As he entered, the air inside the health clinic changed. In the space that had been vibrating with the smell of pork belly grease and musty herbal medicine, a cool and noble scent of holy water sharply interjected.
He walked into the middle of the shop as if walking on a red carpet. Hyungil’s jaw dropped open, and Yeongwon dropped the chopsticks he was holding.
“Whoa… Jackpot… Crazy….”
While everyone was frozen, Sung Yohan’s gaze pinned precisely on one person.
The man frozen holding tongs in front of the grill. Moon Igyeol.
Sung Yohan slowly approached Igyeol. Behind him, sturdy guild members lined up like folding screens. It was a scene far too incongruous. The cramped neighborhood health clinic had instantly become a noir film set.
Igyeol swallowed dry saliva.
‘I’m fucked.’
There’s no hole to escape through. Not even a dog hole.
Sung Yohan stopped in front of the dining table. His gaze swept once over the sizzling pork belly grill, quietly looked at the soju glass in front of Igyeol, then rose back to Igyeol’s face.
The smile on his lips was holy enough to make even the Virgin Mary cry, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
“You were having a meal.”
A gentle voice. But there were bones in it.
“It smells good. I wish I had been invited too.”
Igyeol barely managed to open his mouth. He almost squeaked.
“How… how did you…?”
“Finding you wasn’t difficult. You left too many traces, Igyeol-ssi.”
Sung Yohan pulled something from his breast.
It was a grubby, crumpled bucket hat. That very hat Igyeol had thrown to him yesterday. The one with ‘Moon Igyeol’ embroidered small on the inside, that Grandma Oksoon had gifted him. Igyeol’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had hit. Ah, right. That had his name on it.
Sung Yohan tossed the hat onto the table, next to the ssamjang bowl.
“You seemed to have forgotten something, so I came to kindly deliver it to you personally.”
Sung Yohan bent his upper body to meet Igyeol’s eye level. A distance so close their breaths could touch. Igyeol’s flustered face reflected in his black pupils.
“And.”
Sung Yohan’s voice dropped low.
“I came to bill you for treatment.”
His hand reached toward Igyeol’s wrist.
“Now, let’s settle the account. Igyeol-ssi. Very expensively.”
***
Igyeol quickly rolled his eyes. However, there was no hole anywhere to escape through. Igyeol tried to avoid Sung Yohan’s persistent gaze and opened his mouth.
“What bill? I never issued you a receipt.”
Igyeol feigned nonchalance and played dumb. But his heart was pounding wildly. The Sung Yohan before his eyes looked fine on the surface, but the energy he sensed from him was precarious.
Like a pressure cooker just before the lid blows off. Sung Yohan took a step closer.
“Even if you pretend not to know, it’s useless. Because my body remembers.”
“……That phrasing is a bit strange.”
“It means I became a complete mess because of you.”
Sung Yohan slightly frowned and pressed his temple. It was the aftereffects of the rebound. Because of the Holy Power he’d exploded in the Dumang Mountain dungeon, the Holy Power was running rampant as if his whole body would burst.
“You need to treat me. Take responsibility.”
“Haha… What, am I a doctor? Treating people and all.”
Igyeol grumbled while avoiding his gaze. Actually, he had nothing to say. Abandoning a sick person (though S-rank) like that was something that would earn him a back-smashing from Grandma Oksoon if she found out. Then, Sung Yohan’s gaze turned behind Igyeol.
“And, Kang Yeongwon.”
Sung Yohan’s voice changed to businesslike.
“Don’t hide there, come out here.”
Yeongwon, who had been hiding behind Igyeol and watching nervously, flinched and poked his head out.
“……”
“It’s time to go back now, isn’t it? You spent a whole night out without a guardian. The caretakers are worried.”
Sung Yohan spoke as if it were obvious. After Kang Yeongeum’s death, Sanctum Guild had been providing a mansion and bodyguards under the pretext of protecting Kang Yeongwon’s safety. Of course, to Yeongwon that place felt like a prison rather than a shelter. Yeongwon’s lips trembled as he tightly gripped the hem of Igyeol’s clothes.
“I don’t… want to go.”
“What?”
“I won’t go. I don’t like the mansion.”
At Yeongwon’s refusal, Sung Yohan’s eyes narrowed.
“This isn’t the time to be acting spoiled. You’re not just now realizing that outside is dangerous, are you? There’s no law saying something like what happened at Dumang Mountain won’t happen again.”
“I won’t go into a dungeon alone again! And it’s safe here too!”
Yeongwon raised his head and shouted.
“This hyung… Boss hyung said he’d protect me! And Hyungil hyung is here too….”
Yeongwon looked around the health clinic. An old shop. A place that smelled of musty herbal medicine. But it was incomparably warmer than the bleak and merely spacious mansion. It had the smell of people living.
“I like it better here. I won’t go.”
“Kang Yeongwon.”
A stern energy settled in Sung Yohan’s voice. As the atmosphere became tense, Hyungil restlessly watched for cues. Igyeol sighed and placed his hand on Yeongwon’s head.
“Hey, Guild Leader Sung. The kid says he doesn’t want to.”
“This isn’t something for you to interfere with.”
“It’s worth interfering. He’s a customer at my shop. And you’re his guardian, right? Does a guardian ignore the kid’s opinion?”
Igyeol tilted his head to the side crookedly and crossed his arms. Then he glanced at Yeongwon and said.
“Yeongwon-ah. If you want to stay, you can stay. Hyung can give you a room. I’ll feed you too.”
“Hyung….”
Emotion welled up in Yeongwon’s eyes. But Sung Yohan snorted.
“That’s really touching… but you’re not in a position to worry about others right now, are you?”
Sung Yohan took a step toward Igyeol. Igyeol prided himself on being fairly tall, but Sung Yohan was a head taller than Igyeol. At his intimidating presence, Igyeol blinked and stepped back.
“You should take care of yourself first, Moon Igyeol-ssi.”
“Hey, you…!”
Just as Igyeol was about to get a bit worked up at being glared at crookedly with that upright face—
“Don’t… don’t bully hyung!”
Yeongwon suddenly burst forward. With his small body, he blocked Igyeol and glared at Sung Yohan.
“What?”
Sung Yohan made an expression of disbelief.
“Aren’t you bullying our boss hyung right now, Guild Leader Yohan? Threatening him to pay money!”
“……Threatening?”
“That’s right! Demanding treatment fees! Boss hyung has no money! Don’t bully him!”
Yeongwon’s face turned red like a ripe tomato. Even though his legs were trembling with fear, he was standing up to the number one ranked person with the single determination to protect Igyeol.
“Hey, hey! Yeongwon-ah! Calm down!”
Hyungil rushed out in shock.
“Why are you suddenly like this? Don’t you know who that person is? He’s the Sanctum Guild Leader…! Someone who doesn’t need money…! Did you drink soju instead of a soft drink? Why are you suddenly going off?”
“Let go! He’s bullying our hyung!”
While Hyungil was hugging Yeongwon from behind trying to stop him, Sung Yohan briefly massaged his forehead while watching the scene. At this rate, if one more day passes, they’ll be hugging each other and making love. Sung Yohan looked over the three people who had become strangely close and chuckled.
“…Interesting.”
And he was a bit displeased. Why… even he couldn’t understand the reason.
At Sung Yohan’s words, Igyeol frowned and glanced at him. Sung Yohan walked over and plopped down heavily on the old two-seater sofa placed in one corner of the health clinic. It was a natural movement as if it were his own bedroom.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Igyeol asked in bewilderment.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Sung Yohan sat with his legs crossed and propped his chin with his hand.
“I don’t want to leave here either. The atmosphere is very… warm and nice.”
“What?”
“And there are many debts to collect. I don’t plan to leave even one step until I’ve collected them all.”
Igyeol’s mouth fell open.
“No, when did I ever owe you a debt…!”
“Don’t you remember?”
Sung Yohan tilted his head crookedly.
“You really don’t remember?”
“……”
Igyeol shut his mouth tight. When he puts it like that, there really is nothing to say. Because he did do things. Yeah, who else would grab the number one ranked person by the collar and throw him at a boss monster, and who else would throw the number one ranked Sung Yohan in front of reporters and run away. Yeah… the one who did all those things was Igyeol himself.
What should I even say about this? Should I apologize, or shouldn’t I?
But think about it. When there’s a number one ranked person, do you think a weak (?) body like mine should fight the boss mob? How unreasonable is that too? The camera reporters, only someone who’s been through camera massages gets them, what good would it do for a health clinic owner like me to get them—I’d just become passerby number 1. Would I have properly interviewed like Sung Yohan to explain how Dumang Mountain was cleared, what the demon was, what the boss was, that a black pearl came out, and so on?
“…Ah, whatever. Sue me.”
Igyeol sighed and waved his hand with an annoyed face. Hyungil wrapped his arm around Yeongwon’s shoulder with an expression of ‘there goes hyung again’ and evacuated to a corner. Igyeol crossed his arms and glared at Sung Yohan with a shameless face.
“So what? It’s already in the past.”
But even at Igyeol’s attitude, Sung Yohan didn’t get angry. Rather, as if he liked that shameless attitude, he curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Your guts are S-rank, at least. Good. I don’t need money.”
“Only my guts are S-rank…? Ha, fine. What do you need?”
Sung Yohan leaned his upper body forward. His black pupils ensnared Igyeol.
“So what? What do you want?”
Igyeol shot back bluntly.
Sung Yohan silently held out his right hand. With his palm facing up.
“……?”
When Igyeol looked at him as if not understanding, Sung Yohan said gently.
“Your hand.”
“What?”
“Give me your hand, Igyeol-ssi.”
Like commanding a well-trained puppy, or courting a lover.
The air inside the health clinic stopped for a moment. Hyungil and Yeongwon’s mouths fell open.
