Chapter 53
“It’s been a while, Mr. Han Chasu.”
The man who smiled, baring his teeth, was oppressive in the truest sense of the word.
Bang!
With a single kick, the partition went flying and lodged itself in the center of the railing. The hoods of the Development Lab employees standing nearby were forcibly blown back by the wind.
“Uwaaah!”
“Eek!”
They hurriedly covered their faces belatedly, but it was already too late. Geum Myeonggyeol gave a small laugh and began to walk.
Step, step.
Shadows surged beneath the feet of the man approaching as he cut through the wind.
Kiiiiiiiiii—!
Befitting his infamous name as a curse sorcerer, all manner of wicked energy poured from him. ‘Is it all right to do that in a medical center?’ Han Chasu thought something utterly pointless as he leaned his head lightly against the partition. It was thanks to the Development Lab employees having fled into a corner before he knew it. Perhaps because of the aura emanating from Geum Myeonggyeol, they were huddled together, trembling.
“Th-that’s the curse sorcerer, right?”
“They said my luck was bad today, damn it.”
“Hey, be quiet. Shut your mouth.”
Where had all the momentum from just moments ago, when they had been clamoring about killing Gi Taeyeon, gone?
“Mr. Han Chasu.”
The man who had approached without a sound looked down at him with eyes like the sun. Not warm sunlight, but blazing pupils.
“It’s been a while.”
Han Chasu, who had been silently looking up at him, realized one thing.
“You’re not wearing your earring?”
“Ah.”
There was nothing on the man’s ear, let alone an earring. Geum Myeonggyeol stroked his smooth ear and chuckled.
“We’ll talk about that later. For now, shall you come with me?”
Talk about it later—what did that mean? Han Chasu naturally furrowed his brow. Geum Myeonggyeol chuckled and held out his hand.
“Take it.”
Shouldn’t he grab it?
At the small whisper from behind him, Han Chasu turned his head, and the others’ heads whipped around with him.
“Why, did those people say something to you, Mr. Han Chasu? Should I teach them a lesson?”
Geum Myeonggyeol murmured meaningfully as he cracked his wrist. At the behavior, which was like a thug collecting protection money, Han Chasu shook his head.
“It’s fine. There’s no need to bother with them. I wasn’t particularly harmed.”
In the first place, the Development Lab’s target wasn’t him but Gi Taeyeon. He had merely been about to become a hostage because he had stepped in the wrong place. ‘Still, if I meet Gi Taeyeon later, I should tell him to be careful.’ Surely the Development Lab wasn’t seriously thinking of killing Gi Taeyeon… right? Han Chasu pondered. Since he had seen what he had seen, he couldn’t quite be certain.
“Ugh.”
As he braced himself against the floor and tried to stand, a sharp ache rose from his ankle. The moment he frowned without thinking, he heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue above his head.
“You really never do as you’re told. Getting you to hold my hand once is ridiculously difficult.”
He thought his arm had been seized in a swift motion, and then his entire body was lifted up. Why had the sky suddenly become so close? When he came to his senses, he was in Geum Myeonggyeol’s arms.
From the corner came the sound of people swallowing their shock. Han Chasu quietly grabbed Geum Myeonggyeol’s arm. Put me down. When he protested fiercely with his eyes, Geum Myeonggyeol grinned and adjusted his hold.
“Ugh!”
A large hand kneaded his spasming leg. At the electrifying agony, Han Chasu swallowed a curse.
“With a leg like this, how exactly were you planning to walk? Mr. Han Chasu, I heard you’ve been eating a lot these days, so where did it all go?”
“…
Somewhere in my stomach, I suppose.”
“Your stomach says it’s not here.”
“Then it must be gone because digestion is over. Stop wriggling your hand around. I’m going to fall at this rate.”
“Wriggling? You sound exactly like my secretary.”
Even as he grumbled, Geum Myeonggyeol withdrew his hand. Han Chasu let out a faint laugh.
“If I really were that secretary, I don’t think it would have ended with words.”
At the words that flowed out without hesitation, Geum Myeonggyeol, who had been walking, came to an abrupt stop. Beneath his thick eyebrows, his golden eyes quietly gazed at Han Chasu.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Hmm….”
Geum Myeonggyeol slowly blinked. Deep within his eye sockets, his shadowed eyes held a serious gleam.
Han Chasu furrowed his brow, wondering what had gotten into him all of a sudden. If he tried to pull something again, he would rather throw himself to the floor. As Han Chasu estimated the distance to the ground, Geum Myeonggyeol opened his mouth.
“Am I imagining it…?”
“?”
“You feel much brighter than before.”
Geum Myeonggyeol lowered his head and whispered. His sharply defined eyes curved like a painting.
“How should I put it? It feels like a wall has come down?”
“…….”
“Or should I say you’re finally starting to realize I’m a decent person? Hm. Personally, I’d prefer the latter.”
At Geum Myeonggyeol’s playful smile, Han Chasu frowned. Whether he did or not, Geum Myeonggyeol did not wipe the smile from his face. ‘He’s definitely less wary.’ In the past, he would surely have shouted for him to put him down immediately. That was how clearly Han Chasu had drawn a line with him. It was probably because their first meeting had not been pleasant.
But perhaps thanks to his steadily sending gifts and making efforts during all that time, the man in his arms was calmer than expected. Geum Myeonggyeol rather liked that.
“If I say I want us to get even closer from here, will you say no?”
“Do you really want to hear me confirm it with my own mouth?”
“So we’re not quite there yet. Got it.”
Even as he shrugged his shoulders as if disappointed, he did not lose his smile. A hearty laugh rang across the rooftop, and Han Chasu sighed as if there was nothing he could do.
“Mr. Chasu!”
Just then, a voice calling him came from afar. Though it was distant, the gentle, precise voice reached his ears clearly.
“Mr. Han Chasu, are you all right?”
Mun Yeoncheol was running toward him.
“Ah, Professor.”
“Professor?”
“He works at the Psychological Counseling Center within the Bureau.”
“Ahh.”
Geum Myeonggyeol nodded as if he understood.
“Then I can leave those things to him.”
The Development Lab employees, who had been trying to sneak away, flinched. Among them, a few were in the middle of struggling to silently carry off something wrapped in cloth.
“I’m not sure anything in particular will change just because he handles it.”
In the first place, he couldn’t imagine an advisory professor at the Psychological Counseling Center doing anything against the Development Lab. When Han Chasu shook his head, Geum Myeonggyeol furrowed his eyebrows.
“Then there’s no helping it.”
“?”
“We’ll just have to go, then.”
The man declared firmly and strode forward. At the sight of him kicking aside the collapsed wall and heading for the exit, Mun Yeoncheol’s eyes widened.
“Wait a moment.”
“Sorry, but Mr. Han Chasu is a rather busy man.”
Geum Myeonggyeol spoke in a voice like frost.
“I’d appreciate it if you moved aside.”
“…
Are you perhaps the Master of Exilis?”
A surprised voice slipped out of Mun Yeoncheol.
“Hmm, I didn’t say that out of kindness so you could pretend to know me.”
Geum Myeonggyeol shook his head with a deliberately regretful expression. Then he singled out Han Chasu, who had been quietly keeping his eyes closed.
“Why are people so lacking in tact? What do you think, Mr. Han Chasu?”
“Haa….”
So much for keeping as quiet as possible. Han Chasu blinked his eyes open. Mun Yeoncheol was looking at him with a face full of worry.
“What on earth happened, Mr. Chasu?”
He said that after Han Chasu had gone to throw away the trash, he had not returned for so long that Mun Yeoncheol had come looking for him himself.
“You didn’t come back for over ten minutes, so I thought you had collapsed somewhere.”
“That much time has passed?”
Mun Yeoncheol nodded, and just then someone called him from behind.
“Professor, he isn’t over there either… Huh, Hunter Han Chasuuu!”
A doctor with her hair tied high in a single ponytail spotted him and jumped. It was a familiar face.
“What were you doing here!”
“Ah.”
“Why is your face so red? And why are you sweating so much! No, your hands are cold? Good heavens, spasms, he’s having spasms…!”
“Please calm down first.”
“Do you think I can calm down right now?”
“…….”
“Take this first. Hurry.”
There was no one present who could stop an angry doctor. Even Geum Myeonggyeol, said to be the most arrogant among the S-ranks, merely watched silently as she did what she needed to do.
“Hoo…. Now then, what exactly made you end up in this state?”
After confirming that Han Chasu had taken the medicine, the doctor began her interrogation. With her hand planted on her waist, her eyes were like those of a lion.
“Um, well.”
“Do you know those idiots over there wearing hoods?”
Geum Myeonggyeol abruptly pointed to a corner of the garden as he spoke. At the ruins visible between the fake reeds and the partition, the doctor’s eyes widened.
“What is that… No, those bastards have been hiding there this whole time?”
The doctor made a call somewhere. Perhaps thinking things were about to get interesting, Geum Myeonggyeol smiled and snapped his fingers.
“Uwaaah!”
“Crazy, somebody save me!”
No wonder the screams had been getting farther away.
The sight beyond Geum Myeonggyeol’s shoulder was, quite literally, like a nightmare.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Let me go—no, don’t let go! Put me down, put me down!”
Dozens of black evil spirits were grabbing people by the ankles and spinning them round and round in midair.
“…
Is that allowed?”
“Once they get a taste, they’ll come looking for me later and ask me to do it again.”
Geum Myeonggyeol snorted, asking if he knew how many Exilis guild members had gotten addicted that way. ‘…
There isn’t a single sane human in this world.’ What did it matter if there were abundant resources and clean, clear nature? The humans living within it were insane.
It was around the time Han Chasu was feeling newly skeptical about the fact that he had possessed this body.
Kwaaang!
A nearby entrance door was flung open violently. Through the iron door that had been blown away with a bang, a pitch-black figure appeared.
“Haa….”
Cold air dug into his spine. It was a chill that felt as though it would freeze his lungs solid.
“These sons of bitches.”
The moment blue eyes were revealed beneath the sun.
Craaaack—!
Han Chasu saw it. The sight of the rooftop garden, the pride of the medical center, being reborn as a garden of ice.
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