Chapter 16
“Ha... Alright, let’s eat first and talk.”
Surprisingly, Semi stepped back willingly.
Soon, Semi left, and the door closed. Inside the private room, only Heero and Jeongeun remained.
“Jeongeun, you didn’t answer my question earlier.”
Heero said as he placed a few pieces of Peking duck on Jeongeun’s plate. Jeongeun was touched by Heero’s kindness in serving him first and nodded blankly.
“Yes... I’m sorry. If it’s about the question you asked earlier, yes, there were times when my heart would temporarily stop or I would experience consciousness impairment when I overused my abilities.”
“Hmm...”
“But with great power comes great cost.”
“Is that the case with Semi?”
“No, that’s what my parents taught me.”
“Ah... your parents...”
Heero seemed to have a lot to say, but he didn’t pursue the topic further. Instead, he scooped some steaming jeonggukbokkeum (stir-fried rice) into a concave bowl and placed it in front of Jeongeun.
“Why do you keep giving it to me? Please eat it yourself, Guild Master. You said this is your first meal, right?”
“That’s true. I just... don’t know. For some reason, I want to keep feeding you, Jeongeun.”
Heero seemed to have a halo shining behind his head. Jeongeun tried to calm his fluttering heart and picked up his chopsticks. He thought that if he started eating first, Heero would also eat.
Silly Heero... He hadn’t eaten all day (though it was only 12:30 PM). He looked like he was about to cry from hunger (that’s how it appeared to Jeongeun). Truly, Heero was a fool who only knew how to take care of others. But the most handsome fool in the world...
Jeongeun put the duck meat in his mouth and chewed. The crispy, greasy skin and the tender meat were even more delicious than he expected.
Seeing Jeongeun’s complexion brighten, Heero swallowed a small laugh and finally took his share.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
“Eat slowly. If it’s not enough, we can order more.”
“Yes, now you should eat too, Guild Master.”
“Okay.”
The two ate in silence. Especially Jeongeun, who was eating with a joy he could hardly believe. He didn’t know how long it had been since he had eaten enough to feel full.
And Heero paid close attention to Jeongeun throughout the meal.
“You’re eating well, Jeongeun. This is a bit far, right? Let me serve you. Give me your plate.”
“Drink some water in between. You’ll choke.”
“Try dipping it in this sauce. It tastes better.”
Jeongeun couldn’t tell if being taken care of felt this good normally, or if it was because it was Heero that made him feel so elated. What was clear was that today was the happiest day of Jeongeun’s life.
Just as he was about to finish the plates on the table, Jeongeun stretched his lips, which were shiny with duck fat.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“...You look cute when you smile, Jeongeun.”
Heero said slowly. Jeongeun felt shy and tightened his lips. If he hadn’t known that Heero was a kind person who complimented everyone, he might have been overly excited.
Heero chuckled at Jeongeun and then picked up a napkin to dab at his own lips. Jeongeun quickly wiped his lips with a napkin as well.
“Now that we’re full, shall we go fight?”
Heero said, smiling with his eyes narrowed.
**
Even though Semi hadn’t given him a specific location, Heero found the room where Semi was located in one go. When he knocked, he heard Semi’s voice from inside, “Come in.”
Inside the room, Semi was alone.
“It seems you don’t want the world to know you’re alive yet, so I sent the companion away. Sit down. If possible, just Jeongeun.”
Semi said, nodding toward the opposite side. However, Heero sat down faster than Jeongeun.
“Since when did you become Jeongeun’s guardian, Heero?”
“Hmm, since yesterday. Jeongeun joined our Sooryun guild’s first team.”
“What...?”
The arrogant smile on Semi’s face twisted in an instant. She shot a glance at Jeongeun, who was still standing.
“Is this real? You joined the Sooryun guild?”
“...Yes.”
“This is a breach of contract, Jeongeun. You know that, right? If you don’t come back to our guild immediately, I’ll inform the media and file a lawsuit—”
“Semi, what are you talking about?”
Heero interrupted Semi again.
“Jeongeun Hunter is dead. Semi, you personally interviewed about his death and even held a memorial. Don’t you remember?”
“Hey, Heero. Stop the nonsense.”
Semi’s voice dropped a tone. The armrest of the chair she was holding creaked and then crumbled to dust. Of course, Heero didn’t flinch.
“When a guild member hunter dies, the contract they signed automatically ends. It should be the same for all guilds, but isn’t it for the Gibaek guild?”
“...Jeongeun didn’t die—”
“No, Jeongeun is indeed dead. The hunter belonging to our Sooryun guild here is Kim Yibak. Right, Yibak?”
Heero said, looking up at Jeongeun with a pretty smile. Jeongeun slowly nodded. He spoke to Semi.
“That’s right. I’m not Jeongeun anymore; I’m Kim Yibak.”
Semi let out a hollow laugh at Jeongeun’s words. Her eyes glinted fiercely.
“Are you saying you’re illegally disguising your identity? Jeongeun, are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how big of a threat it is for a strong hunter like you to roam around pretending to be someone else? You’re so selfish—”
“Semi-noona.”
This time, it was Jeongeun who interrupted Semi, not Heero. He looked down at Semi with a calm expression.
“I can’t go back to Gibaek anyway.”
“Jeongeun, have you forgotten that I took you in and raised you after you lost your parents and were being tossed around by the Hunter Management Bureau? I’m the one who saved you when you couldn’t even get proper pay or S-class treatment. I’m the one who made you a person!”
“Noona—”
“I’ve spent six years on you! Is this how you repay me? Did I misjudge your character?”
Semi poured out her words in a fit of anger, her face turning red with rage.
Jeongeun had never seen Semi this angry before. So he felt sorry and a bit scared, but...
“I’m sorry, noona. But there’s another reason I can’t go back to Gibaek. I can’t use my abilities anymore.”
That was the truth.
A moment of silence passed. Then Semi burst into laughter.
“Wow, Jeongeun has grown up. You’re telling me such transparent lies.”
“[Believe me] I just tried to use my abilities, but it didn’t work, did it?”
“Shut up and do it properly.”
“I was afflicted with a condition a year ago. I’m no longer the old Jeongeun—” “Stop lying and do it properly!”
Semi’s eyes turned red. Suddenly, she gathered her fingers as if pulling a trigger in the air. At the same time, the air shot out like a bullet towards Jeongeun.
“Don’t mess around, you bastard!”
The fifth-ranked hunter in the country, A-class air manipulator Im Semi. Her ability was to manipulate air. Her representative skills included ‘Air Gun,’ which shot condensed air, and ‘Air Bomb,’ which exploded like a bomb.
And she was strong enough to be killed instantly if she used her abilities outside of a dungeon.
Semi knew this well. Yet, the reason she used her skills on Jeongeun without hesitation was that she didn’t believe his words at all. She probably thought that if he were in danger of death, Jeongeun would definitely use his abilities to resist her somehow.
However, Jeongeun wasn’t lying. Semi was stronger than Jeongeun, who was currently afflicted with a condition. No matter how much he tried to use his abilities, it wouldn’t work on her.
Jeongeun confirmed the air bullet flying towards him and squeezed his eyes shut.
Would he die? He probably would. If it were Semi-noona, she would shoot for real.
But one second, two seconds, three seconds... passed, and nothing happened to Jeongeun’s body. He slowly opened his eyes.
A round sphere made of water was floating right in front of him. Inside the water sphere, the air bullet spun rapidly, creating a white spray of water before bursting. When it burst, it seemed that Heero had evaporated the moisture immediately, as not a single drop splashed.
“Semi.”
Heero chuckled lightly and stood up. Usually, Jeongeun would imagine Heero as an animal like a rabbit, deer, or swan, but now Heero looked like a giant black panther. He spoke slowly.
“My teammate says that people aren’t dungeons. You can’t solve things here like you would in a dungeon and attack in this way to gain a person.”
He walked quietly towards Semi without making a sound.
“So stop it. I could easily overpower Semi if I wanted to show off.”
In a voice Jeongeun had never heard before, cold and firm, Heero said,
“Don’t touch my teammate.”
