EFME 88

Sunyul stopped by the research institute today and ended up heading to the Melior Guild in Bada’s car. Both Sunyul and Bada had completed the requests they had received from the Melior Guild, so they accepted the invitation to go together.

“It’s been a while since it was just the two of us in a car.”

The tips of Bada’s ears were slightly red as he spoke with a smile.

“Yeah, it has. Have we driven around like this before?”

“Hmm, not really, since both you and I have cars. Sunyul, aren’t you going to get a new license?”

Most of the identification and certification cards Sunyul had were reissued, but his driver’s license was deemed non-reissuable. It was only natural. Sunyul couldn’t remember how to drive at all.

“I’m scared of driving.”

He didn’t really want to drive. Bada chuckled slightly at those words.

“You did hate driving.”

“…I did?”

“Yeah. You weren’t a bad driver… but you said you were scared you’d get into an accident.”

“I think I know what you mean.”

Sunyul nodded his head in understanding. It seemed the past Lim Sunyul was indeed him. Seeing how these commonalities kept popping up.

“If there’s anywhere you want to go, let me know. I’ll give you a ride.”

“But you’re busy, Bada.”

“I’m not that busy.”

Not busy, my foot. No one would believe that a successful S-rank hunter wasn’t busy. Sunyul replied that he was grateful for the thought, at least.

“…But Sunyul.”

Bada began to speak, his voice somewhat tense. Wondering what was wrong, Sunyul turned to look at Bada.

“Yeah?”

“Who the hell is Yoon Saebyeok?”

“Just… a hyung I know?”

“I see…”

Despite Sunyul’s carefree answer, Bada’s boiling insides showed no signs of cooling. In fact, they only burned more fiercely.

Unbeknownst to Sunyul, a rumor had recently been spreading around the guild that Saebyeok and Muyoung were in a three-way battle over Sunyul.

Of course, it was a rumor that circulated like a joke. Although there were a few people who took it seriously.

Bada was among those few. Because he knew that Sunyul liked Muyoung, and that Muyoung was also interested in Sunyul.

“How did you get close?”

“We cleared a dungeon together before. And sometimes I get really bad headaches. That… person, he helped me by using a skill.”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Bada asked worriedly. Sunyul’s body, which had reappeared after five years along with a mysterious phenomenon, had changed in many ways from before.

The changes visible at a glance seemed mostly positive, but not everything could be good. Reality wasn’t a fairy tale that ended with ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’

Besides, Sunyul had been through a lot of bad things. It wouldn’t be strange if negative aftereffects were to appear now.

There was a part of that for which Bada felt guilty. It was the fact that he had taken Sunyul to Yoon Garam to have his condition checked when he was sick.

In his testimony, Garam had said that he used the samples collected under the pretext of an examination that day to research a poison that would work well on Sunyul.

Bada felt a pang of guilt toward Sunyul, as if he had pushed Yoon Garam into it.

Yoon Garam would probably rot in prison for life under the Hunter Special Act. Honestly, that wasn’t enough to quell his anger.

His heart ached at the thought that if only he hadn’t taken Sunyul to Yoon Garam back then, Sunyul would have suffered one less painful experience.

“It doesn’t hurt now, so don’t worry.”

“Yeah. That’s a relief, then.”

“You’ve been very busy, Bada. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Only after Sunyul asked that did Bada remember that he had been trying to interrogate him about Saebyeok. But he couldn’t keep asking about that strange guy in front of Sunyul, who was worrying about him without any ill intent.

“I’m not hurt. It takes more than that to hurt me.”

“That’s a relief… I heard you barely rested in February.”

“It’s because too many dungeons are popping up.”

Recently, an excessive number of dungeons had been appearing.

The number of dungeons that appeared last February set a new record for the number of dungeons to appear in a single month. Considering that February has fewer days than other months, it meant a truly massive number of dungeons had appeared.

“Is this… okay?”

“The atmosphere on the ground is not great.”

There were optimists who said it was just for this month, but there were more pessimists who wondered what would happen if even more appeared next month. And for good reason, as the rate of dungeon occurrences had been on a steady rise for the past few months.

Having spoken honestly, Bada saw Sunyul’s face darken and thought, oops.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s not so much that we can’t handle it.”

“Okay.”

But somehow, the ominous feeling wouldn’t go away. Sunyul felt as if anxiety had risen up to his ankles. As if the water level would rise in an instant and submerge him up to the top of his head.

Sunyul tried hard not to show his anxiety too much and continued the conversation with Bada. But despite Sunyul’s efforts, it was blatantly obvious, so Bada brought up other topics to talk about.

Thanks to him, Sunyul was able to get his mind off the dungeons and arrived at the Melior Guild with a relatively light heart.

“Sunyul!”

“Our Sunyul-ie!”

As soon as the two entered the guild, Heena and Haemin came running over enthusiastically. Even though Bada was with him, the two of them blatantly welcomed only Sunyul.

Bada didn’t pay it much mind, but Sunyul did.

“Bada is here too…”

“Hi, Bada.”

“Hiii.”

“Whatever, let’s just check the request first, shall we?”

Bada nonchalantly returned their greetings. At that, Heena and Haemin freaked out and clung to Sunyul.

“Look, look at that heartless bastard. Our Sunyul-ie is the only one for us.”

“That’s right, Sunyul-ie is the best.”

Bada snorted, but deep down, he was extremely displeased. He knew that Heena and Haemin didn’t like Sunyul in that way, but he didn’t like how they were always clinging to him.

“I’ve been curious for a while, why do you like Sunyul-ie so much?”

“He’s aesthetically beautiful, isn’t he?”

“Right. I liked him for that, but he’s also kind, so is there a reason to dislike him?”

“Why don’t you try liking Kwon Muyoung then.”

“I said I like kind people, kind people!”

Haemin shouted in horror. Sunyul, who was listening, timidly chimed in.

“The Guild Master is kind, too.”

Heena and Haemin looked at Sunyul, who said that, with eyes full of pity.

“Poor Sunyul-ie. Did the Cheongyeon Guild Master gaslight you or something?”

“The Guild Master doesn’t do things like that…”

“Alright, then we’ll just say Sunyul-ie has love filters over his eyes.”

At Haemin’s words, Heena burst out laughing, and Bada’s face turned gloomy. Bada, with a dark expression that could kill a man, took a box out of his inventory and held it out.

“Just take the requested items.”

Haemin opened the box and looked inside. After picking up and touching various things, Haemin exclaimed in admiration.

“Oh, got it. As expected of Pibada.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Bada got annoyed, embarrassed by the hunter name he had come up with in his younger days. Heena and Haemin, seizing the opportunity, grinned.

“What should we call Pibada if not Pibada?”

“Pi. Ba. Da.”

Bada’s fists trembled. It looked like he was about to throw a punch. Worried that a bloody incident might occur, Sunyul quickly held out his wrist.

“I-I’ve completed the request too, right?”

“Ah, yes, of course. We’ve gathered enough data by this point.”

Haemin took the watch.

“Your magic power was a bit unstable when you sleep and when you enter dungeons. And it’s getting more unstable little by little… so I’m a bit worried.”

“…Is that so?”

“Is he okay?”

Unlike Sunyul, who asked back relatively calmly, Bada was extremely flustered.

“There’s nothing wrong with your physical condition, right?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine.”

Sunyul was really fine. There were no problems at all.

“You’re being researched at the Jinseong Research Institute, right?”

“That’s right.”

“We can share the results with the research institute if you want, and if you don’t, we’ll destroy these results.”

“I don’t mind if you share them.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Even though it didn’t seem like something Haemin needed to be thankful for, Haemin expressed his gratitude.

“I hope the research is successful.”

“…Why?”

“I don’t know about other things, but I’m curious as to why everyone had to forget you.”

What was in Haemin’s eyes as he said that was not something like intellectual curiosity. His eyes were filled with affection and longing.

“Because I never want to forget you again.”

“That’s right. I don’t want to forget you either, Sunyul.”

“It’s the same for me, Sunyul.”

Bada said in a choked voice, as if he were holding back tears.

“Even if it means I die, I don’t want to forget you again.”

Sunyul was a little flustered. It was because the atmosphere had suddenly become too heavy and serious. There was no need for this.

“I’m fine, so you all don’t have to worry.”

“How can we not worry.”

“You saying that makes us worry more.”

“That’s right.”

The three of them chided him at the same time. Sunyul muttered, “But I’m really fine,” and smiled.

His memories are jumbled, and nothing is certain. But he knows that regaining his memories was not an entirely good thing. As Sunyul regained his memories, something changed for the worse.

Even knowing that, the reactions of the people who remembered him were so dream-like and beautiful…

Sunyul felt like he could give his all for them.

Just as he did before, so he does now.