The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 142

A long, mournful sound echoed as the white whale raised its head and let out a cry. The once still atmosphere trembled. Finally, the entire body of the whale emerged from the White Hole, from head to tail. It swam leisurely through the sky as though the heavens were the sea.

Every time the whale's tail gently flicked, the debris falling from the White Hole shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions. Boom, boom... The sound of collisions and breaking glass was clearly audible even through the soundproofed windows.

I hurriedly rummaged through my pocket. Thankfully, my phone was still there. I turned it on, but the battery was running low. Only two contacts remained: Haeun and Lee Sayoung.

Cha Uijae entered Haeun’s number and pressed the call button. The dial tone dragged on endlessly. Had the communication lines already been cut off? That shouldn’t be the case. Just as cold sweat began to form on the hand holding the phone, the dial tone abruptly stopped.

— "…Uncle? Is it really you?"

A soft voice asked. Uijae tightly closed his eyes. His hand trembled uncontrollably, but luckily, his voice did not.

"Yeah, it’s me, Uncle. Are you okay? Where are you? Where’s Grandma?"

— "Grandma’s with me. Here… um… they said it’s a shelter."

"A shelter? Where’s this shelter located?"

— "I don’t know. Some weird guy with black glasses brought us here. He said he’s your friend, is that true?"

When she mentioned “black glasses,” only one person came to mind—Seo Mingi, who always wore sunglasses. His emotionless face popped into Uijae’s memory. He asked:

"Was that guy wearing a black suit?"

— "Huh? Yeah. And his eyes looked like a panda’s!"

…It was definitely Seo Mingi. Tension drained from him. Uijae replied with a voice laced with relief.

"Yeah… He’s a friend of mine."

Just then, there was a rustling sound, followed by a familiar voice.

— "Excuse me. Hello? I’m Romantico Opener. Can you hear me? Do you remember me? I think I know who you are, right?"

Of course, he remembered. Though the last time he’d seen Romantico Opener, the guy wasn’t exactly in good shape—hung over a seesaw like laundry. Fortunately, it seemed he had recovered. With his concern for Haeun and Grandma eased, Uijae pressed his forehead against the glass window and responded.

"Yes, it’s me."

Romantico Opener let out a long sigh.

— "Phew… I’ve been waiting for you. Finally, you’re back! Haeun and her grandmother are at the Wave Guild’s shelter. As soon as things went south, Mingi brought them here."

"Is it safe there?"

— "The guild members are guarding the place, so there’s no need to worry."

"……."

— "But, by the way, has the guild leader… woken up yet…"

Before Romantico Opener could finish, Haeun’s voice chimed in again after what sounded like a brief scuffle.

— "I’m fine, Uncle! Grandma’s asleep in bed."

"……."

— "Your friend said you had something urgent to take care of and would be back soon, right?"

"…Yeah, that’s right."

— "Will it take long?"

The whale's tail brushed against a low building, shattering it into pieces. Uijae's blue eyes tracked the whale's movement.

"…Yeah. It might take a while."

— "Oh…"

Haeun trailed off, but soon responded cheerfully.

— "That’s okay! Take your time. I’ll wait patiently."

"…Yeah. Don’t go outside, and if you get bored, ask the guy next to you to play with you. Also, tell Grandma that Uncle’s okay and sorry he can’t make it right now."

— "Okay, Uncle."

Without waiting for more, Uijae ended the call and exhaled deeply. He then asked the Basilisk’s Fang:

"…Is there a way to stop this?"

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: This isn’t the end of the world. This is a problem caused by a world that should have perished.]

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: If you endure until it’s gone, it will end eventually…]

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: The master surely said so.]

"……."

But Lee Sayoung, who lived as a captive, couldn’t endure and vanished. Or…

‘Tell him… that everything will flow to where it needs to go… so he doesn’t need to worry too much.’

Maybe that was expected as well. Uijae needed to go back to the hangover soup restaurant to check the clock for the clue. The Basilisk’s Fang must have interpreted Uijae’s silence differently, as it started chattering noisily.

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: The end comes to those who dwell on it.]

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: Do not be consumed by fear, foolish human.]

[‘Basilisk’s Fang’ tries to comfort you.]

[Basilisk’s Fang’s Thoughts: This is not comfort, you fool!]

[‘Basilisk’s Fang’ is embarrassed!]

The Basilisk’s Fang began to thrash angrily. It was better when it was noisy—Uijae found it absurdly amusing how out of place the weapon's seriousness seemed. He finally turned away from the window and asked the Fang:

"…Where did your former master, Lee Sayoung, disappear to?"

The Fang’s thrashing stopped abruptly. After all the noisy chatter, it fell into silence. No answer came. Instead, footsteps approached. Uijae slowly turned around.

There was Lee Sayoung, clutching his head, his expression twisted in pain, his face pale. A large hand reached out, grabbed Uijae’s shoulder, and pulled him into a warm embrace.

In a low voice, Sayoung muttered,

"…If you went out like this…"

"……."

"You would’ve been recognized as the part-timer immediately, right?"

"…Yeah, probably."

Sayoung was still dressed in his gray hoodie and jeans. Anyone who frequented the hangover soup restaurant would immediately recognize that the part-timer and J were one and the same. As Sayoung rubbed his hair against Uijae’s cheek, he whispered:

"I’ll lend you some clothes. Wear them."

"Your clothes might be too big for me."

"Just roll up the sleeves."

Sayoung released his arms from around Uijae and took his hand, leading him. His retreating figure somehow felt fresh and new to Uijae.

Sayoung entered the dressing room and began rummaging through neatly arranged clothes. After a moment, he handed Uijae a plain black crew-neck t-shirt. As Uijae grabbed his hoodie to take it off, Sayoung suddenly pulled out some armor.

"I’ve got armor too. Want to wear it?"

"If I wear something unfamiliar, it’ll just hinder me."

"…Yeah, that makes sense."

Uijae pulled off his hoodie. His well-toned body, covered in countless scars, was exposed. The scars seemed to come to life with every movement he made. Just as Uijae was about to fold his hoodie and place it on top of the dresser, something warm and soft touched the back of his neck. He froze.

Lips brushed against his skin.

"…Aren’t you being a little too defenseless?"

"Huh? Hey, wait… Ngh."

Unconsciously, Uijae held his breath. The lips that had tickled his neck slowly moved lower along his skin, sending chills down his spine. It was a strange feeling. The lips landed on a scar at the top of his shoulder blade, and Sayoung’s voice, soft with laughter, reached his ears.

"We’ve kissed, and yet…"

"Hey, this isn’t the time for…"

"I know. Don’t worry."

A sharp pain suddenly dug into the scar on his shoulder blade. Sayoung was biting into the skin, his teeth sinking in bit by bit. Uijae covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his voice. Compared to the pain he had endured in the past, this was barely a tickle, yet the sensation was unusually vivid. Sayoung licked the red mark his bite had left on the scar.

"Even if I told you not to go… you’d still go, wouldn’t you?"

"……."

"But…"

A light kiss was placed on top of the lingering pain.

"If it gets too hard, you can always run away."

"……."

"I’ll be waiting for you, always."

Uijae turned to face Sayoung. Sayoung smiled gently, and in that moment, Uijae finally realized that this was the one success he had achieved—standing before him.

Uijae reached out and wrapped his hand around Sayoung’s soft hair, pulling him close. Their lips met softly. Neither closed their eyes, staring into each other as their lips touched. Between them, a whispered promise melted into the air.

"I’ll be back."

"…Okay."

A small laugh was swallowed between their lips.

Sayoung’s clothes were still a little too big for Uijae. He rolled up the sleeves to his elbows, and just then, a small pinky finger appeared in front of him, waving playfully. Sayoung wiggled his little finger, signaling for a promise.

"……."

Uijae chuckled and reached out. Their pinky fingers intertwined briefly before separating. But now, in Uijae

’s hand, he was holding something else—a teleportation scroll from Hong Yeseong. As Uijae’s eyes widened in surprise, the world around him began to shift and change. The last thing he saw was Sayoung’s smiling face.

Sayoung waved his hand gently.

"Come back soon, hyung."

…And Lee Sayoung.

He was left alone in the house that had grown colder with Uijae’s absence. Walking down the empty hallway, he entered the bathroom. He flicked on the light with a click. His reflection in the mirror stared back at him, his face pale, looking strangely unfamiliar. Suddenly, the light flickered off.

And when it flicked back on…

The reflection of Lee Sayoung in the mirror was smiling with eyes burning white-hot.

Lee Sayoung grimaced and stared at his reflection. He leaned on the sink, bowing his head, his vision swimming. A trickle of black blood dripped from the corner of his lips.

The reflection tilted its head. The figure in the mirror tapped its lips with its fingers. Every part of it, from its fingertips to its exposed wrist, was entirely black, as if it were wearing gloves. Its violet eyes narrowed into slits.

A lazy voice whispered,

‘I waited a bit… because it was hyung’s business. Seeing someone off is important, right? Keeping promises, too…’

"……."

‘So, now…’

"Ah…"

A vein bulged on the back of his hand. A bead of cold sweat ran down his temple. Lee Sayoung scoffed.

"This is seriously fucked up…"

Thunk—

His blackened body collapsed powerlessly to the floor.