Chapter 18: The Tempest Arrives

“Cheol-su!”

The thunderous shout jolted me back to reality. Park Myeong-seok, who had rushed over, slapped me on the back.

“What in the world are you doing putting perfectly good shells in the waste bin?”

I blinked, surveying the scene before me. He was right, precisely. I was loading the monster’s carapace, meant for transport to the Association for processing, into the waste truck.

I bowed my head in apology. Park Myeong-seok, unable to scold me further, simply patted my back again, cautioning me to be careful before returning to his post.

His faint murmur, several times more sensitive than even a seasoned hunter’s ear, reached me.

“Why is that guy doing something he never does?”

It was virtually my first mistake in all the tasks I’d ever handled. Park Myeong-seok’s bewilderment was understandable.

The reactions of the other laborers were much the same.

“Cheol-su seems dazed today, like his mind’s somewhere else.”

“Isn’t he just hungover?”

“Oh, right.”

“Yeah, that’s it. He’s definitely still drunk.”

I wished that were the case. I was perfectly sober. More clear-headed than I had any right to be.

This meant I vividly remembered everything, save for the moments my memory had conveniently blacked out. I recalled pinning the man’s wrists to the bed, and his incredulous gaze fixed upon me.

Thunk!

I slammed my forehead against a steel pillar. The startled laborers turned in unison, then clicked their tongues sympathetically.

“Something definitely happened to him.”

“…But Cheol-su, didn’t you leave with the new section chief?”

“Did he throw up on the chief’s clothes?”

If it had been something like that, I wouldn’t be this tormented.

‘You’re insane, Seo Yeowon.’

I continued to hit my head against the cold, hard pillar, berating myself. How could I have lost my mind? No, it wasn’t a deliberate loss of control.

More accurately, my mind had simply gone blank at some point. I had belatedly realized the true terror of alcohol.

Concluding my period of self-reflection, I resumed work. I tried to empty my mind as much as possible, moving my body mechanically.

Yet, the more I tried, the more the man’s presence echoed in my thoughts.

‘Let’s meet sometime.’

This morning. The man had proposed this to me, as I stood dumbfounded and speechless.

‘There’s no need to feel guilty for not remembering, as it was a consensual encounter. Of course, your complete lack of recollection is a little disheartening and shocking… but it’s okay. I genuinely want to make things work with you, Cheol-su.’

Without a word, I practically fled the hotel. I couldn’t even recall how I’d made it home.

I’d been in a daze ever since, only remembering I had to go to work and moving purely out of inertia until this very moment.

“Alright everyone, let’s eat and then get back to it.”

It was already lunchtime. Just as I was about to settle for a convenience store lunchbox, as usual, a heavy sedan pulled onto the site.

Had a hunter forgotten something? I watched it quietly until the sedan stopped right in front of me.

The driver’s window rolled down.

“Hello there, darling?”

His voice was incredibly soft, yet there were no ordinary people here. The laborers, whose senses were more developed than most, twitched their ears.

Most pretended not to hear, but there was an exception.

“Th-th-that bastard, surely not…!”

It was Park Myeong-seok. His face crimson, he gripped the electric saw in his hand. The horrified laborers quickly snatched the saw away, grabbed both his arms, and dragged him off.

“Let go! I said let go! That bastard, our innocent Cheol-su!”

I didn’t need to hear the rest to know what he meant. Though my back was turned, the scene unfolding behind me played out vividly in my mind.

Seeing my expression, Sagyeol chuckled.

“Well, he’s half right.”

He meant that ‘I’ was the one who’d been ‘devoured,’ not him. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them.

Quietly, I walked around the car and got into the passenger seat. The sedan glided away.

Feigning interest in the passing scenery, I stole glances at the man reflected in the window. His face was unblemished.

He even seemed to be in a good mood. A tangle of questions floated through my mind.

‘I saw a low-level hunter in distress, and lo and behold, he was incredibly handsome. I fell for him at first sight.’

I wasn’t naive enough to believe those words at face value. Moreover, a guild master from a massive guild, coming to this backwater Association with the title of section chief?

I would bet my entire fortune that he had ulterior motives.

“You can just look at me openly, you know.”

He smiled, even from his profile. In the playful curve of his eyes, I sensed a slightly different quality to his usual smile.

It seemed a little more… transparent.

My own thought startled me. I turned my head completely, closing my eyes. Through my open ears, a soft chuckle briefly reached me before fading away.

“Don’t be so tense. I genuinely just want to eat.”

‘Bullshit. You sneaky bastard.’

I grew even more nervous, never letting go of my suspicion from beginning to end.

However, Sagyeol truly only ate, just as he said. He spoke occasionally during the meal, but only to ask about my physical condition or the intensity of my work.

For the most part, he focused entirely on his food. As lunchtime concluded, he drove me back to the site and then vanished.

I didn’t understand. The man, already difficult to decipher, became even more inscrutable.

He visited every lunchtime, still not saying much. All he did was check if the food suited my taste or suggest ordering more if it wasn’t enough.

However, sometimes I felt a subtle gaze that was almost imperceptible unless I focused. It seemed to be searching, or perhaps merely observing, yet occasionally an incomprehensible yearning would mix in.

Each time, I was overcome with a desire to break something, clenching my hands alone.

‘Why is he doing this to me? What does he want?’

The man’s gaze, which had been roaming over my body, stopped at my chest.

‘Did he perhaps see something?’

Then our eyes met. He, reaching for a water bottle, smiled languidly.

“It seems my good looks are finally catching your eye?”

“…Bullshit.”

The words burst out, a reflex. I flinched. Looking up, I saw the man staring back with an equally startled expression.

I’d actually spoken my thoughts aloud. Damn it.

“Hahahaha!”

Sagyeol burst into loud laughter. My embarrassment vanished instantly, replaced by a sense of exasperation.

Yeah, find it funny, will you? Laugh all you want.

The tension that had constricted my body finally dissipated. Instead, a slight anger surged within me.

I silently spooned my samgyetang.

Right, I won’t pay him any mind. Whatever he does, I’ll ignore it.

‘But later, I’ll definitely smash his head in.’

Just as I thought that and reached for my water.

‘It’s empty.’

I furrowed my brow. The water bottle was still in the hands of the grinning lunatic, who was laughing hard enough to burst his lungs.

“Ah, my apologies.”

In the smile lingering on his lips, I saw that same transparency I’d noticed earlier in the car.

My throat felt parched. A different kind of thirst than what I’d felt moments ago. I clenched my hands, resting on my knees, even tighter.

“Here you go.”

Sagyeol, finally calming his laughter, poured water and pushed it towards me, then poured some for himself and drank.

His bobbing Adam’s apple inexplicably caught my eye.

“Yes, I did say something ridiculous in the middle of our meal. Don’t just sit there; hurry and eat. Lunchtime will be over soon at this rate.”

Why did he look so pleased after being insulted?

‘He’s definitely not normal.’

‘Don’t get deeply involved.’

I repeated it to myself, yet I knew the truth. The man before me was a tempest.

A massive, swirling storm that would pull everyone, prepared or not, into its depths and shake them.

“Cheol-su.”

I set my cup down and looked forward. My gaze met his deep, dark eyes.

“Are you really that curious about my true intentions?”

I silently affirmed.

“There’s no need to overthink it. Why else would I be so forward, disregarding all pretense? It’s because you, Cheol-su, are perfectly my type. So much so that I wonder how someone like you could even exist in this world.”

Demons, surprisingly, weren’t good liars. Years of entanglement with such beings screamed at me: ‘That bastard means what he says.’

Beneath my bangs, my eyes quaked. The hand holding the cup trembled violently. The half-filled water sloshed over, dampening my wrist.

“You didn’t believe me, did you?”

Sagyeol smiled brightly.

“Do you remember when I suggested we meet?”

Of course, I remembered. I offered no reply. He moved without warning.

His long arm reached across the table, and his long, jointed fingers wrapped around my wrist. Just like that unexpected morning, when they had encircled my wrist.

“I haven’t given up. I’m waiting.”

Sagyeol gently stroked the inside of my wrist, which had stiffened, unable to react.

“I’ll keep waiting.”

Rumors spread quickly.

As the sedan made its inevitable appearance again today, the laborers heading for lunch began to whisper amongst themselves.

“That guy before, and this guy now, they’re all just black-hearted bastards.”

“…Still, if this guy pushed the other one out and took his place, doesn’t that mean he’s better in many ways?”

“Ahem, ahem.”

One laborer cleared his throat, giving a pointed look. He subtly gestured towards Park Myeong-seok, whose face was beet red, as if about to explode.

“Ahem, let’s just go get some lunch.”

Park Myeong-seok didn’t rampage any further, but he still only moved reluctantly when the other laborers pulled him along.

Sagyeol emerged from the car, his hands full of shopping bags. I’d initially thought he’d brought takeout lunch today, but that wasn’t the case.

The more than five shopping bags were filled with clothes, and some contained shoes. Pulling out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, Sagyeol beamed.

“Let’s go out. For now, put these on, and you can keep the rest.”

There were countless things to question, but I started with the most immediate issue.

“…But I still have work this afternoon.”

“Are you sure?”

“Excuse me?”

No sooner had I asked than a field staff member from the Association, clad in a suit, came rushing over from a distance, panting.

“Wait! Just a moment! Everyone, stop right there! I have an announcement!”

Anyone could tell he had just received instructions from higher-ups and rushed over. Gasping for breath, he announced that the afternoon work had been canceled.

Another post-processing team would handle it. I looked at Sagyeol silently, and he simply shrugged.

“See?”

I had indeed seen a blatant abuse of power. I tuned out the man’s explanation of why I needed to change clothes.

“We’re also going to eat that cake I mentioned before today.”

Flinch.

I had tried to ignore him, but my body reacted first. Cake was one of the few things I held a fantasy about.

Something I had only ever heard existed as a child, but never eaten or possessed.

“Birthday.”

“Excuse me?”

“Is it perhaps your birthday?”

“…My birthday isn’t for quite some time.”

The man tilted his head. His expression alone asked: ‘But why mention birthdays?’

“Are we eating it even though it’s not a birthday?”

The man’s hand, which had been nudging me along with the shopping bags, paused and withdrew. I stopped too.

As I merely blinked, unable to understand why, the man murmured in admiration.

“You’re truly adorable.”

‘Why is he acting crazy again?’

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