“Ahem! Forgiven.”
“Oh my, really? Thank you!”
“I have potions in the fridge, I’ll give you some. Just a sec.”
Pyeonghwa got up from the sofa and ran to the refrigerator. How much would he need to drink for injuries of that degree? Maybe about seven cans would do? Pyeonghwa took out ‘Apologies’ from the refrigerator and stacked them neatly on one arm.
“But our Pyeonghwa has… so many items? Even though you don’t go into Gates.”
“……”
“Your streaming income must be huge. Is this why everyone quits being Hunters? Hehe!”
“Uh, w-well… you see……”
When Pyeonghwa buried his face in the refrigerator and mumbled evasively, Dohae clicked his tongue. If he came to apologize, he should just apologize, but he had to subtly touch on such an uncomfortable topic. He could only sigh at Pyeonghwa, who easily forgave such a bastard and took out potion items saying he’d treat him—he really seemed clueless about the world.
“If you’re done apologizing, get out, Byun Taehui.”
“Hm? What about you, honey? I have a schedule, I need to go to the salon now.”
“I have something to talk about with Noh Pyeonghwa. Wait in the car.”
“Oh my, what are you two planning to do behind my back? Really, you said he was a kid before~.”
“Ha, won’t you fuck off?”
Byun Taehui lightly caught the car keys Dohae threw irritably. Byun Taehui hunched over, seemingly in pain from his broken ribs, and hobbled to the entrance to put on his shoes. Pyeonghwa was about to go give him ‘Apologies’, but Dohae stretched out his arm to block his way.
“Sit.”
“I’ll just give Bongsuk noona the potion and come back.”
“That bastard deserves to hurt. Don’t be a pushover and sit.”
“Yep.”
Pyeonghwa obediently sat in front of him. Meanwhile, Byun Taehui opened the front door and left, leaving only Dohae and Pyeonghwa in the house.
Dohae’s blue eyes stared at Pyeonghwa silently. Pyeonghwa felt unnecessarily shy and couldn’t meet his eyes, fidgeting with his hands.
“Don’t trust Byun Taehui. Not because of what he did to you, but we’re not really close. The reason he’s stuck by my side is also because of orders.”
“Huh? That didn’t seem like it. Bongsuk noona seemed to cherish you like a real younger sibling……”
“Me? Ha, absolutely not, so listen. He’s a bastard who’ll kill you first if things go wrong.”
“Ssuup, okie.”
Even though Dohae was seriously warning him, Pyeonghwa didn’t seem to think deeply about it, which annoyed him. Until he could perfectly decode the code words Byun Taehui and Byun Sejung had exchanged, he couldn’t hold Byun Taehui’s leash, so he had to keep him in check.
‘I can’t keep staying by his side either.’
After all, the only option was to make the weak Noh Pyeonghwa stronger. Dohae took out a tablet PC from the bag he’d brought. When he showed the first page of the PPT he’d made, Pyeonghwa asked with a bewildered face.
“Noh Pyeonghwa Physical Enhancement Project…… what’s this?”
“That terminal illness you mentioned back then, I know it’s because of a Constellation.”
“……I can’t talk about it.”
“If it’s because of a Constellation, we can solve it, so read it.”
Pyeonghwa turned to the next page of the PPT. A daily schedule was written in detail. Training, training, training, meal, training, training, training, sleep…… This Saturday at dawn, go through three D-rank dungeons…… The meal plan was also terrible. Chicken breast, chicken breast, chicken breast……!
“From that part onward, I’ve written in detail the most efficient training methods to raise your stats based on my experience. I’ll send it to you by email, so……”
“No, why would I do this? Even if I do this, I can’t become as strong as you, hyung!”
“Do you need to be as strong as me?”
“……Way more than you, hyung.”
To save this world, wouldn’t he need to be much stronger than an S-rank Hunter? Recently he’d been investing points in stats, but the accumulation speed was getting slower, which was a problem. His subscriber count and views kept increasing, but he wasn’t receiving as much attention as when he first appeared.
Pyeonghwa’s gameplay was also hit or miss. When matched with strong opponents, he’d get excited and fly around, but when he met weak opponents, his energy dropped significantly. Could he even save the world like this? Every time he thought about the future, he felt like darkness was before his eyes.
Dohae nodded as if he roughly understood despite Pyeonghwa’s subjectless statement.
“Looks like you got stuck with a shitty Constellation. What’s the Constellation’s name?”
“Agreon.”
“Never heard of it. What’s its epithet?”
“They said it’s the Constellation of Division and Conflict.”
A Constellation’s nature follows its epithet. Division and Conflict—it clearly wasn’t a gentle Constellation. In a way, it was also a very Noh Pyeonghwa-like Constellation.
Actually, even training according to the schedule he’d made, it was impossible to go from D-rank to A-rank in just 10 months. But having to surpass S-rank to survive, what on earth did the Constellation do……
Dohae tapped the table with his finger wearing a flashy ring. As long as he wore this ring, he couldn’t let Noh Pyeonghwa die.
“Don’t give up. I’ll help you.”
“……Hyuuung!”
Tears welled up in Pyeonghwa’s eyes. Pyeonghwa firmly grabbed Dohae’s hand and pulled it toward himself, bowing his head deeply. He started rubbing his cheeks wildly against the back of his hand, filling his daily confession quota.
“Hyung, I love you. Really, really love you so much. I’ll keep saying it until you accept me, so if you get tired of it, please accept me… *sniff sniff*, your hand smells good too, hyung. It’s soft…… ack!”
Smack!
When Pyeonghwa’s hot breath touched his skin, goosebumps rose. Dohae roughly pulled his hand away and flicked Pyeonghwa’s forehead. Perhaps he’d put in more force than intended—Pyeonghwa held his reddened forehead and made a tearful face.
“Hyung, I don’t want to be an abused husband!”
“Shut up, and starting tomorrow, wake up at 4 AM and follow that schedule. Stop gaming now.”
Dohae said while taking out a handkerchief and roughly wiping the back of his hand where Pyeonghwa’s saliva had touched. Pyeonghwa looked down at the hellish schedule with not even one second of break time and was horrified.
“A-according to this schedule? Then when do I rest? When do I meet with you, hyung…!”
“When you go to Gates, I’ll follow too. I’ll watch from afar and intervene when your life is in danger……”
“I don’t want to go to Gates! I’m scared!”
“Ha, do you still think you’re my lover? If you want to live, get a grip, don’t whine!”
When Dohae growled with cold eyes shining, his golden aura felt like a dagger stabbing his heart. Pyeonghwa, who’d gotten scared and shriveled up, shut his mouth tight like a clam.
‘Hyung doesn’t know anything……!’
To become stronger, normal methods wouldn’t work. He needed to do area-wide provocation to gather aggro points. That’s why he was gaming and streaming……
“Tomorrow at 4 AM. Listen.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Fuck, Noh Pyeonghwa!”
“I have a different way to get stronger!”
“What is it!”
“Aggr……!”
<Warning! (╬▔皿▔)╯ Silence is recommended.>
“General Store……!”
<Warning! (╬▔皿▔)╯ Silence is recommended.>
When he tried to talk about aggro points and the general store, warning windows appeared consecutively. If he spoke like this, he’d spill blood like last time. Pyeonghwa made up a story with a tearful face.
“Gaming.”
“Gaming? How with gaming?”
“I don’t know. When I finish gaming and come out, my stats are up and my skill levels are up too! That’s why I keep gaming, okay? Tch, acting like you know when you don’t! I’m gaming because I want to live too, so annoying!”
“……”
Pyeonghwa, who’d shouted as if venting, flinched when he saw Dohae lowering his gaze without saying anything. When he should be trying to make a good impression, he’d been irritable. What if his affection dropped? Pyeonghwa anxiously watched Dohae’s reaction.
Dohae, who’d been deep in thought, gathered his bag and stood up. Pyeonghwa’s anxious gaze followed him.
“Tch, I’ll have to remake the plan.”
“Remake it? Hyung, you believe what I said?”
“If I don’t believe you? Is there another way? We can compare after a month and see if what you said is true.”
“Hyuuung!”
Pyeonghwa jumped up and wrapped his arms around Dohae’s waist. Dohae lightly pushed Pyeonghwa away and moved his steps toward the entrance. Pyeonghwa followed closely behind. Pyeonghwa took advantage of the moment Dohae was putting on his shoes and rushed into his arms again.
“Stop clinging! What are you, some dog bastard?”
“Gasp! I’m like a dog bastard?”
Pyeonghwa blushed and felt embarrassed. Why the hell does this bastard like it when he’s cursing? Dohae’s head started throbbing again.
“Bongsuk noona said. That you take care of me because I’m like a dog, hyung. I didn’t like it because animals have no room for development. But if you like it, hyung, I’ll just be a dog.”
“Don’t say useless things and get off.”
“If you pat my head, I’ll let go. Ah! Don’t push me away. Please. Yeah? Hyuuung…..”
“Ha, so annoying……”
Dohae placed his hand on Pyeonghwa’s head while showing obvious displeasure. Perhaps because it was semi-curly, it was fluffy and soft. As Dohae stroked the duck egg-shaped back of his head, he thought. From now on, he shouldn’t use the curse “dog bastard” in front of Noh Pyeonghwa…….
“Then when are you coming next? Should I come to you? I want to see your house too, hyung.”
“Saturday evening. You can’t come to my house.”
“Ah, Saturday is so fucking far away. If you made me fall for you, shouldn’t you guarantee at least one Dohae per day? The welfare at this house is shit, but only the face welfare is goo……”
“Shh, wait.”
