#099
“Haejun…! I didn’t expect you to call first!”
Despite being harshly rebuked last time, Kim Sehyun welcomed the call almost obsequiously. He seemed unaware that such an attitude only worsened Shin Haejun’s mood.
If it weren’t for an important matter, Shin Haejun wouldn’t have even unblocked the contact. But there was a reason he had to call Kim Sehyun, so he endured.
With an expressionless face, he spoke to the unpleasant voice coming through the phone.
“S-class Green Dungeon near Mugap Mountain, Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. Can you get here within three hours?”
“Ah…! Y-yes, I can come!”
“Good.”
He thought about pretending to be friendly, but since he always spoke this way with Kim Sehyun, changing now might seem suspicious.
“Ah, but I, I…”
As he was about to hang up, Kim Sehyun suddenly started stammering, trying to say something. Shin Haejun’s face crumpled instantly. It was unpleasant to see him still acting as if he could somehow mend things, despite having shown his brazen and violent true face last time.
He hung up without hesitation. He knew that someone as greedy as Kim Sehyun would definitely come to try and restore their relationship.
He didn’t feel good. To think he had to see Kim Sehyun again, whom he thought he’d never see again.
‘Hyung, I’m sorry.’
Moreover, he had sworn at his brother’s columbarium that he would never harm another person again, but he didn’t expect to break that promise like this.
But someone even more precious had appeared. He didn’t mind cheaply trading his principles if it meant protecting Jaeha.
The members of Team 1 were waiting awkwardly in front of the dungeon. They had been surprised when Shin Haejun, the team leader, unilaterally announced that he had ended his partnership with Kim Sehyun, and now they didn’t know how to react upon hearing they would be entering with Kim Sehyun today.
Shin Haejun ignored the glances cast his way until he felt it had gone too far. He suddenly stood up from the portable chair and asked those around him:
“Why are you all glancing at me like that?”
The people exchanged looks among themselves. Shin Haejun was a fair team leader, but he wasn’t particularly gentle or easy to approach. So they weren’t sure if it was okay to show their curiosity about Kim Sehyun.
“It’s because of Kim Sehyun, right? I ended our partnership because he couldn’t fulfill his role as a guide. I only called him because he’s still part of Team 1 for now.”
The “for now” implied that Kim Sehyun would soon be kicked out. Forming the team was the leader’s prerogative anyway. Everyone knew Kim Sehyun had problems with guiding, and since they weren’t particularly close to him, they all decided to pretend not to notice.
After waiting a bit longer in awkward silence, a taxi approached, and Kim Sehyun got out. His face looked somewhat flushed.
Shin Haejun glared briefly at Kim Sehyun’s face, which seemed to have become half of what it was, perhaps due to mental stress, then forcibly relaxed his expression.
“Ha-Haejun. It’s been a while…”
Kim Sehyun approached awkwardly and greeted him hesitantly. Shin Haejun nodded with his usual authoritative demeanor.
“Can we… talk for a moment before going in?”
Shin Haejun coldly shook his head at Kim Sehyun, who asked with a cautious face.
“Everyone’s been waiting for you. It would be better to talk inside.”
“Ah…”
Kim Sehyun looked around, realized he was the last to arrive, and reluctantly nodded. It was to avoid causing any problems.
After entering the dungeon, Kim Sehyun kept looking for an opportunity to talk with Shin Haejun. Unfortunately, he had to wait in the rear as the espers scattered in all directions for dungeon conquest.
He couldn’t waste time while waiting for Shin Haejun. Kim Sehyun fidgeted in his tent, intimidated by the different atmosphere of the other guides, and after quite some time had passed, he suddenly stood up.
“Guide Shin Serim. While we’re waiting… can I stay in your tent with you?”
He approached Shin Serim, who was leading the guide team, and spoke to her.
“Well… sure.”
Shin Serim let Kim Sehyun into her tent. She couldn’t help feeling somewhat reluctant. When they used to conquer dungeons together with Kim Sehyun as Shin Haejun’s steadfast pair guide, Kim Sehyun had always maintained a subtly aloof attitude.
However, she couldn’t turn him away because of something Shin Haejun had asked her earlier.
“Um, by any chance… have you heard anything from Haejun recently?”
“About what?”
“Ah… well… like how he’s been doing lately.”
Kim Sehyun asked hesitantly. It wasn’t the soft and kind tone he used to show, but rather a somewhat probing tone.
Shin Serim thought she knew what he wanted to ask. He had clearly come to try and repair his relationship with Shin Haejun. But she didn’t want to voluntarily mediate their relationship or give any hints. She was much more concerned about Shin Haejun, whom she would see for much longer, than Kim Sehyun.
While Shin Haejun was moody and selective about people, he always had valid reasons when he cut off relationships. Because of this, Shin Serim firmly believed that Kim Sehyun must have deviated from Shin Haejun’s standards in some way.
‘He called and asked me…’
Moreover, just before entering the dungeon, Shin Haejun had made a unique request to Shin Serim.
The first was to bring in a special dungeon communication device and keep its switch on. She had received it right after meeting at the dungeon entrance; it was an earring capable of both video and audio recording. While audio recording was common, Shin Serim, despite her long experience in dungeon conquests, had never seen such a small and intricate communication device that could also record video, looking like a real jewel.
The second request was that if Kim Sehyun came to her personally asking about recent events, she should talk about Jaeha, oddly enough. Specifically, she was to say “Give back what belongs to Jaeha” and then play along with Kim Sehyun’s reaction appropriately.
‘What did Guide Kim Sehyun take?’
While it was difficult to understand the inside story, she couldn’t refuse the team leader’s request, especially now that Kim Sehyun himself had come, despite thinking earlier that it might have been forgotten since he hadn’t shown up for a while.
“Come to think of it…”
Shin Serim opened her mouth, putting on an expression as if she had just remembered something. Kim Sehyun perked up his ears with an eager face.
“I was told to say, ‘Give back what belongs to Guide Jaeha’-”
Just as she was about to finish saying she had heard this, Kim Sehyun’s eyes suddenly rolled wildly. Shin Serim was a bit surprised to see his manic appearance, so different from his usual innocent demeanor.
“How do you know about that? Did Shin Haejun tell you?”
“Y-yes.”
Despite being flustered by the sudden change, she played along appropriately as she had been asked to do. Then Kim Sehyun started biting his lips and thumbnail restlessly, muttering curses like “That bastard, I’ve been tricked!”
Shin Serim tensed internally, thinking she should definitely get at least a whole cake from the team leader for carrying out this task once they left the dungeon.
‘Is he crazy…!’
Kim Sehyun seemed to have lost it. She felt a chill run down her spine, sensing that all his behavior until now had been an act. Moreover, judging by his reaction, it seemed he had indeed taken something, though she didn’t know what.
“Why… why don’t you just give it back?”
Shin Serim immediately regretted saying this without much thought. Kim Sehyun, who had been biting his nails with his head down, suddenly looked up with a frenzied face. She started considering whether she could subdue him if necessary, noting his frail wrists.
“It’s my power. It’s mine! Why should I give it back! What do you know!”
“No…”
“Are you jealous of my guiding power? Are you in cahoots with Jaeha? This is my power!”
Kim Sehyun seemed completely insane. Shin Serim was about to blame Shin Haejun when she suddenly realized the meaning behind Kim Sehyun’s words and her eyes widened.
‘Can someone… steal another’s guiding power…?’
No such method had ever been discovered. But the implication in his words was clear.
Recalling how he had insisted on bringing Jaeha into the team, and how Kim Sehyun had been unable to guide properly, she felt a chill run down her spine and stood up abruptly.
“You… weren’t really an S-class guide?”
Stunned, she reflexively muttered these words, and Kim Sehyun glared at her, frozen stiff. He had belatedly realized that she hadn’t been speaking with knowledge of his secret, but had simply been playing along and fishing for information.
“No…”
Shin Serim slowly backed away, feeling the atmosphere that filled the tent to be bone-chilling. Honestly, at this moment, she was more afraid of Kim Sehyun than Shin Haejun.
As Shin Serim retreated, Kim Sehyun slowly stood up. Then he approached fiercely and tried to strangle her.
“I have to… I have to get rid of you.”
She quickly realized that Kim Sehyun had developed an explicit murderous intent. He had lost all reason to consider the suspicion he would face if he killed Shin Serim here or how to dispose of the body. His trigger had clearly been pulled by the revelation of his secret.
“Guide Kim Sehyun, l-let’s talk this out.”
Shin Serim reflexively looked around. But being inside a private tent, there was no one to protect her.
“Help-!”
“Shut up!”
She tried to scream for help, but Kim Sehyun reached out and roughly covered her mouth. Despite his frail appearance, he had a man’s strength, and Shin Serim struggled helplessly with her mouth covered.
As they grappled on the ground, suddenly the tent split open and the sky became visible. Amazingly, the fabric and poles fell to the ground without hitting either of them.
The startled Kim Sehyun raised his upper body and looked around to see espers and guides surrounding the tent. And in front of them stood Shin Haejun with an expressionless face.
“You bastard.”
“How could you do such a thing?”
People were shocked at first, then quickly began to condemn Kim Sehyun with angry faces.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
