Though Ju-eon had dated Myung-hwon for a long time, there were still some areas of his life he couldn’t step into. Myung-hwon was always the ideal lover. He acted rationally and was always considerate.

“…But you said you wanted to see her.”

Just once. When Myung-hwon was severely ill after awakening as an esper, Ju-eon heard his inner thoughts.

“Ju-eon. Did you think I’d be touched by this later?”

“…Your mother must have had her reasons.”

“I!”

Myung-hwon raising his voice was unfamiliar.

“I said I don’t care what the reasons are.”

“Can’t you at least listen to them?”

“No.”

At the firm answer, Ju-eon squeezed his eyes shut. Was it his unnecessary meddling? Neither of them had done anything wrong. But even if unintentional, one had caused hurt, and the other had been hurt.

Because she lost her family in a car accident at once, because it seemed wrong to let them part with misunderstandings, he only paid the hospital bills. Doing anything more felt like deceiving Myung-hwon, so he just did the minimum. But even with restraint, it was just meddling, and only gave Myung-hwon another wound.

Ju-eon got up and hugged Myung-hwon with all his strength. The smell of alcohol stung his nose. Now he understood why Myung-hwon was being emotional and showing his true feelings unlike usual.

“I’m sorry, Myung-hwon. I won’t do it again. I guess I only thought about it from my perspective.”

“Ha….”

Myung-hwon wrapped his large arms tightly around Ju-eon’s shoulders. Though his brow furrowed at the painfully tight grip, he didn’t push him away.

“Why did you drink so much? It’s bad for your body.”

“…Because you didn’t come.”

His hot breath touched Ju-eon’s neck. He loved these moments when Myung-hwon, who usually seemed impenetrable, showed his vulnerabilities.

“I told you I only need you.”

Myung-hwon rested his face on Ju-eon’s shoulder. His breathing soon became regular, as if he hadn’t been able to sleep properly.

Ju-eon stroked Myung-hwon’s hair. Each time his fingers caught in the neat strands, his vision blurred with an inexplicable sadness.

‘Even if you get tired of me, even if we become old grandpas, I won’t let you go until the end.’

Only then did it hit him.

“Sorry….”

The fact that his future with Myung-hwon, whom he loved with all his might, would be very short.

The apology that had nowhere to go dissipated into the air.

**

Long-term couples have several reasons for maintaining their relationship, and one of them is not mentioning things that could cause major problems if brought up. Thus, yesterday’s events implicitly became non-existent.

Whether because he was too drunk to remember, or because he remembered but didn’t want to talk about it, neither of them mentioned yesterday’s events first.

Despite going to work together after a long time, no conversation passed between them. When he sighed softly, the air turned whitish due to the cold weather.

Sleeping together, waking up together, going to work together – he couldn’t remember how long it had been, and he felt butterflies after such a long time. Still feeling Myung-hwon’s arms that had wrapped around him all night, Ju-eon blushed and smiled slightly.

He wrapped his clothes tightly against the wind seeping through them. He could feel his body getting worse with each passing minute. Even just the touch of wind made his skin sting.

They became lovers as soon as they entered high school, and now it had been almost 9 years, but just being beside him still made him happy.

But regardless of Ju-eon’s happiness, Myung-hwon didn’t say anything, perhaps in a low mood. Though he felt they had grown used to each other’s silences, today the silence between them felt especially heavy.

“Myung-hwon. I’m sorry about yesterday.”

Only after getting in the elevator did Ju-eon finally speak. Though Myung-hwon seemed unwilling to talk about yesterday, Ju-eon didn’t want to just pass over his mistake. While not mentioning the incident again, it was right to apologize.

“…Okay.”

“But you know.”

“What?”

“If I can’t contact you in the future, there will be a good reason… please understand.”

“…Is it because of work? Will it happen often?”

He had explained away his unreachability during his hospital stay as being on an urgent business trip. Though Myung-hwon seemed to misunderstand because he’d added that he couldn’t contact anyone at the location due to security clearance, Ju-eon didn’t bother correcting him.

“You did the same thing.”

“……”

Ju-eon bit his lower lip. Had he wanted Myung-hwon to promise not to do it again? Realizing Myung-hwon’s true feelings hidden in the sharp retort, Ju-eon smiled bitterly.

“I’m not trying to argue. I’m just saying this in case, for later. Please just understand that one time.”

Though cowardly, Ju-eon would break their promises in the future. He wanted to receive even a little forgiveness now. Though he knew breaking up would be better, he just couldn’t say the words. Myung-hwon furrowed his brow at Ju-eon’s words.

“Woo Ju-eon.”

“Yes?”

“You… do you have something going on lately? Like getting calls from someone. Something like that?”

“No. Nothing. Why?”

“Never mind. It’s nothing.”

Ding.

Myung-hwon shook his head as if satisfied and left the elevator first, heading to the office. Though Ju-eon wanted to ask more, he took out his pill bottle at the sudden onset of pain. Hurriedly swallowing pills without water left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Entering the office slightly later than Myung-hwon, he ran into Kang No-hun, who was making coffee with a tired expression by the water purifier next to the door.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Team Leader.”

Glancing over No-hun’s shoulder, he saw Lee Ho-yun next to Myung-hwon.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the team dinner.”

“I heard you went on an urgent business trip? They say you were the only one who could go with him since you hadn’t left work yet. Did you get good special pay?”

“Well. Enough.”

“Shouldn’t you treat us then?”

No-hun smiled contentedly as if just imagining it made him happy.

“I’ll treat everyone next time. And, Team Leader, could I request a meeting with you?”

No-hun, who had been joking and smiling, paused briefly. Ju-eon smiled awkwardly at his attitude that seemed conscious of Myung-hwon behind him.

“…Is it urgent? Or something important?”

“Not really.”

“Then I have some time now. Want some coffee?”

“Yes. I’ll make it.”

No-hun scratched the back of his head and seemed to think for a moment before gesturing Ju-eon to follow him to the empty office.

After closing the door and sitting down, No-hun asked in a serious voice. Ju-eon had never requested a meeting first. For such a person to request a meeting first thing after arriving at work.

“Did something happen?”

Ju-eon, sitting across from No-hun, waved his hands.

“Nothing happened. It’s just that Ho-yun seems to be doing well, so I’d like to finish the handover a bit earlier.”

“Are you upset with our team about something?”

No-hun crossed his arms and recalled recent events. There were certainly things to be upset about. He had planned to comfort and resolve things at the team dinner, but Ju-eon couldn’t come. No-hun sighed while pressing his fingers between his brows. Ju-eon quickly shook his head.

“No, it’s not that.”

He just wanted Attack Team 1 to remember him as someone who wasn’t sick.

“Alright. I’ll talk to Ho-yun and Myung-hwon about it.”

“Thank you.”

“…You’re really not upset?”

No-hun asked again in an anxious voice. He seemed to still be worried about having put Ho-yun as Myung-hwon’s guide after he joined.

“No.”

“Right. You’re not the type to let personal feelings affect work.”

“Ah. And could you keep my request secret?”

“Why?”

“Others might misunderstand like you did, Team Leader. I can’t go around explaining to everyone.”

“Well. Alright.”

No-hun finally relaxed his expression and patted Ju-eon’s shoulder. Ju-eon took a sip of coffee. The coffee that had cooled slightly tasted more bitter than usual.

**

At 1 PM, Attack Team 1 headed to the B-class dungeon that had appeared in Dobong-gu, Seoul a week ago.

Though not very high-ranked, it was a large dungeon so Attack Team 1 was assigned. While individual monster abilities were low, the dungeon’s vast size made stamina important.

Despite walking for a while, only a few small monsters had appeared, with no sign of higher-ranked ones.

Cold sweat poured like rain. Sensing signs of a seizure at the dungeon entrance, he chewed and swallowed his pills. He secretly clutched his constricting chest area, swallowing the pain.

“Are you okay, Ju-eon?”

“…Yes. I’m fine. Maybe lunch isn’t sitting well.”

Ju-eon straightened his back at No-hun’s question. Though he tried to act natural, his pale complexion and flowing cold sweat revealed his condition.

“Should we stop for a moment?”

“I’m fine.”

Just hold on a bit longer. If this was how he was despite coming fully prepared, what if they had to respond to an emergency? Ju-eon shook his head at the dizzying thought.

In that brief hesitation, Myung-hwon sensed something strange.

“Wait.”

At Myung-hwon’s words, with his excellent sensing ability, everyone instantly took battle positions. That’s when it happened.

Shhhh-

A lizard-like monster that had been hiding in the darkness quickly approached along the wall. Each time its huge feet hit the ground, the dungeon shook. A monster that had been hiding in the swamp, not the wall, also leaped and attacked simultaneously.