IH Ch 134

Chapter 134

Jae-i lifted a spoonful of seaweed soup. The oyster was plump and rich, and the taste was good. So he scooped up an oyster and offered it to Dohwa, but Dohwa—busy devouring the fried chicken—flinched and subtly leaned away. Jae-i knew this part well. Dohwa was a devoted meat-lover; vegetables and seafood never suited his palate and he always seemed uncomfortable eating them. Still, balanced meals were important.

“Just try one bite.”

Dohwa stared at the oyster resting on the spoon, then looked up at Jae-i. Since Jae-i offered, he should at least taste it, right? If he swallowed it whole in one go, it would be fine. After a moment of hesitation, the corner of his mouth twitched. Just as he squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head, Jae-i turned the spoon and ate the oyster himself. Instead, he scooped up a bit of seaweed and placed it on Dohwa’s spoon.

Seeing the oyster go into Jae-i’s mouth, Dohwa picked up his spoon and lightly touched the seaweed with the tip of his tongue. After smacking his lips, he popped the seaweed into his mouth. His expression was serious. The taste was faint but present—not exactly delicious, yet not unpleasant either. Meeting Jae-i’s eyes, he nodded. It was acceptable, but nothing more.

His reaction made Jae-i think of Hwang Suhyeon. Back then, watching him refuse to eat anything, she couldn’t even force him; she would only stare, her hardened gaze filled with silent frustration.

Then he remembered—he hadn’t contacted her after making this entire mess. He should’ve at least texted her. His expression hardened as his thoughts drifted, and Dohwa tapped the back of his hand.

“Um, I’ll eat that.”

“……”

“Give me the soup. I’ll try it myself.”

He must have misunderstood the reason for his silence. Thinking of correcting him, Jae-i instead slid the bowl toward him. Dohwa gripped his spoon and took a deep breath, then began bravely eating the seaweed.

At first, his expression still showed discomfort, but as he continued, he seemed to adjust. Watching the small mouth move diligently, Jae-i lifted his gaze. Beyond the clear glass, the sky was a vivid blue.

The situation was anything but peaceful. For now, people were quiet, unsure what to make of his sudden actions, but once a few days passed, everything would change. The Association might reach out. The media would get noisy again. And in the chaos, Hwang Hajin might move.

Normally, each of those things would have been a mountain of stress. Yet strangely, his mind was calm. He glanced at his arm resting along the back of Dohwa’s chair. Slowly stroking Dohwa’s back, he watched Dohwa glance sideways at him and mutter shyly,

“It’s okay once I keep eating it.”

When Dohwa added, It tastes fine, Jae-i relaxed his gaze and told him gently, “Eat plenty.”

At 3 p.m., Jae-i gathered every hunter affiliated with the guild. The total number was just over one hundred. Large domestic guilds usually had around two hundred hunters; that number covered only fully registered personnel, and including trainees and contractors made the total even larger.

But from the start, Jae-i had insisted on hiring only people who were genuinely useful, so he considered a hundred already excessive. Not all of them were deployed into gates. More than half were administrative staff operating the guild’s departments. The actual combat personnel who entered gates numbered barely twenty—and for some reason, every one of them looked thrilled to hear what their guildmaster would say.

“……”

He had always disliked standing in front of others. Being in front of fellow guild members didn’t make it any easier. Determined to speak quickly and end it, he opened his heavy lips.

“—Sorry for calling you during work hours.”

“It’s fine. I was getting sleepy and thinking of grabbing a coffee anyway.”

“We all take a breather around this time.”

Positive responses echoed around the room.

The full relocation of the guild building would have shocked outsiders, but the guild members themselves were the most blindsided. If he had at least given a few days’ notice, it would’ve helped—but instead, he’d sent an emergency message the very morning of the move. Some only learned of the relocation after receiving a public disaster alert. Yes—moving the headquarters of one of the nation’s top guilds qualified as disaster-level news.

He wasn’t here to apologize, but they needed at least a minimal explanation for why he made the decision. That had been Ahn Yuna’s opinion. And since he had been planning to address it anyway, he agreed without argument. The rest of the staff could watch the broadcasted footage later.

Given the suddenness of the relocation, the reactions didn’t seem as bad as expected—but maybe they were just pretending in front of him. He had to explain the current situation and future plans, but the truth was… there were no plans. Everything had started from a single impulse:

Eat shit.

Hwang Hajin, the Association, the government—they were all in on something strange, pointedly excluding him. It infuriated him. Using Dohwa as leverage had snapped his last thread of restraint. They were probably planning to ram their decisions through and later shrug it off: “Well, this is how it turned out, nothing to be done, right?” Maybe they thought he’d silently accept it.

Not a chance.

“There’s no grand reason behind moving the guild base. I just felt like it. Staying there any longer would’ve only caused stress.”

“……”

“Either way, our work doesn’t change. Investigating gates, surveying territories, reviewing external collaboration requests… all the same.”

They could do everything here just as before. And yes—there would still be times when his name popped up in the news because some pointless trouble happened. But not having to see the swarms of reporters and broadcast crews who used to flock to the guild? That was a major benefit.

People were acting like relocating a guild base caused natural disasters, but if he broke it down one by one, he lost nothing. Of course—he personally.

After scanning the guild members, he continued.

“I’m sorry that commuting has become impossible and that some of you were suddenly separated from your families. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

He could stay here without issue, but not everyone could. Most guild members lived near the headquarters—in Seoul or at least in the outer provinces. Overnight, their workplace had suddenly moved far away. Commuting was now inconvenient, and being abruptly separated from family must have been shocking.

In the past, Jae-i would have reacted with “And what about it?” Having never lived with family, he couldn’t understand why separation was uncomfortable. But now… he could. If he were suddenly forced to live apart from Dohwa, he would hate it deeply.

“Um, Guildmaster?”

A hunter raised his hand. Curious, Jae-i looked at him—only for the man to say something completely unexpected.

“Since things are like this, can I bring my kids to stay in the dorms?”

“Ah, me too. My wife’s been wanting to see the sea. And I’m still newly married, so… I considered sneaking them in, but I figured that wasn’t allowed.”

“I stay in the dorm, so it’s all the same to me, but it’ll be cramped for those bringing families. The space was designed for shared use, so it’ll be uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, a day or two is fine, but long-term? Not ideal.”

“Then why don’t we just build another building? The facilities and construction teams are here, right? How long would it take to put up something villa-sized? Doesn’t have to be an apartment.”

“…That’s not something you can whip up in one or two hours.”

“Oh, please. We moved this entire skyscraper in a few hours. Why are you holding back now? If you really push it, can’t you get it done in half a day?”

“Half a day?? Building the structure might take an hour, but the plumbing and electrical systems would—hmm. Maybe?”

“If you handle it while I handle the building frame, about an hour for me too.”

“Wowwww—! Seriously? Amazing. You’re the best.”

“……”

They were suddenly hyped among themselves, exchanging ideas rapidly, leaving him no space to interrupt.

As he watched quietly, Hunter Seowon crossed her arms and smiled—