Under Creature Chapter 9.2

The eyes round and sparkling, the mouth shaped like a ‘3’ lying on its side.

“It’s Jewoo.”

Seo Dohyun got the answer right. And then the next question. With eyebrows drooped in confusion, he drew a sweatdrop next to the forehead. The bulging muscles were a bonus.

“Sanha hyung.”

He described the characteristics of each person so well that it was actually hard to get them wrong.

Just as they were using the creature’s hide like a canvas, drawing and playing, the transport truck they had been waiting for arrived.

“We’re a bit late…”

The Association employee who got out of the truck saw the scene before him and ran over, jumping in shock.

“Wh-what are you doing right now!”

“Drawing pictures.”

Yigeom answered shamelessly, as if to say, ‘Can’t you tell by looking?’

“Th-that is… why would you doodle on this precious part…”

Seen up close, the creature’s carcass was in no state to be chided for mere doodling. Even though it wasn’t a fierce battle, it was hard to find a spot without a scratch.

At this rate, forget dissecting the carcass and sending the parts to Iryeon, they wouldn’t be able to get anything out of it, and they’d just end up spending a fortune on disposal fees.

“Th-th… This, this is…”

The employee’s face turned deathly pale.

Even amidst this, Seo Dohyun didn’t stop doodling and nudged Yigeom.

“Gyeom-ah.”

“What?”

“It looks like him.”

“……”

“A dozing Yoon Yigeom.”

An angry Yoon Yigeom, a dozing Yoon Yigeom, a wronged Yoon Yigeom, a scaredy-cat Yoon Yigeom—he had drawn a wide variety in that short time.

“It doesn’t look like me at all.”

Yigeom scribbled over the drawing with his knife, erasing it.

“Stop! Please stop! If you damage it any further…!”

The employee, horrified, pulled Yigeom away, who was crouched in front of the dead creature. Pulling him further away from the creature’s carcass.

“He’s the one who doodled more.”

Why am I the one being dragged away? he grumbled quietly, sheathing the sword he had taken out for doodling.

“Well then, please take care of the transport. Seo Dohyun, let’s get going too.”

Dohyun stood up and checked his messages. It was a message saying that Doa, Jewoo, and Namgoong Sanha’s team had also succeeded in their hunt.

As the two were about to leave, the employee grabbed them with a look of despair.

“…No. How can you just leave after doing this. These don’t even look like scratches from the battle; you deliberately damaged it. If you do this next time…”

“That’s not true. It was so hard catching this thing. Besides, do you have any proof that we deliberately damaged it?”

At Yigeom’s confident words, the employee pointed pointedly at the marks they had doodled.

“Ah, that?”

When Yigeom gave Seo Dohyun a look, he strode over and cut out the part they had doodled on, butchering it until no trace could be recognized.

Then, Yigeom asked again.

“Do you have proof?”

“Proof…. The proof is.”

The employee, who had witnessed the evidence disappear before he could even stop it, muttered, dumbfounded.

“Uh, there is none. No…. It’s gone.”

“Right. There isn’t, is there? Then we’ll be on our way. We’re in a hurry to carry out the Association’s orders.”

Yigeom said, ‘Keep up the good work,’ in a polite manner, and then left the employee behind and departed with Seo Dohyun.

🦅࿐

“Oh! Hyungs, you’re here?”

Jewoo, having spotted them, greeted them brightly. Behind him was also a heavily damaged creature carcass.

“Yeah. But are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m confident in my ability to endure.”

Yigeom had asked worriedly if killing creatures bothered him, but Jewoo just chuckled and shook his head.

Knowing that it required an extraordinary amount of patience made him even more worried, but he didn’t even show a hint of it.

Come to think of it, Jewoo hadn’t reacted much before to the news of Yigeom catching creatures like Gammas or Chupes.

“Sanha oppa. That part is worth quite a lot.”

“Ah… yeah! Of course I know. Is going this far a bit much? Should I hold back?”

“What are you talking about? I meant you should damage it more!”

“Okay! Got it.”

On one side, Doa and Sanha were diligently lowering the creature’s value.

Sanha was more motivated than he looked. It seemed he was working harder, thinking his teammates were suffering because of his desertion incident.

“Hey Doa! Do I need to destroy the eyeballs too?”

“Oh, that would be great. I hadn’t thought of that part, nice.”

It was even cruel. Yigeom, like Doa, hadn’t thought of going as far as the creature’s eyes, but Sanha lifted the carcass’s closed eyelids and forcefully gouged them.

It’s always the ones who don’t look the part.

Yigeom shook his head and checked the approaching transport truck.

It was the same man from before.

It seemed he had loaded the creature carcass Yigeom and Dohyun had dealt with onto the truck and come here.

The man got out of the truck, and Yigeom bowed his head in greeting.

“Hello, we meet again.”

“Yes. I knew we would… meet again. Does Latter have a grudge against me or something?”

“A grudge?”

The employee lamented.

“Following what happened earlier, what is this now? Can’t you give them to us in a prettier state? The carcasses are all damaged…. You used to give them to us without any damage!”

The fact that Latter, who had always maintained a damage rate close to 0%, was pulling something like this was even more flabbergasting.

Yigeom rolled his eyes and replied in a troubled tone.

“Well, it hasn’t been easy lately.”

“Why on earth! At this rate, we’re just going to incur more disposal fees.”

At the employee’s question, which was close to a sob despite his roaring anger, he finally got to the point.

“We have no motivation. You need to get some crumbs to feel like working.”

The employee squeezed his eyes shut. In truth, it wasn’t that he didn’t know. Latter was always followed by incidents, so the rumors about this latest incident had spread quickly.

Things like what Latter had experienced at Iryeon, or that one of Latter’s members had deserted. And that, for that reason, they had to catch ten creatures for free.

“Of course, it’s true that my hyung deserted due to unforeseen circumstances and created work for the Association, but for heaven’s sake, even dogs and cats are trained with treats. Do you think humans are any different?”

“…That’s.”

Seeing the employee start to hesitate, Jewoo quickly backed up Yigeom’s opinion.

“Hear, hear! We’ve caught three for you so far. Leave the remaining seven to us too! Although it’s for free, we’ll hunt them diligently, just like that, as you can see behind us! Like that, since it’s free!”

The words were laced with thorns. It was full of the meaning that if they weren’t providing their labor for free, they would somehow muster the strength to reduce the carcass damage rate.

Even in the midst of this, Doa and Sanha were diligently damaging the carcass as a last-minute buzzer-beater before loading it onto the truck. And Seo Dohyun was watching the scene with a smile.

These…

These crazy bastards.

The employee ultimately swallowed his words.

“Excuse me? Driver-nim. Please just know that we’re doing our best in our own way.”

Of course, if money were involved, we could do even better.

He muttered it loud enough for the employee to hear, and there was no way it didn’t reach his ears.

‘I want to quit.’

He came to work every day wanting to quit, but today he wanted to quit with a much fiercer passion.

The employee suppressed the thoughts that were unknowingly surging up and chewed on each and every word as he spoke.

“I will… speak to, the higher-ups about it.”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Yigeom nodded and offered the employee a handshake.

“Ah, I wasn’t hoping for that much. But still, thank you for saying you’ll talk to them. We know how hard you work, sir. You always have it tough in the middle.”

“…Yeees.”

‘You guys are the ones causing all this trouble.’

The employee smiled soullessly and shook Yigeom’s hand. In the meantime, Jewoo handed the employee a restorative drink he had prepared.

“This is red ginseng. It’s a bribe for you to eat and cheer up. Please, I hope you’ll put in a good word with the higher-ups.”

“No, Jewoo-ya. You shouldn’t call it a bribe. The driver-nim could get disciplined for that.”

“Oh, really? It would be a huge problem if he got disciplined, wouldn’t it? Then should I not give it to him?”

Jewoo pulled back the red ginseng he had offered.

How can you give something and then take it back? The employee was about to shout but couldn’t bring himself to say he’d take the bribe first, so his lips just moved without a sound.

At that, Yigeom took the red ginseng from Jewoo and offered it to the employee again.

“This is a small token of my sincerity. Thank you for always going through so much trouble because of us.”

“…Yes. Thank you too. I’ll… enjoy this.”

And so, under Yigeom’s direction, the bribe was successfully exchanged.

And the next day, the Association informed Latter of their designated CA Area and gave them one more notice.

It was the very welcome news that for the next 7 creatures they caught, they would be given a share after deducting a commission.

🦅࿐

Wouldn’t it have been nice if they’d just given it to us from the start?

Yigeom grumbled as he tapped the printouts he received from the professor on the desk to even out the edges.

They were getting a larger commission deducted than for creatures caught in Latter’s original area, but he could understand that much.

As of yesterday, they had caught 2 more, making a total of 5. 5 more to go.

They only started receiving their share of the commission after catching the 3rd creature, but the income was still quite good.

“You look happy.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. You were smiling.”

“Was I.”

At Kang Taeha’s question, Yigeom readily agreed. He couldn’t help but feel good looking at the money coming into his bank account.

After finishing organizing the printouts, he packed them into his bag and stood up.

“Let’s go. I’ll buy you dinner today.”

“You’re not going to stand me up again like last time, are you?”

“…That time it was an urgent appointment. Sorry.”

“Must have been some urgent appointment.”

Kang Taeha was uncharacteristically sarcastic. It seemed he had been very upset and angry about what happened that day. And he had every right to be.

Yigeom, admitting it was his fault no matter what, apologized and reiterated that he really had time today.

At the same time, he thought of ‘an angry Kang Taeha’ and imagined what Kang Taeha’s face would look like, just as he had when he doodled with Seo Dohyun on the creature’s hide.

“You’re smiling again. What’s so funny, Gyeom-ie.”

“Ah, sorry. I just remembered something funny.”

“…Could it be that son of a bitch-nim?”

The combination of the vulgar word ‘son of a bitch’ and the honorific ‘nim’ was funny for no particular reason.

Yigeom swallowed his laughter and repeated the words.

“Yeah. That son of a bitch-nim.”

“…Haa. Let’s just go get something to eat.”

Somehow, that seemed to have gotten on Kang Taeha’s nerves. It was the karma for joking around thoughtlessly at a bad time. Yigeom immediately grasped the situation and apologized again.

“I’m really sorry. I went too far.”

“…It’s fine. I’ve just been sensitive lately. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“Did something happen?”

Kang Taeha rarely ever spoke of his hardships. For him to say something like this meant something big must have happened… Yigeom asked, his brow furrowed.

“It’s just… something bad happened recently.”

“When? What was it? Did it happen when you were out of contact last time?”

As he pried, Kang Taeha smiled weakly.

“I think this is the first time you’ve asked me like this.”

“That’s because you never show it. You never even tell me where you’ve been.”

“That’s true. I’ll tell you everything when the time is right.”

When is that ‘time’ going to come? Yigeom couldn’t bring himself to ask. He had his own circumstances he couldn’t tell him about, after all.

“Yukgaejang?”

The restaurant Kang Taeha led him to was a yukgaejang place. A different one from the place he went to with Seo Dohyun.

“Yeah. You said you wanted to eat it last time.”

“Ah, that…”

“Did you already eat it? Should we go somewhere else then?”

“I told you to pick what you want to eat, not what I want to eat.”

“Then here it is.”

Kang Taeha swung the restaurant door wide open and went inside.

After they sat down and ordered, Yigeom, while setting out the spoons and chopsticks, said out of the blue.

“I’ve started learning boxing lately.”

“Boxing?”

“Yeah. Though when I say I’ve started, all I’ve done is take my first class two days ago.”

After the gloves he bought online arrived, his first class at the gym focused on the basics. It was so fundamental that it wasn’t tiring or difficult. In fact, the gym owner even said he had a talent for boxing.

Well, that was to be expected. A hunter’s stamina and physical abilities were far superior to those of an ordinary person.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“…It’s good to move your body sometimes. It’s a nice change of pace.”

“That’s true, but. Boxing is unexpected.”

“Is it that much of a surprise?”

If Kang Taeha was reacting like this, wouldn’t everyone in Latter be shocked speechless? Yigeom resolved once again to hide the fact that he was learning boxing even more thoroughly.

“You should have just worked out with me. I could have taught you.”

“No way. If I did it with you, I’d have to wake up at dawn.”

He was barely managing to go to his afternoon boxing classes; he was even more opposed to following Kang Taeha, who went for a workout early every morning.

That’s my sleeping time.

Yigeom grumbled under his breath at Kang Taeha, who lived in a different time zone.

“Morning workouts feel refreshing and great.”

“……”

“You’re not answering because you hate the idea.”

“This place has good kimchi.”

“Gyeom-ah, just try it with me for a few days, okay?”

Yigeom chewed on the kimchi and thought about it. It was certainly possible that working out every day, whether at dawn or some other time, would be more effective than going to the gym 2-3 times a week.

His purpose for boxing was to see if he could use it somehow in actual combat, and while he didn’t know what kind of exercises Kang Taeha did at dawn, he thought it might help build his stamina. His thoughts slowly began to lean towards doing it together.

“You can try it, and if you feel it doesn’t suit you, you can just quit.”

You can just quit, you don’t have to do it, was a magic phrase. It allowed one to start anything with a light heart, with an ‘if it doesn’t work out, then oh well’ attitude.

Yigeom soon nodded his head obediently with the thought, ‘Okay, let’s try it for a few days and quit if it’s not for me.’

“Okay. Let’s give it a try. When do we start?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Yigeom, who needed intense mental preparation for the act of waking up at the crack of dawn, widened his eyes.

“We should start now that we’ve talked about it. If you keep procrastinating like that, nothing will get done.”

“…That’s true. But I can’t tomorrow. Let’s start the day after tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“I have plans. I’ll probably get home late in the morning.”

The Association had just sent over the CA Area. He would probably get home after midnight after hunting the creature, so waking up at dawn was out of the question.

“Okay. Let’s do that then.”

Kang Taeha agreed meekly without asking what the plans were. He probably implicitly guessed that he was meeting Seo Dohyun.

Yigeom, too, was relieved that he didn’t ask, as it would have been difficult to answer, and he held his tongue.

Soon, the yukgaejang they had ordered arrived. He finished the whole bowl in a flash, but the place he went to with Seo Dohyun before was more delicious.

🦅࿐

“We can do it… You can go in and sleep.”

“No! I can’t do that when you guys are going through trouble because of me. I’ll help with something!”

Late at night, Yigeom, Dohyun, and Sanha arrived at the CA Area. Doa and Jewoo were probably sleeping soundly in their respective homes, needing to go to school the next day.

“Just tell me if there’s anything I need to do!”

With an overly enthusiastic Namgoong Sanha, they chatted while waiting for the creature that would soon spawn.

It had been a long time since he had received the creature guidebooks that Seo Dohyun had thrown away, asking Noh Jeonggyu, whom he occasionally kept in touch with, for them and reading them thoroughly.

Familiarity is a truly scary thing. Before, he had been so scared of creatures he didn’t know what to do, but now, if anything, he was more scared of Blood Hunters; creatures didn’t evoke any feelings at all.

However, just because it’s familiar doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. Yigeom, who had paid dearly for becoming complacent due to that familiarity, pulled himself together and calmly reviewed what he needed to do when the creature appeared.

The creature to appear this time was a ‘High’ grade.

The Association was only entrusting Latter with the grades that were tricky for them to handle.

‘Damn it.’

It’d be nice if it were a ‘Low’ grade. Yigeom stretched his stiff body.

“After we take care of this, should we go for a dr… drink?”

“…Pardon?”

Why drinks all of a sudden?

“You guys are all going through trouble because of me…”

“I told you it’s not because of you, hyung.”

“S-still. And we’ve always just gone out for meals, we’ve never gone for a drink, have we?”

As he said, Seo Dohyun and Yigeom had drunk together just the two of them, but they had never all gone out for drinks together.

That was because Doa and Jewoo were still minors, and they couldn’t be taking kids in and out of bars.

“I’ll pay! I know a delicious place near here.”

Yigeom naturally looked at Seo Dohyun. He said nonchalantly.

“I don’t mind.”

He didn’t really like alcohol, but it was okay once in a while, and his workout with Kang Taeha wasn’t until the day after tomorrow…

“Then I’m fine with it too.”

“Really? Okay! Let’s finish this hunt quickly and go for a drink!”

Namgoong Sanha replied energetically, his eyes sparkling.

Was he not able to drink in the army all this time? Come to think of it, he hadn’t drunk when he was on leave last time either. More importantly, does Namgoong Sanha like to drink?

While he was having these various thoughts, a creature slowly began to reveal itself before them.

Yigeom slowly got into his stance and glared at it.

“Wow… I knew about Dohyun, but you too, Gyeom-ie…”

“Not at all. This is all thanks to Seo Dohyun’s ability.”

Yigeom sheathed his dagger, leaving the dealt-with creature behind him. The only reason he could catch creatures now was all because of Seo Dohyun.

‘I couldn’t have handled it on my own.’

And now, he had to build that strength. He couldn’t rely on Seo Dohyun forever.

Bae Sangwoo.

There are things even Seo Dohyun can’t do, and things he can’t save.

He couldn’t just rely on him then either. At that time, I… I have to do it. To do that, my current skills were far too lacking.

“Still, just being able to use it is amazing! I couldn’t do anything!”

He smiled weakly at Sanha’s praise.

“Thank you. Then now, the transport truck…”

“Ugh, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Yigeom’s words, about to suggest they go for a drink once the transport truck arrived, were cut short.

Yigeom quickly looked toward the source of the sound.

A stranger had fallen flat on his back and was scrambling backward, his hands on the ground.

“M-monster…. Monster!!!”

“……”

Yigeom stared at the scene, dumbfounded.

This reaction was definitely that of a pre-awakened.

“H-help…. Help… me…”

Yigeom quickly grabbed Seo Dohyun’s arm. It was with the intention of stopping him before he did anything, but surprisingly, he didn’t budge.

“I won’t.”

“…Ah. Okay.”

Embarrassed by his answer, he let go of his hand.

“Excuse me. First, please calm down…”

“Uwaaah!!”

Sanha tried to soothe him, but the pre-awakened showed no signs of calming down. He was trembling like a leaf. He looked like he was about to foam at the mouth and faint.

“Uh… what should we do?”

Sanha expressed his difficulty. Since they couldn’t leave it to Seo Dohyun, it was decided who would have to step up.

“Hyung, I’ll do it.”

Yigeom approached the trembling man.

“Excuse me. Right now, you…”

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“No, right now you are…”

“D-don’t come here! Don’t come here!”

“……”

Hmm, this is a lost cause.

Yigeom gave up cleanly. The man was too terrified to even think of listening to him. He didn’t want to waste his time talking to a brick wall, and it was a hassle.

The transport truck would be here soon anyway, and that person works for the Association, so they can just leave it to them.

Just then, a truck stopped in front of them.

“Hello.”

The driver got out and greeted them, glaring at Latter with eyes full of hostility.

Yigeom felt a little wronged. They hadn’t done anything and were just quietly handing over the creature carcass.

Of course, he had been a little rude to the employee a while ago due to the Association’s tyranny, but since then, he hadn’t caused any trouble and had been careful to cause as little damage to the carcasses as possible.

“Hello.”

“Yes. What is it this time? Who is that person…”

“I think he’s a pre-awakened. We found him by chance, but he seems so startled that we can’t really communicate with him right now.”

At Yigeom’s explanation, the employee didn’t let go of his suspicious gaze. What did you guys do to make him so startled? That was exactly the look in his eyes.

Pre-awakeneds often freaked out when they suddenly faced reality. Even Namgoong Sanha had said he fainted when he first saw a creature.

However, judging from Latter’s past actions, the employee had one-dimensionally concluded that Latter was also the reason the pre-awakened was startled.

From Yigeom’s perspective, it was truly unfair. But he felt that trying to clear up the misunderstanding would be pointless as they wouldn’t even pretend to listen, so he decided to quickly hand over the pre-awakened and leave.

“Anyway, yes. It seems we can’t communicate with him right now, so we’ll leave him in your care. We’ve finished our work, so we’ll be on our way.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The employee checked the creature carcass and then took care of the pre-awakened.

The man’s well-being was entrusted to the Association employee, the creature was caught and submitted, and Namgoong Sanha shouted with a much brighter expression.

“Well then, since we’re done with work, let’s go for a drink!”

“Gyeom-ie, soju? Beer?”

“I’m fine with either.”

“Okay, okay. Got it.”

They entered a restaurant, ordered appetizers and drinks, and a moment later, the alcohol came out first.

Namgoong Sanha, with dazzling hand movements, mixed the soju and beer, getting the ratio just right.

“Here, try it! You too, Dohyun.”

Yigeom took a sip of the drink he was given and his eyes widened in surprise. Is he good with his hands because he’s in the technician class? It was the most delicious somaek he had ever had. He didn’t particularly like alcohol because it was bitter, but he felt he could drink a lot if it was mixed by him.

“Hyung, you’re good at mixing drinks.”

“Really? I’ll make you another one!”

When he was praised purely, a proud Sanha excitedly showed off various techniques.

Making a tornado in an unopened soju bottle, thumping the bottom of a glass with a spoon, or lining up soju glasses on top of a beer glass and dropping them in without spilling a single drop of alcohol.

A small chuckle escaped. How did a person who loves alcohol this much survive in the army?

As he ate the appetizers the employee had brought and drank the alcohol he had mixed, he slowly started to feel hazy and languid, which felt good.

“Gyeom-ah, should I mix you another glass?”

“Ah, I’ll stop drinking now.”

“Okay! Only drink as much as you can handle!”

Namgoong Sanha and Seo Dohyun had been drinking at the same pace as him, but they seemed perfectly fine, their faces not changing color at all, as if they had a higher tolerance.

“If you want to drink more, go ahead. I’ll take you home.”

“No…”

Even as he refused, his hand unconsciously moved toward the drink, as if his mouth was bored.

He didn’t like getting blackout drunk, and he wasn’t particularly interested in alcohol, but for some reason, it went down smoothly today.

Unable to watch any longer, Namgoong Sanha mixed him another glass.

“Thank you.”

“No, I’m the one who’s thankful. Thank you all for working so hard because of me. You must be tired, catching creatures late into the night, right?”

“No… I told you it’s fine.”

“I feel bad for leaving Doa and Jewoo out.”

Sanha scratched his cheek, thinking of them probably sleeping soundly in their respective homes right now.

“They’re still minors.”

“That’s true. I’ll have to buy them a meal separately later! Oh, right. Gyeom-ah.”

“Yes.”

Yigeom replied hazily.

“I told you I’d make you a weapon before, right?”

“Ah…”

He did say that when he was on leave.

“So, what kind do you like? I see you use a dagger often, should I make you that?”

“Yes…. Just make me whateverrr.”

“What about the grip?”

“Whateverrr…”

Yigeom’s speech, as he answered Sanha’s prying questions, gradually became slow and slurred.

“Hyung.”

Dohyun called Sanha quietly, giving him a look.

“Gyeom-ah, then for the blade, a single edge… Ah. Okay, I’ll ask next time.”

Only then did Sanha realize Yigeom was drunk and stopped asking questions.

…Sniffle.

Then, at the sudden sound of crying, he widened his eyes.

“What the…. Gyeom-ah?”

Compared to the fidgety Sanha, Dohyun nonchalantly handed Yigeom a tissue.

As always, the tear-stained mark was printed on it.

“Y-Yigeom-ah. Are you okay? Appetizers. Should I order more appetizers? What do you want to eat?”

“…I’m fiiine.”

“O-okay. Want some alcohol? I’ll make it delicious.”

“…No.”

Sanha, his eyes darting around, quietly pushed the tissue box toward Yigeom. When someone was sad, just letting them cry quietly was the most effective method.

After a few minutes of just sniffling sounds, Yigeom, having stopped crying, mumbled in a wet voice.

“So embarrassing.”

“Yeah.”

Dohyun replied simply. And then, as if it were something that had happened once or twice before, he naturally turned back time.

…Sniffle.

Sanha widened his eyes.

“What the…. Gyeom-ah?”

“It’s just a runny nose. Can I have a tissue?”

“Yeah. The weather seems to have warmed up, but it’s still chilly at night.”

Sanha also shivered and muttered without suspicion.

It was a secret kept between the two of them.

🦅࿐

“…Oppa?”

Late at dawn, Doa, who had woken up to the sound of the front door opening and some rustling noises, opened her bedroom door.

“You weren’t asleep?”

“I was sleeping and woke up. But what’s next to you?”

“Yoon Yigeom.”

“It’s not like I’m asking because I don’t know. Why is Gyeom-ie oppa here?”

“He’s drunk, so I brought him.”

Seo Dohyun, who had arrived home after calling a designated driver, carefully laid Yigeom down on the sofa. After that, he had had a few more drinks, and Yigeom had gotten completely drunk and limp.

He had asked for his studio apartment’s passcode, but he hadn’t answered and had just fallen into a deep sleep, so he had just changed direction and brought him to his own home.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Gyeom-ie oppa drunk.”

Doa whispered, waving her hand over Yigeom’s face.

“Oppa, are you sleeping?”

“……”

“Looks like he’s really sleeping. How much did he drink?”

Dohyun replied as he took off his coat.

“He drank with Sanha hyung.”

“Heck? Then he must have drunk a lot?”

Doa had never had alcohol, but she knew well that Namgoong Sanha loved to drink. Understanding that he had gone drink for drink with him made his state of utter drunkenness understandable.

Just then, Yigeom, who had been sound asleep, shot his eyes open.

“Water.”

“Huh? You’re awake? Water? Should I get you some water? Should I make you some honey water?”

“Water.”

“Ah. Just water?”

Dohyun placed an unopened bottle of water on Yigeom’s cheek.

“Here.”

Yigeom groggily sat up on the sofa and took the water bottle. He tried to open the cap with his drunk hands, but it kept slipping and wouldn’t open, and another wave of sorrow washed over him.

“…It won’t open.”

Soon, he was sniffling, tears dripping down.

“Gasp, are you crying? I’ll! I’ll open it for you!”

Doa quickly opened the cap for him.

Yigeom gulped down the water and then mumbled gloomily.

“…Seo Dohyun.”

“Yeah.”

And then, time turned back again.

When Yigeom held out the water bottle that wouldn’t open to Seo Dohyun, he finished twisting the cap off and handed it to him.

“Here.”

He took another sip of water, then placed the water bottle on the table with a thud and lay back down on the sofa.

“…Gonna sleep now.”

“Okay. Go to sleep. Oppa, do you have a spare blanket at home?”

Doa, who had been watching Yigeom’s mild drunken antics, asked Seo Dohyun.

“I’ll take care of it. You go back in and sleep.”

“Mmm, okay.”

Doa had to go to school early the next morning, so she obediently went back to her room. She also thought that Dohyun, being a guy like him, would be able to take better care of Yigeom than she could.

After Doa went in, Dohyun stared intently at the soundly sleeping Yigeom.

Then he lifted him in his arms, stood up, and laid him on the bed in his own room. It would be more comfortable here than the sofa.

He even personally tucked him in with a blanket, and then watched him for a while longer.

For someone who had cried a lot, his face was fine. It made sense, since time had been turned back.

Seo Dohyun tapped Yigeom’s nose and muttered softly.

“Crybaby.”

🦅࿐

…Where am I.

Yigeom sat up, clutching his throbbing head.

‘How much did I drink yesterday.’