Under Creature Chapter 10.3

Yigeom, who was about to open the restaurant door and enter, backed up and headed for the back door where Kang Taeha was.

Just then, Kang Taeha sensed his presence, put his phone away, and greeted him.

“…Ah, Gyeom-ah.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Just texting.”

“Do you really have to come all the way outside just to text? It’s even raining.”

Without an umbrella, too. Yigeom quickly pulled Kang Taeha under his umbrella.

Kang Taeha shook his wet hair and mumbled as he pressed himself close to Yigeom under the umbrella.

“The guys are so playful. I was worried they might see.”

“They’re not elementary schoolers. You think they’d look when you told them not to?”

Kang Taeha laughed softly, as if he found Yigeom’s words amusing.

‘He worries about everything.’

Although Yigeom could also see things through the falling raindrops, he wouldn’t go out of his way to peek at someone else’s texts.

‘It’s not like I’m a voyeur.’

He didn’t feel the need to.

“You’re late. Did you walk?”

“Yeah.”

“Where were you? It should be far from your house.”

“Did you not consider that I might be late because I walked from my house?”

“There’s no way you’d walk that far. Especially on a rainy day.”

He knows me so well. Just as Kang Taeha said, Yigeom would sooner take a taxi than walk all the way to the meeting spot with his pants cuffs soaked in rainwater; for someone like Yigeom who finds everything bothersome and annoying, it was an absolutely impossible thing to do.

It was just that the CA Area was close to the meeting spot.

Unlike the weather, with its heavy downpour, Kang Taeha smiled as refreshingly as a forget-me-not and overlapped his hand with Yigeom’s on the umbrella handle.

“It’s chilly. Let’s go in.”

“Huh? Yoon Yigeom, you came with Kang Taeha. Did you guys meet out front?”

“Yeah. It just happened.”

He replied nonchalantly to his friend’s greeting and sat in an empty seat. Soon, his friend narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Kang Taeha, you. Did you go out to meet Yoon Yigeom?”

“No, I was at the back door, and Gyeom came over.”

Kang Taeha, also looking curious, asked Yigeom.

“But Gyeom-ah, how did you know I was there? It looks like you came straight to me without even stopping by the restaurant.”

Yigeom’s hand, which was pouring water, paused.

His friend dramatically covered his mouth with both hands in shock.

“That’s right. Yoon Yigeom, you…. Did you maybe install a location tracking app on Kang Taeha?”

“What nonsense….”

Yigeom, with nothing else to say as an excuse, denied it softly, but it was no use. The friends, having found something to tease him about, made an even bigger fuss.

Kang Taeha’s lips curled up as he tapped the table on Yigeom’s side with his index finger, calling out to the speechless Yigeom.

“Gyeom-ah, and you still say these guys aren’t elementary schoolers?”

“…They’re definitely elementary schoolers.”

After that, they chatted while they ate. As they were university students, the topics of conversation were mostly about department life.

“Shouldn’t all the freeloaders just die? I’m seriously curious, why do they live?”

Yigeom asked while munching on his food.

“You have a group project?”

“You’re just finding out now? I’ve been telling you for ages! You have a good memory, and you’re just finding that out now?”

“Sorry. I’m not particularly interested in you. I must have misheard you. I’ll make sure to listen from now on.”

“…That hurts even more.”

“Then I’m sorry for that too.”

His friend grumbled jokingly that Yoon Yigeom only takes care of Kang Taeha. And then he even brought up that location tracking whatever from before.

“Alright. I just have to remember. Who are your group members?”

“Forget it. You’re always like this! You only ever take care of Kang Taeha.”

Finally, he started shedding fake tears. He’s truly become an expert at teasing people.

Knowing that if he ignored it, the friend would lose interest and stop, Yigeom didn’t bother to react. But a voice came from beside him.

“That’s not true.”

It was Kang Taeha.

“There’s someone Yoon Yigeom likes more than me.”

“…What?”

Yigeom asked back in a dumbfounded tone, but Kang Taeha just propped his chin with a nonchalant face, looked at Yigeom, and muttered.

“He runs out whenever that person’s phone call comes. Even though they’re not a couple.”

Kang Taeha had just added fuel to the fire of the friends’ teasing, which had been dying down.

“What, what? Who is it? A lover? A fling?”

Yigeom glared at Kang Taeha and explained.

“…Haa. It’s not like that. You, stop saying weird things too.”

“Why. It’s the truth.”

He smiled, his eyes crinkling prettily, as if he didn’t know what he’d done wrong.

‘This guy, really…!’

It seemed Kang Taeha had also decided to join in on his friends’ teasing.

Lest the teasing get worse, Yigeom swallowed his food in silence, remaining unresponsive.

“Well, it is strange that someone with Yoon Yigeom’s face hasn’t had anyone until now. Who is it? Are they pretty? Photos?”

“I told you there’s nothing like that.”

“It’s a guy.”

Yigeom shot a sideways glance at Kang Taeha. Why is this guy being so kind as to answer for me?

The person Kang Taeha was thinking of was undoubtedly Seo Dohyun.

‘We’re not in that kind of relationship.’

Above all, Yigeom was displeased with Kang Taeha, who was acting this way even after seeing that the contact was saved as ‘Asshole’ in his phone.

“Oh…. So Yoon Yigeom was into that?”

“It’s fine. I’m not prejudiced about that sort of thing. If it’s my precious friend’s lover, what does gender….”

Yigeom slammed his spoon and chopsticks down. Clank.

“If you keep this up, I’m leaving.”

“Hey, hey, hey…. Sorry. We got a little carried away since we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“Hooo.”

Feeling the prick of Yigeom’s sunken mood, his friends fidgeted and apologized.

“Ah, I’ll stop now. Sorry. Right! To commemorate my failed group project, I’ll treat! Cheer u-up.”

“What’s with the cutesy act. Kang Taeha, press the bell over there.”

“Why the bell?”

After eating all the meat Kang Taeha had placed on his plate, Yigeom said nonchalantly.

“What are you doing? He said he’s treating, we need to order another round.”

In the face of money, there was no anger or anything else.

🦅࿐

The friend who paid the bill grumbled gloomily.

“I have to save money this month…. Yoon Yigeom cleaned me out.”

Yigeom popped a peppermint candy from the restaurant counter into his mouth and gestured towards a nearby bar.

“Not going for round two?”

“I can’t go for round two, I’m broke.”

The friend glanced at Yigeom with pleading eyes. At his transparent attitude, Yigeom smiled faintly.

“Geez. I’ll buy, so hurry up and come.”

At those words, his friend threw his arms wide open.

“Ooh, Lord Yigeom. But what’s the occasion? You’re the one suggesting drinks. You don’t even like it that much.”

“I’ve been drinking quite a bit lately.”

Namgoong Sanha was a heavy drinker, so he had started going to bars with him sometimes.

He didn’t just pour drinks down his throat all day and night; he also enjoyed savoring the taste, so he would take Yigeom and Dohyun to bars and recommend wine, whiskey, or cocktails.

Thanks to him, his knowledge of alcohol had broadened.

“But you seem to have a lot of time today, huh? For you to even go for a second round.”

“You sure find a lot of things strange.”

“It’s because you’re acting so strange today. I guess it’s true that love changes a person…. Ah, no. I take that back.”

“Good judgment. I was just about to pull out my card and almost put it back.”

As he was walking to the second location while joking around with his friend, Kang Taeha called out to Yigeom, sounding worried.

“Are you really buying?”

“I have enough money to buy that much.”

“Or I can buy. Later, when you see the price, you can just….”

Yigeom tuned out Kang Taeha’s words. Seo Dohyun, Namgoong Sanha, and now Kang Taeha, too…. Why were the people around him so eager to buy him things?

‘Do I look that destitute?’

Of course, he tried to be as frugal as possible because he didn’t want to rely on his uncle, but he had also earned quite a lot of money from catching creatures.

‘This much is no problem.’

Yigeom held his tongue and entered the bar. His friends followed behind him, looking around.

“Yoon Yigeom, isn’t this place expensive?”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. Let’s go somewhere else, even if it’s now.”

This was a bar they often came to, excluding Seo Doa and Cha Jewoo.

He always drank what Seo Dohyun or Namgoong Sanha recommended and they ended up paying, so he didn’t know the prices well.

It did look expensive from the outside, but since he always went around with Latter and they always bought expensive things without a second thought, he was now indifferent even when seeing high prices.

‘Have my standards gotten higher?’

Yigeom took a seat first.

“It’s fine, sit down. I’m buying.”

“…Did you win the lottery or something? Let’s just split the bill.”

“The lottery…. I win it often.”

Yigeom let out a small, wry smile and ordered the drinks he had enjoyed before from the staff. He looked quite natural doing so.

“Yoon Yigeom. Do you come to places like this often? Are you secretly a rich family’s son or something…. Kang Taeha, don’t you know anything?”

“Well. He hasn’t been hanging out with me lately, so I guess he’s been working hard. I’ll enjoy the meal.”

“Work? Right. You said you were working somewhere. Wasn’t that a part-time job?”

His friend asked with wide eyes.

“Part-time…. Um, I’m a full-time employee.”

“Really? While going to school?”

“The company is understanding….”

Even a high schooler works there…. Yigeom swallowed the end of his sentence.

“That’s a good company. What’s the salary? Ah, should I not be asking this?”

“Salary? …It’s just performance-based?”

“…It’s not anything illegal, is it? What kind of company is it?”

Worried that Yigeom might have gotten involved in something dangerous, his friend’s questioning continued. Yigeom sweated profusely and avoided answering.

‘If you really want to put a label on it, it’s a company that operates in the shadows.’

Since ordinary people don’t know about it, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it a shadow operation, but the nuance is a bit strange.

“It’s not, it’s not a company where your life is in danger or something, right?”

Technically speaking, that was correct….

What his friend suspected was roughly aligned with Yigeom’s company, but since the nuance of each word was slightly off, it became a completely different story.

“Huh, could it be…. Are you into stocks too? What, did Kang Taeha give you some tips?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Right. In that case…. You’ll do fine on your own. But if it’s dangerous, call me, okay?”

His friend said grimly. It was a tone that showed he was convinced Yigeom was doing something illegal.

‘It’s really not like that.’

There was no other way to explain it, so he was at a loss. Just then, the drinks and snacks arrived, so Yigeom changed the subject.

“Try this. It’s delicious here.”

“Uh, yeah, anyway, thanks for the food. Thank you.”

“Thanks to my friend, I’ve hit the jackpot.”

Yigeom watched benevolently as his friends, who had already stuffed themselves with meat, inhaled the snacks as if their stomachs had already digested everything.

Was this exactly how Seo Dohyun and Namgoong Sanha felt when he ate deliciously?

Then, he saw Kang Taeha next to him, quietly sipping his drink.

“You’re not eating?”

“Ah, I ate a lot earlier. This is enough for me.”

Yigeom frowned. He saw that he hadn’t eaten much at the meat place either.

‘As if I wouldn’t know how much you eat.’

Kang Taeha, who usually had a high amount of physical activity, looked like he hadn’t even had half of his meal yet.

He was clearly being considerate, thinking that if he ate too, the amount Yigeom had to pay would increase.

“Stop it and eat.”

Yigeom picked up Kang Taeha’s plate and piled it high with snacks.

“Huh? That’s what I had my eye on to eat.”

His friend, whose mouth was already full, muttered regretfully, like he was watching a lover depart.

“I’ll order more for you.”

“Hey, if you keep this up, I’ll get indigestion from the pressure. I’ll pay for the drinks.”

‘I can treat them just this once.’

It seemed his friends felt burdened by the price. Yigeom reluctantly nodded and, deciding to at least buy them a lot of snacks, called the staff over.

“Gyeom-ah, stop ordering. We won’t be able to eat it all anyway.”

“It’s fine. I’ll eat it all.”

Even Kang Taeha couldn’t bring himself to stop him and hesitated.

Yigeom successfully placed the order and savored his feeling of pride.

“Yoon Yigeom, but have you been here before? You look familiar with the place.”

“I came here often for company dinners with my colleagues.”

“Ooh. It must be a really good company. To come to a place like this for company dinners.”

Even if they called it a company dinner, it was only five people. If they went for drinks, it was three, since the minors were excluded. Now that Jin Geonwoo was here, maybe it was four.

Yigeom wet his throat with a cocktail. Just then, his phone rang.

[Asshole]

Why is Seo Dohyun….

He quietly got up from his seat to take the call.

“I’ll be right back, I have to take a call.”

“Uh-huh, okay.”

He stepped outside the bar and immediately answered the phone.

“Hello.”

—Where are you?

“I told you I have plans with friends today.”

—Ah….

He could feel the awkwardness through the speaker.

“Why?”

—Just because. I was about to go to your place now.

“I’m going to be out late tonight, so go home quietly. I can’t hang out with you today.”

—I can’t go.

“What?”

—I can’t go. Home.

Yigeom, wondering what he had just heard, blankly mulled over the words.

‘Why can’t he go to his own home?’

He soon understood why.

—I got kicked out. By Seo Doa.

“…Pfft.”

So even the great Seo Dohyun can’t win against his little sister. It was funny that the sibling squabble had ended with one of them getting kicked out.

Getting kicked out of the house after a fight was a serious situation, but it wasn’t that worrisome since it was clear they would make up eventually.

“Why’d you get kicked out?”

—Doa said she was going to sleep at a friend’s house for a while. I said I’d rather be the one to leave.

“And the place you sought out was my studio apartment?”

When no answer came, Yigeom burst into a wry laugh and muttered.

“A guy with so much money could just go to a nearby hotel.”

At those words, Seo Dohyun let out a light laugh and replied.

—You know. You’re all I have.

“…What are you.”

Yigeom rubbed the nape of his neck.

‘Why does he say things in such a confusing way.’

“You have Cha Jewoo, and Sanha-hyung too.”

—Because I like you.

Now that he’d said it like this, he couldn’t refuse.

“1212. That’s my door code. Go on in first.”

—That’s an easy password for a thief to guess.

“It’s my birthday.”

—You’re not a kid, making your birthday your password.

Yigeom muttered curtly.

“So what? It’s easy for a thief to guess, you say?”

—It’s cute.

“…Just go in.”

—Okay. When are you coming?

“I don’t know.”

He replied bluntly, quickly ended the call, and went back inside the bar.

“What took you so long on the phone? The food’s already here.”

“It was nothing.”

As Yigeom sat down, his friend shared some new information.

“Oh yeah, Kang Taeha’s treating for the third round. Did you all decide to treat today or something? Should I treat too….”

“If you treat too, we’ll have to go for a fourth round. Are we pulling an all-nighter? Huh? Catching the first train!? Well, I’m down.”

“Sorry, I’m not.”

Yigeom raised his hand and said.

“What, you’re not going for a fourth round? You acted like you had a lot of time earlier.”

“Something came up. I don’t think I can make it to the third round either.”

“Why? What happened?”

As Yigeom hesitated to answer, Kang Taeha asked in a displeased voice.

“Is it that person again?”

“That person? Who’s that person? The lover of Yoon Yigeom you mentioned earlier?”

“What lover. Just a coworker, something came up at work.”

“Ah, a coworker? But what happened?”

When Yigeom hesitated at his friend’s question, Kang Taeha muttered in a low voice.

“Seeing as you can’t even say what it is, I guess it’s a pretty personal matter, for a coworker.”

🦅࿐

Password: 1212.

‘Yoon Yigeom has a pretty cute side to him.’

With a memory several times better than others, he could have made a password of 20 digits or more and would never have forgotten it himself, yet the password he made was just his birthday.

‘It’s easy to remember.’

For himself, and for others.

As he opened the door and entered, a familiar scent filled his nose. It was the scent that clung to Yoon Yigeom.

It was warm, yet felt dry, like parched leaves.

Seo Dohyun quietly entered and sat down without turning on the lights.

A vibration went off, and when he checked, he thought it would be Yoon Yigeom, but it was a text from Seo Doa.

Where are you?

She must be worried.

He had left the house thinking it was better for him to leave than to send Seo Doa out.

He found it hard to understand. So even if he couldn’t understand, he did as she wished.

Why do I have to ask for help when I can handle it myself? If you get involved, you’ll be in danger, won’t you?

He couldn’t understand for the life of him why they would willingly jump into a pit of fire even when he said he’d protect them.

‘Why on earth?’

As he sat in the dark for a while, he heard the sound of the keypad at the entrance.

Click.

“Why are you sitting with the lights off? You’re not even sleeping.”

“You’re here?”

Yigeom looked disapprovingly at Seo Dohyun, who was grinning thoughtlessly and welcoming him.

“You always call and interrupt me when I’m out having fun.”

“Right? Things just happen to come up then. With such good timing.”

Yigeom asked suspiciously.

“It wasn’t intentional, was it?”

“Can you intentionally get kicked out by Doa?”

“With you, who knows.”

Seo Dohyun quietly gazed at Yigeom, who was hanging his coat on a hanger.

“What are you looking at?”

“What about your plans?”

“We were going to go for a third round, but I couldn’t because of you.”

“So they’re having more fun without you. Are you angry? At me?”

Yigeom paused for a moment. They hadn’t gone on to a third round; they had wrapped it up after the second. Of course, he had received glaring looks from his friends and a displeased gaze from Kang Taeha.

“You could have stayed out longer.”

“And let you do who knows what in my house?”

“Then you shouldn’t have given me the password.”

That was also true, so Yigeom pressed his lips together firmly. But he couldn’t just tell him to wait miserably outside on a rainy day.

“So? Did you have another huge fight with Seo Doa at home?”

“We didn’t fight.”

Seo Dohyun was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Gyeom-ah. I let them do whatever they want, so what’s the problem?”

“……”

The argument about not just having Yigeom and Dohyun solve problems by themselves but also asking for Latter’s opinion had somehow turned into a sibling fight.

“You must have done something wrong again.”

“Not really.”

Old habits die hard. He must have tried to control them without even realizing it.

Especially with Seo Doa.

“Why don’t you try talking to her?”

The atmosphere had remained a cold war. Cha Jewoo and Namgoong Sanha were one thing, but even the newcomer Jin Geonwoo was treading on eggshells.

‘I joined a company, but my two bosses had a huge fight and the atmosphere is a cold war. What should I do? Is quitting the only answer?’

It felt like a post exactly like this would pop up on the internet.

After losing his parents at a young age, Seo Dohyun awakened as a Hunter and grew up under Bae Sangwoo. He heard that Bae Sangwoo found him during his first awakening.

Bae Sangwoo, upon hearing his circumstances, helped him grow up without lacking anything, which was why Seo Dohyun had followed Bae Sangwoo and joined the Vigilante Corps right away.

Back then, Bae Sangwoo was still busy, and Seo Doa was a young kid who hadn’t even awakened, so Seo Dohyun must have protected her even more diligently.

But his efforts were in vain, as Seo Doa’s kidnapping occurred. He belatedly realized the obvious fact that the incident must have been a trauma not only for Seo Doa but for Seo Dohyun as well.

He had seemed so composed that he thought it didn’t affect him at all, but Seo Dohyun was also young at the time.

That probably influenced his overprotectiveness of not just Seo Doa, but all the members of Latter.

“……”

At Yigeom’s suggestion to talk it out, Seo Dohyun kept his mouth firmly shut.

“Why. You don’t want to apologize?”

“You told me not to give an insincere apology. I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Well, I’ll be.”

Admiration came out automatically. He really thinks he’s the best in the world, doesn’t he?

“So you teach me. What I did wrong.”

“…Me?”

This was a bit unexpected.

“Yeah. You always say I’m wrong. You must know what it is this time, too.”

“…Always. I didn’t say you were wrong on purpose, I only said it when you did something wrong.”

Seo Dohyun let out a wry smile.

“So I was always wrong?”

“Well…, ahem. That’s one way to put it.”

Yigeom cleared his throat with a cough and continued.

“Anyway, I can’t teach you, but I can consult with you. First, what you did wrong to Seo Doa was…. what was wrong was….”

What was it?

The incident began when their voices grew louder, saying not to treat them like hothouse flowers.

“So, because you were too overprotective of Latter….”

“So.”

“Huh?”

“Did I oppose the Vigilante Corps’ proposal?”

“Well…. no.”

When the vote was unanimously in favor, Seo Dohyun decided to go along with it, even though he didn’t like it. Compared to when Yigeom first joined Latter, his personality had softened a lot.

Yigeom remembered something else and continued.

“That day, we discussed the Vigilante Corps first, just the two of us. Wasn’t it because of that? You didn’t apologize like I did back then.”

“That wasn’t my fault.”

Because he was handling a CA Area, only Yigeom had attended the Vigilante Corps meeting, so Seo Dohyun had no information about their proposal. That’s why Yigeom had pulled Seo Dohyun aside to talk separately. Technically, it was Yigeom’s fault, not Seo Dohyun’s.

Yigeom’s conscience pricked him, wondering if this whole fight had happened simply because of him.

“…Doa probably didn’t know the situation well, so she might have assumed we colluded. Go and tell her that and clear up the misunderstanding.”

Seo Dohyun stared at Yigeom silently. It sounded like he was asking if he had any other opinions, so he deliberately avoided his gaze.

“I don’t know. That’s all I can guess. The rest is up to you guys to figure out.”

“Alright.”

Fortunately, he seemed to agree to some extent.

“But Gyeom-ah.”

“Why?”

“Did you drink?”

“A little? Can you smell it?”

“Yeah. Your scent.”

Yigeom, sniffing his own sleeve, blushed from the wave of embarrassment.

“What do you mean, my scent…. I’ll go wash up first.”

Thinking about his recent activities- rolling around in a CA Area, getting soaked in the smell of the meat restaurant, and the smell of alcohol- it was impossible for him not to smell. Especially today, on a humid, rainy day.

Seo Dohyun watched Yoon Yigeom’s back as he hurried to the bathroom, then took a deep breath.

The whole house was filled with Yoon Yigeom’s scent. It was even stronger now that the person himself was here.

Yoon Yigeom had a small circle of friends, so he must have met Kang Taeha.

‘Was he drinking with that guy?’

Except for the unpleasant smell of alcohol, it was all a good scent.

🦅࿐

After Seo Dohyun, who had spent the night at Yigeom’s place, left, Seo Doa visited that very same night.

At the continuous knocking, Yigeom opened the door with a sense of futility and greeted Seo Doa.

“Oppa. Can I just sleep here for one night?”

When these siblings fight, is my house the only place they have to go?

Yigeom refused with a coldness that was almost cruel.

“No. Go back.”

“Wa-wa-wait. Wait.”

“…Seo Doa! You’ll hurt your hand.”

As Doa fearlessly stuck her hand into the half-open gap of the door, Yigeom, startled and flustered, scolded her.

“Even if I get hurt, I can just ask Geonwoo-oppa!”

“Is Geonwoo-hyung your healing shuttle? Let go, quick. I’m going to count to three.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Three, two, one….”

“I can’t let go!”

“One and a half and a half!”

Seo Doa seemed to have no intention of letting go, only gripping the door tighter.

“You’re not letting go? You’ll really get hurt. Aren’t you going to go home, quick?”

“I heard everything! You let my brother sleep over yesterday!”

“You’re a girl!”

There was only one bed, and it was a studio apartment with only one room. This kid has no fear….

Seo Doa pushed the door wide open with her arm and shouted.

“Do you even see me as a girl!?”

“You! …Just come in.”

Seo Doa’s words calmed him down. Yigeom repeatedly admonished Seo Doa, who was excitedly taking off her shoes and coming inside.

“Sleep at your own house. I’ll put you in a taxi later.”

“Okay.”

“You’re not saying you won’t go? You were so stubborn just a moment ago.”

Doa nonchalantly settled down in a corner of the room and muttered.

“Well, I just stopped by to talk with you, oppa.”

“Talk?”

“Yes.”

Doa glared daggers at Yigeom.

“What did you talk about with my brother yesterday?”

“I wonder? We didn’t say much.”

“Really? My brother said something strange earlier.”

He had parted with Seo Dohyun in the evening. As they parted, he had even advised him to make up with Seo Doa, but for Seo Doa to come to his house a few hours later, had something gone wrong?

Yigeom poured milk into a cup, handed it to Seo Doa, and asked.

“Seo Dohyun? What did he say?”

“Ah, I’m lactose intolerant… Do you have anything other than milk?”

“An uninvited guest has a lot of demands. You drink chocolate milk just fine. And brown sugar bubble tea has milk in it too.”

“That’s because they’re delicious. They’re worth enduring.”

Yigeom ended up pouring her the most basic thing, water, and asked again.

“So what did Seo Dohyun do?”

“…He apologized to me.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I wasn’t looking for an apology.”

At the unexpectedly complicated story, Yigeom narrowed his eyes.

“Then what were you looking for?”

“The apology I get from my brother is just an empty shell without any sincerity anyway, so I had no intention of accepting it.”

It was something he always felt, but Seo Doa evaluated her brother very objectively.

‘She’d be a huge success if she became a judge.’

Yigeom acted like a parent who makes a big fuss if their child shows even a little talent in a certain area, then belatedly realized his own behavior and paused.

Unaware of Yigeom’s inner thoughts, Seo Doa continued to speak.

“But this time, I was a little surprised because the apology had sincerity in it. Did you give him advice, oppa?”

“Half-and-half? I guess he’s trying to become a person from a bear now.”

At those words, Doa let out a low laugh.

“Then Gyeom-oppa is playing the role of the mugwort and garlic?”

“I guess it turns out that way.”

“Anyway…. my brother’s overprotectiveness is a bit much, but he raised me since I was young, so he was playing the role of a parent, and of course, I understand.”

“So?”

Doa hesitated before continuing.

“It’s just that, I’m going to be an adult soon, so I’m worried about what will happen if my brother continues to act like that. I have to take care of myself too, you know.”

“You’re doing plenty.”

“Is that by a Hunter’s standard, or an ordinary person’s standard?”

Yigeom said firmly, without a moment’s hesitation.

“Both. You’re good at hunting creatures.”

“But that’s it. If I run into a Blood Hunter someday, am I supposed to hide behind you again, oppa? I’ve been training for the past half-year to avoid that.”

“You do work hard.”

Yigeom patted Doa’s head with an indifferent touch.

“I didn’t say that to get a compliment.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“So even if we move on with an apology this time, it’s obvious that when a situation like that comes up again, my brother will try to handle it all by himself again.”

“I’ll stop him from doing that.”

“You two are the same.”

“Me? Him? Not at all? In what way? Specifically how?”

Yigeom asked, bewildered.

“Uhm. The overall atmosphere?”

“…That’s an insult.”

“What, weren’t you two getting along? You haven’t been fighting lately.”

“It’s true we’re getting along, but that doesn’t mean Seo Dohyun’s personality is going anywhere.”

“Ah, I admit that.”

Doa readily admitted it and leaned her upper body over the low bookshelf in front of her.