* * *
The neighboring building was also starting to smoke—it looked like he’d torched that one too.
“What, am I not supposed to enjoy burning down Seoul?”
It wasn’t like I had a grudge against the city or anything.
It was just… eight years of delivery work had taken its toll.
After everything I’d endured, wasn’t it fair to blow off some steam in this virtual space?
Panting and grinning, my gaze suddenly locked onto something in the distance—a Chinese restaurant with a familiar name.
“…Huh. It’s still there.”
At first, I thought I was mistaken. But once I confirmed the location, I was sure of it.
A crumbling, run-down building with a cracked and faded red sign.
It was the same place I’d delivered to hundreds of times after starting my first delivery job at 18.
I knew the dungeon was modeled after Seoul, but I never expected to run into this place here.
There was no way I could just walk past it.
Even with monsters screeching and rampaging in the background, I walked toward the restaurant like I was under a spell.
The moment I reached it, I pulled out the last four Molotovs and hurled them in quick succession.
My jaw clenched without me realizing—rage bubbling up from somewhere deep.
The place was already trashed inside, but that wasn’t my problem.
Crash!
Do Soohyuk, watching silently nearby, tilted his head.
“You got some kind of vendetta against the owner?”
A vendetta…? Of course I did.
Ten years ago, it was common for teens to secretly work part-time without parental consent.
The owner of that place took advantage of the fact I couldn’t report him and scammed me out of my wages several times.
He’d find absurd reasons to dock my pay.
Making me work overtime without compensation was routine.
Eventually, after three months of unpaid work, I couldn’t take it anymore and demanded my money.
He told me to go ahead and report him, then threw me out.
Still, like a total idiot, I didn’t do anything about it.
I was technically breaking the law, and I hadn’t told my group home about the job.
I was terrified they’d find out and kick me out.
I was so damn frustrated back then…
“…Burns nicely.”
Watching the place go up in flames wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it’d be.
Maybe because it brought up all those old feelings—it just left me feeling hollow.
Back then, I had no one to turn to for advice.
I had to fight off crushing loneliness every single day.
That time of my life, when I was most emotionally fragile, was probably the lowest I’ve ever been.
“…This is enough.”
Suddenly, Do Soohyuk grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
He must’ve sensed something was off with me—figured out my mood had shifted.
Snapped out of my daze, I blinked to get my mind back on track.
Right… we don’t have time to stand around.
In just a few seconds, this area would be swarming with monsters.
We had to move—fast.
I nodded quietly and let him pull me along.
We arrived at a narrow alleyway tucked behind a row of buildings—an old hardware store barely visible in the dark.
The sun had just set, and with the distance from the fires we’d set, I didn’t even notice the place at first.
It was almost hidden.
Honestly, I was surprised he even knew about it.
Rattle—
Do Soohyuk pushed me inside, then immediately lowered the shutter.
After shutting the door, the cold wind was cut off, and I could feel the chill that had seeped into my bones finally ease.
“…How did you know about this place?”
The inside was in pretty rough shape—maybe the monsters had been here too.
But something told me it wasn’t all that different before.
Like… maybe this place was always a bit of a mess.
“…I come here a lot.”
“Here? Really?”
I turned to look at him, wondering if I heard right—he was already in the corner, lighting a fire.
Judging by how naturally he handled the tools, he clearly knew the layout well.
“What do you even come here for?”
“I like to browse.”
“…What.”
I was so thrown by the unexpected answer that I was completely speechless.
More than anything, it was shocking to hear Do Soohyuk say he liked something.
Yesterday he was swearing left and right, and this morning wasn’t much different.
Ever since we entered the EX dungeon, I’d been seeing these unfamiliar sides of him.
Chirp.
Right then, the little bird sleeping in my clothes must’ve sensed the warmth—it popped out of my sleeve and fluttered over to Do Soohyuk, perching on his head to soak up the heat.
He should’ve found the guy annoying by now, but Do Soohyuk simply motioned for me to come closer without much of a reaction.
How strange…
As I slowly walked over, I glanced back and forth between the chirper and Do Soohyuk.
Just what had happened yesterday to make the usually aloof Chirpy open his heart to Do Soohyuk?
Suspiciously eyeing the two of them, I crouched in front of the fire for now.
It was much smaller than the one we’d first lit at the convenience store.
Unless you were practically glued to it, you couldn’t really feel any warmth at all.
Still, wasn’t this a bit too small?
It couldn’t be helped—after being pampered on the yacht this morning, I was feeling the sting of lacking comforts now.
“Can’t we make the fire a bit bigger? The monsters are probably distracted elsewhere right now.”
“We can’t risk it.”
“……”
So firm.
It was cold enough to make me tremble, but I kept my mouth shut, knowing he wasn’t wrong.
We’d set the fire as widely as we dared, so it should buy us some time before the boss showed up.
Given how quickly things had escalated, Do Soohyuk seemed to think tonight would be the end of it.
He didn’t know the exact time, but he seemed confident it would all be over before dawn.
That was welcome news, of course—but honestly, I wasn’t sure I could endure the cold until then.
It had been quite a while since we entered the dungeon, yet the cold never got any easier.
My hands were numb…
Even with the fire, my frozen hands refused to thaw.
Just as I couldn’t take it anymore and blew warm breath into my palms—
“If it’s that cold, come here.”
Apparently, I looked pitiful enough that Do Soohyuk jerked his chin and motioned to the space between his legs.
He even opened one side of his coat, as if inviting me into his arms.
I should have said, “I’m fine,” but my eyes were fixed on that broad chest as I seriously debated it.
After all, yesterday and today, his embrace had definitely been warm.
That kind of warmth wasn’t something I could easily forget, not in this situation.
Well, pride doesn’t feed you or keep you warm.
In the end, I didn’t hesitate long.
“……”
With a sheepish look, I slowly scooted over and settled between Do Soohyuk’s legs.
Sitting with my back pressed against his chest, I stared into the fire like it was nothing, when suddenly, a hand reached out beside me.
What does he want?
I blinked in confusion, looking down at his palm—only to feel a small sigh brush the back of my head.
“Give me your hand.”
“Ah…”
Awkwardly, I held out my left hand.
My right hand had been holding Do Soohyuk’s all day, so it was relatively okay, but the left… just one glance made it clear it was in bad shape.
The frostbite had likely progressed quite a bit.
Then, Do Soohyuk leaned forward.
Tilting his head over my shoulder to get a closer look, our distance naturally closed.
With his weight leaning toward me, I felt almost trapped in his arms.
Was that my heartbeat I was hearing?
We were so close, practically one body, that I couldn’t tell whose pounding heart it was anymore.
“Does it hurt?”
His low voice whispered directly in my ear.
The sudden warmth of his breath made goosebumps crawl up from the nape of my neck.
Wh-what was that?
My mouth went dry, and my shoulders tensed.
Meanwhile, Do Soohyuk gently rubbed my fingertips before pulling out a top-grade potion from his inner pocket.
After warming it by the fire, he began slowly pouring it over my hand.
In an instant, my frostbitten, bluish skin regained its normal color.
No matter how many times I saw it, it was always an awe-inspiring sight.
“Thanks. It feels much better.”
“It’ll only get colder. Stay close.”
‘Colder than this?’
We were already stuck together, weren’t we?
Still, since he said to get closer, I wiggled back, rubbing against him to try to get even more contact.
His chest seemed to stiffen a bit like yesterday, but I didn’t care—I kept moving.
But not five minutes later, despite my efforts, the warmth was already fading fast.
“Yup, now that the sun’s down, it’s really freezing.”
The weather was truly beyond belief.
I swear, even a freezer wouldn’t be this cold.
As I’d realized many times already—without Do Soohyuk, I would’ve frozen to death ages ago.
I haven’t even repaid him for the antidote yet, and I keep racking up debt…
With my eyes closed, I focused on the warmth radiating from him.
Then, on a whim, I started rummaging through my item pouch.
I suddenly remembered the instant coffee I had back in the cave.
“Do I still have any left?”
But what came out wasn’t coffee at all.
“What the—why is this here?”
A red wine bottle with a fancy label.
Not only that—it was already more than half-empty.
* * *
