# Chapter 201
The phenomenon of monsters swarming and ganging up on Lee Hwan had disappeared. Monsters no longer seemed desperate to tear his flesh piece by piece.
However, instead, dark creatures would randomly cling to him or try to bite him and drag him to their nests.
‘Whew, whew… I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d be captured by a rabbit, seriously…’
Jade, who had entered with him for a test run, took five photos of a giant rabbit the size of a motorcycle carrying Lee Hwan away in its mouth.
He was so delighted. The usually expressionless man who only bluntly uttered “yes” or “no” laughed until he cried that day.
Fortunately, while wearing pheromones made monsters less bloodthirsty and easier to kill, it was also a new problem that Taesung would go berserk before Lee Hwan could swing his knife.
Monsters that put their feet, muzzles, or tendrils on Lee Hwan’s body were miserably burned and killed.
‘By-products! Need! To collect! How many! Times! Do I have to say it!’
S-rank hunters were something else—even when Lee Hwan smacked him hard on the back, he showed no sign of pain…
Lee Hwan immediately guessed that future hunts with him wouldn’t be so easy.
“Should we have added bacon?”
“Want me to go grill some?”
“No, if someone goes to get it, they can’t eat together.”
At Lee Hwan’s refusal, Taesung smiled slightly.
He always became such a smiley person when alone with Lee Hwan.
Lee Hwan had liked this side of him before too. In any case, it seemed Taesung knew what Lee Hwan liked better than Lee Hwan himself.
‘Well, it worked out well.’
Whether or not cult-like religious groups were outraged that immoral Awakened ones weren’t paying the price for using divine power, professional Hunters would now have their penalties reduced and live more comfortable lives.
And Lee Hwan and Taesung were regression Hunters who knew exactly which hidden rooms would appear with what rewards in which Gates.
Not to mention they were loaded with useful skills.
‘Lottery? Why would I buy that?’
Guaranteed, their future could only be smooth.
But despite having lives where they could just play around and only run Gates once every few years, they got temporary jobs. When someone who had cooperated in the Naru operation asked for their help, how could they turn away?
And so, Lee Hwan and Taesung became affiliated with the Management Bureau, working primarily in human combat in the department managed by Beolmae for the time being.
The Management Bureau, which had gained significant attention through the Naru Gate incident, struck while the iron was hot and also assigned them promotional roles. Lee Hwan naturally gained more opportunities to appear in various media.
Taesung, who had never liked such things, refused in a rude tone, telling them not to try anything funny in front of the camera, but his growing fanbase provided a blood shield for him, understanding he’d been through hard times because of the Naru incident.
Comments 18 ▼
[SweetCuddlyAesung-DeliciousOnly…] Aesung can be like that
[Hinki] Aesung was always rude, why are you guys complaining now?ㅋㅋ Despite going through bad things, it’s good to see him not losing his original self
[SongSal] His ability is fire, so he’s trying to control the temperature by blowing some cold air—those without understanding can just not stan him
└ [EH-sungLOVE] 222 Newcomers have no patience
└ [Yorang] 33333 He’s saved the earth 1384138 times just by wearing a uniform, so don’t shamelessly expect warm words too
[TrueFireFly] But seriously listen, when he’s with his new brown-haired friend, his expression subtly softens~ It’s the same emotionless face, but as someone who’s been caught taking photos of Aesung, I can tell the temperature difference~~T0T
└ [TteaMe] Whoa? Could it be that our Aesung finally has a friend?
└ [MarryFireAttribute] Whoa, could it be that our Aesung finally has a lover?
└ [AesungCool] Yeah, better for you to stan the brown-haired guy than Na-fes
└ [MarryFireAttribute] Brown-haired guyㄱㅇㅇ
And anyway, whenever Lee Hwan agreed to appear, Taesung would follow him to the scene even though he wouldn’t participate. Just like before the regression, watching him from a distance.
‘…Such an adorable, precious kid.’
Taesung had regained his cool, cold, and perfect demeanor in front of others. So Lee Hwan was probably the only one who called him cute.
Especially Jade, who, after hearing that word once, looked at Taesung with goosebumps for a while.
But Lee Hwan particularly liked that. To the point where he wondered why he hadn’t noticed this side before.
Come to think of it, back then, it seemed like Taesung was desperately trying to look cool…
Clatter, clack!
The sound of ice came from the cup where the drink had disappeared. Lee Hwan, who had been lost in various thoughts while chewing nuts fifty times, belatedly came to his senses.
In one corner of the table where his blank gaze landed, there was a brown leather notebook that had been casually tossed earlier. It was a diary he was using after a very long time.
‘I’ve been writing quite consistently even though there’s no one to check it…’
Since being discharged from the hospital, he had been writing in the notebook to separate the memories of regression from reality. To avoid struggling with the flood of memories, to stop the nightmares he had every night.
It definitely worked. He still had nightmares occasionally, but sometimes he didn’t suffer in those dreams.
‘…I’m dying again and Kang Taesung isn’t here? This is a dream. It’s a dream…’
He was a man who had regressed eight times based on a single promise to Lee Hwan. Could there be a more certain indicator?
And so, before going to sleep, Lee Hwan would briefly summarize the day’s events in one or two lines.
It wasn’t a difficult task. Just reducing all the ups and downs, removing personal circumstances and opinions, and writing down only the highly condensed facts.
Looking at those short, calm results, even their years of hardship sometimes felt like nothing more than a stepping stone toward happiness.
Lee Hwan was slowly regaining stability there too. It felt like all the pain he had experienced was flying away and disappearing like a mirage.
‘It started out really well.’
Of course, at some point, the diary began to be filled with stories about Taesung.
[Got a job with Kang Taesung: Food provided by the government doesn’t taste good.]
[Went into Gates with Kang Taesung again. Didn’t get kidnapped.]
[Watched TV all day with Kang Taesung. The same special about the 9 Mongsoonie siblings I watched when I was in the support team before the regression was aired.]
Honestly, he did it because it was annoying to write something new every day. Well, still, it meant that Taesung was always in his daily life and in his mind, so Lee Hwan realized anew how much he liked him.
He had no intention of saying it out loud because it was embarrassing, but anyway, that’s how it was.
Poke.
Lee Hwan, staring at his half-eaten food, randomly poked Taesung’s thigh sitting next to him.
Swallowing the strawberry in his mouth, Taesung slightly raised his eyebrows, asking what was wrong with his expression.
“Hmm…”
There wasn’t a particular reason he touched him. Just, suddenly, he liked him more. Sitting separately made him want to touch, and after touching, he wanted to hug.
Lee Hwan drew zigzag lines with his fork through the syrup from the bean compote on his plate, then suddenly spread his arms toward Taesung, who was quietly watching.
“Hug me.”
A command or a joke? A demand that always came out half like a nuisance because he couldn’t overcome his embarrassment. It was a seduction typical of Lee Hwan.
Of course, Taesung quite liked it. Specifically, every time Lee Hwan did something cringeworthy despite his embarrassment, he absolutely loved that bright red face.
Clearly, it seemed like Lee Hwan had said with his own mouth a few days ago that it was draining when he clung to him from morning, so don’t touch during meals, but…
As always, Taesung didn’t unnecessarily resist and eagerly embraced him.
Clang! The sound of a fork dropping.
“Just a hug?”
At the meaningful question, Lee Hwan made a giggling sound. When white hands pulled Taesung’s chin for a kiss, he pounced on Lee Hwan with a whoosh, and the chair made a scraping sound.
The table followed, being pushed with a thud and shaking greatly. The diary that had been written the previous evening, sitting at the table outside rather than in the room, fell to the floor with a fluttering sound.
Thud. On the blue notebook that fell face down while open, the title written with pressure:
Taesung had asked about its meaning once before, but Lee Hwan never told him.
“Why are your hands so cold?”
“Haven’t you considered that it’s not me being cold, but you being hot?”
“It’s quite lukewarm here.”
“Hey? Where are you putting your hand?”
Someday when the notebook was filled, Lee Hwan planned to summarize their journey on the last page. As usual, in two or three lines, simple but sentimental.
Perhaps like this…
[After regression, two Hunters prevented the world’s destruction and survived.]
[And friends became lovers.]
He was still pondering the last sentence to add.
Wavering between ‘They lived happily ever after’ and ‘They stuck together forever.’
Lost in these thoughts, feeling his lips being bitten and clothes being lifted, Lee Hwan deeply inhaled the scent of the person he couldn’t help but be excited by. The feeling of chuckling was transmitted through their lips.
A heart warming in response…
His warmth always penetrated to the heart like this, sometimes making even the future seem optimistically certain. A pleasantly languid breath escaped between Lee Hwan’s lips.
At the end of all things, hardships fly away, and only each other’s warmth remains. Putting a period on the long regression, that’s how he felt.
“Shall we go to the sofa?”
“Wait, ah, mmm…”
Still ninety thousand ri of days to live. He didn’t think the remaining days would be just peaceful. But instead of struggling in despair, Lee Hwan would now find people. And fortunately, his person didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving his side.
This is what they had regressed for, just the two of them, to the point of boredom. So long, hard, and happily.
‘A worthwhile struggle.’
That was the final sentiment Lee Hwan recalled as he felt the breath touching his neck.
Glancing back, neat letters were written on the notebook.
[For morning and evening reading]
