The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C103
Seo-heon wasn’t standing in front of the door as I had warned, but he was waiting for me on the stairs right in front. He was acting as if he would lose his form like a shadow if separated from me. His tightly clenched fist showed how much effort he was making to endure. I pretended not to notice and looked away.
“I think staying at the guild longer will only cause more commotion. I’ll go home on my own.”
If this state continued, not only would he have no time to work, but I might never have time alone.
“I’ll take you.”
“Other employees are busy cleaning up, the guild master who caused this mess shouldn’t be playing around. Surely I can find my own house? Just tell me the password.”
Though it wasn’t my property now, I didn’t want to break into the house I had lived in for so long like a thief.
“The urgent matters will be over soon if you wait a bit.”
That couldn’t be true. He had done things that would be hard to handle even with overtime work. It was obvious he was lying to stay with me.
“You said you wouldn’t constrain me. Take responsibility for your words.”
I didn’t want to say something that sounded like a threat, but it came out anyway. When I spoke firmly, I saw Seo-heon’s eyes waver slightly.
“Then I’ll assign someone to you.”
“I’d be stronger than whoever you assign. Even a decent hunter wouldn’t be much use.”
The implication was that unless he intended to monitor me, I didn’t need protection. In fact, I was in a position where I didn’t need protection. Even without using skills that consumed life force, there were few hunters stronger than me in Korea. Nevertheless, Seo-heon seemed to think differently.
“Seeing how I was attacked, you’re not safe either. If something happens, two is better than one. The guard I’ll assign isn’t from our guild, so you don’t need to feel burdened.”
I was about to say a stranger would be more burdensome, but stopped. If I hadn’t seen the news about him being attacked at the airport, I would have thought he was lying and ignored it.
Since I’ve seen the wounds from the attack, it’s hard to just say no outright.
“Then let’s have them accompany me just to the front door.”
I judged it would be better to be prepared than to get hurt carelessly by being off guard. Since I had decided to live, I preferred not to be in danger of getting hurt or dying.
***
The person who arrived shortly after Seo-heon’s call was a well-known freelance hunter. I didn’t know how he knew Seo-heon, but I had heard rumors that he was skilled in detection abilities.
“Hello.”
I greeted him to break the awkwardness, but he didn’t return the greeting. He just nodded slightly. Thinking that fulfilled his role, he barely made eye contact after that.
“He’s always like that. He doesn’t talk to his protection targets unless it’s special, but he detects danger uncannily well, so he’ll be helpful if anything happens.”
As Seo-heon explained, the guard didn’t exchange a single word with me until we arrived at the house. At first it felt stifling, but soon I realized it wasn’t much different from being alone and acted comfortably.
“Contact this number when you go out.”
He only gave me a contact number when parting. His clean behavior was a relief.
“Thank you.”
He left without replying. After he left, I opened the front door that felt smaller than I remembered.
“I’m home.”
It was a homecoming over 10 years in the making.
The interior of the house was almost the same as I remembered, and a bit different from what I saw in dreams. Of course, the house I saw in dreams had unrealistic aspects. However, furniture like the dining table and sofa looked cute.
“I don’t think I’ve grown that much taller.”
When I spoke to myself, it echoed slightly, perhaps because the house was empty. Returning alone to a house where three of us used to live felt like being thrown into reality. Abstract impressions receded, and concerns about how to live and what to do from now on continued.
“Maybe it would be better to go back to the guild.”
Even as I muttered this, I couldn’t easily make up my mind to do so. I had become the subject of much gossip as the vice guild master of Ihwa, and even if I returned, I felt I would only be able to respond meaninglessly and habitually.
Normally people would take a break, but resting didn’t suit my temperament. Lying down all day doing nothing felt terrible, as if my body was slowly corroding starting from the extremities like fingers and toes.
It’s probably because I have an underlying fear that I can’t live if I don’t prove my worth. So until now, I’ve focused more on what I should do rather than what I want to do. The freedom that suddenly rushed at me was no different from violence.
As if some trace or answer about the future was hidden in this house, I continued exploring. Then I suddenly discovered something.
“This is…”
I rubbed a part of the wall that was less faded than the others. It was where a family photo frame of the three of us used to be, but now it was empty.
Given the evident efforts to preserve the whole house as close to the past as possible, the frame and its contents were probably burned or destroyed beyond repair.
Did the intruders take the missing items? I heard there were occasional burglaries even after the small fire.
Besides the frame, there were other missing items here and there. It wouldn’t be strange to be angry in this situation, but perhaps because it was a long time ago and I knew there was a separate mastermind, anger didn’t rise as much as expected.
However, a feeling of lonely emptiness, like when a regular store closes down leaving only an empty lot, followed. For over an hour as I looked around the house, such feelings of welcome and regret continued to alternate.
It was so neatly organized that it was hard to believe it had been empty for a very long time. This house didn’t have the characteristic chill of an empty house. Even without explanation, I could feel that considerable effort had been put into making it look like someone was living here.
“Wow…”
This was most evident in the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, there were not only fresh ingredients but also packed meals. It looked like preparations had been made in advance after hearing I was coming here. Perhaps because of seeing the food, hunger slowly spread in my stomach.
I took out one of the packed meals and heated it in the microwave, and a savory smell wafted out. My stomach, which had been fine until ten minutes ago, rumbled loudly as if knowing food was coming soon. I took out familiar-looking but shiny new chopsticks and put the fluffy rice in my mouth. Warmth spread in my mouth.
Despite eating alone, there was no loneliness. The food that went down my throat warmed my body. It was a satisfying dinner, not forced consumption.
“Ah, I’m full.”
After washing the lunch box clean, I felt some sense of fulfillment. The already empty spaces could never be perfectly filled with the same entities, but they were being subtly filled with similar things.
My body relaxed loosely. As I sat on the sofa, floating between thoughts and memories, the doorbell rang. Checking the clock, it was well past nine o’clock.
It was obvious who would visit at this hour.
“Why are you opening the door without checking?”
The person in question chided me for my lack of caution as he came in.
“You think I wouldn’t recognize your footsteps?”
Not only was it unlikely that an assassin targeting me would ring the doorbell, but the possibility of perfectly imitating Seo-heon’s presence was extremely low.
“Still, check once before opening. It seems things will be completely settled in about a month. At least until then.”
It meant that the politically connected forces still had some strength left to wield. Though a month sounded like it would be close to their last struggle.
“I’ll try to be careful.”
I twisted my body slightly to make way for Seo-heon to enter.
“As I said before, to maintain life force and be pain-free even without cooldown, we need to make contact daily. As the level increases, the cooldown decreases and the amount of life force that can be transferred at once increases.”
Seo-heon emphasized again the reason for daily contact.
“I understand, so let’s do it quickly.”
“Here?”
Seo-heon looked at the sofa I pointed to as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Where else should we do it?”
“You should lie down on the bed.”
Come to think of it, we had always used the life force transfer skill on the bed.
“Is that really necessary when it’s not even real treatment?”
“It would be better to be at ease.”
Just as I was familiar with Seo-heon’s house, Seo-heon was naturally familiar with our house. He strode towards my room, and I had no choice but to follow. A cozy room with clean bedding. I carefully lay down on the bed.
“Close your eyes.”
Seo-heon looked down at me lying on the bed. Slowly, his hand touched me. My hot hand and Seo-heon’s cold hand met. The palms pressed together felt ticklish.