In the end, the victor was Lee Kanghyun.
After a lengthy argument, he was able to triumphantly climb into the passenger seat.
Of course, he had to endure Kang Yujun’s murderous glare as the price, but it was a hundred times better than walking.
Taxis didn’t even come to this remote area.
A heavy silence filled the car.
They had exhausted themselves fighting—grabbing each other by the collar, kicking, even damaging the car. It was, so to speak, a ceasefire.
Kang Yujun held the steering wheel with one hand and pressed his throbbing temple firmly with the other.
He was already tired just thinking about the repairs, but seeing Lee Kanghyun dozing off beside him made his heart soften again.
“Haa…”
Kang Yujun let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
“Let’s go eat.”
“Home, not food.”
“Stop talking nonsense. You didn’t eat anything proper, did you?”
“I’m tired. I just want to go home and sleep.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re going to skip another meal? That’s why you’re so skinny. I made a reservation at a Korean beef restaurant, so stop complaining and follow me.”
Kang Yujun replied firmly and turned the steering wheel toward the restaurant. Lee Kanghyun opened his eyes irritably and pointed at himself with his finger.
“Hey. If you have eyes, take a look. You want me to go to a restaurant looking like this? You trying to make people faint?”
His condition was truly a sight to behold. His clothes had melted from poison and were in tatters, and blood covered him from his hair to the tips of his shoes.
“If I walk into a restaurant like this, I’ll get reported immediately, you idiot. Food or whatever—I want to wash up.”
Only then did Kang Yujun show an expression of realization.
Lee Kanghyun had been so energetically squawking and getting angry that he had momentarily forgotten the fact that he was injured.
When they stopped at a traffic light, Kang Yujun sighed and reset the navigation route to home.
“So why did you cough up blood? And why did your clothes melt?”
Lee Kanghyun turned his head toward the window, subtly avoiding eye contact.
“Just… well. It happened while fighting.”
“It happened while fighting? And that’s how you ended up showered in blood?”
“It was a bit tricky.”
Lee Kanghyun gave a vague answer while pretending to yawn.
If he told the truth—’I wanted to go home quickly so I drank poison and charged in like a madman’—this time it wouldn’t be the car bumper but Kang Yujun’s lid that would fly off.
Kang Yujun stared intently at Lee Kanghyun’s profile in the rearview mirror.
Seeing his somewhat evasive attitude and the way he avoided eye contact while playing dumb, he was certain.
It was 100 percent. He had definitely done something crazy again.
Did he charge in recklessly again because it was annoying?
The circumstantial evidence was clear. He wanted to stop the car right now, grab him by the collar, and make him confess the truth.
“Haa…”
Kang Yujun let out a deep sigh and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel.
There was no point in interrogating him further—arguing with someone who would just lie down and say, “Ah, I don’t know! Do your worst!” would only make his own mouth hurt.
The probability of hearing the truth from Lee Kanghyun was lower than the possibility of the neighbor’s dog walking on two legs one day.
Besides, there were plenty of witnesses. If he asked the team members assigned to Lee Kanghyun, he would quickly get the full story.
Of course, Kang Yujun didn’t know that the team members’ perspective was severely distorted.
“Fine. Got it for now.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Kanghyun felt relieved that he wasn’t being questioned further and burrowed deeper into his seat again.
Silence returned. Just as drowsiness washed over him the moment his tension eased and Lee Kanghyun began to doze off—
“Then let’s do this.”
“…Mm?”
Lee Kanghyun forced his eyes open and looked at him. What, what is he trying to do now?
“You don’t have to get out of the car.”
It felt ominous. His S-rank Hunter instincts were sending danger signals.
“What kind of bullsh— Hey! Why are you turning on your blinker! We need to go straight here to get home!”
Kang Yujun roughly turned the steering wheel.
A large fast-food restaurant’s drive-through sign came into view. Kang Yujun entered the lane directly.
“You’ve been starving all day. I need to feed you something to feel at ease.”
“No, look at me. I look like a murder suspect right now—if people see me like this, there’ll be chaos again!”
Lee Kanghyun protested, waving his blood-caked clothes.
“It’s fine. You’re in the car—who’s going to see?”
“Aren’t you thinking about your popularity? There are fans who memorize your license plate number!”
“This is a new car I just got, so no one knows it yet. And you’re the one who kicked and dented it… hah…”
Kang Yujun took a deep breath, seemingly getting pissed off all over again.
“Be quiet. I’m ordering.”
He composed himself and rolled down the window.
“I’d like four bulgogi burger sets here, and please change the cola to large…”
Is he crazy? Four sets? Who’s supposed to eat all that?
Lee Kanghyun swallowed his curse and curled up as much as possible. His clothes had no hood, so he couldn’t pull anything over himself. He covered his face with his hands and buried his head toward the dashboard.
Being like this made him feel a bit like a criminal being taken away, which was oddly uncomfortable.
After finishing the order, the car slowly moved forward again. The closer they got to the window, the more Lee Kanghyun’s heart pounded.
He hadn’t been this nervous even when hunting monsters.
Kang Yujun glanced at Lee Kanghyun’s pathetic state, sighed, and pointed to the glove box.
“There’s a cap inside. Wear it.”
You could’ve said that earlier. Grumbling internally, Lee Kanghyun quickly opened the glove box and pulled the cap over his head. Still not feeling reassured, he kept his head bowed low.
Whirr—
The window rolled down, and just as Kang Yujun was about to receive the prepared food—
The part-timer who had been casually handing over the burger sets widened their eyes.
“Uh…? Uhhh?!”
“Wow! Kang Yujun?! You’re Hunter Kang Yujun, right?”
At those words, other employees from inside the store rushed toward the window saying, “What? Kang Yujun?”
“Oh my god! It’s really him! Incredible! He’s way more handsome in person!”
“This is insane. Hyung! I’m a fan!”
A mini fan meeting broke out in an instant.
Kang Yujun immediately put on the mask of a reliable national hero—unbelievable for someone who had just been childishly grabbing Lee Kanghyun by the collar and fighting—and flashed a personable smile.
“Hello. Thank you for your hard work.”
When he smiled with his eyes, everyone got flustered and excited.
“You’re the one who works hard, Hunter! Did you just finish clearing a Gate and are heading home now?”
While Kang Yujun was dealing with the fans, Lee Kanghyun in the passenger seat had practically stopped breathing and stayed quiet. He was scrunched up as if trying to crawl inside the glove box.
Absolutely cannot get caught. Getting spotted here was the last thing he wanted.
Just then, one curious part-timer stood on tiptoes and peered into the car.
“Huh? But who’s sitting next to…”
Cold sweat ran down Lee Kanghyun’s spine.
No, who the hell looks inside a customer’s car without permission? Kang Yujun just needed to get the burgers and leave—why was he bothering to engage with everyone?
Maybe because it was late at night and there weren’t many people, all the part-timers had swarmed over to peek in.
Lee Kanghyun’s blood-soaked clothes and suspicious posture looked like a criminal’s to anyone.
He wanted to kick Kang Yujun.
Read the room, please. Let’s just go.
However, Kang Yujun, who had no idea what Lee Kanghyun was thinking, smiled as if troubled and gently patted the head of Lee Kanghyun, who was crouched beside him.
Goosebumps rose all over Lee Kanghyun’s body. What the hell is this bastard doing now?
“He’s my friend, and today’s Gate raid was a bit tough on him.”
“Ah…”
The part-timers’ eyes instantly changed to sympathy.
“Oh my. So that’s why there’s blood on his clothes…”
“Yes. Plus, this friend has a weak mentality and hates being in the spotlight. If I don’t take care of him, he can’t even eat.”
Who can’t even eat?! Lee Kanghyun was dumbfounded.
Kang Yujun was blatantly treating Lee Kanghyun like a simple-minded but kind-hearted friend.
“He was singing about wanting to eat hamburgers, so I brought him out.”
‘When did I? You’re the one who dragged me here!’
Lee Kanghyun wanted to shout right then and there.
“Hunter-nim is really kind.”
“Hang in there, friend! Yujun-nim is with you!”
However, the part-timers, won over by Kang Yujun’s image-making, even generously added complimentary cheese sticks to the shopping bag containing the burgers.
“Thank you. We’ll enjoy them.”
Kang Yujun smiled with perfect politeness until the very end and finally closed the window.
Vroom—
As soon as the car exited the drive-through, Lee Kanghyun straightened his crumpled body and practically bounced up.
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
“What now? You didn’t get caught.”
“A sick friend? Weak mentality? Am I a child? Huh?!”
“Then should I have said, ‘Oh, this is Lee Kanghyun, the murder case suspect, and he wants to hide his identity right now’?”
Kang Yujun replied shamelessly.
Lee Kanghyun was so outraged and frustrated he huffed angrily. However, contrary to his frustrated feelings, when the smell of hot french fries brushed past his nose, his stomach growled.
He hadn’t eaten a single meal and had been going through Gates all day. Had he barely appeased his mouth with the sausages the team members gave him? Of course he was hungry.
In the end, he surrendered to his appetite.
“…Give me the cheese sticks.”
“Sure. Eat a lot, my sick friend.”
As he bit into the cheese stick, he thought at least he was glad people didn’t recognize him.
Of course, that was a misconception.
“The one next to Kang Yujun was Lee Kanghyun, right?”
“I think so. Those two are always together.”
They had been caught from the start. Everyone just pretended not to notice because it was pitiful watching him desperately hide with his head buried.
