The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 176

"What the hell did you do?"

"...What?"

"I asked you, what did you do!"

Even with Uijae grabbing him by the collar, Sayoung didn't resist. He simply blinked, his expression still dazed. It was clear he wasn’t entirely back to his senses.

But Uijae wasn’t in the right mind either. The shock from Sayoung’s earlier outrageous statements still hadn't settled, and now he was confronted with an unbelievable reality. A dating rumor, which he had brushed off as a joke, had blown up so much that even the Rankers’ chat was buzzing with it!

'What the hell did those mackerel bastards do?'

He had been told that it could all be sorted out with a single phone call, but that seemed to have been a complete lie. Uijae gritted his teeth.

'I'd rather they spread a rumor that we’re enemies or rivals.'

Uijae shook Sayoung's collar hard, as if to knock some sense into him. Sayoung's head swayed helplessly before he winced and clutched his head.

"Hyung..."

"Explain properly."

"I'm in pain..."

Uijae loosened his grip on the collar. Or rather, his hand slackened of its own accord. Sayoung groaned softly.

Had he gone too far after not hitting anyone for so long? Even an S-rank Hunter would feel pain, right? As Uijae stiffened, Sayoung slowly sat up, curling into Uijae and resting his head on his shoulder.

The soft strands of Sayoung's hair brushed against Uijae, snapping him out of his thoughts. He quickly grabbed the arms that had wrapped around his waist like a snake.

"You're trying to get out of this with your usual cute act, aren't you?"

"...Huh?"

Sayoung lifted his head, his cheek still pressed against Uijae's shoulder. He blinked up at Uijae with a pitiful expression.

"It really hurts though..."

"......"

Was he putting on an act again? Or was he really in pain? Uijae couldn’t tell. His gaze fell to Sayoung’s black fingers tracing his neck. There was a visible red mark shaped like a hand on Sayoung’s pale, straight neck. Uijae scratched his head awkwardly. Sharing a body was turning out to be far more uncomfortable than he had imagined.

"Does your neck hurt?"

"Yes. And my head."

Sayoung coughed softly. Uijae looked away and muttered under his breath.

"...I may have choked you a bit."

"Oh..."

Sayoung let out a small sigh and narrowed his eyes. His black fingers grazed the red bruise, and as if his scattered thoughts were returning, an intrigued gleam flickered in his eyes. His lips curled up.

"So that’s your taste, huh?"

"No, it’s not!" Uijae burst out, his voice rising. Sayoung rubbed his neck and murmured.

"Choking someone... that’s kind of a weird hobby, isn’t it?"

"When I woke up, it wasn’t you standing there. Some other guy was taking your place, so what else was I supposed to do?"

"Ah... So without even asking what was going on, you went straight to choking? That’s a bit violent."

"That guy was saying some seriously weird stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"......"

Uijae clamped his mouth shut. He didn’t even want to repeat those depraved words. Sayoung shifted uncomfortably, rubbing his waist. His face, despite everything he’d been through—losing control of his body, getting knocked out—remained oddly calm.

Fine, maybe it was better to spill everything now, rather than risk things getting even worse later. Uijae mumbled as he began to explain.

"He said we should sleep together..."

"What?"

Sayoung frowned. Uijae quickly added,

"Just so you don’t misunderstand, he meant literally sleep, not anything weird."

"I wasn’t planning to misunderstand. Maybe it’s you who’s having weird thoughts?"

"Shut up."

Uijae raised his fist threateningly, and Sayoung, smirking, crossed his lips with his fingers in an ‘X’. He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Got it. Keep going. What else?"

"Then he asked me to choke him harder... Seriously, is that guy insane? Why would anyone want to be choked more?"

"Oh... So that’s why you choked him harder, huh? That explains why my neck’s like this."

"Are you out of your mind? I let go immediately."

"Haa..."

Sayoung sighed deeply, blinking as if he was tired.

"And, what else?"

"And then..."

Uijae recalled the way Sayoung had smiled wider the more he was choked.

If what Hong Yeseong had said was true, then the two were essentially the same at their core. The ‘essence of the soul’ must mean the fundamental nature that makes up a person. Even if they had lived completely different lives, if their core hadn’t changed, then they were the same being.

But...

"......"

"Hyung?"

"That guy..."

But the Sayoung he had just faced had felt... off. It wasn’t just the outrageous suggestions about sleeping together or asking to be choked harder. If he had to pinpoint what had felt wrong...

Everything about him.

From the very first moment, there had been a sense of unease. Those eyes, like glass marbles reflecting nothing. Eyes that seemed to hold only Uijae’s reflection and nothing more.

They say eyes are the windows to the soul. But in *that* Sayoung's eyes, there was no soul, no self. They only reflected what was in front of them, like a mirror.

And the energy he exuded had felt... strange. Less human and more like...

"A dungeon..."

"......"

"It felt... unsettling."

Uijae’s words trailed off uneasily. Sayoung, his gaze lowered as if deep in thought, licked his lips. Uijae watched as Sayoung's black tongue slid over his red lips. He narrowed his eyes.

He was almost falling for it again. Sayoung had a way of making people lose focus with his face and touches, only to slither into another topic like a snake.

Uijae grabbed Sayoung by both cheeks, forcing him to look up. Sayoung blinked his wide eyes in surprise.

"Anyway, what did you do?"

"Didn’t you already know?"

"Out with it. Before I storm the fish market."

"Well... I didn’t do much."

Like hell you didn’t. The Ranker chat was blowing up. Uijae glared at him, and Sayoung’s lips curled into a smile.

"I just did what you did."

"What I did?"

"You fell asleep, so I carried you home."

Sayoung tilted his head slightly, blinking his long lashes.

"Is that a crime? I only did what you did."

Carried... The word conjured a very specific image. A hazy, low-resolution picture flashed in Uijae’s mind—J carrying Sayoung. He had been holding Sayoung in a princess carry...

‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

A chill ran down Uijae’s spine. He shot to his feet and began frantically searching the room. Sayoung, still sitting on the floor, propped his chin on his knee.

"What are you looking for?"

"My phone. Where is it?"

"I have it."

Sayoung pulled the phone from his pocket and handed it over. Uijae snatched it and quickly turned it on, his hands shaking as he opened the internet. The headline on the main portal page was ominous.

"What's the relationship between J and Lee Sayoung? The Wave Guild remains silent..."

With trembling hands, Uijae clicked the article. The loading symbol spun, torturing him for what felt like an eternity.

Tap, tap, tap. Uijae impatiently tapped his foot on the floor as the page finally loaded. And the first thing he saw was Sayoung’s face staring back at him.

No, not the Sayoung in front of him—*that* Sayoung.

In the photo, Sayoung was smiling as if he knew exactly what Uijae was looking at. And...

"......"

The man in the black mask had Sayoung cradled in his arms.

While Uijae stood frozen, Sayoung rose gracefully to his feet and stepped behind him. He pressed a kiss to the back of Uijae’s neck, hidden beneath the strands of his silver hair. Uijae’s body flinched.

At that exact moment, a message notification appeared on the screen, hovering over the article.

The sender was:

---

Haeun: Uncle, grandma is asking if it’s true.

---

Uijae’s whole body shook as Sayoung kissed his hair again.

"They say you can’t even drink water carelessly in front of kids."

Surprisingly, Uijae didn’t explode in anger. No, it was more accurate to say he didn’t have the energy to. He stood there, trembling for a while, then abruptly pushed Sayoung away and staggered toward the bathroom.

*Bang!*

The door slammed shut.

*Click.*

He locked it.

Everything had been done in a smooth, fluid motion. Sayoung didn’t knock or tell him to open the door. Instead, he dragged a chair in front of the bathroom door, sat down, and waited patiently.

It was cute, really... If Uijae was going to lock himself away, couldn’t he have chosen a bedroom or somewhere more comfortable? The fact that he holed himself up in the bathroom, of all places, was so typically Uijae.

Uijae didn’t come out for a full hour.

 Apart from the occasional loud sigh or muffled scream, there were no other sounds from the bathroom.

Sitting backwards on the chair, arms draped over the backrest and his chin resting on them, Sayoung’s thoughts began to wander. Without Uijae’s presence to occupy his mind, the unwelcome guest inside him began to stir again. His consciousness, which had been focused on Uijae, gradually shifted toward the intruder. Uijae’s earlier words echoed in his mind.

‘He asked me to choke him harder... Seriously, is that guy insane?’

Sayoung let out a short sigh.

‘Why wouldn’t he...’

He knew why the unwelcome guest had made that request. Sayoung relaxed his body, resting his cheek against his arm.

Could someone who had wandered alone in a world on the brink of destruction for so long still be sane?

‘Of course not...’

Just as a large rock is worn down by water and wind, so too had his body and mind slowly been worn away. And when everything was finally eroded, even the emotions that had consumed him would have been ground down to nothing.

Sadness, anger, regret—all of it would have disappeared. He would have spent each day clinging to his sole remaining purpose.

All that would be left was obsession.

‘Isn’t that right?’

The intruder didn’t answer. But Sayoung knew he was right. He could feel the other Sayoung writhing in displeasure.

What would happen to someone who had lost their entire self, only to regain a living body? Wouldn’t they be thrilled by sensations that were once familiar but now strange? Especially if those sensations were caused by Cha Uijae...

Sayoung’s fingers brushed his still-throbbing neck. He hadn’t checked, but he was sure a bruise had formed. He closed his eyes. From the other side of the bathroom door came the sound of water running.

There was nothing that made him feel more alive than the stimulation Uijae gave him.

‘I’d probably have asked for more too...’

Lee Sayoung understood the other Lee Sayoung’s desires. And that understanding made him feel sick.