#52
“You must have had a really severe stomachache?”
The next morning, Kang Won-hyeok sat firmly in the guild leader’s office and grated on Do-hyeok’s nerves.
“Couldn’t attend the meeting, and were away from your seat all morning and afternoon. Hmm?”
“Stop it.”
When Do-hyeok glared at him, Won-hyeok hesitated slightly. But who was Won-hyeok? He was confident in his persistence above all else. Actually, Won-hyeok had been burning with passion at first, but these days he still couldn’t let go of his lingering attachment to the now-forgotten Founding Destruction incident and kept stirring it up whenever he had the chance.
“Where did you go? Tell me honestly.”
“I think I told you this earlier. I was inside the building the whole time.”
That’s another lie. There wasn’t a single guild member who had encountered Cha Do-hyeok yesterday. Shin-woo said that guy had a stomachache, but that was also suspicious. Even if that were true, being away from his seat for so long was too suspicious. He must have definitely gone outside again to slack off.
“I’m the only one running the guild.”
Even though Cha Do-hyeok was the one who created Nameless and was the leader, at times like this, it sometimes made him wonder if he even had any interest in the guild.
“It’s true. Ask Shin-woo.”
“Hey, he’s on your side, so of course he’ll say you’re right.”
Won-hyeok’s mouth jutted out like an octopus. He seemed thoroughly sulky.
“But I don’t see Ha-seong-ssi today.”
Do-hyeok’s hand, which had been habitually spinning his pen, paused slightly. For someone with a bear-like personality who had no sense of tact, he was strangely quick to notice things at times like this.
“He won’t be able to come for a few days.”
“Huh? Why?”
Do-hyeok hesitated for a moment. What should he say to make that persistently sticky guy understand and turn away? Come to think of it now, Ha-seong was lying in a hospital bed so naturally he couldn’t come to work, but he hadn’t thought of a proper excuse for that.
“He’s sick.”
“Sick? Exactly where and how?”
Kang Won-hyeok stuck to him like a leech and didn’t know how to give up. If he said someone was sick, couldn’t he just accept that they were sick? But getting annoyed for no reason could arouse suspicion, so Do-hyeok quickly racked his brain.
“He has a stomachache.”
And in the end, he pulled out the familiar excuse that Shin-woo had used.
“A stomachache? Is having stomachaches trendy these days or something? But if he can’t come for several days, it must be pretty severe. Gastroenteritis?”
“Yeah.”
Won-hyeok created an excuse on his own. Do-hyeok nodded approvingly. Then Won-hyeok shook his head with a pitying expression, saying “Oh no……”
He thought he would leave now, but Won-hyeok suddenly looked at Do-hyeok with a keen expression, narrowing his eyes.
“Hey, wait.”
“What.”
“You also had a stomachache yesterday.”
“……”
“But Ha-seong-ssi also has gastroenteritis……”
He usually wasn’t like this, so why did he act so sharp at times like this? If only he could display that sharpness and intuition normally. Do-hyeok didn’t bother to answer and turned his gaze away. Then Won-hyeok stroked his chin with a serious expression as if he had become Sherlock Holmes.
“Did the food in our cafeteria spoil?”
Fortunately, Kang Won-hyeok couldn’t quite become Sherlock Holmes. He had returned to his usual stupid expression. And he was just talking about the innocent cafeteria food. Then Won-hyeok’s phone rang loudly. Do-hyeok frowned deeply. Loud trot music was flowing from that guy’s phone. Even the ringtone was as noisy as its owner.
“Change your ringtone.”
“Mind your own business.”
Won-hyeok immediately answered the phone and told the caller he’d be right there.
“Hey, I’m leaving.”
Do-hyeok just waved his hand without saying anything. It meant get lost quickly.
“What a rude bastard…… Ah, want to have lunch together later? I heard there’s an amazing ox bone soup place nearby.”
Won-hyeok chattered excitedly, saying that people like them who use their bodies should occasionally nourish themselves with such things. Speaking of nourishment, that word particularly stuck in Do-hyeok’s ears.
“Does ox bone soup help with nourishment?”
“Of course. Beef bone soup, chicken soup. There are so many varieties.”
Perhaps thinking Do-hyeok’s question was a sign of agreement, Won-hyeok’s expression had brightened considerably.
“Then later……”
“I’m busy at lunch.”
“Bastard.”
Won-hyeok elegantly gave him the middle finger and slammed the door as he left. The problem was that since this happened often, it didn’t deal much damage to Do-hyeok.
But it couldn’t be helped. Lunch time was non-work time. In other words, during that time he could go see Ha-seong. Of course, even if Do-hyeok slacked off during work hours, no one would dare complain, but still, as Shin-woo said, small suspicions could spread to Ha-seong, so it seemed better to avoid that.
Five minutes before lunch time, Do-hyeok pulled back his chair, got up, and left the guild leader’s office. And he casually went to the 3rd floor and entered the treatment room directly.
“You’re here?”
“No one’s around.”
Do-hyeok looked around the inside of the treatment room. Literally, there was no one there. Only Ha-jun and Do-hyeok. Originally, this was the second busiest place in the guild after the cafeteria. It was all too common for hot-blooded hunters to go out to work, get injured, and come back.
“Yes. There were many until just now, but I sent them all out.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you might come.”
Ha-jun, who had anticipated the guild leader would come during lunch time, had already cleared the inside of the treatment room. He added that he had sent out both the guild members receiving treatment and the doctors on the team with appropriate excuses. Ha-jun shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the inner treatment room. It was a gesture saying to go in if he wanted to.
“How is his condition?”
“Hmm, there’s nothing significantly different yet. He’s recovering quite quickly, but I can only say we need to observe more for now.”
While saying this, Ha-jun looked at his wristwatch.
“Then I’ll also go have lunch and come back. Ah, for reference, I take the full lunch hour to eat and return.”
Do-hyeok didn’t respond to those words.
“Well, just so you know.”
Ha-jun chuckled briefly, gave a short greeting, and headed outside. Do-hyeok understood what he meant. It meant no one would come during lunch time, so he could be comfortable.
The intensive care unit door opened and Ha-seong, not much different from yesterday, came into view. He had a peaceful expression today as well.
“……”
Do-hyeok again sat beside him without saying anything and just looked at Ha-seong. Honestly, he knew doing this wouldn’t change anything. Even if he stayed here, Ha-seong’s wounds wouldn’t heal and he wouldn’t regain consciousness. But he had to do this, he had to at least look at that pale face to feel a little at ease.
* * *
Near quitting time. Watching people come out of the guild building one by one, Do-hyeok sat in the guild leader’s office with an indifferent expression.
“Aren’t you leaving work?”
Shin-woo asked while gauging his mood.
“I’m leaving late today. Go ahead first.”
“Oh…… but still, how can I leave first……”
Being an executive secretary in name, Shin-woo spouted words he didn’t mean.
“I don’t need hollow words. Go quickly. If you don’t go now, I’ll let you leave tomorrow evening.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shocked by those words, Shin-woo hurriedly gathered his things and left. After a bit more time passed, the inside of the building quickly became quiet. Do-hyeok slowly got up like someone who had work left and went outside. And as expected, his destination was the 3rd floor.
Before quitting time, the text from Ha-jun was as follows:
[Seo Ha-jun: I’m taking all the night duties this week. And during night duty hours, if there are no emergencies or calls, I’m mainly in the duty room. Well, just so you know.]
Do-hyeok stood in front of the empty treatment room like that. And his phone rang just as he grabbed the treatment room door handle.
[Caller: Yoon Woo-bin]
Honestly, he had expected a call to come once, so Do-hyeok answered the phone with an indifferent expression.
“Yeah.”
– It seems like it’s definitely the same guy as the first incident.
Without even the usual greeting, Woo-bin went straight to the point.
– The same memo was found on the second incident victim too. It was fortunate that I kept guarding that spot, because if someone else had discovered it, it would have been quite troublesome.
The second incident that occurred on item street. Woo-bin, who was leading the investigation and searching for clues there, was able to find that memo in the bag the victim was carrying at the time of the incident. He had searched it based on a hunch, and fortunately it was correct. The current situation Woo-bin was guessing was that the memo was secretly placed in the bag, then the perpetrator went up to the rooftop and fired the gun.
“As expected.”
He had already been thinking it would be the same guy. But to commit the next incident so soon after the first incident? What could be the purpose of such a flashy rampage?
– We need to investigate more first. The victim is still in critical condition, and above all, the incident became too publicly known, which has restricted our actions.
Woo-bin was right about that. This incident spread rapidly on the internet immediately after it occurred. News, SNS, internet articles—everything was heating up about the hunter attack incident that occurred on item street without exception.
Do-hyeok rubbed his tired eyes and opened the treatment room door to enter.
– I think we need to meet again and talk. Come to the Hunter Management Bureau with Ha-seong-ssi at a convenient time. I can come if needed.
At the words “together with Ha-seong,” Do-hyeok’s hand holding the intensive care unit handle paused for a moment.
– Hello? Cha Do-hyeok?
“We’ll see.”
Do-hyeok opened the hospital room door.
– What do you mean we’ll see? We don’t have time for that. We need to make plans. You know things have gotten incredibly complicated right now, don’t you?
Do-hyeok, who was about to say that he couldn’t go with Ha-seong, suddenly froze in place.
“……I’ll call you back later.”
Do-hyeok hung up, leaving Woo-bin’s voice behind. And his gaze was fixed on just one spot.
“Huh? Hey, you came at the right time. Did you see my phone anywhere?”
A familiar voice reached his ears. He almost felt like he was hearing that voice for the first time in years. Like light seeping in from the end of a dark tunnel, an alien scene gradually entered Do-hyeok’s pupils.
“It’s been a while, hyung.”
A very small smile appeared on Do-hyeok’s lips as he saw the awakened Ha-seong.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
