53
* * *
In the end, Doun couldn’t bring himself to say thank you to Samin. It wasn’t just that he’d missed the timing—he was bothered by the gaze that was staring straight at him.
‘If I say thanks and the mood gets weird and he rushes at me saying he wants to kiss again, that would be troublesome.’
Unlike himself, who was cowardly hiding his grateful feelings, Samin was quite honest about his desires.
“It’s cold. Let’s head back soon.”
As Doun, who had finished his contemplation, slowly got up from his seat, Samin quickly followed suit.
“Are you very cold? I’ll light the firewood right now.”
Without giving him a chance to answer, Samin quickly ran off. He began whispering to the guild members who were still grilling a few pieces of meat over the quietly burning charcoal. Then everyone put down their chopsticks and moved in unison.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
When Doun approached and asked, Jang Hyeonseong gave him a good-natured smile and threw him a task.
“Ah, Doun, would you like to clean up what you and hyung ate together?”
“Sure.”
He had felt a bit uncomfortable being idle alone, so he was happy to have something to do. While Doun sorted dishes that needed washing and trash with Jang Hyeonseong, firewood stacking was in full swing on one side.
“Ah, Min hyung. Try stacking it prettily!”
“Can’t I just roughly prop them up diagonally?”
“If the balance is off, it’ll collapse to one side and won’t look good.”
When even the gentle-natured Dong Jiwon joined in, Samin tilted his head and repeatedly stacked up the firewood only to mess it up again.
“Hey. This one seems pretty decent?”
“From what I can see, this level doesn’t seem bad either.”
“Ppomi, what do you think?”
“As expected, Min hyung does well when he’s being nagged.”
Even Kim Minhyeok, who had been picky, seemed satisfied and gave a thumbs up. Only then could Samin escape from the firewood pile.
“Tell Hyeonwoo to light the fire when he comes, and where are the sweet potatoes?”
“Chansol noona and Chan went to get them.”
“Good. Set up the chairs roughly.”
After efficiently using Kim Minhyeok and Dong Jiwon to finish preparing for the campfire, Samin looked around for Doun. Since he seemed to like stars, he had reserved a spot for Doun where the sky was clearly visible and the tower could be faintly seen, but the seat’s owner was nowhere to be found.
‘Where’s our hyung?’
While he was rolling his eyes around looking, someone poked the area near Samin’s ribs with their finger.
“What are you looking for?”
“Huh!”
Samin jumped in surprise and turned around. Then Doun, who had been equally startled, stood there with his eyes wide open.
“Ah, you scared me. Why are you so surprised?”
“No, I was looking for hyung and you suddenly appeared behind me without making a sound…!”
Doun took a long breath to calm his startled heart. He had sometimes heard that he didn’t make footsteps, but he had never startled someone twice in one day before. He thought maybe he should cough or deliberately walk a bit heavier.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“I was looking for you to tell you I saved you a seat.”
“If there aren’t enough chairs, I can just stand and watch or sit on the ground. Why did you need to save me a seat? So where is my seat?”
Doun scolded Samin with a grumbling voice while naturally asking where his seat was. Samin quickly pointed with both hands to the prime spot he had picked out.
“Here. This spot has a good view of the stars and the tower, and you can see the side where the firewood is stacked prettily.”
“Let me see…”
Doun sat lightly on the camping chair Samin pointed to and looked around the scenery while muttering to himself. Though it was just wooden logs before being lit, as Samin said, he could harmoniously view the sky, tower, and campfire.
“Where are you going to sit? Left side? Right side?”
Doun asked with a tone full of confidence that Samin would naturally sit next to him. However, the answer that came back was unexpected.
“I’m going to sit over there?”
The place Samin pointed to was diagonally away from Doun, a bit separated. The guy who always stuck to him like gum was going to sit away from him. It felt strangely disappointing and unsettling.
‘…I shouldn’t have added unnecessary words.’
Doun regretted it inwardly and roughly nodded his head. Feeling awkward, he was just scratching around his left eye when Do Hyeonwoo crouched in front of the firewood and lit the fire.
“If the system gives out nickname change tickets, I want to change my nickname to Fire Work. Everyone always looks for me when they need fire.”
“Fire Work, what’s that. Let’s go with Fire Shuttle, more manly.”
“That’s not cool though.”
“You think so?”
Do Hyeonwoo, who had been chatting with Jang Hyeonseong, lit the firewood. Then he sat in an empty spot and let out a deep sigh.
“A 32nd-ranked hunter like me using skills for chores like this.”
“So you’re saying Doun and Samin should light the firewood instead of you?”
When Jang Hyeonseong laughed and retorted, Do Hyeonwoo turned pale.
“What? That’s absolutely not what I meant?”
“Then why did you bring up rankings?”
“I just wanted to appeal that even though I can’t assert myself in our guild, I’m still a high-ranking hunter?”
“Oh. Our Hyeonwoo wanted to be treated like a high ranker? Aigoo. Hyung didn’t know that.”
While Jang Hyeonseong was giggling and teasing Do Hyeonwoo, the rest of the group joined them.
“Can we sit anywhere?”
“Yes. We put out chairs for everyone.”
Dong Jiwon answered in a languid voice while looking at the gently burning firewood.
“Is Jiwon half in meditation right now?”
“Do people meditate while looking at fire?”
“Who knows.”
The area around the bonfire quickly became bustling. There were still times when hearing bustling sounds made him inexplicably anxious and his heart race, but perhaps because these were familiar voices, Doun could sit there with a fairly comfortable mind.
“This is somehow healing. After living just watching magical beasts’ blood splatter, now I’m seeing trees, fire, and stars…”
When Seong Suyeon, sitting comfortably in a chair with a beer can in one hand, murmured this, everyone nodded.
“Honestly, we see plenty of fire inside towers too? When Hyeonwoo uses Meteor a few times, everywhere becomes a complete furnace.”
When Choi Jiyoon continued, Hong Chan shuddered.
“That’s not this kind of healing scenery though.”
“Right. There’s the smell of things burning too, and it’s more killing than healing.”
“The bonfire sound is amazing… I think I understand why people listen to ASMR. Seriously.”
While everyone was adding their comments, Doun silently listened to the guild members’ stories while quietly watching the flames. On this summer night with the risen moon and cool air, the warmth of the bonfire from an appropriate distance was fantastic.
The night must have been deep as bird calls could be faintly heard, adding to the atmosphere. Everyone was intoxicated by the mood when:
“Does anyone know how to play guitar?”
At Choi Jiyoon’s question, Dong Jiwon, who had been sitting in silence for quite a while, opened his mouth.
“I can play the recorder.”
A recorder performance echoing around a bonfire. Just thinking about it was so mismatched that laughter was about to burst out. But when the person who said it, Dong Jiwon, had such a serious expression that no one could respond, Kim Chansol decided to take the lead with a smirk.
“Jiwon, did you bring a recorder?”
“I didn’t bring one.”
“Then you can’t play it right now.”
Jang Hyeonseong, who finally burst into laughter, tried to forcibly swallow his laughter with a “kuk” sound but ended up choking.
“Yes…”
Perhaps realizing his answer was quite random, Dong Jiwon became noticeably dejected. Then Kim Minhyeok, sitting next to him, comforted him.
“It’s okay, buddy. Let’s play the recorder of our hearts.”
“What nonsense. You play the heart recorder a lot yourself.”
Because of Dong Jiwon’s gentle retort, laughter finally erupted.
“We’re really saying anything, but why is this funny?”
“Wouldn’t snakes come out if you played recorder in the mountains? I imagined it and it was so funny my stomach hurts.”
Kim Chansol was busy wiping away tears and clutching his stomach while taking deep breaths. While everyone was laughing and chatting gathered around the bonfire, Samin, who had checked his phone, disappeared into the pension with Choi Jiyoon and Do Hyeonwoo.
“Ah. Right. Doun.”
“Yes?”
Jang Hyeonseong, who had been subtly reading the mood, caught Doun’s attention and asked a question.
“Earlier you couldn’t shoot arrows because of the terrain, but do arrows not hit you either?”
“Ah. Are you talking about special immunity?”
“Yeah.”
Doun answered gently to Jang Hyeonseong’s question.
“If hyung shoots arrows with pure physical force, they hit me. If you make arrows with mana and shoot them, it’s fine.”
“What about shooting real arrows with magic skills? Ah. Is this something we’d have to experiment with?”
Experiment. Even though it was to understand the skill range, the thought of shooting arrows at a person made his hair stand on end. Just as Jang Hyeonseong was scratching his head as if he shouldn’t have asked:
“That’s fine too. If it’s magic skills, they strangely don’t hit. Even if they do hit, they just fall off with a thud.”
“You’ve experimented with that? That?”
When Jang Hyeonseong asked back in panic, Doun nodded.
“Yes. In my previous guild…”
As Doun’s words trailed off, Jang Hyeonseong took a small breath and suddenly put his arm around Doun’s shoulders.
“Aigoo. Our Doun is in our guild now! Huh? From now on, let’s work hard to see only good things and have fun conquering towers! Got it?”
Though his voice was chillingly similar to his former guild master Timer, what he was saying was completely opposite, making Doun’s heart feel unsettled for no reason. Just as Doun was nodding and calming his surge of emotions.
A familiar song was heard from somewhere.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.”
Samin, who had left his seat, returned to the bonfire singing the birthday song while ignoring pitch and rhythm. He held a large whipped cream cake in both hands and wore a cute cone hat on his head.
Choi Jiyoon and Do Hyeonwoo were behind Samin holding a small banner.
[♥HAPPY DOUNDAY♥]
Doun, taken completely by surprise, froze without even blinking.
‘My name?’
Doun checked the letters written on the banner several times as his thoughts began racing.
Belatedly, Doun checked his phone screen.
[July 7th AM 12:00]
July 7th. The day he first met Samin, his birthday that he had revealed while caught up in his pace.
The people who were celebrating his completely forgotten birthday first were right in front of him. And they had thoughtfully prepared a banner and cake.
Jang Hyeonseong, who was next to him, personally put a slightly wrinkled cone hat on Doun’s head. As Doun touched the paper cone placed on his head and looked around, the other guild members were all clapping and singing.
“Dear Lee Doun, happy birth…”
The other guild members’ singing, which had been enthusiastically chorusing as if to hide Samin’s terrible melody, suddenly stopped. This was because Doun, standing in the middle of the suddenly quiet pension garden, was shedding tears from his large eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
