# 58
“But you did it with me.”
“That’s just because you…!”
“Before that, Hunter Lee Jin-ha kissed me.”
“That’s because you weren’t in your right mind…!”
“So you’re saying if I’m not in my right mind again, you’ll kiss me?”
Jin-ha was rendered speechless by the question, mixed with interrogation and teasing. He had no intention of doing so again, but when faced with the situation, who knew what might happen.
What was clear was that the fence between them had been half-demolished by this incident, now reaching only knee height. He hoped there wouldn’t be a next time, but if there was, it would be easier to cross the fence than it had been today.
As if reading his troubled expression, Riyekan generously said,
“Alright. I understand.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t do it.”
“…What?”
Jin-ha, who had relaxed, was cutting a piece of white bread to dip in the cream stew when he asked again. Despite making Jin-ha dumbfounded, Riyekan didn’t care and started pouring plenty of honey into his yogurt and eating it.
“Why should I give up pleasure because of Hunter Lee Jin-ha’s outdated thinking? I’ll do what I want, and Hunter Lee Jin-ha can try to do what he wants.”
“No, what are you saying?”
“I mean, try to refuse if you can.”
“What are you… I said don’t do it!”
Despite Jin-ha’s alarm, Riyekan just grinned, showing no sign of changing his mind.
Good grief. He was a fool to think he could make this man behave properly through normal persuasion. Jin-ha felt like his breath was caught, and before he knew it, he let out an exasperated sound.
“The stone took 2 months, the sheep took 1 year. Didn’t you say Hunter Lee Jin-ha has twenty-six pieces of my soul now? I don’t know how many the sheep had, but I think Hunter Lee Jin-ha has more soul pieces than it did…”
So how long would this obsession last?
Though unspoken, it felt like the words brushed past his ears. At the same time, Cha Ki-young’s words came back to him.
‘Why don’t you have some fun this time?’
As Cha Ki-young had said, the current situation was the best opportunity for fun. An opportunity Jin-ha had never wanted.
Jin-ha’s head began to spin at the situation unfolding completely differently from what he had expected.
“Well, let’s eat for now.”
Riyekan, who had spoken as if retreating a step, began devouring the food on the table at a terrifying speed. Stew, yogurt, mashed potatoes, and dried fruit instantly turned into empty plates.
“Mmm… delicious. Legas, more stew. With lots of meat.”
“Yes, Master.”
The table, which had only soft foods, soon transformed into a diet no different from usual. Riyekan chewed and swallowed sandwiches, steaks, and roasted birds indiscriminately.
Well, to maintain such a large body, he would indeed need to eat a lot. Jin-ha, who had been staring blankly at Riyekan devouring the rapidly prepared food, at some point softened his heart and just sighed away his irritation.
He was still worried about what would happen in the future, but for now, he wanted to leave him alone to enjoy his meal.
* * *
Since he was a man who hadn’t eaten or slept for several days, after finishing his meal, it was straight to bed. The man seemed to want to pull Jin-ha into bed with him, but when Jin-ha carefully covered him with the blanket and patted his shoulder, he soon gave up.
Jin-ha felt like he was beginning to understand how to deal with the man. Riyekan reacted sensitively when the other person wasn’t willing to give anything, but when given a little concession, he became docile. The problem was that he always needed to be given a little more than before.
“…Haa…”
After putting Riyekan to bed and arriving at the first floor, Jin-ha became suddenly exhausted at the thought that the troublesome affair was over.
Legas bowed his head toward him.
“Thank you for coming today, Mr. Lee Jin-ha.”
“Ah… don’t mention it. But perhaps…”
Jin-ha cautiously asked, checking Legas’s reaction.
“Is there no reprimand for my unauthorized entry?”
“There’s no reason for that. As I said, the most important thing is the Master. Please continue like this in the future. Thank you for your hard work.”
Jin-ha was relieved to be exempted from questioning about what had been bothering him since his reason returned.
“Then goodbye.”
After Legas departed swiftly, Jin-ha also slowly headed toward the annex.
He wanted to bury himself in bed and fall asleep as soon as he got back. It was already early dawn, so there wouldn’t be much time to sleep… No, on a day like today, wouldn’t it be okay to sleep in a bit? Since he had worked overtime…
While entertaining such unusually relaxed thoughts that he wouldn’t normally have, Jin-ha entered the annex and stopped in his tracks.
“Stop.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
In the darkness, with the faint dawn light shining, Seo Ji-seop was sitting on the sofa. Jin-ha rubbed his forehead due to the oncoming headache.
“You were about to say something.”
Jin-ha had a headache thinking about what annoying things this man, who had been saying things like it was okay to stay out all night, would say now. Normally, he would have played along with the jokes to some extent, but not now.
People tend to get upset when the truth is pointed out.
“Jin-ha.”
“I said stop…”
“If it’s tough, should I meet with Mr. Legas and tell him to take it easy?”
“…Pardon?”
Jin-ha frowned at the completely unexpected question.
He doubted whether the person before him was really Seo Ji-seop, who was obsessed with matchmaking people. Receiving Jin-ha’s suspicious gaze, Ji-seop clenched his fist as if feeling wronged.
“No, what do you take me for? What did you think I was going to say?”
“I thought you’d ask if there was any progress in the relationship, what we did, things like that.”
“Even if I’m obsessed with other people’s romances, I’m not that bad! I just like juicy love stories, I’m not someone who forces people to date, am I?”
Ji-seop pleaded with a look that seemed like he would die of injustice, but Jin-ha snorted and ignored him. With his usual behavior being what it was, who would believe him?
“And don’t I have the right to be interested in other people’s romances?”
There he goes again. Jin-ha narrowed his eyes and looked at him, but Ji-seop didn’t cower and straightened his shoulders.
Earth lacked entertainment. Unlike the past when movies, dramas, games, and so on were released abundantly every year, only minimal programs were now being created. It was partly a budget issue and partly a population issue.
Amidst all this, the romance scandal of S-rank Hunter Seo Ji-seop shook South Korea. The dating scene of an S-rank Hunter, the value of the proposal ring, even the interior of the newlywed home—with a bit of exaggeration, the entire nation enjoyed Ji-seop’s romance together.
Ji-seop always talked about that time whenever he interfered in the romances around him. Since people enjoyed his romance so much, he had the right to enjoy others’ romances too. It wasn’t wrong.
“I wasn’t interested in the Guild Leader’s romance.”
“But there was a lot of small talk about me at Cheongju, right?”
Just because Jin-ha didn’t read the articles didn’t mean he could block the news. Even just having coffee at the company, countless stories that began with “Did you hear the story yesterday? Seo Ji-seop…” entered his ears.
“You publicized your own romance, so now you want to watch other people’s romances, what kind of…”
“Whenever I went on a date with my wife, with a bit of exaggeration, the Korean peninsula stirred and the happiness level of the entire nation soared!”
It seemed like a ridiculous pride, but it was true.
Even that mentally unstable researcher who kept insisting that the bat monsters living in the next field looked so pitiful sleeping upside down and wanted to research together to help them sleep lying down—even he behaved himself while the Korean peninsula was stirred up by Ji-seop’s romance stories.
Jin-ha sighed as if he couldn’t help it, and Ji-seop smiled victoriously.
“I get it, but I’m not doing anything like dating, so it doesn’t apply to me.”
“Everyone says that…”
“Guild Leader!”
“Ah, alright. I’ll stop.”
Ji-seop, who had shrugged playfully, suddenly dropped his playful manner and said,
“Anyway, if anything happens, make sure to tell me.”
“And what would you do?”
“We’d all run away, of course. The country might not care if one or two people die, but I do.”
Jin-ha shook his head helplessly at the man who was laughing playfully.
“I’ll do my best to make sure nothing like that happens, so for now, just focus on your studies. Did you stay up all night here? What about tomorrow’s class?”
“I’m an S-rank Hunter.”
“Even S-rank Hunters get in bad condition if they don’t sleep, as you well know.”
Jin-ha pushed Ji-seop, who insisted he wouldn’t get in bad condition, into his room, then returned to his own room and crawled into bed. He didn’t even have the energy to change his clothes.
Hadn’t a lot happened today?
Really. Really.
‘Why don’t you have some fun this time?’
Jin-ha held his breath and then irritably covered his head with the blanket. Cha Ki-young’s nonsense kept ringing in his ears.
His mind was too complicated.
As much as he hated to admit it, Cha Ki-young was right. Unless Riyekan gave up, Jin-ha couldn’t end this relationship, and Riyekan had no intention of giving up.
‘I’ll do what I want, and Hunter Lee Jin-ha can try to do what he wants.’
Even though he had thoroughly explained that Riyekan’s current feelings were due to the lost soul, it didn’t seem to matter to him at all.
Jin-ha struggled under the weight of all these thoughts and only fell asleep much later.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
