The crying that had burst forth from grief only stopped an hour after his eyes had become wet. As reason returned, his face began to burn belatedly. He couldn’t properly lift his head.

Nothing goes as planned.

At his age, he never expected to cry like a child, and the inside of his throat continued to tickle. The tears that had erupted from mixed emotions left him extremely embarrassed.

As he kept his mouth shut, an unfamiliar man handed him a tissue. Geon-joo accepted it and wiped the tear marks while still subtly maintaining his guard against the man.

An unfamiliar man.

He was someone Geon-joo had never seen during his time when he was essentially captive with Night Rats. This meant he was someone who had only joined Night Rats after Geon-joo had left Sa-yoon’s side, but despite this, the man seemed quite comfortable with Sa-yoon.

…Judging by how at ease he was in Sa-yoon’s room, as if it were his own.

It was a difficult situation to understand.

Sa-yoon wasn’t someone who easily let others into his circle. Though he might appear endlessly casual, he kept many things hidden, and once he decided to hide something, no amount of probing would create an opening—he would just smoothly evade. Other members of Night Rats always told Geon-joo that Sa-yoon favored him greatly and cared for him, so he should do well, but to Geon-joo, he seemed to treat the guild members and himself similarly. There was no difference except for being slightly more lenient. The information shared and the degree of trust always had limits.

Those boundaries seemed to be lifted only for people like Jongsik, who had clearly been by Sa-yoon’s side for a very long time. He could see it. Because of this, Geon-joo couldn’t help but be aware of the line Sa-yoon had drawn.

Only this far.

He always seemed to be saying that. The more Geon-joo tried to learn about him, the clearer that line became. As if to make him realize that he was just ‘a kid brought in out of necessity, needing to be raised.’ Geon-joo found this unpleasant.

Regardless of why someone was brought in, shouldn’t the proper order be to explain clearly why they were brought in, and if help was needed, to reveal one’s intentions plainly to gain trust?

This was common sense and proper courtesy. But since Sa-yoon was a person with whom common sense didn’t apply, Geon-joo thought it couldn’t be helped. His personality wouldn’t change without some special catalyst.

His inability to trust people easily, and his habit of hiding the truth even when it was appropriate to speak it.

It remained in him like a kind of habit.

That’s why Geon-joo found him frustrating and sometimes irritating. He couldn’t help it. What Geon-joo wanted from Sa-yoon always had a similar texture, but Sa-yoon’s attitude was always stubbornly unyielding.

Only then did he realize the first button had been fastened wrong.

Sa-yoon shouldn’t have behaved casually and evasively like he did with other people, but that perception had been established, making it seem like Sa-yoon couldn’t really trust him.

The mistake he belatedly realized was painful and simultaneously made Geon-joo feel wronged. Whatever he was at first, he was different now.

Initially, he simply wanted to discover the truth, but after spending time in the field, he wanted Sa-yoon to tell him the truth. There’s a big difference between figuring something out yourself and having someone tell you. That’s exactly how much Geon-joo’s heart had changed.

On the other hand, Sa-yoon hadn’t changed.

Just like during their conversation on the night of the welcome party, he still tried to hide the truth and wouldn’t speak. He seemed a bit more shaken than back then, but…

‘Why so serious again? Didn’t we finish that conversation before?’

That was all it amounted to.

‘What more could there be? It’s tiresome, pretty boy.’

It was an exhausting run-around.

What more could he have done?

Geon-joo had asked in what he believed was the best way possible at that time. First, he made his attitude clear.

During the welcome party night, he had harbored some ambition and ulterior motives, thinking about how to use whatever answer came from Sa-yoon’s mouth, but after realizing Sa-yoon wasn’t as bad a person as he thought, after discovering he was secretly warm and caring, he asked because he was genuinely curious, because he wanted to know.

Honestly and calmly.

He didn’t make anything up. Why had he brought him in? After hearing the reason, he thought he might help if he could.

After all, it was true that thanks to him, he was growing faster than others. And he had also noticed that Sa-yoon was secretly taking great care to ensure he didn’t die.

So he asked, thinking that as long as it wasn’t something bad, he might help. He asked hoping that as his attitude had changed, the usual answer would be different too, but it was a laughable delusion.

‘If you want to rehash previous conversations, do it alone.’

If one person is willing to help but the other doesn’t want help, the act of helping cannot properly take place. While he revealed his honesty, Sa-yoon hid behind lies. It was no different from a turtle retreating into its shell.

What was he so afraid of?

What was so difficult to talk about?

What secrets was he harboring?

If that stimulated his competitiveness, then it did.

‘It’s tiresome, pretty boy.’

If those words made someone weary, then they did.

No matter how much he tried to approach first, Sa-yoon was someone who maintained a certain distance. Someone who never crossed the line he had drawn first. That was Sa-yoon. At least according to Geon-joo’s experience.

Despite this, what was this man who seemed to have become Sa-yoon’s closest confidant in such a short time?

Geon-joo emerged from his reminiscence and eyed the man whom Sa-yoon had called Jaehee with suspicious eyes. When their eyes met, the man nodded slightly and smiled. It was a smile as if trying to prove his harmlessness.

Knowing the intent, Geon-joo tried not to be deceived, but the man’s smile was quite effective. Even trying not to lower his guard, facing that smile somehow eased his tension and erased his doubts. He was someone with a special atmosphere that made people feel comfortable.

Even his appearance was like that.

His light brown hair swayed gently with the nod of his head. When Sa-yoon first opened the door to the room, the man had looked cold due to his expressionless face, but seeing his smile now reminded one of spring sunshine. Limited to when he smiled, he gave an impression of harmlessness and warmth. With a face like an actor’s, smiling kindly, no one could maintain their guard.

Geon-joo, whose suspicion had unknowingly eased, narrowed his brow.

Judging by how he had comforted him while crying, he didn’t seem like a bad person, which made him even more suspicious. What business would a good person have with Sa-yoon, the leader of a criminal guild?

Unless he had been kidnapped, there was no way a kind person with such an impression would be in the Night Rats guild building. No way he would be close to Sa-yoon, no way he would be by his side. And these thoughts maximized Geon-joo’s vigilance that had been about to fade.

He realized again why he had been irritated and also felt upset.

Because he too had been kidnapped by Sa-yoon, leading to their connection.

From a relationship that began with kidnapping to the pair ring on his finger. Wasn’t this irritatingly similar to his own path?

It was undeniable that he felt like a substitute for this man, or this man felt like a substitute for him.

“Ha.”

Really, what is this all about?

The more he thought about it, the more laughable his situation became. You’ve lost your mind, Han Geon-joo. Unless his brain was malfunctioning, such thoughts shouldn’t arise. He shouldn’t feel this disappointed towards someone who had kidnapped him.

Crazy bastard.

He must have gone completely mad after hanging around that lunatic.

“Are you done crying?”

As he was self-deprecating, a voice suddenly reached him. It was lower than the voice Geon-joo usually heard from him, with a subtle killing intent that hadn’t been completely erased. Only then did Geon-joo look at the man he had been consciously avoiding.

Sa-yoon and Geon-joo’s gazes collided.

Maybe because he had been slapped and cried, it wasn’t as fierce and dry as before, like a fire about to ignite. But he couldn’t say it was good, even as a white lie. If there ever came a day when one could die from a gaze, it would be today.

Geon-joo drew in a breath and met his gaze.

“Geon-joo.”

The man sitting backwards with the metal chair’s backrest against his chest called to him.

His eyes were sunk to the point of coldness. Geon-joo knew those eyes well. They were the eyes he had when he wasn’t satisfied, when irritation surged. They were eyes he had seen endlessly in the destroyed world, so he couldn’t mistake them.

“I asked if you’re done crying.”

As if trying to somehow relieve his irritation that had reached its limit, Sa-yoon roughly stroked the fur of the large white animal leaning on his knees as he spoke accusingly. Geon-joo closed his mouth.

Shit, of all the questions to ask.

It was embarrassing to answer that he was done crying, but ignoring it seemed likely to restart the one-sided violence from earlier. Since Sa-yoon was threatening with his eyes, Geon-joo brushed back his hair and reluctantly nodded. His head moved subtly. That was the maximum effort Geon-joo could make.

Sa-yoon stopped stroking the white-furred creature and quietly stared at Geon-joo.

“Then tell me now. What were you doing? Why did you run away?”

“……”

“Don’t speak vaguely, talk clearly so I can understand.”

Understand?

Sa-yoon added, nodding as if to say “go ahead and talk.” In the meantime, his anger seemed to have risen again, and despite his cold appearance, his gaze burned hot like fire against Geon-joo’s face. Geon-joo sifted through his memories, recalling one scene.

The day when, before coming out of the gate and deciding to run away from Sa-yoon, while reminiscing about memories with Noah in a dark room, the system had suddenly appeared.

<Congratulations! A new disposition has been discovered. Take the first step to activate “—“! (º □ º l|l)>

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[Quest – The First Step to Activate “—“]

• ‘The system that analyzes fate has detected your special disposition! To activate this disposition, you need a stable body. Clear the gate and achieve S-class!’

Note: You must conquer the designated gate to achieve S-class.

Reward: S-class

Failure: Unable to exit the gate

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