Hero Hunter is on Parental Leave C25

Chapter 25

The two men’s gazes locked, sharp and consuming.

Snapping out of his daze, Yeongung pushed the alpha’s approaching face away with his palm.

With pheromones from both sides surging so strongly, the moment he relaxed his guard, this was what happened.

And the idea that an alpha had tracked him all the way to Muhaedo by following his pheromone was so absurd he dismissed it entirely.

Chup.

Iheun pressed his lips against Yeongung’s palm.

“You… again…!”

Like someone addicted to skinship—but only with Yeongung—Iheun immediately sought another intimate touch. He grabbed the wrist Yeongung tried to pull back and began tasting it at his own pace.

While his tongue moved fervently, he asked:

“Do you know how to read palm lines?”

Then he dragged his hot tongue along the line starting between the thumb and index finger, all the way down to the wrist.

“This is the lifeline.”

Even Yeongung, who didn’t believe in palmistry, knew his own lifeline was not very long.

“Hngh… I know that…!”

He twisted his wrist to pull away, but the subtle haze of the alpha’s pheromones kept draining his strength.

Perhaps the glasses were getting in the way of his palm tasting—

Iheun took off his lensless spectacles and put them on Yeongung’s face.

“If you’re embarrassed, wear these.”

The man’s pointed tongue traced down the broken lifeline, all the way to the wrist.

Maybe because he had escaped death so many times, or maybe because the motion was so insistently thorough—

but the act of extending his lifeline with such dedication made something ache strangely inside him.

What’s so sentimental about a stupid line…

Iheun finally lifted his head; his eyes were trembling, unsteady.

“People call you a hero, but when I think of you fighting alone in that darkness to save the world…”

Before he met Iheun, before Iheun stepped down from the government and founded Tako Guild—

Yeongung had always been alone inside the Gates.

He lowered his head.

“There is nothing more precious than Hunter Yeongung’s life.

I hate—hate how you treat your own sacrifice as something natural.”

Then, with another deliberate lick, he traced the long straight line below the middle finger down to the wrist.

“This is the fate line.”

The heavy mood abruptly shifted as Iheun ended the gesture with a playful “chuup,” as if applying a finishing disinfecting kiss.

Then he guided Yeongung’s hand downward, under his own.

His half-moon eyes brimmed with mischief.

“Hunter Yeongung’s fate line is straight and thick. Just like mine.”

The heat and size pressing beneath told him exactly what “mine” referred to.

Face burning up to his neck like a roasted sweet potato, Yeongung shouted:

“Are you out of your damn mind!? We’re in public!”

Since yesterday, Iheun had been in full-on rutting dog mode. There was no way he’d been celibate for two years, yet his eyes were starved like a ravenous beast.

Once Yeongung finally snapped, Iheun released him.

“Now that you’ve had an appetizer, let’s go have a proper meal.”

Rubbing his sore wrist, Yeongung glared coldly.

“Forget it. I’m going to my part-time shift. Go do whatever the hell you want.”

He had to head to his convenience store job.

Ding-dong.

“Welcome to Even Eleven.”

After greeting a customer, Minseong jabbed Yeongung in the side.

“Hyung, who is that guy? A friend? Family?”

“…I don’t know him.”

“…Huh?”

Minseong stared curiously at the stranger—

a presence so heavy and intimidating that it felt bizarre in peaceful Muhaedo.

The man sat at the customer table, staring holes into Yeongung the entire time.

Whether he was restocking shelves or counting cigarette packs, Iheun’s eyes tracked him relentlessly.

Yeongung, on the other hand, acted like he wasn’t even there.

Hours passed like this.

The silent standoff eventually wore on Minseong, who approached the man and asked if he needed anything.

Iheun wordlessly bought ten cans of energy drink and set them on the table—

as if telling him not to bother him again.

He didn’t seem bored in the slightest.

He watched Yeongung work the entire shift, occasionally smiling faintly—as if thoroughly entertained.

What were these two to each other?

Before Minseong could figure out the answer, it was already time to clock out.

In casual clothes with his uniform off, he looked even younger than usual.

“Hyung, I’m heading home. Good work today!”

“Good job. Get home safe.”

After sending him off, Yeongung sighed at the man still sitting there.

“Persistent bastard.”

He had told Iheun go your own way.

But apparently, Iheun’s “own way” was simply Yeongung’s way.

So he had followed him like it was obvious, even showing up at work with him.

Too annoyed to explain anything, Yeongung had simply introduced him as a stranger.

“You don’t have anything better to do? How long are you staying on Muhaedo?”

“I’m free.”

“Don’t BS me. Did you at least tell the kids where you were going? Those idiot duo are probably panicking right now. I should call Hamgyeol.”

He wasn’t just saying it.

He really did worry about the guild brats.

Each member was powerful, yes, but also chaotic and too independent.

They needed a strong leader holding them together.

And that leader was currently here—

on Muhaedo.

And something told him Iheun wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

“If a guild collapses just because one guildmaster is absent, it deserves to close.”

“That’s true… It is true, but still…”

After finishing the inventory check, Yeongung looked at him.

Even wearing an old checkered shirt in this rural island, the man shone.

Born dazzling.

Yeongung tried to keep busy so he wouldn’t end up staring at him again.

It was unlikely he’d come for the newly appeared rift.

If so, he wouldn’t sit around the convenience store like some unemployed village bum.

As he wiped down the windows, he asked:

“They say a new rift appeared.”

“The kids can handle it.”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you hear me yesterday? I said let’s do it together—parental leave.”

There it was again.

And not just leave—parental leave.

Startled, Yeongung nearly slipped with the mop.

Does he… know? That Jaehee is his blood?

“Careful. Honestly, so high-maintenance.”

Iheun teleported to catch his waist before he slipped.

Despite the grumbling, his eyes looked faintly pleased.

After observing him for a day, Yeongung knew this much:

Iheun’s attitude toward Jaehee wasn’t hostile.

He had even helped with drop-off, and used his pheromone to calm the boy.

Even without asking, perhaps it was finally time to speak about Jaehee.

Steeling himself, he began:

“…About Jaehee—”

Ding-dong.

The damn chime interrupted him again.

This convenience store isn’t a guesthouse—seriously, what rotten timing.

He automatically launched into the greeting—

“Welcome to Even Eleve—oh? Sayeong?”

Sayeong, whom he saw maybe twice a year, had returned again only shortly after his previous visit.

Like someone being hunted, he rushed inside and snatched the cleaning rag from Yeongung’s hand, tossing it to the floor.

“Hyung—HYUNG! We’re screwed! This is NOT the time to be wiping windows!”

It was the first time Yeongung had ever seen him this frantic.

“What’s wrong? Calm down. What happened?”

Sayeong’s chest rose and fell wildly.

“You have to grab Jaehee and RUN! That crazy bastard Won Iheun—he—”

His face froze solid mid-sentence.

Because the very “crazy bastard” stood behind Yeongung, watching him like a grim reaper.

A chill shot down Sayeong’s spine.

And only then, like someone finally noticing the second half of a split popsicle stuck to Yeongung’s back, he realized how close the man was.

He’d been too frantic, his vision too narrow, to see him sooner.

“W–Won Iheun…!? Why is the guildmaster here—”

Iheun turned his head slightly, lowering his gaze to the trembling eraser.

“You’re the one who’s screwed.”