The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 93
Cha Eui-jae kept his mouth shut. To be honest, the biggest reason he had pushed Lee Sa-young away was that he couldn’t fully show his fighting skills, but it was also partly true that he sent him to protect the kids.
However, Cha Eui-jae had learned something through several experiences. If he answered too honestly…
Lee Sa-young would get upset.
To appease this guy, he had to wrap his words in bubble wrap. Very softly and gently. Cha Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck and answered nonchalantly.
“No… I trusted you. I sent you on purpose to protect the kids. You did well.”
“Ah… So you trusted me. I didn’t know that.”
Lee Sa-young crossed his arms and smiled, curling his lips while narrowing his eyes.
“When someone reaches out their hand and gets kicked away, it makes you think, ‘Is this all our relationship amounts to?’ Don’t you think? I also wondered if my abilities were lacking. My self-esteem took a bit of a hit.”
“What self-esteem…”
“I’ve never been rejected like this before.”
Lee Sa-young started talking nonsense with a beautifully smiling face. Luckily, it didn’t seem like he was genuinely offended since he didn’t turn his head away. Cha Eui-jae muttered with a pout.
“You’re being ridiculous, really…”
Lee Sa-young looked at Cha Eui-jae’s unblemished face and spoke in a low voice while crossing his arms.
“Anyway, just try doing that again next time.”
“And what if I do?”
“Um…”
Cha Eui-jae squinted at Lee Sa-young, thinking he might be bluffing, but Lee Sa-young was surprisingly serious. His long eyelashes cast thin shadows around his eyes.
“…I don’t know.”
“…”
“Just… Let’s say there won’t be a next time. That would be better.”
“…”
With that murmur, Lee Sa-young clamped his mouth shut, seemingly lost in thought. The pretty smile that had hung on his face earlier had disappeared as if swallowed by shadows.
Cha Eui-jae quietly observed his face and noticed black blood on his pale lips. Reaching out, Cha Eui-jae wiped away the black blood with his thumb, clicking his tongue.
“But why are your lips like this? Did you get hit by debris or something?”
“…What?”
Lee Sa-young, who had been deep in thought, flinched and widened his eyes. His eyes landed on the black substance smeared on Cha Eui-jae’s hand.
Snap! Lee Sa-young urgently grabbed Cha Eui-jae’s hand. He couldn’t hide his surprise, pausing for a moment before releasing Cha Eui-jae’s hand and rummaging through his inventory. Cha Eui-jae frowned and asked.
“What’s up with you?”
“Why did you just…!”
Lee Sa-young pulled out a bottle, crushed the cap, and poured the purple liquid directly onto Cha Eui-jae’s hand.
Cha Eui-jae let out a short groan at the peculiar sensation rising from his hand. The sticky and viscous liquid covered his hand. Lee Sa-young, who firmly held his squirming hand, poured a healing potion over it again. His actions were so quick that even Cha Eui-jae couldn’t find a moment to intervene.
Looking dazedly at Lee Sa-young, Cha Eui-jae’s hand now drenched in various liquids, he asked.
“What is this…”
Lee Sa-young irritably threw the empty bottle away. The sound of the bottle shattering against some ruins echoed. With a suddenly cold expression, Lee Sa-young sneered.
“Didn’t you almost die last time and still didn’t learn anything?”
At this point, Cha Eui-jae felt wronged. How many times had he said it? That he was fine. That Lee Sa-young’s poison didn’t affect him. He had practically sung it, but the one who didn’t listen was Lee Sa-young.
Cha Eui-jae shook his soaked hand dry.
“I’m really fine. You never listen to a word I say, do you?”
“How can someone be so careless…”
“At least pretend to listen, you idiot.”
Cha Eui-jae grabbed Lee Sa-young by the collar. A sweet scent wafted from him as he got close.
At eye level, Cha Eui-jae saw Lee Sa-young’s torn lips. For a moment, Cha Eui-jae thought absurdly that to calm Lee Sa-young’s endless distrust, he might have to drink his blood.
Just then, a large black hand covered Cha Eui-jae’s face. Cha Eui-jae grabbed the hand, grimacing.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought you were about to have strange thoughts, so I’m blocking your view.”
“What strange thoughts?”
“It’s natural for anyone to have strange thoughts when adrenaline is pumping. I understand.”
“Stop talking nonsense, seriously.”
“Okay, but you need to calm down too. Isn’t it been a while since you last fought a monster?”
Cha Eui-jae’s heart was still racing, showing no sign of slowing down. His heartbeat was loud enough for anyone with good hearing to pick up. Only then did Cha Eui-jae slowly relax his tensed shoulders. He rubbed his temple with his thumb as if praising himself.
“Yeah… just like that.”
Lee Sa-young, who had been muttering incomprehensible things, finally removed his hand after some time. He fiddled with his disheveled bangs, straightening them out, and then let go completely.
“Now, let’s wrap up this talk…”
Lee Sa-young sat on the remains of a building that was at a convenient height, crossing his legs. He then looked at Cha Eui-jae and patted the seat next to him, signaling him to sit.
‘Do I really have to?’
Cha Eui-jae shook his head reluctantly. But Lee Sa-young was more persistent than expected. He grabbed Cha Eui-jae’s arm and started pulling. Although Cha Eui-jae could resist, having a strength contest in front of Hong Ye-seong, who was lying on the ground with sparkling eyes, and Yoon Ga-eul, who was wide-eyed, seemed inappropriate. Cha Eui-jae sighed shortly and sat next to Lee Sa-young, barely perching on the edge.
Finally, Lee Sa-young nodded his chin towards the two uninvited guests.
“You must have a reason for coming here, right, you two?”
“…”
Yoon Ga-eul lowered her head deeply. Hong Ye-seong turned his head away.
“This dungeon belongs to the Pado Guild, as you should have noticed if your eyes are working properly…”
“We didn’t know.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Tsk.”
Hong Ye-seong’s brazen lie was instantly cut off by Lee Sa-young. Hong Ye-seong pouted his lips like a duck and turned his head away. Cha Eui-jae, having escaped the treatment of an intruder, quietly leaned back, trying to avoid Lee Sa-young’s gaze.
Lee Sa-young crossed his arms, fiddling with his lips with his thumb, and smiled, using his handsome face to its full extent. It was a beautiful smile, incongruous with the ruins.
“Okay…”
“…”
“Speak up properly. I’ll listen. It would be better to be honest.”
It sounded like he was just going to listen. His long eyelashes fluttered.
“If you don’t want to go to court for illegal dungeon trespassing.”
Is there even such a law now? Cha Eui-jae, who had been listening quietly, was astonished. The saying that laws change slowly apparently didn’t apply to matters related to awakeners. And from the moment the court was mentioned, Hong Ye-seong played dead, lying limp on the ground.
“Yeah, well.”
Yoon Ga-eul bravely opened her mouth but turned her head away, looking at Lee Sa-young’s face. She picked up Kkokko, who had been crushing Hong Ye-seong’s face, and hid her own face behind it, continuing to speak.
“We urgently needed to investigate an eroded dungeon… This was the closest one I knew of. We’re really sorry for sneaking in.”
“No matter how urgent it is… You should go through the proper procedures, right? I think you would know such basic protocols.”
“That, that’s true. But it’s just…”
Lee Sa-young coldly extended his hand.
“If it’s that urgent, that proud Ham Seok-jeong would have given you some sort of confirmation. Hand it over.”
“Well, uh… oh?”
Yoon Ga-eul’s eyes widened as she fumbled around.
“Wait a moment.”
“If you’re trying to change the subject…”
“I’m really sorry, but this is really important. Just a moment!”
She suddenly stood up and started running somewhere, past Lee Sa-young and Cha Eui-jae. She was stumbling but didn’t hesitate. Kkokko quickly followed her, wiggling its head. They were heading towards the remains of the collapsed golem. Cha Eui-jae was about to get up and follow when a black hand grabbed his arm again. It was Lee Sa-young.
“Where are you going?”
“She’s heading to the golem alone.”
“After completely shattering the core so that it can’t revive at all, what…”
Lee Sa-young snickered and pulled on Cha Eui-jae’s arm again. The grip wasn’t strong, but that made it harder to shake off.
“There are no monster presences around, right? The dungeon owner is dead, so it’s safe for now. She can handle that on her own.”
“…”
“We still need to investigate this dungeon. There must be a reason it was suddenly reconstructed. So…”
Lee Sa-young, who had been spouting sensible points, rested his head on Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder. Cha Eui-jae momentarily held his breath. The low voice drilled into his ear.
“Stay here quietly. Next to me.”
“…”
“…Leaving you behind once is enough.”
A leather-clad hand gripped his wrist tightly. Cha Eui-jae didn’t shake off that hand. Instead, he covered the warmth encircling his wrist with his own hand. Long, black fingers entwined with his firm hand as if waiting for this moment.
It was truly strange. Every time Lee Sa-young acted like this, a strange sense of déjà vu would arise. In such moments, someone who had surely already died would surface in Cha Eui-jae’s mind.
At that very moment,
“Found it! Ah! I found it!”
Somehow, Yoon Ga-eul poked her head out of a black hole in the golem’s heart.
She roughly wiped the dust off her face with her sleeve and waved something she held in her hand. That shining fragment, glittering like a kaleidoscope in Yoon Ga-eul’s hand, was something even Cha Eui-jae had seen before—
“It’s a fragment!”
A fragment of the world.
