RG 125

After finishing the meeting, Kwon Taehyeok headed to the first floor. Striding ahead, he was followed by his secretary, who was holding a tablet PC and reported, “All the room arrangements are complete. As instructed, clothing and daily necessities have also been provided.”

Kwon Taehyeok nodded in response to the secretary’s tightly composed briefing.

Today was finally the day Cha Seohu would be arriving at the guild building with his brother. The invitation had only been accepted after being rejected once, so thorough preparations had been made to ensure Cha Seohu wouldn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable.

In fact, this much was only natural.

Cha Seohu had already saved people multiple times using his skills. Among those he saved were even members of Kwon Taehyeok’s guild. On top of that, he had been living in hiding, concealing his rank as a B-class to avoid drawing attention. Yet, despite his circumstances, he didn’t hesitate to use his skills to save lives and even accepted Kwon Taehyeok’s request.

‘The reason Cha Seohu initially refused to move into the guild building was probably because he didn’t want to impose on me.’

Kwon Taehyeok had never met anyone as kind and good-hearted as Cha Seohu. That’s why he made extra sure the room for Cha Seohu and his brother was perfectly prepared—because he wanted, even in a small way, to be of help to him.

As he got lost in these thoughts, a sudden desire rose up in his mind.

‘If Hunter Cha Seohu could smile after seeing the room…’

Bzzzt!

Just then, before he could finish the thought, his phone vibrated in the pocket of his suit jacket. The caller was a guild member from the security team.

— Guildmaster, there’s a problem.

As soon as the call connected, the guild member reported in a flustered tone.

— I went up to the office to help with the move, just like you instructed, but… the place is a complete mess.

“What?”

— The front door has been torn off, and everything inside the room—furniture, belongings—they’re all destroyed. Judging by the traces of skill use, a battle definitely took place there.

Kwon Taehyeok came to a sudden halt. That couldn’t be. Cha Seohu’s office had been under 24-hour surveillance. Just yesterday, he had asked his secretary to double-check for anything suspicious.

What had the security team said again? No, if a battle had actually taken place in the office, there’s no way the guild member on watch wouldn’t have noticed.

‘I need to call…’

He had to try calling Cha Seohu. There was a chance he had escaped and was hiding somewhere. Still clinging to hope, he was about to instruct the guild member to stay put until he arrived—but the guild member spoke first.

— Um, sir. There’s… blood…

The guild member’s voice was stiff and hesitant as he continued.

— There are bloodstains on the floor…

Kwon Taehyeok’s eyes shook violently. The guild member continued explaining, but none of it registered in his mind.

“Right now…” After standing frozen for a long moment, Kwon Taehyeok finally spoke. His voice came out hoarse and slow. “I’m heading there right now.”

***

As the sun climbed higher, the sunlight on the rooftop grew even brighter.

Just as the cold wind of early dawn had started to turn warmer, Cha Sahyeon, who had been sitting with his back against the wall, looked down at the one resting in his arms.

Cha Seohu, who had seemed like he was holding up fine, had collapsed not long after being moved to this place, like a puppet with its strings cut. Since then, he’d remained unconscious for hours.

Cha Sahyeon stared at the pale face with its eyes tightly shut, then moved his hand. The hand that slipped beneath Cha Seohu’s t-shirt gently traced along his skin. As the hem of the shirt rose, his side was revealed, covered in deep, dark bruises.

When Cha Sahyeon lightly pressed a fingertip against the bruised area, Cha Seohu immediately let out a groan and furrowed his brow.

And that wasn’t the only injury—there were countless others.

From how scraped up his back and other areas were, it was hard to tell how many times he’d been slammed into something. Every time Cha Sahyeon blinked, he spotted another cut or gash.

Fwoosh—for an instant, less than a second, a fierce killing intent erupted from him, only to vanish as quickly as it had come.

‘Should I have handled it myself?’

The Cha Seohu that Cha Sahyeon knew was fiercely independent. At the very least, he clearly hated when others meddled in his affairs without permission. That was why Cha Sahyeon had intentionally refrained from interfering in his fight and had instead only attached a shadow to watch over him. Unfortunately, that one had devoured a mere B-class and hadn’t lasted long against an A-class Hunter’s attack.

Frustration tightening his eyes, Cha Sahyeon stopped inspecting the injuries and pulled Cha Seohu closer into a firmer embrace.

A new shadow rose from the ground. Like a thick blanket, the severed shadow was draped over Cha Seohu by Cha Sahyeon, who paused to think.

He was managing to maintain Cha Seohu’s body temperature for now, but he couldn’t just leave him like this. He knew exactly how fragile Cha Seohu’s body was. Even the slightest pressure from him would cause pain.

And now, Cha Seohu was pale as a sheet, cold sweat beading across his skin.

Cha Sahyeon didn’t know that people get chills and fever from overexertion or injury—but he did know that Cha Seohu needed a safe place to rest.

As he strained his mind for a solution, a distant memory finally surfaced.

‘Hotel.’

It was one of the few memories that stood out from the dark past where everything seemed to be painted in black. It was the place he had once visited with Cha Seohu, holding his hand. Beyond the dazzling lights, it had offered warmth and a peaceful place to sleep.

With a destination finally in mind, he summoned a bird and gave it a command. At the order to find the nearest hotel, the bird quickly disappeared into the sky.

Thunk!

After sending out the scout, Cha Sahyeon retrieved the belongings of the dead from within the shadows. The corpses had been consumed by shadow, but their possessions had to be dealt with separately. From among them, Cha Sahyeon picked up a cellphone.

He had learned the basics of how to use one from Cha Seohu, and having experience with gaming devices helped him get the hang of it.

‘Ah, the game console…’

As he searched for how to book a hotel with the phone, a wave of regret washed over him.

‘It was a gift from Brother.’

It couldn’t be helped, but the regret was still there.

It was the first time he had experienced something like this—receiving a gift from someone, cherishing it, and eventually losing it, only to feel the sting of that loss. Even knowing he wouldn’t get the console back, Cha Sahyeon couldn’t help but imagine the possibility. It was meaningless, of course.

Creak!

Just then, the scout shadow signaled back that it had found a hotel.

Closing his eyes slowly, then opening them again, Cha Sahyeon let go of the lingering regret that clung to him like a wet cloth and moved on to the next task.

First, he destroyed all the used cell phones. Since the Director and all her followers were all part of the cult, keeping them around would only risk their location being tracked. He crushed the phones to dust.

Then, he pulled out the cash from one of the wallets. Like the phones, the credit cards couldn’t be used carelessly. He removed the cash and tore the cards to shreds while they were still in the wallet. The hard plastic ripped apart along with the leather like paper.

After cleaning up, Cha Sahyeon once again pulled Cha Seohu into a firm embrace and rose to his feet. A towering wave of black shadow surged upward, engulfing them both.

***

“Welcome. Let me help you with your reservation,” the hotel staff greeted the couple approaching the front desk with a bright smile.

This was a two-star hotel. Though it didn’t get many guests, it had a good reputation thanks to its cleanliness and solid service.

After checking in the couple, the staff member looked up to greet the next guest.

“Welcome. Let me check your—gasp!”

A heavy sense of pressure bore down on him. His shoulders trembled as he staggered and looked up. The first thing he saw was an overwhelming darkness.

A young man cloaked in pitch-black fabric, as if a piece of night itself had been draped over him, utterly devoid of light. And in that man’s arms, held in a princess carry, was a tall man.

The young man locked eyes with the staff, his green eyes glinting ominously as he opened his mouth. “I didn’t make a reservation…” The low voice flowed out slowly, giving off a dull, flat tone. As the staff stood there, lips trembling and face pale, the young man continued, “Suite A. Marble bathtub.”

“…S-sorry?”

“One night.”

The young man recited the exact name of the room listed on the website, and with one arm effortlessly supporting the man he held, pulled something from his coat.

It was a wad of cash.

The staff, hands trembling, accepted the money and numbly handed over a form. It was the form reserved for walk-in guests without prior reservations.

Expressionless, Cha Sahyeon stared down at the form, took the pen, and began filling it out. The fake identity for Cha Sahyeon was registered to someone very young, so instead, he wrote down Cha Seohu’s information.

After submitting the form and receiving the room card without issue, he held Cha Seohu carefully and headed to the elevator.

The staff, who had barely been managing to stay upright, collapsed onto the floor the moment the two disappeared from sight.

‘Wh-what the hell…?’

This was a world ruled by Awakened ones, known as Hunters. They were overwhelmingly powerful compared to ordinary people and could be found anywhere—even at small, remote hotels like this one.

But that young man… he was different from any Hunter the staff had ever encountered. There was something about him that stirred a primal fear deep within. Like standing in front of a starving beast, his body wouldn’t stop trembling.

He took several deep breaths, silently praying he wouldn’t run into them again tomorrow.

***

Meanwhile, in the elevator, Cha Sahyeon checked the room number on the keycard and headed down the hall.

When he opened the door with the card, a clean, neatly organized room greeted him. It was smaller than the hotel room he’d once visited with Cha Seohu, but it wasn’t bad. Most importantly, it had a bed. What Cha Seohu needed most right now was a soft, warm place to rest his exhausted body.

First, he gently laid Cha Seohu down on the couch. Then he soaked a towel in warm water. He carefully removed Cha Seohu’s torn and blood-stained clothes and began wiping his body clean. From his sweat-drenched face, down his torso, all the way to the tips of his feet—Cha Sahyeon took great care, using the towel generously to clean every inch. He was already familiar with Cha Seohu’s body, having bathed with him many times before.

Once his body was clean, he changed him into a bathrobe and laid him on the bed. After pulling the blanket over him, his expression visibly relaxed. It seemed to be working.

As he gently wiped Cha Seohu’s feverish face with a fresh towel, Cha Sahyeon thought to himself.

‘Is this what caregiving is?’

Tending to someone’s injured body and watching over them until they healed—he’d only ever read about the concept. Doing it himself was harder than he’d imagined.

‘Brother took care of me like this, too.’

Though his mind had been foggy from the high fever, the worried look in his brother’s eyes and the gentle hand on his forehead remained vivid in his memory.

The weak are useless. The useless are discarded. At that time, Cha Sahyeon had been weaker and more useless than anyone.

Cha Seohu had been on the run from those who called themselves “brothers.” And even in that situation, he hadn’t abandoned Cha Sahyeon, the useless one—he had taken care of him…

“…I really do like him.” The tips of his ears, visible beneath his hair, turned red. Smiling brightly, Cha Sahyeon leaned his cheek against Cha Seohu’s hand and whispered, “I really, really like you.”