“Judging by the lack of response, it seems the reason you brought me here is quite important, more so than I thought.”

As if it were some secret.

Geon-joo added in a whisper, curving the corners of his eyes. Every word was clear, without a single slurred syllable.

Although he was smiling, it didn’t look like a grin from being drunk. Rather, it felt like a smile put on to probe a person, to let the other party lower their guard. His eyes were also focused, and the atmosphere was subtle, not at all like a drunken person.

Sa-yoon, who had been doubting Geon-joo’s state, summoned the quest window.

‘Current Relationship: Curiosity and Interest’

As expected, the adjective “temporary” was deleted from the blue window indicating their relationship, and the word “affection” had also disappeared.

Suspicion turned into certainty, and Sa-yoon narrowed his eyes. He had no idea since when Geon-joo had sobered up from the alcohol.

From where to where was real, and to where was acting?

Sa-yoon let out a hollow laugh, lost in thought. It felt like he was dealing with a skilled actor, unable to guess anything.

However, no matter how talented an actor, they couldn’t deceive the system with their acting.

In other words, Geon-joo wasn’t pretending to be drunk from the beginning but was genuinely intoxicated. Then he sobered up in the middle. He intentionally revealed it now without showing any signs earlier. He had been swayed by a chick who had just turned twenty-two and recently awakened.

Was this why he kept feeling suspicious?

The instincts sharpened and honed over ten years of rolling and tumbling had not chosen the wrong answer this time either.

Finding Geon-joo’s behavior both cheeky and astounding, Sa-yoon rolled his tongue inside his mouth as he heard him call out, “Guild Leader.” Sa-yoon’s gaze, which had been staring at the floor lost in thought, slowly rose.

“If you called, you should say something, pretty boy.”

“You’re the one who didn’t answer, Guild Leader.”

“So?”

Although he wasn’t wrong, Sa-yoon deliberately went astray because he didn’t like it. Despite the rude attitude that should have been annoying, Geon-joo straightened his body that had been half-leaning against the railing and completely turned his torso towards Sa-yoon without a change in expression.

“Will I be right this time too?”

“About what?”

“I said before that it didn’t seem like you had any intention of killing me, and you still haven’t killed me. So I was wondering if I had chosen the correct answer this time as well.”

“……”

“I’m getting curious about the answer, so can’t you tell me?”

He asked meekly, just like a gentle lamb. However, even if he acted like a good dog now, the fox tail wagging behind him wouldn’t disappear. To Sa-yoon’s eyes, Geon-joo still looked like a fox, not a loyal dog or sheep, so he laughed softly. It was a sneer-like laugh.

“What’s your basis for thinking that way this time? Why, was it evident in my eyes again?”

“It wasn’t evident. Just seeing that you really aren’t killing me, I started to think there must be a reason. If it were someone else here instead of me, it seems like you would have already taken action, but you haven’t laid a hand on me yet.”

“So what, are you protesting that you want to be hit?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

How much could he know after seeing me a few times?

He deliberately misinterpreted it, but in fact, there was no flaw in Geon-joo’s words. As he said, if another guild member had wagged their tongue like that in front of Sa-yoon, his foot would have already been raised instead of his hand, and they would have been dangling from the railing by the collar.

However, Geon-joo didn’t end up as a scarecrow on the railing.

That fact clearly proved that Sa-yoon was favoring him. He was usually lenient with capable guild members, but in Geon-joo’s case, the person himself was important, so he couldn’t easily touch him.

Sa-yoon became curious about Geon-joo’s intentions for purposely saying out loud what he could have simply thought about and let it pass.

“Why are you asking that? Is there something you want to hear?”

“It’s not like that. I’m just curious.”

“Is that all?”

“Then what more could there be…”

He spoke, drawing out the end of his sentence. As if he had switched tactics, Sa-yoon, seeing his languid appearance, leaned against the railing and became lost in thought.

Honestly, he had no obligation to answer. It was a question that wouldn’t benefit him even if he answered, and he didn’t fully trust Geon-joo yet, so it wasn’t a situation where he could carelessly talk.

When Sa-yoon, who had finished his cost-benefit analysis, was about to conclude that he wouldn’t answer, Geon-joo opened his mouth again.

“I heard at the welcome party that usually when someone is taken to the villa, they come out with at least one broken leg. But I came out with all my limbs intact. Without a single injury. I completed the initiation ceremony, which others end up with critical injuries, at the level of visiting another guild. So how could I not be curious?”

“……”

“I don’t have any strange intentions, so can’t you just tell me honestly? I think even you, Guild Leader, would have been curious if you were in my position. Anyone would be. Why you did that. Why the guild leader of Night Rats, known for his cruelty, is being lenient to me, whom he has never even seen before.”

It’s full of things that don’t make sense.

Geon-joo, who had become quite talkative like a drunk person, listed off things that could be either deductions or talking to himself. Sa-yoon, who had been silently listening to all those questions, shifted his gaze to the wine glass.

The topic had taken a wrong turn, giving him a headache. If he continued the conversation on the same subject, forget about becoming like brothers, only suspicion and hostility would be re-established, and then the reason for coming all the way here would disappear.

Not only would time be wasted, but the relationship would deteriorate as well. To prevent such a situation from happening, he first needed to stop that unnecessarily sharp thought process. Sa-yoon picked up the liquor bottle placed on the table on the terrace, which was perfect for this situation. Abruptly grabbing the neck of the bottle and filling the wine glass to the brim, Geon-joo sent a questioning look.

“What are you doing?”

“It seems like you won’t back down until you get an answer from me. Do people often say you’re stubborn?”

“You know well.”

“Then shall we have a bet?”

“A bet?”

“If you drink all of this, I’ll tell you what you so desperately want to know.”

Sa-yoon tilted his head towards the wine glass. Checking the liquor filled to the point of overflowing, Geon-joo wrinkled his nose.

“…That?”

“Why, you can’t do it?”

When he asked softly, the smooth forehead creased. Watching the gorgeous face scrunch up was more enjoyable than he thought. Sa-yoon, who had been appreciating Geon-joo’s face with his eyes, shrugged his shoulders at the pondering young man.

“If you don’t want to, forget it. I’m not forcing you.”

“That’s just telling me to drink it and die.”

“You won’t die from drinking that, pretty boy. If you really can’t believe it, I’ll drink it first. Then you can drink it.”

Sa-yoon, who gave a simple reply, downed the strong liquor without hesitation, not even waiting for Geon-joo’s response. Every time his Adam’s apple moved with a gulp, Geon-joo’s eyes widened, and by the time the glass was about half empty, they began to narrow again.

Tap tap.

Sa-yoon, who had finished drinking and shown the empty glass by shaking it towards the floor, twisted the corner of his mouth. Geon-joo reacted to the blatant provocation.

“You really drank it all?”

“I did it because it seemed like you couldn’t, why?”

He answered shamelessly and poured another drink. Geon-joo sighed and muttered that it was childish, but Sa-yoon pretended not to hear.

“So, you’re not going to do it?”

When he handed the refilled glass to him, Geon-joo took the glass with a reluctant face, giving a doubtful look. The corners of Sa-yoon’s mouth twitched.

The guy had already thoroughly drunk alcohol downstairs. He had been drunk until just now, so if he downed it again, he would become incoherent within 10 minutes at most.

Perhaps it was in his nature to see things through once he started, but Geon-joo drank the liquor silently, even though he dry heaved once in the middle, finding it burdensome. He wiped his mouth, frowning. It was a neat appearance, but unfortunately, that look didn’t last long. Not long after, he burst into a coughing fit, covering his mouth and lowering his head. Seeing his shoulders tremble slightly, Sa-yoon swallowed his gratification.

Geon-joo, whose coughing subsided, put the empty glass on the table and approached Sa-yoon. The smell of alcohol wafted strongly in the wind. Sa-yoon grabbed his shoulders as he came closer.

“You got drunk right away.”

“No, I’m not.”

Geon-joo, who retorted sullenly, stood up straight. A gaze filled with an emotion that could be called defiance or dissatisfaction was directed at Sa-yoon.

“I won the bet, so shouldn’t you tell me now?”

“Is it that important for you to find out why I brought you here?”

“I’m curious and it bothers me.”

“What bothers you?”

“It’s similar to what I said earlier. So, why did you bring me here?”

He tried to secretly change the subject, but it didn’t work. Although his pronunciation became slightly slurred as if he were drunk, it seemed he hadn’t reached the level of being completely wasted yet.

His tone seems to have sharpened. I guess his true nature comes out when he’s drunk.

While Sa-yoon was analyzing the information to add to the report, Geon-joo urged him to answer the question that had been consistently asked. Since a bet was a bet, Sa-yoon had to answer, but he was struggling with how to respond.

What should he say about why he brought him?

Looking at the conclusion, it was true that he brought Geon-joo to raise him. It was also true that he brought him because he was helpful to Sa-yoon. It was true that he brought him because he needed him and wanted to gain some attention. Not wanting to give up his upper hand by telling all those reasons, Sa-yoon came up with a rough, appropriate answer.

“I had a feeling.”

“What feeling?”

“That it would be a big hit if I took you.”

“……”

“I had a feeling that I had to catch this one.”

When he spoke while looking him straight in the eye, Geon-joo made a doubtful expression.

“You sound like an entertainment agency CEO.”

“How did you know? I was thinking of starting a business.”

“Are you drunk? Why are you saying nonsense?”

His mouth was really loose. Sa-yoon, who glanced at him with a reproachful gaze, swallowed the words that if it were any other guild member, he would have already grabbed them by the collar and played the game of throwing them over the railing. There was no special treatment like this.

“Is that really all?”

“Well, should I add that I intend to raise you?”

“Raise me?”

“If I brought someone who seems promising, of course I have to try raising them. I’ll make you an S-rank, pretty boy.”

It was the most sincere thing he had said in this conversation, but Geon-joo laughed as if he had heard a funny joke. Sa-yoon made a displeased expression, adding that he was serious.

“Have you been deceived all your life? I’m really going to raise you.”

“Is that all?”

“What, the reason I brought you?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“…If you say so, Guild Leader, then I guess that’s how it is.”

The conversation ended unsatisfactorily. Even though he had wanted this, now that it happened, Sa-yoon couldn’t erase the thought that it ended too blandly for downing a cup of liquor each. He pulled out a terrace chair and plopped down.

“You persistently asked as if you would dig until the end, but this is it?”

“Then what more do you want me to say?”

“That’s up to you.”

“Actually, there are a lot of things that I’m suspicious of. A lot, but…”

I don’t want to think about it right now.

It seems to have gotten a bit loose.

Sa-yoon, who had been pouring alcohol out of habit, raised his head at the voice coming from above. He saw a man blinking, covering his reddened face with his palm. His speed of closing and opening his eyes was slightly slowing down, clearly looking sleepy.

The time had long passed 5 a.m. The night of indulgence was brightening, so Sa-yoon, who decided to put him to bed, downed the liquor he had poured into the glass like a sleeping pill and observed the staggering Geon-joo.

“Are you sleepy?”

“It’s nice that you say you’ll raise me to S-rank.”

“This one has lost it.”

Seeing him ruminating on the conversation they had a long time ago, it was evident what state his mind was in. Sa-yoon supported him by putting an arm around his shoulder and entered the room. Muttering that he was now doing the cleanup of a drunk guy, which he had given up three years ago, laughter closely followed his words.

“Don’t laugh, you’ll get attached.”

“Get attached then.”

Sa-yoon didn’t give any response to Geon-joo’s quiet retort.

He didn’t know what the system would tell him to do after Geon-joo became an S-rank. It might even order him to kill the guy he had painstakingly raised. Sa-yoon, who refrained from answering, swallowed a sigh as Geon-joo gradually put more of his weight on him. When told to walk straight, there was no response after a certain point. Feeling the full weight suddenly being placed on him, Sa-yoon bit his lip and headed towards the bed, swearing.

“You know you’re really being favored, pretty boy.”

It had been a long time since he had to clean up after a drunk person.