“I know I’m good-looking, so you don’t have to stare at me with such enchanted eyes.”
“Ah, that’s not why I was looking at you.”
“Are you saying I’m ugly? This is the first time I’ve been insulted like that.”
“That’s not it……”
Even if I knew in my head that I was being teased, it was difficult to cope every time I experienced it.
He was In Yoo-shin, someone who secretly stayed out of the spotlight since his school days because he was from an orphanage. It was embarrassing to be treated like this since Gyu-ha was the first person to come into my life without hesitation, crossing the line I had drawn between myself and others.
Yoo-shin tried to grill the meat, but Hyeon Gyu-ha refused to give him the tongs. He even rolled beautiful lettuce wraps and fed them to him.
“Aa~h, open your mouth.”
“I can eat it by myself……”
“Shall I use my psychokinesis to open your mouth and let the lettuce wraps fly into it?”
In Yoo-shin quietly opened his lips. The meat of the lettuce wraps melting in my mouth was amazingly well-grilled.
It was the first time I had eaten animal meat since the orphanage celebration party, the day I became independent with Park Seung-gi. At that time, I consumed pork.
“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve ever had Korean beef.”
“Is it delicious?”
“It’s amazing. I don’t think gravy can compare.”
“I’m happy that Yoo-shin-ssi enjoyed eating it. Monster meat usually goes through more processing to remove the smell or toxicity. It’s also tough because it has a lot of muscle.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha gave him another wrap.
“I want you to eat something delicious and relax.”
“……Was my excitement obvious?”
“Because what you think shows on your face.”
As he ate the wraps, In Yoo-shin scratched his cheek.
“I don’t know if it’s okay to put the promo video on my performance evaluation, since it’s not something I have to work hard for, and I feel sorry for the others.”
“If it weren’t for Yoo-shin, I wouldn’t have agreed to the promotional video—it’s for the sake of improving your performance. Would they have rejected my proposal out of consideration for me if there were another person in In Yoo-shin’s position?”
Most of the office staff were nice people, but they wouldn’t readily answer ‘yes’ to Hyeon Gyu-ha’s words.
“And if you were to change your point of view, this contract is also mutually beneficial.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha gently squeezed In Yoo-shin’s hand, which was lying far from him on the table. His was a big, firm hand that completely wrapped around mine, just like the time when he helped me inject my magical signature into the front door.
Warmth spread throughout my body. It was warm to the point my chest tickled, and I wiggled my fingers at the feeling of their being unraveled. Even then, my fidgeting was soon completely wrapped in his hand.
“You are my one and only……”
Hyeon Gyu-ha’s deep, deep voice flowed in my ear, among the sound of the TV that no one was watching, the fragrance of grilling meat, and the noise of people tilting their glasses and chatting loudly.
“... Drug, after all.”
Ah.
“Specifically…………… Well, what would be appropriate?”
“Can’t we compromise and say stimulant drugs?”
“Yeah. Shabu.” (slang for solidified meth)
“Didn’t you say that using Japanese was unpleasant, since your mother’s family was involved in the independence movement……?”
“I can use it for you. Since it’s for Yoo-shin-ssi, I’ll speak Japanese as much as you like.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I didn’t know what to be thankful for, but whatever.
“The point is, I’ll be happy as long as I help you, so think of it as a fair trade and accept it.”
“Can I really feel that comfortable?”
“Naturally. You helped me get out of depression, which I couldn’t overcome even after consulting a psychiatrist. Of course, the first emotion you made me feel was deep anger.”
“I must find a way to remove the tattoo……”
“It’s okay. Now that I’m used to it, it’s nice to feel like I’m always with Master.”
The words “drugs” and “Master” made my mind confused, so as a result, my distraught thoughts entangled in the PR matter subsided a little. Whatever the reason, Hyeon Gyu-ha was a person who thought of only himself. The inside of my chest now feels tingly.
Thanks to him.
“One day, when I have enough money and time, I want to go to Bangtong University. I have a complex about not being able to go to college. I also like to study.”
“I dropped out of college.”
“Oh, really?”
“I went to a related department thinking it might be helpful in hunting monsters, but later I thought it would be better to work in the field. Come to think of it, I spent all of my youth just fighting monsters.”
“So we’re both high school graduates.”
He also brought out a little bit of the past that was inside himself.
“This restaurant’s soybean paste stew is delicious.”
“Since we’re at a meat restaurant, we should eat soybean paste stew last.”
“I agree. I like soybean paste stew more than naengmyeon (cold noodles).”
We also found some unexpected similarities.
While the part-timer was busy bringing soybean paste stew, this time In Yoo-shin secretly made a wrap and placed it on the plate in front of Hyeon Gyu-ha. Seeing that, Hyeon Gyu-ha smiled and took it into his mouth.
“I’ll savor the food given by you, Master.”
In Yoo-shin pretended not to see the startled part-timer’s face.
They also walked side by side on the way back to his rooftop room. It’s a pity that it’s only a 5-minute walk from the meat restaurant.
“Go up.”
Even after hearing Hyeon Gyu-ha’s farewell, In Yoo-shin, who hesitated for some reason, remembered the business he had forgotten about.
“By the way, I can give some healing and buffs to the creatures I’ve tamed. I wonder if it’ll possibly be of some help to Gyu-ha-ssi when clearing dungeons.”
“Healing?”
“A little bit, really. Colds and broken bones can be cured, but it’s only to a certain extent for humans……”
Before Yoo-shin could finish speaking, Hyeon Gyu-ha took out a sharp knife from his inventory. Then he stabbed the back of his hand with the blade. Deep. All at once.
Not understanding the situation before his eyes, In Yoo-shin’s jaw dropped slightly.
In the alley, where the streetlamps and the lights of the residential area mixed together and gave off a sense of everyday life, the sudden bloody stench felt very strange. Red blood dripped from the blade that had pierced the back of his hand to the floor.
“Uh, uh……”
Just like when Hyeon Gyu-ha stabbed the back of his hand with the knife, he indifferently pulled out his blade. His hand, dripping with blood, came up in front In Yoo-shin’s face.
“Try healing me.”
I barely came to my senses at his indifferent way of speaking, which contrasted with the bloody smell. Healing was possible, but only to the extent of fixing a hamster’s cold or fracture. What if a human bled so much that my ability became useless for them? What should I do?
Covering the wound, In Yoo-shin’s hand trembled. Circles of white light leaked out between his fingers, a visual effect of Yoo-shin’s healing.
“Oh.”
Hyeon Gyu-ha blew a low whistle.
“It healed perfectly without any scars. If you have this much healing power, you won’t starve to death anywhere. Too bad that it’s only limited to tamed creatures.”
“……”
“Yoo-shin-ssi? Are you sick from what you ate earlier?”
Hyeon Gyu-ha’s face, looking at him with a tilt, was utterly composed. Meanwhile, the expression on In Yoo-shin’s face looked so shocked that he couldn’t even guess why his face had gone white.
After a while, the strength in his legs gave out. Hyeon Gyu-ha gently supported In Yoo-shin’s body, which was about to collapse, with psychokinesis, and made him sit on the saddle of the bike.
“Should I get some digestive medicine from the pharmacy?”
“…… Why do you treat yourself so carelessly?”
“What?”
“I was really surprised that you suddenly hurt yourself with a knife……”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Yoo-shin is a normal person, so you must not be used to seeing blood.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“……?”
I really didn’t understand Hyeon Gyu-ha, but his face suddenly became unfamiliar to me. In Yoo-shin grasped his trembling hands, denying the thought that had just occurred to him. Was there any need to question the unfamiliarity? I hadn’t even known him for a month.
I wasn’t unfamiliar with him—I just didn’t know him. What kind of person was Hyeon Gyu-ha?
“I’m not even sure of my abilities…… If I couldn’t heal you, why would you suddenly injure yourself?”
“Then we can go to the hospital.”
“Bleeding like that?”
“To me, this doesn’t even hurt. I’m alive. There was a time when my arm was nearly cut off by a monster.”
“This time, you are the one who’s hurt yourself. So don’t do that.”
Only then did Hyeon Gyu-ha realize it.
He looked at his healed hand and at In Yoo-shin’s face, which was distorted as if he were crying, and then muttered in an unfamiliar voice.
“Are you worried about me?”
His voice was mixed with strange emotions, something like bewilderment, and also laughter. In Yoo-shin lowered his head.
“I know. It’s presumptuous of me to worry about Gyu-ha-ssi.”
“It’s not like that—it’s because I’m really surprised. You’re the second person to ever worry about my scars.”
“…… Even though you have been a hunter since you were a child, Gyu-ha-ssi?”
Hyeon Gyu-ha shrugged his shoulders at Yoo-shin’s disbelief.
“Well, everyone worries about me out loud. But their worries are, ‘If Hyeon Gyu-ha collapses here, I’ll get hurt, I’ll have to fight, I might die, and my property will be damaged.’ That’s what they mean.”
“That’s……”
In Yoo-shin looked up, but quickly averted his eyes upon meeting Hyeon Gyu-ha’s stare. Gyu-ha’s clear, amber-colored eyes looking down at him contained indifference and calmness, which came from a life of experiencing much rougher ups and downs than Yoo-shin, who had a relatively boring life.
I, In Yoo-shin, had never been thrown into a gate at the age of nine and didn’t know the harshness of life—so I had no right to speak over Hyeon Gyu-ha’s assertion.
I did not know Hyeon Gyu-ha and I did not know his life. And now that I realized it, I felt pathetic compared to him. He was forced into the shackles of taming, all the while acting considerate of me, and without realizing it, I had seemingly grown fond of him.
“…… Who was the first person to worry about you?”
PA: From cute and light chapter at start to heavy and slightly depressing end (T.T)
HM: I know right?
Editor M: (ignoring the angst) How did Hyeon Gyu-ha’s Stockholm syndrome set in so fast? lmaooooooo
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Editor M
Probably 3 year old you, you dumbass... Nvm hard to remember 3yo mems