Lee Kanghyun was in a very bad mood.
Sending an intruder to his home to disturb his rest, creating a Red Gate in front of his house, summoning hordes of A-rank monsters to inflict nerve-wracking pain.
You’re really dead.
Looking at what he’d done, he was definitely a criminal. Seemed to have no qualms about killing people either. Guys like that were better eliminated for the sake of society.
Right. Let’s chase after that crazy man. Chase him down and kill him, or beat him senseless to make him unable to use his ability and throw him in prison. He resolved. All of this was for society. It wasn’t personal retaliation for disturbing his rest. Absolutely not.
But that solemn resolution didn’t last long.
Ah… so annoying.
Once his anger had somewhat subsided, terrible fatigue filled that space.
His body was covered in blood, and his head hurt because the remnants of pain still remained. His whole body felt uncomfortable and sticky, driving him crazy.
What he needed right now wasn’t revenge but a shower and sleep.
“Let’s just go home.”
Lee Kanghyun roughly dragged one slipper and shuffled toward the exit.
***
The moment he stepped out of the gate, the dark red vortex behind him shrank away as if it were a lie, and the gate disappeared.
The surroundings were chaotic. The apartment complex playground was literally a battlefield. The pavilion was half-collapsed, and trees had been uprooted and were rolling around. The ground was full of craters.
Lee Kanghyun lightly landed in the middle of it all. People’s gazes fixed on him. Soon, everyone drew in their breath.
“Huk…”
Lee Kanghyun’s appearance was less like a human and more like a demon.
There wasn’t a single spot from head to toe that wasn’t covered in red blood. He was so thoroughly soaked that you couldn’t even tell the original color of the clothes he’d been wearing.
“That’s… Lee Kanghyun, right?”
People hesitated, not even daring to approach. The fishy smell of blood spread everywhere.
He didn’t particularly care about people’s reactions. He just casually nodded his head toward the Association staff who were standing there, not knowing what to do.
“Excuse me.”
“Hi, hiiik! Y-yes?!”
The staff member at the front answered in shock.
“Please handle the cleanup here. I’m leaving.”
When Lee Kanghyun took a step, people hurriedly cleared a path. No one was gutsy enough to block the path of a blood-soaked S-rank approaching.
He wanted to hurry home, wash off this sticky blood, and sleep. That thought made his irritation fade a bit.
That’s when it happened.
“Lee Kanghyun!”
Someone rushed over urgently, cutting through the crowd. It was Kang Yujun. As soon as he saw Lee Kanghyun’s wretched state, he stopped with a hardened face. He let out a sharp breath and scanned Lee Kanghyun from head to toe.
“Are you hurt? Why is there so much blood…”
Kang Yujun reached out his hand, trying to wipe the blood from Lee Kanghyun’s cheek.
Smack.
Lee Kanghyun irritably slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me. It’s dirty.”
At those words, Kang Yujun’s hand stopped in midair. He held his breath.
Lee Kanghyun is sharp right now. He’s probably disgusted by the fact that he’s covered in monster blood. Kanghyun hates blood. If he playfully retorted or clung to him recklessly like usual, it seemed like it would only exhaust him more when he was already tired.
Let’s not provoke him right now.
Kang Yujun didn’t want to give Lee Kanghyun any more stress. Hadn’t he fallen into a panic after seeing the corpse just a few hours ago? He lowered his hand and stepped back.
“Sorry.”
It was a considerate retreat, trying not to provoke him as much as possible.
However, Lee Kanghyun misunderstood what he saw. Kang Yujun was hurt by the word “dirty.”
Seeing Kang Yujun watching him cautiously like a cowed puppy made him feel uncomfortable.
“No, I didn’t mean you’re dirty. I meant my body is dirty.”
Lee Kanghyun hesitated before bluntly tossing out his words.
“I’ve got blood on me, on my body. That’s why I’m telling you not to touch me.”
He reached out and patted Kang Yujun’s shoulder a couple of times.
“So don’t misunderstand. Let’s just go home.”
At that crude explanation, Kang Yujun stared blankly at Lee Kanghyun. Covered in blood and pale as if he’d collapse at any moment, yet without a single wound, he was worrying about and comforting the one who was perfectly clean. In case there was a misunderstanding. In case his feelings might have been hurt.
“……”
Kang Yujun bit his lip tightly. It was a serious situation, but he almost laughed without realizing it. The fact that Kanghyun was concerned about his feelings made his heart tickle for no reason.
“You’re not dirty at all. It’s okay.”
Kang Yujun said with a bright face. Lee Kanghyun didn’t have the confidence to face that expression, so he moved his feet and ran away. Kang Yujun immediately chased after Lee Kanghyun.
“Really. You’re not dirty.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Lee Kanghyun ignored Kang Yujun’s words. As if.
Watching Lee Kanghyun who didn’t believe him, Kang Yujun shrugged his shoulders and examined his body again.
“But you’re really not hurt?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s not all my blood, it’s monster blood.”
It was a lie, but there was no way for Kang Yujun to know, so whatever. Lee Kanghyun was shameless.
When Kang Yujun and Lee Kanghyun began conversing normally, reporters who finally mustered up courage started swarming, setting off flashes.
“Hunter Lee Kanghyun! Just a moment!”
“Did you solo clear a Red Gate?”
“Is your condition okay right now? Just a word!”
“What’s the reason you recently joined Yunseul Guild! Is it related to Hunter Kang Yujun?”
The reporters’ microphones were shoved right up to Lee Kanghyun’s nose.
His brow furrowed sharply.
“Ah, move. Please.”
When the terrifying-looking man covered in blood scowled and showed his irritation, the reporter flinched and backed away. But a few blinded by the scoop stubbornly clung on.
“What was it like inside?”
“Were there any unusual points?”
Lee Kanghyun waved his hand, pushing the reporters away like shooing flies.
Then, Kang Yujun stood blocking in front of Lee Kanghyun.
“That’s enough.”
Kang Yujun’s voice was calm, but it contained a chilling warning. It was a different attitude from when he was facing Lee Kanghyun a moment ago.
“We’re not doing interviews. The guild will release an official statement, so please move aside.”
Kang Yujun wrapped his arm around Lee Kanghyun’s shoulder and pushed through the crowd.
“Let’s go, Kanghyun.”
Then, as he lowered his head, his eyes caught sight of Lee Kanghyun’s foot standing barefoot with one slipper off.
Kang Yujun immediately bent down. He knelt on one knee and crouched in front of Lee Kanghyun.
“What are you doing?”
Lee Kanghyun asked, flustered. Without a word, Kang Yujun took off his own shoe and put it on him.
“Hey, I don’t need it. Don’t do that.”
“Stay still.”
His large hand firmly grasped Lee Kanghyun’s ankle and wouldn’t let go.
“What if you step on glass shards?”
Kang Yujun stubbornly took off his dress shoe and fitted it onto Lee Kanghyun’s foot. It was a bit big, but it roughly fit. Maybe because their heights were similar, their foot sizes seemed similar too.
“If you give yours to me, what about you?”
Lee Kanghyun asked incredulously. Kang Yujun shrugged nonchalantly and stood up from his spot.
“I’ve got calluses, so I’m fine. Unlike you. I walk around a lot. You just lie down all the time, so your feet must be all soft.”
Lee Kanghyun unconsciously lowered his gaze.
On his left foot was a tattered three-stripe slipper, on his right foot was a gleaming dress shoe. Conversely, Kang Yujun had a dress shoe on his left foot and was stepping on the rough asphalt ground with only a black sock on his right.
The sight of them sharing a pair of shoes looked quite ridiculous.
When Lee Kanghyun tried to protest this absurd situation, Kang Yujun covered Lee Kanghyun’s mouth with his palm.
“Let’s go. Want me to give you a piggyback?”
Lee Kanghyun removed Kang Yujun’s hand and lowered his voice.
“Are you crazy? Don’t you see the cameras? What are you trying to do?”
“Why? It’s like couple fashion, it’s nice.”
“Crazy bastard.”
Hearing the curse, Kang Yujun burst out laughing. If they argued any more, it would only give better material for articles, so he left him and moved his feet. With one slipper and one luxury dress shoe.
“Kanghyun! We should go together!”
Kang Yujun quickly followed after him, but Lee Kanghyun sped up even more to escape. The sounds of murmuring, camera shutters, and Kang Yujun’s grumbling mixed together.
As expected. Kang Yujun was too annoying.
Lee Kanghyun kept grumbling inwardly. In doing so, he didn’t realize it. The fact that he was smiling.
***
As soon as he arrived home, Lee Kanghyun headed straight for the bathroom. Kang Yujun, who stubbornly followed him, tried to follow him into the house, but Lee Kanghyun slammed the door in his face and locked it. He even firmly put on the safety chain to prevent him from entering by punching in the door lock password.
Standing in front of the mirror, Lee Kanghyun was a bit surprised to face his own state. It was more of a sight than he’d thought. His whole body was covered in blood. He understood why one parent had shrieked and covered their child’s eyes when he came out of the gate. Even to him, it looked a bit cruel.
When he turned on the shower, cold water poured down. Lee Kanghyun closed his eyes and stood under the stream.
Actually, his body still hurt. The muscles that had been torn and reattached ached, and his joints throbbed.
He always wondered why this damn pain lasted so long. His body healed in an instant. Why did only the pain persist?
“Ugh…”
A groan he’d been holding back flowed out low. Fuck, it really hurts.
He almost teared up from the pain for a moment but held it back. He was an adult, he couldn’t cry over something like this.
Lee Kanghyun leaned against the wall and lowered his head.
Murderous intent toward that yellow-haired bastard who was the source of all this suddenly rose up again.
