Chapter 38: The Poison of Sweetness

“Hey, Cheol-su! Lunch break’s over. Let’s get back to work.”

“…”

I silently moved my body. I dismembered the corpse of a low-grade demonic beast, extracting its magic stones and collecting any usable byproducts.

No matter how rotten my insides felt, I feigned composure on the surface. Only amateurs revealed their agitation to the outside world.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to cut off the horn, not the claws, Cheol-su.”

“We’re short on magic stones, aren’t we? Huh, what are those scattered dots over there? Wait, those are magic stones! Who would just drop such precious things like breadcrumbs?!”

“Ch-Ch-Cheol-su, put down what you’re holding! Why are you carrying around a tail stinger dripping with poison?!”

“…”

Yet, I was far less composed than I had initially believed.

After wandering like a lingering spirit and making one mistake after another all afternoon, Park Myeong-seok muttered from a distance.

“Why is he so out of it? He was doing fine this morning.”

An adjacent worker crossed their arms, a serious expression on their face.

“A vacant expression, slumped shoulders, a mind clearly elsewhere. There’s no mistaking that reaction.”

“What is it?”

“This clueless old man, honestly.”

He whispered, ensuring only Park Myeong-seok could hear.

“He got dumped! And during lunch break, no less!”

“Gasp.”

Of course, my sharp ears caught every word.

While not entirely untrue, the situation I found myself entangled in was far too complex to be summarized by those words alone. Even if I hadn’t wished for it.

I sighed, trying desperately to focus on my work. Yet, the more I tried, the more a strange turbulence pulled me down like a swamp. I barely managed to finish the day without making any major mistakes.

Word must have spread, as the workers I knew came by, each giving my shoulder a supportive pat.

They didn’t say much, as I hadn’t confided in them. Instead, they offered indirect words of encouragement.

“Hyung!”

As I changed my clothes, preparing to head home, Joo Jae-yeong appeared. His words were a noisy blur, failing to register in my ears.

[Don’t you dare cheat on me while I’m gone.]

Strangely, as I recalled those words, Joo Jae-yeong’s speech suddenly became clear.

“What do you like, Hyung?”

“Cake.”

“I like bulgogi and— huh?”

“I like cake.”

He blinked stupidly, then belatedly understood my words and brightened.

“I know a place with delicious cake. Want to go together?”

“My clothes are like this.”

“Hmm. Then let’s go buy some clothes first.”

I laughed hollowly to myself. Joo Jae-yeong’s actions, so similar to that man’s, no longer felt like a coincidence.

I spent that evening with Joo Jae-yeong. It was undeniably a date. He naturally wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Oh, and you can stop using honorifics now, Hyung.”

I nodded, walking as he led. The hand that had merely rested on me now tightened its grip on my waist. I maintained my indifferent demeanor. Joo Jae-yeong smiled, seemingly satisfied.

Afterward, Joo Jae-yeong and I met every other day. On days when I had morning work, we would meet in the afternoon, and there were times we’d even take the entire day off to spend together. Even while seeing him, I couldn’t fully comprehend why I was acting this way.

It just felt like I had to.

“I want you to buy me.”

Once the words left my lips, all my previous hesitation felt trivial. Perhaps it was the realization that the die was cast. I was calmer than I’d expected, or perhaps, a deeper sense of resignation had settled within me.

“15.4 million credits.”

That was the cost for Grisha’s forged citizenship and illegal airship passage. Joo Jae-yeong readily accepted. While I was surprised when he touched me, I could tolerate that much.

I genuinely had no intention of actually going through with it. Since I’d asked him to bring cash, my plan was to snatch the money, knock him out, and then head straight to an information broker.

The plan was proceeding smoothly. My only lingering concern was… a certain liar.

[That’s only natural.]

[I’ve been like that ever since I first saw you.]

[That’s just how it is when you’re in love.]

All my life, I had only known killing intent and violence. Yet, he poured unfamiliar, new emotions into me.

In hindsight, it had all been poison. A poison so sweet it made my tongue tingle.

By the time I regained my senses, I was already addicted.

My quietly dormant heart began to pound fiercely without its owner’s knowledge, and in doing so, it became wounded. My chest ached. Not just the surface, but a place deep within my ribcage, an indescribable spot, throbbed with a dull pain.

‘It hurts.’

It was then I first realized that place was utterly empty.

Having been empty from the start, I naturally had no idea how to fill it.

‘It hurts.’

The man who made me realize the void within me had poured out sun-like emotions, claiming to love me. But all of it was a lie. What I had believed to be sunshine was merely a glowing light bulb.

A filament bulb that shone brightly but turned cold when it cooled, and if it ever shattered, it would only stab me, devoid of any light.

“…Hmph.”

Laughter kept bubbling up. I laughed like a madman throughout my shower, only to stop abruptly when I looked in the mirror. A storm raged beneath my eyelids for a moment before subsiding. The agitation was brief.

I was angry and disappointed. With Sagyeol, and with myself.

But that was all.

Resignation was as familiar as breathing, for that was all I had done for over a decade in the demon realm. If the poison was too sweet to give up instantly, then I would simply let my heart slowly die while still intoxicated.

I skillfully crumpled myself up, pushing that crumpled feeling deep inside. In its place, the emotion of nothingness, of ‘mu,’ filled the void.

It was then that a knock sounded. Knowing no one would come looking for me, I simply ignored it.

CRASH!

“…?!”

Moments after I pulled on my pants, the thick iron door crashed inward.

I instinctively tensed into a defensive stance, then paused. The one who had broken down the door was none other than Sagyeol. His face, usually wreathed in leisure and languor, was now completely hardened as he invaded my cramped room, his boots clanking.

Sagyeol snarled like a beast deprived of its prey, then lunged without warning. Ice materialized in both his hands. A sudden chill washed over me, making me hesitate for a moment. Memories of the Cursed Ice Dragon, like a curse itself, stirred in my mind.

Sharp blades of ice flew around the narrow room, pressing in on me. Evading them was not difficult. There was no killing intent; they were merely meant as a threat from the start.

Sagyeol moved through the gaps between the ice blades with liquid grace, launching a physical assault.

CRACK!

A jolt ran through my raised arm, which had blocked the blow. It was enough force to send an ordinary person flying backward and crashing into a wall.

CRACKLE!

Sagyeol stomped his foot. From that very spot, pure white ice snakes reared their heads and lunged. They swiftly burrowed into the space, attempted to coil around my legs, and upon failing, exploded at my feet.

“Ugh.”

My body was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall. Through the fragments, a massive form suddenly appeared like another wall.

THUD!

“…!”

I ultimately slammed into the floor in the corner of the room. Though I thrashed belatedly like a fish, his body, pinning me down, felt like a boulder. The strength was immense. It was comparable to, if not greater than, the demonic beasts or demons I had faced in the past.

As I resisted fiercely, he struck my face and stomach. I made no effort to block him; taking a few hits like this was nothing new. However, just as I prepared to retaliate, Sagyeol, surprised by his own actions, froze.

Because of this, I missed my chance to counter. A brief lull settled between us. In the heavy, suffocating air, I gazed up at him.

“Why?”

He snarled again.

“Why aren’t you attacking properly?”

Even as I resisted, I had made no move to harm him. Sagyeol’s face twisted into a wretched expression as he belatedly realized this.

In that brief pause, many thoughts raced through my mind. How could I answer to inflict the most pain upon him?

“Because I don’t even want to bother fighting you.”

As I blurted it out, Sagyeol’s eyes widened slightly.

“Ha, goddammit.”

He bit back a curse, and ice particles, like jewels, floated around him. I had seen something similar from Kratus before, but this was far more beautiful.

“Do you think I’ll go easy on you just because of that?”

A hint of sadness touched me.

Crack.

Ice generated from the floor arched over both my thighs, pinning me to the ground. It struck me as odd that it wasn’t particularly cold, but upon closer inspection, I noticed a tiny space between my thighs and the ice.

My expression hardened, and a hollow laugh escaped me.

‘Damn bastard. If you’re going to say that, then actually don’t go easy on me.’

“Why that reaction? I told you I’m really not going easy on you.”

“Are you really?”

I retorted, dripping with sarcasm. Seizing his moment of hesitation, I tensed my body.

Creak.

Ice forged from mana is strong and hard enough to pierce the hide of a demonic beast. Yet, a crack appeared in that ice with a thwack.

“!”

He was certainly a high-grade Hunter, as his situational awareness was quick. Regaining his composure, he focused his power into the ice while simultaneously pressing both my hands to the floor with his firm arms.

‘He’s quite strong, but…’

As I matched his strength, his eyes widened.

‘In terms of pure physical power, I might be slightly superior.’

“…Physical enhancement type?”

“Well, what do you think?”

Judging by his expression, he seemed to think it was highly likely, given that I wasn’t using any elemental abilities even in this situation. Yet, he was a mana-user himself, so why he kept trying to solve things with brute force was beyond me.