#57
“What? What are you talking about? Speak so I can understand.”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand because he was sleepy—Choi Do-jun’s words were truly brief. If he always spoke like this, fewer people would understand him. When Seo Yi-young asked for a proper explanation, Choi Do-jun removed his back from the sheet he was leaning against and rested his chin on his hand.
“You healed other hunters in that situation?”
What else would a healer do? It took a moment for Seo Yi-young to understand what Choi Do-jun meant by “that situation.” He was referring to the moment just before Seo Yi-young was about to be attacked by the boss mob.
What was he trying to say?
“So what? What do you want me to do? I made my own judgment. Is there any reason I should be criticized by you? Anyway, everything turned out fine, so it’s all good.”
There was nothing wrong with what Seo Yi-young said. It was more strange that Choi Do-jun was bringing up what happened in the dungeon until now. He must have seen many hunters before, but did he treat them all like this? Probably not. Unless he just wanted to pick a fight, Seo Yi-young wished he would stop.
At Seo Yi-young’s words, a deep wrinkle formed between Choi Do-jun’s brows. His lips tightened, and then he spoke coldly.
“If I hadn’t entered.”
“What?”
“If I hadn’t entered then, you would have died.”
Faced with this strong tone, Seo Yi-young closed his mouth.
It was certainly true. But he didn’t expect Choi Do-jun, of all people, to talk about death. His tone sounded harsh and accusatory, but underlying it was concern.
Honestly, it was somewhat touching. It made his heart flutter. Didn’t it mean he cared enough to worry?
…
…Is he really worried?
Seo Yi-young glanced at Choi Do-jun. It seemed so. Probably. But why did he have to speak in such a threatening manner? He created an atmosphere that made it difficult to say thank you even if Seo Yi-young wanted to. It was hard to speak straightforwardly in this situation.
Seo Yi-young was aware that he was nitpicking pointlessly. Certainly, there was nothing wrong with what Choi Do-jun said. Seo Yi-young was alive now thanks to Choi Do-jun. Maybe he was just feeling self-conscious, afraid that Choi Do-jun would notice how glad he was to see him in the dungeon.
Being the older one, Seo Yi-young should just thank Choi Do-jun, but those three words were surprisingly difficult to say. Seo Yi-young wasn’t mature enough to honestly say thank you or express happiness to someone who showed concern in such a harsh way.
But setting that aside, it was quite a peculiar situation. Seo Yi-young’s mind was in turmoil over Choi Do-jun’s words. He kept glancing at Choi Do-jun, but when their eyes met, he quickly looked elsewhere.
Why was he staring so fiercely? It gave him chills.
Even as he averted his gaze, Seo Yi-young was trying hard to gauge why Choi Do-jun had said such things. Out of boredom? Because he had nothing to do? Because he wanted to take down an SS-Class boss himself? Was he overthinking it? Maybe Choi Do-jun simply wanted to show how great he was.
Just for that reason, he came all the way to America, entered the dungeon, and blew away at least an SS-Class boss mob. …No. That’s not a reasonable explanation at all. Seo Yi-young immediately discarded his assumption. What kind of crazy person would come all the way to America and enter an SS-Class dungeon just to show off?
But it seemed more plausible that he was showing off what he had done rather than being angry that Seo Yi-young had put himself in danger. Choi Do-jun rushing here because he was worried about Seo Yi-young’s safety? That was too much.
No, but still… Yes, the theory that he came to show off was more credible. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for why Choi Do-jun would tell Seo Yi-young that he could have died.
Entering a dungeon as a hunter always means embracing the possibility of death. Choi Do-jun must know this. In fact, he probably knows it better than Seo Yi-young. So why he was getting so heated about it was incomprehensible.
Seo Yi-young had expected Choi Do-jun to sarcastically remind him to be aware of his status as an S-Class healer of South Korea. Had he developed a fixed stereotype about Choi Do-jun? But if he had acted that way, it might have been easier to understand. He could have brushed it off lightly, thinking, “That’s just how he is.” Even if it would have been a bit irritating.
Right now, it was difficult to grasp Choi Do-jun’s true feelings. Of course, if the two were inseparably close, it might be different, but this was Choi Do-jun and Seo Yi-young. Though they had had sex, Choi Do-jun wasn’t the type to attach excessive meaning to the act. Given his behavior so far, that much was easy to guess.
In short, their relationship wasn’t deep enough to justify flying to America and risking unauthorized entry into a dungeon.
“Are you listening?”
It seemed Choi Do-jun wasn’t pleased with Seo Yi-young’s lukewarm response of keeping his mouth shut. Watching Choi Do-jun urge for an answer, Seo Yi-young gradually became stubborn. Certainly, that face was at fault. Though he knew that the Choi Do-jun from the previous dimension and the current one were completely different people, it was still difficult to separate them perfectly in his mind.
Still, they were different people, so he needed to communicate well. He was the older one, even if just by a few years. Seo Yi-young pressed his lips together.
“So what? It didn’t happen. What do you want me to do?”
Disaster.
Seo Yi-young was shocked by his own words. Did he really need to be this rude? Too late regret flooded in, but once words are spoken, they can’t be taken back.
What Seo Yi-young had wanted to say was, “Nothing happened in the end, so isn’t it fine?” Hypotheticals were unnecessary. Dwelling on what didn’t happen was a waste of time. But he hadn’t intended to blurt it out so harshly.
Making excuses that he hadn’t meant to say it like that would be pathetic. If the roles were reversed and Seo Yi-young had heard such words, he wouldn’t believe Choi Do-jun if he claimed the words had come out wrong. But he did feel sorry, so he cleared his throat once.
“…But, why did you come to America anyway?”
His voice lowered a bit, partly because he felt bad about speaking too harshly.
But then.
“……”
Oh my. Would you look at that?
Choi Do-jun didn’t answer. He completely closed his mouth. Like a clam.
“What did you come for?”
Seo Yi-young had never imagined seeing Choi Do-jun speechless, and he found it fascinating. Unable to resist the temptation because of this rare reaction, Seo Yi-young asked again. He was already excited about what answer he might give. Seo Yi-young felt he was onto something.
“Why aren’t you answering? I asked why you came. You’re not going to say it was because of a scheduled commitment, right? Because I was the only one on the dungeon cooperation document.”
“Do I have an obligation to answer?”
“It’s really funny that someone who was just lecturing me is asking that, you know?”
Seo Yi-young shot back without backing down.
“No matter how valuable an S-Class healer is, this isn’t right.”
“…What?”
Choi Do-jun asked as if he had misheard.
“No, I’m right. You’re acting like this because you’re afraid of losing a healer, aren’t you? Am I wrong? If I am, then answer me.”
Choi Do-jun closed his eyes once and sighed. What would he say? “Just because”? “It’s my choice”? “Because I wanted to”?
Seo Yi-young watched Choi Do-jun.
“To save you. Satisfied with that answer?”
“…Uh…”
This was unexpected. He never thought Choi Do-jun would answer so readily. Moreover, it wasn’t even among the expected answers Seo Yi-young had anticipated from him.
To do what to whom? To save me?
He uttered a line that seemed to belong in a drama. Saying such an embarrassing thing without a change in his expression. It was Seo Yi-young who was listening that felt embarrassed. He really was no ordinary person.
“S-save me? How did you know I would need help? Stop joking and tell me the truth.”
Seo Yi-young even stammered.
“What do you want me to do? It happened in the end, didn’t it?”
Seo Yi-young stared with his mouth open as Choi Do-jun repeated his own words back to him. There was nothing wrong with what he said. Since it was Seo Yi-young’s own words, he couldn’t refute them now. There was nothing more to say. If he argued now, it would be like admitting that his own statement didn’t make sense. In the end, he had no choice but to agree and move on.
What a slick bastard. Seo Yi-young’s lips twitched.
“Are you a photocopier? Mimicking me.”
The situation roughly concluded with Seo Yi-young frowning and grumbling. Choi Do-jun didn’t speak more on this topic either.
Intending to rest a bit, Seo Yi-young turned his gaze to the window. But he didn’t get to enjoy the view for long. Choi Do-jun threw a question in a low voice.
“What did that American hunter say?”
“Huh? American hunter?”
There had been more than one American hunter Choi Do-jun had met in the dungeon, yet he was asking like this. Was he expecting Seo Yi-young to read his mind? He barely suppressed his complaint.
“Who? There were many hunters.”
“James.”
“Ah.”
At the immediate response, Seo Yi-young opened his mouth. Why he hadn’t just said the name directly instead of referring to him as ‘American hunter’ when he clearly knew the name, there was no way to know. Was he just being petty?
“What did James say?”
“Does pretending not to understand make you feel better inside?”
“It’s because you don’t speak properly and cut your sentences short.”
Seo Yi-young finally burst out in complaint, but Choi Do-jun continued with an attitude that showed he didn’t care at all.
“Are you thinking of going to America?”
“America? Oh, that. You should have said that properly.”
Realizing what he was referring to, Seo Yi-young felt a bit embarrassed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
