The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 265

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A bitter, ominous smell lingered from the hand touching his cheek— a scent that seemed almost a physical embodiment of death. Strange. Didn’t Lee Sa-young’s hand usually smell sweet? But that thought vanished as Cha Eui-jae’s body shuddered violently. For some reason, breathing became difficult. The weight of pressure pressed down on him, suffocatingly heavy.

Cha Eui-jae’s gaze darted around in anxiety. As his breathing quickened, Lee Sa-young immediately pulled his hand back, stepping back two paces.

“…Hyung.”

Even hearing his voice didn’t calm him; instead, it made his body jerk with fright. His already shocked body refused to settle down.

‘Damn it, what’s happening to me?’

Cha Eui-jae squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth as he buried half his head into the stiff pillow. His breathing only grew more rapid, gasping as he tilted his head back, cold sweat trickling down his neck. Anxiety. Fear. Oddly, tears filled his eyes. Was he… afraid? Of what?

Lee Sa-young?

His fingers pressed painfully into his palms. His limbs shook, curling inward. It was his own body, but it didn’t feel like it. Everything felt foreign, even the sensation of being watched on his skin. Tears pooled in his eyes, trailing down his cheeks and temples.

He was terrified.

Like an animal freezing when faced with a predator. He felt vulnerable. For the first time in his life. Cha Eui-jae forced himself to speak, his lips trembling.

“Sa…”

But then—

“Don’t… do this.”

The quivering voice cut him off. Cha Eui-jae forced his eyes open. Beyond his blurry vision, Lee Sa-young had already backed away, his hands gripping the gas mask tightly. His hands looked like they were trembling.

“Don’t…”

He pressed something like a button. Soon, the sounds of hurried footsteps filled the room. The door slid open, and Nam Woo-jin’s voice rang out.

“J, are you awake—”

“Something’s wrong with his condition!”

“Let’s administer a sedative first…”

With that flurry of noise, his vision darkened once again. Damn it, more precious time wasted…

Was Lee Sa-young okay?

The thought cut off there.

***

[162 hours until the death of entity J]

As soon as Cha Eui-jae opened his heavy eyes, he stared at the numbers in front of him. Great, he’d lost another two hours. He wiggled his hands a bit; his wrists were still tied, though looser than before.

He sighed and looked around. Again, there was a figure in a gas mask sitting in the far corner of the hospital room, away from the bed. The person sat on a makeshift chair, reading a book. He couldn’t see what kind of book it was.

“Lee Sa-young.”

He was sure the person heard him, but there was no response. Cha Eui-jae cleared his dry throat and raised his voice.

“Lee Sa-young.”

“…I can hear you without you calling me so loudly.”

“Then why didn’t you respond?”

“…”

Lee Sa-young clammed up again, and Cha Eui-jae stared at him. The feeling of pressure and fear he’d felt just before passing out had completely dissipated. Maybe it was because of the distance between them.

So that’s how he wanted to play it. Cha Eui-jae tugged at his bound wrists, making a rattling noise on purpose.

“My hands are uncomfortable.”

“Deal with it. I tied them as loosely as I could.”

The sound of pages turning reached his ears.

“It wasn’t easy to tie you up according to civilian standards…”

“Civilian?”

“I heard that… at times like this, you become as weak as a civilian.”

“…”

“You’d struggle with your weakened body, unable to control yourself. So it’s better for you to stay tied up.”

“Hey, shouldn’t I be trying to adapt to this weaker body instead?”

“Ha…”

Another page turned, and Lee Sa-young muttered with a hint of a mocking laugh.

“Do you actually want to roll around, bleeding all over the floor again? Seems like you’ve picked up a strange hobby…”

“You could just hold me back.”

“…”

There was a brief pause. Lee Sa-young closed his book with a thud and sighed, sweeping back his disheveled hair.

“Why… so you can faint from fear again?”

“…”

“Why don’t you just go all the way and faint with foam in your mouth?”

“…Sorry.”

Cha Eui-jae apologized, but Lee Sa-young didn’t reply. Instead, he got up from the chair. The gas mask hid his expression as he looked at Cha Eui-jae for a moment, then turned away.

“I think it’s better if there’s someone else here to take care of you.”

“What?”

“Just stay put. Someone will come by soon.”

“Hey, wait! I have something to say!”

Without listening any further, Lee Sa-young opened the door and stormed out. Bam! He closed the sliding door so hard that it bounced back and stayed half open. Cha Eui-jae stared at the open door with a blank look. I’m supposed to die in 162 hours, and he won’t even listen?

‘…Was it really that shocking?’

Cha Eui-jae clenched and unclenched his bound hands. When he had faced Lee Sa-young head-on, he had been consumed with intense fear. Was that the pressure people talked about with S-grades? He had only heard about it, never experienced it firsthand.

“…”

It must have been shocking. Not just anyone, but him— Cha Eui-jae —was actually afraid of Lee Sa-young. If Lee Sa-young had seen Cha Eui-jae trembling in fear…

‘Ah…’

He was probably reflecting on every mistake he’d ever made from A to Z. Cha Eui-jae let out a sigh. Just then, he heard footsteps. He turned his head toward the door.

A woman in a white coat, with brown hair, and a crest of the Seowon Guild on her arm, appeared in the doorway. She looked very familiar. Before he knew it, he spoke with an unexpectedly warm tone.

“Student Ga-eul?”

It was Yoon Ga-eul of this world, looking just as the one he had glimpsed in the fragment.

“Pardon? Oh.”

Her eyes widened, and then she covered her mouth with a giggle.

“Oh, sorry! It’s been so long since you called me that. It brings back memories.”

Ah, the Yoon Ga-eul of this world wasn’t a student anymore. Cha Eui-jae blinked. With her hair down and glasses off, she still looked young, but there was an air of maturity about her. She looked brighter than in the weary version he’d seen in the fragment.

She bustled around, tidying up the hospital room. Now that he thought about it, she wasn’t at all surprised to see his uncovered face. Did he not make an effort to hide his face here?

After organizing things, Yoon Ga-eul came closer to his bed with a sympathetic look on her face.

“I heard you fell out of bed… are your wrists okay? And your eyes are swollen…”

“…Not okay.”

If anyone would release him, it’d be Yoon Ga-eul. Cha Eui-jae quickly answered, adding a hint of melancholy with his well-honed acting skills.

“Could you untie me? It’s a little uncomfortable…”

Yoon Ga-eul looked downcast as well and placed a warm towel over his eyes.

“I’m sorry. Hunter Lee Sa-young made me promise not to let you loose.”

“That guy… What did he say?”

“Well… he said that if I didn’t want to see the whole Seowon Guild dead, I absolutely couldn’t release you…”

Did he threaten her? Cha Eui-jae’s eyes widened under the towel. And that wasn’t the end. Yoon Ga-eul sighed deeply.

“What else was it… oh, he mentioned that he lost his memory and was having trouble controlling his powers, so I shouldn’t provoke him. Did he really lose his memory? I don’t know if that’s why, but he seems more fierce than before.”

“…”

“That’s why Team Leader Jung Bin even dropped other tasks to follow Hunter Lee Sa-young. To make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble…”

That maniac. Using his memory loss to his advantage? And even interfering with a busy person’s work! He felt a headache coming on.

“Well… still…”

Yoon Ga-eul came closer to the bed and reached out, intentionally looking the other way. Then, pretending not to notice, she swiftly untied the cord binding his wrists. She had said all that and then just released him? Why? Cha Eui-jae lifted the damp towel with his newly freed hands, only to see Yoon Ga-eul smiling with a finger to her lips.

“While I’m here, it’ll be better for both of us if you’re comfortable. But when I leave, I’ll have to tie you back up… I hope you can understand.”

“Ga-eul…”

With his body weakened, maybe even his heart had softened. He felt a pang of emotion, and tears pricked his eyes. Student Yoon Ga-eul was treating him so kindly, while that jerk Lee Sa-young wouldn’t even come close. He understood, but still. Sniffling, Cha Eui-jae rubbed his wrists, which bore a clear red mark from the binding. How weak was this body if such a faint restraint could leave marks?

After checking the IV, Yoon Ga-eul asked him.

“How are you feeling? Everyone is worried, including the doctor and team leader Jung Bin.”

“Um… I’m fine.”

“All you ever say is that you’re fine, so it’s hard to tell if it’s true or not. If anything hurts, tell us right away. I heard you told the doctor you were fine, only to faint right after.”

“No, I really was fine until then.”

If anything, it was Lee Sa-young who knocked him out… with a hug. His waist and stomach still ached. Cha Eui-jae lifted the loose hem of his hospital gown to look at his abdomen. The bruise was still there, blue and purple. Normally, bruises like this wouldn’t have left a mark. Or more accurately, he wouldn’t have even gotten bruised in the first place.

Yoon Ga-eul gasped, covering her mouth.

“Oh my… what happened to your waist and stomach? D-did someone hit you?”

“Huh? No.”

Well, he did get hit… with something like love? While she looked over his bruise with a worried expression, Yoon Ga-eul mumbled to herself.

“Was it Hunter Lee Sa-young?”

That was correct, though he stayed silent, unable to come up with an excuse. Yoon Ga-eul’s expression hardened, and she clenched her fists.

“Oh my… he knows what a fragile state your body’s in, so how could he do such a thing…?”

“No, he didn’t do it on purpose…”

“I can’t just let this go!”

“No, I’m telling you, it was an accident!”

“Even so, how could he…”

“He’s just… not great at controlling his strength.”