Chapter 22

Seo-un felt suffocated by the ambiguous smile on the face of the person, unsure if it was a laugh or a cry.

“By the way, which bastard called the mangled mutants ‘idiots’ and didn’t call Sethco? So I got rid of the pests.”

“Don’t look at comments like that.”

Seo-un, as the guild leader, had advised something.

Mutant handlers should stay off the internet for a week.

“At that time, you weren’t there. Kid, why did you come so late? But the scene of Sung-hee melting, it just won’t leave my head. I thought she was fine, but today’s damn hallucinations... The Comprehensive Guild bastards, I’ll kill them all someday. If they had just come to the Han River, everyone who was going to die would have survived.”

“You don’t have the courage to eliminate them, yet you’ve been talking for years. If it weren’t for the guild leader, you wouldn’t have survived today, right?”

Stop it.

Seo-un tightly gripped the left arm of Chahaya, who was below him. Realizing it was the wrist that had been cut off, he loosened his grip. Surprisingly, Chahaya remained still, not showing any pain.

“Jung-gyeong-min saved me? Chahaya, did you call him?”

Handon-hee’s dark eyes glowed with a murderous intent.

“Except for Chahaya, we were all in bad shape. If it weren’t for Jung-gyeong-min, we wouldn’t know what would have happened.”

“Oh, then when I kill the Comprehensive Guild bastards, I’ll spare Jung-gyeong-min first. I’ll find him later and kill him. Chahaya, just wait and see what I can do, okay?”

Handon-hee’s eyes, which were laughing, were almost sincere.

Seo-un knew from his uncle why Handon-hee was so bitter about the 35th mutant incident. Sung-hee was Handon-hee’s girlfriend at the time.

As long as Sung-hee was around, Tacheon had healers and a certain level of discipline. After she died, there was no one to control the guild members.

“Chahaya, you bastard. If you had been there, if you had been there, only you.”

“Hey, I’m really sorry.”

How many times had Chahaya endured Handon-hee’s drunken rants? He drank while offering a dispassionate apology.

“I know you came. I know. But you came too late. So... Can’t you blame me a little? I’m suffering, so... Can’t you blame someone else?”

“Kang-san, we should take Don-hee back now.”

Handon-hee was almost one with the table.

“I knew you’d be like this, so I absorbed the meat. Let’s go, Don-hee. Don’t vomit on my back today.”

Kang-san lifted Handon-hee with his pot-lid-like hands. Despite their large size, it was hard to imagine one of them carrying the other. However, Kang-san easily hoisted Handon-hee onto his back.

“I’m leaving with this drunk. See you in Narakga. Seo-un, don’t go far, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Seo-un’s forced smile was smoother, perhaps because he had lost weight since going into hiding, making him look weaker. Or maybe he had always been like that, but to Kang-san, he looked infinitely strong. Kang-san adjusted Handon-hee, who was sliding down, and left the meat shop.

“Do you feel a bit sad because we’re both wearing hospital gowns?”

Seo-un ate a piece of meat and washed it down with alcohol. Chahaya casually opened the soju bottle.

When they were in high school, he thought he would drink with Chahaya as soon as they became adults, but it had been a long journey. Instead, they went to the amusement park and drank, and today felt like a special day.

“Chahaya, are you drinking well?”

“Guess.”

“Do I have to guess? Half a bottle?”

He answered well despite saying no.

“Seo-un, I heard your self-introduction.”

“What do you mean, I can drink more than half a bottle?”

“Your face is really red.”

His cheeks were already flushed.

“Always like this when I drink.”

Chahaya pressed the soju bottle against Seo-un’s cheek and laughed mischievously.

“What are you doing?”

His speech was slurred with the bottle pressed against his cheek.

“Trying to warm it up.”

“Who warms soju?”

Still, his cheeks felt cooler. Seo-un defiantly drank the alcohol in his glass.

“Trying to show off and then pass out?”

“Are you a kid? I can drink two bottles.”

“I thought you were only three glasses because you’re so red.”

“I detox through my face, not my liver, so don’t worry.”

“Two bottles.”

“What?”

“You asked about my drinking capacity.”

“Oh...”

If he had just said two bottles from the start, it would have been fine, but he had to tease him. Anyway, he had been teased by Chahaya many times before. Still, not deliberately avoiding him as before made him wonder when they had been awkward.

They didn’t clink glasses, and the conversation didn’t flow for a while, but it felt natural.

“Handon-hee... Does he often act like this?”

“If he did this often, I wouldn’t tolerate it. Maybe once or twice a year.”

“Don-hee must have really liked Sung-hee.”

Chahaya looked surprised.

“He just feels guilty. Because she died in his place.”

“What?”

It was a new story. He had only heard a superficial account from his uncle at the time.

“When I arrived, Handon-hee was almost dead. The control center had ordered the capture of 35th alive, so there were many casualties.”

The control center had wanted to capture the 35th mutant alive to gather information, but many mutants were sacrificed in the process. The accumulated resentment finally erupted with the 35th.

Handon-hee’s destruction of the control center in Yongsan was driven by anger. As a result, most of his assets were confiscated by the state, and he had to pay a large settlement to the victims because he had cut off a civilian’s finger.

Seo-un had only known this from the news, but now he could guess the whole story.

“Calling the mangled mutants ‘idiots’ and not calling Sethco, so I got rid of the pests.”

He probably went to the person who had mocked Sung-hee’s death and cut off their finger. His mouth kept running, so Seo-un stopped thinking.

“Are you sympathizing with Handon-hee now?”

Chahaya pushed Seo-un’s furrowed brow with his index finger. Seo-un, pushed back, frowned again.

“Am I going to die if I get poked by the finger of a top mutant? Be careful.”

“Are you a blowfish?”

“Blowfish don’t die that easily.”

“Then what did you say, a hamster?”

Seo-un burst out laughing.

“Chahaya, this kid not only changes his name but also his animal. He’s an elephant.”

Seo-un lightly clinked his glass with Chahaya’s. Thanks to Chahaya, he could drink more comfortably than before.

“You said there are no new awakened mutants after we went to Narakga?”

“Unless there’s an awakened mutant who hasn’t revealed themselves.”

“Then, will there be no more mutants?”

“Mutants keep appearing, so it’s hard to say.”

“Where do you live?”

As the alcohol took effect, the conversation became scattered, but it was easier to bring up what was on his mind.

“I won’t tell you.”

Chahaya’s mouth was hidden behind his glass, but his eyes were smiling.

“Why?”

“Because Seo-un is too curious too quickly?”

Chahaya drank the clear soju. Seo-un, feeling embarrassed, wiped his cheeks. He tried to think of what to say, but his head wasn’t working well due to the alcohol.

And now, it was funny to be curious about where Chahaya lived.

“I live here.”

“Huh?”

He lifted his heavy eyelids.

“I live here.”

“In the guild building? Since when?”

“From the beginning.”

Surprised, his eyes wandered, and Seo-un’s eyes narrowed, but not as much as usual.

“There were many times when the guild building suddenly called everyone to gather, but you were always the last to arrive. Wow, thinking about it, you were a complete rogue.”

“I don’t break promises.”

“I know you’re good at breaking promises.”

“You’re the only one who knows.”

Chuckles spread as the alcohol took effect, and Seo-un’s laughter became more open. The special words “only you” made his heart like reeds. He needed to pull himself together. Seo-un splashed cold water on his face to clear his head.

“Aren’t you going to ask where I live?”

Chahaya looked at Seo-un steadily. Seo-un averted his gaze and mumbled.

“Ask, I won’t tell you, so I can get some revenge.”

“I know where you live.”

“...You do?”

“Seo-un, you’re in the palm of my hand.”

“What?”

If he were the size of an elephant hamster, he could really fit in Chahaya’s palm. The thought made him laugh rather than angry.

“Can I stay the night?”

Chahaya’s steady gaze made his fingertips twitch.

<Thump! The heart of 'elephant hamster Seo-un' beats.>