EFME 22

When Sunyul nodded in agreement, Dakyung made a resentful face. Not only did he like the first outfit, but the reason it supposedly didn’t suit him was because he was young, which made him even more resentful.

“Sheesh…….”

“Just buy the jumper. Baek Minho bought that one too.”

“Ah, really?”

Dakyung’s face instantly brightened. Hearing that a handsome and stylish celebrity had bought it, Dakyung’s heart was quickly won over.

“Then I’ll buy this one. How much is it?”

“Hmm, with the acquaintance discount… 8500.”

“Hyung, you’re the best.”

Considering the options and the value of the Melior name, the regular price would be much higher. Dakyung looked at Haemin with eyes full of love.

Sunyul now knew that the price of “8500” wasn’t actually 8,500 won, but 85 million won. It seemed like a rather expensive amount, but he couldn’t get a precise feel for it.

A meal at the Cheongyeon Guild cafeteria was five thousand won. He’d heard everyone enjoyed it because it was so cheap and good, but his head spun at a price that was hard to even compare to that.

“Is 85 million won very expensive?”

Sunyul quietly asked Heena, who was next to him. Heena shook her head.

“No, it’s cheap. Expensive items go for several hundred million.”

“Aha……”

Unaware that Heena considered anything less than an A-rank item to be reasonably cheap, Sunyul concluded that it must not be such a burdensome amount.

“Oh, I’ll give you this.”

Heena took an envelope out of her inventory. Inside were two shoddily made pieces of paper with ‘Discount Coupon, Genuine’ written on them in thick marker.

“What’s this?”

“Literally a discount coupon. One you can use at our auction house.”

“Auction house?”

“Yeah. The Melior Guild auction is opening soon. Come check it out with the Cheongyeon Guild Master. I put a lot of thought into giving you these, so use them well.”

“Thank you.”

The discount coupons, of which only a few were ever issued, held considerable value. Anyone else would have been very surprised that she had readily handed over two of them, but the unknowing Sunyul accepted them with a light heart.

“Can I see your phone for a second?”

Sunyul placed his smartphone on Heena’s outstretched hand. Heena clicked her tongue when she saw Sunyul’s smartphone had no lock on it at all. She was about to suggest he set a lock but remembered that Sunyul was I-21, who wasn’t guaranteed any privacy, and stopped.

Heena entered her number into Sunyul’s smartphone.

“This is my personal number, so save it. Contact me here if you’re curious about anything.”

“Save……”

“Do you know how?”

“I know how, sort of.”

At the unconvincing reply, Heena took the smartphone back and saved it for him. Sunyul stared intently at the name saved as [Prettiest Heena Noona] before putting the smartphone away.

Heena wondered if giving him her number was going too far. But she didn’t regret it. The I-21 before her was a very interesting being… and she also had a personal liking for him.

On the car ride back, Sunyul, sitting in the seat next to Dakyung, turned on his smartphone and checked his contact list.

At the very top, he saw a contact saved as [Guild Master-nim]. Compared to [Prettiest Heena Noona], it felt far too simple.

“What are you looking at so intensely?”

At Dakyung’s words, Sunyul flinched in surprise.

“Did you see something lewd?”

“No, that’s not it……”

As Sunyul hesitated, too embarrassed to say he had been staring at Muyoung’s contact, the misunderstanding Dakyung was horrified.

“……You really did? You shouldn’t be looking at things like that carelessly.”

“No. I was just looking at my contacts.”

“Contacts?”

“Yeah. Um… Hunter Park Heena saved her number for me.”

“Really? Wow. It seems noona really likes you, hyung.”

Dakyung admired this purely. Although there was a great deal of curiosity about the unknown being called I-21, he didn’t think Heena would have given him her number just for that reason.

“But she saved her name as ‘Prettiest Heena Noona’.”

“That’s so like noona. But why? Do you want to change it?”

“It’s about… the Guild Master.”

“What about the Guild Master?”

Why is Muyoung suddenly coming up? Dakyung tilted his head.

“I feel like his name is saved too simply.”

“……Aha?”

“Just saving it as ‘Guild Master-nim’… seems too plain. I feel like I should give him a more proper title.”

“……”

Dakyung held back his laughter. Sunyul seemed fixated on the saved name, giving it meaning. There was no need to think about it so grandly.

Instead of telling him that honestly, Dakyung egged Sunyul on.

“It’d be good to change it. What are you going to change it to?”

“I was worrying because I couldn’t decide on that.”

“Why don’t you fill it with your feelings, hyung? Write a heartfelt sentence.”

“……Okay.”

Sunyul changed the saved name without hesitation. Seeing Sunyul’s satisfied face, Dakyung slyly asked.

“What did you change it to?”

“I changed it to ‘Kind and Gentle Guild Master-nim’.”

“……”

Maybe I shouldn’t have egged him on. It had been changed to a name that was horribly unfitting and cringe-inducing.

“Isn’t ‘kind and gentle’ a bit off?”

“He is kind and gentle.”

“No……”

“The Guild Master was the first person to treat me so kindly and gently.”

At Sunyul’s words, Dakyung was at a loss. It was true, after all, that Muyoung was the one who had taken in Sunyul, whom even Dakyung had been wary of at first, even confronting the Paranormal Administration to do so. From Sunyul’s perspective, it was only natural that Muyoung would feel kind and gentle.

But wasn’t there such a thing as an objective image?

Giving him a hundred concessions, maybe Muyoung being ‘kind’ wasn’t entirely wrong, since he’d strategised dungeons while overcoming near-death crises several times back when they first started appearing…….

But he could never agree with the word ‘gentle’. Never…….

‘Is ‘never’ going too far?’

Muyoung was certainly gentle towards Sunyul. He acted so softly that anyone who knew Muyoung even a little couldn’t miss the difference.

Why?

Dakyung found himself wondering anew why Muyoung acted so kind and gentle towards Sunyul. When he didn’t even know Sunyul well.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out the reason. He wouldn’t tell him even if he asked, so Dakyung quietly swallowed his curiosity.

Since it was getting quite late, Dakyung contacted Muyoung and then headed straight for his house. Then, as if passing a baton, he left Sunyul with Muyoung, who was already home, and departed.

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yes.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“Then wash up and come down. I’ll set the table.”

“Um, just a moment.”

Sunyul handed over the discount coupons Heena had given him, still in their envelope. After opening the envelope and checking its contents, Muyoung asked Sunyul.

“Who gave you this?”

“Hunter Park Heena.”

“It seems Park Heena has taken quite a liking to you.”

“She gave me her contact info, too.”

Because Dakyung had made it sound like a big deal, Sunyul told Muyoung with a slightly proud feeling.

“……She must really like you.”

However, Muyoung’s voice in response sounded somewhat displeased. Sunyul looked at Muyoung’s face. But he couldn’t find any trace of displeasure anywhere.

“That’s good. Contact her if you need to.”

At his usual, calm voice, Sunyul thought he must have been mistaken.

Muyoung put the discount coupons Sunyul had handed him back into the envelope and returned them to Sunyul.

“You use these.”

“I don’t need them.”

At Sunyul’s words, Muyoung fell into thought for a moment.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never given you an allowance. I said I would before and forgot.”

“What? It’s fine, something like that……”

“I’ll give you a card, so use it. Don’t worry about the limit.”

“The limit?”

“It means you can spend as much as you want without worrying. Follow me.”

Since he said it so suddenly, Sunyul had no choice but to follow. The place Muyoung headed to was his own room. Finding himself entering Muyoung’s room by chance, Sunyul looked around as if mesmerized.

The room was extremely tidy and had a calm atmosphere. Decorated in black and gray, the room also had a dark impression, but it matched Muyoung’s calm demeanor well.

Muyoung, who had gone into the dressing room, came back to Sunyul with his wallet. Muyoung took a black card out of his wallet and handed it to Sunyul. Flustered and unsure of what to do, Sunyul pushed the discount coupons back at Muyoung.

“Since you gave me a card… please use these instead, Guild Master-nim.”

“Alright, then.”

Thanks to Muyoung readily accepting them, Sunyul let out a sigh of relief. Muyoung stroked Sunyul’s head.

“Use it freely. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Even while thinking he probably wouldn’t have much to use it for, Sunyul nodded obediently. It seemed to be a good thing, since Muyoung appeared satisfied with his answer.

After sending Sunyul up to his room, Muyoung sighed.

It was definitely a good thing that the number of people who viewed Sunyul favorably was increasing. And yet, while feeling relieved, he also felt a little bit of regret.

Muyoung couldn’t do everything for Sunyul. Nor should he do everything for him. But he wanted to give him as much as possible. This, too, was an unfamiliar emotion for Muyoung.

The series of unfamiliar emotions all pointed to one thing.

That Kwon Muyoung cherished Lim Sunyul.

From the moment he meddlesomely saved Sunyul, Muyoung had been overly concerned about him. And the attention he had been pouring out little by little had gradually soaked into Muyoung’s heart.

Even Muyoung couldn’t know how far it would soak. Muyoung could only let his heart flow as it would.