“Mr. Lee Kanghyun! Stop right there! An emergency arrest warrant has been issued for you!”
The amplified voice boomed across the area.
At the commander’s signal, the police rushed forward in a wave. Dozens of arms reached for Lee Kanghyun, ready to slap handcuffs on him.
Lee Kanghyun did not dodge.
He did not shove anyone away.
He did not use his strength.
He simply kept striding forward on his long legs.
Then something strange happened.
As he approached, the police officers who had charged at him so boldly faltered and began backing away.
The pressure radiating from an S-rank Hunter stopped them all in their tracks. A primal fear, like prey standing before a predator, rooted their feet to the ground.
Lee Kanghyun’s gaze was indifferent.
Yet somehow, that very indifference made them freeze even harder.
He strolled leisurely between the hesitating officers. He even reached out and lightly tapped the shield of one rigid police officer with his fingertips.
“Thanks for your hard work.”
The large officer hiccupped.
Camera shutters erupted around him like a hailstorm, but Lee Kanghyun never once looked back as he headed toward the main National Assembly building.
Because that would be a pain.
At the same time, inside the National Assembly hearing room, the atmosphere was razor-thin.
Assemblyman Kim, who was questioning Kang Yujun at the witness table, jabbed a finger at him and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Hunter Kang Yujun! The entire country is watching! Is hiding a murderer your idea of justice?”
“……”
“That man Lee Kanghyun is unfit to be a Hunter. Self-defense? He beat a man badly enough to crush his bones. That was murder, plain and simple! Why in the world are you protecting someone who killed a person and then ran away?”
Kang Yujun took hold of the microphone.
His voice was hoarse.
“He didn’t run away. He’s only staying somewhere else temporarily until the situation settles—”
“Have you given any thought to the victim’s family?”
Assemblyman Kim cut him off and pressed even harder.
“Disclose Lee Kanghyun’s location immediately. If you refuse, I will request a tax investigation and compulsory investigation of Waterglint.”
Kang Yujun fell silent and glared at him.
Then the doors to the hearing room flew open on both sides.
Every head in the room turned toward the entrance at once.
A man stood there with the dazzling lights behind him.
A black suit.
Slicked-back hair.
And an expression so confident it bordered on arrogance.
Lee Kanghyun.
Ignoring every stare directed at him, he strode straight toward the witness table.
“L-Lee Kanghyun?!”
Assemblyman Kim’s mouth fell open.
At the sound of Lee Kanghyun’s name, Kang Yujun whipped his head around and froze.
The usual Lee Kanghyun—with his messy hair and loose sweats—was nowhere to be seen.
A sharp jawline. A fully exposed forehead. A perfectly fitted suit wrapped around his tall frame.
He stood out even when he dressed carelessly and complained that everything was too much trouble.
Now that he had actually made an effort, his looks were almost absurd.
…Fuck, he’s handsome.
Kang Yujun stared at him blankly for a moment.
He had always thought Lee Kanghyun was good-looking, but seeing him dressed like this made it impossible to look away.
Lee Kanghyun glanced at the dazed Kang Yujun.
His insides felt like they were boiling.
Why the hell are you just sitting there listening to that ridiculous bullshit?
Kang Yujun tormented him every damn day, yet at times like this, he turned into a complete pushover.
It was unbelievable.
And what was with that vacant expression on his face?
He looked like an idiot.
Lee Kanghyun wanted to smack him across the back of the head and tell him to get a grip, but he could hardly do that in front of all these cameras.
For now, he was supposed to be a guild member who had come to protect his Guild Master from public abuse.
So even if it was only for appearances, he needed to act affectionate.
Lee Kanghyun gave the gentlest smile he could possibly manage.
Then he bent down and brought his face close to Kang Yujun’s ear.
The sudden gesture sent a murmur through the room.
Good.
Even he had to admit the scene looked extremely touching.
“Yujun.”
He whispered the name tenderly.
Kang Yujun’s eyes went wide.
His heart felt as though it had dropped straight through his chest.
Had Lee Kanghyun ever smiled at him that sweetly and called him by name like that?
Without any distance between them?
Not once.
A gentle Lee Kanghyun.
The words made about as much sense together as warm ice cream.
Why?
Why was he smiling like that?
Kang Yujun’s initial confusion was quickly overwhelmed by emotion.
Could it be… because he feels sorry for me getting attacked like this? Because he’s worried about me?
Right.
He acted prickly on the outside, but deep down he was warmhearted.
He finally understands how I feel.
He’s trying to encourage me so I won’t shrink in front of the reporters.
Just as Kang Yujun was becoming thoroughly moved by his own interpretation, Lee Kanghyun’s voice abruptly turned murderous.
“Are you an idiot? Why are you just sitting here taking this?”
“…What?”
“Just wait until we get out of here. You’re dead.”
Crash.
So much for being moved.
Lee Kanghyun delivered a vicious threat while wearing the sweetest smile in the world.
What reached Kang Yujun’s ears was clearly a demon’s whisper.
What he saw in front of him was an angelic smile.
The cognitive dissonance hit hard.
He could no longer tell whether this was reality or some kind of auditory hallucination.
Did he just say I’m dead?
With that face?
He stared blankly up at Lee Kanghyun.
He wanted to say something, but the shock had apparently disabled his voice.
Leaving the completely malfunctioning Kang Yujun behind, Lee Kanghyun straightened as though nothing had happened.
Still smiling, he stepped up to the empty microphone beside Kang Yujun.
“You all seemed so desperate to see me, so here I am. Now stop shouting. You’re hurting my ears.”
Lee Kanghyun spoke irritably into the microphone with one hand shoved into his pocket.
“So what exactly am I being charged with? Murder? Excessive force?”
“Is that really something a criminal who killed a man should be saying?!”
Assemblyman Kim hurled the pen in his hand and slammed his palm against the desk.
“There’s a limit to shamelessness! It’s all in the autopsy report! You overpowered that man and brutally tortured him to death, and now you dare stand in the sacred halls of the National Assembly and argue over what you’re being charged with?”
Assemblyman Kim pointed at him and raised his voice.
“You’re a murderer! You used the power you were given to protect the people to kill one of them!”
“Me? A murderer?”
Lee Kanghyun laughed as though the accusation were genuinely hilarious.
“A suspicious man broke into my home, and all I did was break one arm and subdue him. If anything, I went easy on him. Very gentlemanly of me, actually.”
His mouth curved mockingly.
“I guess if an assassin breaks into your house, Assemblyman, you make him a cup of tea? I’m afraid I’m not that much of a saint.”
“Y-You insolent bastard!”
Assemblyman Kim clutched the back of his neck.
Completely overwhelmed by Lee Kanghyun’s presence, he forcibly changed the subject.
“What kind of attitude is that? The entire country is watching! The public is already furious over allegations that you evaded military service, yet you show absolutely no remorse!”
He was trying to turn the case into a trial by public opinion.
Assemblyman Kim had recently found himself cornered by allegations that he had accepted illegal political funds, and Lee Kanghyun was the perfect scapegoat to divert the public’s attention.
He had to keep sinking his teeth into Lee Kanghyun somehow if he wanted to extend his increasingly precarious political career.
“Do you have any idea how angry South Korea is because of you right now? Look at the internet. Everyone’s demanding that you be expelled from the country. They’re sick of looking at you!”
At those words, Kang Yujun shot to his feet.
“Assemblyman!”
The anger he had endured for as long as he could finally erupted.
Kang Yujun glared at Assemblyman Kim as though he wanted to kill him.
“You’ve gone too far. Do not insult Hunter Lee Kanghyun with unverified claims.”
He looked ready to leap straight over the table.
Assemblyman Kim’s face went white.
At that moment, Lee Kanghyun raised a hand and stopped Kang Yujun.
“Sit down.”
His voice was low but firm.
“I’ll handle it.”
Kang Yujun clearly did not like it, but he obediently sat back down.
Once he did, Lee Kanghyun slowly turned his head and looked directly at Assemblyman Kim.
“Do you know how many recruitment offers I get every month from heads of Hunter Association branches around the world?”
It was such an abrupt statement, completely unrelated to explaining the alleged murder, that everyone stared at him in confusion.
Lee Kanghyun ignored their reactions and casually held up three fingers.
“One country offered me thirty million dollars just as a signing bonus. Private jet included. Penthouse provided. My only obligation would be responding to gate breaks classified as national disasters. No requirement to clear gates during normal times.”
He tilted his head.
“Pretty good terms, wouldn’t you say?”
The room erupted into murmurs.
Thirty million dollars.
Roughly forty billion won.
A sum so enormous it barely seemed like money an individual could possess.
And that was only the price they were willing to pay to get him to come.
“Expel me?”
Lee Kanghyun’s lips twisted.
“Go ahead. The moment you throw me out, countries all over the world will probably start an auction to see who gets me. Might actually be fun to watch.”
The mockery in his expression was unmistakable.
“And yet, do you know why I insist on staying on this cramped little patch of land, paying my fines every year and getting cursed at on top of it?”
Lee Kanghyun paused.
A suffocating silence settled over the room.
Everyone swallowed dryly, waiting for his next words.
“Because leaving is a pain.”
“……”
People wondered whether they had heard him correctly.
What the hell did he just say?
He must be joking.
Everyone stared at Lee Kanghyun with that thought.
To their astonishment, his expression was completely serious.
He meant it.
He genuinely wore the expression of a man who considered even breathing too much effort.
Beside him, Kang Yujun barely managed to suppress the laugh threatening to burst out.
It was such an absurdly trivial reason.
Which was exactly why it was so perfectly Lee Kanghyun.