The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 322
The thumb that had pushed into his mouth groped around his soft flesh, tongue, the roof of his mouth. Was he out of his mind?! Cha Eui-jae couldn’t hold it in and bit down hard. With a sickening crunch, he felt the flesh give way, followed by a burst of sweetness. Only then did the finger pull out.
Blood trickled down from the round teeth marks on the thumb. Cha Eui-jae winced, cupped the thumb in his hands, and muttered,
“…Did that hurt?”
He hadn’t meant to bite down that hard. Trying to get rid of the strange sweetness lingering in his mouth, Cha Eui-jae ran his tongue across every corner of it. Meanwhile, Lee Sa-young stared fixedly at the hand covering the bite and mumbled.
“It’s real… It hurts.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“Could be a bad illusion… or a dream… maybe both…”
Instead of answering properly, Lee Sa-young began to mutter to himself. Cha Eui-jae felt a jolt of fear. He couldn’t read Lee Sa-young’s expression, his long, curly hair hung over his face like a curtain.
Cha Eui-jae reached out and brushed his hair aside. It was rougher than he remembered, tangling in his fingers. Violet eyes followed the motion of his hand.
“Lee Sa-young, are you okay?”
“…”
“Do you recognize me?”
Surely he wasn’t being ignored because of the mask. Or was Lee Sa-young about to choke him again, like last time? Cha Eui-jae gently fiddled with Lee Sa-young’s face, turning it this way and that like kneading dough. His vision seemed fine. His face, aside from being a bit thinner, looked the same. No scars or anything. Lee Sa-young let him do as he pleased, quietly surrendering to the rough hands.
This time, I can see him. I can touch him.
‘There’s no way Student Ga-eul’s ability suddenly got stronger…’
Then maybe Lee Sa-young had done something. Cha Eui-jae eyed him suspiciously.
“You can see me, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Uh-huh? Watch that tone. What did you do? Last time, you couldn’t even touch or see me.”
“Who knows?”
Cha Eui-jae grabbed both of Lee Sa-young’s cheeks and held his head still. Lee Sa-young, who had been resting his face in Cha Eui-jae’s palms with his eyes closed, peeked one eye open.
“Maybe this one’s real…”
“What?”
“Nothing… still not sure.”
Lee Sa-young wrapped his hands around the ones cupping his face. The bitten thumb brushed across the back of Cha Eui-jae’s hand as he whispered lazily.
“Could you hit me? Or bite again. Hmm, maybe choking would be simplest…”
A chill ran down Cha Eui-jae’s spine, memories of the nightmare creeping back. He quickly pulled his hands away from Lee Sa-young’s cheeks. He smacked away the hands that were beginning to cling to him.
“You really are out of your damn mind!”
“Why?”
“You, you… Are you really the Lee Sa-young I know? You’re not some freak or something?”
Lee Sa-young chuckled under his breath. Tilting his head smugly, he asked.
“And you… are you really Cha Eui-jae?”
“I don’t have time for some stupid game of twenty questions.”
“I’m asking because I’m not sure either.”
“Not sure?”
“Not sure if you’re the real Cha Eui-jae.”
“…”
“I’ve seen too much. I can’t tell what’s real anymore. But judging by the way you bite… maybe you are.”
Lee Sa-young tilted his head slightly. They were speaking the same language, yet their conversation didn’t connect. Everything Lee Sa-young said felt like it hovered just out of reach. Cha Eui-jae tried to follow his train of thought. So… he’s been seeing illusions? So many that he’s lost the ability to tell reality from fantasy?
‘Shit. This guy needs a hospital.’
Physical wounds can be healed, but wounds of the mind are a whole different story. Cha Eui-jae grabbed Lee Sa-young by the shoulders. Lee Sa-young just rolled his eyes toward Cha Eui-jae’s hands. Cha Eui-jae bit his lip and spoke slowly, each word deliberate.
“…This is why—”
“…”
“When I told you to come with me, you should’ve just come, you idiot!!”
Whack!
A clear, resounding crack rang through the air, as his hard mask collided squarely with Lee Sa-young’s bare forehead.
***
It seemed that only after taking a headbutt to the forehead did Lee Sa-young finally come to his senses. Well, of course he would. Taking a hit to the head from an S-grade and still being fine was something only another S-grade could handle. But now it was Cha Eui-jae who was plagued by doubts. He held Lee Sa-young’s soft cheeks and asked again.
“You really okay?”
“How many times are you going to ask? I said I’m fine.”
Lee Sa-young rubbed his head into Cha Eui-jae’s hand like an animal nuzzling. His lukewarm forehead and hair filled Cha Eui-jae’s palm. Cha Eui-jae sighed and gently rubbed Lee Sa-young’s now-reddened forehead.
“I mean, seeing my illusion isn’t normal. Not being able to tell the difference between illusion and reality isn’t either.”
“…And whose fault do you think that is?”
Lee Sa-young’s lazily drooping eyes turned sharp. His violet gaze flicked once in a circle and landed back on Cha Eui-jae. Goosebumps prickled along Cha Eui-jae’s nape. That gaze, he hadn’t seen it in a long time. That unhinged look.
“And you think you can just walk away after all that?”
“…What did I do?”
“Must’ve felt great, huh? Showing up out of nowhere, messing me up, then leaving.”
“Hey, you’re the one who started talking to ‘me’ in the first place! Of course I’d get pissed after seeing that, wouldn’t I?”
“Ah… So you saw all that too? What, want to say you watched me crawling around like a dog too?”
“I didn’t mean to see it… Wait, you were crawling? Why?”
Lee Sa-young let out a loud sigh, making sure Cha Eui-jae could hear it.
“Whatever. I didn’t know our noble hero had a voyeur kink… Then again, who else would cater to a taste like that… Now that I know, I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Keep what in mind?! That’s not it!”
“Oh, you weren’t asking me to indulge it? My bad, I thought…”
The snide remarks came so naturally it was hard to stay grounded. Cha Eui-jae hadn’t expected a touching reunion, sure, but he hadn’t expected this bickering either. The little brat! Cha Eui-jae squished Lee Sa-young’s cheeks like a fish.
“Seriously, is this how you greet your hyung? No joy at all, just sarcasm?”
“Who was it that scratched at someone holding it together just fine? Who showed up like a hallucination and vanished like one too? How would you feel?”
“Okay, now that’s just— what the hell are you even saying? What exactly did I do to deserve this?”
“Oh wow, so you don’t even know what you did. Aren’t you just perfect.”
This side of Lee Sa-young hadn’t shown up in a while either. The twisted, thorny Lee Sa-young, all tangled up like a knotted string. What was it this time? Cha Eui-jae racked his brain. He had playfully bumped his forehead and kissed him, told him to wait for the real him instead of a hollow shell, and promised he’d come back.
‘…I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?’
No matter how hard he thought, nothing seemed that bad. Lee Sa-young sneered again.
“I don’t even have to see your face to know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering what you did wrong, aren’t you?”
“…”
How sharp. And that’s with Cha Eui-jae’s face still hidden behind a mask.
But there was no time to waste pondering this. Time here was limited. One thing was for sure, if he disappeared like last time, Lee Sa-young would fall apart. Beyond saving.
Cha Eui-jae released Lee Sa-young’s cheeks and opened his arms wide.
“Okay, fine. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, exactly?”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Oh, wow…”
Lee Sa-young let out a short, bitter laugh. At this point, Cha Eui-jae had no other choice. Before the brat could start complaining more, he had to act.
Cha Eui-jae lunged forward with his arms still wide and pulled Lee Sa-young into a tight hug. The body in his arms stiffened instantly, and a sweet scent wafted up. He gently patted the back of Lee Sa-young’s head and whispered as if to brainwash him.
“I’m sorry. But we don’t have time to argue like this, okay?”
“…”
“I said I’m sorry. You heard me, right?”
“…And that’s what you call an apology?”
Lee Sa-young asked, incredulous. Cha Eui-jae pressed his mask against the ear peeking out from Lee Sa-young’s flushed face and messy hair, making a little smacking sound. Lee Sa-young’s neck flinched at the touch.
“What are you doing, seriously?”
“I said hyung is sorry.”
“You know saying sorry just to smooth things over is the worst, right?”
“I know, I know.”
“Like hell you do… You don’t know anything…”
Lee Sa-young’s voice, which had been full of venom, began to soften. Cha Eui-jae rubbed the side of his mask gently into Lee Sa-young’s hair and murmured.
“What do you mean I don’t know? Who knows you better than I do?”
“You don’t know.”
“Hey, you never tell me anything. If you teach me, I’ll memorize it all. I’ll study hard.”
“…You’re such an idiot.”
Lee Sa-young muttered sullenly. At this point, it was just a mild tantrum. And Cha Eui-jae wasn’t about to miss the timing. He lowered his voice, almost whispering.
“Wanna touch my face?”
The body in his arms tensed. Cha Eui-jae whispered again.
“Should I take off the mask for you?”
