Chapter 22
"Aren't you going to pick up Hamin today?"
"Ah, Hamin caught a cold."
Eunseong smiled appropriately at the guild employee's question and changed the subject, but as soon as he was left alone, he secretly swallowed dry saliva. Though his face appeared composed on the outside, his worries wouldn't leave his mind.
Why did Hamin shrink?
Who on earth is targeting Hamin this time?
...Can I trust Seong Dohyun, that person?
Why does it have to be a dungeon of all places?
Could he have... ulterior motives...?
No, still, it's a fact that he saved Hamin from the kidnapper and protected him, so I should trust...
"……."
He sighed, rubbed his brow, and pulled up the list of dungeons within the guild's managed sector to examine.
After looking through the list for a while, Eunseong pointed to a dungeon at the very bottom—small, shabby, so insignificant that he hadn't even felt the need to organize it—and called over the employee.
"Could you put this on the subjugation list?"
"Are you going to a dungeon? Should I request support?"
"No. I want to show Hamin around. I purposely chose a small dungeon."
"Ah, I see. I thought you were aiming for a rank update since the ranking matches are coming soon."
"Hmm, isn't that something only gamblers would be interested in?"
Eunseong smiled brightly at the employee and ignored the suddenly sharpened atmosphere around him. He could feel several employees reacting to the word 'ranking match' and watching this way. In particular, the employee his brother had personally planted was openly checking the location of the dungeon Eunseong had just chosen.
'Good thing I chose a small dungeon...'
Eunseong leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as if blinded by the sunlight.
He was tired.
His guild, his space. But he couldn't let his guard down even for a moment here. All his actions would be reported to his brother.
With a weary face, Eunseong grabbed his phone. He wanted to pour out these complicated feelings to someone, but there was no one.
Smiling self-deprecatingly, his eyes widened at a message that suddenly arrived.
Seong Dohyun: Are you coming home today?
What is this...
Startled, Eunseong jumped up from his seat and called Dohyun without caring about the eyes focused on him.
—What.
A blunt voice. It didn't belong to the person who sent that warm message just now. Seeing as he answered the call, he hadn't lost his phone either. Did he send the message to the wrong person?
'Asking if I'm coming? Home?'
As Eunseong tried to gauge the meaning of Dohyun's message, his energy drained at the sound of Hamin's laughter coming through the speaker.
Since Seong Dohyun and Baek Hamin were such an unlikely combination, he had completely forgotten that the two were currently staying together at Dohyun's house. Eunseong waved his hand dismissively at an employee who approached asking what was wrong, then asked Dohyun.
"Yes, is there something I should buy on my way...?"
—No. Hanging up.
—Aaah, waitaminute! I texted uncle...
Though a voice screaming something continued to be heard, the call didn't continue and was cut off immediately.
'What, so it was Hamin.'
He felt suddenly deflated. Smiling weakly, he pondered for a moment before calling his secretary. Dohyun might not know, but there were things Hamin needed.
"Is there something you need?"
"The babies' doll clothes, I mean."
"Doll clothes?"
"I'd like to place an order. Could you recommend someone?"
* * *
"You're here."
Was it the day after leaving Hamin at Dohyun's house? Eunseong sat in his seat, mulling over his memories.
Dohyun opened the door with a half-hearted greeting, and as he stepped into the entryway, pulled back the curtain that had been blocking the interior.
"Uncle!"
Not only had the house turned into a jungle due to the various plants blooming in all shapes and colors, but a large sunflower was also attached to the back of Hamin who came running over. Seeing the puzzlement in Eunseong's gaze, Dohyun pointed at the sunflower and gave a brief explanation.
"In case he steps on it."
"What...?"
"Look. Does it look like he won't step on it?"
At Dohyun's explanation, he understood immediately while watching Hamin toddling around.
...But come to think of it, it was strange.
Seong Dohyun, that Seong Dohyun, worrying about Hamin? Far from worrying, the Seong Dohyun he knew would be the type to deliberately stomp on something with his foot and then say, "Oh my, I didn't know? So what are you going to do about it?" while driving people absolutely crazy.
With a complicated expression, he watched Seong Dohyun offering his hand and the small child hopping onto that hand. The two were stuck together so naturally, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Eunseong silently rubbed the back of his neck, then headed to the dining table at the sound of Hamin calling him.
"Uncle Dohyun, Uncle Eunseong hasn't eaten either."
Since when did I...?
Hamin lied casually and winked at Eunseong. Without adding any further comment, Dohyun took out three rice bowls from the cabinet and began moving busily in the narrow kitchen. Eunseong stopped mid-sit and stood beside him.
"Um, is there anything I can help with..."
"Move. You're in the way, so just sit. If you pull that crap again like last time with the poisoned food or whatever, just don't eat."
Dohyun, who had viciously stabbed a silver spoon into a heaping bowl of rice like before, glared at Eunseong for a moment before starting to set up a separate meal for Baek Hamin. He shredded the braised chicken into small pieces, cut the yellow-cooked potatoes to the right size, and secretly slipped carrots into the kimbap of Baek Hamin, who would make a crying face saying he hated carrots...
Watching that scene, a sudden question arose.
Why on earth is Seong Dohyun acting like that?
No, since when did he change?
At some point, Seong Dohyun had stopped following him around or being annoying. Instead, whenever they happened to run into each other, he was busy avoiding him with a look of disgust. Unlike before when he would grit his teeth and chase after him asking where he was going, now he seemed somehow relaxed.
"Uncle! You have to say 'I'll eat well'~!"
"Huh? Oh, I'll eat well."
"Go ahead."
As soon as he heard Dohyun's response, Eunseong reflexively shoved rice into his mouth. Then he picked up food and put it in his mouth in the order Hamin instructed.
The braised chicken was a bit sweet but decent enough, and the seasoned spinach had a nice crunch to it. All the food on the table was seasoned mildly without being too salty, as if tailored for Hamin, and cut into smaller pieces suited for the shrunken Hamin.
The meal Dohyun prepared was an ordinary diet you could see anywhere.
'Right, that was all, but why on earth...'
When Eunseong set down his cutlery with a sigh, the hunter sitting next to him asked with a worried expression.
"Do you have no appetite?"
"No, that's not it."
After tidying up around his mouth, Eunseong looked over the dining table. It was obvious that it would consist of only the finest food since it was a banquet prepared by the affiliated guild, but strangely, his appetite hadn't increased.
Actually, rather than this luxurious meal, he wanted to eat the rice that those white hands had casually set down... He found himself ridiculous and smiled faintly, then rose from the party earlier than usual.
"Where shall I take you?"
He was about to say "Home, obviously," but something didn't sit right. Eunseong looked at the text Hamin had sent and changed direction.
"Let's go to... Hunter Seong Dohyun's house."
* * *
"...I'm back."
"Yeah."
Eunseong was loosening the necktie constricting his throat as he came in, but took half a step back when he saw Dohyun suddenly raising the corners of his eyes.
"Why?"
"Hey, are you going to keep coming and going like this?"
His long eyelashes fluttered slowly at the unexpected question. After a brief silence, Eunseong's eyes widened as he finally realized that he had been commuting to Dohyun's studio apartment every single day without fail.
'Did I come... too often?'
Well, it was Dohyun who disliked him so much. Even if he let Hamin into the house, he might not want to let him in. But the words that followed were completely unexpected.
"The password, 22485."
"What?"
"The password is 22485. From now on, pick the lock and come in yourself. It's annoying having to open the door for you every time you come."
No, how could this person trust me like that.
As if he couldn't care less about Eunseong's shock, Dohyun spun around after speaking lazily. Eunseong stood there, fidgeting with his vest for no reason. Strangely, his chest area felt uncomfortable.
While he was unnecessarily adjusting his already neat clothes, Hamin hopped onto his shin with a bright smile.
"Great, right?"
"Huh? What's great?"
He asked back, not understanding, but Hamin only winked without a word.
What was so great about it? The fact that he could freely come and go to Seong Dohyun's house of all places?
Standing blankly in the entryway, Eunseong looked down at the shoddily made floor. There was no way he'd like a place like this...
"Why aren't you coming in?"
...or was there?
"You're going to eat, right?"
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
Eunseong desperately ignored his jumbled thoughts and sat at the table. Seeing the modest meal that couldn't even be compared to the lavish banquet, his appetite increased absurdly.
As always, Seong Dohyun had viciously stabbed a silver spoon into a heaping bowl of rice and was attending to Hamin without even glancing at Eunseong.
At that moment, an unidentified desire surged from within him.
The feeling of wanting to stay here instead of returning home.
Eunseong desperately suppressed the strange emotion that welled up. Then, after hurriedly finishing his meal, he left Dohyun's house earlier than usual.
Reciting the five-digit password under his breath, Eunseong returned home, but upon opening his own door, he couldn't bring himself to move. He hesitated for a long time looking at the dark interior without a single light.
He had clearly told the servants not to turn off the lights in his room. They must have... turned them off by mistake.
When he pressed the switch with trembling hands and the lights came on brightly, Eunseong still felt as if he were trapped in the pitch-black darkness that had just engulfed him. After several deep breaths, he came to his senses and stroked the head of the golem that came rolling over.
"Nothing happened, right?"
The golem guarding the house nodded but gave no answer. Naturally, there was no greeting asking if he had a good trip either.
* * *
"Sorry I'm late."
Having lost sleep overnight, Eunseong stared blankly at the cup in Jihwan's hand before belatedly reaching out with an 'oh right' expression. Jihwan, who was handing over the cup, smiled with a somewhat bewildered face and said.
"Wow, Baek Eunseong. Looks like you're fine without medicine now?"
"As if that could be true."
Eunseong downed the medicine in one gulp and closed his eyes.
"Is it a bit better now?"
"Yeah."
The truth was, it hadn't hurt even before taking the medicine. Perhaps that was why—though he had waited every day for the time to take medicine, waiting only for this moment when the pain would subside—not once this week had he waited for Jihwan.
Instead, the white hand that had stabbed a spoon into a heaping bowl of rice was filling his mind.