In the end, Gong Siyoung declared surrender.
What choice did he have when the Guild Master told him to do it?
Being brothers only made it easier for him to know exactly what kind of person Gong Sijin was.
He was the sort of man who could smile pleasantly while beating someone half to death.
So even with his lips sticking out in obvious displeasure and his gaze downright murderous, Gong Siyoung obediently followed his brother’s orders.
How long had it even been since they separated?
And yet he already had to face that lunatic again.
Pressing hard at his throbbing forehead, he headed for the location Gong Sijin had specified.
The building currently used by Rapture Guild was a ten-story standalone tower.
The first and second floors housed convenience facilities for hunters: the lobby, lounge, restaurant, and café.
The third through fifth floors were offices.
The sixth floor held the meeting rooms, the seventh the training facilities, and the eighth through tenth were reserved for executives.
The place Gong Sijin had taken Yurian to was a meeting room on the sixth floor.
Hearing that he was waiting there, Gong Siyoung quickened his pace.
He moved down the quiet hallway and stopped in front of Conference Room Two.
The moment he opened the door, loud cheerful voices greeted him first.
“No, I’m telling you! Back when I first became a hunter, things weren’t like this! Kids these days have no discipline, that’s what I’m saying!”
“Oh, here we go again! Senior Choi, you’re exaggerating. What is this, a phone? Why are you splitting hunters into first and second generations?”
Choi Yeongun and Kim Taeseung, Gong Sijin’s closest aides, were chattering away.
And wedged between them, Yurian was throwing in comments here and there.
“So this side is second generation? Then this one’s first generation?”
“It’s a difference in class, class! Seriously, look at how easy dungeon raids are these days. Huh? Back in my day we didn’t have any of that. If luck turned bad, it was common to get stuck in there for months, even years, until it was cleared.”
“Years? No, I know exactly what that’s like. If a person gets stuck somewhere fighting day and night like that, they lose it. That’s seriously no way for a human to live.”
“Exactly! That’s why I’m saying things are so comfortable these days!”
At Choi Yeongun’s old-man “back in my day” rant, Taeseung flared up and jumped in.
“There he goes again… but these days have their own problems too, you know?”
At the two men’s bickering, Yurian laughed and grabbed their hands.
He forcibly made them clasp hands together, telling them to make peace.
Just like that, the mood shifted again.
“Being a hunter really is no way to live. The lower ranks always get worked to death.”
“That’s what I’m saying! I mean seriously, look at it. We’re the ones busting our asses, right? But then the guild goes and—”
“…What exactly are you doing?”
Having heard enough, Gong Siyoung finally cut in.
Caught in the middle of about to badmouth the guild, Choi Yeongun’s shoulders jerked.
The moment he spotted Siyoung, he let out an awkward laugh.
“O-oh, Hunter Siyoung, you’re here?”
As if they hadn’t been laughing and joking just moments ago, Kim Taeseung beside him immediately straightened into perfect posture.
Only Yurian still wore the same easy smile, watching their sudden shift in attitude with obvious interest.
“Ah, right, look at me. I forgot I had a briefing. Well then, good work!”
“I should get going too. Good work, Hunter Siyoung.”
The two men bowed quickly and hurried toward the door.
Yurian waved at them in farewell.
“See you again!”
“Just wait, next time I’m taking you on another food tour—!”
Kim Taeseung started enthusiastically before abruptly shutting his mouth.
Pretending not to notice Gong Siyoung’s stare, he hurriedly closed the door behind them.
Only after silence settled did Gong Siyoung slowly turn to Yurian.
“…What were you talking about that was so entertaining?”
They hadn’t even been together that long, but from the atmosphere alone it looked like a full-blown school reunion.
And neither Choi Yeongun nor Kim Taeseung were exactly easy people.
Both were considered indispensable personnel within the guild, veterans with plenty of experience and good instincts.
So what on earth had Yurian said to create this kind of mood?
How exactly had he won those two over?
Gong Siyoung’s gaze turned even colder.
Whether he cared or not, Yurian only shrugged.
“Just… life stuff?”
There didn’t seem to be any hidden scheme in the smiling face.
But as always, appearances weren’t everything.
Gong Siyoung repeated his resolve inwardly.
Whatever this man’s real identity was, he absolutely would not get dragged in easily.
“We met in the dungeon, right? Your name was Gong Siyoung?”
“We’re not exactly on friendly enough terms for proper introductions. Anyway, come with me. Until your rank evaluation tomorrow, I’m personally assigned to you.”
He moved toward the door before even waiting for a reply.
When Yurian failed to follow immediately, Siyoung shot him a look that clearly said, what are you waiting for?
Yurian hurriedly rose from his seat.
“So now I finally get to change clothes too?”
At that, Gong Siyoung gave Yurian’s appearance a fresh once-over.
His hair was sticky with dried monster blood, and his clothes were no better.
The whole sight was a mess.
He must have been uncomfortable this whole time, and yet apparently hadn’t said a word.
Seriously?
After talking that much earlier?
Nothing about him was remotely satisfying.
Frowning, Siyoung gestured at him.
“I’ll get you some clothes, so go wash up first. There’s a shower upstairs.”
“Oh, really?”
“What, have you spent your whole life being scammed?”
At the prickly tone, Yurian let out a small laugh.
Following closely behind, he reached out and grabbed Siyoung’s hand.
The sudden contact startled Gong Siyoung so badly he slapped the hand away.
Yurian’s eyes widened into circles.
“What was that for? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I should be saying that! What was that? Why are you suddenly grabbing my hand?!”
“Someone’d think I grabbed your junk or something.”
Yurian answered shamelessly.
He must have been pretty startled too, because his already round eyes looked even wider.
“I just didn’t want to get lost. When we came up earlier, this place looked pretty damn complicated.”
“That’s not—!”
He was about to snap that such an excuse was ridiculous…
…and then he remembered.
From the first floor to the sixth, all they had to do was cross the lobby and take the elevator.
And yet Yurian had managed to get lost three separate times, each time trying to wander off somewhere completely wrong before being stopped.
So, actually…
that explanation did make sense.
Maybe there really wasn’t any other meaning behind it.
Maybe he had literally just grabbed his hand so he wouldn’t get lost.
Should he believe that or not?
Suppressing the complicated feelings, Siyoung nodded for now.
“…If you really need to hold onto something, don’t grab my hand. Grab this instead.”
He gestured lightly at the hoodie he was wearing.
Without another word, Yurian immediately reached out.
The sharp yank that followed nearly strangled him.
Startled, Siyoung jolted violently.
“Not like that! Who told you to grab it like that?! You almost choked me!”
“Seriously. I did exactly what you said, and you still complain.”
At the fussy reaction, Yurian frowned.
Seeing the atmosphere building toward another lecture, he quickly raised a hand.
“Fine, fine, don’t get annoyed. I’ll just follow quietly. We’re going this way, right?”
He nudged the door open and quickly stepped out into the hallway.
Watching Yurian brush past him, Gong Siyoung swallowed down a sigh.
* * *
“Ah, now I remember.”
Standing beneath the shower, Yurian muttered to himself as water streamed down.
The moment he opened his mouth, water immediately rushed in.
He lowered his head, spat it out, and twisted the valve shut.
The water stopped instantly.
A small note of admiration slipped out.
No matter how many times he saw it, this was amazing.
So this really wasn’t magic?
When he followed Gong Siyoung into the bath area, Yurian had been shaken by what felt like the hundredth shock of the day.
Normally, even splashing around in stagnant stored water would be a luxury worth gratitude.
But this place…
this place was so clean and comfortable it genuinely felt like heaven.
Purified water, clean enough to drink, poured down endlessly.
When he fumbled because he didn’t know how to use the shower, an already irritated Gong Siyoung had marched over.
Even while glaring, he had explained the whole process step by step.
Turn this and the water comes out.
Use that to wash your body.
Adjust the temperature with this.
Thanks to that detailed explanation, bathing after that had been easy.
Shaking the water from his hands, Yurian turned over the thought that had just surfaced.
That man, Gong Siyoung.
He had felt strangely familiar somehow, and only now did Yurian realize why.
At first he had thought it was simply because Siyoung was handsome.
Like when you see a perfectly sculpted face and think, Haven’t I seen someone like that before?
That sort of vague familiarity.
But that wasn’t it.
It wasn’t that he had seen Gong Siyoung somewhere before.
It was more accurate to say he knew something similar to Gong Siyoung.
“Our Kkambi is exactly like that.”
Kkambi.
The cat raised at The Green Banner, the tavern near the mercenary camp he frequented.
Their Kkambi, with the pitch-black fur and the little white sock only on the left paw.
That tiny cat with bright yellow eyes looked uncannily similar to Gong Siyoung.
Not just the sharp appearance, either.
It was the attitude.
The atmosphere.
Kkambi hated people, but still lingered nearby whenever Yurian showed up.
And Gong Siyoung, who glared daggers at him every time they met, yet somehow still quietly took care of everything he needed.
That strangely similar air.
“Yeah. That’s it. Even the looks are kind of similar.”
Kkambi’s black fur and Gong Siyoung’s black hair.
Wasn’t that close enough?
Of course, the other people he had met earlier also had black hair.
But there was something fundamentally different about them.
More than anything, there was the mole set neatly into Gong Siyoung’s left cheek.
As if by fate, Kkambi also had a little white patch of fur in almost the exact same spot on its face.
“It’s just the colors reversed, but even the placement’s kind of similar, isn’t it?”