* * *

Doyoung stepped out of the bathroom, hoping Beom Sinje would’ve gone to bed in the meantime.

But, as expected, reality didn’t grant him that wish.

Beom Sinje was standing right there.

“Your hand—are you okay?”

Caught off guard, Doyoung froze before regaining his composure.

He couldn’t afford to act strange again after all the awkwardness earlier.

“It’s late. Go get some sleep,” he deflected.

“Let me see.”

Determined, Beom Sinje held out his hand.

It was clear he wouldn’t back off unless Doyoung complied.

“Fine,” Doyoung relented, sighing theatrically as he placed his hand in Beom Sinje’s open palm.

Why couldn’t he meet the man’s gaze while doing so?

“Good, it’s not swollen,” Beom Sinje noted calmly, his tone as even as always.

“Of course not. A few drops of water wouldn’t do that. Anyway, why were you so late? Did you have dinner with anyone besides Yeo Giwon?”

Unable to bear the tension any longer, Doyoung redirected the conversation, partly out of genuine curiosity.

“No, just the two of us.”

“And you were still this late?”

Doyoung waited, expecting an explanation, but Beom Sinje seemed to hesitate for once, as though uncertain whether to say more.

“What’s the deal? Did he need advice or something?”

Yeo Giwon, with his cute appearance but fierce werewolf abilities and bold personality, didn’t strike Doyoung as the type to seek guidance from Beom Sinje.

“Well…”

◇◆◇◆◇

“Hmm… But something about Beom Sinje’s reaction was off again. Just a moment ago, he seemed hesitant, and now he was outright avoiding eye contact.

Doyoung couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Still, there was no room for deeper thought—because, for some reason, a strange, unsettling sensation began creeping up within him.

“Well… If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. It’s not like I’m dying to know. I should get some sleep anyway if I want to show up to work tomorrow with a clear head.”

Even amidst this situation, Doyoung didn’t forget to gauge Beom Sinje’s intentions about whether he should really go to work the next day.

“You should rest for now. The doctor said the poison’s effects would last at least a week.”

The answer came immediately, but it wasn’t what Doyoung wanted to hear.

“A week?”

Having read the original story, Doyoung already knew what kind of poison the boss mob used.

The issue was that he had no clue just how severe its effects would be.

Now he was experiencing that uncertainty firsthand.

Seven days of this?

That was absolutely ridiculous…

“Yes. And to be honest, even that’s not guaranteed.”

“…Ugh.”

He tried his best to maintain a neutral expression but failed.

Pressing his lips together, Doyoung let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. We’ll talk about this more after I get some rest.”

He wanted to keep the conversation going, but he couldn’t.

Maybe it was because they’d been talking about the poison.

From earlier on, a faint, ambiguous stimulation had been steadily rising within him.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

It wasn’t something he could let show. Biting the inside of his cheek, Doyoung tried to act as normal as possible as he turned away—only to realize that his arm was at a strange angle.

It was then that he noticed Beom Sinje was still lightly holding onto his hand.

“What are you doing? Let go.”

He spoke in as nonchalant a tone as he could muster, but still, there was no movement.

Beom Sinje simply looked at him, his gaze fixed intently.

Had he noticed Doyoung’s condition?

“Why haven’t you been sleeping, hyung?”

Just as Doyoung was beginning to feel uneasy, Beom Sinje asked the question.

“I was… just busy with a few things.”

Could he stop asking and just let go already?

Doyoung was in a pretty uncomfortable state right now, though he couldn’t bring himself to say that.

Instead, he subtly adjusted his posture to avoid revealing anything below his waist.

It was a makeshift solution, aided by the oversized shirt he was wearing, which fortunately hung low enough to cover his thighs.

“What were you busy with?”

Obviously, he’d been fangirling.

Earlier, Chunho had released a live update for the first time, not by anyone else but the guild master, Beom Sinje himself.

It wasn’t just on the official site but also on popular community channels, and the response had been overwhelming.

He’d initially started out waiting for Beom Sinje’s arrival, but before he knew it, Doyoung had gotten swept up in the excitement of it all.

After that, he’d been distracted looking into crafting materials for a certain collaborative item idea that had come to mind.

“Just, you know, brainstorming more effective ways to promote the guild?”

“I never asked you to do that.”

Of course, Beom Sinje hadn’t asked for it.

But hearing that after all the effort he’d put in was still a little deflating for Doyoung.

“Well, to be fair, Chunho hasn’t been all that active publicly.”

“Our guild has a 100% dungeon clearance rate.”

Confidence was great and all, but that wasn’t the point.

“Yeah, everyone knows that. But I’m talking about something that grabs people’s curiosity, something that makes them want to learn more.”

“Why bother?”

Because that way, if the government ever tried to pull something shady against Chunho guild wouldn’t lose public trust so easily.

Also, Doyoung wanted the hardworking hunters to receive the recognition they deserved.

‘And, okay, maybe I have a selfish desire to let everyone know just how amazing my favorite is.’

Since Beom Sinje didn’t know how to promote his achievements properly, someone had to step up, right?

“Ah…”

The pride on Doyoung’s face wavered for a moment as his composure started slipping.

“Hyung?”

“I—I really can’t anymore. I’m too tired. I’ll head in first.”

Before he could properly free his hand, which Beom Sinje still hadn’t let go of, Doyoung awkwardly pulled away and retreated a few steps.

He knew it might look strange, but he had no choice.

Turning hurriedly toward the bedroom, he glanced downward.

When had it gotten this bad?

Embarrassment washed over him.

It wasn’t just his imagination.

Beneath his clothes, there was a very noticeable problem.

“What the hell…”

Sliding into bed, Doyoung yanked the blanket up to his chest and stared at the ceiling, too mortified to look down again.

Not that he needed to; he could feel what was happening.

“Okay, just sleep.”

Maybe it was just sleep deprivation.

Patients needed plenty of rest for recovery, after all.

He shut his eyes tightly.

Of course, falling asleep immediately wasn’t realistic.

With his vision blocked, his senses only seemed sharper.

The heat spreading upward from below furrowed his brow.

Pulling the blanket over his head, he clenched his eyes shut.

“Phew…”

Inhaling deeply, he slowly exhaled.

Again, a deep breath in, and out.

But the more he tried to calm himself, the more impossible it became to ignore the rising tension.

Clearly, this wasn’t going to resolve itself.

‘Wait… didn’t Beom Sinje give me some medicine earlier?’

In his flustered state, he’d forgotten even the basics.

A temporary fix might work.

Opening his eyes, Doyoung got up from bed.

As he moved, he felt the situation below worsening and let out a long sigh.

“Wow, this is seriously insane.”

The words, tinged with frustration, came out like second nature.

Then—

Knock, knock.

“Hyung? Doyoung hyung? Are you asleep?”

Beom Sinje’s voice followed the sound of knocking.

Doyoung’s eyes widened in panic.

“A…”

He wanted to say, “Don’t come in.”

But before he could, the door opened, and Beom Sinje stepped inside.

* * *