#56
The hunters seemed eager to greet Choi Do-jun who had burst in, but they prioritized searching for the NEO-CORE. Seo Yi-young also examined the floor, parting the smoke with his foot. Besides the NEO-CORE, there was one more thing he was looking for.
He could hear the support hunters conversing.
“I can’t see the NEO-CORE. Did it disappear along with everything else?”
“Stop talking nonsense and keep looking. I’m the one who’ll get hassled by the higher-ups.”
Alberto, who had been listening, said, “We should all search together.”
Just as they were about to join the NEO-CORE search—
THUD—
The sound of a massive NEO-CORE dropping to the floor echoed. All the hunters who had been moving to search stopped.
“…What’s this? Where did it fall from?”
“That’s quite a large one.”
“I’ve never seen one this size before.”
It appeared to be about three times the size of NEO-COREs typically found in New-type dungeons. If not for the NEO-CORE, they wouldn’t have known the boss mob had been there.
“Dungeon conquest successful. One minute until dungeon deletion. Move to the exterior!”
At those words, everyone moved in unison. Everyone’s faces were filled with joy at having successfully conquered a difficult dungeon without a single casualty. Seo Yi-young was also among them.
While two or three support hunters struggled to collect the NEO-CORE, the combat hunters preparing to return surrounded the visitor, determined not to waste even a moment of the short time they had.
“Choi Do-jun? Mr. Choi?”
“I’ve heard about Choi Do-jun from Korea, but wow, he’s incredible. Hello.”
Choi Do-jun responded to them with a simple nod as a greeting. Seo Yi-young, who had expected him to say something rude, was surprised by this unexpectedly civil behavior.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was introducing themselves, Seo Yi-young moved slightly away and examined the surroundings. As he stepped into an area where the smoke hadn’t completely cleared, he felt something under his foot. Clink. There was a small metallic sound. Carefully lifting his foot, something caught Seo Yi-young’s eye.
A pendant.
It was similar to what he had found after conquering a New-type dungeon in Korea. Something that would be difficult to consider a natural occurrence in a New-type dungeon. This time, too. Seo Yi-young picked it up while others weren’t paying attention. He successfully slipped it into his pocket without anyone noticing.
By then, it seemed the NEO-CORE collection had been completed as well.
“Whew. I’ll get to eat Al’s pizza again. Al, you haven’t forgotten our dinner plans, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Let’s get out of this wretched place already.”
Seo Yi-young quietly agreed with that sentiment. The hunters filed out of the dungeon one by one. Choi Do-jun was nowhere to be seen, apparently having left first. Seo Yi-young also followed the other hunters out of the dungeon.
As soon as Seo Yi-young emerged, someone embraced him tightly.
“Young! I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“Whoa. Oh, James… You startled me.”
The sudden hug caught him by surprise. It seemed James was exchanging greetings that they couldn’t share inside the dungeon due to time constraints.
“Why are you calling me that? Call me Jimmy like you did before.”
“No, that was… that was just unconscious.”
Seo Yi-young was embarrassed that James remembered, especially since James made no attempt to hide his disappointment.
“In the dungeon,” James said.
“Hmm?”
James’s tone became slightly more serious.
“Even at the moment when you might have been attacked by the boss mob, you prioritized healing your teammates. That was amazing.”
Though it was awkward to receive praise for something he hadn’t expected, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. Anyone would be happy to have their hard work acknowledged, and Seo Yi-young was no exception.
“No, that’s… just what should be done.”
“What do you mean ‘should be done’? Those who can’t do it, don’t.”
“That’s true.”
Another hunter joined their conversation, agreeing.
They were mistaken. Seo Yi-young hadn’t used his healing ability out of some great sense of duty or noble altruism as others thought. Rather, it was an extremely self-centered thought—he was afraid that their deaths would make his own survival more difficult. However, Seo Yi-young had no intention of voicing this and just smiled ambiguously.
Feeling a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, Seo Yi-young turned and met Choi Do-jun’s gaze.
It was unexpected. He thought Choi Do-jun would have left immediately after exiting the dungeon. He didn’t know how long Choi Do-jun had been staring at him. Moreover, his expression was unsettling—looking at least twice as intimidating as usual. Seo Yi-young couldn’t even guess why he was staring at him with such a face.
Why is this guy angry? Seo Yi-young had healed well and hadn’t been a burden to the other hunters. He could pride himself on having done his part. Hadn’t all the American hunters said so? If Choi Do-jun’s ears were working, he would have surely heard it.
Yet Choi Do-jun stared at Seo Yi-young with an intensity that could freeze everything around them. Seo Yi-young couldn’t understand the reason. No matter how he looked at it, Choi Do-jun seemed extremely upset about something, but he couldn’t figure out what.
Then trouble arose. Choi Do-jun grabbed Seo Yi-young’s arm. Seo Yi-young frowned at being gripped with such force and was about to tell him to let go, but James intercepted Choi Do-jun first.
“Mr. Choi. What are you doing? If you have something to say, why not say it here?”
Though James was smiling as he spoke, his attitude wasn’t at all playful. Sensing that James wasn’t an easy opponent, Choi Do-jun opened his mouth.
“This isn’t any of your business.”
“Oh. No. It is my business. I like Young very much. And even if that weren’t the case, have you thought about how threatening it feels when an S-Class combat Hunter acts like this?”
It was such a logical statement that Seo Yi-young wanted to applaud. The reason James’s words carried weight was likely because he was also an S-Class combat Hunter. Other hunters, sensing the tense atmosphere, began to gather around one by one.
Seo Yi-young felt Choi Do-jun glance at him. Shortly after, the hand gripping Seo Yi-young’s arm released. Though they would inevitably meet again once back in Korea, Seo Yi-young breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had somehow dodged the immediate confrontation.
James shrugged as he watched Choi Do-jun walk away.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm? For what?”
James pretended not to know as he turned to look at Seo Yi-young. Knowing that James was being considerate, Seo Yi-young didn’t repeat himself.
“By the way, Young. The offer I made earlier wasn’t just empty talk.”
“Earlier? What offer?”
“About coming over to our side.”
“…Oh.”
Seo Yi-young understood what he meant.
“It was just a jo—”
“No. I’m serious, so I’d like you to consider it carefully.”
James’s eyes were too sincere. It made Seo Yi-young want to ask why he was saying such things in this way. With the handsome man looking at him with sparkling eyes, Seo Yi-young’s resolve weakened. He swore he wasn’t one to judge solely based on appearance, yet he felt this way. That’s how powerful James’s looks were.
“I’ll… think about it.”
Because of this, he couldn’t outright refuse and ended up giving an indirect answer.
But he thought James would understand what he meant with just this much. Moving an S-Class Hunter isn’t an easy matter. Even changing agencies is a big deal, let alone between countries—that would be even more complicated. James must know this well.
Unfortunately, Seo Yi-young couldn’t join the American hunters for dinner. Due to his next schedule, he reluctantly said goodbye to them and headed for the private jet.
Upon boarding the private jet, Seo Yi-young paused momentarily.
Choi Do-jun was there. His expectation that Choi Do-jun would find his own way back was completely shattered. After a brief internal struggle about where to sit, Seo Yi-young slowly began to move again. The interior of the plane was spacious with many seats, so he could sit anywhere.
He intended to sit as far away from Choi Do-jun as possible, but Choi Do-jun glanced in his direction. That wasn’t all—he tapped the seat in front of him with his foot and nodded. …Was he telling him to sit there?
The private jet they were on had a unique layout, with the middle seats arranged to face each other. In other words, Choi Do-jun was telling Seo Yi-young to sit directly across from him. It was unexpected; Seo Yi-young thought he would continue to be ignored.
This was their first meeting since the night they had slept together and parted in that manner. Seo Yi-young met Choi Do-jun’s gaze, but he didn’t want to voluntarily subject himself to sitting across from him for the next few hours. It would be like sitting on a bed of thorns. He wanted to decline.
Seo Yi-young pretended not to understand and slightly turned his head. He was about to go somewhere else, but as if reading his intentions, Choi Do-jun said:
“Sit.”
“……”
Seo Yi-young seriously considered pretending to be deaf. But in the end, he had to accept Choi Do-jun’s invitation. He didn’t know what kind of retaliation would come if he ignored this too. Even if nothing happened right away, who knew what might happen if they entered the same dungeon again? If Seo Yi-young sat elsewhere, Choi Do-jun might grab him by the neck and throw him into that seat.
He couldn’t ignore Choi Do-jun for the entire long flight ahead. Even if he did ignore him, if Choi Do-jun followed, there would be nowhere to escape on this plane. Even if he fled to the bathroom, Choi Do-jun was the type who would tear the door off. With great reluctance, Seo Yi-young took a seat across from Choi Do-jun.
He thought Choi Do-jun might say something as soon as he sat down, but after confirming that Seo Yi-young had seated himself, Choi Do-jun crossed his arms and closed his eyes as if his business was finished. Seo Yi-young wondered why he had been called to sit across from him if this was all, but it was still too early to relax.
Choi Do-jun only spoke after the plane had taken off and considerable time had passed. By then, Seo Yi-young had also relaxed enough that he wasn’t resisting the drowsiness that was overtaking him.
“I can’t figure out what you’re thinking.”
The clear voice tapped at Seo Yi-young’s eyelids. His brain, half-intoxicated with sleep, snapped to attention at the sudden words.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
