#60
The unlimited favor toward himself still felt unfamiliar. But Seo Yi-young, who wasn’t so socially inept as to show it, simply smiled.
“Not at all. It was thanks to Hunter Joo-in doing well.”
“My goal now is to become a dungeon conquest team member with Hunter Seo Yi-young. I’ll work hard until then.”
“I’ll be cheering for you.”
After responding to the energetic voice and completing his greeting, Seo Yi-young left to converse with other hunters. The greeting ceremony had taken about three hours.
He thought that would be the end, but there was one more scheduled event. This time it was a gathering for active hunters to meet. Besides the regular hunter exchange meetings, there were quite a few gatherings. Looking at the time, it would include dinner. He wanted to go home quickly and rest comfortably.
Being alone made him recall what happened in the dungeon, so it was better to be with people. But he didn’t enjoy that either. He knew it was contradictory. The best would be to quietly be alone in a place with many people, but since he was typically the center of attention at gatherings, that wasn’t possible. With mixed feelings, Seo Yi-young sat in the back seat and looked outside.
Upon attending the gathering, Seo Yi-young encountered someone he hadn’t expected at all.
Entering the hall, he saw a tall blond man. Looking at the naturally shimmering hair that didn’t seem dyed, Seo Yi-young thought of someone who couldn’t possibly be here. The man sensed his presence and turned around. Seeing his face, Seo Yi-young couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
“Young!”
It was James. If he was attending, Seo Yi-young should have been notified in advance, but he had no such memory.
“Wow. It’s been so long! I missed you so much!”
James, who exclaimed something in his native language, English, unhesitatingly embraced Seo Yi-young and nuzzled his face against his head. Though Seo Yi-young didn’t understand exactly what he was saying, it was clearly something positive.
In an instant, everyone’s attention was focused on them. Worried about what kind of talk this would generate, Seo Yi-young pushed James away to detach him. James yielded surprisingly easily.
The grinning James inserted a translator into Seo Yi-young’s ear, saying it was a gift. Before Seo Yi-young could even thank him, James continued.
“Sorry. I was just so happy to see your face.”
“You’re acting like we haven’t seen each other in years.”
James lowered his eyebrows as he looked at Seo Yi-young’s perplexed expression.
“Didn’t you miss me? I missed you tremendously. Tremendously.”
Is this how social butterflies talk? It was dizzying. It was astonishing that he could say such things so casually after only meeting a few times. While it might be acceptable in America, the nickname “Young” was embarrassing in a place with only Koreans. The nickname “Young” itself was too embarrassing, and what would others think?
“I told you, it’s Yi-young.”
“Ah. So you’re letting only me call you specially?”
That’s not it.
With so many eyes around, he couldn’t strongly deny it. Perhaps because he was excited to be abroad, James seemed even more difficult to deal with than when Seo Yi-young had seen him in America.
“But how did you come here? I didn’t hear anything about it.”
Seo Yi-young had never heard about an American S-Class Hunter visiting Korea.
“Just tourism.”
“Tourism?”
Seo Yi-young asked back, puzzled. He wondered if James’s schedule was relaxed enough to allow for tourism.
“So, if you don’t have any other plans, could you be my guide for a bit?”
Seo Yi-young couldn’t immediately answer the sociable question. It was burdensome, and not wanting to spend a long time with anyone right now was another reason. Just as he was about to respond, he flinched in surprise at a presence approaching from behind.
“I was wondering where you were, and here you are.”
It was Choi Do-jun.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Is this a place I shouldn’t be?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Choi Do-jun addressed Seo Yi-young while ignoring James beside him as if he were invisible. Seo Yi-young felt the eyes of other hunters suddenly converge. He desperately wanted to leave.
“Hello. Mr. Chae?”
James greeted Choi Do-jun with a smiling face. But his pronunciation was subtle. Even putting aside that he was a foreigner, it was clearly strange. Did he just say “Chae” instead of “Choi”? James would know the name of a hunter of Choi Do-jun’s caliber. Which means he deliberately mispronounced it.
Seo Yi-young unknowingly looked toward Choi Do-jun. Their eyes met directly. He didn’t understand why Choi Do-jun was looking at him like that. Just as Seo Yi-young was thinking, “What’s wrong with him now?” Choi Do-jun, who had been quietly watching him, spoke in a low voice.
“Good timing. Let’s go together.”
Saying only that, he grabbed Seo Yi-young’s arm and pulled. He acted as if James right beside them didn’t matter at all. Seo Yi-young was equally surprised by the sudden action. He couldn’t understand what Choi Do-jun was doing. What was good timing? What was going well? He had no idea.
Just leaving like this was problematic. After all, Seo Yi-young held an important position at this gathering. He couldn’t just briefly stop by and leave immediately. As he was being dragged by Choi Do-jun, Seo Yi-young opened his mouth to say something.
“Wait a moment…”
“Hey, Mr. Choi.”
James stepped in to stop Choi Do-jun.
“Young is uncomfortable.”
“Did you have a prior appointment?”
Choi Do-jun asked Seo Yi-young without giving James a glance.
“Appointment? No, nothing like that.”
“He says not. Didn’t you learn as a child that you should make appointments before meeting people?”
Choi Do-jun took Seo Yi-young’s bewildered answer and directed it at James.
“What kind of nonsense is this? Are you trying to get out of this that way?”
“If you’re here for tourism, you’re welcome. Enjoy the sights and go back.”
“Mr. Choi. Don’t play word games.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you. Move.”
Seo Yi-young had no idea what they were doing. Was he the only one feeling anxious here? The other hunters were watching with great interest. Of course, he fully understood their desire to avoid getting involved in the commotion. If Seo Yi-young had been uninvolved, he would have been watching with amusement like them. After all, it wouldn’t be his problem. But as a party to this disturbance, he felt far from comfortable.
Just then, someone emerged from among the hunters. It was Alberto. Seo Yi-young was surprised. He never expected Alberto to be here too.
“Oh my. I’m sorry. This kid insisted on coming to Korea, but I didn’t know this would happen. Jimmy. Don’t be stubborn.”
“…Al…!”
“Our little one has been rude. I’ll have to reprimand him.”
Alberto said with a generous smile. But it didn’t seem like he was just smiling kindly. It felt like both were warning each other to stop at this point. Seeing Alberto’s intimidating atmosphere, Seo Yi-young unconsciously glanced at Choi Do-jun.
“No, but…!”
“Jimmy. That’s enough. Are you trying to cause trouble here?”
Even James, who was initially resistant, closed his mouth at Alberto’s words. His point was certainly valid. A quarrel between S-Class Hunters was likely to end as more than just a quarrel. Especially considering Choi Do-jun’s impatient character.
“Excuse us.”
Choi Do-jun bowed slightly to Alberto and urged Seo Yi-young.
“Wait. I can’t leave like this. If I’ve attended, I should properly greet everyone…”
“There’s no healer who can replace you. Given that, no one can complain no matter how you behave.”
At Choi Do-jun’s words, Seo Yi-young was momentarily dazed, as if he’d been hit on the head. He hadn’t expected such an interpretation. The other party is a person with emotions. There’s no way he could act carelessly. This applies even when entering a dungeon. Just as he parted his lips to refute—
“We’re just weapons for their use anyway.”
“…What…?”
Seo Yi-young doubted his ears. This wasn’t a statement he could just let slide. Besides the content of the words, what bothered him more was Choi Do-jun’s tone. He wasn’t deliberately speaking maliciously. He was calm, as if simply stating a fact. That felt strange.
But first, he needed to say goodbye to James. It weighed on his mind to part this way after James had come all the way to Korea.
“James, I’ll contact you later. Alberto, I’ll see you again later.”
After saying goodbye to them, Seo Yi-young left the hall with Choi Do-jun. He was reluctant to leave, but Choi Do-jun’s words were certainly correct. However, there must be a background to why he spoke that way. Even though Seo Yi-young didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but imagine. He bit his lower lip hard.
“Is the car waiting?”
“Huh? Oh, yes…”
“Then contact them. Say you’re returning with me.”
Seo Yi-young was greatly confused by this one-sided notification. He really couldn’t understand why Choi Do-jun was being so forceful. As far as Seo Yi-young could tell, there was no valid reason for Choi Do-jun to behave this way.
“No, wait. Why are you—”
“You haven’t been sleeping properly lately.”
Seo Yi-young’s lips clamped shut.
How did he know that? Physically, Seo Yi-young was maintaining perfect condition. No one had noticed until now. Not even Butler Choi. But Choi Do-jun noticed immediately upon seeing him. How? Various questions arose and disappeared in his mind, but during this time, Seo Yi-young couldn’t utter a word.
The two arrived at the parking lot in the blink of an eye. Choi Do-jun opened the car door and looked toward Seo Yi-young.
“Sleep over. I’ll let you rest.”
It was clear that Seo Yi-young’s brain was partly malfunctioning due to lack of sleep. Otherwise, he would never have done what he did next.
“…Okay.”
Seo Yi-young’s head nodded compliantly, attributing his response to his abnormal state.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
