Damn Hunter Life Chapter 48
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In the morning, Gyeon Gang-hyeon slept soundly sprawled out, whether Yang Pyo woke up first and moved around or not.
Yang Pyo was dumbfounded at the sight of him stretching his arms and legs carelessly while sleeping peacefully. Is this his house?
‘Why is he so defenseless? …No, we’re both guys so it doesn’t matter, right?’
‘…Why have my thoughts been going weird since yesterday?’
Anyway, Gyeon Gang-hyeon finally woke up. After just a brief moment of reality loading time, he casually waved his hand at Yang Pyo while yawning.
“Weren’t you uncomfortable sleeping?”
“I slept like a baby though?”
He kicked off the blanket that wasn’t his and yawned once more. He didn’t particularly tidy up the bedding. Anyone watching would believe he’d slept here about ten times before.
“My condition is unusual today.”
“Huh? Are you sick somewhere?”
“Feels damn good.”
Yang Pyo, who had been worried recalling the cold body temperature from last night, got scared first, but the answer that came back was just deflating. Gyeon Gang-hyeon lowered his quite energetic legs under the bed.
Yang Pyo thought Gyeon Gang-hyeon would use his return skill to go straight home, but his expectations were beautifully shattered. Gyeon Gang-hyeon slipped into the bathroom as if it were his own house.
While washing his face, he took a good look at his face in the mirror. Even at a glance, he could see color returning to his cheeks. It wasn’t a huge change, but even this was precious.
‘Would just being a bit warm improve things this much? Yang Pyo’s body heat is no joke. I guess I need to sleep with someone next to me.’
At that moment, the mouse familiar spoke to him.
{Damn bastard.}
‘Why are you picking a fight again? What’s your complaint this time?’
{You’re cheating.}
At those words, Gyeon Gang-hyeon blinked inside the towel.
‘Cheating? Like air?’
The mouse familiar didn’t explain further and just buried itself deep in the white clothes.
‘Hey, why are you sighing? What is it?’
From Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s perspective, he was absurdly being cursed at without doing anything wrong, but he couldn’t drag it out to argue since Yang Pyo outside the door couldn’t find out about the water attribute familiar.
Damn it, whatever. Anyway, Gyeon Gang-hyeon hung the towel on the hook and flung open the door.
Yang Pyo, who had been pressed close to the door, almost bumped his nose but didn’t care. Gyeon Gang-hyeon looked up at the sheep successor who was big in body but young in mind and organized his next plan in his head.
Yang Pyo’s situation still had a long way to go before being resolved.
“Yang Pyo, you.”
“Yes…?”
“Did you sleep well?”
Getting a warm morning greeting from a guy his age. Normally he’d feel gross about it, but strangely it was okay. Yang Pyo pursed his lips and nodded.
“Yeah, a little.”
“The insomnia is better than before, right?”
“Yes.”
Just like Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s complexion was good, Yang Pyo’s expression was much lighter too. It was the effect of getting proper sleep after a long time.
Gyeon Gang-hyeon walked to the restaurant ordering machine in the successor’s house. Still using other people’s things as if they were his own, with no intention of going to his own house, he ordered breakfast for two and spoke in a casual tone as if reading today’s menu.
Words that Yang Pyo really needed to hear.
“Then every time you enter a gate, ask me to come sleep over.”
So Yang Pyo forgot to tell him to go home and eat there.
What on earth has been happening since yesterday? Until yesterday, Yang Pyo had been floundering, unable to escape from the bastard he believed was his friend.
Like always, just raising his voice with Kim Sang-ju, then crying at his words… Then being accidentally overheard by Gyeon Gang-hyeon was all.
It was definitely just a coincidence.
“Leave it to me once. You’ve suffered alone enough already. Just hand it over.”
After that, now he was promising to give another kind of help as if it were nothing.
He subtly showed confidence that what Yang Pyo had been suffering from for hundreds of days was actually a problem he could solve quickly. Yet he didn’t look down on or mock his pain, or him…
Was he this kind of person?
When student reports came in that successor Gyeon Gang-hyeon was lying drunk in the earth attribute training ground, honestly he was too embarrassed to move. None of the other earth attribute successors would have gone to take care of him either, but somehow he ended up being removed from the training ground, though he didn’t know who took care of it…
To be honest, Yang Pyo was ashamed of Gyeon Gang-hyeon. So much so that the time he tried to get close and talk to him became dark history.
But now.
‘Does awakening change a person this much?’
Yang Pyo got slight goosebumps. Now that he thought about it, Gyeon Gang-hyeon had changed as if he’d died and come back to life. A person who had given up on himself and stagnated behind the starting line had suddenly, at rapid speed, mixed into the Twelve Zodiac.
“Food’s here. Let’s eat.”
Yang Pyo, who had even forgotten to help set up, blankly followed Gyeon Gang-hyeon with his gaze as he moved.
Sometimes when their eyes met meaninglessly, he would flinch. Because Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s irises had a particular power to scatter light from multiple angles. Normally this would be recognized as ‘pretty eyes,’ but Yang Pyo, with somewhat narrow thinking, judged differently.
So his eyes were… didn’t look like those of the same gender.
Not knowing how many thoughts Yang Pyo had in that short time, Gyeon Gang-hyeon served his breakfast first and looked across.
“And you, what are you going to do about your monster phobia?”
The fundamental cause that brought about insomnia and fear of darkness.
Being so direct about the main point, Yang Pyo broke down for a moment. And Gyeon Gang-hyeon didn’t wait for that moment.
“Are you planning to sleep with me for life? It’s not too late, so get counseling treatment.”
“Coun, counseling treatment…?”
He had expected Yang Pyo wouldn’t immediately understand, since he’d been unable to tell anyone about the Kim Sang-ju matter for months and struggled alone, but actually seeing it up close was a separate issue of frustration. Gyeon Gang-hyeon took a deep breath.
Looks like we need to have a big argument at the dinner table.
“Contact the association. Tell your manager! Request to be matched with a doctor remotely!”
Yang Pyo, whose gaze had been wandering in confusion, suddenly reached across the table and grabbed Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s arm.
“I don’t want to. I did all that crap with Kim Sang-ju and slept with Gang-hyeon hyung because I hated that!”
The dishes clattered making an unpleasant sound. Yang Pyo, who had gotten heated up, didn’t realize his word choice was crude or that he was gripping too hard, and got worked up.
But originally Gyeon Gang-hyeon was the type to fight fire with fire when the other person got angry.
“You’ve come this far and you’re saying you don’t want to? That’s even more ridiculous! If you’re struggling, you should get help!”
“What if rumors spread on the internet!”
Finally even shedding tears, Gyeon Gang-hyeon sighed.
Gyeon Gang-hyeon had a hidden weakness. He lost his fighting spirit when he saw other people’s tears. Whether it was a fifteen-year-old girl or a mountain-sized fool.
“Let’s do this then. When you get counseling treatment, I’ll sit next to you too.”
“Why would hyung be there! I hate that even more!”
“I’ll sit next to you, then if any videos or photos leak, we’ll say I was getting alcohol addiction treatment…”
Yang Pyo froze with his mouth open. It was like someone had turned off a switch.
At the same time, Gyeon Gang-hyeon broke out in cold sweat.
‘Was that too much…?’
He didn’t really mean to actually do that. He just shouted it out loud once. He figured Yang Pyo wouldn’t run away if he went this far.
Yang Pyo’s grip slowly released Gyeon Gang-hyeon’s arm. The two tacitly agreed and sat back down.
It felt like they had barely suppressed an overheated fire but the house had completely collapsed in the process. Gyeon Gang-hyeon, feeling awkward, quietly ate his rice. Seeing Gyeon Gang-hyeon, Yang Pyo followed suit.
He found out a little later what Yang Pyo had become solemn about.
In the middle of the meal, Yang Pyo, who couldn’t contain his curiosity despite being cautious, asked first.
“Did you really receive treatment?”
“No?”
He answered curtly without thinking, but reconsidering, it seemed like a mistake. Gyeon Gang-hyeon vaguely deflected.
“I did it myself through effort.”
The past Gyeon Gang-hyeon couldn’t be considered to be in a medical addiction state to begin with. So even though he quit drinking overnight, no withdrawal symptoms appeared.
“Then, then…! I, I can also do it through effort—”
“Don’t be ridiculous and just try counseling once! Then we’ll talk again. This won’t do, call your manager and let me talk to them.”
A special measure was issued. Yang Pyo flinched at the crisis of suddenly having to hand over his gentle manager to the delinquent successor Gyeon Gang-hyeon.
“Isn’t there another way? If our manager finds out, my mom will definitely find out too…”
After tears came the parents, and even Gyeon Gang-hyeon had no way to deal with that.
“Then talk to my manager and ask them to arrange it secretly. If it’s a successor manager, they’re at least director level within the association, so they should have the ability to make doctors sign confidentiality agreements.”
That was the end of it.
Yang Pyo hadn’t shaken off his anxiety, but he didn’t want to be the kid who kept being stubborn when Gyeon Gang-hyeon kept providing alternatives.
And he needed to join combat as soon as possible to reduce other tankers’ burden, so he couldn’t stay stopped forever.
‘Don’t be scared. If it spreads on the internet… I don’t know, I’ll grab Gang-hyeon hyung by the collar.’
But that Gyeon Gang-hyeon also showed a reluctant expression before pressing ‘Association Manager Park Yoon-seok’ in his contacts.
“Are you close with your manager, hyung? No matter how well my manager treats me, I find it difficult because it feels like being monitored…”
“Not close at all.”
It wasn’t because they were on friendly terms that he was going to ask a favor.
Because Gyeon Gang-hyeon had lived such a mess of a life, and Park Yoon-seok was the person who had suffered endlessly cleaning up after him, Gyeon Gang-hyeon judged that he would be familiar with various workarounds.
And whether it was hypocrisy or not, he didn’t know, but Park Yoon-seok seemed to genuinely worry about him, which made his feelings complicated about that point.
‘That’s why I tried to keep calls short and not talk long out of awkwardness…’
“You seem to be moving fine. Say anything. Can you speak?”
The phone in his hand slipped slightly. Yang Pyo quickly caught the falling phone and handed it back to Gyeon Gang-hyeon.
“You don’t have that much strength in your hands…?”
‘Why did Ja Hyeong-woo come to mind?’
Worried that Yang Pyo might have unnecessary suspicions about his spaced-out state, Gyeon Gang-hyeon rolled up his sleeve to show his bruised wrist and ended the doubt. Not knowing that this was exactly like a thief’s feet getting cold.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
