The members of a top-tier guild are each assigned to manage zones according to their capabilities. The more skilled the Esper, the more zones they oversaw, and the higher the danger as well.
Among them, the zone Yeo-ul was assigned to was notorious enough that everyone avoided it. Zone GS-04. It was a place where S-rank gates, the highest danger grade, appeared, and compared to other locations, new species of monster cropped up there far more frequently.
The reason Yeo-ul took on this place was simple. He wanted a zone with few people, one staffed by veterans who would handle the monsters on their own without needing orders.
Zone GS-04 was exactly that kind of place. The danger level was considerable, but for that very reason each person quietly and cleanly handled only the work assigned to them. For Yeo-ul, who found dealing with people unpleasant, it was the ideal environment.
Kyahaaak-!
A mutated-species monster spewing venom lunged forward, its severed body fusing itself back together. He'd deliberately aimed for the head and burst it, but the scattered fragments wriggled back together and returned to their original form. Even when its body was minced fine and burned, it only thrashed about with a tremendous racket. In the end, it would not die.
“Wow, this is driving me insane. Why won't that thing die?”
“Just evacuate! At this rate we'll all die.”
Even the veteran Espers, accustomed to emergencies, couldn't withstand the mutated monster's attacks and fell back. As if being reborn like a phoenix again and again weren't enough, it spewed venom in every direction so the Espers couldn't escape. It was utter chaos.
“Khh...!”
“Nobody breathe!”
Espers who tried to look after the wounded ended up inhaling the venom themselves, and one by one they began to collapse all over. Even the high-rank Esper who'd been frantically shouting found his consciousness gradually fading.
Had Da-woon been there, he would have pushed himself to heal them all. And Yeo-ul, seeing that, would have lost his mind.
Kyahaaak!
A monster massive enough to swallow every Esper out in the zone roared. Because its body swelled grotesquely larger the more its limbs were severed, everyone stopped attacking and scrambled to dodge.
Damned mutant bastards. The reason they appeared was entirely the fault of the overheated gates.
As the gates multiplied endlessly, the variety of monsters that emerged grew along with them. The danger grades climbed steadily higher, and new species of monster with no data on record began pouring out countless times a day.
At this rate, they really might all die. It was the moment despair settled over the high-rank Espers' faces.
Kyaha, ak...!
“Es-Esper Go Yeo-ul!”
Seeing Yeo-ul appear out of thin air alongside a teleport Esper, everyone present let out sighs of relief.
“We'll evacuate!”
“Everyone, fall back!”
Having arrived in his assigned zone, Yeo-ul immediately unleashed his power.
The wave radiating from his body alone made the surrounding monsters flinch and flee. The wave was so dense it choked even the allied Espers, so they all ran even faster than they did when facing the monsters.
Yeo-ul unfurled walls of ice and didn't let a single monster escape. He instantly froze even the colossal mutated monster that had felled the high-rank Espers with venom.
Kwoong-!
The mutated monster's body, frozen solid like a boulder of ice, dropped to the ground in an instant. An earth-manipulating Esper rushed over to support Yeo-ul, burying the monster alive in the ground.
To deal with monsters that wouldn't die even when their hearts and heads were burst, sealing them with an ability and burying them alive was the best method.
Since monsters, too, have finite lifespans, there was no choice but to wait for them to suffocate and die someday. As there would never be any reason to dig a sealed monster back out of the earth, everyone agreed to this method.
“Is it dead?”
Standing atop the ground where the mutated monster was buried, Yeo-ul asked a nearby Esper. The one he was asking about wasn't the monster.
“No, there are many wounded, but everyone's still breathing fine.”
The Esper, accustomed to Yeo-ul's peculiar way of conversing, reported the zone's status. Thanks to Yeo-ul's arrival, they'd finally won a moment to catch their breath. All that remained now was to smash apart the small fry Yeo-ul had frozen.
“Oh, Guildmaster Ryu Tae-ha!”
A booming greeting rang out behind Yeo-ul as he surveyed the opened gate. Countless people turned eager attention to Ryu Tae-ha, who had suddenly appeared in Zone GS-04.
Ryu Tae-ha brushed away their fervent interest with a light wave of his hand. He'd come for only one reason.
“Yeo-ul, let's talk.”
Approaching with his characteristic unhurried gait, Ryu Tae-ha stopped behind Yeo-ul. Even though his leader had come, Yeo-ul pretended to focus on the gate and didn't turn around.
“I've got nothing to talk about.”
“I do.”
The surrounding Espers, reading the mood, cleared out on their own. When Yeo-ul tried to leave along with them, Ryu Tae-ha blocked him with telekinesis.
“You told me to work, so why are you getting in the way? Should I just quit?”
“It'll only take a moment. It's not a long talk.”
Ryu Tae-ha gazed leisurely at Yeo-ul, who kept his back turned to him to the very end.
“What did I tell you to do when you talk to people?”
Still stubbornly showing his back, Yeo-ul muttered a curse. But then, apparently mindful of his leader's words, he grudgingly turned around.
At this, Ryu Tae-ha smiled, as if pleased.
“That's right. You've got to look the other person in the eye. That's what manners are.”
“Say what you want and get lost.”
“That mouth.”
Ryu Tae-ha tapped his own lips with a straight finger.
“Watch your mouth, Yeo-ul.”
His tone was gentle, but it was clearly a warning. Yeo-ul rolled his eyes like a middle schooler in the throes of puberty. Ryu Tae-ha met that Yeo-ul with a benevolent smile and went on.
“I'll let it slide just this once. If you show any more violent behavior in front of people, I won't overlook it.”
He was talking about what had happened at the annex. Coming at him was something he could laugh off, but what Ryu Tae-ha took issue with lay in what Yeo-ul had said.
The warning that he'd kill them all.
“Even when you snap, those aren't words you say. Your words become your attitude.”
Yeo-ul gave no reply and only stared intently into Ryu Tae-ha's eyes. There wasn't the slightest sign of remorse, but at least no defiance came through either.
“I trust that you'll follow along well, Yeo-ul. Just like now.”
Smiling softly, Ryu Tae-ha laid a hand on Yeo-ul's broad shoulder. At that, Yeo-ul gave his shoulder a light jerk and shrugged the hand off.
“Then make a promise with me.”
“What promise?”
Ryu Tae-ha looked intrigued. It was something that had never come out of Yeo-ul's mouth before, so his interest was piqued.
“I'll shut up and follow your orders, so don't touch Da-woon-hyung.”
Raising his eyebrows, Ryu Tae-ha laughed loudly. Offended by that flippant reaction, Yeo-ul's expression sharpened.
“Da-woon-hyung doesn't need you anymore. He doesn't even like you, so just keep on looking after your little brother for the rest of your life.”
“Are you throwing your weight around just because you got to be his sex partner?”
Yeo-ul faltered. His large eyes blinked for a moment, and then the corners of his stiffened mouth twitched upward.
“Did Da-woon-hyung tell you? That he decided to be partners with me?”
He seemed quite pleased that Da-woon had revealed their relationship himself. Watching the youngest's expression, which laid his feelings bare, Tae-ha let out a snort.
“Don't get the wrong idea, Yeo-ul. A sex partner is just a relationship where you cleanly mix bodies and nothing more. Not a lover.”
Grinning and grinning, Yeo-ul looked down at Tae-ha with a sidelong glance.
“Just make the promise. That you won't go after Da-woon-hyung.”
“That's a habit of mine, so I can't change it.”
“Cut the crap.”
“This isn't something a mere sex partner like you gets to butt into.”
A firmness settled into Tae-ha's soft tone.
“That's a matter between Da-woon and me. Who are you to interfere?”
Then, adding a playful smile, he drew out his words slowly, as though dealing with a child.
“Yeo-ul, a sex partner isn't romantic the way you imagine. You just help each other through your heat cycles and that's it. With no emotional exchange whatsoever.”
“I know that much too.”
“Then why'd you whine and insist on doing it? Putting Da-woon in a difficult spot.”
Furrowing his brow, Yeo-ul asked in a stiff tone.
“Did Da-woon-hyung say that? That I whined and insisted?”
“He was completely fed up, said it was awful. Da-woon's secretly soft-hearted. He's the type who'll force himself to go along even if he hates it, when you push him. Don't tell me you didn't know?”
Yeo-ul shut his mouth.
“...”
He only stared at Tae-ha's face as if he'd bore a hole through it, saying nothing in particular.
A few seconds passed like that, and the corners of Yeo-ul's quietly stiffened mouth twitched up once again.
“Wow, you really are the worst, leader.”
His face, openly sneering at Tae-ha, brightened in an instant.
“I guess you don't know, leader, but Da-woon-hyung was the one who suggested it first.”
Of course, it was true that he'd been the one to first bring it up, but the one who'd actually said let's do it was Da-woon. Yeo-ul hadn't whined or insisted. He'd only conveyed his own feelings.
“Oh, is that so? I didn't know.”
Shrugging, Tae-ha readily admitted his lie. Having watched that closely, Yeo-ul changed his mind.
He'd been trying to extract a promise that Tae-ha wouldn't touch Da-woon-hyung by any means, but there'd be no need for that. Not after seeing this pathetic display.
“You're regretting it right now, aren't you, leader? Anxious you might lose Da-woon-hyung.”
Throwing his already broad shoulders open even more proudly, Yeo-ul wore a delighted face, just like when he was with Da-woon.
Seeing the leader who'd put the person he loved through so much heartache for so long now acting so pathetic, even his perpetually low mood lifted.
“I am anxious our guild might fall apart.”
“Don't act like you've got it under control. It's totally showing.”
Oh dear. Reacting smoothly, Tae-ha rubbed his lower jaw and lazily lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Was it showing?”
Even though he'd clearly been hit right on the mark, watching Tae-ha smile so easily made Yeo-ul's face crumple instead. Because of that flippant attitude, he couldn't tell whether those words were sincere or a lie.
But it had to be sincere. People are creatures who easily come to regret even losing a toy they'd taken lightly.
“That's why you should've treated him well while you had him.”
“Don't I treat him pretty well even now?”
Shaking his head, Yeo-ul looked down on Ryu Tae-ha with contempt.
“You said it yourself, you reap what you sow.”
He'd wanted to throw these very words back at him someday.
“You're paying the price for ignoring and trampling on Da-woon-hyung's pure feelings.”
“I've never trampled Da-woon.”
“You trampled him just yesterday.”
“When did I?”
“At the annex.”
Ryu Tae-ha tilted his head as if he genuinely didn't understand. Yeo-ul scratched the back of his head roughly, his face saying he'd known it would be like this.
“How shitty do you think it feels to have the person you liked shove a list at you and tell you to go have sex with some other bastard? And in front of everyone, no less.”
