# Chapter 186
After about ten minutes, Jade returned. Seemingly not forgetting the earlier incident, he leisurely entered the door code, making clanking noises as he came in.
How embarrassing. Lee Hwan wanted to hide in his room, but considering Jade had come to his home in person, he couldn’t do that—something important must have happened.
Facing him with his lips firmly sealed, Lee Hwan couldn’t bring himself to speak first and just sat there quietly.
‘Actually, we were in that kind of relationship…?’
The excuse that came to mind was absurd. He remembered how he had firmly insisted to Jade that Taesung was just a friend.
‘Please give me your son…?’
After entertaining such nonsense in his mind, Lee Hwan took a deep breath and wiped his complicated thoughts clean.
“What’s going on?”
Taesung, who knew no shame, asked first. Well, they did give off a father-son-like impression, but in reality, their relationship was much more informal and quite independent. They seemed to have a peculiar relationship that sometimes resembled friends, sometimes a secretary, and sometimes even a guardian.
“Don’t you two… have any sense of danger? As Hunters… you should check the surroundings when you hear a sound, not sprawl around when someone could enter your home.”
Jade frowned. His stern tone felt like it was pounding against their chests.
He was right. It was still too early to be carried away by emotions and act recklessly. Moreover, since the date had been set somewhat hastily, they needed to repeatedly finalize preparations to avoid mistakes.
However, Taesung wasn’t one to back down.
“Who else would enter my home besides you two? There haven’t been any information leaks either.”
Hearing this, it did make sense. For someone to break into an S-class Hunter’s home, right in the middle of Seoul, the situation would have to be completely ruined.
Since there were no concerns with the current progress, the only person who would boldly open this door would be Jade.
He probably regularly entered Taesung’s home with such comfort. He had acted as usual but ended up seeing something he shouldn’t have.
Lee Hwan closed his eyes tightly and reopened them. Suddenly, all his intimate moments with Taesung felt strange and embarrassing. Had he been acting too clingy, carried away by the atmosphere?
He still couldn’t even say a single affectionate word in front of others.
“Has something happened?”
Still, he couldn’t ignore the urgent matter, so he firmly suppressed his embarrassment and turned to Jade.
Jade still had deep wrinkles between his eyebrows.
“I heard you went to meet Kang Dongying alone today. I came by wondering what was going on.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t contacted him. On the way back from Naru, he was lost in thought, and after returning, he was busy calming down Taesung.
Jade must have been monitoring him since he entered the Central Building, and when no news came, he rushed over.
“Kang Dongying… it seems like he’s at the point of interfering here and there. It looks like he was actually trying to get his hands on Kang Dongha’s side.”
“The timing is bad.”
“Still, since he seems to be showing interest in me, I went to meet him to try and buy time for a few days.”
Interest? Jade’s slightly raised eyebrow seemed to ask. While Lee Hwan was pondering how to explain, Jade’s eyes briefly lingered on his neck.
“…Tsk.”
Jade clicked his tongue briefly and exchanged glances with Taesung. Having observed the Kang family for a long time, he seemed to have some guesses even without being explicitly told.
“You did well. No matter what this guy says, that’s what I think.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“He might be the type to destroy what he can’t have so others can’t have it either, but he won’t mess with you before the relationship sours. D-day will come before all hell breaks loose.”
Unlike Taesung, who tried to protect Lee Hwan at all costs, Jade had a cold-headed aspect. From the beginning, he considered the successful completion of the mission most important, regardless of who got hurt. Just like Lee Hwan.
“That man was already trying to drive a wedge between us while gauging my reaction.”
“You must have handled it well, but seeing the state of your neck, he must have found it quite amusing.”
“You have to seem almost catchable but not quite to be chased longer.”
Until they set things in motion, Lee Hwan planned to wear a gloomy face every time he went out. As if his relationship with Taesung was gradually deteriorating.
The mark was left by Kang Dongying with that intention. He needed to play along with his wishes just until the designated day.
“…I’ve confirmed what I needed to. I’m leaving.”
“I’ll contact you if anything happens, so don’t suddenly barge in.”
“Keep it moderate. Until that day.”
What kind of conversation was that? Lee Hwan felt his face flush red.
We’re not that kind of relationship yet. What you saw earlier is all we’ve done. I’ve never really touched him properly, and when I said we were just friends, we really were just friends then…
While awkward and pathetic words circled in his mouth, Jade left without hesitation.
Lee Hwan turned to Taesung with a resentful look, and Taesung wore an ambiguous smile. As if his earlier complaints to Jade had never happened.
However.
Ding— The faint sound of the elevator was heard. As soon as Jade disappeared outside the door, Taesung grabbed Lee Hwan’s hand and pulled him down to sit on the floor.
Then he himself knelt in front of him and examined Lee Hwan carefully.
“What?”
“…I have something to say.”
The corners of his mouth slowly turned down as he began to speak. As if trying to maintain a gentle expression, his almost vanished smile and concern slowly mixed.
“Don’t listen to Jade.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I don’t want to get hurt either. It’s painful.”
He suddenly stated the obvious. But if everything had gone according to plan, why would he have regressed so many times? Since there’s no gain without pain in this world, sometimes you have to give flesh to take bone.
“It can’t be helped. Saving the world isn’t an easy task.”
But hearing those words, Taesung’s face gradually hardened. Still kneeling, he looked like a sphinx who had received the wrong answer.
He slowly shook his head. Determination gradually rose over his ambiguous expression.
“Joo Lee Hwan.”
His call sounded ominous. It was just like when he was a child and broke an expensive flowerpot. Lee Hwan blinked once, and when his eyes met Taesung’s, he quietly declared:
“I never said I was trying to save the world.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“I spent over a year with you even in a ruined world. Even if things go wrong, we still have about seven years left.”
The black eyes staring at Lee Hwan held pain. As if recalling a memory mid-sentence, his pitch-black pupils gradually expanded.
Only then did Lee Hwan sense the strange feeling. He had pretended everything was fine when Jade was here, but Lee Hwan realized that Taesung had been in this state all along.
As he gazed into those pitiful black eyes, Lee Hwan somehow felt like he was falling deeply into them.
“I came back this far to save you, not the world. So if things go wrong, I’ll just give up everything and enjoy the last seven years with you.”
His voice was clear, as if nailing it down. It was so rigid that it might seem cold at first glance. However, the final words that followed were concluded with a voice that was unexpectedly affectionate.
“If something happens to you, I’ll burn everything down.”
…Was this statement meant to be so warm?
For a moment, Lee Hwan had a terrible vision of Taesung setting fire to the entire Naru and burning together with it.
“I think you misunderstood. I wasn’t saying I’d sacrifice myself. Just that this level of injury is something I can accept.”
Despite his explanation, there was no particular response. The damage was already done. Since his regression, he occasionally emanated this kind of atmosphere, and during those times, he wouldn’t listen to anyone.
Lee Hwan frowned and sighed.
Well, considering his journey, it wasn’t incomprehensible. Lee Hwan himself would vehemently oppose if Taesung were to rush into danger.
Although it might be a stretch to call what he had been doing “rushing into danger”…
‘How many regressions have you gone through?’
‘…Eight.’
In other words, he had witnessed his own death eight times. Every death must have remained a trauma for him.
“I’m fine. This wound is nothing. You know it will be completely healed by tomorrow morning.”
“I’ve heard ‘I’m fine’ every time.”
And yet, you regressed up to the eighth cycle. Taesung’s eyes seemed to say.
“This time, I really don’t plan on living longer than you.”
“Hey, man…”
At those words, which sounded like a last will, Lee Hwan’s heart sank.
Yet Taesung was somehow managing to act normal. His affectionate tone and undistorted face, combined with talk of life and death, made it all the more bizarre.
‘This bastard, he said he was fine…’
Obviously, he wasn’t fine. That’s why Lee Hwan had felt that Taesung had changed a bit since his regression.
Somehow, both of them were mentally and physically in tatters. It seemed like they’d really need to rest for a long time once everything was over.
But before that, he needed to calm this damn guy down. Rest was only possible if they survived. There was nothing to gain by shaking his mental state before such an important event.
…How did the atmosphere turn like this? It seemed quite good until just a moment ago.
This was all Jade’s fault. Blaming the innocent man inwardly, Lee Hwan gritted his teeth.
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
Finally, after lamenting, he answered. As if it was an unexpected response, Taesung silently stared at Lee Hwan.
Lee Hwan pulled Taesung’s hand toward himself and continued with a slightly brighter voice.
“I don’t plan on dying either. So if things go wrong this time, forget about the monster wave or whatever—let’s just burn it all down.”
Taesung’s eyes, which had been immersed in emotion, widened slightly. Looking at him, Lee Hwan spoke rapidly.
“Before running away from this already ruined mess, I’ll cut off that bastard Kang Dongying’s wrist too. You can destroy all of Building D. It’s fucking terrible anyway.”
In stark contrast to how careful he had been with his words in front of Taesung before, crude language popped out.
