Chapter 40: The Unfathomable Returnee

“This way, please. Hold onto the railing as you come, and be careful; there’s a step once you pass this point.”

“…”

“If this is your first time on an airship, you might feel a little dizzy during the passage. I recommend taking medication beforehand. We have both pills and patches, so please let me know your preference.”

“…”

‘What in the world is wrong with that bastard?’

Lee Hyun-su regarded Sagyeol with a gaze that had gone utterly flat. His expression clearly conveyed that Sagyeol was acting like a complete fool.

“Watch out!”

Sagyeol abruptly pulled Yeowon closer. The returnee, caught off guard, stumbled back until his back pressed against Sagyeol’s firm chest.

When Yeowon’s indifferent eyes silently questioned him, Sagyeol, visibly relieved, pointed to the wall. It was a sharp piece of metal, barely noticeable unless one looked closely. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an old, protruding component.

“That was a close call. If you had gotten hurt, my heart would have ached even more.”

With those words, Sagyeol tightened his embrace around Yeowon, who was now trapped in his arms. Yeowon’s expression, already stern, hardened further at the sudden imposition.

“Release me.”

Sure enough, Yeowon roughly pushed Sagyeol away. Sagyeol retreated with an expression of profound hurt, yet he didn’t distance himself entirely. Instead, he stood plastered to Yeowon’s side, much like a puppy shoved away by its owner.

‘This is maddening… no, this is ridiculous…’

Lee Hyun-su, feeling lightheaded, gazed up at the ceiling. The crew members collectively shrugged their shoulders, while those in the back had already begun to whisper amongst themselves.

‘Gods know what rumors will spread from their mouths.’

He found himself craving a cigarette, despite not even smoking.

Regardless, Sagyeol’s entire focus remained on Yeowon. As Yeowon roughly pulled away from his embrace, Sagyeol, immediately dejected, hesitantly took hold of Yeowon’s fingers. He looked much like a forlorn python, drenched and miserable.

Yeowon was not the only one who felt this way.

The crew members couldn’t believe their eyes. Was this pathetic individual, putting on such a show of misery, truly their Guild Master? Could this really be Sagyeol, whose mere presence usually exuded an overwhelming aura of dignity?

Just then, Sagyeol noticed something, and his expression turned distressed. He glumly began to massage Yeowon’s wrist.

“Even with a towel wrapped around it, there are still marks. I’m so sorry. I tied you too tightly, didn’t I? I shouldn’t have used ice for restraints… Are you perhaps having trouble walking?”

“…”

Lee Hyun-su buried his face in his hands.

It was already too late to deny anything. One only needed to see the crew members’ faces, first blanching then paling, to know exactly what they were thinking.

“Th-this way, please.”

An airship crew member bowed obsequiously as they guided Yeowon. Watching this scene on a monitor, Lee Hyun-su swallowed a sigh. This outcome had been inevitable ever since Sagyeol’s outrageous behavior at the entrance.

‘There’s no way to cover this up.’

His stomach already churned at the thought of how the rumors would spread through Grisha. Sagyeol never spoke like that, no matter who boarded the guild’s airship. If the Association President boarded, he’d ask, “Is this a free ride?” If an executive from another major guild boarded, he’d simply say, “What? Get lost.”

“This is the cabin where you’ll be staying.”

“Should you experience any discomfort, please press the call bell by your bedside or use the ship’s internal phone!”

The airship crew members stumbled over their words, flustered by the taciturn and uncommunicative man before them.

The juxtaposition was almost a black comedy: their artificially cheerful smiles contrasted with the man’s shadowy aura, reminiscent of an underworld boss.

In the security room, located just before the bow, Sagyeol and Lee Hyun-su stood before a monitor connected to the ship’s internal surveillance cameras. The four-panel screen displayed Yeowon surveying the room.

This was originally Sagyeol’s private cabin. Its interior, as opulent as any hotel suite, felt both cozy and luxurious.

The panoramic window, spanning an entire wall, was particularly breathtaking. The ground, impossibly distant below, the clouds drifting by, and even the occasional flock of F-grade bird monsters soaring past—it was a view that captivated anyone who saw it.

Yeowon was no exception. He sat impassively on the bed, gazing endlessly out the window. And Sagyeol, in turn, gazed endlessly at him.

Lee Hyun-su asked, his expression chillingly flat.

“What exactly is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“The last I saw, you were trying to knock out and abduct the returnee. Honestly, after all the hell I went through shuttling between Baekdam and Grisha, don’t I deserve to know why things turned out this way?”

Even Sagyeol couldn’t help but flinch slightly at the sincere words, laden with Lee Hyun-su’s accumulated grievances.

“It was an unavoidable situation.”

“And I’d like to hear in detail what that ‘unavoidable situation’ was.”

“Things worked out, so why are you still hounding me? Besides, you were right there with me until just before. If you felt that way, why didn’t you stop me before I went inside?”

“Oh? Something seems to have fallen here.”

Lee Hyun-su nudged Sagyeol’s foot with the tip of his shoe.

“Hey.”

“…”

“This is absurd. Truly. No, honestly, if you hadn’t sent him away then, you would’ve killed that bastard, Joo Jae-yeong, wouldn’t you?”

Unable to deny it, Sagyeol subtly averted his gaze. Lee Hyun-su sighed and held out his hand.

“Just give me the syringe. If you didn’t use it, it must still be around.”

As he spoke, Lee Hyun-su recalled the urgent situation from an hour prior. The room had suddenly fallen silent, leading him to believe Sagyeol had used the syringe.

‘Would he call for me now? That man must be heavy. And my damn employer, despite being much stronger, would surely make me carry him.’

While he grumbled these thoughts, Sagyeol walked up the stairs, wearing an utterly bewildered expression. Until that moment, Lee Hyun-su had felt little emotion.

Part of him, driven by a desire to lighten the burden of a lifelong debt, and part by loyalty from their shared past, had prompted him to intervene once. Yet, he secretly knew the truth.

They had already reached a point of no return.

More than anyone, Sagyeol had been the one who wanted to handle things peacefully. Lee Hyun-su’s mouth felt bitter.

That had certainly been true until he saw Yeowon calmly following behind Sagyeol. He had been more shocked than he had been in years.

Shaking his head at the still-stunning sight, Lee Hyun-su waved his hand impatiently. Sagyeol casually stated,

“It broke.”

“What broke?”

“What else but the syringe?”

Lee Hyun-su blinked. When comprehension finally dawned, he was aghast.

“Do you have any idea how expensive that was?!”

Sagyeol, who had done several things today that invited a verbal lashing, once again avoided eye contact.

“Medication effective even on S-ranks isn’t something you can just buy with money. The supply itself is incredibly scarce. I went all the way to Cheongwang just to get it, and now you—!”

“It wasn’t even your money; I bought it with mine.”

“It was bought with guild money!”

“Which means it’s my money.”

“…”

Familiar with this particular dynamic, Lee Hyun-su gave up and clutched his throbbing head.

“So, did things go well?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you managed to persuade him in that situation, didn’t you? Honestly, that alone is quite remarkable.”

This was genuinely true. To have reached an agreement in an atmosphere that was not just ruined, but utterly precarious—and with their boss, the very embodiment of a personality disorder, no less!

“More importantly, what exactly was that situation? Surely, you didn’t just smash the door down and threaten him, did you?”

Sagyeol, who had done precisely that, fell silent. Lee Hyun-su, whose perceptiveness was unrivaled in Grisha, narrowed his eyes.

“You talked about ‘Canary’ and all that, but you couldn’t resist, could you?”

“I’m reflecting on it, so can we drop it?”

“Reflecting? If the boss were the type to do that…”

Lee Hyun-su, who had been chiding him, gaped in alarm at Sagyeol’s dejected demeanor, trailing off his words.

‘What? Why is he like this?’

He was beyond bewildered; he was genuinely creeped out. This wasn’t how this man usually acted, was it? Next, he should naturally say, “Does our Hyun-su want to resign these days?” or “Our Hyun-su’s tongue is long today. Should I cut it off?”

“He knew.”

“Pardon?”

“He knew that I had approached him with the intention of targeting the returnee.”

“…”

It took approximately ten seconds for Lee Hyun-su to fully comprehend those words.

“W-wait a minute. And he still came along willingly?”

“Yes.”

His voice, in answering, was softer than usual. Though it was a subtle shift, Lee Hyun-su, who had been with him for nearly twenty years, recognized it without difficulty. It felt as if he was experiencing a decade’s worth of surprises all in one day.

“How on earth…?”

“I don’t know.”

Creak.

Sagyeol’s fingers dug into the iron backrest of the chair.

“I have no idea what he’s thinking at all.”

Lee Hyun-su belatedly realized a crucial fact.

Ever since they had separated from Yeowon and moved to the monitor room, Sagyeol’s gaze had not once left the screen.