33
* * *
Samin returned confidently carrying lunch boxes in his ridiculous outfit. Doun, who had momentarily forgotten due to the intense outline of Samin’s right thigh, belatedly asked in shock.
“Hey. You went out and received it dressed like that?”
“Then what, should I have gone out naked to receive it?”
“Didn’t the delivery driver say anything about your clothes?”
“He didn’t say anything…?”
Well, whatever Kyung Samin was wearing, once you saw that guy’s face, things like clothing wouldn’t even register. It would have to be pretty outrageous. He looked like the heir to an organized crime syndicate that controlled the entire metropolitan area – whether he was dressed like that or naked, how many people would dare point it out to his face?
“Come on. We’re hungry, so let’s eat quickly. Where do you want to eat? Living room? Dining table?”
“Anywhere…”
“We should eat at the dining table after all, right? Come over here quickly.”
“Hey. This is my house, you know?”
“Who said it was mine? I’m telling you to come because you keep staying on the sofa.”
Samin grinned and spread the food out on the dining table. By the time Doun sat at the dining table chair with a sulky face, Samin had already split the wooden chopsticks in advance and taken the spoon out of its wrapper to finish the pretty table setting.
“Let’s eat well.”
“Yeah. Let’s finish eating and continue the conversation we were going to have yesterday.”
“Sounds good.”
Doun looked down at the lunch box while listening to Samin’s spirited response. Just having one more person at the dining table where he always sat alone and roughly got through meals made him feel like he was in someone else’s house.
“Oh. The bulgogi here is delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Buy this for me again later.”
At Samin’s sly speech that casually promised future meetings, Doun hesitated but lightly nodded. He could easily buy a meal or two without any problem.
Next time too, and the time after that.
The comfort Samin had given him yesterday held value that couldn’t be converted to money.
“Ah. And after we finish eating, could you show me around your house?”
“…My house?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s just a house… There’s nothing worth seeing.”
“Still.”
“…Well, whatever.”
Doun nodded nonchalantly again. He didn’t know why someone who said he bought a building in a prime location with cash would want a tour of a house like this, but since there weren’t any valuables worth stealing, he could accept it casually.
When their meal was almost finished and Samin had finished cleaning up, he decided to go into the room to change clothes because his outfit was too uncomfortable. This was good news for Doun, who had been secretly bothered by Samin’s exposed stomach and that place that showed no signs of calming down.
“Phew. Now I feel like I can live. The clothes were so small I thought I’d become some kind of idol.”
Samin, who came out wearing the same clothes he’d worn when entering the tower, stretched while turning his head left and right. Hearing the crackling sounds from his neck, it seemed he really had been forcing himself to wear the uncomfortable clothes.
“You’re talking like an idol.”
While listening to Doun’s cold scolding, Samin lovingly caressed the ring on his left ring finger.
‘I want to live getting scolded by our hyung every morning.’
He wanted to put this ring on Doun’s finger someday. Doun’s ring finger, which he’d roughly estimated by eye, was much thinner, so he’d probably have to melt the ring down and remake it.
It was when Samin was imagining giving Doun the heirloom ring passed down through the Kyung family for generations, promising eternity while wearing matching wedding tuxedos and sharing a passionate kiss.
“Now that we’ve finished eating, sit here. Let’s have that conversation we couldn’t yesterday.”
His shoulders drooped at the dream-breaking suggestion. However, thinking it would be better to bring up the topic when Doun’s mood was soft, Samin readily decided to postpone the house tour.
He quickly sat next to the sofa that Doun had casually patted, telling him to sit.
“Why did you want to stop at the 47th floor yesterday?”
Samin thought what was coming had come. Anyone could see that stopping the consecutive conquest at that timing was no different from being conscious of Doun coughing up blood. Even Lee Doun, no matter how oblivious he was, wasn’t such an idiot that he wouldn’t know this, so he had expected this kind of question.
“…To be honest, I was worried that if we kept going like that, hyung might cough up blood again. I also felt like we were exploiting hyung, which didn’t feel good.”
Sometimes being straightforward was the right answer rather than beating around the bush. Just like now.
Doun felt deflated somehow. If Samin had come up with some half-heartedly packaged words, he had been ready to refute immediately. But he had confessed exactly what he’d suspected, and his face clearly showed that he was genuinely worried.
“My condition wasn’t great, but I don’t think it was bad enough to postpone the 47th floor.”
“…I understand hyung’s feelings. But I also can’t really gauge how far hyung can go, so please bear with me.”
“No, it’s not something to bear with… What were you going to say to me yesterday?”
“Ah, that. Our guild seems to lack unity, so I was thinking of having a unity retreat and wanted to ask what hyung thought about it.”
“Ah… That’s what it was?”
Doun just blinked blankly. He thought he was going to give him some feedback. A unity retreat.
“Just in case, this isn’t because of hyung. Our guild lives for their own pride – they don’t want to get involved in the politics of large guilds but they want to go to towers, so we’ve gathered only that type, and unity has always been lacking.”
“…”
“Hyung probably felt it while watching videos too, right? We’re just the type to push through with force, but we’re lacking in unity and cooperation.”
“…I didn’t really notice.”
At Doun’s nonchalant answer, Samin bit his lips tightly.
A person who used to shoulder parasite-like guys and conquer towers alone would notice something strange about Yeoun Guild’s conquest team?
Come to think of it, that didn’t make sense. Besides, he was terribly oblivious in other ways too, so how would he notice?
“Hmm, that’s how I see it. I felt it while attempting the 55th floor conquest – at this rate, someone’s really going to get seriously hurt… Hyung just joined and the kids keep being curious about hyung, so I thought we could refresh ourselves while we’re at it.”
“…Really?”
“It’s not like we’re playing for a whole month, 2 nights and 3 days is fine, right?”
Doun didn’t argue further. Guild management policies were ultimately the authority of the guild master and sub-guild master. It wasn’t an area where he, a mere guild member, should have much to say.
“I think it could be a chance to get closer, and it would be good to share information and then coordinate on training floors.”
“I have to go too…?”
At Doun’s cautious question, Samin’s eyes widened as if asking why he was saying something so obvious.
“Of course. Hyung is our guild member too. Let’s go somewhere with good air to play and rest. Use skills freely and give the kids some autographs – that would be even better.”
Samin’s words made plenty of sense too.
Unity? Good.
Refresh? If necessary, it could be done.
The problem was that his biggest goal in recruiting him to the guild had been pushed to the back burner. The guild solo conquest of the 55th floor that no one in Korea had conquered yet. The reason why Yeoun Guild Master Slope had tried to recruit Hunter Magnetic.
“When are you planning to conquer the 55th floor?”
Impatience could be felt clearly in the questioning voice. Samin narrowed his eyes and casually muttered.
“Doun hyung. Are you planning to leave our guild after just clearing the 55th floor?”
“Huh? No. That’s not it…”
Doun had no choice but to hesitate.
Now Lee Doun had come to treasure the fence called Yeoun. Though it was a shallow bond from only two tower conquests, he wanted to become close with Kyung Samin who had given him warm comfort, the guild members who each had slightly strange corners but looked favorably on him, and even the unknown guild members he hadn’t met yet but whom Kyung Samin vouched for.
“I heard through the grapevine that the atmosphere among the alliances aiming for the first conquest is a complete mess. The guild masters are fighting over pride and going crazy over magic stone distribution… Even if they succeed in conquering it, a lot of people are going to get hurt there.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. But we can’t be like that.”
“We…”
At the word Doun repeated blankly, Samin narrowed his eyes. Just like when they parted in front of the apartment complex last time, he particularly dwelled on the word ‘we.’ Having ghostly intuition for the points that made Doun soft, Samin whispered in a subtle tone.
“Yeah. We. Am I wrong?”
“No. You’re right.”
Doun’s gentle response mercilessly shook Samin’s heart that he had been forcibly calming. Samin stared at Doun’s profile as he was lost in thought alone.
White skin that testified to long seclusion, eyelashes so unusually long they seemed like they would cast shadows, fluffy cheeks with a healthy glow, red lips that moved slightly as if carefully choosing words.
Lee Doun examined up close was very delicate and charmingly pretty. To the point where you wondered if the modifier ‘pretty’ was allowed to suit a man so well. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was Hunter Magnetic with amazing achievements.
He didn’t have hobbies like judging people by their appearance, but just looking at his face, this man who seemed like he couldn’t kill even an ant would slaughter magical beasts without batting an eye. Even that tremendous difference was endlessly lovely.
To the point where his earlier resolution in the bathroom that he wanted Doun to come to him of his own complete will became meaningless – Kyung Samin wanted to date Lee Doun. And quite passionately at that.
‘Ah. Shit, I don’t know. Patience, perseverance, all that crap – forget it all. You want me to stay still looking at that face right now? I’m not a eunuch.’
Samin finally slyly leaned his upper body and lightly touched Doun’s finger. The side profile that remained motionless, as if quite deeply captured in thought, was only frustrating.
“Hyung.”
Though it was a call laden with subtle nuance, Doun, lost in thought, remained silent.
“Doun hyung. I want to give hyung a kiss.”
“…What?”
At the direct request, Doun finally turned his head. Then, seeing Samin’s face that was too close, he flinched and pulled his body back while blinking.
In the moment when the distance where even breathing could be clearly felt created breathtaking tension.
“Just once… Please. Okay? I’ll just give you a kiss. It’s not a kiss kiss, just a peck.”
Samin’s plea burst out. It was so earnest that it seemed like he’d shed tears if refused. Unable to answer easily, Doun gauged the gradually closing distance and ended up closing his eyes.
He felt the presence of someone taking a deep breath, then lips touched his tightly closed left eyelid and fell away.
They were hot, soft lips.
Smooch, Doun flinched at the sound of the kiss laden with moisture. Then the lips that had slyly moved down carefully approached his soft cheek again.
“Hah…”
The place where the lips touched felt like it was burning and melting. Doun let out a short moan, then forgot to breathe and unconsciously gripped Samin’s clothes tightly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
