Chapter 24: A Calculated Approach

To be so calm even in this situation. My stomach churned with a sudden surge of indignation. Seriously, they were the one who got hit, not me. So why was he so composed?

“Why should I do that?”

For reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, a knot of irritation twisted in Sagyeol’s gut, and he retorted brusquely.

Yeowon, not one for elaborate speeches, didn’t offer a lengthy explanation. Instead, he uttered a single word with emphasis.

“Sagyeol.”

The hand, previously clenched with brutal force, instantly relaxed its grip. The unconscious B-rank hunter plummeted to the floor.

Sagyeol turned to look at Yeowon. He had heard his name countless times throughout his life.

Yet, coming from Yeowon’s lips, it felt like an entirely different word. The sheer incongruity pierced Sagyeol’s ears.

“Just once.”

“?”

“Could you please say it just one more time? I almost felt a thrill just now.”

“……”

Yeowon observed. He saw the onlookers’ expressions turn distinctly sour.

Raising a hand to cover his face, he spoke as if the weight of the world’s troubles rested upon his shoulders.

“Do you have the confidence to clean this up?”

Sagyeol merely shrugged.

Cleanup.

Surprisingly, that single word jolted someone back to reality: a cafe employee. The employee’s figure vanished beneath the counter, clearly to report the incident to the Association.

The students, meanwhile, held their breath, casting curious glances at Sagyeol.

‘Is he a newly awakened hunter? If he subdued a B-rank so easily, then he must be an A-rank Physical Augmentation type? Wow, is an A-rank hunter finally appearing in our city?’

‘Idiot, he’ll obviously leave for another city soon,’ another thought.

The woman who had accompanied the B-rank hunter sobbed, shaking his shoulder, believing him dead. The faint tremors roused the unconscious B-rank back to consciousness.

“You… you bastard… after doing something like this…”

Perhaps due to his Physical Augmentation abilities, his recovery was swift. Sagyeol delivered a kick straight to the face of the B-rank, who was stumbling to his feet.

“Kyaak!”

The B-rank’s body flew through the air, soaring a considerable distance. Tables overturned, turning the immediate vicinity into utter chaos.

In the ensuing commotion, the woman who had been close to the B-rank was caught up in it. Her clothes seemed to snag, pulling her along, causing her body to sway precariously as if she might fall.

Without thinking, Yeowon reached out a hand to help the woman regain her balance.

“Oh, th… thank you.”

“Step away.”

Sagyeol snarled. His mood, which had just improved slightly, plummeted once more. Frowning deeply, he advanced with an intimidating, razor-sharp aura.

Yeowon, now separated from the woman, stepped in front of her, blocking Sagyeol’s path. Sagyeol’s intensity sharpened even further.

Yeowon was at a loss. From the B-rank hunter who had threatened him to Sagyeol, who had taken control of the scene with brute force, it was a constant stream of situations he didn’t know how to handle.

‘Why was I happy when the person I told not to come arrived, all sharp and agitated?’ he pondered.

He pushed that most significant question aside, tucking it into a corner of his mind. For now, dealing with the current crisis and the madman before him took precedence.

‘I must not get entangled in any incidents,’ he thought.

While staying in Baekdam, he couldn’t afford to draw attention. Becoming involved with the Association or any criminal activity was to be avoided at all costs.

Yeowon looked at the man standing opposite him. After telling him to step away, Sagyeol had said nothing else. He was clearly waiting for Yeowon to speak first.

His eyes were resolute, conveying a will not to move an inch until he heard what he wanted.

Hesitating, Yeowon reached out a hand instead of speaking. He took Sagyeol’s arm and pulled him.

‘Let’s talk outside.’

Yeowon hadn’t uttered a word, yet Sagyeol had clearly understood. His rigid expression softened slightly, and his feet, which had seemed rooted to the spot, miraculously moved.

He obediently followed the man who was leading him, exiting the cafe.

For now, he felt incredibly good.

Before meeting Kratus, Yeowon had been a lord governing the periphery of the Demon Realm.

His small territory, backed by cliffs, was encircled by lava fields, forests of demonic beasts, and plains teeming with poisonous herbs. He encountered ‘the creature’ on one of these plains.

It was during a brief lull of peace following the quarterly wars. He came across a knight order, clad in armor and excitedly on the move.

‘The war is over, so where are they going?’ he wondered. His curiosity prompted him to ask, and the answer was wild horses.

[At certain times, they come to the plains around here. They are precious creatures with darkness attributes and even healing abilities. If you’re lucky, you might obtain the Demon Realm’s finest steed.]

Yeowon had no intention of raising horses. He had followed them purely out of curiosity, to observe.

His journey was not in vain. On the plains, bathed in the setting sun, he witnessed the magnificent gallop of a beautiful horse with a flowing, shadow-like mane.

It was a Lepta, a superior species to Spenta.

The individual leading the charge was unmistakably the alpha. It was 1.5 times larger than the other Leptas, and the quality of its mane and the sheen of its coat were exceptional.

Though it was the leader of the pack, for some unknown reason, it abandoned its group and followed Yeowon like a puppy.

The knights’ expressions of utter dismay at that moment were unforgettable. ‘Come to think of it, I once wanted to raise a puppy,’ Yeowon mused.

As if reading his thoughts, the magnificent steed nudged its head against him, acting as affectionately as a true puppy.

Yeowon raised the creature as a pet and found it quite endearing.

“Why are you so quiet?”

The man reminded him of the Lepta at the height of its affectionate antics. ‘Either my eyes are deceiving me, or there’s something wrong with my brain,’ he thought, certain it had to be one or the other.

“I was thinking.”

“Ah, about me?”

“……”

There was certainly a resemblance.

He was violent and self-centered, yet he listened to Yeowon. And whenever trouble arose, he tried to resolve it with charm.

“I understand. I am quite handsome, enough to appear before your eyes even when you close them, you know.”

And a shamelessness that Yeowon wouldn’t dare imitate.

Having no desire to reply, Yeowon simply stared, and Sagyeol shrugged.

“It was a joke. I wasn’t trying to disregard what I heard back then. I happened to be passing by, and the situation I saw through the window seemed problematic.

“Did I meddle unnecessarily?”

“That’s… not it.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Yeowon walked aimlessly. Sagyeol walked beside him, matching his pace. Their wandering led them near a controlled zone, where the familiar red boundary lines, which Yeowon saw daily at his workplace, were clearly visible.

Standing before it, Sagyeol turned to Yeowon and spoke.

“Am I that much of a burden to you?”

“……”

“But you don’t dislike me, do you?”

“No.”

Yeowon answered immediately, surprised by his own promptness.

“That’s a relief.”

The man smiled broadly. At the blossoming, flower-like smile, Yeowon’s lips pressed tightly together. Though not outwardly apparent, he was deeply confused at that moment.

Sagyeol, noticing this subtle tremor more keenly than anyone, subtly continued speaking.

“I want to get closer to you.”

“……!”

“I want you to look at me. I want you to like me. These thoughts and desires aren’t bad, are they?”

With each example he gave, Sagyeol drew closer to Yeowon. The gap between them, once wide enough for two arms, narrowed to merely two hand-spans.

Yeowon did not retreat, instead gazing at Sagyeol with his usual calm eyes.

But that was only on the surface. In Sagyeol’s keen eyes, he saw ceaseless ripples of emotion.

‘He’s agitated,’ Sagyeol realized. With this confirmation, a languid smile curled his lips. He reached out a hand towards Yeowon’s cheek.

Again. Surprised by the utterly unexpected physical contact, Yeowon’s reaction was slow. He belatedly shook his head like a startled bird and stepped back.

“I just… couldn’t help myself. Did you dislike it?”

Sagyeol conjured an intriguing hypothesis.

‘Does he only react instinctively to hostility or malice, remaining defenseless against pure goodwill?’

The last attempt at Project Snow White was approximately 20 years ago. If this man was a returnee created by that project, it meant he had survived nearly two decades in the hellish Demon Realm.

Considering this, Sagyeol found the man before him remarkably admirable.

‘To have lived for 20 years in a world filled with evil and poison, he’s remarkably social and natural, isn’t he?’

‘Exactly, exactly.’ Sagyeol nodded inwardly, then took a step back this time. There were numerous circumstantial pieces of evidence.

He was already certain that Yeowon was a returnee.

“Kim Cheol-su, can you answer just one thing?”

“…?”

“You don’t dislike me, do you?”

Yeowon offered no reply.

Sagyeol, as if having anticipated this, continued speaking naturally.

“If I’m too much, I’ll step back to a comfortable distance. We can start by simply sharing meals, or even just be casual friends; it doesn’t matter.

“You define our relationship. I will be the one who strives to change it.”

A faint ripple disturbed Yeowon’s otherwise impassive expression. Sagyeol did not miss this opening.

“If you dislike even that, and tell me to disappear completely, then I will.”

Of course, this was a blatant lie.

If truly rejected, he intended to cling stubbornly and implement Plan B (abduction). Nevertheless, he had a certain confidence: that saying such words at this moment would prevent Yeowon from pushing him away outright.

Sagyeol carefully chose words that would resonate with Yeowon’s heart.

“What do you-”

“Ugh!”

“Aargh!”

‘Oh, what now?’