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“If you’re driving, I’ll call you later. Please drive safely.”
[It’s not me driving, so you don’t need to worry. What’s your business?]
Geon Ita was always such a stoic person. Even his direct, probing voice was as precise and unyielding as polished marble.
Dokyeom, with his head half-submerged, watched Agon’s calm eyes fixated on him and began to speak.
“It’s nothing much, but I happened to overhear that Mr. Han Yuseong has a gate training session today. I know a hunter who, well, let’s just say they were terribly taught how to clear gates by a truly wretched individual. So, I was hoping to have them retake the gate training through Mr. Han Yuseong. I think merely observing would suffice.”
[…An outside hunter?]
“Yes. Is it possible, or not?”
A deep sigh echoed from the other end of the line, followed by an utterly exhausted voice.
[This concerns safety protocols. An outside hunter cannot be admitted at my discretion; it would require authorization from higher-ups.]
“Why not? Back then, that Instructor Lee Sanghyeon, or whatever his name was, he brought in Ju Uiryeong during the Eulwang-ri Incident and let them in at his discretion. Was he a guild instructor above the guild itself?”
[…Corrective measures were taken a long time ago. The hunter Mr. Han Dokyeom is referring to, what is their rank and position?]
“They’re C-rank and a support hunter. They also have extensive gate experience.”
[A C-rank support hunter? Observation shouldn’t be difficult. I will contact the higher-ups directly, so Mr. Han Dokyeom can just stay there—]
“Mr. Han Yuseong, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I already secured permission, thinking of you. I’ll see you there. Oh! I’ve also contacted the observing hunter, so all our Instructor Han Yuseong needs to do is send me the gate’s location, clearly written out.”
[Why are you coming here, Mr. Han Dokyeom? This is an A-rank gate. If you get caught up in something again—!]
“Pardon? What was that? You miss me that much? Yes, Mr. Han Yuseong. I feel the same. So, I’ll see you there. I’ll assume you’re sending the address? Shall I hang up? I’m hanging up?”
*Click*
‘I said I’d go, not that I’d enter.’
Dokyeom swiftly ended the call and tossed his phone casually behind him. Then, he stepped out of the water, stretched, and rose to his feet.
“Alright, then, it’s about time I—”
In that brief moment, his eyes met Agon’s. Unlike other days, Agon’s eyes held the stillness of the calm before a storm. Amidst the strange silence, Agon wiped the water from his chin and blinked his fierce eyes, glancing towards the door.
He was asking if Dokyeom was leaving.
Dokyeom briefly looked at the door, then scratched the back of his neck. He had never raised anything or taken care of anyone before, so he wasn’t sure if this was normal, but Agon seemed to want to spend most of his life with Dokyeom.
It wasn’t that it was bothersome. The problem was that there would inevitably be times when they needed to be apart, and that thought only occurred to Dokyeom.
‘The Authority of Jealousy was certainly not to be underestimated.’
Dokyeom hesitated, then looked at Agon and spoke softly.
“Agon, how about the ocean? Want to go to the sea? Today might be difficult, but I think I’ll have some time tomorrow. What should I say… would you know if I said it’s where we came out of the sea?”
Agon’s pupils flickered for a fleeting moment. His surprised eyes fixed on Dokyeom. Agon slowly blinked, then made a soft rustling sound as he emerged from the water and crouched down.
‘Go swim to your heart’s content, play, and then when the sun sets, walk along the coastline and enjoy the breeze.’
“So, just bear with it today. From tomorrow, I’ll be with you for three days and two nights, without fail.”
Dokyeom gently brushed Agon’s wet, tangled hair back, attempting a negotiation. Agon furrowed his brow, then after a long moment, let out a human-like sigh and nodded in assent, emitting a low, guttural sound.
Dokyeom presumed it was a form of understanding.
He braided Agon’s messy hair, neatly tied it with a hair tie, and promised to return as quickly as possible before leaving. He also left a warning: ‘Don’t bite people.’
After showering, Dokyeom trudged through the lobby, shaking his damp hair, when his phone suddenly vibrated.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the newly arrived message. Perhaps Han Yuseong had made a compromise with himself, for the message had finally come through, long after their conversation.
It was a gate address with an attached satellite photo. The gate belonged to the Sahyeon Guild, where today’s training was to take place. It was located on the outskirts of Seoul, so far that it required multiple transfers and a long journey.
Dokyeom copied the address, found Beom Yeonhu’s number, and sent it. As he stood waiting for Beom Yeonhu’s confirmation, he noticed a commotion in front of the guild building.
‘What now?’
As soon as he looked up, Dokyeom was met with a dazzling light. Camera flashes were bursting outside the guild’s front glass. On closer inspection, all the people triggering the flashes were paparazzi. Well, not many—perhaps three?
Even Yisaein’s arrival hadn’t caused such a fuss. Curious as to which important figure would warrant this chaos, Dokyeom saw two men, bathed in flashes, entering the guild entrance through the paparazzi. One of them was someone Dokyeom knew all too well.
Speak of the devil: it was Instructor Lee Sanghyeon, the hunter who had fled ignominiously during the Eulwang-ri Incident.
Dokyeom had vaguely heard rumors that Lee Sanghyeon had been suspended for a few days by Han Yuseong’s direct order, but he hadn’t expected him to appear looking so smug and well-fed.
Beside him, a man with a lion-like mane of hair was ascending the guild building stairs with great swagger, assisted by Lee Sanghyeon. Behind him, a serpentine creature nearly three meters long floated through the air, following closely.
It was a monstrous creature resembling an Eastern dragon, covered in thick, shaggy fur: Rajaid.
Rajaid was an A-rank monster, highly coveted as a familiar among familiar-user hunters. Though quite ferocious, once tamed, it displayed immense loyalty. Thus, a hunter who raised a Rajaid was so valuable that their worth was almost on par with an AA-rank hunter.
So desirable, in fact, that people’s eyes gleamed with eagerness to recruit them, and paparazzi swarmed them with such fervor.
“You must be tired after a month inside the gate, yet you came straight to the guild to report. Truly, you are Sir Hwang Geunwoo! I learn so much from Hunter Hwang Geunwoo, haha!”
Lee Sanghyeon, the traitorous hunter, clung to the familiar-user hunter ‘Hwang Geunwoo,’ rubbing his hands together like a fly and showering him with flattery. Then, his eyes met Dokyeom’s, who stood in the middle of the lobby. Lee Sanghyeon flinched, his body stiffening as if struck by guilt.
Of course, it was only for a moment.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Han Dokyeom! I heard you returned safely from the Eulwang-ri Gate, but it’s good to finally see your face properly. I’ve been confined to my home all this time, so I haven’t had a chance to visit. It’s a relief to see you safe now, haha. That incident back then, wasn’t it just an accident?”
‘An accident?’
Dokyeom gazed indifferently at the treacherous bastard, who continued to smile genially, and walked past him without a word. Yet, before he could take another step, someone blocked his path.
It was Hwang Geunwoo, the lion-headed man, a head taller than Dokyeom. Behind him, his familiar, Rajaid, wriggled in the air.
Rajaid slightly parted its long, deer-like snout, revealing sharp teeth. ‘The master looked like a servant, and the monster like a deer. How peculiar.’
“Never seen your face before. A new recruit, are we? Then you should greet your seniors. Where does a pipsqueak like you think you’re going, just waltzing past? These youngsters these days, they have no manners whatsoever, only caring about their own pride.”
At Hwang Geunwoo’s self-important lecturing, all the hunters in the lobby’s expressions changed, and they fixed their gazes upon Dokyeom’s back. The rumor that this E-ranker had taken over the pool, oblivious to senior hierarchy, was already widely known within the guild.
They had submitted requests to the higher-ups countless times to split the damned pool in half, but somehow, all their requests were consistently ignored. Now, they no longer even expected to be treated as seniors. They didn’t even harbor petty thoughts of just sharing the pool.
‘This is our chance to reclaim the pool! An E-ranker monopolizing the pool—is this even a guild?!’
Hwang Geunwoo, furthermore, was famously known within the guild for using the pool as often as he ate. The hunters, lingering in the lobby under the pretense of drinking beverages, silently cheered for Hwang Geunwoo. ‘Please, just take it back! And get rid of that eccentric monster in the pool too!’
“Ah, yes. Sir Hwang Geunwoo might not know. This is Mr. Han Dokyeom, an E-rank hunter on a short-term contract with our Sahyeon Guild. I only heard about it, but he’s a familiar-user hunter, isn’t he?”
The answer came from somewhere other than Dokyeom. Lee Sanghyeon, with an ingratiating smile, meticulously divulged Dokyeom’s personal details to Hwang Geunwoo. At the mention of ‘familiar-user hunter,’ one of Hwang Geunwoo’s eyebrows shot up.
His gaze seemed to say, ‘Oh, really?’
“Familiar-user hunter? Representative Tae brought in another familiar-user hunter besides me?”
“Hmm, I don’t think so. When he first signed the contract, Mr. Han Dokyeom wasn’t a familiar-user hunter.”
At Lee Sanghyeon’s words, Hwang Geunwoo’s other eyebrow also shot up. This time, his expression clearly said, ‘Oh, you sly one?’
You’ve got to see this next! Obey Like A Dog will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : Obey Like A Dog
