EFME 35

‘It’s nothing. I bet you could do it too.’

‘No. I’m still a long way off.’

‘Do your own job properly instead of wasting time being impressed. If I hadn’t blocked it, you would’ve gotten your head smashed in.’

At the cold words, Sunyul’s face turned red. Being called out for a mistake by his idol was more embarrassing and upsetting than he thought.

Muyoung didn’t care whether Sunyul hovered around him, sending him looks of admiration or not. In the first place, Muyoung was a very stoic person, not one to be swayed by the reactions of others. It might have been because he’d been in the spotlight of countless people for a tiresomely long time.

Sunyul, too, didn’t care whether Muyoung noticed him or not. He wasn’t hovering around him because he particularly wanted to be imprinted on Muyoung.

Up to a certain point, that was how it was.

Sunyul’s attitude changed one day when they were cleaning up the area around a newly appeared dungeon.

That day, a team member he was with was attacked by a monster. The team member, who was quite seriously injured, was diagnosed as needing to rest for a while despite the healer’s treatment.

It was the first time since becoming a team leader that a team member he was with had been so seriously injured.

The injured team member and everyone around them told him it was okay. But Sunyul was not okay.

Honestly, he had let his guard down, arrogantly thinking that this much was nothing. Because of that, it felt like his team member had been injured, and his heart was heavy.

Tears welled up at his own inadequacy. Sunyul didn’t want to show the pathetic sight of himself blubbering after making a mistake, so he went to a corner to cry.

But Muyoung found Sunyul, who was tucked away in the corner.

Muyoung handed a handkerchief to the tear-stained Sunyul. Embarrassed, Sunyul took the handkerchief and hurriedly wiped away his tears. Hudadak.

‘…I’ll wash it and return it to you.’

‘It’s fine, you use it. It looks like you’re going to cry more.’

Sunyul shook his head. Now that he had been caught by someone else, he didn’t want to cry anymore. Sunyul waited for Muyoung to leave, hiding his face with the handkerchief as if wiping away tears.

But instead of leaving, Muyoung stood side by side with Sunyul.

‘Why are you crying.’

‘They got hurt because of me…….’

‘Why is that your fault.’

‘If I had, done a little better, they wouldn’t have gotten hurt.’

As soon as Sunyul’s words ended, Muyoung let out a chuckle. Pisik.

‘If you can’t protect them, is it all your fault?’

‘Well…….’

‘By your logic, the number of people who died because of me must be enormous.’

Sunyul flinched in surprise and looked at Muyoung. Muyoung was staring at Sunyul with a calm face.

‘It’s not your fault. Don’t think such useless thoughts.’

‘……But.’

‘If you want to blame yourself for every single thing, then go ahead and curse me first.’

At Muyoung’s words, Sunyul shook his head in horror.

‘N-no. How could I possibly… Hunter Kwon Muyoung-nim…….’

‘There’s nothing particularly special about me either. I just Awakened earlier than others and did what I had to do.’

The calm words contained a sincerity that was neither more nor less. To hear such words from the mouth of a hunter whom everyone unanimously praised as amazing. Sunyul was inwardly impressed. He thought his lack of arrogance was amazing.

‘If you had been born before me and Awakened before me, you would be in my position.’

‘…No way. Me, something like that… there’s no way I could become a great hunter like Hunter Kwon Muyoung-nim.’

He didn’t think he could do as much as Muyoung. No one would be able to accomplish as much as Muyoung. He was a person who shouldered great expectations and achieved more than that. But Muyoung’s attitude was firm.

‘No, you can.’

‘…….’

‘Instead of wasting time blaming yourself, just train more. Because you’re someone who can save more people through effort.’

‘…Do you really think so?’

‘Of course. Don’t doubt, and believe in yourself.’

‘…….’

‘Because I’ll believe in you too.’

Muyoung was serious, as if he didn’t doubt for a second that Sunyul would become that way. At that moment, Sunyul felt that Muyoung’s words were incredibly joyous, and at the same time, his heart was strangely racing.

The trust given at the moment he wanted it most was sweet. A sweetness that made him crave it even more.

It was the moment admiration turned into love.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

He could hear Muyoung’s voice. He couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

His head just hurt like it was going to break, and he was anxious. So much so that it was hard to breathe. Sunyul scratched his neck with his hand. As he scratched with his nails, his neck quickly turned bright red.

Muyoung grabbed Sunyul’s wrist, held it firmly, and pulled it away.

Sunyul just couldn’t seem to come to his senses. He had been suffering and groaning in his sleep, and just when he seemed to have barely woken up, this time he was panting in pain, hurting himself.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

“Ah, ugh…….”

“Lim Sunyul.”

As the low, firm voice called his name, Sunyul opened his eyes as if in response.

The sense of reality given to him pulled Sunyul out from the formless anxiety. Muyoung let go of the wrist of Sunyul, who was gasping for breath. He had used such great strength that his wrist throbbed.

“Let’s see.”

Muyoung checked Sunyul’s neck. It was a little red, but thankfully there were no wounds.

Sunyul belatedly came to his senses and sat up. Muyoung helped him as he got up listlessly.

“What’s wrong.”

“That is…….”

As he was hesitating, Sunyul suddenly realized that Muyoung’s face was too close.

It wasn’t the first time they had been this close, but his face turned bright red. For some reason, he felt shy and couldn’t look Muyoung straight in the eye.

“It’s nothing.”

Sunyul hurriedly made an excuse to get away from Muyoung. Muyoung wasn’t convinced, but seeing Sunyul desperately avoiding his gaze, he obediently backed away.

“Calm down a bit and come out slowly.”

“I’m really okay.”

“Don’t push yourself.”

“I want to go out and get some air.”

He was still conscious of Muyoung, and his face was hot. He thought he might need to get some cold air to come to his senses.

In the end, Muyoung took Sunyul’s jumper out of his inventory and gave it to him. Sunyul, armed with the thick jumper, followed Muyoung out of the tent.

Jaehoon was standing in front of the tent.

“I was about to come get you guys, and you’re out. But, why is your face so red?”

Jaehoon grinned at Sunyul.

“What were you two doing in the sacred tent?”

“Ah, uh…….”

Sunyul’s face burst into flames. Hwareureuk. At that fiery reaction, Jaehoon, who had been the one to tease him first, was flustered. Jaehoon quickly turned to look at Muyoung.

“Hey, that’s not it, right?”

“…….”

A cold gaze that seemed to say it wasn’t even worth answering was fixed on Jaehoon. Muyoung walked right past Jaehoon. Sunyul, not knowing what to do, also fled from the spot.

Left alone, Jaehoon scratched his head, unable to shake off the uneasy feeling.

“Haha, of course not…….”

While Jaehoon was misunderstanding, Sunyul approached the hunters who were preparing a meal with Muyoung.

Thanks to having explored the dungeon together and talked yesterday, the hunters treated Sunyul much more comfortably.

“The late sleeper is up.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

To think he overslept when he was the only one resting while everyone else took turns on night watch. Feeling sorry, Sunyul bowed his head repeatedly. Kkubeok-kkubeok.

“Hey, no need to be sorry. It’s not like you have anything to do anyway, so sleep more if you’re sleepy.”

“It’s okay. I’m awake.”

“Okay, even if you’re awake, go and sit down. You too, Guild Master.”

Muyoung looked at the meat the hunter was grilling with a displeased face.

“It’s burning.”

“Oops.”

“That’s enough, give it to me. I’ll grill it.”

The hunter who ended up making the Guild Master work stepped aside awkwardly.

“Haha……. It just so happens that we don’t have any of the cooking members right now.”

“We’re counting on you, Guild Master.”

Sunyul looked around to see if there was anything left to do. Now that even Muyoung had started working, he really felt like he should be doing something. But since no one gave Sunyul any work, he had no choice but to be shooed away.

In the spot he was shooed away to, Yoonjae was resting, reading a book by himself. He was a somewhat difficult person to deal with, so Sunyul sat down at a slight distance. But as if to mock his keeping a distance, Yoonjae closed his book and turned his body towards Sunyul.

“Lim Sunyul-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Did you sleep well last night?”

Sunyul’s eyes darted around. Degul-degul. Did he know and was saying that, or was it just a coincidence? After a moment’s thought, Sunyul chose a suitable answer.

“It was so-so.”

He said that, but Sunyul’s expression was honestly saying, ‘I had a really awful time.’

“It must be your first time in a dungeon, so it’s understandable that you’d be uncomfortable.”

“Yes, well…….”

He was restless because of the dream. It wasn’t a dream he had because it was a dungeon, but a dream he had been having continuously.

Why on earth was he having these dreams?

Sunyul glanced at Yoonjae in front of him and then closed his mouth. Nothing good would come from talking about his dreams to someone from the Awakened Administration. In fact, he wanted to bury his dreams forever, but… he dreamed too often for that.

Sunyul decided that he should try talking to Muyoung about his dreams.