The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 54

However, there was no way to persuade Julian without explaining all these complicated circumstances.

What should I do? He rubbed his brow while gauging Julian’s reaction.

“If there is no lover, then there is nothing to be reluctant about. In the first place, it was a condition for me joining the guild. We’ve been getting along well so far, so is there any need to go through the trouble of moving now? I am comfortable as I am.”

“Haha, is that so… Hearing you say that, it seems like that might be the case, but then again maybe not…”

Gong Sijin glossed it over with a laugh and subtly avoided his gaze. What should he do? Should he tell him now that the partner in those dating rumors was Julian himself?

While he was agonizing, a knock was heard. After a brief silence, the door opened.

Just then, the center of all this gossip, Gong Siyoung, opened the door and appeared.

“Why are you here? I thought you said you were busy?”

Gong Sijin hurried over. Even as he said those words, the look in his eyes as he watched his younger brother was affectionate.

Gong Siyoung gave a slight nod to greet Julian. He replied in an indifferent tone.

“I was going to be, but I have to arrive at the harbor tomorrow dawn. I thought now was the only time I’d have to pick up the item.”

“Are you leaving right away?”

Gong Sijin fumbled through his pockets. He held out the black glasses Julian had been wearing when he first saw him. Gong Siyoung frowned.

“Don’t you have a case or something? You just carry them around shoved in your pocket?”

“Those are an item, so they don’t scratch easily. They’re sturdy.”

At the irresponsible answer, Gong Siyoung took the sunglasses without a word.

After that, the two continued a conversation known only to themselves. Julian quietly observed from the bed.

Gong Siyoung, whom he was seeing after a while, was in comfortable clothes with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Judging by the size of the luggage, it looked like he was planning to be out for at least three days and two nights.

Where is he going? Is it okay to ask? Julian rolled his eyes.

“Give my regards to Noona. Tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t visit in person.”

Gong Siyoung nodded curtly. The way he turned around to leave as if he had no further business was almost cold-hearted.

Before losing him completely, Julian hurriedly called out to stop him.

“Where are you going? Are you going to leave me all alone? Where are you going?”

Gong Siyoung and Gong Sijin looked at him simultaneously. Julian kicked off the bed and stood up. He walked past the two brothers and blocked the door pointedly.

“What am I supposed to do alone without him? They say I’m being discharged tomorrow, but then they tell me to move my residence; if he leaves all by himself without an explanation, who is going to take care of me?”

Both Park Ildo and Woo Yujin were out of the question for him. Julian quickly reached out to Gong Siyoung. He interlaced their fingers joint by joint to mean “don’t run away.”

If he leaves like this, what about me? How am I supposed to survive in this harsh modern society by myself? Who is going to look after my meals?

“Can’t I just go along too? I’m shy around strangers, so I can’t become close to just anyone easily.”

He rattled on shamelessly without even wetting his lips. He didn’t know where they were going, but he had an intuition that if he missed this chance, it would be the end.

Move residence? Rather than doing something so bothersome, it was more relaxing to stick right to Gong Siyoung’s side.

“Who… is shy?”

Gong Siyoung’s eyes widened as if he had just heard that the sky had split in two. Julian shrugged his shoulders as if to ask what the problem was.

“Me. I’m shy around strangers.”

I say I’m shy, so who’s going to say otherwise.

Julian raised his voice shamelessly. Even while speaking, his gaze was directed at Gong Sijin. This was because the final decision-making power for such matters lay with Gong Sijin.

“I still don’t even know what kind of place this world is, so how can you leave me alone in this harsh world? Who knows what mistakes I’ll make or what trouble I’ll get caught up in? I dislike other people because they’re uncomfortable. Actually, I’m extremely shy and it takes a very long time for me to get close to and open my heart to someone I’m meeting for the first time.”

Gong Sijin scratched his head with a troubled face.

“Was that so? I didn’t know…”

It was only natural that he didn’t know. What Julian liked most was the situation of talking to someone he was meeting for the first time. Had he not just come back from planning a group purchase with middle-aged ladies he had met for the first time only a few hours ago?

He might hide his face, but he certainly wasn’t shy.

However, there were times when a person had to lie to achieve a goal.

I’m shocked you didn’t know that, he muttered regretfully while gripping Gong Siyoung’s hand tightly. If I lose him, it’s over. Julian was desperate in his own way.

“Exactly. There are still so many things we don’t know about each other, so how can we live apart? Do you guys trust me? You don’t.”

He blathered on with whatever came to mind, but surprisingly, it worked.

Gong Sijin’s expression was serious. Trust in Julian had long since hit rock bottom due to the comment incident.

And knowing that he dislikes it that much, who knows what would happen if he forced someone to stay with him? A second “poop-throwing incident” must not happen at any cost.

“Hmm… the two of you? Then shall we go with the two of you going together?”

His fingertip pointed back and forth between Gong Siyoung and Julian. Gong Sijin’s mind was working more nimbly than ever.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t a bad option. The place Gong Siyoung was going was a remote island, a rugged place reached by alternating between land and sea routes. It was a place where more seagulls lived than people.

If there were no people, there would be no gossip. Whatever the two of them did, whether they fought or made up, no rumors would spread since there was no one watching.

They would take a car to the harbor, and since the boat was already arranged, it was just a matter of making the captain keep his mouth shut.

“…It might not be bad?”

Until the raid resumed—just until then—they only needed to stay quiet. He had been focused only on the idea of separating them, but this might actually be more efficient.

Tying the two of them together and stowing them away in a corner made them easier to manage and control. This was especially true for someone like Julian, who was unpredictable.

“What kind of nonsense is that. We decided I would go there alone. What kind of talk am I going to hear if I go with a tagalong.”

“No, Myungja Noona doesn’t care about things like that. If you’re that worried, I’ll tell her in advance through the guild. Then it’ll be fine, right?”

It was Gong Sijin who had persuaded Hunter Kim Myungja, and it was him who had contacted the Myeongja Circle. Gong Sijin made a confident promise.

“Besides, Noona likes handsome people, so it’s fine. If you take Yuri, she’ll actually be happy? That you brought a handsome person.”

Recognizing the praise for himself like a hawk, Julian held up a thumb. Gong Sijin smiled and held up double thumbs.

“Then it’s settled? You can go together?”

“Yes, yes. Then I’ll contact them right away. We just need to coordinate the boat departure time. Right, Siyoung?”

“I’m asking why it’s turning out like this. Just me alone—”

“Don’t go back and forth for nothing; just sleep here, get discharged tomorrow morning, and leave together. I’ll coordinate the schedule! Wait a second, let me call first.”

Gong Sijin, holding his phone, placed a call somewhere. Gong Siyoung tried to argue, but it didn’t stand a chance.

Gong Sijin tapped Julian on the shoulder and gestured toward the door. When Julian quickly stepped aside, Gong Sijin smiled and drew an “OK” sign with his fingers.

“Hello? Ah, yes. CEO, this is the Yeollak Guild Master. Regarding the boat departure tomorrow dawn… I’d like to change the time just a little… Ah, yes. That’s right. Indeed.”

He made a leisurely exit past the hospital room door. His voice grew gradually distant until, at a certain point, it could no longer be heard.

Gong Siyoung, who had been flickering his lips as if the situation were absurd, belatedly flinched and pulled his hand away.

“Ah, sorry.”

He hadn’t even realized he was holding the hand tightly until then. At the warmth that slipped away, Julian fiddled with his empty hand with an awkward face.

Seeing the dejected appearance, Gong Siyoung became flustered and stammered.

“No, well… there’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s not like you did anything wrong.”

“Right? Then just a second.”

Julian quickly headed into the room. He pulled out the guardian’s bed and straightened the blanket and pillow he had been using underneath it.

He smiled brightly, showing off the freshly made, tidy sleeping spot.

“You can sleep here. Right?”

As the saying goes, ‘row when the tide is in’; since things had turned out this way, he had to make sure Gong Siyoung couldn’t even think of running away.

If he lost Gong Siyoung, the next options were inevitably either Woo Yujin or Park Ildo. If that wasn’t a punishment, what was?

If it had at least been someone like Myeong Haejin, he wouldn’t have felt this way.

“Hurry up and come here. This is really soft, you know? Lie down, I’m telling you to just try lying down for now.”

He snatched the back of Gong Siyoung’s neck before he could react. At the command to just try lying down once for now, Gong Siyoung sat down awkwardly.

Julian tucked him in with a blanket as meticulously as if it were unclear who the patient was, and wiped his forehead with pride.

“Since things turned out like this anyway, get some sleep.”

“No, wait…”

“Just stay still. Yes, like that, lie down and close your eyes. No, I told you to close your eyes.”

He overpowered the resisting Gong Siyoung and forced his eyes shut. He covered Gong Siyoung’s eyelids with his hand so he wouldn’t open them. He whispered while patting him near his chest—thump, thump.

“Sleep well.”

If you don’t sleep, I’m going to stay like this until you do, so let’s sleep while I’m being nice.

Gong Siyoung gave a hollow laugh at the whisper that was closer to a threat. Regardless, Julian seriously continued to pat his chest—thump, thump.