* * *
Though he appeared frail and soft-spoken, Doyoung wasn’t someone to be underestimated.
The misunderstanding deepened as Doyoung thought back to Beom Sinje’s recent actions—like buying him expensive meals, ensuring he ate three proper meals daily, constantly messaging him, and even getting jealous when Kim Jinsoo was scouted.
“Damn it…”
If Beom’s intentions had been like that all along, then wasn’t all of this just manipulation?
“Hyung, you’re not… feeling disgusted or anything like that, right?”
Yeo Giwon asked cautiously, hoping to clarify the situation.
“Disgusted? Of course, I am.”
The blunt reply made Yeo Giwon panic. It wasn’t what he’d hoped to hear.
“How am I supposed to just laugh this off when he’s been harboring such thoughts while treating me however he pleases?”
Doyoung’s sharp tone and piercing gaze made Yeo Giwon feel a different kind of seriousness.
“That’s not fair! Hyung, you can’t hold prejudice against that kind of thing,” Yeo Giwon stammered.
“What are you even saying?”
“Well, I mean… a guy liking another guy—it’s not something disgusting or shameful. If Beom Sinje finds out you think that way…”
Doyoung’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“What? When did I say that?”
“You literally just said it was disgusting!”
“I was talking about how he’s been treating me, not… that.”
The realization hit both of them simultaneously.
“Wait, what exactly did you think I meant?” Doyoung asked, exasperated.
“I thought you were saying Beom Sinje’s feelings for you were gross.”
“God, you’re so off the mark,” Doyoung snapped.
He shook his head, half in disbelief.
How could Yeo Giwon have misunderstood him so completely?
“I’d never look down on someone for that kind of thing,” Doyoung said, crossing his arms and glaring at Yeo Giwon.
“But don’t you think it’s about time Beom Sinje stopped playing games with me?”
If he had known what I had done the moment I possessed this body for his sake, Yeo Giwon wouldn’t be acting like that.
But one thing was clear to Doyoung.
“When did you realize Beom Sinje had different feelings for me?”
It was the moment Yeo Giwon revealed something Doyoung hadn’t noticed—Beom Sinje’s hidden emotions.
“Oh, that? A long time ago.”
“When exactly?”
“I started suspecting it back when Beom Sinje was frantically searching high and low for someone who’d gone missing.”
Beom Sinje had pursued him relentlessly because he had discovered his identity.
It was natural to feel uneasy leaving someone in that state without knowing their intentions.
“Think about it. Even if someone saved your life, would you normally go so far as to track down their whereabouts and bring them back? That’s not exactly ordinary, is it?”
Yeo Giwon’s ignorance of the underlying circumstances seemed to fuel his casual tone.
Naturally, Doyoung had no intention of explaining the truth.
“Well, Sinje can be unusually persistent about odd things. It’s just his nature.”
“Exactly. But why would he focus all that attention on you? Anyway, back then, I was still a bit unsure.”
Yeo Giwon glanced around before leaning in closer to Doyoung and lowering his voice.
“But then, I just knew.”
As if afraid someone might read his lips and figure out what he was saying, he even mimed covering his mouth with his palm.
“Then?”
Doyoung instinctively leaned back to avoid the puff of breath from the sudden whisper.
“In the dungeon. When you were hit by the boss monster and collapsed. The way Beom Sinje hugged you while you were unconscious and cried out—it was so heartfelt that anyone could tell it wasn’t just normal concern.”
Doyoung, who had been too dazed from the poison to recall what Sinje’s expression had been like at the time, frowned slightly.
“Anyone could tell?”
“Yep. Luckily, the situation was chaotic enough that nobody else seemed to notice anything unusual. Just me.”
Even so, the idea of Beom Sinje openly exposing his emotions like that…
The thought made Doyoung’s mouth dry and sent a flush creeping up his neck, though he tried to brush it off.
“So, don’t push him away too much. Talk to him properly, okay?”
Not knowing the full extent of the situation, Yeo Giwon couldn’t bring himself to outright say, “Accept Sinje’s feelings.”
Instead, he left it at that.
Doyoung, lost in thought, barely registered the advice.
“Got it. I’m leaving first.”
Doyoung abruptly turned and started walking away with brisk strides.
“Oh, good luck, hyung!”
Instead of stopping him, Yeo Giwon waved enthusiastically, shouting his strange words of encouragement.
He had done his part.
“Now that it’s come to this, Sinje better just lay it all out there. Without someone giving him a push, he’d probably take a hundred years to make any progress.”
Unaware of the steamy, complicated nights that had passed between Doyoung and Beom Sinje, Yeo Giwon chuckled smugly to himself.
But contrary to his hopes, Doyoung, on his way to the guild leader’s office, wore a deeply conflicted expression.
“He liked me? Beom Sinje?”
Even as he spoke the words aloud, they felt incomprehensible.
He needed to hear it directly from the man himself.
“Did he really…?”
As Doyoung walked off, Beom Sinje was left to wrestle with his thoughts.
His first action was to make a call to a doctor.
“Hyung will be coming to see you soon. Don’t bring up anything about what happened before. Just give a full report on his condition.”
“Yes, understood. Is there anything else I should prepare?”
Beom Sinje’s usual air of casual confidence when speaking with Joo Taekwon transformed into a formal, clipped tone in this conversation.
“Make sure he gets the best supplements. Enough for at least a week. Nothing should be lacking.”
Even if Doyoung insisted on accompanying him on the mission, the least he could do was ensure his health wouldn’t suffer.
After ending the call, Beom Sinje returned to the guild leader’s office.
But focusing on work was impossible. His mind replayed the earlier encounter, over and over.
“Doyoung must have figured it out.”
He was too perceptive to miss the significance of Beom Sinje’s reaction, no matter how clumsy the attempt to deflect had been.
“What now?”
Sooner or later, Doyoung would confront him.
Then he would have to explain why he had reacted the way he did.
“I should’ve just been honest…”
He regretted running away in the heat of the moment.
“Pathetic.”
Unable to handle his own feelings, Beom Sinje cursed himself.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice his phone vibrating until it flashed with a name that stole his breath.
[Doyoung-hyung.]
It was a call from the very person who had been troubling him so deeply.
Beom Sinje could not bring himself to answer it and simply stared as the call ended.
Nervously, he waited, wondering if the call might come again, but the silence that followed was even more unnerving.
Frustrated by the unease, Beom Sinje entertained the absurd idea that he should just go find Doyoung himself.
“After all, staying here isn’t helping me get anything done anyway.”
Besides, Park Chanoh, who had been passing instructions to guild members to handle things during Beom Sinje’s absence, should be returning soon.
“Once Hunter Park Chanoh gets back, we’ll need to head straight to the airport.”
Muttering his schedule aloud as if to solidify it in his own mind, Beom Sinje finally stood up from his seat—just as the Guild Leader’s office door burst open.
“So this is where you’ve been, Guild Leader. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
* * *
