IH Ch 81

Chapter 81

Sitting on the bed with his hand held by Jae-i, Dohwa also checked his own hand. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. He stared blankly at his hand, as if it were unfamiliar, then slowly clenched and unclenched it. After repeating that a few times, he suddenly realized that Jae-i was watching him do it and looked up.

And there he saw Jae-i, staring at his hand with a deadly serious expression.

“What? Keep going.”

When Dohwa just held his hand still, Jae-i gently shook it as if asking what he was doing.

From the few movements he’d seen, it didn’t seem like there was a serious issue. Still, just to be sure, Jae-i placed Dohwa’s right hand on top of his own and carefully touched each of the slender knuckles with his other hand. It was possible that he had accidentally crushed it in his sleep. There was a clear size difference between them, and if Dohwa had been beneath him, he probably couldn’t have even breathed properly.

“……”

Because Dohwa hadn’t shown any outward reaction, he had brushed it off—but he shouldn’t have. From the beginning, this was a problem he should have taken more seriously and corrected himself.

At that moment, Dohwa, still holding the hand Jae-i had grabbed, spoke.

“Looks like it’s okay.”

“……”

“You woke up because of me, right? Sorry.”

But it wasn’t Dohwa who needed to apologize. Knowing this yet unsure what to say, Jae-i reached for the blanket that had been tossed aside and pulled it over Dohwa’s legs.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jae-i spoke in a voice that barely made a sound.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

It was probably the first time in his life he’d ever said such a thing. In the past, those words would’ve been hard to get out—but now they came more naturally. Feeling a little awkward looking at Dohwa’s face, Jae-i murmured that he was going to wash up and got up from the bed.

As he quietly watched Jae-i leave the room, Dohwa once again checked his hand. He carefully examined both the palm and the back of it, then lowered his gaze.

“Still seems okay for now.”

He mumbled in a tired voice.

 

 

It was a different kind of morning than usual. After confirming that his plate was clean, Dohwa glanced up. There sat Jae-i, absentmindedly fiddling with a glass of water.

“……”

Already dressed to go out early, Jae-i had neatly swept back his hair. His sharp features only stood out more with such a tidy appearance.

Even in the middle of all that, he had made sure to prepare breakfast for Dohwa. They’d even had dinner together last night, so he hadn’t felt hungry this morning. He could’ve just left without offering anything. Maybe it was because of what happened earlier this morning? While thinking this, Dohwa quietly set his spoon down on the plate and said softly,

“Thanks for the food.”

Jae-i glanced at him and then stood up. Seeing him pick up the dishes, Dohwa got to his feet as well.

“I’ll clean up. You should get going.”

He hurried toward the sink, but Jae-i extended an arm in front of him. Dohwa ducked under Jae-i’s arm and came to stand beside him. Jae-i hesitated at the unexpected movement.

“I’ll just rinse them and load the dishwasher.”

Standing by the sink, Dohwa quickly rolled up his sleeves.

“So I’ll rinse them—just go and take care of your things.”

“……”

Dohwa stepped on the button beneath the sink. Water poured out, and he began washing the dishes thoroughly, scrubbing them until they squeaked. He could feel Jae-i’s eyes on him the entire time.

Why is he just watching like that? Maybe I should just tell him. That it really wasn’t his fault. That I had to use force to get him off, and that something felt off with my hand when I did. That I didn’t want to show him that. Ah, I probably can’t say any of that.

Deciding to stay quiet, Dohwa tried to load the rinsed dish into the dishwasher—only to find Jae-i standing right in front of it.

“…Could you move aside just a little?”

Instead of moving, Jae-i took the dish from Dohwa and placed it in the dishwasher himself, along with the cup he had used. Then he handed Dohwa a towel hanging beside the sink.

“I’m heading back to the guild starting today.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Dohwa recalled the conversation Jae-i had with Ahn Yuna before he came here. Back then, Jae-i had said not to contact him because he planned to fully use up his scheduled vacation. But with people visiting all the time and one thing or another happening, it never really felt like a vacation.

Dohwa, thinking that he might have prevented Jae-i from getting proper rest, glanced up at him. Staring blankly at Jae-i’s composed face, he moved his lips slightly.

“Take care on your way. I’ll be here…”

He suddenly began to wonder—was it really okay for him to keep staying here? Jae-i would be busy with all sorts of tasks as soon as he returned. On top of that, the media wouldn’t leave him alone.

Could he do anything to help? Nothing came to mind. It wasn’t like he could ask a guildmaster to stay home all day.

Listening to the quiet hum of the dishwasher, Dohwa hesitated before speaking again.

“…Have a good day.”

After saying that softly, he fell silent.

Jae-i couldn’t take his eyes off Dohwa’s face.

He really didn’t have the luxury to be standing around right now. Ahn Yuna, either having forgotten what she did or just pretending not to know, had sent him a simple message early that morning: “I’ve sent a vehicle.” Since then, she had been spamming notifications until he checked it—almost as if she knew he was reluctant to return and would rather stay holed up at home.

While reading Dohwa’s expression, which had been watching him nervously for a while, Jae-i spoke.

“What are you going to do while you’re here?”

“Here?”

Repeating Jae-i’s words, Dohwa blinked, looked around, then replied,

“Organize your gifts?”

The presents that had previously been in the storage room had been taken back by the guild and replaced with new ones. Since they hadn’t been sorted yet, that seemed like something he could do. It had taken him a few days last time since he did it at a leisurely pace, but if he focused, he might be able to finish it in a day. Feeling confident, Dohwa was about to say he’d do that again.

“…Wanna come to the guild?”

Dohwa’s response was delayed.

His shoulders flinched as if startled, and then he asked again,

“Your guild?”

“……”

When Dohwa mentioned organizing gifts, Jae-i had wondered why he even needed to bother. Sure, when the house was messy, Dohwa would usually clean it up quickly, but that didn’t mean he had to do it every time.

Might as well just take him to the guild. With that thought, he had blurted it out—and when he saw Dohwa’s expression instantly brighten, far more than when he talked about cleaning, Jae-i realized he couldn’t take it back. He gave a small nod. Dohwa, eyes widening with surprise, quickly masked his excitement and shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. Why would I follow you to work? People will think it’s weird if they see us…”

“We’ll just be in the guildmaster’s office. Who’s going to say anything?”

“……”

“If you want to go, stop talking nonsense and go change.”

At those words, Dohwa lowered his head. He was still wearing the sleepwear he’d put on the day before.

It would’ve been fine as casual wear, but since he was going to the guild with Jae-i, he figured he should wear something better. He had neatly hung up all his clothes on hangers the previous day, so now he mentally flipped through his options and moved quickly.

Jae-i realized there was no walking back from his words as he watched Dohwa practically bolt away. Not that taking Dohwa along would cause any trouble. The guildmaster’s office was spacious, and aside from Ahn Yuna, no one dared to enter without permission anyway.

Ahn Yuna.

Thinking about the issue with the condom brought her to mind, and Jae-i scowled. But as he heard approaching footsteps, he quickly relaxed his expression. Dohwa, who had returned in no time, held up two shirts.

“Hey! Which one should I wear—this or this?”

“……”

What caught his eye first was Dohwa’s flushed cheeks. The clothes he was holding registered a beat later—one was a yellow hoodie, the other a clean ivory shirt. Without a moment’s hesitation, Jae-i pointed to one.

 

 

“The guildmaster is arriving!”

At the booming announcement, the members of Jae-i Guild straightened up immediately. Not that it really mattered—considering the guild occupied an entire building, Hwang Jae-i wouldn’t likely notice either way.

Still, they kept their backs straight and focused harder on their work than usual. After all, the one arriving was Hwang Jae-i.

Everyone in the world knew this: Hwang Jae-i had become a guildmaster at the age of 17.

Even for an S-Class, that was young. The sudden decision had sparked a lot of discontent among the existing hunters. At the time, Jae-i Guild’s jurisdiction saw frequent gate activity, so people assumed that Hwang Jae-i would have no choice but to tolerate whatever they did.

Most of them, whether they admitted it or not, had thought: “What does a kid know?” And the fallout from that assumption was swift.

A few of the hunters, thinking they needed to put the young guildmaster in his place, refused to enter a gate. Though it was a troubling situation, Hwang Jae-i didn’t so much as blink. When the gate occurred and the hunters failed to show up by the designated time, he went in alone, completed the recon, and came back out. Then, on the report form that recorded who had entered the gate, he would simply write down his own name. That happened more than once.

The hunters who had skipped the missions mocked him for having to do all the work alone—but their amusement didn’t last long. Word got out that Hwang Jae-i had been entering all those gates by himself.