While various online communities buzzed with speculation that Sa-yoon would flee the country if things went south, placing the Hunter Association under intense scrutiny, the very culprit of all this chaos was heading to his private villa, a specially crafted cage safely tucked away in his inventory.
He had stationed his guild members near the gate for weeks under the pretense of capturing the two runaways, but this had drawn too much public attention. At least, that was the excuse Gyeongjin kept making, which led Sa-yoon to amend his orders and have them moved to a nearby villa instead.
As a result, Jaehee and Geon-joo’s temporary lodging became the “torture villa.” Humming to himself at the rush of old memories, Sa-yoon pulled open the heavy iron door. As he descended into the villa’s basement, he was greeted by the sight of two men kneeling on the floor like criminals, their hands bound behind their backs. Dozens of thug-like guild members stood guard over them.
“Boss!”¹
They shot to their feet and bowed their heads the moment Sa-yoon entered.
“What are you, gangsters? Is this a mob movie?”
Sa-yoon clicked his tongue and chided them for the cliché scene, a sight not easily forgotten. At his command to get the hell out, the bulky men who had been cramping the already narrow space filed out. Now, the only ones left in the torture villa were Sa-yoon, the two bound men, and Gyeongjin and Yen, who had inadvertently become the ones in charge.
Sa-yoon took a seat in a prepared chair and looked at the two prisoners.
“Sa-yoon-ssi?”
He ignored Lee Jaehee’s voice.
He did say he’d come back after awakening a skill.
Recalling the excuse they had used to enter the gate and stay for over a fortnight, Sa-yoon activated the Genius’s Eye. He started by scanning Han Geon-joo and couldn’t help but be surprised.
Screech. The chair Sa-yoon was sitting in slid backward.
“Sha.”
“Sha?”
Gyeongjin, who had been anxiously watching Sa-yoon’s every reaction, tilted his head. He was terrified that his boss would have another fit, kill his precious favorite, and then hysterically demand he be brought back to life.
Shadow Domination?
Sa-yoon barely managed to swallow the name of another’s exclusive skill before it could escape his lips, absolutely floored.
He never imagined that “unlocking a skill” meant an exclusive skill. And an L-rank one at that.
But if he managed to unlock an L-rank skill in less than a month, that changes things.
The fury that had reached a boiling point simmered down by half. As Sa-yoon blinked in astonishment, the man under his gaze lifted his head. Sa-yoon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“What happened to your face?”
A long gash ran from beside Han Geon-joo’s eye down to his chin. Now that he looked closer, his complexion was awful too. His lips had a bluish tint and his forehead was beaded with cold sweat, making him look like he had been poisoned.
His eyes narrowing at the familiar sight, Sa-yoon quickly scanned Han Geon-joo’s status window.
‘Status Abnormality: Poisoned’
Fuck.
Just as he’d suspected, a status abnormality. Han Geon-joo’s lips, which had turned from purple to a deep blue, parted.
“As you can see, I was captured before I could receive any treatment.”
His voice was calm, despite looking like he was at death’s door. Sa-yoon shot a glare at Gyeongjin, who returned the icy look with an expression of pure indignation.
“How was I supposed to know he was poisoned? You just told me to capture him no matter what condition he was in!”
“So you just captured him when he looked like this? Don’t you have any sense?”
“Damn it all.”
“Damn it all?”
“…Daaaaa…”
Gyeongjin’s eyes darted around as he drew out the word, trying to play dumb. Sa-yoon gave the man a pathetic look for his failed attempt at changing the subject before retrieving a potion from his inventory and tossing it to Geon-joo. A moment later, he realized his mistake.
His hands are tied.
Han Geon-joo was in no condition to drink the potion himself.
“Fuck. Why the hell did you two go into a gate by yourselves and get hurt like this, acting all high and mighty…”
Han Geon-joo had never once been this injured in the field. If Sa-yoon had been with him, would he have ever allowed such a scar on his face? He could have brought him out without a single hair out of place. Why did they have to conspire on their own and come back with another line drawn on his already perfect face?²
Looking again, Lee Jaehee’s condition was just as bad.
While Han Geon-joo had returned poisoned and with a wound that would likely scar, Lee Jaehee was coughing up blood from mana depletion. It seemed he had experienced a reverse summon.
That means they were pushed into a corner.
He shot them a look that said, “What the hell have you been doing?” and Lee Jaehee just chuckled. A hollow laugh. As Sa-yoon was fuming at the audacity, one of the sinners had the nerve to speak up.
“Hyung.”³
His voice was needlessly pitiful.
Perhaps because the poison was worsening, his voice was laced with ragged breaths, causing Sa-yoon’s eyes to narrow. Beside them, Gyeongjin, an A-rank Hunter, fidgeted anxiously, glancing between Sa-yoon and Geon-joo. He wasn’t worried about Geon-joo, but about his own life, which would surely follow Geon-joo’s to the underworld if he died. Just as Sa-yoon’s gaze shifted toward him, another voice cut through the air, capturing his attention.
“I’m in pain.”
“…Ha.”
The brazen remark made Sa-yoon let out a breath of disbelief. Han Geon-joo, completely unfazed by the dumbfounded stare, continued.
“I think I was hit with a powerful poison. I took a high-grade antidote, but my condition isn’t improving.”
Sa-yoon’s fingertips twitched as Geon-joo reported what happened inside the gate, like a child tattling to his parents about his day at school. Drip. A bead of cold sweat trickled down Geon-joo’s chin. Fucking bastard, Sa-yoon cursed inwardly and rose from his seat.
“You’re… you’re not going to kill him, are you, boss?” Gyeongjin asked, already terrified.
Sa-yoon tossed him a highest-grade mana potion.
“You, give this to him.”
He gestured with his chin toward Lee Jaehee, whose eyes met his. The man offered a slight smile.
Laughable.
What’s he got to smile about?
Muttering curses under his breath, Sa-yoon picked up the potion that had fallen to the floor and approached Han Geon-joo. Up close, his condition was even more ghastly. Blood from the wound had soaked his neck. Clicking his tongue, Sa-yoon opened the potion. He poured it directly onto the laceration, causing Geon-joo to let out a pained hiss and pull back.
“Don’t be a baby.”
Sa-yoon chided him lightly and watched as the wound began to heal, then took out an antidote. He pressed his thumb firmly against Geon-joo’s lower lip, and he obediently opened his mouth. As Sa-yoon pushed the antidote inside, he studied Geon-joo’s face. Deep, black eyes stared right back at him. This time, he seemed to have no intention of making a fuss, swallowing the antidote without letting his gaze waver. Sa-yoon felt a strange sense of fulfillment.
He didn’t know what had filled him, but he felt satisfied. It was a peculiar sensation.
“Are you angry?”
As he carefully monitored his recovery, the lips his thumb was touching moved. The soft membrane, one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, brushed against his fingertip. Sa-yoon blinked, taken aback by his quiet compliance. The man’s question registered a moment later, and his expression soured.
“Of course I’m ang-”
“I did it to impress you.”
The voice cut through his own gritted-out words, making Sa-yoon pause. Han Geon-joo was not one to miss an opportunity. Seizing the opening, he quickly continued.
“You asked me what right I had to interfere.”
“……”
“You like capable people, so I thought you’d be happy if I came back after unlocking a new skill.”
His gentle voice echoed through the awkward silence of the torture villa. Gyeongjin covered his mouth in disbelief and whispered something to Yen. Sa-yoon stared into the black eyes that were still focused only on him, then realized the antidote bottle was empty. Color was returning to Han Geon-joo’s face. As his pale complexion recovered and he judged him well enough to be thrown in the cage, Han Geon-joo’s head suddenly slumped forward, resting against Sa-yoon’s hand.
“I’m hungry. I couldn’t eat anything in there.”
“…So what.”
“That person doesn’t give out food like you do, hyung. We starved together.”
Han Geon-joo grumbled, glancing resentfully at Lee Jaehee before staring intently at Sa-yoon. Sa-yoon stared back in disbelief at this madman who, after being stuck in a gate for over two weeks and coming out covered in wounds, was now demanding food. He watched with interest as Geon-joo’s eyes narrowed when he didn’t answer.
“Are you angry?”
It was a question with a very strange effect.
If he admitted he was angry, he would feel like a petty person who was paying far too much attention to him, a loss he was unwilling to accept. But if he said he wasn’t angry, he couldn’t fly into a rage and raise hell.
Act as nonchalant as possible.
Thinking about the most rational course of action, Sa-yoon recalled Geon-joo’s earlier comment about being hungry and let out a curse.
“You even know how to play dirty.”
A soft laugh escaped Geon-joo’s lips at the quiet murmur. He was still leaning halfway into Sa-yoon’s hand.
“Call it fawning, if you will.”
He was certainly acting submissive, as if he knew he was in the wrong. Lamenting that he’d taken in a cunning fox, Sa-yoon stood up, and Gyeongjin immediately followed.
“So… are you going to lock him up?” he asked, tense with the feeling that the inevitable had arrived.
Sa-yoon looked at Gyeongjin like he was a piece of trash.
“The guy comes back covered in wounds and says he hasn’t eaten in two weeks, and you want to lock him up?”
“No, but fuck…”
“Fuck?”
“……”
Gyeongjin clamped his mouth shut at the fierce retort. He shot a look of utter insubordination, but Sa-yoon had already strode past him and was leaving the villa to get food. At any other time, he would have ordered a subordinate to do it, but this time, the thought didn’t even cross his mind as he went himself.
And so, Sa-yoon did not see it. He didn’t see Han Geon-joo flash Lee Jaehee a triumphant, ‘See?’ kind of smile, nor did he see Lee Jaehee let out a long, relieved sigh as if he’d just dodged a bullet. Only Yen, who had been watching the whole scene unfold, chuckled and raised the corners of his mouth.
“Our boss really got himself entangled with someone just like him.”
It seemed the saying “birds of a feather flock together” was true after all.
In this context, the guild members, who act like gangsters, use it to address Sa-yoon as their leader, similar to how underlings in a criminal organization would address their boss.