Chapter 114 - Mission: Save the Hunter (BL)

The scene was where the female lead, Park Yeojoo, realized that the male lead, Lee Namjoo, had recently been buying unnecessary things like spinach and potatoes for kimchi stew and confronted him about it.

– Mr. Lee Namjoo, be honest. What on earth are you thinking? Did something happen?

– …Nothing happened.

– Nothing? If nothing happened, why… why did you buy so much spinach and potatoes? And Gangwon-do fresh potatoes at that!

Yeojoo shouted with an emotional face.

– Don't tell me… you're planning to make soybean paste stew, are you? No, not that. Anything but that. Just make red pepper paste stew instead. But not soybean paste… I can't bear to see you making soybean paste stew!

– What?

– Even when everyone else turned to soybean paste stew or seaweed soup, I believed you would stick with kimchi stew. I trusted you, so why…

When Yeojoo burst into tears, Namjoo sighed and eventually confessed.

– Don't misunderstand. I was planning to make potato kimchi stew. It's a new dish I'm working on.

– Potato… kimchi stew?

– Yes. Why would I make soybean paste stew? I'll always walk the path of kimchi stew, never turning to soybean paste or red pepper paste stews. It's my destiny…

Beep.

While Yoon Seo was absorbed in the emotional moment, Riceball started beeping for attention. Kwon Jihan gently tickled Riceball's back with his finger.

"Our little Riceball, the dads are watching a drama, so play by yourself for a bit. Hyung, can I use your phone for a moment?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Kwon Jihan downloaded an app on Yoon Seo's phone. It was a simple app with colorful fish swimming on the screen, and Riceball was extremely excited by it. Pretending to be a lizard, it flicked its long tongue to catch the fish. It was so cute that Yoon Seo wanted to take a picture, but since they only had one phone, he couldn't.

"Do you want to take a picture? I have my phone, you know."

Kwon Jihan, quick to catch on, handed over his phone, and Yoon Seo immediately turned on the camera to take photos of Riceball.

With the TV showing "Love in Han River," an adorable Riceball, and Kwon Jihan beside him, Yoon Seo felt at peace.

After enjoying the drama, it was time for bed.

There was only one bed, so Kwon Jihan had to sleep on the living room sofa, but he didn't object. He said all he needed was a pillow and lay down on the couch without complaint, stretching out with a pillow as if it were the most natural thing. Watching this, Yoon Seo felt a pang of guilt.

"…Hunter Kwon Jihan."

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we just sleep together? The bed's big enough."

"…"

Kwon Jihan, lying face down, remained silent for a moment before responding without even lifting his head.

"No, I'm comfortable here. Sleep well, hyung. See you in the morning."

Yoon Seo stared at the back of Kwon Jihan's black head before retreating to the bedroom.

Kwon Jihan's heart was pounding so loudly that it made Yoon Seo embarrassed for him.

***

Despite the noisy heartbeat, Yoon Seo surprisingly woke up feeling refreshed without any nightmares.

The first thing he saw upon leaving the bedroom was Kwon Jihan stretched out shirtless on the sofa, with Riceball resting on his firm chest, playing with it using his fingers.

As a man, Yoon Seo felt he should be disgusted by such a sight, but he couldn't look away.

"Did you sleep well? Your breathing was even."

"Why were you listening to my breathing?"

"What could I do? It was audible."

"Where did you put your clothes?"

"I took them off because I was overheating. I couldn't sleep, but hyung was sleeping so well. I felt a mix of frustration, relief, and I didn't want to wake you…."

Kwon Jihan chuckled as he sat up.

"Are you staring at my body too openly?"

"What can I do? It's right in front of me."

"True enough. Take a good look."

Kwon Jihan struck various poses in front of Yoon Seo, letting him feast his eyes before heading off to shower.

After a morning run, a refreshing wash, breakfast, and brushing their teeth, it was time to leave. While Yoon Seo got ready and stepped into the hallway, Kwon Jihan stayed behind, snapping pictures and saying, "I want to capture hyung's house on my phone."

***

[Soo Jaehee] Hyungs! Today's the S-rank raid, right? Good luck>_

Although the dungeon raid was scheduled for the afternoon, Soo Jaehee had sent a message early in the morning.

[Park Soobin] I heard one of the vice master from Rainbow is in the raid team? I'm worried since they have a bad temper. I hope they don't make things hard for our Yoon Seo.

[Soo Jaehee] What;; Hyung;; why are you calling Yoon Seo hyung your Yoon Seo?;;; Stop saying dangerous things ㅠ

[Park Soobin] Huh?

[Soo Jaehee] They just made up.

[Soo Jaehee] Ah, never mind. Sent it by mistake.

[Park Soobin] What was that?^^

[Soo Jaehee] Nothing;;;;

[Soo Jaehee] Yoon Seo hyung, Jihan hyung, fighting!!

[Soo Jaehee] Not that you need to fight hard to clear it, but Yoon Seo hyung, please be careful.

[Park Soobin] True ^^ I know it's nothing to worry about, but I still worry. Always be cautious.

[Kwon Jihan] I'll enjoy watching our hyung's true skills in action.

At some point, Kwon Jihan had also sent a message.

[Soo Jaehee] Ah, I'm so jealous.

[Park Soobin] Jaehee, why didn't you tell Hunter Kwon Jihan not to call Yoon Seo "ours" too?^^

[Park Soobin] Jaehee? Why did you go quiet all of a sudden?

[Hong Euiyoon] What, it was today? Damn, I can handle S-rank yellow raids too.

Afterward, Hong Euiyoon's loud chattering and Soo Jaehee's soothing words continued. While Yoon Seo was watching with a small smile, Kwon Jihan lightly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Did you check the messenger? All your younger admirers are jealous of your 'date' with me."

"'Date'?"

"Oh, raid. I misspoke because the vowels are the same."

Kwon Jihan smiled mischievously while saying something so shameless.

'You're cute, so I'll let it slide.'

Yoon Seo narrowed his eyes and remained silent. Honestly, it was him who would be in trouble if he didn't let it slide and got too hung up on it.

***

This S-class yellow dungeon appeared mid-air above the East Sea, so they had to switch to a boat and travel for another hour after reaching the port. Yoon Seo, along with Kwon Jihan, fed snacks to the seagulls and watched the dolphins that chased the boat through the water spray. Before they knew it, an hour had passed, and an announcement came through that they had reached the portal location, catching them by surprise.

Some hunters, including the vice guild master of Rainbow, were on deck being interviewed by the media, while others stretched or checked their equipment. A few people had already moved to the portal in mid-air.

When Kwon Jihan followed Yoon Seo onto the deck, the atmosphere quickly became chaotic.

"It's Kwon Jihan!"

"Kwon Jihan is here. Turn the camera!"

The reporters and cameras, which had been focused on Rainbow's vice guild master, suddenly turned toward Kwon Jihan. The reporters on the deck of the military ship, which was serving as the base camp for the dungeon, stretched out their arms, calling out.

"Hunter Kwon Jihan, please look this way just once!"

"Hyung, I'm going to go give an interview."

Kwon Jihan whispered to Yoon Seo before heading in that direction. Not interested, Yoon Seo immediately flew toward the portal.

[The Skill has been activated.]

Since the portal was in mid-air, most hunters had prepared flying items, so no one paid attention to Yoon Seo, assuming he used an item to fly.

The yellow, swirling portal looked as if yellow paint had been splashed into a barrel of oil. Like the other hunters, Yoon Seo stretched while looking down. As expected, many of the questions in the interview focused on the Great Dungeon and Seo Chaeyoon, and although Kwon Jihan looked indifferent, he answered earnestly.

Standing further back was Rainbow's vice guild master, Jo Mani, looking as if he'd bitten into something sour. Since Kwon Jihan had arrived, he'd been completely overshadowed, so it made sense he'd be upset. With a frustrated sigh, he flew toward the portal. Spotting Yoon Seo near the portal, Jo Mani's frown deepened.

"Yoon Seo."

Jo Mani stopped in front of Yoon Seo.

He blatantly looked him up and down, smirking at the sight of Yoon Seo's outfit, which had many pockets.

"You're the Yoon Seo from the Guild of Leaves, right?"

"You know the Guild of Leaves?"

"It would be strange not to know that pretentious guild. I also know about the exceptional B-class hunter who's shown impressive results maintaining shield traps."

Yoon Seo silently stared at the man without responding.

The Rainbow Guild was the second guild founded in the country. They emerged under the noble guise of preventing the monopoly of large guilds, proudly claiming to be a rival to Seokyoung. They even named themselves "Rainbow" instead of following Seokyoung's pattern of using a two-character name. At one point, their approval ratings were almost neck and neck with Seokyoung's. However, now they were barely hanging onto the fifth position domestically, far from being a true rival. Their downfall was inevitable, especially after their arrogant mistreatment of non-awakened individuals while setting up shield traps.

"You've upgraded the shield traps we made without permission quite often. Do you think we didn't raise the grade because we didn't know how? I don't care if your guild plays the fool, but you shouldn't mess with someone else's property."

"It wasn't without permission. We received formal requests and simply performed maintenance and repairs."

"Raising the grade isn't called maintenance. It's called an upgrade. Do I need to teach you such basic common sense?"

"It seems I was unaware of such basic common sense. Thank you for enlightening me. But did Hunter Jo Mani know that setting up traps with lower output than what's specified in the contract is considered fraud? All the shield traps your guild has installed were set at least one or two levels lower than what the contract states. Ah, if it wasn't intentional fraud but simply a lack of skill, then that's unfortunate. But if your guild can't even handle a simple B-grade shield trap installation, maybe it's time to quit the trap business?"