# Chapter 48
The image of Junseo’s face, as white as a freshly washed cabbage stalk, floated into Dohyuk’s mind. Due to his lack of imagination, even the Junseo running around in Dohyuk’s head was smiling brightly as usual. He was truly adorable.
Dohyuk was genuinely perplexed, but since he had no desire to discuss Junseo further with Sangjun, who enjoyed belittling Junseo, he kept his mouth shut.
After walking for a while and examining their surroundings again, Sangjun made a decision when the traces they had just passed appeared once more.
“Let’s destroy the area. Since those guys have already noticed us and are playing with us anyway, there’s no need to act nice. I’ll define the range, and Esper Choi Dohyuk can handle the cleanup.”
“Yes. I’ll focus on getting back to base rather than hunting.”
The core was the most important thing. They needed to find the Changgwi nest first and then track the core. So it was still too early to start hunting.
Boom!
No sooner had Sangjun nodded at Dohyuk’s words than all the surrounding trees collapsed. The ground shook violently, but no dust rose, as if he was controlling even the direction of the wind. Dohyuk observed the surroundings while melting away everything that blocked his view with poisonous energy.
Black poison energy rippled ominously with each step Dohyuk took. He freely released his power, assured that the cat in his arms wouldn’t be affected by the poison energy and that Sangjun, being a higher-ranked ability user, would be safe too.
Strangely, it felt liberating, as if he could take flight at any moment. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he’d moved with the explicit purpose of destruction like this.
Before long, all the collapsed trees surrounding them had melted to the point where their forms were no longer recognizable. While Dohyuk let out a languid sigh of satisfaction, as if he had burst something that had been suppressed for a long time, he tried not to take in the surrounding scenery. The more he looked at the desolate surroundings, the more he questioned his own nature for finding satisfaction in such things.
What soothed his mood as it began to sink again was the feather-light weight. The cat in Dohyuk’s arms had started to rub its head against him as he began to hesitantly gather his energy. The sensation made his chest area feel ticklish. Its purring sound was like a softly flowing stream.
“It really seems to like Esper Choi Dohyuk’s ability.”
Sangjun, who had briefly disappeared to survey the newly opened area, suddenly appeared. Judging by his empty hands, he hadn’t found anything.
“Ah.”
Despite holding the cat for nearly an hour already, Dohyuk still froze up like a malfunctioning machine whenever it moved. Finding this amusing, Sangjun narrowed his eyes. His long fingers casually scratched the cat’s head.
“It’s quite handsome. Not mangy at all. You would have been Changgwi food if you’d met us a little later. Aren’t you grateful to me?”
Meowwwr!
“Ouch!”
Sangjun exaggerated his pain after being bitten by the cat, though he had suspected it might happen when he started petting against the grain of its fur.
“Why does this feel so familiar and irritating?”
Despite having petted it incorrectly, Sangjun seemed emotionally wounded.
Showing his finger to Dohyuk as if to prove a point—despite there being no visible wound unless it had been cut by a sharply honed blade—Sangjun sighed.
That black head. That irritating gaze. Yet rubbing its head obediently for Esper Choi Dohyuk.
Just as Sangjun was about to piece together some kind of puzzle, Dohyuk’s voice crumbled his thoughts.
“Esper Ji Sangjun, please be careful and don’t get too close. You might get bitten again. Judging by how it likes my poison, it could be a poisonous monster…”
“You’re quite good at subtly telling me to stop bothering the cat and back off, aren’t you?”
“……”
It seemed Sangjun had hit the nail on the head, judging by how Dohyuk couldn’t respond to what was just a casual comment.
Sangjun lamented.
“I’m the one who got bitten, but instead of scolding the perpetrator… Should I say that Esper Choi Dohyuk is also vulnerable to visual stimuli? You like anything that’s even a little cute, don’t you?”
“…By the way, it seems you couldn’t find Gulkak.”
Sangjun decided to pretend not to notice Dohyuk’s obvious attempt to change the subject.
“That’s right. Even setting aside Iol, I thought we’d at least discover Gulkak, who was playing tricks within our range once the view cleared.”
The abilities of Sangjun and Dohyuk had destroyed everything within a radius of about 150 meters, creating a small clearing in the center of the jungle.
A normal Changgwi should have been within this distance to be able to play tricks on its prey. That’s why they thought they’d at least catch a glimpse of its tail after causing this much destruction.
After contemplating for a while, Sangjun pointed to the jungle in the direction where the marked trees were located and said to Dohyuk.
“Shall we move and test again? To see if the Changgwi ran away, or if it can influence from an even wider area.”
“But is radio contact with the base still not working?”
“The radio seems to be completely broken.”
“Could the base be in danger?”
“If it’s indeed the Changgwi keeping us tied here, it’s a bit worrying, but hey! We’ve got Esper Seo Jaesik and Yu Junseo there.”
“…Leaving aside Esper Seo Jaesik, shouldn’t we be worried about Guide Yu Junseo?”
Dohyuk couldn’t understand Sangjun’s attitude toward Junseo at all. Was he saying it was a relief that Junseo was at the base where he could be in danger? When Dohyuk unconsciously sharpened his tone, Sangjun looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
Sangjun belatedly realized.
That gaze. Yes, Esper Choi Dohyuk towards Yu Junseo.
“You see him like a baby rabbit with an injured leg…”
“Excuse me?”
He lost the energy to respond. Though it was his own words, Sangjun shuddered and hurried his pace, trembling. For different reasons than with Junseo, he lost the desire to converse with Dohyuk. People make their own fate, so what could others do about it?
They truly were a well-matched pair.
***
While Sangjun and Dohyuk were destroying the surroundings, the monster seemed to have fled.
After that, they were able to follow the traces without getting lost and reach the base. They were greeted by a somewhat tired-looking Jaesik and Junseo, whose face was still radiant. It seemed they had scanned outside the base, noticed the two returning, and come out to the perimeter to meet them in advance.
Junseo, who had been standing next to Jaesik with a languid expression, smiled like a child tasting fruit after a long wait the moment he spotted Dohyuk. It was a change of expression noticeable even from a distance.
Dohyuk already felt his accumulated fatigue dissipating from the smiling warmth generated by Junseo’s downward-sloping eyes.
Junseo, who had rounded his mouth as if about to call him “hyung,” closed his lips once and then reopened them, pretending nothing as he quickly walked over.
“Esper Choi Dohyuk! I was worried. Did something happen? There was a really, really scary incident at the base earlier.”
It was a tone that acted childishly, like an innocent kid. Jaesik’s expression crumpled at the voice full of aegyo, but no one paid attention.
“Hey, surprisingly, I’m here too.”
Junseo naturally ignored Sangjun and turned to approach Dohyuk.
As if about to spend some accumulated aegyo, just as Junseo extended his hand to wrap around Dohyuk’s slim waist, it happened.
Squawk!
When something soft at Dohyuk’s waist asserted its presence, Junseo, who had been too preoccupied with meeting Dohyuk’s eyes, belatedly noticed it. The pitch-black thing, like Dohyuk’s combat uniform, puffed up its body and hissed angrily, as if upset that an unfamiliar person had touched it without permission.
“Wait, …seems it was startled.”
Dohyuk, who had stepped back from Junseo, gently stroked the cat with an awkward but soft touch, as if to soothe it. When he even released a bit of poison energy from his fingertips to improve its mood, the cat, seemingly forgetting its anger, began to lick Dohyuk’s fingertips as if receiving a treat. Its narrowed eyes seemed to express its excited mood.
Junseo looked at the cat licking Dohyuk’s bare hand as if it belonged to itself.
“What is this?”
The black eyes and red eyes stared clearly at each other.
“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary cat.”
As Junseo trailed off while gazing at the reddish eyes like a sunset, the answer came from elsewhere. It was Sangjun.
“Ah, that. We picked it up because it was suspicious. Be careful, as it looks like a monster or a mutant no matter how you look at it.”
Sangjun added that the creature had mercilessly bitten his finger, but since there was no visible injury, even Jaesik didn’t pay much attention.
Junseo tilted his head, sliding his gaze to Dohyuk. His fine, smooth hair easily became disheveled even with small movements. Just as Dohyuk blinked in confusion, noticing a subtle complaint in Junseo’s eyes:
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
Seeing Junseo about to express some dissatisfaction, Sangjun irritably cut him off and started walking ahead.
“We need to contact headquarters first, and also check our radio again, so let’s talk as we go. We’ll administer drugs to it once we reach the base, so don’t worry.”
Only Junseo keenly noticed Dohyuk’s expression darkening at those words. Sangjun, who had been hurrying his steps, suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Jaesik:
“Esper Seo Jaesik, was everything okay at the base?”
