#037
After finishing Guiding Moon Bora, Eunseok collapsed onto the bed in the Guiding room without even going up to his quarters. He was exhausted not just physically, but mentally as well. As soon as he lay down on the bed, his consciousness drifted away, and when he opened his eyes again, the room was already enveloped in darkness.
The moment he opened his eyes, an involuntary groan escaped him due to the tremendous muscle pain striking his entire body. After taking a deep breath, Eunseok tried to check his watch but startled.
“…What are you doing?”
Eunseok asked in a hoarse voice, almost accusingly, towards Choi Hanseo who was sitting in a chair next to the bed with his legs crossed. Sitting silently in the darkness, Choi Hanseo was wearing comfortable casual clothes instead of his usual suit.
“How did you get in here… no, why are you sitting there?”
Eunseok asked, supporting his upper body with his screaming arms. His hoarse and raspy voice clearly revealed his physical condition.
“I was checking if you were alive,” Choi Hanseo answered, looking Eunseok up and down.
“I won’t die from something like this,” Eunseok said in a gruff voice, feeling underestimated. However, the chills creeping over him indicated that he had quite a severe case of body aches.
Choi Hanseo silently extended his hand. On his palm were two pills.
“Take these. Don’t try to tough it out foolishly.”
Eunseok stared at the pills on the large palm for a moment, then sighed lightly and snatched them up. Choi Hanseo then opened a bottle of water from the bedside table and handed it to him. It seemed he had prepared it in advance to give Eunseok the medicine.
It was true that his physical condition was poor, and it was ridiculous to try to hide it desperately. Eunseok silently took the water bottle and swallowed the pills. The lukewarm water sliding down his throat felt incredibly refreshing.
“How did you get in here?” Eunseok asked, wiping his wet lips with the back of his hand.
“As the guild master, is there anywhere I can’t enter?” Choi Hanseo answered nonchalantly and reached out his hand. Eunseok flinched involuntarily. Choi Hanseo paused for a moment, then more slowly placed his hand on Eunseok’s forehead. Only then did Eunseok realize his forehead was drenched in cold sweat. His pride took a deep scratch at the thought of showing such weakness in front of the man who had defeated an A-rank boss as if it were child’s play.
Not wanting to show his wounded pride, Eunseok reached out and grabbed Choi Hanseo’s wrist. His watch showed a yellow color. It seemed that dealing with ‘just’ an A-rank boss only raised it this much.
He was about to perform Guiding by placing their palms together when Choi Hanseo slightly furrowed his brow and pulled his hand away. Then he lightly pressed on Eunseok’s chest. Eunseok’s upper body, which he had been barely supporting with his trembling arms, collapsed onto the bed.
“What are you…!”
“Do you think you can perform Guiding in that state, Mr. Lee Eunseok?”
“It’s not like I’m using my body anyway.”
When Eunseok replied in a stiff tone, Choi Hanseo’s eyes narrowed.
A moment of silence passed. The silence and his gaze were uncomfortable.
“…Aren’t you leaving?”
“Should I?”
Choi Hanseo asked back.
“What are you going to do if you don’t leave?”
“I need to take care of you, Mr. Lee Eunseok.”
“You don’t need to take care of me.”
“But I can if I want to.”
The conversation flowed like a word game. Eunseok felt irritation rising towards Choi Hanseo, who appeared as soon as he opened his eyes and was getting on his nerves. Was it the typical male pride and stubbornness that hates showing weakness to others? Or was it because his current state was being compared to the overwhelming presence of the man he had seen inside the gate? Or was it because of what Moon Bora had repeated several times earlier? Choi Hanseo’s gaze and presence, which seemed unwilling to leave him, were uncomfortable.
Eunseok let out a light sigh to shake off his discomfort.
“I’d appreciate it if you could leave now, as I need to sleep more.”
“I’ll leave after watching you fall asleep.”
…Fine, do as you please.
Since even speaking required energy, instead of responding to Choi Hanseo’s words, Eunseok turned his body away from him and lay down.
As he closed his eyes, his mind became distant. He felt like he would pass out and fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes, but the muscle pain prevented that as the medicine hadn’t taken effect yet. Judging by the fact that Choi Hanseo didn’t call for Ji Taeuk, it seemed his healing ability wasn’t very effective for this kind of body ache.
“Let’s exclude A-rank gates,” Choi Hanseo said in a low voice. Eunseok turned his body back and glared at Choi Hanseo.
“This is just because I haven’t moved like this in a long time.”
Choi Hanseo tilted his head slightly to the side and stared at Eunseok.
His eyes seemed to say, “Is that really so?”
This was a body that could easily handle a thousand-li march with nearly 50 kilograms of full military gear without resupply. It was just body aches from moving properly for the first time in a long while after being discharged. If it had been before his discharge, he wouldn’t have shown such weakness from just seven hours of movement.
But explaining all of that in detail felt petty. Instead, Eunseok just glared at Choi Hanseo with sharp eyes.
A brief staring contest ensued. Choi Hanseo, who had been staring directly into Eunseok’s eyes, let out a light sigh.
“Alright. I’ll take back what I said earlier, so stop glaring at me.”
At Choi Hanseo’s words, Eunseok finally softened his sharp gaze.
“…Such stubbornness,” Choi Hanseo muttered quietly, but Eunseok pretended not to hear.
The medicine seemed to be taking effect as his body gradually relaxed. The pain also seemed to be subsiding bit by bit. Naturally, as the tension in his body eased, comfort took its place.
Choi Hanseo reached to the side and picked up a white towel, then gently wiped the cold sweat that had formed on Eunseok’s forehead. Judging by the slight dampness of the towel, it seemed he had been doing this all along while Eunseok was passed out asleep.
While his pride was slightly hurt at the thought of being cared for, on the other hand, his prickly feelings softened somewhat.
“So, how was it?” Choi Hanseo asked abruptly as Eunseok’s mind was becoming hazy.
“What?”
Perhaps due to the strong effect of the medicine, his voice came out quite softly as he asked back.
“Me, I mean.”
How was he, he asks.
Eunseok recalled both the overwhelming presence Choi Hanseo had shown in the gate and Moon Bora’s words.
‘Don’t forget, Eunseok. No matter how inhuman that guy seems, he’s still a hunter by birth. With a high-matching rate and compatible rank guide right in front of him, do you think he’d be any different? He’ll try to show off and all that, it’s just how it is.’
‘Eunseok, be careful, okay? Don’t fall for it easily if he tries to seduce you.’
“…Why? Are you trying to seduce me if I say you were cool?”
His drug-addled mouth moved on its own. And Eunseok fell asleep, as if escaping, before hearing Choi Hanseo’s response.
#5
Being accustomed to such high-intensity training, the body aches disappeared completely after just one night. There was still some muscle soreness, but Eunseok shook it off with stretching and light exercise.
After performing contact Guiding on the remaining four team members with high numbers, his work hours were over. As he left the Guiding room, Eunseok was secretly relieved that he wouldn’t have to face Choi Hanseo today, at least. It was because of the words he had unconsciously blurted out before falling asleep last night.
‘…Why? Are you trying to seduce me if I say you were cool?’
Why did such words come out?
Eunseok rubbed his face dry, trying to erase last night’s events from his mind.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened. Eunseok, who was entering the elevator with his head down, paused. It was because a pair of shoes came into his view. As he slowly raised his head, he saw Choi Hanseo standing alone in the center of the elevator.
Eunseok felt the urge to turn around and leave. But that would be ridiculous too, so he got on the elevator as if nothing was wrong.
“Hello,” Eunseok said quietly, tapping his employee ID on the panel and pressing the button for the dormitory floor. As he did so, he noticed that the button for the top floor was also lit. It seemed Choi Hanseo was also on his way home.
Eunseok stood next to Choi Hanseo, fixing his gaze on the changing floor numbers. Although it was awkward and uncomfortable, he maintained an expressionless face, not wanting to show any sign of discomfort.
Just before the number changed to the dormitory floor, Choi Hanseo suddenly reached out and pressed the button Eunseok had pressed, canceling it.
Surprised, Eunseok looked at Choi Hanseo once and was about to press the button again, but in that short moment, the elevator had already passed the dormitory floor and was going up higher.
“…What are you doing?”
“It seems your body is feeling a bit better.”
“Thanks to you. But what are you doing?”
“Let’s go up and have a drink.”
Choi Hanseo said nonchalantly. Eunseok looked at him with bewildered eyes.
Ding-
The elevator stopped at the top floor.
As the doors opened, Choi Hanseo nodded slightly as if telling Eunseok to get off first.
“I’m not in the mood for alcohol.”
Eunseok said in a stiff tone, reaching out his hand towards the button for the dormitory floor. But Choi Hanseo grabbed Eunseok’s hand as if to stop him.
“I meant let’s have coffee.”
Choi Hanseo said quietly, and before Eunseok could respond, he pulled him out of the elevator, still holding his hand.
