First of all, I was in a state where I wasn’t even sure whether that tartar sauce guild or whatever actually existed.
It was a guild I had only known as someone’s nonsense, bragging, or fantasy. How much must it have been that I concluded it was merely a legend or myth created by the wishes of illegal miners who desired utopia?
‘Come on. If it were a real guild, why would everyone stay stuck at damn Demeter instead of transferring there?’
‘Exactly. It’s not like I’m desperately clinging to Demeter because I’m thrilled to death with it.’
‘Dowoon. You’ve heard of the afterlife, right? Tartaros is a similar concept to that. Since life is so tough, they created a place to lean on and rely on.’
It was a subject that not only I but other miners would talk about like an oral legend. The only person who showed faith that it wasn’t a groundless rumor was that middle-aged man who died embracing me in the explosion gap.
Yoon Minoh looked at Yeo Dowoon’s reaction and said carefully.
“If hyung acts cute, I’d want to pluck the stars from the sky for you, but I can’t help it with this.”
A short sigh flowed as if it was regrettable.
“Hyung, you know roughly about the miners’ situation too. Don’t act like a newbie.”
“Do the circumstances from 10 years ago still apply now?”
“Well, yeah. It’s an inherently conservative industry and… hmm. Nothing’s changed except that they’ve gone deeper into hiding.”
After the collapse of Demeter, the new guilds and mid-sized guilds changed the existing rules and chose an extreme mysticism system. They hadn’t operated on land originally, but even the external work they had maintained was completely halted. The guild leaders avoided national surveillance while staying so secluded that death rumors spread about them.
Yoon Minoh’s palm smoothly swept up Yeo Dowoon’s shaggy hair. He added.
“If someone who’s a guild leader boldly appears saying they’ll answer questions from a registered Esper.”
“…”
“It’s a divine revelation to leave the guild.”
Come to think of it, he had too many errands recently to stop by a barbershop. Perhaps because of that, Yeo Dowoon didn’t rebuke his physical contact and left it be. It felt like his field of vision had widened, so it wasn’t that unpleasant.
“Still, if fate connects us, we can meet, so don’t be disappointed. The guild leader ahjussi wants to see hyung too. Though not particularly in a positive sense.”
Yoon Minoh, who muttered affably, curved his eyes charmingly.
He really liked that Yeo Dowoon’s eyes were reflecting him. He just wanted to firmly grab the waist of the man looking up at him quietly and kiss him deeply. While sucking on his upper lip until satisfied.
This person’s neck, ears, and chin were also desirable. He was confident he could taste them voraciously.
“This worked out well. If you want to meet, you should meet.”
“…Huh?”
Yeo Dowoon answered gently while grabbing Yoon Minoh’s collar. Yoon Minoh smacked his lips at Yeo Dowoon’s face confronted at close range. A hunger of unknown origin was felt in his chest.
Gulp. He who made his Adam’s apple ripple narrowed his eyes drowsily.
“Should we continue the rest of the discussion after making out?”
Yoon Minoh, who turned his head at an angle good for kissing, asked quietly. His lips were so close they seemed about to touch but not quite, about to interlock but not quite, slightly apart, burning his heart. But Yeo Dowoon never let him bite his tongue.
“Tell the hard-to-see guild leader-ssi. To find another suitable person.”
If it was a project where he had to participate in a subordinate position, there was no reason for him to step forward.
Since proper prior consultation wasn’t taking place, he could roughly guess what kind of attitude change they would show upon the project’s completion.
“I don’t want to waste time for a bastard who’s busy hiding in an already stuck life.”
He didn’t know what purpose Tartaros was established for, but the guild leaders’ thought processes were almost similar. They gather you if you’re useful, and discard you after the juice is squeezed out.
When Yeo Dowoon, having finished his business, threw him aside as if there was nothing more to see, Yoon Minoh rushed over with a complicated expression as if bearing a burden.
“…Just, just meet the guild leader?”
It was because he made a hasty judgment as the fish that had almost come over was trying to escape by breaking through the net.
This bastard is young after all.
Yeo Dowoon gazed at Yoon Minoh’s hand gripping his clothes and repeated.
“That’s the first condition.”
“What, you’re even adding conditions!”
“Should I not say it?”
“Say it, damn it! I’ll report it as is.”
Perhaps because Yeo Dowoon’s outward attitude looked very resolute, Yoon Minoh crumpled his entire face but did his best with his mouth to respect his will.
“Just know this one thing. I can’t guarantee how the results will turn out either.”
“Your role ends there anyway. I’ll discuss the second condition when I meet the guild leader.”
“…Isn’t this too much even if you do it? Can you still call yourself human after doing this?”
“The one who’s too much isn’t me, it’s you. You don’t even answer questions properly, but you want a lot, talking about projects and whatnot. Is your conscience intact?”
There was a truckload of questions he had passed over thinking ‘whatever’ even though he couldn’t reasonably accept them.
“Questions? What questions?”
But Yoon Minoh brazenly snorted.
His memory was definitely worse than mine.
That damn day during a leisurely weekend in vacation season when I couldn’t resist his persistent request and visited a high school in the outskirts! The fact that I met some school teacher and a cognitive-type Esper and experienced an absurd situation felt so meaningless.
“Have you ever asked me a serious question, hyung? Weren’t they all insults or curses?”
Even at that time, I must have thrown at least ten or more questions at Yoon Minoh.
But that bastard Yoon Minoh seized control with his dazzling eloquence, and as a result, I returned to the base after desperately using only my abilities without getting satisfactory answers.
“Oho, looks like you have nothing to say even with ten mouths?”
Therefore, Yeo Dowoon determined there was no need to argue back and forth with Yoon Minoh. Even if he made a deal over the project matter, it seemed he should have an in-depth conversation with the guild leader.
“Right. Actually, I’ve never asked any questions.”
Yeo Dowoon, who slowly shook his head, agreed in a calm tone.
To avoid getting caught up in Yoon Minoh’s cynical way of speaking, it was wise to quickly raise both hands and feet like this. Just, he would spit out a surrender declaration before he could corner him. Yeo Dowoon said.
“I’m a really terrible bastard. So the remaining topic, when I meet the guild leader…”
Then Yoon Minoh suddenly cut off the sentence.
“You might regret it when you actually see his face.”
Raising his arm that had been pushed away, he gently curled up a few of Yeo Dowoon’s fingers. Quite fortunately, Yeo Dowoon didn’t coldly refuse even that careful touch. Yoon Minoh advised.
“Our guild leader is definitely not an easy type. He’s sinister beyond being gloomy. The most difficult, overwhelming, and picky person I’ve ever met in my life.”
His skill in disparaging the head of the guild he belonged to was no joke.
“Sometimes when I look at him, his insides seem pitch black, and other times when I look, conversely they seem pure white. He goes back and forth so you can’t get a read on him at all. It’s funny to watch, but he’s not hyung’s type.”
Looking at the natural flow, it seemed he had often gossiped with others too. Yoon Minoh pressed their palms together firmly. He interlocked their fingers and gently rubbed between them.
“If I play the role of a bridge between hyung and the guild leader.”
Perhaps because the friction continued, cold sweat kept forming. Yoon Minoh, who grabbed Yeo Dowoon’s slippery wet hand and brought it to his lips, scattered his breath. His tongue that leisurely protruded savored the salty taste.
“Can I settle down in hyung’s house for the time being?”
Yeo Dowoon felt as if his entire hand was being chewed up. Even though it wasn’t bitten with teeth clenched, his skin throbbed hotly. Yoon Minoh, who sucked and released his calloused fingertip, confessed.
“The dormitory is lonely because it’s just me. It’s the worst for mental health too. My sides are cold, my depression grows. It’s questionable whether it’s even a place where people live.”
Although Yoon Minoh seemed very far from the word depression, Yeo Dowoon didn’t start an argument. If the price for providing an empty room was a meeting with the guild leader, he should agree without weighing it.
However, he deliberately took his time. As he just stared vacantly, as expected, Yoon Minoh lowered his conditions. Even so, Yeo Dowoon didn’t let go of his coldness. It was a strategic stance.
“Ah, okay. Then I’ll impose on you only during the pair period. You know the deadline specified in the contract? That one.”
“…”
“Ha… 10 years? They say when you get older, 10 years pass in the blink of an eye, so let’s trust that and live together. Later on, hyung might be the one desperately clinging to my pant legs out of regret, so keep that in mind.”
A deal was, in other words, a game of chicken. A game of who gets exhausted and falls out first.
Yeo Dowoon exercised his right to remain silent, and Yoon Minoh fidgeted like someone urgently needing the bathroom. Finally, he raised the white flag and put an end to the tedious territorial dispute.
“I can’t concede any more. One year.”
Yoon Minoh’s clear face as he extended his hand requesting a handshake looked unusual. He organized carefully.
“Project <Liberation> will conclude within a year at the latest, and I just want to be fully loved by hyung’s side during that time. I won’t pick the lock and barge in to attack you, so don’t worry.”
“Wanting to be loved isn’t my concern, but don’t treat me like a con artist if you don’t get it.”
When Yeo Dowoon responded to the handshake, a verbal contract was barely concluded. As if pleased with the deal achieved through a difficult process, Yoon Minoh threw himself into his embrace and asserted confidently.
“It’s okay. I’ve come to believe that hyung will eventually love me.”
Crazy bastard.
When I sharply told him it was baseless belief, he smiled even more broadly. It was the freshness befitting someone just twenty years old.
“That’s how everyone starts. Like getting wet in drizzle, gradually and silently.”
