IH Ch 80

Chapter 80

The now-empty living room felt unusually vast. Just the absence of Dohwa, who had been there moments ago, made it feel so desolate.

“…What am I even saying.”

Muttering to himself, Hwang Jae-i sprawled out on the sofa.

He stared at the ceiling for a long while before suddenly sitting up. His return to work started tomorrow. In hindsight, this had been the longest vacation he’d taken since becoming a guild master, yet ironically, he hadn’t had a single day of true rest. If anything, he had been busier than usual. Now that he was going back, he’d have to start by cleaning up the messes that had piled up.

Feeling a dull throb in his head, Jae-i rolled his eyes around the living room. As expected, it was quiet. The silence, once familiar, now felt suffocating. With a restless tap, he kicked at the floor.

[Hello. This is Hwang Jae-i.]

The inauguration of Jae-i Guild’s new guild master.

It was the day when the much-rumored Hwang Jae-i officially began his activities. Previous footage and photos had always been blurred, but even so, his striking looks managed to pierce through the censor.

Known as the third-generation S-Class hunter, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, he had long been the subject of public interest. Despite starting his career as a hunter in his early teens, he had never shown his face in public. Although the Hunter Protection Act for minors prohibited media exposure, if the hunter themselves consented, it was allowed—but Hwang Jae-i had adamantly refused.

That mystery only heightened public curiosity about his appearance. When his face was finally revealed, everyone was astonished.

His grandfather and father were both considered handsome men, but Hwang Jae-i was on a different level. Early on, there had even been talk of, “He doesn’t resemble either parent.” Of course, anyone who dared to say that out loud was quickly silenced—thanks to Pungjin’s intervention.

Even amidst such rumors, people were captivated by Hwang Jae-i. Before anyone even knew what kind of personality he had, his looks alone earned him a massive fanbase. Before the guild could release any official merchandise, countless fan-made products had already flooded the market just from video clips. The phrase “just looking at his face is fun” circulated widely on social media for a while.

At his inauguration, he gave a brief introduction and completely ignored any questions from reporters or attendees. At first, this was excused as nerves or simply his youth. But as time went on, it became clear that this was just his natural disposition. Slowly, word began to spread that Hwang Jae-i was rude and arrogant.

A long stick in the video jabbed at Hwang Jae-i’s face on screen.

“See? This is the arrogance of S-Class hunters. Just because they were lucky enough to awaken at a high level, they act like they’re something special.”

The stick poked at Hwang Jae-i’s face several more times.

“They think the whole world is in the palm of their hands. That’s what makes them easy to target. They’d never expect to be outmaneuvered. That’s where we strike.”

The screen changed, and Hwang Jae-i appeared again.

Before officially beginning his duties as guild master, he looked like a boy barely into his teens. Even then, his brows were furrowed. His features were already fully formed, but his face still retained a trace of youth. The way he constantly seemed irritated made him look oddly endearing.

“Dohwa.”

“……”

At the sudden call, he calmly lifted his head.

Wearing an iron mask, the other party couldn’t see his expression. As he stared directly through the small holes at the person watching him, the man pointed at Hwang Jae-i with the tip of the stick.

“Have you figured out what that arrogant little brat wants?”

“……”

“He acts like he’s the best in the world and lacks nothing—so what exactly is it that he wants?”

Dohwa turned back to the screen showing Jae-i.

He wasn’t sure what the setting was, but Jae-i looked uncomfortable even just standing alone against a wall. He clearly disliked being in that spot, hated being stared at, and made no effort to hide that he wanted to be alone.

Dohwa wasn’t alone in the room. Besides him, two others sat at the remaining desks, both with lifeless eyes fixed on the video. More precisely, they were studying the person in the footage, trying to identify his desires and weaknesses. Their purpose was to exploit those vulnerabilities—to control and manipulate him.

Dohwa gave the man waiting for his answer a brief reply.

“I don’t know.”

Unhappy with Dohwa’s uncooperative response, the man slammed the stick down hard. The stick transformed into a long, thin whip, which cracked menacingly against the floor. At the sharp sound, the two who had been sitting still like dolls flinched and nervously looked toward the man.

Dohwa, on the other hand, merely stared blankly at the man approaching him.

“……”

Blinking, Dohwa lowered his head. Then he looked at the arms tightly wrapped around his chest and stomach.

By now, he knew very well who was holding him so firmly from behind. There was no need to check. But the position was uncomfortable. The pressure on his abdomen felt odd. More importantly, the body pressed against his back seemed to be… naked.

The firm muscles under the thin fabric were tolerable, but the pressure between his buttocks was not. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought it was an arm, but he knew better. Thinking that it somehow felt even bigger than when he’d touched it before, Dohwa lightly placed his hand on the arm wrapped around him. He just wanted to get out of the hold. But as soon as he touched it, the embrace tightened and pressed closer.

“Mmgh…!”

Feeling crushed, Dohwa clenched his teeth and gripped the arm around him with more strength.

Last night, when Jae-i hadn’t shown up even late into the night, he had thought maybe he wouldn’t come. Clearly a mistake. After coming so many times, it seemed Jae-i had decided to just embrace him without waking him up. Not that it was all that bad…

Just then, a warm breath brushed against Dohwa’s nape. Soon, something soft touched his shoulder and then pulled away. It didn’t stop—soft kisses traced along his neck, eventually reaching his ear. Judging from the moist breaths, they were lips.

“……”

Frozen in shock, Dohwa remained stiff as Jae-i let out a small groan and pulled him closer. Then, without warning, Jae-i released his arms and began to touch him.

Large hands rested on his chest and stomach before slowly sliding downward. When the hand started to move between his legs, Dohwa immediately clamped his thighs together. But that couldn’t stop the unhesitating hand. It wedged its way in and firmly grasped one of his thighs.

Apparently pleased with the slenderness of what he held, Jae-i kneaded it several more times before shifting his hand. That was the final straw for Dohwa—he grabbed the offending hand and yanked it off with all his strength.

“……!”

Jae-i, who had been sound asleep without dreaming, opened his eyes at the sensation of his body being lifted. Instinctively rolling off the bed, he landed in a surprisingly graceful posture, one knee down. He was wearing nothing but underwear. Checking his own condition quickly, he looked up in a panic.

There, curled under the blanket on the bed, was an unmistakable lump. The slight rise and fall indicated someone was beneath it.

“……”

Hwang Jae-i closed his eyes tightly, then opened them.

His first thought was, “Again?” His second was, “Why is Dohwa like that?”

By now, it was no surprise that he ended up in Dohwa’s bed, holding him as he slept. But this wasn’t the usual morning scene. This was the first time he’d seen Dohwa huddled under the covers like that.

Did I do something weird?

Whenever he woke, he was always lying next to Dohwa. He had no memories of what happened in between. From the chip retrieved from the broken CCTV, he didn’t seem to treat Dohwa badly—but that didn’t mean it had been that way every time.

With a grim expression, Jae-i got up and approached the bed. After hesitating, he reached toward Dohwa’s back and called out gently, “Hey.” The blanket rustled as Dohwa flinched and peeked his face out. His hair had fallen forward, obscuring his expression. Jae-i, finding it frustrating, carefully brushed the hair away with his fingertips.

The face that emerged looked somewhat frozen. Dohwa, who usually remained unfazed no matter what Jae-i said, was now visibly affected.

“…Did I do something weird?”

“……”

Dohwa hesitated, then shook his head and murmured, “No, it’s not that…”

“……”

“It’s just that my hand…”

His hand? Did something happen to his hand?

Alarmed, Jae-i yanked the blanket off. Dohwa tried to cling to it in surprise, but he was no match for Jae-i’s strength. Once the blanket was off, Jae-i grabbed the hand Dohwa had been hiding under his belly. Before Dohwa could react, his hand was pulled upward.

That hand—

“…It looks fine.”

Muttering to himself, Jae-i took Dohwa’s right hand in both of his and began to knead it. Then, wondering if it might be the other hand, he took the left one as well. This one looked fine too. Thinking maybe the problem was somewhere he couldn’t see, he held both hands in his and stared intently.