# Chapter 101
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Hyegang’s eyes were as cold as the Arctic as he stared at his brother whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.
When Hyegang saw Hyeseong coming in with Iyeon, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost. After staring intently with wide eyes for quite a while, Hyegang asked, “…Hyung?” and Hyeseong immediately spread his arms wide and ran to his younger brother.
However, Hyeseong failed to hug Hyegang because Hyegang firmly extended his arm to stop him.
“Cut the nonsense and explain the situation. What is this?”
Hyeseong, quickly deflated, began rambling excuses. Most of it was nonsense. His attitude was completely different from when he had grabbed Iyeon by the collar earlier.
“You seem to be collecting all sorts of things.”
While Hyeseong was squirming under Hyegang’s gaze, Sano chimed in as if he’d been waiting for the chance. Iyeon leaned back against the chair and grumbled.
“Hey, it was practically an assault. Do you know how embarrassing it was when Lee Hyeseong-ssi grabbed me by the collar in the middle of the street?”
Sano’s gaze flickered to Iyeon’s collar. He had thought the clothes looked wrinkled as if they had been improperly dried, but apparently Iyeon had been through quite an ordeal.
“Couldn’t you break free from a simple collar grab?”
“How am I supposed to beat Lee Hyeseong-ssi with physical strength?”
“Why not.”
Now that he paid attention, there was an unusually fierce light in Sano’s voice. Iyeon asked with confusion.
“Don’t you know Lee Hyeseong-ssi? He’s a Tier 4 hunter. He’s really famous.”
“Why should I care?”
Right, this guy wouldn’t watch things like TV. It would be more strange if he knew who Hyeseong was. Iyeon obligingly introduced Hyeseong.
“He’s a Mugunghwa Tier 4 hunter with strength enhancement superpowers. And judging by the looks of it… he seems to be Hyegang’s older brother.”
The latter part was said with some reluctance. Looking at his face, it was obvious that he was Hyegang’s brother, but Iyeon never expected his identity to be Lee Hyeseong. Come to think of it, they had the same surname and even used the same generational character in their names. Now that he knew the truth, he belatedly noticed the hints. Just then, Hyegang turned his head and apologized.
“Iyeon hyung, I’m sorry. My brother is being a nuisance, isn’t he?”
“Well, no…”
Unable to bluntly say “yes” in response, Iyeon let his words trail off ambiguously. Encouraged by this, Hyegang continued to interrogate Hyeseong.
“So, how did you find out about Iyeon hyung? And how did you know about this place? Don’t tell me you investigated him?”
Hyeseong maintained a peculiar silence on that question. It meant there was something he felt guilty about. However, when Hyegang glared at him again, he began to confess reluctantly.
“We haven’t been in touch for a long time.”
“You mean you didn’t contact me.”
“During that time, I saw your photo on SNS. I wanted to check on my brother whom I hadn’t seen in a long time…”
Hyeseong didn’t finish his sentence, but Hyegang understood the rest perfectly.
“So you investigated him?”
Hyeseong denied it with a solemn face.
“Investigation? I just looked into the unknown man who was with you.”
“That’s an investigation.”
Hyegang responded indifferently and demanded to see the SNS timeline to verify. Hyegang did have an SNS account, but he mostly used it just to browse, and even if he actually used it, he had never posted photos of himself. He had no idea what photo his brother was talking about. Faced with Hyegang’s disbelieving expression, Hyeseong readily handed over his phone with his SNS open.
“Ah, this…”
Hyegang groaned as soon as he saw it and frowned. It was the event photo he had taken when they went to the hotel and were asked to pose in exchange for a room upgrade. Come to think of it, he had taken it with Iyeon. Looking at the photo, he finally remembered.
“Do you see the number of likes? How famous do you think it has to be for it to reach even me?”
Checking the like count at Hyeseong’s prompting, it had easily exceeded six digits. Hyegang was shocked.
“What? It’s not even a special photo…”
“Not special? It turned out well.”
While Hyeseong gazed at the photo with satisfaction, Hyegang’s gaze remained skeptical.
“So the first thing you did after returning to the country was to meet Iyeon hyung?”
It was absurd that the person he wanted to meet even before his own brother was his brother’s coworker whom he had never met before. Actually, even the expression “meet” was somewhat inaccurate, strictly speaking. In response to Hyegang’s incredulous question, Hyeseong’s face quickly hardened.
“What could be more important than this? I cannot accept it.”
“Accept what?”
An elegant finger pointed sharply at Iyeon. Suddenly, all eyes were on him.
“You’re too good to be dating a man like that!”
“What?”
“Excuse me?”
Both Hyegang and Iyeon were startled by the nonsense that came out of nowhere. Their eyes were so wide open that their eyeballs looked like they might pop out. However, Hyeseong was surprisingly serious.
“I don’t want to blame your taste, but as your brother, I’m worried given your age. No matter how I look at it, he’s a mediocre man! And a hotel, no less—can you imagine how I felt discovering this on SNS?”
“No, no. Wait a minute…”
“What? Are you saying I’m wrong?”
Hyeseong glared at Iyeon’s stammering response.
“Are you saying I misunderstood? Didn’t you meet our Hyegang when he was twenty?”
That was true.
“Didn’t you decide to hire him after meeting him for just one day?”
…That was also true.
“And our Hyegang frequently works irregular hours and overtime!”
…That’s because of the nature of the job…
“On top of that, you’re living with another man!”
…
“I’m sure you went to the hotel pool, applied sunscreen for him, went for walks, had romantic dinners, watched fireworks—you must have had quite a time! It’s so obvious even without seeing it.”
Well, they did do all of that… Unable to deny any of Hyeseong’s eerily accurate statements, Hyeseong seemed to think he’d caught them and became even more agitated.
“I won’t listen to any more excuses!”
This was so unfair it made Iyeon want to jump up in frustration. The situation matched what Hyeseong described, but the truth wasn’t like that! However, Hyeseong had already labeled Iyeon as a shameless predator who had devoured his young brother. It was the first time Iyeon had been so annoyed by someone’s prejudice. Unable to stand it anymore, Hyegang shouted.
“Why would we be dating? We’re just colleagues.”
“Did this man tell you to say that?”
Hyeseong glared at Iyeon, rolling his eyes as if he wouldn’t let it slide if that were true. His unusually white sclera flashed menacingly. Momentarily overwhelmed by the intensity, Iyeon unconsciously moved closer to Sano. Seeing this, Hyeseong’s eyes became even fiercer.
“How dare you hide behind your live-in boyfriend in front of Hyegang!”
A thunderous roar echoed throughout the office.
Iyeon had no idea where to even begin correcting these misunderstandings. No, was it even possible to clear up these misunderstandings? Hyeseong wouldn’t believe them even though the person directly involved denied it. Iyeon had never seen such an impenetrable shield before.
“We really… really aren’t dating…”
Iyeon’s mumbling voice seemed somewhat tearful. If it were true, he wouldn’t feel so wronged—having no dating experience yet being accused of being a playboy… Life was bitter.
Perhaps Iyeon looked quite pathetic, because Hyeseong’s already unfriendly gaze became even more skeptical. He eventually began consoling Hyegang.
“Hyegang, do you really like a man like this? Did he get some leverage on you? You can tell your brother. I’ll take care of it.”
“No, we really aren’t dating.”
“Think about it again. This ordinary man is only a Mugunghwa Tier 2!”
“I’m Tier 1.”
“That’s different! You’re a talented hacker!”
Despite Hyegang’s cold response, Hyeseong was remarkably undeterred. Iyeon was confused about how to react to this two-faced rhetoric that put him down while boosting Hyegang’s self-esteem.
“You just want us to break up, right?”
“That’s right!”
“Then let’s say we were dating, and now we’ll break up. Happy?”
Hyegang seemed too tired to explain and fabricated a relationship. But Hyeseong wasn’t easily fooled.
“Do you think I’ll fall for such a transparent trick? Leave solid evidence!”
It was then that Sano opened his mouth.
“Evidence is all you need?”
Everyone’s attention turned to the supposedly “live-in boyfriend” who had been quiet all along. Sano slightly turned to look at Iyeon sitting beside him. …What? Feeling instinctively ominous, Iyeon frowned, but before he could, Sano lowered his head.
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
Silent screams filled the office.
Among them, Iyeon was undoubtedly the most shocked. As the soft sensation touched his lips, his mind went completely blank. L-l-lips…
Regardless of whether a person turned to stone or not, Sano whispered slowly so that only Iyeon could hear, their lips still pressed together. The feeling of their lips brushing against each other was chilling.
“Play along.”
It was a strangely menacing voice.
