Under Creature Chapter 9.3

The memory was gone. Furthermore, the place he woke up to was not his own home. It was Seo Dohyun’s room, a place he had been to before.

It seemed he had brought him to his own house after saying he would take care of him if he got drunk.

‘…Water.’

Clutching his aching stomach, he opened the door and saw Doa bustling about in the kitchen. She was wearing her school uniform.

“Going to school?”

“Going to schoool~? Oppa, how much did you drink yesterday?”

“…Can I have some water.”

“Here you go.”

Doa handed him a glass of water with ice cubes from the freezer floating in it. Yigeom gulped it down before sitting down in a chair.

“Where’s Seo Dohyun?”

“He said he’s going out to get hangover soup to go. I already ate. I’m about to go to school now. Is your stomach okay?”

“…No. I feel like I’m dying.”

“Should I make you some honey water?”

“That would be great.”

Doa nagged him with clichés like, “You should have drunk less,” as she took the honey out of the cupboard.

“What time do you have to be at school?”

“I have to be there by 8:30.”

Yigeom checked the time. It was a 15-minute walk from here to Doa’s school, so there was still plenty of time.

“Should I walk you?”

“Pardon?”

Doa, who was putting water in the electric kettle, asked again.

“My stomach feels bloated. I want to walk a bit.”

Apart from his stomach hurting, he couldn’t digest anything, probably from how much he ate yesterday. He spoke casually, thinking he should buy a hangover cure from a convenience store on the way back.

“Uh…. Then get ready quickly! I’m going to be late!”

Doa quickly made honey water and handed it to Yigeom, then went straight to the bathroom. Then, after rummaging through a bunch of things, she gave Yigeom a new toothbrush.

“Wash up with this, and for clothes…. I’ll give you my brother’s!”

She dashed back into Dohyun’s room and rummaged through the closet. He had only suggested it once, but seeing how unusually happy Doa seemed, he couldn’t take it back, and decided he should quickly drink the honey water and get ready to go out.

“Ah…. My stomach hurts.”

“Get some fresh air. The clear morning air.”

“It’s fine dust.”

Yigeom muttered as he pulled on his hat.

“I think I smell alcohol on you, oppa.”

“I probably do. After drinking so much.”

It would be strange if he didn’t. Yigeom yawned widely and unintentionally took a deep breath.

“How does the air taste?”

“Yeah. Tastes like my lungs are filling with dust.”

Doa giggled as if she found that answer funny.

“…What? Why are you two together?”

Suddenly, a dumbfounded voice came from behind. Cha Jewoo, in his school uniform, stared at Yigeom and Doa, his pupils trembling slightly. His eyes were filled with shock.

“Oh, hi. On your way to school?”

At Yigeom’s greeting, Jewoo quickly approached.

“Yes. Hyung, why are you with Seo Doa?”

“He drank with my brother yesterday and got drunk, so he slept at our house.”

At Doa’s explanation, Jewoo’s lip jutted out.

“So the three of you hung out without me?”

“What do you mean hung out. He got drunk and had no choice but to sleep over.”

Nevertheless, Jewoo didn’t back down and muttered quietly, “I’m jealous.”

“So, Seo Doa, you saw Gyeom hyung’s drunken habits?”

“Uh… I guess so? But there wasn’t much. He just woke up in the middle of the night and asked for water, other than that he slept quietly.”

“Why are you talking about me right in front of…”

Suddenly, Yigeom clamped his mouth shut. He woke up and asked for water?

‘…It won’t open.’

‘I’ll! I’ll open it for you!’

He remembered crying in front of Namgoong Sanha. But after that, his memory was a complete blank…

Doa’s words just now had triggered the forgotten memories to come flooding back.

‘…Mister.’

‘Huh? Me?’

‘Ugh…, heuk. Misterrr.’

‘What, what’s wrong?’

In front of the designated driver, too.

‘Gyeom-ah. Let’s get out.’

‘We can’t get out. Kwon Sanghyuk might be hiding. It’s dangerous.’

‘You don’t want to walk? Want a piggyback ride then?’

‘…I’ll take the lead. Follow me carefully.’

‘Okay. You’re so reliable.’

Even after arriving at the parking lot.

‘Confined spaces are dangerous. There’s no way to escape.’

‘Should we take the stairs then?’

In the elevator, too.

‘Gyeom-ah. You said you’d take the lead.’

‘…Sleepy.’

‘Want me to carry you?’

‘Help me walk.’

‘Okay. Lean on me.’

On the emergency stairs, too.

“Haa…”

“Hyung? What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just…. A little…”

The forgotten memories came back.

He remembered everything about how he got to Seo Dohyun’s house.

Haa, I acted like a total mess. How am I supposed to face Seo Dohyun, I’m so embarrassed?

Yigeom rubbed his dry face roughly. This damn alcohol. See if I ever drink again.

“Hyung, Gyeom hyung. Next time, sleep at my house instead of Seo Doa’s. And walk me to school too.”

“You’re not a kid, what… Go to school by yourself.”

His mind was too much of a mess right now to have the luxury of placating Jewoo.

“Then what about Seo Doa right now?”

When Jewoo complained sullenly, Yigeom had no choice but to stand next to him.

“Okay, from now on, I’ll walk you instead of Seo Doa. Happy now?”

“Hehe. Yes.”

Yigeom thought, ‘An easy one to handle,’ and lamented his own behavior from last night.

Alcohol is the enemy, the enemy.

After walking the students to school, he stopped by a nearby convenience store and was about to pay for a hangover cure when his phone vibrated.

[Son of a bitch]

‘…I don’t want to answer.’

He stared at his phone in denial for a moment before answering the call.

—Where are you?

“Just out for a walk. My stomach hurts.”

—So where are you?

He asks so many questions. Yigeom grumbled and answered.

“I walked Seo Doa to school, why.”

—I’ll come pick you up.

“What? Hey…!”

He hung up again. How is he going to pick me up when he doesn’t even know where I am?

Thinking he would find him on his own, he downed the hangover cure and was shuffling along when a car behind him honked- beep.

The car window rolled down, and Seo Dohyun’s face appeared. He curled up the corner of his lips and greeted him.

“Good morning. Are you feeling a bit better?”

“Better than before.”

Yigeom replied nonchalantly and got into the passenger seat, his eyes darting around. The memory of yesterday was so vivid that he felt awkward being the first to say anything.

“I bought this thinking you’d be asleep.”

From the rustling sound of a bag in the back seat, it seemed to be the hangover soup Doa had mentioned earlier.

“I ended up waking up early.”

“If I’d known, we could have gone there to eat.”

Yigeom discreetly glanced at him. Seeing as he was only talking about food, it seemed he didn’t plan on mentioning what happened yesterday. Just as he was about to feel relieved.

“Ah, do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“……”

Yigeom pressed his lips together firmly.

“Seeing as you’re not answering, I guess you remember.”

“I… I’m sorry for acting so foolishly.”

At those words, he finally apologized awkwardly.

“For what. It happens.”

If it’s something that can happen, why bring it up instead of just letting it go?

A quick glance at his face showed it was full of amusement. It was clear he had asked just to tease him.

I’m pretty sure we drank at the same pace, so why are Seo Dohyun and Namgoong Sanha fine and only I’m drunk? I need to have a frank conversation with both of them about their alcohol tolerance.

“By the way, that. It’s my shirt.”

“Ah, Seo Doa took it out for me. Why? Does it bother you?”

“No, I’m glad she did.”

Yigeom felt a wave of embarrassment for no reason and just rubbed his sleeves.

‘The material is nice too.’

Had he been doing that silently for a while? A wave of drowsiness washed over him and he fell asleep.

They went back to Seo Dohyun’s house and ate the hangover soup he had bought.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.”

“…Where?”

“In front of your house.”

Yigeom asked while munching on his rice.

“There’s no CA tomorrow.”

“We’re going to the vigilante corps.”

At Seo Dohyun’s words, he swallowed the food in his mouth with a gulp.

“The vigilante corps?”

“Yeah. For a meeting.”

Yigeom blinked his eyes silently. Seo Dohyun had said before that he would be interacting with the vigilante corps regularly, but…

“What happens to Latter?”

“We’ll get busier.”

The Association’s role, the guild’s role, the vigilante corps’ role. Each has its own designated role.

But now, Seo Dohyun was saying he would act as a middle ground between the guild and the vigilante corps.

Of course, only Yigeom and Seo Dohyun would be going to the vigilante corps, not all of Latter, but it was obvious they would become ridiculously busy if that happened.

Even now, they were short on members and couldn’t rest even on days they wanted to, and had to go to work day or night whenever a CA Area appeared, and on top of that, they had to study for school… They were already busy with no time to breathe, and now they had to prepare for things to get even harder.

But it wasn’t something he could not do. This was a separate issue. Yigeom had decided to do it and wanted to atone for Bae Sangwoo in any way he could.

It was something he definitely wanted to do. Yigeom nodded his head firmly in resolve.

“Okay.”

🦅࿐

The next day, before going to the vigilante corps, Yigeom came out in the early morning and was stretching his stiff body.

It was to keep his promise to work out with Kang Taeha early in the morning.

Yawning widely, he was contemplating whether to buy some coffee nearby when a figure came running from a distance.

“Sorry. Were you waiting? You’re early.”

“Yeah. I’m dead tired. But what kind of workout are we doing?”

The morning air was still chilly, so Yigeom asked as he fastened his outerwear.

“First, we need to build up our stamina.”

“Stamina?”

“Yeah. Let’s run a bit.”

Yigeom suddenly scanned the endlessly stretching river and the trail around it.

“…Until where?”

“What do you mean, until where.”

Kang Taeha said brightly.

“Why set a destination. It’s until we get tired.”

“Hahk… heok…. Kang… ha…! Taeha!”

“Why are you stopping. We need to run more.”

Yigeom held onto him tightly and gasped for breath.

“I… haa, I’m tired. My vision is turning yellow.”

“…Hmm. Then let’s rest for 10 minutes.”

At the permission he had barely obtained, Yigeom plopped down on the ground. Strange. Why does Kang Taeha look fine? I’m a hunter, aren’t I? Just how old was this guy when he started working out?

As he stared at him with a look of astonishment, he took out his phone and approached.

“Gyeom-ah. Look at this.”

“What is it?”

It was a video compilation of useful techniques from various disciplines for actual combat. Taekwondo, boxing, jiu-jitsu… there was a variety.

“Why this?”

“Want to try it?”

“…What? On who? On you?”

Yigeom shook his head, saying absolutely not. He understood that he was excited to have someone to work out with after always exercising alone, but Yigeom currently felt like he was about to die.

“You’ve memorized it, right?”

“Roughly. But I’m still not doing it. What if someone gets really hurt from doing it recklessly.”

“Okay, then.”

Kang Taeha gave up surprisingly easily.

“Now get up. 10 minutes are up. Let’s run.”

“……”

Of course. He didn’t give up, he just postponed it for a bit because the break time was over.

If Seo Dohyun would whip him harshly, saying things like, “Why can’t you do it? Strange, why can’t you do this?” Kang Taeha would whip him gently, saying, “You can do it, let’s go a little further.” The conclusion was that they both whipped him.

In the end, Yigeom was only able to finish his workout after running for another hour with him.

They finished their workout and entered a nearby restaurant.

“Is it good?”

Kang Taeha chuckled and moved a side dish bowl in front of Yigeom.

“Yeah. Working out from the morning really makes the food go down well.”

“Feel refreshed?”

“Refreshed… not really, my body aches.”

“If you do it consistently, you’ll feel refreshed.”

Yigeom stole a glance at Kang Taeha. Despite having worked out with him, he showed no signs of being tired.

Is he a robot or what? He doesn’t get tired.

“You woke up at dawn, but you’re not tired?”

“I feel like I’m dying. I want to lie down in bed.”

As Yigeom whined, Kang Taeha let out a shallow laugh.

“Then are you not going to do morning workouts anymore?”

“……”

He fell silent at that again. It was hard, but it was a workout he had to do anyway.

He would try it a few more times and quit if it really didn’t match his style, but it was too early to judge now.

“I’ll see how it goes.”

“Okay. Then let’s meet at the same time tomorrow. What are you doing this afternoon? Do you just want to sleep at my place and go work out together? I have to go out for a bit in the afternoon for work, but you can hang out at my place.”

“Ah, I also have something to do this afternoon. Let’s just see each other tomorrow.”

“Really? Can’t be helped then.”

Normally, Kang Taeha would have asked what was going on or if he had plans, but just like last time, he simply agreed without any other questions.

🦅࿐

After returning to his studio apartment, Yigeom took a shower and then went to sleep.

…Ding-dong— ding-dong—.

He must have been asleep for a while when the sound of the doorbell startled him awake. He quickly got up and opened the door to find Seo Dohyun standing there.

“You weren’t answering your phone.”

“Ah…. Sorry. I was so tired I fell asleep. I’ll get ready right away.”

He had planned to take a nap since there was still plenty of time before Seo Dohyun was supposed to pick him up, but it seemed he had fallen too deeply asleep.

As Yigeom hurried to get ready, Seo Dohyun walked into the apartment and said nonchalantly.

“Take your time. There’s still plenty of time left. If you’re tired, you can sleep more. I’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

“What time is the meeting?”

“4 o’clock.”

“…It’s 2 o’clock right now?”

Yigeom asked, bewildered. They would have had more than enough time even if they had met at three.

“You could have taken your time getting here. Why are you so early?”

“Just because. I wanted to hang out with you before we go.”

It was absurd.

“I’m not a kid….”

Yigeom mumbled under his breath and crawled back into bed. Since there was still time, he intended to sleep a little more before leaving.

“You’re going back to sleep?”

“Yeah. There’s still time, right?”

“But I came early to hang out with you.”

“I’m tired. I worked out early this morning.”

“Workout?”

The word ‘workout’ caught Seo Dohyun’s interest.

“Yeah. It was pretty intense, so I’m sleepy. Wake me up when it’s time.”

With those words, Yigeom pulled the blanket over his head and closed his eyes.

Seo Dohyun quietly watched him for a moment before sitting down, leaning his back against the bed. He had a rough idea why the guy who hated physical exertion had suddenly started working out. It was probably because of Bae Sangwoo.

He stayed quiet so Yigeom could sleep comfortably and looked around the studio, which had changed since his last visit. The interior had been redecorated, perhaps in an attempt to lift his spirits. He stretched out his arm to look at the decorative cabinet placed opposite the bed.

The silver pin that Yoon Yigeom always carried was placed there. On the other side were a few photos of Yigeom with his family when he was younger.

The child, smiling brightly with mud on his face, was quite cute. Then, as he grew older, the couple presumed to be his parents had changed. Seo Dohyun carefully observed the difference.

Looking at the photos, the faces of the man and woman presumed to be Yigeom’s parents in the family photos from his baby days to middle school were different from the man and woman in the photos taken after that.

Did something happen in between? He had heard that his parents passed away 7 years ago. Was he adopted after that? A wave of curiosity washed over him.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Yigeom asked, his eyes peeking out from under the blanket.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I was trying to, but now that I’m trying, I can’t seem to fall asleep. What are you looking at?”

“This.”

Dohyun pointed to his family photos.

“Ah, that?”

Yigeom said nonchalantly.

“My parents passed away when I was in middle school, and I was raised by my uncle. That’s my uncle and aunt.”

“Hmm.”

“They said they died in a car accident, but I don’t know the details. I was pretty young at the time, and my uncle didn’t tell me because he was afraid I’d be traumatized. Maybe he’d tell me if I asked now.”

Still, he didn’t want to bring up the old story. Thankfully, his uncle and aunt had done their best to raise him as if he were their own child, and since the incident must have been a shock to his uncle as well, there was no reason to deliberately mention it.

Sensing the conversation was getting heavy, Yigeom changed the subject.

“So, what happens at the Vigilante meeting? You should know, right?”

Since he used to be a Vigilante.

“You’ll see when you get there.”

“Is there anything I need to prepare separately?”

It was a bit late to prepare anything now, but he asked just in case.

“It’s your first time, so it’s fine.”

“…If you say so.”

🦅࿐

Yigeom and Dohyun chatted softly in the studio until it was time, then headed to the Vigilante base.

Most of the Vigilantes had wanted Seo Dohyun to return to the Vigilantes, but they had opposed this arrangement, saying things like, “What’s the point of a regular exchange when he has his own guild, Latter? If something big happens to the Vigilantes, it’s obvious he’ll use being busy with his guild as an excuse not to help.”

However, they had no choice but to agree due to Seo Dohyun’s significant past achievements in the Vigilantes and the influence of Kim Hyunggyu, who had taken over Bae Sangwoo’s role, and A.

Because of this, when Yigeom and Dohyun arrived at the meeting room, it was filled with people staring at them with resentful eyes.

Dohyun, as if he didn’t even notice, sat down with a calm expression.

“Gyeom-ah, hurry and sit.”

“Oh, okay….”

Yigeom also glanced around before sitting next to him.

“I don’t know why we’re letting people who are just going to steal our information into the meeting room.”

“I know, right. Isn’t it obvious they’ll just stand back and watch the fire when we’re in real danger? They’re saying they have a place to go back to.”

The Vigilantes jeered loudly.

Yigeom wasn’t the type to be intimidated by words clearly meant for him to hear, and he didn’t even feel angry. In fact, what they were saying wasn’t wrong. It was true that they had a guild to return to, and it would be difficult for them to be perceived as comrades.

Even Yigeom himself didn’t perceive the Vigilantes as comrades or anything of that level. He understood their feelings, so he pretended not to hear and let it pass.

However, Seo Dohyun was not a man who would let that slide.

“Ah, you guys don’t have a place to go back to? Right. Your brains are so empty, I guess no one would take you.”

“What? The Vigilantes are our base, so this is…!”

“If you want, you can join Latter. We could hire you as a cleaner.”

“…I’ve been letting this slide, but!”

A Vigilante, unable to contain his anger, shot up from his seat. He was the one who started the fight… Yigeom, with no intention of stopping them, calmly watched the situation unfold.

“Do you think this is a place just anyone can waltz into? Just because A-nim and Hyunggyu-hyung allowed it, you think you own the place, huh?”

“You’re right. It’s probably not a place just anyone can enter.”

Seo Dohyun threw the man’s words right back at him.

“…Ugh! What did Sangwoo-ajussi even see in bastards like these….”

“Excuse me.”

Yigeom, who had been listening silently, interjected as the words pierced his ears. No matter what, bringing up Bae Sangwoo was crossing the line, wasn’t it?

“…What.”

Seeing Yigeom’s calmly subsided eyes, the Vigilante, wondering if this was someone he could reason with, replied in a much calmer voice.

“I get that you can’t win against him with words. But you shouldn’t cross the line. There are things you can say and things you can’t.”

“…That’s.”

As the man faltered, realizing his mistake, Seo Dohyun tried to stop Yigeom.

“It’s fine, Gyeom-ah. I’ll win anyway.”

“No, that aside, what this person is saying is getting on my nerves.”

“Ah, it’s getting on your nerves? Should I get rid of him?”

Dohyun asked in a serene tone. Just as the Vigilante was about to get worked up again at his attitude of treating him like an object, A entered the meeting room. Kim Hyunggyu followed behind him, sat down, and began to speak.

“We will now begin the meeting.”

At Kim Hyunggyu’s words, the man who had been picking a fight with Yigeom and Dohyun silently returned to his seat. It seemed there was a clear hierarchy in place.

Following that, someone came forward, put his lips to the microphone, and spoke.

“I am Choi Jiho, the leader of Team 1. Our Team 1 has recently been tracking Adam….”

Yigeom listened to him quietly. Team 1 was mainly tracking Adam, so they presented various findings, such as their recent activities and newly identified key members of Adam.

After the presentation, questions followed. They either answered the questions or stated that the facts were not yet known and required further investigation.

‘So this is more or less how it proceeds.’

After that, the leader of Team 2, and then the leader of Team 3, came forward to present. It seemed the Vigilantes had a total of three main teams.

Yigeom committed the presentation materials and the questions asked by the Vigilantes to memory without missing a single detail.

And at the end of the meeting, the story of Orca was mentioned. Yigeom’s eyes widened without him realizing it.

‘Kwon Sanghyuk….’

He bit his lower lip and listened intently to the discussion.

Their current whereabouts were unknown, but he was able to hear a lot of information: facts uncovered about the creature breeding grounds, the key figures of Orca and their abilities, the creatures they idolized, etc., all found by interrogating the Delo members who had already been arrested and were in the detention center.

If he were to face Orca again…. Then…. Then, he would get Kwon Sanghyuk.

His fists clenched on their own.

In the meantime, the meeting was drawing to a close.

Kim Hyunggyu summarized the content presented by the team leaders, reiterating it, and informed them of the tasks they had to do from now on.

Was this originally the kind of work the old man used to do? Yigeom felt a sudden sense of nostalgia.

And while Kim Hyunggyu was speaking, A only nodded his head and did not say a single word.

Just as Yigeom was getting a grasp of the procedure and flow, the meeting ended.

Then, a Vigilante approached them, jeering once again.

“You couldn’t say a single word during the actual meeting, huh?”

This person, as if he never got tired of it, was still picking a fight, both before and after the meeting.

“Lee Juyeong. Stop it.”

Just then, Kim Hyunggyu, who was about to leave with A, stopped him. He glanced at Yigeom and Dohyun once before leaving. Yigeom stopped Kim Hyunggyu.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes.”

“There’s some information I’d like to know more about. Is there something like an archive room?”

When he had visited Bae Sangwoo’s office before, there were files organizing numerous incidents and accidents.

“…That’s for outsiders…”

Suddenly, A tapped Kim Hyunggyu on the shoulder. He shook his head and then stared intently at Yigeom.

“…Me?”

Nod. He then pointed towards the entrance with a hand clad in a black leather glove. The quick-witted Yigeom had no trouble figuring out what he meant.

“…You want me to follow you?”

Another nod.

Yigeom subconsciously looked at Seo Dohyun. He smiled slightly and said.

“Go on.”

“…Oh, okay.”

He quietly got up from his seat and followed A, then turned back to look at Seo Dohyun. He was talking with the man named Kim Hyunggyu.

He figured they were probably catching up, as they must have been comrades who fought together in the past.

The place he arrived at after following A was an archive room piled high with documents. It held an even more massive amount of paperwork than Bae Sangwoo’s office he had seen before.

“Can I look at all of this?”

Nod.

By the way, isn’t he leaving? A, who he thought would just bring him here and go about his other business, was still here, staring at him intently.

He said I could look at everything, so is he planning to stop me if I happen to see a forbidden document? Then he should have pointed out what’s off-limits beforehand. It was quite inconvenient since they couldn’t communicate.

Yigeom let out a small groan, furrowed his brow, and scanned the list of files. The first one he picked up was not Orca, where Kwon Sanghyuk was, nor Delo, where Jewoo had been. It was Adam, the most powerful and notorious of the Blood Hunter organizations.

He glanced at A for his reaction as he opened the file, but there was no sign of him stopping him. Why on earth is he still here?

The archive room was filled with an awkward air and only the sound of rustling paper.

“Gyeom-ah.”

Forgetting even the presence of A watching him from the side, Yigeom had been looking through the documents for a while when the archive room door opened and Seo Dohyun walked in.

“There you are. Let’s go now.”

He hadn’t finished looking, but today wasn’t the only day, so Yigeom closed the file he was reading without any lingering attachment, put it back in its place, and asked.

“What about you? Didn’t you have things to talk about with that Kim Hyunggyu guy?”

“Just boring old stories.”

“If that’s the case. But don’t you need to look at the files?”

“I’ve seen them before.”

And experienced some of it firsthand. Dohyun muttered as he scanned the documents that had now become text.

Yigeom responded with a brief, “I see,” and finally said goodbye to A.

“Thank you for showing me. But…. I haven’t finished yet, so would it be okay if I came back to read again next time?”

Only after confirming that A nodded his head did Yigeom feel relieved and leave the archive room with Seo Dohyun.

“Did you get to see some files?”

“Yeah. But the amount was huge, so I couldn’t read everything.”

“Go and look often.”

“Is that okay?”

Yigeom, getting into the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt, asked out of curiosity.

Of course, A had given permission…, but he thought he could only visit and read on the day of the weekly meeting. Was it okay to visit on other days too?

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Dohyun replied plainly.

Ah, right. Why wouldn’t it be okay? Yigeom readily agreed. It was an archive room that had already been opened to him; it wasn’t something special that could only be viewed on meeting days.

First of all, the amount of data was vast, so it would take some time to read it all. Tomorrow, he would work out with Kang Taeha in the morning, then attend his university classes…, and in the evening, handle a CA Area.

So it would be impossible to go to the Vigilantes tomorrow; he’d have to go the day after tomorrow.

🦅࿐

“…Hello.”

“Yes, please come in.”

Kim Hyunggyu opened the base door and greeted Yigeom. Today, Yigeom visited the Vigilantes alone, without Seo Dohyun.

“We’ll have your access card and fingerprint registration done by next week, so from then on, feel free to come in without contacting us.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“The archive room is to the left, and if you have any other business, please contact me.”

“Okay.”

After listening to several instructions and parting with Kim Hyunggyu, he headed to the archive room.

Everything is great, but it’s a shame there are no chairs.

To read the files, he had to stand. Or sit on the floor.

Of course, the Vigilantes would take out the files they wanted to see and read them wherever they were comfortable, but right now, to some, Yigeom was nothing more than an unwelcome guest.

Although he had proper permission to look, some of them might think that some outsider had come in to steal their data. And if they thought he was doing it while casually sipping tea, it would surely create resentment where there was none.

Of course, in Seo Dohyun’s mindset, it was, ‘What can they do about it anyway,’ and Yigeom agreed to some extent.

Still, it wasn’t like they would see each other only once or twice. They would meet at the weekly meetings, and if, just if, they needed an extra hand, he would participate in the Vigilantes’ operations, so wouldn’t it be better to get along with everyone? He decided to at least appear pitiable.

“Why is that person so shamelessly showing his face around?”

“Leave him be. He’ll stop eventually.”

Hearing their whispers, it seemed he still had a long way to go.

Yigeom came the next day, and the day after that, and if not the day after that, then sometime after.

He showed up to read the files almost every single day.

“Hyung, why don’t you hang out with us these days?”

“He’s busy with Vigilante stuff. Oppa, at least drop by the office once in a while.”

Despite Jewoo and Doa’s whining, Yigeom steadfastly headed to the Vigilantes. Naturally, it wasn’t a library-like system where you could borrow things; all the materials here could only be read within the Vigilante base and were forbidden from being taken outside.

Because of this, he was so busy that even two bodies wouldn’t be enough, helping with guild work when a CA Area appeared and showing up at the Vigilantes almost every other day.

Some days he went with Seo Dohyun, and other days he went alone, but….

“Hello.”

He wasn’t alone.

A handed him a paper cup filled with warm coffee.

“…Is this for me?”

Seeing him holding it out silently, it seemed like an action urging him to take it, but he didn’t particularly want to drink it. Who knows what could be in it.

“Thank you.”