Chapter 42
Ever since the day they decided to be ‘friends’ again, Mujin’s atmosphere had changed a little.
Curry, the existence he first encountered that day, seemed to be a subject that greatly irritated him. Eunseong found himself unconsciously watching Mujin’s mood. He felt nervous, as if Curry might be crushed at any moment by the strength of Mujin’s grip.
Ppiyo- Ppiyo- Curry’s pitiful crying could be heard from behind. Even while Eunseong had his eyes closed and was letting his head be worked on, he perked up his ears at that sound. After having his identity discovered by Mujin, Curry couldn’t even approach Eunseong. Even now, he was fluttering helplessly with his feet caught in Mujin’s fingers.
‘He’s definitely not a bad monster, he’s helped me many times too…’
Eunseong felt wronged on Curry’s behalf. At the same time, he was scared that Mujin might decide to kill Curry. He had even given him a name.
The moment his thoughts reached that point, the hairdresser’s hand trembling became even worse. Could it be that Mujin was glaring at him…? Eunseong, feeling concerned, opened his eyes with a flash, and coincidentally made direct eye contact with the hairdresser in the mirror. At that moment, the hairdresser jumped in shock as if electrocuted and dropped his scissors.
Clang- It wasn’t even that loud a sound, but Mujin bolted upright.
“Is there a problem?”
“Oh, no, your eye color is so unique and… pretty that I got flustered.”
Ha, haha. Awkward laughter continued, but Mujin didn’t respond without any change in expression. He just glared sharply around the area. Then, without even returning to his chair, he stood firm in place like a pillar.
“I’m sorry. I don’t usually do that.”
“Oh, no. It’s really fine.”
In the end, it was Eunseong’s job to display social skills to the hairdresser who was apologizing for something that wasn’t even worth apologizing for.
Whether the tension had loosened a bit through their conversation, or whether he was trying to relieve the tension, the hairdresser began bringing up various topics. Since there had been instructions that his personal information shouldn’t be revealed, Eunseong skillfully avoided certain topics while responding to the conversation.
He didn’t forget to occasionally check on Mujin, who was standing with his arms crossed. Though he couldn’t sense anything particular from the expression he saw through the mirror, the way he stood crookedly with his arms crossed somehow felt unsettling.
“By the way, you’re a hunter, right? I really couldn’t understand people going all the way down to the bottom to watch hunters when rifts appear. But now that I see you, I get why they’d go. Really worth going to see.”
“Ah… yes, well, I don’t really… go to rifts much.”
“Really? That’s a shame. Though I guess I haven’t seen you around. With just your eyes open, you look like you’ve got a drama playing, and with this face not appearing in any advertisements doesn’t make sense.”
“…Thank you.”
Wouldn’t Mujin, standing right behind him, be perfect for advertisements? Eunseong felt a little embarrassed by the hairdresser’s excessive praise. Come to think of it, doesn’t Mujin have any advertisements? He waited for the hairdresser to mention something about Mujin, but he seemed to consider boosting his customer’s confidence part of his job and endlessly poured out lip service only about Eunseong.
“When you’re a bit tired and such, if you press your scalp like this… How’s that? Good, right?”
“Uh, yes.”
“After washing your hair, make sure to thoroughly wipe your ears too. Like this, carefully massaging even inside the ear.”
“Yes…”
It was when the finishing work was almost done. Mujin sighed and approached, grabbing the hairdresser’s forearm. The hairdresser, who had been rubbing sweet-scented essence on his hands, made a sound of regret.
“I should give you a bit more massage.”
“That’s enough.”
Was dropping the scissors really such a big mistake? Eunseong casually looked up at Mujin’s face and was startled. His brow was deeply furrowed over whatever had made him so angry, and he was glaring at the hairdresser with gleaming black eyes.
Perhaps feeling the same thing Eunseong felt, the hairdresser obediently gave up and backed away. As if that wasn’t enough, Mujin dragged him outside as if arresting him.
“He’s not even a monster…”
Left alone, Eunseong put on his security glasses.
* * *
“Why did you chase everyone out?”
Yeon Seokchun, who had entered Eunseong’s house, asked with a puzzled look. Then he looked at Mujin with somewhat incredulous eyes. He couldn’t understand Mujin, who had paid money to hire people to work, then sent them all away and was now doing the cleanup himself.
Mujin, who was cleaning up clumps of Eunseong’s hair that had fallen on the floor, didn’t even look at him and answered in an indifferent voice.
“They were suspicious.”
Suspicious how? Yeon Seokchun turned toward Eunseong as if asking him to sympathize with his bewilderment. Eunseong, sitting in the chair, just shrugged his shoulders.
“Ha… Fine. Since time is tight, it makes more sense to hurry and pick out clothes rather than argue about it. Guild leader-nim, please get up.”
Since he had chased away the hairdresser and all the stylists, all the work fell to Yeon Seokchun. He moved between the hangers with careful eyes, then selected several outfits and approached Eunseong. Judging from the clinking sound of the hangers, it seemed to be quite a few outfits.
“Hmm…”
Yeon Seokchun held clothes up under Eunseong’s chin and made groaning sounds repeatedly.
“What’s wrong?”
Eunseong asked back, feeling increasingly anxious, but he just kept silently bringing different clothes to try.
“Do I look weird?”
When he asked, gauging Mujin’s direction, only a short “no-” came back as an answer. Only then did Yeon Seokchun, noticing Eunseong’s uncomfortable expression, open his mouth saying “Ah.”
“Actually, no matter what I hold up, it looks too flashy, so I was troubled. It’s not that there are no clothes that suit guild leader-nim or anything like that. Of course not.”
“It’s because of my hair color, right? I’m wearing security glasses too… I probably look a bit strange.”
“That’s part of it, but if you go out with Hunter Baek Mujin right now, there’s that… what should I say… it would have an even more eye-catching effect.”
“What about me?”
When Mujin approached and made a blunt sound, Yeon Seokchun smiled gently.
“If I had to describe it, it’s like Beauty and the Beast. There’s such a thing as contrasting colors, right? Hunter Baek Mujin is dark and big, and guild leader-nim is white and sparkling, so the picture is quite…”
“Team Leader Yeon talks too much about useless things.”
A small laugh flowed from Eunseong’s mouth as he quietly listened to their conversation. The giggling sound gradually grew louder and caught Mujin’s attention. Eunseong looked toward where he was and smiled brightly.
“Mujin, your nickname was ‘Blackie.’ Since you were four years old, you only wore black, so even crows would be disgusted by you.”
“…”
“Jaeseong always said the lights went out wherever you were nearby.”
Eunseong, who had burst into laughter, suddenly felt something strange and closed his mouth. When he shut his lips that had been moving freely, only then did he feel the awkward silence.
“Uh… was I acting a bit crazy just now?”
Eunseong could imagine what kind of expression Mujin was looking at him with.
“Yoo Eunseong. You…”
He called his friend’s name in a voice thick with emotion. Eunseong got hiccups because the palm grabbing his shoulder was so hot.
The scene of precious friend’s memories returning one by one and him rejoicing gave Yeon Seokchun, who was approaching sixty, excessive emotion.
After all the preparations for going out were finished, he saw off Mujin and Eunseong while practically sniffling. It was just going to a guild meeting, but it felt like they were departing on some distant expedition. Eunseong waved to Yeon Seokchun while even feeling embarrassed.
Thunk, as soon as the car door closed and they started off, Mujin let out a chuckle. He tapped the steering wheel and asked as if reminiscing.
“Blackie?”
“Sorry.”
Eunseong’s face turned red as he pulled the hood strings to scrunch up the opening. He had chosen this outfit to hide his unusual hair color, but looking at it now, it was quite useful. Perhaps finding the sight amusing, Mujin’s laughter grew deeper.
“No. I liked you calling me that.”
“…”
“More precisely…”
Mujin reached out his right hand and dug into Eunseong’s hood opening. He loosened the strings, took off the hood, and roughly tousled his hair.
“I liked your expression when you called me that while enjoying yourself.”
“Liar. I vaguely remembered you always hitting Jaeseong too.”
Mujin didn’t answer the last retort. He just smiled quietly. Eunseong rested his head against the leather seat and felt the breeze brushing his forehead. He thought he now had to go along with the memories that popped up randomly on their own.
Was that why? This kind of silence with Mujin became a little uncomfortable.
‘I’m too conscious of him.’
All his nerves were focused on him, making it not just uncomfortable but difficult. When he was first dragged to Mujin’s house, it had been strange how he trusted him to an odd degree and felt comfortable with him.
‘When my memories were complete, was I more skilled at hiding my emotions…’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
