Pyeonghwa lowered his voice and whispered. As expected, it wasn’t. The smile on Byun Taehui’s lips deepened.
“I see. That’s a relief. I’ll have to tell Dohae there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ah, no! Noona, please don’t tell him. I’m scared of Dohae hyung. If he finds out it’s bullshit, he’ll definitely be fucking pissed…!”
“Is Dohae that scary?”
“Mmhm, he’s scary.”
“But he’s pretty, right?”
“Mmhm, he’s pretty.”
“Who’s prettier, me or Dohae?”
Pyeonghwa hesitated at Byun Taehui’s question. Of course she was pretty, but wouldn’t it be a bit unconscionable to compare her to Do Dohae……? Pyeonghwa gulped, afraid his true feelings might slip out. She was gentle like this now, but when she got angry, she was a very scary woman.
‘……This is strange. Why is she so gentle?’
He kept feeling a sense of dissonance. Byun Taehui’s tone was soft and affectionate. The hand stroking his thigh was also casual. It was so different from the image he’d imagined while exchanging messages that it felt unfamiliar.
“O-of course noona is prettier……!”
“It sounds like a lie? I can’t believe you.”
“I-it’s true! Noona is prettier!”
“You’ve been getting close with Dohae lately. I heard Dohae even cooked for you at your house—did your heart change already?”
Pyeonghwa’s heart sank. Is this a woman’s intuition……? Pyeonghwa didn’t know how to explain and lowered his gaze, fidgeting with his fingers.
“U-uh, well, you see…… my heart did flutter a little, but that’s it. Don’t worry. He’s a guy, so I can’t marry him anyway……”
“Do you dislike men, Pyeonghwa? If I were a man, would you have disliked me too?”
“That can’t be! I wouldn’t care even if noona was an alien with a hundred eyes!”
Byun Taehui giggled, finding Pyeonghwa’s desperate explanation cute. Wanting to tease him a bit more, he grabbed Pyeonghwa’s wrist and placed it in the middle of his skirt. Right at that location that was the center of the human body.
“Really? That’s good. I’m a man, you know.”
When he deliberately twisted his waist to make it slightly hard, Pyeonghwa’s face turned deathly pale. Byun Taehui deliberately made a sulky expression.
“Why are you making that face? You said you’re okay with men. Are you saying two different things with one mouth? Do you really dislike me because I’m a man?”
“I-I’m sorry, noona. Or is it hyung? I was just a bit surprised…… Nngh. Please let go of my hand……!”
He was so strong that no matter how much Pyeonghwa tried to shake him off, he wouldn’t budge. Goosebumps rose from the soles of his feet to the top of his head at the strange sensation felt beneath his palm. It felt like being harassed by a stranger.
Tears were about to burst out, so he squeezed his eyes shut. The first meeting he’d been dreaming of wasn’t supposed to be like this. The fantasy that had been building up crumbled down.
But he had no intention of giving up on her over just this. Being quick to adapt was his strength. Pyeonghwa looked at her with a pitiful face brimming with tears and earnestly pleaded.
“C-can’t we get to know each other slowly? I’m scared. Noona… yeah?”
“You’re really a baby.”
“Yeah! I’m a baby. Noona’s baby! So please……!”
“Hehe, cute.”
Smooch! Byun Taehui kissed Pyeonghwa’s cheek. At that moment, Pyeonghwa jumped up from his seat with a deathly pale face as if realizing something.
“I-I want to go home.”
“Already? There’s still alcohol left, stay and play more.”
“You’re not my noona. Let go!”
“Oh my, why do you think that?”
When Byun Taehui gripped his wrist and wouldn’t let go, Pyeonghwa grabbed the soju bottle and poured the remaining alcohol into his mouth. Sweet alcohol like makgeolli or bokbunja wine was drinkable, but soju tasted like an alcohol lamp. Hup! Pyeonghwa held his breath and chugged the bottle.
Thud!
“Huk, huk… there’s no more alcohol now, right? Let me go.”
“I’m asking why you think I’m not noona?”
“……Uugh.”
Pyeonghwa started shedding tears like chicken droppings. Byun Taehui finally let Pyeonghwa go. Pyeonghwa hurriedly rushed out of the cafe, afraid of being grabbed again.
“Hmm, did I tease him too harshly?”
He was more innocent than expected, so his playful side was triggered. He ended up making him cry, but since he was a smart kid, he probably realized who the real ‘DdoHae Noona’ was. Since he wasn’t terminally ill and didn’t care even if it was a man, the future seemed like it would be more interesting.
“Interesting……”
The smile on Byun Taehui’s lips gradually disappeared. His face contorted into a strange expression mixed with anticipation and self-reproach. Byun Taehui clenched his fist to hide the trembling in his fingertips and stood up.
It was about time to return to the fake prince.
*
“Hey, doesn’t that person look like a celebrity?”
“Wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask at this hour—it’s obvious.”
“Who is it? They’re really tall. Looks like they’re searching for something……”
Dohae swiftly passed by the murmuring people. Jet-black hair swayed beneath the bucket hat.
Since hiding the fact that he had two Constellations was more important, he consistently maintained his blonde hair when visiting Pyeonghwa’s house. But in that state, he couldn’t walk around among people like this. Even covering all his hair and eyes, Helios’s presence drew everyone’s attention.
Dohae had no choice but to summon the power of another Constellation, Erebos. While checking two, three times whether he was being followed.
Flutter!
“Oh my! Why are there so many crows in this neighborhood?”
“Huh? Crows are birds that move around during the day.”
“This is why abnormal weather is a problem. Tsk tsk…..”
Several crows moved between telephone poles and street trees, their black eyes sparkling as if searching for something. At the center of the crows’ range of activity was Dohae.
‘Damn it, where the hell did he go!’
Dohae pressed his ear to a used clothing collection bin. He thought the kid whose head was a bit messed up might be hiding in a place like this, but of course he wasn’t there. Dohae ground his teeth in shame at his own actions. The top of the metal used clothing bin he touched with his hand crumpled like crumpled paper.
‘Fuck…… Noh Pyeonghwa!’
He’d gone into an A-rank Gate after a long time and released his built-up stress, but in just a few hours, even more stress had accumulated. Again, it was something involving that bastard Noh Pyeonghwa.
—Team Leader Do, good work!
—Please take care of it.
This afternoon, Dohae, who had come out of an A-rank Gate, returned his equipment to a large freight truck. The team’s mechanic meticulously checked and collected the team members’ items.
Dohae boarded a large bus. He hadn’t brought his own car when coming to the Gate. Most of the roads were mountain paths so the roads weren’t good, and his whole body was covered in dust and blood from rolling around in the dungeon.
There were ten Hunters on the team, but there were team members with various roles such as general manager, field manager, administrative manager, driver, mechanic, medical staff, analyst, porter, and trainer, so when there were missions, they moved around in a large bus like this.
—Team Leader. I’m still inexperienced… we could have finished earlier, but I’m sorry! I won’t cause trouble for the team from now on!
—It’s fine. What’s more important is that everyone returned without getting hurt. You must be tired, so go rest.
—Yes, yes sir! Phew… today was really, really cool. I respect you, Team Leader!
At the youngest Hunter’s exclamation, the team members burst into laughter. Dohae also laughed along with them, but one eyebrow twisted slightly.
Stupid bastard. An elite who graduated from Hunter High School and even Jangmak University’s Hunter Department makes a rookie mistake and causes an hour delay? How did a bastard like that get into my team?
He was furious that the newly joining team members were all trash. Ten bastards like that might be worse than just having one Noh Pyeonghwa.
Dohae’s true feelings were hidden behind a perfect mask that no one could know. Even though it had been over six years since the team was formed, Dohae didn’t give affection to his team members. Since he didn’t know which of them was the rat bastard planted by Do Jeongwang, he just decided not to trust any of them.
—Honey, you’re back?
Byun Taehui, who had been sleeping in the back of the bus, rubbed his eyes, got up, and approached Dohae. Dohae frowned at Byun Taehui reeking of alcohol. So now he drinks even while working. He was a pathetic human being.
—Wow, the Team Leader must be tired too. He even gives work as a personal manager to his cousin, and yet he drinks like that while working…….
—Seriously. I heard the Vice Guild Master completely cut ties with him too? They say he clings to our kind Team Leader like that because the string was cut.
—Deputy, weren’t you close with Hunter Byun? I saw you drinking together last time.
—Me? We’re close. But there’s no one Byun Taehui isn’t close with. You have to at least have a good personality to live like that. Right?
Even though Byun Taehui was hearing all the team members’ gossip, his expression seemed unaffected.
Byun Taehui blew air from the side, spreading the smell of alcohol. Dohae didn’t want to deal with him, so he crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
Returning to the guild, Dohae washed his body in his personal shower room and changed clothes. Since he wasn’t the type to procrastinate, he immediately wrote a report on the A-rank Gate he’d cleared today.
