The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 223

“…Gasp.”

At the same time, Sa-yeong took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His vision was filled with a bright white light. Nothing was visible.

‘Ah.’

His entire body felt cold. His fingertips trembled uncontrollably. He hastily looked around, but the blinding light remained the same. Sa-yeong hurriedly covered his eyes with both hands. Darkness finally returned, but his rapid breathing did not subside easily. That’s when he heard voices nearby.

“Lee Sa-yeong! Are you alright?”

Who is it? Who is it? Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?

Sa-yeong clenched his teeth hard enough that it made a sound. Another voice chimed in.

“Should we splash him with water? Maybe scoop some from the valley stream? There’s a mountain right outside!”

“Can that really work?! Lee Sa-yeong… Are you okay? Is there something wrong with your body?”

Don’t come closer. Don’t come closer. Don’t come closer.

“Officer~ It’s better not to approach right now.”

“Huh? But he’s having a seizure, we can’t just leave him like that…”

“No, if you get close now, he’ll attack right away. That guy’s acting weird.”

“Hey, Kkokko… huh? Where did Kkokko go?”

“He’s been gone since we woke up.”

“Huh? Really? Then did he follow J?”

J.

J?

Sa-yeong’s body slowly stopped trembling. He blinked his eyes slowly. Through the gaps between his fingers, he caught a glimpse of a dark ceiling. Hesitant, he removed his hands from his face. A needlessly fancy chandelier with candles, and a wooden ceiling. Sa-yeong caught his breath and looked to the side. A little distance away, Jung-bin and Hong Ye-seong were standing awkwardly, and Gyu-gyu was by their side, shaking dice in his hands.

Hong Ye-seong, who was clinging to Jung-bin’s waist, asked.

“Lee Sa-yeong? You alright?”

“……”

“Lee Sa-yeong. Are you okay?”

“……”

“You seem more clear-headed now.”

Sa-yeong didn’t respond. He was busy catching his breath, glancing around through his fingers. This place… it was the space created by Hong Ye-seong. They were having a meeting, gathered together. And I… 

‘I came with J.’

At that moment, a glint of light caught his attention. Sa-yeong raised his hand. His wristwatch slid slightly down his wrist, then stopped. A broken, worn-out watch. Among the countless hands on the clock face, only one was still moving.

Sa-yeong suddenly sat up and demanded,

“Where’s J?”

“He’s probably off saving the world by now~”

“Shut up.”

“Please be quiet, Gyu-gyu.”

“Alright, alright~”

Jung-bin, who had stepped closer, crouched down to meet Sa-yeong’s gaze. His face showed concern.

“When we woke up, J had already disappeared. It seems he went outside to deal with the situation. But we have eyewitness reports, so there’s no need to worry about his safety.”

“……”

Sa-yeong didn’t reply and instead bowed his head. His stomach churned as if he were about to vomit. Jung-bin glanced at Hong Ye-seong, then slightly raised his voice.

“Uh, how about a little distraction? The part-timer from the hangover soup restaurant has shown up. You may not care, but you used to frequent the place as well…”

As Jung-bin continued speaking, he widened his eyes. Lee Sa-yeong’s expression had twisted oddly. Sa-yeong seemed like he had many things to say but was only able to open and close his mouth a few times. He ruffled his hair, glared into the air, ran his hand through his bangs, took a deep breath, and finally spoke.

“…The part-timer from the hangover soup place?”

Jung-bin felt a pang of sympathy. Sa-yeong had suddenly collapsed, so the shock must have been great. He often found himself feeling sorry for Sa-yeong, perhaps because he had seen him tossing and turning, unable to sleep, during their time in the cottage. Baewon-woo used to say that it was a father’s instinct to feel such empathy. Sa-yeong seemed unable to recover from the shock. Jung-bin looked at him with concern.

“Well…”

Thinking about it, Sa-yeong might not know. He had been asleep for three months. Jung-bin explained kindly.

“After the Day of Change, the part-timer closed the restaurant and disappeared. Everyone was worried. But earlier, Hunter Yang Hye-jin reported that she met the part-timer.”

“Damn.” A faint curse slipped from Sa-yeong’s lips as he rubbed his face with his hand. He asked again.

“…What was he wearing?”

“A gray hoodie, she said. Just like before, so she recognized him right away.”

Crack. Sa-yeong’s hand scratched roughly at the air. He staggered to his feet, his purple eyes glowing fiercely. He began dragging his feet towards the door. Gyu-gyu, who had been rolling dice, asked,

“Where are you going?”

“……”

Bang! Sa-yeong kicked the door open and stormed out of the cozy love nest Hong Ye-seong had created. Now, it was Hong Ye-seong, clinging to the pillar like a cicada, who muttered.

“Wow~ I’m glad he’s too disoriented. He didn’t seem to notice that I sent a message to J from his phone, right? Huh?”

“Of course not~”

“But why did you even do that?” 

“Huh?”

Hong Ye-seong slid down from the pillar.

“I don’t know. It just felt like I should!”

Jung-bin gave him a cold, icy stare before turning his head.

***

Yi-jae opened his eyes.

“……”

It seemed that the order not to touch him was indeed being followed; no one had approached since they had thrown him in here. They must’ve stuffed him into a far-off corner room. Uijae fiddled with his fingers out of boredom. There wasn’t much information he could gather from this room.

‘And it’s boring.’

If Sa-yeong had been locked up in a room like this, how had he endured it? Surely, there’s a limit to how much one can think and imagine. Yi-jae was already itching to move his body.

‘Maybe that’s why his personality turned out the way it did….’

He pouted. Even the researchers who had visited earlier hadn’t returned. It seemed they were dutifully following the orders of their so-called “brother.” Uijae banged his head against the wall.

‘Is the brother’s command really that absolute?’

Was this “brother” their leader? I’d like to meet him at least once. I want to know what’s going on in his head to lead these kinds of actions. By now…

‘Ga-eul is probably meeting with this brother.’

It would have been good to arrange a way to contact her.

‘I guess I was a bit too overconfident.’

Uijae yawned widely and smacked his lips. Well, how could I have known? You only learn these things by trying. Relying too much on brute strength can be a problem…

Then, suddenly,

Hisss… A faint hissing sound echoed. Uijae lifted his head. From a slightly raised gap in the ceiling, pale gas was pouring out. Thud, thud, thud. The distant noises he had been hearing began to fade. Uijae glanced at his wrist to check the time. 5 PM.

‘Do they release it at scheduled intervals?’

Damn. Uijae scowled. There was no way to avoid the gas in such a small room. There’s only so long he could hold his breath. Eventually, he’d have to inhale it. Frustrated, Uijae glared at the ceiling. The room filled up with the pale gas, so much that he could hardly see anything.

***

“Hey, something just occurred to me.”

A man wearing clear goggles spoke up. The other man, who had been jotting things down on a tablet while observing liquid dripping from a pipe, answered half-heartedly.

“Hmm?”

“That room from earlier. The one the brother told us not to touch.”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t the gas being released in there too? It’s all done in one go, isn’t it?”

The man with the tablet stopped his hand in the middle of writing. He furrowed his brow.

“Shit… He said not to release the gas in there?”

“He told us not to mess with him, to leave him be.”

“Goddammit… Now we have to pull him out.”

“Yeah, guess we didn’t think that through.”

“See, this is why we should have installed individual ventilation systems. But they never listen.”

Grumbling, the two men grabbed the hazmat suits hanging on the wall. They slipped into the full-body suits, put on goggles, and donned their respirator filters, securing them tightly. Lastly, they pulled on gloves before heading to the last room at the end of the long hallway. The other rooms were already completely silent.

The room at the end was filled with a dense, pale gas, and through the haze, a dark figure could be seen sitting on the floor. The sight was eerie. The man with the tablet frowned and took a step back.

“Hey, you go get him out.”

“What? Why

 me?”

“Ugh, I don’t want to go in there.”

“How am I supposed to get him out by myself?”

“Figure it out. I’ve got too much work to do.”

“Damn it…”

The man with the goggles grumbled and disappeared into the gas-filled room. Can’t believe he’s leaving all the work to me, even though it’s his fault. No sense of responsibility at all. The remaining man scanned the files on his tablet. Precious time was being wasted…

Thud.

A heavy sound echoed. The man tore his eyes away from the tablet and looked toward the source of the sound. It had come from inside the room.

“……”

He frowned. What was that? He knocked twice on the metal bars.

“Hey, is something going on in there?”

There was no response. Instead, there was a clinking sound, like chains rattling together.

“……”

Could something have happened inside? No way, the guy’s too drugged to do anything, and he’s restrained, isn’t he? Should I have gone in there with him? Could something as trivial as this really cause a problem? A flood of thoughts raced through his head. The man glanced nervously down the hallway and then banged on the bars again.

“Hey, do I need to come in there? Should I call security?”

“…No.”

A low, deep voice responded. Was that his colleague’s voice? Or was it not? The man furrowed his brow and strained to listen. There was a cough, followed by a voice tinged with laughter.

“The chains are just too tight, that’s all.”

“……”

“Why are you so jumpy? Scared?”

The voice carried a joking tone. The man’s tense shoulders relaxed. Damn it, he should have answered sooner. The man, still feeling slightly awkward, replied brusquely.

“Scared? Yeah, right. I thought you’d passed out from the gas. You alright? Nothing weird, right?”

“Yeah…. But the chains won’t come off. How about just leaving me like this?”

“What? You think that’s okay? What if the brother finds out later…”

“It’s fine.”

Through the haze, the pale gas swirled. The man instinctively took a step back. Creak, the door opened, and a figure in a white hazmat suit emerged from the mist. Bent over, the figure fiddled with their respirator and motioned.

“Move back a bit. There’s so much gas in here…”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

The gloved hands swiped the air around them, as if trying to shake off the gas. But then the man suddenly felt a strange sense of unease. What is this? Something feels off. Weren’t his gloves a little scrunched up? I’m sure I saw him put them on properly. And his shoes… aren’t they a bit too loose, like they’re slipping off?

Then the hands stopped.

“…But aren’t you busy?”

“……”

The man gulped. Something wasn’t right. His colleague’s voice didn’t sound quite the same as before.

“Go on ahead. I’ll clean up a bit and follow you.”

But he didn’t want to think about it any further.

He wanted to avoid it.

He wanted to run away from this situation.

To flee from that presence.

“O-Okay, sure.”

The man hesitated, then began to walk away. No, it can’t be. It’s not, right? Step, step, step… His slow steps grew quicker, and soon he was running. Tap, tap, tap. No matter how fast he ran, the identical white hallway stretched endlessly ahead.

‘Was this hallway always this long?’

He grew anxious. His back was drenched with cold sweat. What should I do? What do I do?

And then.

A sharp pain shot through the back of his neck. The man collapsed without a sound, unable even to scream. Behind him, a figure in a white hazmat suit stood over him. Through the transparent goggles, a pair of eyes stared down at him—

They were blue.