* * *

“So it’s not officially deployed yet?”

“Well, uh… it’s more of a personal item I haven’t formally reported yet. Haha…” Kim Jinsoo’s laughter, which had earlier been hearty and full of pride, now carried an undertone of guilt.

Doyoung could tell why Kim Jinsoo had brought up the spider-shaped robot on his own.

“It’s fine. I know you meant well. I’ll keep it a secret for you. But… what do I do about losing such a cherished robot? How should I compensate you?”

“Compensation? Oh no, please don’t say that! I didn’t bring it up to guilt you. I’m the one who sent it to you without permission.”

Kim Jinsoo’s voice grew smaller, accompanied by an awkward laugh.

“It’s just… I don’t know, it felt… odd, I suppose.”

“Odd?”

When Doyoung responded with confusion, Kim Jinsoo let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Yesterday, I kept tracking the robot’s location. When the guild members all withdrew, and neither you nor the Guildmaster were accounted for, I activated the recall function.”

“Recall function?”

“Yes, uh… the robot is designed to automatically return to me if it’s within a 4-kilometer radius.”

Hearing this, Doyoung licked his lower lip.

The more he listened, the more impressed he became.

How could someone even think of embedding such advanced functionality into something the size of a thumbnail?

“Still, the dungeon’s unique space means the recall wouldn’t work there.”

He was indirectly suggesting that the robot might have been lost inside the dungeon.

Doyoung already had a good idea of what the answer would be.

“Nope. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have found it odd.”

As expected.

“Then?”

Kim Jinsoo’s answer made Doyoung’s expression harden.

“Are you certain?”

“Unless the robot was broken, yes.”

◇◆◇◆◇

“Doyoung is seriously something else, isn’t he?”

Yeo Giwon clicked his tongue as he observed the real-time reactions still flooding the comment section even after the live broadcast ended.

As usual, people couldn’t stop talking about the Chunho Guildmaster’s composed and flawless demeanor.

Praise poured in about his appearance, his perfect enunciation, his impeccable posture, and his clean, concise reporting.

“At this rate, no one’s even going to remember who you carried out or what kiss you might’ve planted.”

Yeo Giwon teased, smirking.

The response was a sharp glare.

But if Yeo Giwon had been the type to back down from that, he wouldn’t have lasted next to such an intimidating Guildmaster.

“What? Why? The atmosphere between you two seemed ripe for something like that.”

“Yeo Giwon.”

The low warning carried a weight no one dared challenge lightly.

Still, Yeo Giwon wasn’t one to retreat quietly.

“Did you hear what the doctor said earlier? That the boss monster’s venom had a unique component that caused relaxation and euphoria to prevent resistance in its prey.”

This time, Beom Sinje didn’t respond.

He simply stared, his gaze steady and unyielding.

But even Yeo Giwon wasn’t immune to the quiet warning in his eyes.

“Come on, wasn’t that your big chance?”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb. The situation was laid out perfectly for you. All you had to do was take it.”

Yeo Giwon’s playful grin faltered when the reaction he expected didn’t come.

He looked up at the sculpted face in front of him.

Back when they were kids, such refined features might’ve been described as doll-like.

But after an explosive growth spurt, Beom Sinje now stood over 190cm tall, broad-shouldered, and with a body sculpted by hard muscle—imposing to say the least.

There was no way someone like him wasn’t constantly surrounded by temptation.

“You… don’t tell me.”

Even Yeo Giwon, who’d witnessed the darker sides of adulthood, had trouble believing the suspicion creeping into his mind.

“What about me?”

But as Beom Sinje’s unreadable gaze lingered, Yeo Giwon couldn’t shake the growing doubt.

“Be honest.”

This time, Beom Sinje furrowed his brow at the bizarre shift in topic.

Yeo Giwon was being far too serious now, a sharp contrast to his earlier smirks and jokes.

Ignoring the Guildmaster’s displeasure, Yeo Giwon leaned in closer, his voice low.

“Don’t tell me… you’re still a virgin?”

“What?”

Beom Sinje’s eyebrows shot up.

Yeo Giwon burst into laughter at his reaction.

“I knew it! Your face says it all. Man, how have you lived this long without even figuring that out?”

Yeo Giwon, who wasn’t any more experienced himself, patted his clueless friend on the shoulder as if in consolation.

Beom Sinje still couldn’t grasp the significance of the joke.

“And how is that relevant to anything?”

Yeo Giwon sighed deeply.

“What am I going to do with this innocent soul?”

Looking at Beom Sinje’s genuinely perplexed face, a strange sense of responsibility welled up in Yeo Giwon.

“If the person you like is in an unusual state, clinging to you for help, don’t miss the opportunity. You should… step up and help them.”

“The person I like?”

“Does he really think I don’t know by now?”

Even now, he’s trying to deny it?

Not a chance.

There might’ve been times when Yeo Giwon wasn’t sure, but not anymore.

The moment he saw Beom Sinje holding onto Doyoung tightly and barking at him to leave, it hit him like a brick.

‘That guy… he likes Doyoung hyung.’

As soon as Yeo Giwon got closer, he could tell Doyoung wasn’t in good shape—labored breaths, faint groans of discomfort, and his body slack in Beom Sinje’s arms.

The way Beom Sinje held Doyoung wasn’t something you’d expect from someone simply helping out an acquaintance.

Even to Yeo Giwon, who had zero experience in dating, it looked more like the stance of someone protecting someone dear to them.

“Well, if you want me to keep pretending I don’t know, I’ll keep my mouth shut for a while,” Yeo Giwon said, pretending to zip his lips shut.

“Of course, it wouldn’t look great for the head of a guild to have it known that he hired the person he likes as his secretary just to keep them close, and even lives with them.”

The story only got more ridiculous as it went on.

Beom Sinje’s expression had morphed into a full-on scowl, his eyebrows knitted tightly together.

“What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“Oh, come on, you don’t have to keep denying it. People say sneezes and love can’t be hidden. But, sure, most of the guild members are dense, so as long as you don’t make it too obvious, you’ll be fine.”

Yeo Giwon puffed up his chest like he was making a grand gesture of his boundless generosity for pointing this out as a friend.

He even playfully slapped his friend’s broad shoulders a couple of times.

But Beom Sinje barely caught any of that.

His thoughts were stuck on the earlier statement, trying to process it.

‘Someone I like? Me? Hyung?’

No. That wasn’t it.

Back in the dungeon, it was just because Doyoung seemed unwell.

He didn’t want anyone else seeing Doyoung in that vulnerable state, that was all.

For a brief moment, he remembered the strange feelings he’d had when he noticed Doyoung’s flushed cheeks and heated nape.

But he quickly dismissed them.

“It’s not like that. I just didn’t want hyung to be in trouble.”

His voice wavered as he denied it.

Thankfully, Yeo Giwon didn’t seem to notice, as his arm was slung around Beom Sinje’s shoulders.

“Oh, so that’s why you made sure no one else could see his face, huh? And why you called a doctor to the house instead of taking him to a medical center?”

The mocking tone and relentless questioning only made Beom Sinje more anxious.

He snapped back defensively.

* * *