* * *
While Baek Gunho was in the dungeon, I arranged a meal with Lee Kanghoon.
Before that, though, I decided to meet Lee Shinhae.
The moment Lee Shinhae saw me, he rushed over with a pitiful expression and wrapped me in a hug.
“Heewon-ah…”
A man ten years older than me was acting like a child.
I awkwardly returned the hug.
“What’s wrong?”
“Baek Gunho called me a lunatic…”
“What? That lunatic? Why on earth would he—oh.”
It must’ve been because of that grade-reducing potion Lee Shinhae had given me.
That bastard, Baek Gunho—no matter what, calling Lee Shinhae a lunatic was crossing a line.
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault…”
“No, it’s fine. Telling you was worth it.”
With a much lighter tone, Lee Shinhae let go of me.
His face, once woeful, now looked oddly satisfied.
What exactly was so enjoyable about tattling to me?
It’s not like I could do much for him.
“What can he do about it? There’s no one else in Korea who’s as good a producer as I am.”
“You’re pretty generous.”
“Well, I only put up with him because he’s good at providing materials. He somehow gets his hands on rare resources even I’ve never seen before. If it weren’t for that ability, I’d have dropped him ages ago.”
Lee Shinhae sighed heavily.
So, Baek Gunho was like a superpowered subordinate in this situation.
Given that everything he touched turned into gold, many people in the Hunter world blindly followed his lead.
I took a seat across from Lee Shinhae.
He pulled a small box from his inventory and handed it to me.
“Here you go, the tracker and bug you asked for.”
“Thank you.”
“Just throw it near your target, and it’ll stick automatically. Make sure to attach it somewhere inconspicuous.”
“Got it.”
I opened the box to check its contents.
The bug was tiny, about the size of a grain of rice. It’d probably look like a piece of rice stuck to someone’s clothes.
I couldn’t help but marvel at the absurdity of what I’d asked for.
What a crazy world we live in.
My plan was to use the item for surveillance.
I could toss it discreetly with telekinesis.
Although Noeul would use it too, I couldn’t exactly explain that method to Baek Gunho in detail.
“Use it carefully.”
“I will. Thanks again.”
“Sure thing.”
Lee Shinhae gave me a curious look.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s just… asking for stuff like this, it makes me realize how grown-up you’ve become.”
“I’ve been grown-up for a while now.”
“Have you given up on living like a normal person?”
Well, yeah. Normal people don’t buy this kind of stuff.
“It’s only temporary. This is just preparation to live peacefully later.”
These days, the biggest obstacle to my peaceful life was the Baekmyeon Sect.
Once I dealt with them, I could go back to being a normal person.
“That’s how it always starts.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Haha, every Hunter commits at least one crime in their career.”
Lee Shinhae laughed heartily at his own joke. I didn’t find it funny at all.
After saying goodbye to Lee Shinhae, I got into my car.
On the way home, I absentmindedly searched for news articles.
It was about time for Baek Gunho to emerge from the dungeon.
Baek Gunho: Where are you?
Fortunately, there were no alarming news articles. Instead, I got a text from Baek Gunho.
Me: On my way back from Shinhae hyung’s place.
You cursed him out? You crazy bastard.
Baek Gunho: You made me do it.
Me: Still, you shouldn’t have done that.
Baek Gunho didn’t reply to my message.
I couldn’t tell if he was ignoring me or if something else had come up.
Just in case, I searched for more articles on my way home.
When I opened the door to my place, I was greeted by Baek Gunho, wearing an apron and a radiant smile.
Was he trying to seduce me?
He seemed unusually shiny today, almost suspiciously so.
“Welcome back.”
“You…”
“Heewon’s home?”
From the living room, I heard my uncle’s voice.
There went my chance to confront him.
I couldn’t exactly come out to my uncle, so I shot Baek Gunho a glare before heading into the living room to greet my uncle.
Even after a dungeon run, Baek Gunho didn’t seem the least bit tired.
He had set up a feast that could break a table leg.
At least he didn’t call me anything weird in front of my uncle, so dinner was peaceful.
After dinner, I planned to relax and watch TV with my uncle, but Baek Gunho tapped my shoulder.
“I feel like having ice cream.”
This guy rarely ate snacks. Was he suggesting we go outside to talk? I got up from my seat.
“Let’s go buy some.”
“Heewon, hold on a second.”
My uncle stood up as well and went to his room.
When he came back, he handed me his wallet. Inside was a crisp 50,000-won bill.
“Buy something nice for the two of you.”
“Thanks, we’ll enjoy it.”
I grinned as I took the bill.
Sweet, an unexpected allowance.
With the money in hand, I headed to the convenience store with Baek Gunho.
“I’ll pay.”
“Sure.”
While I was eyeing the cheaper ice creams, Baek Gunho grabbed a Ha*gen-Dazs bar.
Typical. This is why rich people can’t be trusted.
The bourgeois bastard, eating away at the proletariat’s money.
Instead of saying that out loud, I decided to be generous for once. It wasn’t like it was too expensive anyway.
Since I had some extra money, I picked the same ice cream as him.
After buying just two ice creams, we left the store.
Baek Gunho headed to a nearby park, and we sat on a bench. I took a bite of my ice cream and gave him a side-eye.
Baek Gunho bit into his ice cream in a way that made half of it disappear in seconds. He was so casual, so laid-back.
I brought up the topic I’d been holding in.
“Are you going to keep calling me Heewon?”
“Yeah.”
“Stop it.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like it. Stop when I tell you to.”
“I don’t like stopping.”
“…Then I’ll call you something weird too.”
As soon as I said it, I realized how childish it sounded.
But I couldn’t think of anything else.
Usually, I’d let Baek Gunho win these arguments.
It was rare for him to concede to me.
Judging by how things were going, I wasn’t sure he was really listening this time either.
Baek Gunho finished his ice cream and gave me an amused look.
“Go ahead. Try it, Gunho.”
Was he mocking me? His overly polite tone gave me goosebumps.
I scratched my arm as if brushing off the chills, and he watched intently.
“You’re cute.”
“….”
What the hell is he talking about?
The more he spoke, the more I felt like I was at a disadvantage.
Scratch that—it wasn’t just a feeling. I was at a disadvantage.
This wasn’t like him. Why was he suddenly acting like this?
“Just accept it. Or accept me.”
Baek Gunho spoke with overwhelming confidence.
This was clearly his way of subtly pushing forward. I scoffed.
“No.”
“Well, then there’s no other choice. You’ll just have to endure.”
“…”
What shamelessness.
I thought that if Baek Gunho ever found out I liked him, I’d end up crying into my pillow, consumed by misery and loneliness.
But, of course, reality turned out to be different from my imagination.
His way of thinking was so outrageous that it completely defied expectations.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Okay, Heewon.”
The way he immediately responded was truly annoying. How was it even more irritating than before?
I hoped that as he got more obnoxious, my feelings for him would fade.
But honestly, I felt a flutter in my chest.
I mean, come on.
After liking him for ten years, who could’ve imagined something like this would happen?
And in a way that was even more absurd than a dream.
No matter the reason, having Baek Gunho clinging to me like this…
Even though I rejected him, it was just too—
Snap out of it, Seo Heewon.
That’s a beautiful yet poisonous mushroom.
Eat it, and you’ll die.
“Anything happen while I was gone?”
Baek Gunho asked, interrupting my thoughts. I recalled the past few days.
“Nothing major.”
“So there was something minor.”
“Just a trivial thing.”
Like when someone didn’t secure their suitcase on the escalator, and it nearly rolled down and hit me?
I managed to grab it mid-air, which left people wide-eyed, but they walked off without even apologizing.
I couldn’t help but wonder what they would’ve done if it had hit someone else.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried.”
For Baek Gunho, his tone was unusually gentle as he extended a hand toward me.
That shameless hand landed—of all places—on my thigh.
What the hell?
Is that supposed to be a handle?
Flustered, I shot to my feet.
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, let’s go in.”
“Sure.”
Baek Gunho casually retracted his rejected hand as if it didn’t bother him.
“Our dinner tomorrow—still the same plan, right?”
“…Yeah, still
7 PM.”
“Great. I’ll come pick you up, but be careful until then.”
I nodded.
If he’s going to act up, he should at least stay consistent about it.
Why suddenly bring up practical matters now?
Going back and forth like this was driving me crazy.
Could he be doing it on purpose?
“It’s dripping.”
“Huh?”
The ice cream had started melting, dripping onto my hand.
I should’ve eaten it as quickly as Baek Gunho, but our conversation kept distracting me.
As I looked around for something to wipe it with, Baek Gunho leaned toward me, grabbing my wrist.
Then he licked the ice cream off my hand.
The soft sensation that I had only imagined before was now unmistakably familiar.
A rush of heat flooded my face in an instant.
Baek Gunho looked at me quietly, his gaze unwavering, before chuckling softly.
“Sweet.”
“You, you’re insane—”
“So what?”
“This is public!”
“Would it be okay if it were private?”
Unable to endure his brazen attitude any longer, I fled from him.
But no matter how fast I ran, our destination remained the same.
I worked hard to ignore the persistent presence of Baek Gunho trailing behind me as I made my way home.
“Heewon, are you feeling hot?”
My uncle asked as we entered the house together.
“What?”
“Your face is all red.”
“…I guess running made me a bit warm.”
I made up an excuse and quickly retreated to my room.
Thankfully, Baek Gunho didn’t follow.
But I could still feel his relentless gaze boring into me the entire way inside.
Damn him.
* * *
