Chapter 41
The back of his head bristled with unease, wondering what kind of ridiculous trouble Eunseong had gotten himself into this time, but after exchanging a few more words, it turned out Eunseong didn’t know much about this thing either.
‘I think this is Hwanghwa. Thanks to this guy, I was able to use fire.’
‘You’re only saying that because you don’t know what Hwanghwa is, Eunseong. I can say with certainty it doesn’t look like a chick.’
Mujin couldn’t help but laugh at Eunseong’s absurd reasoning. Even though the situation was serious.
Still, this time he was willing to share by telling him the name, which was fortunate. He might have only told him because he was trying to crush the thing in his hand, but either way, it was progress if you could call it progress.
Just then, his phone rang. The name on the screen was Yeon Seokchun. When Mujin declined the call, a message immediately appeared. In the end, he had to pull Eunseong away from his embrace a little and send a reply.
[Yeon Seokchun]: We received a reply from Sayeong Guild’s contact. Fortunately, an A-grade buffer agreed to accept the commission. Should we schedule the appointment date and time as you mentioned before?
[Yes. If they don’t have any particular time preference, proceed as I told you before.]
[Yeon Seokchun]: Understood.
[How did the Shadow Heart inquiry go?]
He had definitely read the message, but the reply was delayed. Mujin waited patiently.
[Yeon Seokchun]: The original owner, Hunter Park Suhyeon from Chomyeon Guild, died and it was supposed to be transferred as a matter of course, but the widely circulating information was that it was lost in a rift. From here on is what I found out—afterwards, someone who acquired it appeared, but during the process of re-subjugating that area’s rift, a contribution dispute arose and the owner became unclear. So it will be put up for auction at the next Nova auction. The estimated price is 500 million void coins, and we need to negotiate our auction bidding qualification first.
[You don’t need to worry about bidding qualification.]
The next auction would be after the neutral zone large rift subjugation operation negotiated with the Rift Control Agency. Not only would bidding qualification be secured, but it would also be when the new guild’s official launch was confirmed. That timing was exactly when they would use the ‘Shadow Heart’. It wasn’t intentional, but since it aligned so perfectly, he took it as a good omen.
[Thank you for your hard work.]
Mujin, wearing a satisfied expression, put down his phone after that short reply. Just as he turned his gaze back to Eunseong, another message from Yeon Seokchun came in.
[Yeon Seokchun]: Are you really going to try that method? Extracting Hwanghwa from the guild leader’s body?
“……”
Mujin, who was about to ignore it, slowly typed a message. Since he was someone acting as a father figure to Eunseong.
[Since we have Seorin, if we use the same method, it will definitely work. With the Shadow Heart, healing will be possible right after Hwanghwa exits from Eunseong’s core, so he won’t end up like me.]
[Yeon Seokchun]: No one knows what will happen to Hunter Baek Mujin’s body after bringing Hwanghwa back. I also know that your core is unstable even now.
[I thought that discussion was over. I thought Team Leader Yeon quite liked the method I proposed.]
[Yeon Seokchun]: The guild leader will be very angry.
[I was angry too.]
After giving a contrary reply, Yeon Seokchun seemed to give up as no more messages came. Mujin glared at the screen for a moment before putting down his phone.
If he had to choose sides, he would definitely raise his hand for Eunseong’s safety, so he couldn’t understand why he kept adding his words. Mujin felt somewhat tired.
Perhaps awakened by his presence, Eunseong rustled and moved his body.
“Yoo Eunseong, get up already.”
“……”
Even though Mujin called him, Eunseong still fidgeted like someone in a dream, or like someone deliberately not listening. His long exhaled breath was warm. Mujin lay on his side, propping up his chin, and waited for Eunseong to wake up. The distance was still close, feeling the warmth as if embracing him in his arms.
The forehead revealed between his swept-back bangs was white and round. He kept fiddling with his own hair, but his face was peaceful as if it wasn’t even ticklish. Looking at his damply wet eyelashes, Mujin suddenly felt the urge to touch his tongue to their tips. He became curious about what taste the tear stains remaining like cracks would have.
Out of nowhere, he remembered what Woo Nayeong had said.
‘It’s noisy outside. About you and your lover. There’s even talk that Guild Leader Baek Sangyeon revived Yoo Eunseong. It’s limited to the upper levels for now, but that’s just a matter of time. The dirty rumors will soon spread all the way down.’
Lover.
Mujin smiled softly. He was aware that his behavior was unusual. But looking at Eunseong sleeping in his arms, weakened like a child, he thought it would be even harder to put on the brakes from now on.
It was difficult to explain, but it was slightly different from just feeling sorry and wanting to protect him. So he must look impure to others’ eyes too.
Still, lover was going too far. If Yoo Eunseong heard that, he’d be shocked.
The sleeping Eunseong was strangely transparent. Rather than breathing, he was sparkling. It was clearly the same face as Jaeseong, so why did it feel so different? When Jaeseong died in an accident, he didn’t feel this way. If he lost this body temperature again, what would happen to him?
It was certain. At that time, he wouldn’t be able to endure even an inch. Mujin couldn’t even imagine how he would break down.
When he had been gazing with an intense stare for quite a while, Eunseong suddenly opened his eyes. Then he immediately frowned sharply. As his blue eyes quickly welled up with tears, Mujin quickly raised his hand. A large shadow fell darkly, and only then did Eunseong look at Mujin.
“Were you, were you beside me? Were you? The whole time…?”
Mujin played innocent.
“No, I took a nap too.”
Eunseong rubbed his eyes and looked around. His blue eyes, which had been filled with anxiety, gradually stabilized as they surveyed the room. Had he had another bad dream?
“How long did I sleep? What about Hunter Lee Haesu?”
“Done crying? Acting like a stranger again.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
Mujin, who caught Eunseong’s gaze, smiled triumphantly.
“You said you’d call me Mujin now.”
“Ah, yes… yeah.”
“What’s ‘ah yes yeah’? ‘Ah yes yeah.’ I told you to call me ‘Mujin-ah.'”
Beep beep— Curry, caught between Mujin’s fingers, cried pitifully. Though it wasn’t meant as a threat, Eunseong’s blue eyes moved restlessly. Then his lips moved slightly.
“What?”
It wasn’t that he had stayed by his side the whole time he slept just to hear him call his name with those lips again. But Mujin felt stubborn.
So he urged Eunseong and brought his ear close to those lips.
“……”
Mujin’s body stiffened with a start.
“Mujin-ah?”
Eunseong raised his voice a little more. He thought he might not have heard.
“……Yeah, good job. Keep calling me that. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Eunseong scratched his neck awkwardly and added one more thing.
“Since we’re friends.”
“……”
Unable to respond immediately, Mujin watched as Eunseong got up from his seat. Rubbing his puffy eyes, he said he was going to wash up. Mujin couldn’t take his eyes off Eunseong’s retreating figure until the sound of the bathroom door locking snapped him back to reality. Then he found himself unconsciously touching his ear and muttering.
“……What the hell.”
* * *
Time passed steadily while he was busy recalling lost memories and catching up on three years of gaps.
It was the day of the contract meeting with ‘Sayeong’, the buff specialist guild. Eunseong sat with his eyes closed, entrusting his hair to a hairstylist who had visited his quarters.
“Please lift your head slightly.”
Moving obediently according to the hairstylist’s instructions, Eunseong felt somewhat puzzled. The fingertips touching his chin and the voice were trembling severely.
Snip snip, amid the quiet surroundings, only the sound of scissors filled his ears. Regardless of the hairstylist’s nervousness, Eunseong quite liked the gentle touch stroking his hair.
It made his lukewarm response to Yeon Seokchun’s suggestion seem pointless.
‘Since you need to go out, it would be good to trim your hair a bit. It would be good to buy some clothes too.’
‘Do I really have to? As long as it’s neat……’
‘No. You’ll be looked down upon by Sayeong Guild from the first meeting. I can’t stand to see that. Those bastards are already daring to order us around as it is.’
The meeting location was said to be a hotel in District 3. It was a location chosen after rejecting the request to come all the way to Sayeong Guild’s building in District 1.
The primary purpose of finding a professional buffer was Hanyeong, but consultation about Eunseong’s forgotten skills was also added. For some reason, Mujin didn’t seem pleased. He couldn’t hide his reluctant expression.
With the principle ‘must protect Mujin’ hanging in his heart, Eunseong had no intention of yielding even if Mujin opposed. Mujin, perhaps sensing Eunseong’s determination, stepped back saying to do as he wished. Instead, he imposed the condition that whatever he did, it must be done in a place where he was present.
Instead of taking Eunseong out to buy clothes and trim his hair, Yeon Seokchun brought people to the guild building, to Eunseong’s quarters. While the people who brought clothes were bustling about in one corner of the living room, Eunseong was sitting in an inner room having a private session with the hairstylist.
It wasn’t exactly private, since Mujin was stationed in the back…
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
