Chapter 44
"Ji-hwan, could you explain?"
"Of... course."
Yang Ji-hwan came down the stairs with a calm expression, passed by Baek Eun-seong, and sat on the sofa. Outwardly, he maintained a faint smile as if nonchalant, but Yang Ji-hwan's heart was pounding loudly as if it would burst at any moment.
"Ha-min, want to sit with uncle?"
"Yeah!"
Following Baek Eun-seong, I moved to the sofa and called Baek Ha-min, and he quickly ran over and sat on my lap.
"Ji-hwan."
"Yeah, Eun-seong."
"When Ha-min was kidnapped... why didn't you tell me that Hunter Sung Do-hyun came?"
"Umm..."
Yang Ji-hwan glanced at me sitting across from him and trailed off awkwardly.
"You're the one who... told me not to say anything even if Hunter Sung Do-hyun came and to handle it on my own."
I see.
I looked at the expressionless Baek Eun-seong and adjusted the slipping Baek Ha-min in my arms. Right, if Baek Eun-seong hadn't given permission, there was no way Yang Ji-hwan could have issued that expulsion order so confidently. And 'Sung Do-hyun' was someone Yang Ji-hwan could kick out at any time.
No, come to think of it, this really pisses me off. No matter how much 'Sung Do-hyun' had been a scoundle all this time, he came bringing his friend's nephew—how could he kick him out so cold-heartedly? A child who was kidnapped, with nowhere to trust, trembling in fear?
Thinking about the humiliation of that day, heat rushed to my forehead. Baek Ha-min seemed to feel the same, as his whole body felt hot to the touch.
"Oh my, is that why Ha-min was crying?"
Even though he heard everything, Yang Ji-hwan pretended not to hear anything, acting as if he didn't know, exaggeratedly feigning surprise as he placed his hand on Baek Ha-min's back. Even as the child squirmed away, he maintained his smile and looked up at Baek Eun-seong.
"Um, Eun-seong."
Yang Ji-hwan, trailing off, glanced at me.
"I know it's a bit much to say this in front of the person involved... If it had been someone else, I would have believed the claim that they witnessed Ha-min being kidnapped and saved him. But it's Hunter Sung Do-hyun, you know."
"Hah."
Ah, so it's my fault after all?
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't say anything. Sung Do-hyun, this bastard—why did he live his life in such a way to torment me who possessed him?
How nice would it have been if I had possessed Yang Ji-hwan instead of Sung Do-hyun. Then I could have immediately approached Baek Eun-seong, fed him poison, and—no, there's no need to start with Baek Eun-seong so difficultly. I could have just fed Baek Ji-seong poison right away and made him open P's Box, collecting the ingredients step by step.
"Who knew there would be a mistake when Gyeong-min was so prepared for his first dungeon experience. I naturally thought you and Ha-min were together. And... honestly, Ha-min and I aren't that close either."
Yang Ji-hwan, muttering bitterly, looked at Baek Eun-seong with an expression that screamed he felt unjustly treated.
"It's not like Hunter Sung Do-hyun trying to infiltrate the guild was a one or two day thing. What if he had carefully prepared and brought an elaborate mimic or clone? It would be no different from me putting a bomb into the Baekwoo Guild with my own hands..."
"Keep talking."
"...I didn't have the authority, so I couldn't secure the CCTV from the moment of the kidnapping, and the bodyguards' testimonies didn't match either. What could I do in that situation? I had no choice but to wait until the exact facts were revealed."
Wow, what acting skills. Holding Baek Ha-min, I felt sorry I couldn't applaud—Yang Ji-hwan's performance was perfect. Or is it just shamelessness?
Yang Ji-hwan, turning his gaze away from Baek Eun-seong with guilt-filled eyes, sighed deeply and patted Baek Ha-min's back.
"Ha-min, look at uncle."
"...Don't."
"Your eyes are so swollen, you must have cried a lot. Were you very upset? Next time, uncle will recognize Ha-min no matter what form you take. So play with uncle often, okay? Promise."
Baek Ha-min stared intently at the gently coaxing Yang Ji-hwan before turning his head away with a snap. Yang Ji-hwan quietly observed the child ignoring him with his whole body, then raised his head and met my eyes.
"I'm sorry to Hunter Sung Do-hyun too. I should have thought more deeply about it."
"You should be. That was a bit much."
With a half-hearted response, I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh.
Even accepting Yang Ji-hwan's apology, I didn't feel satisfied because the apology wasn't sincere and, truthfully, there wasn't a single thing wrong with what Yang Ji-hwan said.
'Sung Do-hyun' was someone who had devoted his entire life to infiltrating the Baekwoo Guild and finding Baek Eun-seong's weakness. For that Sung Do-hyun to come to the Baekwoo Guild claiming he saved Baek Ha-min from being kidnapped...
Hah, I wouldn't believe it either. I'd just think that Sung Do-hyun finally went crazy and crossed the line, not "Wow, Sung Do-hyun saved Ha-min!"
This is why your usual image is important...
My tongue tasted bitter. Even if I tried to manage my image now, I'd only hear people saying, "Why is that guy acting like that?"
"Ha-min, so, are you not going to take your medicine?"
Whether he couldn't read the heavy atmosphere or was pretending not to notice, Yang Ji-hwan rummaged through his bag with a cheerful laugh as if nothing had happened.
Baek Ha-min glared at Yang Ji-hwan with puffy eyes before burying himself back into my embrace. Yang Ji-hwan, watching this with surprised eyes, looked back and forth between me and Baek Eun-seong before letting out an awkward laugh.
"I wonder why Ha-min is being like this... Is it because he doesn't want to take his medicine?"
Yang Ji-hwan constantly observed Baek Eun-seong's reaction as he pulled out a medicine bottle from his bag. The medicine, layered in green and purple, was repulsive even to me as an adult.
Seriously, if you're going to give medicine to a child, at least bring something with decent colors, or put a Panini sticker that Ha-min would go crazy for on the bottle. When Yang Ji-hwan took out the medicine bottle and Ha-min still showed no signs of moving, he added with a strange expression.
"Ha-min has to take medicine to not be sick, you know?"
...Is he threatening the child with medicine right now? Has he been controlling Baek Ha-min and Baek Eun-seong like this all along? To reduce the pain, they had to drink Yang Ji-hwan's potion, so they had to treat him well so he wouldn't leave, and that bastard used it as leverage to take everything given to him...
"Tsk."
At the click of my tongue, everyone sitting on the sofa looked at me. Baek Ha-min also looked up at me with reddened eyes. Covering Baek Ha-min's face with one hand, I gestured with my eyes at the frozen Yang Ji-hwan.
"What are you looking at? Finish what you were doing."
"Haha..."
Yang Ji-hwan, who had raised his arm in a defensive posture toward me, placed the medicine bottle in front of Baek Ha-min. When I picked up the bottle instead of Ha-min, who wasn't moving at all, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[Do you want to view the information?]
Of course.
[Yang Ji-hwan's Potion (A)
Haeju Item—Contains datura dew and poppy tears, caution advised when ingesting.]
"What is this."
I was about to gasp at the ingredients but then nodded.
So to suppress the curse, you need to use poison at this level.
I looked at the gruesome liquid and turned my gaze to Yang Ji-hwan.
Did he gain trust like this and feed poison to Baek Eun-seong? Disguising poison as medicine, deceiving them into thinking it was the only solution to reduce the pain? Under my piercing gaze, Yang Ji-hwan flinched, then reached out his hand and said.
"Um, could you hand that over? It's a bit of a dangerous item for others to handle."
Others...
I put the bottle down without a word and smiled.
In the future, Baek Eun-seong dies from poison because of Baek Ji-seong. More precisely, he dies from poison fed by Yang Ji-hwan, who moved under Baek Ji-seong's orders—not Baek Ji-seong himself.
Right now, since Baek Eun-seong has power, Yang Ji-hwan struggles to stay by his side, but he was a bat-like human who would betray him and side with Baek Ji-seong the moment his power weakened due to the curse.
Baek Ha-min squirmed silently before suddenly raising his head and staring intently at me. Our eyes met, and he blinked his round eyes for a moment before, as if worried Yang Ji-hwan might look at him, he coldly turned away and buried his head in my embrace again.
As expected of an S-rank Hunter's child, his hugging strength was ridiculously strong even though he was just a kid. Letting out a sigh at the pain of my ribs being crushed, I looked at Baek Eun-seong.
"What?"
"Take him."
"No!"
When I gestured to the smiling Baek Eun-seong to take his nephew, Baek Ha-min clung to my clothes. At Baek Ha-min's sharp cry, Baek Gyeong-min, who had been quietly observing the surroundings, looked at me.
It's not like seeing Baek Ha-min throw a tantrum is new—why does he have such surprised eyes?
"Ji-hwan."
"...Yeah?"
"So why didn't you tell me?"
"Huh?"
"I understood up to the point where you sent Ha-min back because you couldn't trust Hunter Sung Do-hyun. But I asked why you didn't tell me. Not your thoughts about Hunter Sung Do-hyun."
"No... I told you."
"No, you didn't. The Association President told me that Hunter Sung Do-hyun was protecting Ha-min. If you had told me, we would have known Ha-min's whereabouts a little sooner."
"That's..."
"You should have resolved Hunter Sung Do-hyun's matter on your own, but you should have told me about it."
Listening to Baek Eun-seong's words, Yang Ji-hwan clenched his fists tightly, trembling as he glared at me.
"If Hunter Sung Do-hyun... had behaved properly, I wouldn't have done that either."
Ah, so it's my fault again?
That's 'Sung Do-hyun,' not me! I wanted to jump up and down from the unfairness of it all, but I knew that arguing here would just sound like nonsense to both of them, so ultimately it would be my loss—I kept my mouth shut tight.
Still, letting it slide like this left a bitter taste. I looked at Baek Ha-min, who was still sniffling in my arms.
I'm sorry, but I'm going to use you a little.