Chapter 73: Baek Eun-hoo’s Uncharacteristic Rampage

“…You regret last night?”

At the question, Baek Eun-hoo ran a hand through his hair with an incredulous expression and stared intently at Seong Ju-an.

Those deep, dark-blue eyes seemed capable of captivating him no matter what their owner said, so Ju-an lowered his head.

A moment later, Eun-hoo’s voice, rough as though it were scraping against his throat, pierced his ears.

“I regret it. I regret picking up my phone and putting it down over and over again before finally calling you.”

Taken completely by surprise, Ju-an pressed his lips tightly together.

Did Baek Eun-hoo even realize what he was saying right now?

These were words coming from his own mouth, yet they seemed so unlike him.

“I lost my mind when I heard you moaning and came all the way here. I regret making such a fool of myself.”

“…”

“How f*cking embarrassing.”

After uttering those few words with a harsh exhale, he stood up and walked a few steps away.

The whole point had been to clear up the misunderstanding, so there was nothing left for them to discuss.

Then why did his chest feel so unbearably tight?

It felt as though all the words he had left unsaid were constricting his throat.

“Exactly. Why did you do that? It’s so unlike you.”

“…What?”

Baek Eun-hoo shot him an incredulous look.

If they had been any closer, he looked like he might have grabbed Ju-an by the collar on the spot.

Ju-an was a little frightened, but he could not take back what he had already said.

“Didn’t four Espers and one Buffer enter into a contract to protect each other? Hearing someone moan… Well, yes, I can understand getting angry if you put yourself in that position. But it was just a one-night mistake, and even you acknowledged that.”

“…”

“Why did you come here?”

Baek Eun-hoo irritably ran a hand through his hair.

He repeatedly exhaled harshly, as though he were consumed by self-loathing.

Then he looked at Ju-an as if he wanted to devour him whole.

Ju-an had not asked because he failed to understand what those intense emotions meant.

The words had simply slipped out before he could stop them.

He had meant to make Eun-hoo think about why someone as calculating as him was behaving so emotionally.

‘Why don’t you think about that for once?’

But it was only after hearing his answer that Ju-an realized he had made a mistake.

“So, in short, I crossed the line. We’re not even lovers. Ha… Fine. I understand.”

Baek Eun-hoo immediately took out his phone.

“Mo Jun-young. I’m at the park in front of the residential facility. Come get Seong Ju-an.”

After slipping his phone into his coat pocket, Baek Eun-hoo continued looking at Ju-an from a distance.

He did not blame Ju-an, nor did he direct his hostility toward Mo Jun-young, yet Ju-an felt strangely restless.

Under the streetlight, Baek Eun-hoo’s shadow stretched out across the ground.

Ju-an sat there, unable to look properly at Eun-hoo’s face, staring only at his shadow.

Complicated emotions surged within him.

‘What is this feeling?’

He was confused, but he decided not to ask.

He knew that asking questions to resolve his confusion would only leave him even more confused, so it was better not to.

“Mr. Seong Ju-an.”

At the sound of Mo Jun-young’s voice, Ju-an raised his head.

Mo Jun-young stood where Baek Eun-hoo’s shadow had been.

His expression suggested that he had just as many questions as Ju-an had confusion.

Ju-an rose from the bench and linked his arm with Jun-young’s, hoping he would not ask anything.

Jun-young’s shoulders jerked in surprise, but Ju-an held firmly onto his arm and retraced the path he had taken with Baek Eun-hoo.

Even after returning home and lying in bed, Baek Eun-hoo’s words continued to echo in his ears.

He closed his eyes to sleep, but the sight of Eun-hoo’s lonely expression kept resurfacing, making it difficult to drift off.

‘I guess things can’t go back to the way they were before.’

Was their contract still valid?

If they pretended their secret arrangement had never happened, would it interfere with the party?

His thoughts kept spiraling, one after another, leaving him thoroughly confused without resolving anything.

As he lay on his side and sighed, a large arm wrapped around his body.

“I completely understand why you’re worried about Baek Eun-hoo. But, Mr. Seong Ju-an…”

“…”

“I’d appreciate it if you stopped lying in my bed worrying about another man.”

Only then could Seong Ju-an finally shake off his thoughts of Baek Eun-hoo.

At the same time, he was reminded of his own complicated situation, which he had temporarily pushed aside because it was too overwhelming to think about.

Characters, or rather, men, who were instinctively drawn to the developer.

And his predicament: he could not choose any one of them because he needed all of them to conquer the dungeons.

Yet he was also drawn to them himself, leaving him unable to make sense of his own feelings.

He felt utterly adrift, as though he were floating on the open sea with nothing to protect him.

“It must be complicated for you. Even I never expected things to turn out this way.”

Ju-an said nothing and pretended to be asleep.

Whether or not Mo Jun-young knew he was awake, he continued speaking.

“When the process of making a choice becomes difficult and painful, not choosing at all can be a good option, too. Whether you leave yourself in the hands of fate or simply wait for time to pass, it’s better than making a hasty decision.”

Strangely, his words comforted Ju-an.

‘Mo Jun-young, was that what you did, too? When faced with a difficult choice, did you irresponsibly run away from it? No, surely not.’

Mo Jun-young was strict with himself and generous with others.

There was no way he would have done that.

He would have made a choice, whatever it was, and taken responsibility for it like an adult.

Knowing that, Ju-an decided not to ask.

For now, it was better to keep pretending to be asleep.

Everyone seemed to be acting as they usually did.

Since it was lunchtime, Joo Ji-chan was setting out the lunchboxes he had brought on the table, but Ju-an could not bring himself to eat even a bite.

The reason was Baek Eun-hoo’s drastically changed demeanor.

He was dressed much as usual, in a dazzlingly white shirt and a perfectly pressed black combat uniform.

However, his expression and manner of speaking were so excessively polite that he could have been mistaken for Mo Jun-young.

Ironically, Mo Jun-young was the one provoking him with pointless arguments.

“You shouldn’t be working with food sitting right in front of you. Do you think the rest of us aren’t busy?”

Despite the provocation, Baek Eun-hoo calmly set down his tablet.

“Ah, sorry. I was just working out a plan.”

“…”

“So, what does everyone think? I’d like to finish conquering the stages as quickly as possible. There are five stages left in total, from Stage 6 through Stage 10. We were told the difficulty increases starting at Stage 8, so I’d like us to finish Stages 6 and 7 today. What do you all think?”

No one spoke up immediately in response to Baek Eun-hoo’s question.

Apparently, everyone had noticed that his demeanor was different from usual.

“We’ve been taking turns staying with Seong Ju-an under the pretext of protecting him, but isn’t he actually safest when he’s with all of us?”

Gong Se-yoon agreed.

“Honestly, I’d rather be alone with you, hyung, but I agree with that. Whether there are several people around him or just the two of us, I get terribly anxious whenever I’m not by his side. Especially after what happened with the kidnapping.”

Strictly speaking, Ju-an had almost been kidnapped rather than actually kidnapped, but that was beside the point.

“Then starting today, we’ll conquer one stage every day.”

Stages 6 and 7 should be manageable, but Stage 8 onward would require thorough preparation.

Of course, that would also depend on the rewards they received from the earlier dungeons.

Ju-an had been about to say that the plan was impossible, but he paused, composed himself, and asked Baek Eun-hoo instead,

“Why the sudden rush?”

“…Because those damn Constellations piss me off. Doesn’t everyone feel the same way?”

Ju-an had no response to that.

He felt as though he were the only one being overly sensitive.

The other party members nodded as well, so there did not seem to be anything particularly strange about Baek Eun-hoo’s reasoning.

And yet Ju-an could not shake the feeling that there was something else behind it.

‘Since when has Baek Eun-hoo been so single-mindedly enthusiastic about conquering dungeons without his usual teasing and sly remarks? Why was someone who normally acted so cautiously suddenly…?’

While Ju-an stared at him in confusion, Baek Eun-hoo continued.

“The Constellations are part of it, but I’ve also become curious about what will happen to us after we finish conquering the dungeons. I want things to reach some kind of conclusion, one way or another.”

His words were laden with implications, leaving Ju-an unable to ask anything further.

He had a feeling that asking more would only put him at a disadvantage.

“So stop wasting time. If you’re done eating, get up. We’re going hunting.”

“Without any preparation? We haven’t been able to obtain information from the Constellations this time, either. We don’t know what kind of tricks might be lurking where.”

Baek Eun-hoo sneered.

“Information we can’t even use is pointless anyway. We’re better off going in and dealing with whatever comes.”

He spoke in an utterly matter-of-fact tone, yet the atmosphere around him was so menacing that it felt oppressive.

He looked ready to smash every last dungeon to pieces.

‘He isn’t planning to conquer the world as his final wish after clearing the dungeons, is he?’

A foreboding feeling made Ju-an shudder as he looked up at Baek Eun-hoo.

The original version of his character was certainly the sort of person who might do exactly that.

And yet, because of the uncharacteristic behavior Baek Eun-hoo had displayed over the past few days, Ju-an kept finding himself taking his side.

In the end, Ju-an followed Baek Eun-hoo out.

The other party members followed behind them.

“Why is Baek Eun-hoo acting like that? He looks insane.”

Gong Se-yoon directed the question at Ju-an, but it was Joo Ji-chan who answered.

“Seriously. He ate my cooking, so it’s not like he ate something bad. Did he catch your depression?”

“f*ck… What the hell are you talking about?”

After exchanging their assessments of Baek Eun-hoo, Gong Se-yoon and Joo Ji-chan created a protective barrier around Ju-an and settled him inside it.

Then they watched Baek Eun-hoo unleash lightning bolts as though he had completely lost control.

The moment he entered the dungeon, Baek Eun-hoo began rampaging like a madman.

Perhaps the Constellations had not had enough time to plant any tricks, because the dungeon’s difficulty was appropriate for Stage 6 and did not pose much of a threat.

Still, seeing Baek Eun-hoo go so completely berserk was a first for them, and they could not help feeling bewildered.

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