Sa-yoon washed his face again and again, even scrubbing with soap to get rid of the smell of blood. All in all, he spent a full thirty minutes living in the bathroom. Every time he tried to leave, a wave of hemoptysis would rise, and every time he tried to leave, his heart would begin to pound erratically. When he finally opened the door, a look of exhaustion on his face, he was met by a man who looked no less tired than himself. From the intermittent sounds of running water and wretched gagging, Geon-joo had clearly guessed what had been happening.

“……”

The man opened and closed his mouth several times, but ultimately chose to say nothing. It was a wise decision. He wouldn’t have been able to give a proper answer to any question he might have asked.

At best, he could only have offered some hypocritical lie to soothe him. Sparing himself the unnecessary emotional toll, Sa-yoon acted with nonchalant composure and patted Geon-joo’s head.

His body was a wreck, but it wasn’t like he was going to die right this second.

He said I was out for a day. I guess I should start catching up on my work.

His activities under the name ‘Sa-yoon of Noah’ were numerous; he must have a mountain of work piled up. By now, it wouldn’t be surprising if Gyeongjin, who was handling his administrative duties in his stead, was hammering nails into a curse doll of him.

Wait, is he actually doing that?

A sudden chill ran down his spine. Knowing Gyeongjin, it was entirely possible. He was preparing to leave when an arm suddenly grabbed him, spinning him around in an unexpected direction. In a room with just the two of them, there was only one person who would do such a thing.

His eyes, laced with confusion, met Geon-joo’s, which seemed a little swollen. The hand that had grabbed his arm slid down to intertwine with his fingers, playing with them for a moment.

“What is it?”

At his question, the hand that had been toying with his own laced their fingers together tightly.

“My reward. You promised me a reward if I took care of it.”

“Ah.”

He remembered their conversation during the Gate Break.

“What do you want?”

He had promised to give him anything. Sa-yoon ran through the contents of his inventory. In truth, there was nothing in there he would regret giving Han Geon-joo. He could always buy another divine artifact at auction, and he could part with his main weapons, thinking of it as a loan. If he wanted something like a building instead of an item, that was even easier. The simplest problems in the world were the ones that could be solved with money.

As he watched him with confidence, Geon-joo squeezed his hand tighter, making it feel almost like a restraint.

What is he going to say that he’s dragging it out like this…

“For you to rest.”

“…Huh?”

He had been running through a list of candidates—money, fame, items—but what came out of Han Geon-joo’s mouth was completely unexpected. The answer was so far from what he’d anticipated that he asked again, dumbfounded. Flash! In an instant, his body was lifted into the air. Han Geon-joo had thrown him over his shoulder like a sack of luggage.

“…What are you doing?”

“I’m collecting my reward.”

The man stated it plainly and walked toward the bed. For a moment, his world turned upside down, and then he was tossed onto the mattress. The expensive mattress cushioned his body perfectly. Immediately after, a blanket was wrapped tightly around him. It was wound so snugly that anyone watching would have thought he was the reincarnation of a silkworm. Sa-yoon expressed his utter bewilderment as the man rolled him over and over like a dung beetle. The situation was so absurd that he lost all will to resist.

Deciding to just see how far he would go, he lay still. Once Geon-joo succeeded in rolling him up like a kimbap, he pulled the now soft, thick bundle that was Sa-yoon into his arms. He then rested his own head on the pillow and gestured toward the ceiling. Click. A shadow slithered up the wall and turned off the bright overhead light.

Blink, blink.

Until that moment, Sa-yoon had been utterly baffled.

What new brand of crazy is this?

He shot Geon-joo a look that said, You’re something else, and wriggled his body. It was incredibly stuffy being wrapped up so tightly, with both arms pinned inside the blanket. He was just about to try and squirm his way out when he heard a voice.

“I’m going to sleep, so don’t move.”

“What?”

You’re going to sleep? Just like this, after turning me into a human spring roll?

His gaze asked the question, but Geon-joo, seemingly serious about sleeping, had already closed his eyes and buried his head in the soft blanket, which was effectively burying his head in Sa-yoon.

“I told you, I’m collecting my reward. Thanks to someone, I’ve been through a lot, physically and mentally, so I need to rest. So you rest with me.”

“Wait, why do I have to?”

“How am I supposed to rest if you’re moving around? I’ll just have to follow you. So you rest, too.”

Besides, it’s my reward. Weren’t you going to grant me anything I wanted?

At his added words, Sa-yoon, who had been about to use brute force to tear his way out of the blanket, froze. He hadn’t even had a chance to argue, but Geon-joo was already grumbling about why he’d made the promise in the first place. Knowing that once he started pretending to be pouty, it could go on for a while, Sa-yoon simply bonked his head against the chattering mouth. Oof! The grunt from above was satisfying. After wiggling a few times inside the blanket to find a comfortable position, Sa-yoon finally let out a sigh.

“Fine, rest. Just rest.”

Rest for the rest of your life, for all I care.

As he leaned against him, muttering words that were somewhere between a curse and a blessing, Geon-joo, realizing Sa-yoon had given up, let out a low laugh.

He’s so pleased with himself.

Sa-yoon was giving his lover a what is wrong with you look when his eyes landed on his phone, which was buzzing on the table. It was a call from Gyeongjin.

It was ten to one a call filled with 80% whining—when are you coming back, I’m going to die from all this work—and 20% concern for his well-being. He was staring at it with a complicated expression when a firm arm wrapped around him, as if to tell him to stop thinking about pointless things. A soft sigh came from above his head. Han Geon-joo, clearly having no intention of letting him go, seemed to have drifted off, his breathing evening out a few moments later.

What am I, a bamboo wife?

Though he found the situation ridiculous, Sa-yoon thought of Geon-joo’s haggard face when he’d first woken up and his tired eyes when he’d come out of the bathroom, and finally raised his own white flag.

What right did he have to refuse when the poor, sleep-deprived man was clinging to him, wish ticket in hand, whining for them to rest together?

He himself had at least slept for a day, but Han Geon-joo had surely not slept a wink, foolishly watching over him. Considering that, Sa-yoon closed his eyes, rolled over to lean more comfortably into Geon-joo’s side, and let out a long breath.

Fine.

He’d coughed up a bowlful of blood after his body had been twisted inside out. Resting for one more day was a reasonable excuse.

***

When he opened his eyes, the sunset was visible. Thinking he must have slept for over half a day, Sa-yoon sat up and realized the restraint that had been holding him was gone. He looked down. The blanket had somehow migrated to the foot of the bed.

Did Geon-joo let me go?

He wondered, focusing on the presence he felt from the bathroom. He could hear the sound of running water. It seemed Geon-joo was taking a shower.

Yaaawn.

He let out a huge yawn and walked over to the table, picking up his neglected phone. He habitually checked the date and time, and his eyes widened.

“What is this?”

He thought he had slept for half a day at most, but two full days had passed.

Not one day, but two.

Wondering if someone had tampered with his phone settings, he checked online, but nothing changed. He had really, truly, slept for two straight days.

Wow. Gyeongjin must be losing his mind.

It was obvious he was on the verge of death from overwork. Shaking off his denial, Sa-yoon called him. The moment the call connected, it was answered with a scream-like cry of, “Hyung-nim!” When Gyeongjin demanded to know where he’d been and why he hadn’t answered his phone, Sa-yoon replied that he had been sick and dying, which was met with a moment of somber silence. A smirk touched Sa-yoon’s lips.

“I can’t even joke around with you. So, how are things looking out there?”

—Aish. This guy, seriously. Who jokes about something like that?

Gyeongjin, realizing it was a joke, flew into a rage for a moment before calming down and reporting on the situation. The media’s reaction, the public’s response, the news about the foreign hunters—it all matched the picture he had painted. Sa-yoon was pleased to hear that, because he had slept for two days, the foreign hunters had to return home without seeing him. He sat on the edge of the bed. One annoying task had been solved for free.

—Anyway, we’re moving according to the plan you laid out, so if you have any other orders, let me know. If not, please, for the love of God! Come! And do! Some work!

He thought he heard the sound of teeth grinding at the end. He promptly transferred a reasonable sum of money, and Gyeongjin’s anger subsided as if it had never been there.

What a funny bastard.

“You’re going to get yourself killed one day with your love of money.”

—Worry about yourself, hyung-nim, not me. You think you’ll be fine when I go down?

He had a point. Sa-yoon casually accepted his threat and listened to the rest of the report. The last piece of good news was that ‘Sa-yoon’s’ public reputation was soaring to new heights. He ended the call.

Everything was going according to plan. The Association’s efforts to launder the Night Rat’s name and Sa-yoon’s own efforts in grinding down his guild members to build up the Swallow Guild were paying off. Humanity was slowly beginning to form a force to counter the apocalypse with ‘Sa-yoon’ at its center. Satisfied that things were going well, he flopped onto the bed. He played around with Geon-joo after he got out of the shower, and then, as the moon began to rise, he got up.

He was ‘Sa-yoon,’ the man whose stock as a righteous hero was currently skyrocketing. Deciding to add a little more fuel to that fire, he ventured out. Geon-joo came with him.

They made a point of showing their faces, clearing Gates at high speed and rescuing trapped hunters.

Ding!

‘The Resistor Like Good Deeds’ achieved!>