Lee Kanghyun was in a very bad mood.
Someone had sent an intruder into his home and disturbed his rest, created a Red Gate right in front of his apartment, and unleashed swarms of A-rank monsters that had put him through nerve-shredding agony.
You’re seriously dead.
Judging by the way that man behaved, there was no doubt he was a criminal. He did not seem to have the slightest hesitation about killing people, either. Society would be better off with someone like that gone.
Right. He would track that lunatic down. Chase him, kill him, or beat him senseless until he could no longer use his Ability and throw him in prison.
Lee Kanghyun made up his mind.
This was all for society.
It was not personal retaliation because the bastard had interrupted his rest.
Absolutely not.
But that grim determination did not last long.
Ah… what a pain.
Once his anger subsided somewhat, crushing exhaustion rushed in to take its place.
His body was drenched in blood, and the lingering remnants of pain were still there, making his head throb. His entire body felt filthy and sticky enough to drive him insane.
What he needed right now was not revenge.
It was a shower and sleep.
“Let’s just go home.”
Dragging his one remaining slipper, Lee Kanghyun trudged toward the exit.
The moment Lee Kanghyun stepped outside the gate, the dark crimson vortex behind him shrank as if by magic, and the gate disappeared.
The surroundings were in chaos.
The playground of the apartment complex looked like an actual battlefield. The pavilion had half collapsed, trees had been uprooted and were lying around, and the ground had been gouged into deep craters.
Lee Kanghyun landed lightly in the middle of it all.
Everyone’s eyes immediately fixed on him.
A moment later, they all sucked in a breath.
“Gasp….”
Lee Kanghyun looked less like a person and more like a demon.
There was not a single place on him, from head to toe, that was not soaked in red blood. He was drenched so thoroughly that no one could even tell what color his clothes had originally been.
“That… that’s Lee Kanghyun, right?”
No one dared approach him. They only hesitated at a distance while the metallic smell of blood spread through the area.
Lee Kanghyun did not particularly care about their reactions.
He merely tilted his head indifferently toward the Association employees standing there at a loss.
“Excuse me.”
“E-Eek! Y-Yes?!”
The employee standing at the front nearly jumped out of their skin.
“Take care of this. I’m leaving.”
The moment Lee Kanghyun started walking, the crowd hurriedly opened a path for him.
No one had enough nerve to block the way of an S-rank Hunter covered head to toe in blood.
He just wanted to get home and wash off this sticky blood as fast as possible.
I’ll wash up and sleep.
Just thinking about it made some of his irritation fade.
Then—
“Lee Kanghyun!”
Someone urgently pushed through the crowd and came running toward him.
It was Kang Yujun.
The moment he saw Lee Kanghyun’s condition, he stopped dead with a rigid expression. Breathing hard, he swept his gaze over Lee Kanghyun from head to toe.
“Are you hurt? Why is there so much blood….”
Kang Yujun reached out to wipe the blood from Lee Kanghyun’s cheek.
Smack.
Lee Kanghyun irritably slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me. It’s filthy.”
Kang Yujun’s hand froze in midair at those words.
He held his breath.
Lee Kanghyun was on edge right now.
It was probably because he hated being covered in monster blood. Lee Kanghyun hated blood.
If Kang Yujun joked around like usual or clung to him without thinking, he would probably only exhaust him even more when he was already worn out.
Don’t bother him right now.
Kang Yujun did not want to add any more stress.
Only a few hours ago, Lee Kanghyun had panicked after seeing a corpse.
He lowered his hand and took a step back.
“Sorry.”
It was a considerate retreat, meant to avoid provoking him as much as possible.
But Lee Kanghyun misunderstood.
Kang Yujun had been hurt because he said, “It’s filthy.”
Seeing Kang Yujun watching his reaction like a dejected puppy made Lee Kanghyun feel uncomfortable.
“No. I wasn’t saying you were filthy. I meant my body is filthy.”
Lee Kanghyun hesitated, then tossed out the explanation in his usual brusque tone.
“There’s blood all over me. That’s why I told you not to touch me.”
He reached out and gave Kang Yujun’s shoulder a couple of awkward pats.
“So don’t misunderstand. Let’s just go home.”
At that clumsy explanation, Kang Yujun stared blankly at Lee Kanghyun.
He was completely covered in blood and so pale that he looked ready to collapse at any moment, yet he was worrying about Kang Yujun, who was perfectly clean and did not have a scratch on him.
Because he was afraid Kang Yujun might misunderstand.
Because he was afraid he might have hurt his feelings.
“…….”
Kang Yujun bit his lip hard.
The situation was serious, yet he nearly smiled without realizing it.
The fact that Lee Kanghyun cared about his feelings made his heart itch strangely.
“You’re not filthy at all. It’s fine.”
Kang Yujun said it with a bright smile.
Lee Kanghyun could not bring himself to meet that expression, so he turned and fled.
Kang Yujun immediately followed after him.
“I mean it. You’re not filthy.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Lee Kanghyun ignored him.
Empty words.
Kang Yujun shrugged at Lee Kanghyun’s obvious disbelief and looked over his body again.
“But you’re really not hurt?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. None of this is my blood. It’s all monster blood.”
It was a lie, but Kang Yujun had no way of knowing that, so what did it matter?
Lee Kanghyun was shameless about it.
Only after Kang Yujun and Lee Kanghyun started talking normally did the reporters finally gather enough courage to swarm in, camera flashes bursting.
“Hunter Lee Kanghyun! Just a moment!”
“Did you clear the Red Gate alone?”
“Are you all right right now? Please say a few words!”
“Why did you recently join Waterglint? Does it have something to do with Hunter Kang Yujun?”
Microphones were shoved right up in front of Lee Kanghyun’s face.
His brow immediately twisted.
“Ah, move. Seriously.”
When the terrifying-looking man drenched in blood scowled and snapped at them, one reporter flinched and stepped back.
But a few of them, blinded by the prospect of a major scoop, stubbornly clung on.
“What was it like inside?”
“Was there anything unusual?”
Lee Kanghyun waved his hand, brushing the reporters aside as though shooing flies.
Then Kang Yujun stepped in front of him.
“That’s enough.”
Kang Yujun’s voice was calm, but there was a cold warning beneath it.
His attitude was completely different from how he had spoken to Lee Kanghyun moments earlier.
“There will be no interview. The guild will release an official statement, so please move aside.”
Kang Yujun wrapped an arm around Lee Kanghyun’s shoulders and pushed through the crowd.
“Let’s go, Kanghyun.”
Then his lowered gaze caught sight of Lee Kanghyun’s foot.
One slipper was gone, leaving him barefoot on one side.
Kang Yujun immediately bent down.
He dropped to one knee and crouched in front of Lee Kanghyun.
“What are you doing?”
Lee Kanghyun asked in bewilderment.
Without answering, Kang Yujun took off one of his own shoes and put it on him.
“Hey, I don’t need it. Stop.”
“Stay still.”
A large hand firmly gripped Lee Kanghyun’s ankle and refused to let go.
“What if you step on broken glass?”
Kang Yujun stubbornly pulled off his dress shoe and slipped it onto Lee Kanghyun’s foot.
It was a little big, but it fit well enough.
Maybe because they were around the same height, their shoe sizes seemed similar too.
“If you give it to me, what about you?”
Lee Kanghyun asked incredulously.
Kang Yujun casually shrugged and stood back up.
“My feet are callused, so I’m fine. I’m different from you. I actually walk around a lot. You spend all your time lying down, so your feet must be all soft.”
Lee Kanghyun unconsciously looked down.
On his left foot was his battered striped slipper.
On his right was a polished dress shoe.
Meanwhile, Kang Yujun had a dress shoe on his left foot and only a black sock on his right as he stood on the rough asphalt.
The sight of the two of them amicably splitting a pair of dress shoes between them was absurdly ridiculous.
Lee Kanghyun was about to complain about the whole stupid situation when Kang Yujun abruptly slapped a palm over his mouth.
“Let’s go. Want me to carry you on my back?”
Lee Kanghyun pulled Kang Yujun’s hand away and lowered his voice.
“Are you insane? Can’t you see the cameras? What the hell are you trying to do?”
“Why? It’s nice. Looks like matching couple outfits.”
“You lunatic.”
Kang Yujun burst out laughing at the insult.
Lee Kanghyun figured that if he kept arguing, they would only give the reporters even better material, so he abandoned Kang Yujun and started walking away.
One foot in a slipper.
The other in an expensive dress shoe.
“Kanghyun! We’re supposed to go together!”
Kang Yujun quickly hurried after him, but Lee Kanghyun only sped up and tried to escape.
The murmuring crowd, clicking camera shutters, and Kang Yujun’s complaining voice all blended together behind him.
Of course.
Kang Yujun really is such a pain.
Lee Kanghyun kept grumbling inwardly.
And because he was so busy doing that, he failed to notice one thing.
He was smiling.
The moment Lee Kanghyun reached home, he went straight to the bathroom.
Kang Yujun stubbornly followed him all the way back and tried to come inside, but Lee Kanghyun slammed the door in his face and locked it.
He even fastened the security latch to make absolutely sure Kang Yujun could not simply enter using the door lock code.
Standing in front of the mirror, Lee Kanghyun was a little startled by his own appearance.
It was even worse than he had thought.
His entire body was covered in blood.
Now he understood why one parent had recoiled and covered their child’s eyes when he came out of the gate.
Even to him, the sight was a little gruesome.
He turned on the shower, and cold water poured down.
Lee Kanghyun closed his eyes and stood beneath the stream.
The truth was, his body still hurt.
Muscles that had been torn apart and knitted back together were throbbing.
His joints and bones ached dully.
He always wondered why this damn pain lasted so long.
His body healed in an instant.
So why did the pain remain?
“Ugh….”
A low groan he had been holding back finally escaped him.
Fuck, this really hurts.
For a moment, the pain was so bad that tears almost came to his eyes, but he held them back.
He was an adult.
He could not cry over something like this.
Lee Kanghyun braced a hand against the wall and lowered his head.
Once again, murderous intent toward the yellow-haired bastard responsible for this entire mess surged up inside him.