, Seo Yi-young glanced at Choi Do-jun standing beside him. He already knew Choi Do-jun was tall, but were his legs always that long? His hair was also impeccably styled, looking natural yet neat, making Choi Do-jun’s impression softer than usual.
After glancing at him a couple of times, Seo Yi-young inadvertently turned his eyes toward Choi Do-jun and their gazes met directly. Feeling guilty as if he’d done something wrong, he quickly averted his eyes, and Choi Do-jun seemed to let it pass without saying anything.
And finally, the shoot was about to begin. From what he heard, it wasn’t going to be difficult. They just had to stand on the set and recite a few lines.
Walking to the set with Choi Do-jun, Seo Yi-young tried his best not to make eye contact with him. He had intended to act normally around him, but suddenly he couldn’t remember what “normal” was. Their usual meetings mostly took place in dungeons. In this peaceful situation, standing side by side, there wasn’t much to say.
However, there seemed to be some problem, so they didn’t start shooting right away. Asked to wait a moment, the two stood on the white set, waiting on standby. Seo Yi-young wondered if they would just have to stand there awkwardly. He could feel other people glancing at them, except for the busy staff members.
Since the opportunity to meet two S-Class Hunters at once was rare, their reactions were understandable. The problem, however, was the gossip that might follow if they continued to stand there awkwardly without speaking. Though Seo Yi-young thought it might be fine to ignore both Choi Do-jun and the people around them, his personality made that difficult.
He could ignore Choi Do-jun, but the staff were the important ones. If they remained silent, rumors about them being uncomfortable with each other might spread. Seo Yi-young thought he should try some casual conversation. After all, it was better to maintain a good public impression.
And he needed to see for himself what kind of person Choi Do-jun was. Having made up his mind, Seo Yi-young, with his hands clasped together and facing forward, fidgeted with his fingers and opened his mouth. A neutral topic would be best.
“The weather’s nice today.”
Weather talk was the safest. Choi Do-jun would surely give a bland response to that. That’s what he expected, but Seo Yi-young had momentarily forgotten that Choi Do-jun was not a person who followed normal expectations.
Instead of the “Yeah, it is” response he was expecting, Seo Yi-young received something a bit different.
“…”
“…What, what?”
Choi Do-jun stared at Seo Yi-young, looking him up and down in a way that made him feel awkward.
“That’s unlike you.”
“…”
Seo Yi-young turned to look at Choi Do-jun, at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected that kind of response. He wanted to punch that expressionless face. But if he did, it would become a news-worthy incident rather than just a photo shoot, so he held back. Instead, he clenched his fist and folded his arms.
If Choi Do-jun was going to be like that, he had his own thoughts too.
“Don’t you know how to respond nicely when someone speaks to you nicely?”
Seo Yi-young said with a faint smile. He saw Choi Do-jun’s eyes widen slightly. If he didn’t expect this reaction after saying something so irritating, that was the funny part.
“Even if there was something between us, I’m trying to be civil for now, so could you cooperate?”
“Being civil?”
“Yes.”
When Choi Do-jun questioned him, Seo Yi-young replied as if he couldn’t understand why he was asking such an obvious question.
“I see.”
Seo Yi-young barely resisted asking if that was all he had to say.
After that brief response, there was no more proper conversation with Choi Do-jun. The shooting began and proceeded smoothly, ending in no time.
Watching Choi Do-jun leave the scene without even saying goodbye to him, Seo Yi-young realized once again:
He really hated that bastard.
Getting into the car, Seo Yi-young let out a long sigh. It seemed like his blood pressure would rise before he could properly figure out what kind of person Choi Do-jun was. He wanted to throw away both Choi Do-jun and Jo Tae-su. He was angry about why only he had to go through this hardship.
Seo Yi-young eventually sighed again, covering his eyes with one arm. He wished someone would just tell him what to do, how to handle this situation.
The only person qualified for that would be the previous Seo Yi-young. But the previous Seo Yi-young wouldn’t be stupid enough to write down what kind of relationship he had with certain people, what conversations he had with Jo Tae-su, or what instructions Jo Tae-su had given him. Things weren’t going to be that convenient.
He would have to meet Jo Tae-su again in the near future, and until then, he had to figure something out. First, he thought, he should erase all preconceptions and learn more about Choi Do-jun as a starting point.
Of course, he disliked Choi Do-jun. But he disliked Jo Tae-su just as much. So if a situation arose where he had to take sides with one of them, he wanted to observe properly and make his own judgment.
Yes, let’s keep a distance and observe Choi Do-jun first. As objectively as possible.
Seo Yi-young narrowed his eyes slightly.
But life didn’t always go according to Seo Yi-young’s plans.
*
“…What is this?”
Seo Yi-young stared blankly at what appeared before his eyes.
[A Room You Can Only Leave When You Feel Good]
He wanted to ask what kind of trick this was.
“A room you can only leave when you feel good. Not difficult.”
“Hey, you’re now…!”
Seo Yi-young turned toward the voice, momentarily flaring up. Choi Do-jun’s expressionless face came into view as he, too, was looking at what had appeared in the air.
“Is that all you have to say right now?”
Seo Yi-young spat out the words, feeling both irritated and angry. Choi Do-jun looked at him and shrugged.
“There’s no other way, is there?”
That was certainly true.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t tried to escape. But even Choi Do-jun’s attacks couldn’t destroy the walls. The place where the two were trapped remained intact despite all attempts. Just when they thought this might be the end, that announcement appeared.
“…What, what are you doing?”
Seo Yi-young asked, stepping back a couple of steps as he watched Choi Do-jun start to undo his harness.
“We need to get out.”
“Right. We do need to get out, but… why, why are you taking that off?”
Feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis, Seo Yi-young questioned Choi Do-jun again warily.
“I don’t know if you’re pretending to be innocent or if you really don’t understand, but let’s get this over with and leave.”
“Get what over with?”
“To feel good, there’s only one way, isn’t there?”
Looking at Choi Do-jun, who answered as casually as if someone had asked if he was going to eat lunch during lunch hour, Seo Yi-young wondered if he was the one who was strange. He couldn’t believe it.
“Wait, wait. There must be other ways to feel good… Ah, stay right there.”
“When I know the fastest and easiest method, why should I look for another way?”
Well, that was true.
It was true, but…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
