Chapter 53: Smiles That Spark Trouble

Before he could even finish speaking, Mo Jun-young cut him off.

“What about A-rank hunters? We can defeat the Constellations without their help.”

Why was Mo Jun-young, who was always so rational, acting this emotional? Seong Ju-an couldn’t understand why he was suddenly angry. As he fell silent, trying to think, Jun-young spoke again in a firm tone.

“So don’t go around smiling so easily at just anyone.”

“Smiling? When did I ever? Are you crazy?”

Ju-an snapped back, and Jun-young clicked his tongue before gripping the steering wheel. Watching him drive with such a stiff expression made Ju-an sigh without realizing it.

Jun-young had been the most level-headed among the party members, someone easy to talk to, so seeing even him act incomprehensibly made Ju-an suddenly feel lonely.

Amid the rampaging Constellations and dangers lurking everywhere, Ju-an realized he had come to rely on Jun-young quite a lot. True to his nickname, “Indestructible,” Jun-young was big, dependable, and thoughtful.

But even he couldn’t escape the instinctive pull toward the developer.

Or perhaps… this situation was his own fault.

A game centered around Constellations.

In that game, incarnations were nothing more than tools for clearing dungeons. Not once had he considered what dungeon clearing meant from their perspective. Naturally, the one who needed dungeon clears the most was himself, the one who wanted to escape this world.

In this now-real world, what did dungeon clearing give the incarnations? At best, they would become the very Constellations they despised. Of course they wouldn’t welcome it.

The only reason they were helping him was because they were kind, agreeing to take revenge on the Constellations and stop the world’s destruction. If they had personalities like the Constellations, none of them would have helped him at all.

“…”

As his thoughts continued, a sudden wave of self-loathing hit him. Using the Awakeners to fulfill his own desires, wasn’t that no different from what the Constellations were doing?

Feeling strangely guilty, Ju-an turned his head away. Jun-young was still driving with a rigid expression.

“Um, Jun-young.”

“What?”

“I’m just… not good at expressing myself.”

“Hah.”

Jun-young scoffed.

“You seemed to express yourself just fine in front of Hunter Seo Jeong-woo.”

“Well, that’s just basic social interaction. I’m not a sociopath, you know.”

“So? What are you trying to say?”

Ju-an hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I’m grateful. Truly. Even though there’s nothing for you to gain from clearing dungeons…”

The car stopped at a red light, and Jun-young slowly turned his head. The tightness around his lips had loosened.

“I know you’ve been going through a lot because of me.”

The light changed, and he looked forward again. He didn’t respond, but his mood seemed to have eased. The car picked up speed again. The silence felt awkward, so Ju-an changed the subject.

“By the way, Ji-chan moved in next door to me.”

“I heard your phone call earlier. He’s quite something.”

“…I agree. So you should just stay where you originally live, Jun-young.”

Jun-young’s jaw tightened. Why? Was he upset about being told not to move? Soon, he answered.

“I don’t need to move. I already live there, for efficiency’s sake.”

Ju-an’s mouth fell open. That meant everyone except the germaphobic Baek Eun-hoo was now living in the same building.

“Otherwise, why would I personally drop you off? I would’ve just told Ji-chan to come get you.”

“That’s true.”

Ju-an replied half-heartedly and turned his head. The car had already entered the parking lot. As soon as Jun-young unbuckled his seatbelt after parking, someone tapped on the window.

“What took you so long!”

Turning toward the sound, Ju-an saw Ji-chan standing there, visibly annoyed, with Gong Se-yoon behind him. For some reason, Ju-an felt a sense of relief as he got out of the car.

“Were you two waiting for me?”

“Why else would I be here?”

“Of course! I thought I was going to die waiting! Why did you hang up on me?!”

Ju-an had known the calls were coming, but he’d been too busy calming Jun-young down to respond. Best to change the subject.

“Well, it looks like you two got a bit closer, at least. Waiting together and all.”

At that, Ji-chan’s face twisted, and Se-yoon shouted indignantly.

“We didn’t get close! He dragged me to volunteer work!”

“I didn’t drag you. You came on your own.”

That was unexpected. Ji-chan dragging Se-yoon made sense, but Se-yoon going willingly? Even if he was in a good mood, it seemed odd.

“I didn’t go because I wanted to…”

“Then why did you go?”

At Ju-an’s question, Se-yoon’s cheeks turned red as he answered.

“He said if I went, he’d let me spend one extra hour with you… so I had no choice.”

They were already going to be together for two days, and he still went to volunteer just for one extra hour. The intention was questionable, but it was still kind of admirable, so Ju-an smiled. Ji-chan, however, scoffed.

“What’s so funny? Do you think you’re cute or something?”

Even as he said that, Ji-chan couldn’t take his eyes off Ju-an’s smiling face. By now, Ju-an knew better than to take his words at face value, so he didn’t get angry. Instead, finding Ji-chan’s contradictory behavior amusing, he winked at him.

Ji-chan immediately turned his head away like he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.

Watching the two, Jun-young clicked his tongue and headed inside the residence. Se-yoon, reading the mood, followed after him, telling Ju-an to reply to his messages later.

“Shall we go too?”

Ju-an grabbed Ji-chan’s arm to lead him inside, but he didn’t budge.

“Did you eat?”

“I already ate with Jun-young.”

At that, Ji-chan’s expression visibly darkened.

“Why? Haven’t you eaten yet? Then go ahead, I’ll stay with you.”

“Forget it.”

Snapping irritably, Ji-chan stomped inside.

If only he were half as easygoing as Se-yoon…

Thinking that, Ju-an followed him inside, feeling drowsy after the meal.

****

Ji-chan pulled Ju-an toward his own apartment instead of Ju-an’s. When they entered, everything was already clean and organized. Judging by the interior design, this clearly wasn’t something done in a day or two.

The living room, decorated in warm white tones with wooden accents, was filled with vintage items, giving it the feel of a curated boutique.

So this wasn’t a spontaneous move after all.

Narrowing his eyes, Ju-an looked at Ji-chan.

“What?”

Instead of asking about the planning, Ju-an said something else.

“Why are we here? This isn’t what we agreed on.”

Ji-chan smirked.

“Your fridge is probably empty. You planning to starve over there?”

Ju-an was about to argue that there was leftover food and someone stocked his fridge, but Ji-chan’s place clearly had better food, so he stayed quiet.

Standing awkwardly, he watched as Ji-chan passed him and went into the kitchen.

“Stop hovering and sit quietly on the couch.”

“I already ate.”

Ji-chan ignored him and started making something in the kitchen. Ju-an stretched out on the couch, casually observing the display of figurines while planning their next moves.

They had cleared stages 3 and 5 so far. If the Constellations didn’t interfere, they could go from stage 1 to 10. Thanks to an unexpected event dungeon, they could likely clear up to stage 7 without issue.

But stages 8, 9, and 10…

Those hadn’t even been released yet.

Clearing them without any information, or help from Constellations, seemed daunting.

****

Meanwhile, Ji-chan, whisking cream, suddenly paused.

Cooking had always been his way to control his overwhelming instincts. Measuring ingredients precisely, following recipes, it calmed him.

But not now.

Not with Seong Ju-an here.

Why did that reckless buffer stir something in him every time?

At first, he thought it was a side effect of awakening. But after it kept happening whenever they touched, he realized the truth.

This wasn’t a side effect.

It was desire, directed at Seong Ju-an.

Why?

His voice? His face? His behavior?

There were countless reasons.

But the biggest one…

Despite being the weakest, Ju-an still worried about others and tried to minimize civilian casualties.

In the last dungeon, hadn’t he said, “If I’m going to die, at least you all survive”?

‘What kind of person thinks like that?’

The thought tightened his entire body. With no outlet, Ji-chan whisked faster and harder, until the cream formed.

The oven chimed.

He carefully decorated the cake with whipped cream and strawberries, imagining Ju-an taking a bite, cream smearing on his lips…

“f*ck…!”

He cursed under his breath, heat rushing through him again.

‘Focus. Control.’

He forced himself to concentrate, carefully placing strawberries one by one.

Finally, he brought the finished cake to the living room.

Ju-an was asleep, sprawled out on the couch.

‘Unbelievable.’

One of them was barely holding himself together, and the other was sleeping peacefully.

“…You’ve got some nerve. Sleeping so prettily like that.”

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