105
* * *
An open area where the two arrived alone, distanced from the group. Scattered stone materials and fragmented magical beast corpses had flown all the way here.
Doun carelessly kicked aside the fragmented magical beast corpse with his foot. He didn’t care even when dirty blood splattered on the front of his sturdy work boots.
“…”
“…”
Though Doun had urged him to follow, saying he had something to say, he only silently stared at Samin’s side standing next to him without readily starting the conversation first.
“Hyung. Are you very angry?”
Unable to wait any longer, Samin carefully began. Then Doun muttered in a sighing tone:
“The skill, why did you use that on your own?”
“No, it’s a skill that exists to be used, so I should utilize it. Subin was right next to me, and I had fewer magical beasts than hyung…”
Samin timidly made excuses. He was more cold-hearted than anyone when it came to conquest.
“Rather than the main dealer withdrawing right before the floor boss conquest, it was better for me to step out briefly, get treated, and rejoin. No matter how much it’s hyung, I can’t compromise on this.”
Samin answered in a calm tone not as Lee Doun’s boyfriend, but as Yeoun Guild’s guild master and the group leader with conquest abandonment authority. Noticing that gap, Doun’s eyes began turning cold again.
‘So you’re going to come out like this?’
Doun took a short deep breath. Here, he too had to answer not as someone worried about his lover’s injury, but as hunter Magnetic.
“After taking all my wounds like that, what were you planning to do about the magical beasts right behind you? I experienced that skill and I hate it. Don’t ever use it again.”
“Hyung would have handled it like earlier, right? Sangyeon was closer to me than hyung, and if necessary, I could have gotten emergency treatment from Subin inside Sangyeon’s shield and handled it…”
It was when Samin was about to answer in a nonchalant tone as if it were no big deal. Doun seemed to hold back his anger, pressing his lips tight before starting to refute.
“It would have taken at least 10 seconds for me to run to where you were and cast a skill! What if something had happened to you in that time! If I hadn’t run to you, not only you but Subin would have been seriously hurt too!”
Doun got angry at Samin for the first time. Even before they dated, while watching all sorts of antics and sweet talk, he had frowned or been shocked, but he’d never lashed out with such a fierce tone.
Even when he realized he’d made a large bruise on Samin’s forearm while drunk during the 2-night 3-day pension stay for the team building event, his tone hadn’t been this irritable.
‘…He’s really angry.’
Looking at Doun’s more vicious face than expected, Samin couldn’t answer anything and closed his mouth.
“You’re the only one with conquest abandonment authority, but if you use that carelessly… Haa, even aside from that, why are you taking the injuries I sustained! It wasn’t even minor, why that!”
“Getting your side pierced during conquest isn’t the first or second time. I considered all of that…”
Samin hesitated while trying to persuade Doun step by step. Tears began pooling in Doun’s bright blue eyes.
“…If something happens to you because of me, then I…”
It was a voice that failed to control emotions. Trembling thinly and unable to continue his words, Doun still seemed angry with strength in his eyes, glaring with wider-than-usual eyes. The face stubbornly glaring at Samin while pressing his lips tight, trying not to shed tears, was a mess.
“Hyung. I…”
Samin trailed off and tried to approach Doun, then glanced behind. Usually, whether guild members saw or not, he’d sweet-talk Doun with childish words about being cool and pretty, and casually hug and be affectionate.
However, after actually becoming Doun’s lover, Samin began having unnecessary worries that guild members might suspect their relationship.
Samin was fine regardless of others’ gazes. He was usually called crazy and weird anyway, and he didn’t care what others said. But Doun was different. His lovable boyfriend with the opposite personality easily got intimidated and was habitually conscious of others’ reactions.
Samin suppressed his desire to hug Doun who was on the verge of tears and slowly raised his hand. Wiping away Doun’s tears that finally overflowed and began crossing his cheeks with his thumb, he spoke in a stubborn tone:
“Hyung, I’ll transfer hyung’s injuries to me next time this happens too.”
“…I said I don’t want that.”
“Did you forget the promise to go around towers with me until the skill is completely drained? I should use what I have. Why won’t you utilize it?”
Samin began coaxing Doun with a deliberately more affectionate voice than usual.
They met not as ordinary people, but as hunter and hunter. Moreover, they were domestic ranking 1st and 2nd place. Separate from the childish and sweet romance ordinary couples had, it meant they were in a relationship that had to pursue tower conquest simultaneously.
Not utilizing available skills was a shortcut to being weeded out as a hunter. Fortunately, today it was quickly resolved without escalating to a major accident. Even if Doun hadn’t rushed over, it was manageable enough.
Therefore, despite Doun’s reprimand, Samin didn’t think his choice was wrong. He trusted the crisis response guidelines built through coordinating with guild members.
“I’ve never acted recklessly inside towers. During brief maintenance or after conquest ends, I might act like a clingy kid to hyung, but have I ever done that during combat?”
“…”
“It’s right that I thought hyung would rush over immediately. Even if hyung had been a bit late, no, even if you hadn’t come, the nearby guild members could sufficiently cover the situation…”
Samin, who had been trying to calmly explain the existing conquest team’s crisis response capabilities that Doun was overlooking, abruptly stopped. Doun’s condition wasn’t normal.
“Hyung.”
“How many times did I say I don’t want it… Don’t get hurt in front of me. Please… No one in front of me… Like that, never again…”
Samin urgently cupped and lifted Doun’s cheeks.
‘Why is hyung suddenly like this?’
Even though their eyes clearly met, Doun didn’t seem to be looking at him. The unfocused bright blue pupils seemed to be seeing something from the past, not him in front.
Doun’s fingers drooped weakly, not even thinking to remove the hands roughly lifting his face, only trembling finely. His chest rapidly heaved as he took small breaths in and out, unable to breathe well. Anyone could see it was a panic attack.
Samin gripped Doun’s pale face tightly and murmured:
“…Hyung.”
“…”
“Doun hyung.”
“…”
“Baby?”
“…”
“Lee Doun.”
When he deliberately strengthened his voice to call the three-syllable name, focus finally returned to the hazy eyes.
The sound of swallowing a breath clearly tinged with tears could be heard. Doun, forcibly steadying his breathing, couldn’t hide his suffering face.
Just looking at Samin staring at him, he touched Samin’s lower abdomen that had been pierced from taking his injury with trembling hands. As if he’d seen the illusion of another hole appearing.
“Please never use that skill again… And don’t get seriously hurt in front of me either.”
“Hyung, calm down. It’s okay. I’m all healed, aren’t I? I healed enough to properly beat the floor boss, so why are you like this? Hm?”
“I hate seeing anyone get hurt like that after what happened to Sehwan…”
Doun’s lips that forced out the words trembled. The panting leaking through his teeth was utterly unstable.
‘Who is Sehwan… Ah, fuck.’
Samin belatedly frowned. He pulled Doun into his arms regardless of other guild members’ gazes. No matter how much he patted the back of Doun who was powerlessly held in his arms, the trembling showed no signs of stopping.
Shin Sehwan. A member of the now disbanded and vanished Chronos, he was the other party in the Floor 44 death video that had made Magnetic Lee Doun, then Chronos’s main dealer, pointed at as a nationwide murderer.
Hunter Recycle dying while desperately gesturing to Doun in front of him with only his hands sticking out after his lower body was crushed by a magical beast, and Magnetic silently watching that scene.
After that vividly filmed video was uploaded to the system, the aftermath spread uncontrollably.
Coincidentally, the location where Recycle Shin Sehwan was pierced before being crushed by the magical beast was the same as where Samin was pierced from transferring Doun’s injury.
‘This is driving me crazy, really. Fuck.’
Samin cursed internally.
Why had he forgotten this incident? Perhaps he’d overlooked it because Doun, who usually showed depressed aspects, acted particularly spirited and lively only in towers.
‘Why does hyung still have to suffer like this because of that bastard who died after carelessly using up others’ mana!’
Samin internally swallowed thoughts with no respect for the deceased.
Though Samin hated the sordid and disgusting implicit customs and public opinion prevalent in the hunter world, he respected hunters’ challenging spirit toward higher places. However, he absolutely didn’t want to acknowledge the members of Chronos that Doun once belonged to as fellow hunters.
Not only did they exploit one person with everyone’s combined effort, they even pushed responsibility onto him.
Samin was busy comforting his lover who was trembling in his arms.
“I’m sorry, hyung. I didn’t think of that. It’s okay. I’m here, aren’t I?”
The moment Samin began speaking to comfort him, Doun finally started sobbing, unable to control his overwhelming emotions.
“And why are you assuming I wouldn’t come to save you? I didn’t really abandon Sehwan then… I wanted to save him, I wanted to move… but my body hurt so much…”
Through his trembling lips, the events of that day that he’d never been able to confide to anyone were spilling out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
