EFME 44

Muyoung, who had to drive, didn’t drink alcohol, but he ordered wine for Sunyul. Judging by his actions, he seemed like a complete child who probably couldn’t even handle alcohol, but Sunyul actually quite enjoyed it.

“Is it okay for you not to drink, Guild Master?”

“I have to drive.”

“I don’t have to drink either.”

“It’s your birthday, you should do what you want.”

At Muyoung’s very generous words, Sunyul finally brought the wine to his lips. After drinking the wine paired with his meal, Sunyul’s face lit up brightly.

“This is nice.”

“I’m glad.”

Sunyul looked quite satisfied. After eating everything from the appetizer to the dessert without leaving a single bite, Sunyul smiled with a slightly flushed face, saying he was full.

“Ah, that was really delicious.”

“Let’s come again next time.”

“Okay!”

Sunyul answered excitedly. As he stood up, he staggered slightly before standing up straight. It didn’t seem like he had drunk that much, but he was unexpectedly tipsy, perhaps because the wine suited him well.

“Be careful.”

“Okaay.”

Muyoung supported Sunyul. Sunyul, liking it, leaned his full weight against Muyoung. Like that, half-clinging to Muyoung, Sunyul left the restaurant.

“Wow, it’s so refreshing……”

Late December was quite cold, but having been in a warm place and having had a drink, Sunyul simply found the outside air to be crisp.

“Can’t we sit here for a bit before we go?”

“If it’s just for a bit.”

Muyoung went to Sunyul and buttoned up his coat all the way. Sunyul, who normally would have insisted on doing it himself, just quietly watched Muyoung.

Once the buttons were all done, Sunyul smiled joyfully and sat on a chair set up in front of the restaurant. It seemed they also opened the terrace seating when the weather was nice. Though it would be difficult in a winter like this.

Muyoung sat down next to Sunyul. Sunyul looked straight ahead, then up at the night sky, before slowly leaning over, resting his cheek on the table, and looking at Muyoung.

“Guild Master, why do you treat me so well?”

This time, even Muyoung had no answer for Sunyul’s question. Because he himself was puzzled by it.

“I wonder.”

“Don’t just say you wonder.”

“I don’t know either. Does wanting to be good to you need a reason?”

“I’m asking because I’m curious.”

Faced with Sunyul’s determination to get an answer, Muyoung was lost in thought for a moment.

He still didn’t know the clear reason why his heart went out to Sunyul. In the first place, he had never cared for someone like this before.

His relationship with his family was distant. He was relatively close to his older sister, Siyeong, but they weren’t affectionate enough to make time to take care of each other.

He paid a fair amount of attention to his teammates who entered dungeons with him… but that was strictly for the sake of efficient dungeon clearing. It fell far short of being comparable to the attention he paid Sunyul.

If it was about caring for someone’s private life… if anything, it might be closer to how one treats a lover.

Muyoung’s last relationship was 6 years ago. Scandals broke out quite often, but contrary to the public’s prejudice that he seemed somewhat experienced, Muyoung did not have much dating experience. That was because he was quite cautious about forming an intimate relationship like that of a lover.

Despite that, Muyoung’s relationships had ended briefly and unremarkably. Muyoung was indifferent to others and far from meticulous. He celebrated anniversaries like birthdays, but he had never put in as much effort as he did today.

Buying a gift and handing it to him, holding him to sleep because he might be cold, holding him again to comfort him when he cried, giving him a card when he said he had no money, holding him all night when he was sick, keeping his secret, and for his birthday, even going as far as to rent out a restaurant for a birthday event…….

As his thoughts reached that point, Muyoung’s expression became quite serious. A lover. He was a kid who was likely ten years younger than Muyoung. He looked it, and if you added his unexpected innocence, he seemed even younger.

This was something that shouldn’t happen. Muyoung pushed that possibility aside.

“……Maybe it’s because you’re like a little brother.”

Muyoung said shamelessly, despite the fact that he had never once voluntarily celebrated a family member’s birthday after becoming a hunter.

Certainly, instead of his distant parents and a sister who was busy teasing him, if a little brother who adored him like Sunyul had followed him around, he might have taken good care of him.

“A little brother……”

Sunyul chewed on Muyoung’s words. A little brother. That was practically blood relatives, wasn’t it? It was a tremendous honor to have created and occupied a place that didn’t even exist for the original Muyoung.

It was definitely an honor, but…….

Sunyul recalled his history of masturbating while thinking of Muyoung. Muyoung considered him a little brother, while he himself was shamefully using Muyoung for his own fantasies. He was the worst kind of trash.

Feeling guilty, Sunyul pressed his forehead against the table to hide his expression.

“I’m sorry……”

“For what?”

“I think I’m too bad to be your little brother, Guild Master.”

“What’s so bad about you. No… it doesn’t matter if you’re bad.”

You don’t know anything. Sunyul resolved to never have those strange thoughts again.

After a moment of silence, Sunyul let out a short sneeze. The weather was indeed cold. Muyoung patted Sunyul’s back.

“Let’s get up now. Let’s go inside before you catch a cold.”

“Can I even catch a cold?”

“Who knows. I don’t particularly want to find out, so don’t even think about catching one.”

At Muyoung’s firm words, Sunyul sluggishly got up and climbed into the car.

“Sleep if you’re sleepy.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

Sunyul said, his eyes wide awake. But it was clear he would melt away as soon as his body warmed up. Muyoung didn’t press further and turned on the seat warmer.

The car started, and Sunyul looked out at the completely dark road before speaking again.

“About birthdays, Dakyung said his birthday passed a long time ago.”

“It did?”

“Did you know, Guild Master?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t interested. The guild probably took care of it for him.”

He couldn’t care less about Dakyung’s birthday. But he added the words, worried that Sunyul, who liked Dakyung, might be disappointed. Sunyul replied, “I see,” and nodded.

“Hunter Lee Bada’s, and Jihyun noona’s, and Heena noona’s, and Haemin’s birthdays are still far away too.”

“Right.”

“And your birthday, Guild Master, is still a while away too.”

“How did you know my birthday.”

“It all comes up when you search for it.”

Sunyul said triumphantly. To think he didn’t even know how to turn on a smartphone at first, he was a really fast learner.

Muyoung was so famous that a lot of related information came up with a search. Sunyul had looked through that information carefully.

However, while information like his height, weight, blood type, traits, and skills came up, information about Muyoung’s hobbies, favorite foods, or preferences was not properly available.

Ah, there were quite a few articles that speculated on his taste in romantic partners. People were very interested in Muyoung’s love life. Did they say he seemed to like model-types who were tall and had refreshingly handsome features?

Sunyul suddenly remembered what he looked like. He was reasonably taller than others, but not enough to be conspicuous, and he didn’t have a refreshingly handsome impression either. For some reason, thinking about that made him feel like he was about to get depressed.

Sunyul shook his head, trying to shake off the strange thoughts.

Anyway, what was important right now was not his own feelings. Gathering information to celebrate Muyoung’s birthday was the priority.

“Guild Master, what are your hobbies?”

“I don’t really have any.”

“What do you do on your days off?”

“Finish leftover work, analyze dungeon information, or train.”

“Then is there nothing you particularly like?”

“Why.”

“It’s a secret.”

From the flow of the conversation, it was obvious he was asking to prepare a gift, but the tipsy Sunyul, his thoughts not reaching that far, played coy.

“Anything is fine. I don’t really have what you’d call a preference.”

“You wouldn’t like something like my light pink hoodie, would you?”

“……That’s true.”

At the rather sharp point, Muyoung let out a laugh.

“The things I usually use are probably my preference. Observe me carefully.”

“Umm… okay.”

Muyoung, finding it awkward to answer, just passed the buck. If it was something Sunyul bought with care… he was willing to wear even a light pink hoodie, at least at home. Sunyul meekly nodded.

“I’m excited.”

“About what.”

“Your birthday, Guild Master.”

“It’s still a long way off.”

“Still. I’m always just receiving things from you, Guild Master. So the thought of being able to give you something, I think it feels very exciting.”

Sunyul’s voice was buoyant.

Muyoung thought that just as he was becoming soft for Sunyul, the way Sunyul liked him was also strange.

Of course, Muyoung was nothing short of a savior to Sunyul. But wasn’t being grateful and liking someone a separate issue? While Sunyul was quick to grow attached to people, it was obvious that he was particularly fond of Muyoung.

‘Am I overthinking it?’

Who knows. Maybe he just liked Muyoung because he was the first person to get him out of the research institute. If someone else had rescued Sunyul, he might have done for them all the things he did for Muyoung.

Muyoung’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. The thought of Lim Sunyul following someone else the way he follows him… just thinking about it made his stomach churn.

Muyoung swallowed the rising anger. There was no need to get angry over something that hadn’t happened. Sunyul had come to him, and he would stay by his side in the future.

Lim Sunyul is by Kwon Muyoung’s side.

Yes, that was what was important. Whether he was a lover or a brother, it didn’t matter what they called this relationship.

As if he had been desperately wishing for that premise to be true, a smile formed on Muyoung’s lips.

“I’ll look forward to it. The gift.”

“……I’ll be sure to give you something you’ll be satisfied with.”

It seemed the thoughtless words he threw out had placed a burden on Sunyul, judging by his grim reply.

“If it’s something you gave me with care, I’ll like anything.”

Muyoung said with sincerity. Looking forward to his own birthday, which had never been anything special.