Hero Hunter is on Parental Leave C7

Chapter 7

“Idiot. Got played again.”

As he pressed the elevator button for the first floor, Yeongung couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d once again been outmaneuvered by Won Iheun. With a sigh deep enough to crack the ground beneath him, he replayed what had happened moments earlier.

The walk into the Tako Guild headquarters felt heavier than usual. He had no idea how Iheun would take everything he had prepared, and the nerves weighed on him.

Throughout the past week, he had spoken at length with Lee Chahyeon about methods of memory recovery. As a Hunter who had endured high-intensity training, Won Iheun could resist most mental-type skill attacks, making hypnosis or medicinal approaches unsuited for him.

“Iheun refused the deep-dive assessment. That means your only option is direct confrontation.”

“My advice comes in two parts: one, the two of you must recreate your former daily routine together. Two, you need to break through his defense mechanisms and identify the source of anxiety buried in his subconscious.”

Recalling Chahyeon’s advice, he headed to the top floor where Won Iheun’s office was located. Upon arriving, he passed through the security door via iris scan.

The meeting with the core guild members was scheduled for 9 a.m. He and Iheun had agreed to meet at 8—one hour prior.

7:50 a.m.

The numbers on the digital clock blinked. For someone naturally gifted in the art of being late, it was unusual for him to arrive early, so he dropped into a sofa and dozed off from sheer exhaustion.

A click—and the once-dark room filled with light.

“Did you not sleep well?”

Emerging brighter than the fluorescent lights themselves, Won Iheun stepped inside.

Yeongung sat up, instinctively scanning him for abnormalities. Compared to when he visited him in the hospital, Iheun looked far healthier.

Dressed in his black formal guild uniform, he looked like a model torn straight from a luxury fashion spread. While most guild members favored freedom and comfort in their attire, the Guild Master preferred the uniform that represented their organization.

The pomaded-back hair revealed his elegant forehead, brows, sharp nose, and the deep lines of his eyes—each feature enough to send Yeongung’s pulse into chaos.

“Like you care. You look fine anyway.”

Afraid Iheun might hear how violently his heart was beating, he forced a brusque tone. Iheun’s eyes curved sweetly as he laughed.

“Why wouldn’t I be fine? Besides, you were the one who disappeared after declaring that we’d only talk once my condition improved.”

His manner was oddly warm. If he’d been a hissy kitten at the hospital, he was now more like a dog wagging its tail for treats.

The idiot who’d lost his memory was flashing the very eye-smile Yeongung liked most.

“We’re both busy people. Let’s keep it simple. Everyone else will start arriving soon.”

Avoiding his gaze deliberately, he jerked his chin at the seat across from him.

“Sit. A tree like you standing there hurts my neck just looking at you.”

When Iheun finally sat, his broad shoulders and long limbs made the spacious three-seater look tiny.

Yeongung crossed his legs, then handed over a document—something he had agonized over for days.

[Memory Recovery Cooperation Contract]

“What is this?”

“Just listen while reading. You must’ve noticed—your dick reacted to me that day.”

At the crude remark, Iheun’s expression froze.

“I guess you’ve figured it out, but… we’re, uh… you know… engaged in… physical conversations…”

For someone who’d just thrown around the word “dick” casually, he stumbled over the real point. Frustrated, he raked his hands through his hair. Iheun ended his suffering.

“Sex partners?”

“…Yeah. Sex partners!”

Despite the volume of his shout, there wasn’t a shred of erotic tension between them. Iheun took a sip of coffee, studying the Omega before him with steady interest.

A man full of riddles—someone who had monopolized Iheun’s attention recently.

Yeongung, who had weathered every kind of battlefield, still looked unexpectedly boyish. He wasn’t small or baby-faced; he had a lean build, unusually tall for an Omega, with delicate, tidy features closer to a refined young man than anything “cute.” But his clear eyes and unblemished aura gave him a youthful impression.

Watching this problematic Omega who claimed boldly, “We were sex partners,” stirred an odd thirst in Iheun.

What would those pure eyes look like clouded with desire?

Wetening his throat with caffeine, he murmured, voice faintly rough:

“I don’t keep long-term partners. Not once. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”

Yeongung smirked, unsurprised. The same man who had dumped an Alpha-level pheromone shower on him in the hospital now dared to play innocent.

“Master. You really think I’m lying? Seriously?”

He forced a pleasant smile, holding back the curses burning his tongue.

“Truth is, you already know. I’m an extremophile Omega—other types can’t even sense my pheromones properly. But you reacted to me. Your body remembered, even if your brain erased me. Guess that’s what they mean when they say the body never forgets.”

Iheun stared at him without flinching, scrutinizing every microexpression, every change in tone, every flicker in his voice. Then, unhooking his hands from his lap, he leaned forward across the table in one sharp movement.

“Hunter Yeongung. Do you like me?”

The seductive rush of Alpha pheromones hit him head-on. His breath stumbled. No—he wouldn’t let it happen again. Just before the pheromones swallowed him whole, he shoved Iheun back with a burst of mana.

“⋯And you call me the slut?”

He glared at those red lips that dared throw around words like “slut” and “whore.” Rage rose under the crashing wave of pheromones.

“You bastard—close your fucking pher—ah!”

IHEUN backed off easily, withdrawing his pheromones, then returned to his seat as though nothing had happened.

“If not that, then why are you so desperate to restore my memories? Make it make sense.”

While he himself was a disheveled mess, the Alpha looked pristine from head to toe. Yeongung steadied his breath with several deep inhales.

The Iheun who returned from the End Event felt the same… yet strangely different. His pheromones now acted on their own, as if ditching their master and behaving however they pleased. Even the sadistic streak he only showed during their intimacy now peeked out casually. He’d been like that in the hospital, too.

“The answer lies in those memories.”

He flicked a fountain pen onto the table; it rolled to a stop atop the contract.

“Read and sign.”

The contract, drafted with “Party A: Won Iheun,” “Party B: Yeongung,” had three main clauses:

1. Party A accompanies Party B for all official duties.

2. Party A and Party B must cook and eat at least one meal together daily.

3. Party A and Party B must sleep in the same space. (Sexual contact prohibited.)

“Oh! And one more.”

Scratching wildly, Yeongung added:

+4. Party A must refrain from releasing pheromones in a way Party B perceives as aggressive or violent.

Satisfied, he set down the pen.

“Looks good.”

Iheun immediately signed—and then added a fifth clause.

++5. Party B must not engage in any sexual behavior, skinship, or suggestive physical contact with any Alpha other than Party A.

Then, with bold strokes, he crossed out the parenthetical condition under clause three:

(Sexual contact prohibited.)

“According to your claim, our… physical communication was important. Yet you want to ban sexual contact while asking for my cooperation in restoring that relationship. That’s contradictory. We’ll remove it.”

Stunned at how shamelessly he’d altered the terms, Yeongung stared wordlessly. Iheun slipped the pen into his hand.

“Sign. Or won’t you?”

With a smile sweet enough to melt witches.

“I got played. Completely wrecked! Aaaaaagh!”

At the training center, Yeongung unleashed attack after attack on the climbing wall as though it were Won Iheun himself.

Boom—! BOOOM—!

“Holy—! What’s happening?! The man who hates training booked the whole damn day!”

The facility manager clung to a bench leg like it was a lifeline. The layered shields around the training area ensured debris wouldn’t fly out, but the sheer intensity of Yeongung’s fury terrified him.

The Absolute Hunter selected Survival Mode this time.

Next to him, a rookie crouched, awe dripping from his voice.

“Wow… he’s insane.”

“Why do you think they call him the Absolute One? Watch closely while you can.”

The rookie, overwhelmed, grabbed his balding supervisor’s scarce hair.

“Boss! I was gonna quit, but not anymore! You HAVE to list ‘Live-viewing Yeongung Hunter’s training’ as a company benefit!”

CRACK—!

Yeongung dodged an attack, which slammed into the shield, leaving faint cracks across the supposedly unbreakable barrier.

“Oh crap—rookie! Screw the resignation—call the Tako Guild, NOW! Tell them to retrieve their lunatic Hunter before he brings the whole building down!”

When he was finally spent, Yeongung collapsed onto the floor.

“Chahyeon said light exercise was fine.”

A statement that would give Chahyeon a stroke, but to the Absolute One, this counted as “light.”

Pulling out his phone, he typed quickly and sent it to a very familiar number.

Recipient: PrettyPsycho

Sender: Yeongung

Dinner at the dorm.

After only a brief hesitation, he pressed send.

“Starting with meals is probably safest.”