Seo Jihun also frowned as he looked at the article.
“The timing is suspicious. It’s been two weeks since the incident, and this only blows up now? The Association probably tried to keep it quiet, so the fact that information leaked means someone deliberately let it out. To screw you over. Or maybe the Association was in on it from the beginning.”
A face flashed through Lee Kanghyun’s mind.
Yellow hair.
That crazy bastard’s first “present” had been the intruder.
Was he trying to use the corpse this time to bury him socially?
He might even be considering this his third present.
“He’s seriously annoying.”
This was not something that would end with him simply receiving some criticism.
The moment the keyword “murder” was attached, the Association would not be able to stay still either. Police investigations and all kinds of other troublesome matters would inevitably come flooding in.
Haa…
Lee Kanghyun leaned back against the chair.
Honestly, he had been prepared for this to some extent.
Someone had died in his home. Regardless of the circumstances before and after, going two weeks without receiving any investigation at all was basically an S-rank privilege.
He was aware of that himself.
He had hoped it would quietly pass, but apparently that was not going to happen.
Bzzz— Bzzz—
At that moment, the phone in his pocket began vibrating like it was having a seizure.
The name “Kang Yujun” appeared on the screen.
Lee Kanghyun tried to ignore it.
“Not answering?”
Seo Jihun pointed at the phone with his chin.
Lee Kanghyun stared silently at the screen.
He did not want to answer.
Even if he did, he had no idea what he was supposed to say.
But if he did not answer?
Kang Yujun, that crazy bastard, might hire a Hunter with a tracking Ability and chase me all the way here.
No.
He was certain that was exactly what he would do.
That would be even worse.
If this place was discovered, he had no idea what excuse he would make.
In the end, Lee Kanghyun pressed the accept button.
—Where are you? Why aren’t you home?
Kang Yujun’s voice was lower and colder than Lee Kanghyun had ever heard before.
“Me? I’m just… taking a walk.”
—Did you see the article?
“Yeah. Just now.”
—Send me your location. I’ll come get you.
“I’ll go myself.”
—Lee Kanghyun. Stop being stubborn and tell me your location. Reporters are camped out in front of the apartment complex right now.
A long sigh escaped him naturally.
Reporters were camped outside.
Back when he lived in his old studio apartment, he could count the number of people who knew where he lived on one hand. But after his dramatic entrance during the Red Gate, it seemed like his address had been completely exposed.
Thinking about it, wasn’t this Kang Yujun’s fault too?
Well…
That was probably why he was trying to take responsibility.
“Come near XX Station Exit 8. I’ll hide nearby.”
—I’ll be there soon.
The call ended.
He shoved the phone into his pocket.
Watching him, Seo Jihun seemed to try to lighten the strangely heavy atmosphere with an exaggerated teasing tone.
“You two dating? No matter what, you’re taking care of each other way too much.”
“Don’t say crazy shit.”
Lee Kanghyun waved his hand as if the comment was not even worth responding to.
“I’m leaving. Contact me if you find him.”
He left the laboratory and went outside.
After wandering around a gloomy alley near the station, Kang Yujun’s car soon arrived and stopped in front of him.
The car door suddenly opened, and Kang Yujun got out.
The moment he saw Lee Kanghyun, he quickly approached him, grabbed his shoulders first, and examined him.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Let go.”
Lee Kanghyun pushed Kang Yujun away in disgust and climbed into the passenger seat.
As soon as Kang Yujun got into the driver’s seat, he started the car.
The veins on the back of the hand gripping the steering wheel were visibly raised.
“I asked the media companies to take the articles down as a guild matter, but they refused. There’s someone behind this. They’re deliberately coming after you.”
Kang Yujun spoke through clenched teeth.
“From the apartment entrance all the way to the parking lot, reporters and streamers are camped out. They were even waiting with eggs and flour. Those crazy bastards don’t even know what they’re talking about…”
Unlike the angry Kang Yujun, Lee Kanghyun himself remained calm.
Oh. Eggs…
That’s old-fashioned. Couldn’t they come up with something more original?
“The public opinion is terrible right now. If you go out, you’ll get hit with rocks before you even get a chance to explain. Let’s hide for now.”
The atmosphere inside the car was heavy.
Kang Yujun was furious about the situation, and at the same time, his nerves were on edge because he was worried about Lee Kanghyun.
But the person actually involved in the situation simply reclined the passenger seat and yawned.
“So where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe. Somewhere no one knows about.”
“Hotel?”
“No. My second house. It’s not under my name, and it’s not under the guild’s name either, so reporters will never find it.”
Lee Kanghyun nodded.
Well, he did not care where they went as long as he could lie down and sleep.
He did not know why someone would even have a hidden second house in the first place.
He glanced at Kang Yujun.
He looked extremely tense.
Honestly, Lee Kanghyun did not understand.
This was not even his own problem. It was someone else’s problem. Why was he going this far?
If he thought about it objectively, they were not even that close.
From Lee Kanghyun’s perspective, his actions were excessive.
Resting his chin on his hand, Lee Kanghyun stared out the window and suddenly asked:
“Hey, Kang Yujun. What exactly do you trust me on that you’re going this far?”
He continued speaking calmly, as if he were talking about someone else.
“You saw the article. Everyone is saying I killed him.”
“What would you do if I really did?”
“How do you know whether I killed someone or not? How can you be sure?”
Kang Yujun’s brows furrowed.
He looked angry at Lee Kanghyun’s words.
“Don’t say something that ridiculous.”
“You don’t know.”
Lee Kanghyun continued deliberately.
“I’m S-rank. Twisting an ordinary person’s neck isn’t even difficult for me. Maybe I lost control because that bastard broke into my house and killed him.”
He was intentionally acting more cynical than usual.
Partly because Kang Yujun’s blind faith was burdensome.
And partly because he genuinely wanted to know where that faith came from.
“You know how I deal with monsters. I tear them apart for no reason and get blood everywhere. Do you really think people would be any different?”
Screech.
The car stopped at a red light.
Kang Yujun took his hands off the steering wheel and turned to look directly at Lee Kanghyun.
His gaze did not waver.
“No. You didn’t.”
“How do you know that? You weren’t with me twenty-four hours a day.”
“I know.”
Kang Yujun answered firmly.
“You hate troublesome things more than anything.”
His voice remained calm.
“If you killed someone, do you know how much trouble the aftermath would be? You’d have to deal with police investigations. Dispose of the body. Run away. You hate that kind of trouble so much that you would never kill someone.”
“……”
Lee Kanghyun was speechless.
He had expected a cliché answer.
Something like I believe in your morality or I believe in you as a person.
But this was an answer he never could have imagined.
Kang Yujun continued.
“And.”
His hand reached out and gently fixed Lee Kanghyun’s messy bangs.
“You’re a pushover.”
“…What?”
“You only say things like ‘I’ll kill them’ and whatever. But even me, someone who annoys you every day, you never actually hit me properly. You always let me off.”
“That’s different. You’re a Hunter. That bastard was a criminal.”
“So can you kill him?”
Lee Kanghyun closed his mouth.
He could not answer.
He could not kill him.
Even he knew that himself.
“See?”
Kang Yujun smiled as if he had expected that answer.
There was not a trace of doubt in his eyes.
It showed his absolute trust in Lee Kanghyun as a person.
Lee Kanghyun could not face that directly, so he turned his gaze back out the window.
Thinking about it, this bastard had just admitted that he was teasing him because he thought Lee Kanghyun was a pushover.
Is this really the National Hero Hunter?
He unnecessarily started picking faults in his head.
Kang Yujun smiled faintly and grabbed the steering wheel again.
The light changed.
How could someone who became embarrassed over words like this, someone who could not even breathe properly in front of a corpse and trembled in fear, possibly kill a person?
Seeing Lee Kanghyun pretending to be tough for no reason made him laugh.
“Don’t laugh. Just drive.”
The criticism came immediately.
Kang Yujun straightened his posture while adjusting his grip on the wheel.
“Yes, understood, Young Master.”
“This bastard really…”
After driving for a while, the car left the city and entered a quiet forest road.
A modern house surrounded by high walls, resembling a fortress, appeared.
“Wow…”
Lee Kanghyun got out of the car and looked around the house in admiration.
Kang Yujun really has a lot of money.
The spacious garden was beautifully landscaped, and the three-story building made entirely of glass was glowing warmly under the sunlight.
Most importantly, there was nothing around.
It was quiet.
It was the perfect house Lee Kanghyun had always dreamed of.
When he heard “second house,” he had imagined some gloomy old mansion.
Instead, it was a beautiful villa with a great view and a pleasant atmosphere.
Being falsely accused of murder, the terrible public opinion…
There was no point worrying about things he could not solve right now.
So first—
I’ll just freeload at this nice house!
Lee Kanghyun walked ahead of Kang Yujun toward the front door.
His footsteps were as light as a feather.