Chapter 29
Soft lips were pressed down. At the body heat from the round fingertips, Eunseong stiffened his shoulders rigidly.
Even though his vision was completely blocked by the blindfold, it seemed like he could see all of Mujin’s expression, his black pupils. The familiar scent mixed in his breath flew over and settled above Eunseong’s philtrum.
Mujin quietly caressed Eunseong’s lips like someone who had forgotten how to continue speaking. Because of that, he couldn’t say anything at all.
When hard fingernails brushed against the corner of his mouth, Eunseong unconsciously swatted away Mujin’s hand. And faster than that, his wrist was seized.
“Ah!”
It was a grip strength that could make one’s chest sink. When startled Eunseong grabbed Mujin’s arm with his other hand, he finally came to his senses like someone awakening, breathing heavily as he released the force in his grip.
“Sorry. I was thinking about something else for a moment…”
When Eunseong moved toward the inside of the bed as if fleeing, Mujin’s face turned pale with panic. The hand he had reflexively extended asking if he was okay also embarrassingly grasped at empty air. Instead of grabbing Eunseong and pressing him to look at his wrist, he abruptly stood up and gave him distance. He himself seemed surprised too.
What followed immediately was the sound of Mujin calling for Lee Haesu.
“My wrist is fine! It’s not broken.”
He lifted his hand and waved it exaggeratedly, saying it didn’t hurt and that he was okay, but what he was actually talking about into his phone was a nosebleed. Although it was clearly Mujin who had made the atmosphere strange, it was Eunseong who had stiffened with awkwardness and was acting like a clunky robot.
Lee Haesu arrived at Mujin’s house in less than 5 minutes. Approaching with the faint smell of disinfectant as if he had been in the treatment room the whole time, he examined Eunseong’s nose and wrist with a few light gestures and stood up.
“Where on Eunseong-ssi is there even a place to hit that you’d lay hands on him?”
When no one in the room answered Lee Haesu’s lame joke, he clicked his tongue.
“You said you were running away from home. It’s chaos downstairs right now, but it’s peaceful here. Do you have a plan for taking two sick people with you?”
“I wouldn’t move without a plan.”
“You don’t think the guild leader will just let go with both hands and send you off saying ‘Go well, son! Live happily!’ do you?”
At Lee Haesu’s words, Eunseong also perked up his ears. He had been curious about this too. Common sense dictated that Huiseon Guild wouldn’t let go of Mujin, who was core personnel. Since it was directly connected to the safety issue of Hanyeong lying in the treatment room, his head naturally tilted toward where the sound was coming from.
“Do Yeongmyeong made another major rift prediction.”
Do Yeongmyeong? Hearing Mujin’s words, Eunseong searched through his memories, but it wasn’t a name that came to mind quickly.
“Mujin, do you believe what that cult bastard says too?”
“Whether I believe it or not isn’t important. What’s important is that the Rift Control Agency believes it.”
Mujin’s tone was calm. That’s why Eunseong couldn’t predict his next words at all.
“But the predicted location is in neutral territory. As always, Nova will step forward, and they’ll recruit hunters from our country through the Rift Control Agency too.”
“Don’t tell me you…”
“I said I’d help. In exchange, without guild affiliation.”
At Mujin’s words, Lee Haesu let out a small sigh.
“In return, they told you to stay out of Huiseon Guild’s family feuds, right.”
Neutral zone rift handling usually had more losses than gains from a guild’s perspective. The compensation that returned was mediocre compared to the costs and resources spent on resolving it. Moreover, the danger level was doubled. Since it wasn’t a rift that had appeared in their own territory, even the honor was unclear, so no guilds readily stepped forward.
Furthermore, if it was a major rift like this one that might appear once every few years on a continent, most would be eager to avoid it.
That’s precisely why it was perfect as stakes for a deal.
“The more everyone tries to avoid something, the better it is for betting.”
“You’re saying you’ll enter a battlefield completely alone without any support right now.”
“I’ll arrange something to negotiate with during the auction grade evaluation, and it’s convenient. Well, it’s true that I’ve been uncooperative with rift suppression until now.”
“Can you handle it? More than that, aren’t you just doing the Rift Control Agency guys a favor? You should have a conversation with the guild leader instead.”
“Conversation?”
Mujin asked back as if he had heard an incomprehensible word.
He looked at Lee Haesu with meaning that conveyed ‘Don’t you know why I’ve been attached to Huiseon for the past 3 years?’
What if his father found Eunseong first? He had endured at Huiseon for exactly that one reason. If he had simply wanted to leave Huiseon, he would have left long ago.
Mujin’s purpose wasn’t simple guild withdrawal. His goal was finding Eunseong, officially establishing a guild that gathered Eunseong’s people. He planned to conspicuously establish a guild of various misfits without blood relations to make it Eunseong’s new home. And he had to retrieve all of Yuseong’s lost assets too.
“That’s a stupid thing to do.”
Eunseong, who had been quietly listening until then, raised his head and spoke. His fairly firm voice was similar to when he had taken over the guild leader position of Yuseong after losing all his family.
“Troop deployment should be done through guild-level cooperation. Going alone is too dangerous. Hunter Lee Haesu-nim is right. No matter how much you’re Hunter Baek Mujin, entering an unknown rift without a single colleague to watch your back is—”
*Thud.* At the sound of a heavy glass bottle being set down right nearby, Eunseong couldn’t finish his words. At the heavy smoky scent that spread immediately after, Eunseong raised his eyebrows.
Alcohol?
Unable to contain his curiosity, he slightly lifted his blindfold to see Mujin downing amber liquid filling a glass like drinking water.
“Hey, Baek Mujin, you can’t drink alcohol.”
Even as Lee Haesu crossed his arms and made disapproving sounds, Mujin didn’t even pretend to listen. Rather, as if further provoked, he immediately filled the empty glass with alcohol. Even with both their gazes fixed on him through the sloshing amber liquid, there wasn’t a single change in his expression.
“The bottom where you lived—it’s not more dangerous than there.”
He drank the second glass in one gulp too, like downing soju. The alcohol seemed to have no effect on his body, as his skin color remained merely pale.
“Oh my, I don’t know anymore. Really.”
Even after Lee Haesu gave up and left his seat, Mujin held his ground like a stone statue.
He sat motionless in the chair beside the bed, urging Eunseong to sleep comfortably without worrying about him. When told it was uncomfortable, the only response that came back was that it was self-inflicted.
Anticipating what was to come, Eunseong let out a small sigh, turned over, and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket. In his sleep, he thought he heard the words ‘Don’t disappear again.’
* * *
The day of running away from home. Eunseong was watching Mujin pack with a somewhat anxious face. Since all he had to take was his own body and Hanyeong, he didn’t know what else to do with himself.
‘You’re the one who enticed him to leave Huiseon?’
Baek Sangyeon’s chilling voice kept coming to mind. He had been glancing toward the entrance since earlier, but it was still quiet so far.
Mujin spread a not-so-large suitcase on the bed and packed only a few items, but it didn’t look like typical moving luggage. It was mainly books, notebooks, leather pouches, and small items like equipment.
“Go to the bathroom if you’re in a hurry.”
“What bathroom?”
“You’re fidgeting like a puppy that needs to pee, so I’m telling you.”
When Eunseong’s face flushed and he plopped down on the bed, Mujin suddenly pulled a hat down over his head. Then he also held out black sunglasses.
“After we move, I’ll look for items with better effects… For now, let’s go out wearing these.”
“Yes.”
While Eunseong was looking at the luggage bag, a white jewel in a glass box caught his eye. He definitely remembered seeing it somewhere? When he tilted his head while looking at it, Mujin somehow knew and quickly picked it up.
“You recognize it? This is yours.”
The small jewel taken from the box was hanging on a thin platinum chain. In his memory, it was definitely in brooch form, but someone seemed to have modified it.
Mujin unfastened the chain of the necklace he had taken out and put it around Eunseong’s neck.
“Seorin?”
Eunseong was surprised by the words that came from his own mouth. First, he was surprised because fragmented memories suddenly popped up, and second, because the identity of this item came to mind.
“That’s right, correct. You know it well. From now on, don’t take this off your body even when washing.”
“This is mine?”
“That’s right. You can’t give it to anyone like before.”
Eunseong’s mouth fell open in surprise.
This was mine, and I even gave it to someone?
“Am I incredibly rich by any chance?”
At Eunseong’s question, Mujin pressed his handsome lips together tightly, then soon burst into refreshing laughter. It was a moment when his face, which looked cool when expressionless, became unbelievably warm. Perhaps because he was so handsome, even his laughter sounded pleasant, making Eunseong tug at his own ears.
Mujin dumped the rest of his belongings into the bag, zipped it up, and helped Eunseong stand.
“Let’s go.”
“What about Hanyeong?”
Mujin, who had extended his hand to Eunseong, sharply raised his eyebrows. Just when he seemed to be getting better, here was another contrary reaction.
“Hunter Lee Haesu took care of it, so don’t worry.”
“I understand.”
“…”
“…It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just asked to confirm.”
“I know.”
The two left the entrance and took the elevator together. Lee Haesu joined them midway and reported on Hanyeong’s transport situation. He had just headed to the heliport with the medical team, and since Eunseong and Mujin had to travel by car, they couldn’t go together.
It was puzzling why the word helicopter made him feel nauseous, and why he felt relieved about taking a car. However, Eunseong just unconsciously moved a span closer to Mujin’s side.
Lee Haesu rubbed Eunseong’s shoulder.
“There are bridges connected up to District 3, so if there’s no traffic, we’ll get there in two hours. When we pass over the bridges, if Eunseong-ssi feels uncomfortable, I’ll help you, so don’t worry about that.”
“Is Hunter Lee Haesu-nim coming too?”
“Yeah, because someone has acrophobia.”
Mujin? When Eunseong looked up, Mujin frowned and scolded Lee Haesu.
“Stop adding unnecessary comments.”
“Ah, I’m excited because it feels like going on a drive after a long time.”
At Lee Haesu’s words, Eunseong also got slightly excited along with him. It was because he had been constantly thinking about wanting to get out of this building since meeting Baek Sangyeon.
But they say there’s no easy thing in the world. When they crossed the lobby and came outside the building, that very Baek Sangyeon was there to greet Eunseong’s party.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
