* * *
As Doyoung leisurely made his way to the bar and perched on a stool, a vibration sounded.
It was coming from Beom Sinje’s phone.
“Yes, Hunter Park Chanoh? What’s the matter?”
The call was from Park Chanoh, who had left the restaurant not long ago.
“What did the broker say?”
- They said they attempted to contact him multiple times, but all attempts failed. So, they’re tracking him down, but if it’s too late, they asked for our understanding as we might have to wait until tomorrow.
“Until tomorrow?”
Beom Sinje, exchanging a few words with him, sighed briefly as the conversation seemed unlikely to end quickly, then glanced at Doyoung.
“Go on.”
Understanding his intentions just by the look in his eyes, Doyoung waved him off.
Though the situation was less than ideal, as it involved a guide issue, Beom Sinje nodded despite his displeased expression.
“Don’t order ahead and wait.”
“Huh?”
Wasn’t that practically saying, Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone?
‘What’s with treating me like a kid?’
Doyoung looked up in disbelief, only for Beom Sinje to add:
“Don’t drink alone either. Let’s pick something together.”
Completely thrown off by the remark, Doyoung waved his hand as if to brush it off while listening to Park Chanoh’s increasingly frantic voice over the phone.
“Fine, just go.”
Even after hesitating for a moment, Beom Sinje finally left, prompted by Park Chanoh’s urgency.
Watching his retreating figure, Doyoung briefly entertained a mischievous thought.
What if he ordered a drink, finished it off, and acted like nothing happened?
‘That would be too childish.’
Realizing his own immaturity, he chuckled and touched his phone screen.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Just as he was about to log onto a community app, he heard someone speaking in English.
He looked up to see a bartender smiling kindly at him.
“What’s the matter?”
He asked curiously, and the bartender placed a cocktail in front of him.
The glass, filled with ice, shimmered with a reddish-orange liquid.
“This is from that gentleman over there.”
The bartender gestured toward someone.
A tall man with a solid build, curly black hair tied back, and striking features smiled warmly.
“What?”
Of course, Doyoung understood what this meant.
Someone openly making a move on him in a hotel bar—a man, no less.
‘Even if he’s not half as good-looking as Beom Sinje, this won’t work on me.’
He had already turned down confessions from people far more captivating.
Unconsciously, he placed Beom Sinje above everyone else again.
Doyoung didn’t delude himself into thinking this stranger harbored the same feelings as Beom Sinje.
‘I figured there’d be some reaction, but not at this timing.’
He clicked his tongue.
The face of this man, acting like he was making a romantic overture, wasn’t unfamiliar.
How could he forget?
‘I ultimately fell victim to the boss monster’s poison because of those guys.’
Not to mention, this man was the sole survivor among the intruders in the S-rank dungeon.
On top of that, he had issued orders to attack several overseas branches of the Dungeon Ecology Research Institute, so Doyoung had expected some kind of move.
The only surprising part was meeting him at a hotel lounge.
“May I sit here?”
Did the man think Doyoung hadn’t noticed him?
He approached casually and requested to join him.
Deciding to observe his intentions, Doyoung nodded willingly.
“My name is Johan. I just arrived from the Netherlands today. And you?”
The man extended a hand as if inviting a handshake.
Doyoung lightly grasped it, shook it briefly, and then withdrew as he introduced himself.
“I’m from Korea. You can call me Mr. Na.”
“You could tell me your full name, though.”
What kind of trick was this?
Doyoung offered nothing but a painted-on smile, making it clear he wasn’t buying it.
Johan stepped back, feigning disappointment.
“Korea, huh? That’s quite far from here. Are you traveling or here for work?”
His gaze scrutinized Doyoung, whose casual outfit—a simple T-shirt and jeans—didn’t hint at his hunter status.
‘He’s probably pretending not to know.’
After a brief moment of deliberation, Doyoung answered honestly.
“For work.”
“Oh! Honestly, I thought you were a student. But I guess not.”
“A student?”
Should he take this as being mistaken for someone younger or as being underestimated?
Or was it just a probing remark?
“I didn’t mean it as an insult. It’s just that you’re such a radiant beauty.”
The unexpected comment stopped his thoughts cold.
‘What?’
What did I just hear?
“Since fate brought us together, shall we toast?”
Doyoung stared in disbelief at the man.
The shamelessly greasy gaze directed at him was like butter melting in the sun.
‘What’s with those oily eyes?’
Even as he instinctively leaned back, Johan smiled, raising his glass right to Doyoung’s face.
“Come on, let’s toast to our special meeting.”
To make it worse, he even pushed his own glass closer.
Realizing that the drink given by the bartender and this foreigner’s alcohol were the same, Doyoung scowled.
“You bastard, what the hell are you doing?”
“Mr. Na? What are you saying? Sorry, but could you speak so I can understand?”
Doyoung had no intention of entertaining this greasy foreigner’s nonsense any longer.
‘I thought he approached me knowing who I was, but he completely missed the mark.’
Even if it was part of some grand strategy, Doyoung had already lost all interest in playing along.
Just as he was about to abruptly rise from his seat—
“Hyung, who’s that sitting next to you?”
Before he could move, a frigid voice sliced through the air like a windstorm from the north.
He didn’t need to turn to know who it was, but he looked anyway.
Sure enough, there stood Beom Sinje, his expression rigid and cold.
“Who are you?”
Realizing the stranger was a foreigner, Beom Sinje repeated the question in English, his eyes never leaving Doyoung.
“A friend? Sorry, but could you leave us alone for today? I’d like to spend time with my friend…”
“This place doesn’t suit us. Let’s go back to the room and drink there, hyung.”
Beom Sinje didn’t even let the man finish.
Switching to English, he made his displeasure clear while pointedly excluding Johan from the conversation.
“Hyung? So, you’re not friends, but brothers? You look quite young, but the younger one seems rather mature. My mistake. Sorry about that, brother.”
But Johan didn’t back down easily.
His tone was unmistakably mocking, drawing Beom Sinje’s gaze sharply to his smirking face.
“I don’t think I need to hear ‘brother’ from someone like you. Why don’t you stop interfering and leave?”
“Come on, hyung. You should meet new people once in a while. Isn’t it a bit much for your brother to block you like this? Right, Mr. Na?”
Caught between their verbal sparring, Doyoung hummed softly as their attention turned to him.
“He says his name is Johan, from the Netherlands. I’m curious too. He suddenly introduced himself and suggested a toast, calling it fate.”
“What?”
Beom Sinje’s face froze, though he quickly realized that Doyoung had deliberately brought up the topic.
He was drawing a line—comparing Johan’s shady intentions to Beom Sinje’s genuine feelings.
For a moment, frustration surged within him, but he managed to compose himself.
No use making a fuss here; it would only result in being treated like a kid.
“Mr. Na, what are you saying? Things look tense—are you throwing a tantrum? I think I heard my name mentioned. Did you tell them about me? If so, let’s send your little brother off and—”
“Don’t accept drinks from just anyone. This neighborhood isn’t exactly safe. What would you do if something happened?”
Once again, Beom Sinje paid no attention to the foreigner’s rambling and focused solely on Doyoung.
* * *
