Chapter 61

“I have zero intention of sending you alone, so stop fussing over pointless worries and get ready to go.”

“You’re coming with me?” Eui-rim asked.

“He didn’t specify that you had to come alone, Eui-rim-ssi. Which means how many people accompany you is none of his business. Besides, shouldn’t I see firsthand how the negotiation unfolds?”

Hae-gun gave a nonchalant shrug, a crooked smile touching his lips. Shifting his finger from Eui-rim’s forehead to playfully poke his cheek, he added, “Even if you aren’t an official guild member, you’re still the one who signed a support contract with me. As long as that contract remains in effect, we naturally move together.”

“…”

“No matter where that may be.”

By the time Eui-rim finished breakfast with Hae-gun and arrived at the hospital where Kim Si-hoon was admitted, it was barely past nine in the morning.

Security here was far tighter than at the clinic where the other healer had been admitted, likely because victims whose debuffs had yet to be lifted were still quarantined within.

Glancing at the conference room door, Eui-rim rolled up his sleeves several times. Hae-gun had claimed the borrowed clothes fit him decently, but the S-rank’s frame was infuriatingly broad, leaving both the shirt and trousers hanging baggily on Eui-rim. The hem was so unmanageable he had been forced to fold the cuffs inward, pin them with safety pins, and cinch the waist tight with a belt.

Shooting a subtle glare at the clothes’ owner, Eui-rim caught sight of Hae-gun already sporting a white mask. Right up until the Association staff escorted them down the hall, he had definitely been wearing the black one. Had he experienced some sudden change of heart? Behind the white fabric, his eyes gleamed with mischievous amusement.

“You’re going with the white one?” Eui-rim whispered.

“Yes.”

Was it because his guild members had reacted with such horror earlier? The fleeting thought that in an onlooker’s eyes, he and Hae-gun might resemble a couple flaunting matching accessories made Eui-rim’s face burn hot.

“Do you not like it?” Hae-gun asked.

“I was just reminded of how appalled Ahn Moonhyuk and the Vice Guild Master looked,” Eui-rim replied. “I’m worried someone might look down on you.”

“Look down on me? You don’t mean Kim Si-hoon, do you?”

“Yes.”

“You worry about the strangest things,” Hae-gun murmured.

Right on cue, Hae-gun’s tinted brown lenses crinkled with amusement. In a flash, he reached out, cupped Eui-rim’s cheek, and gently gave it a fond pinch as if teasing a child.

What the—!

“It’s not good to make a habit of holding your breath,” Hae-gun noted.

When Eui-rim drew a startled breath at the sudden intimacy, Hae-gun’s fingers trailed down from his cheek, lightly brushing the ridge of his collarbone.

Did he eat something bad for breakfast? What is wrong with him today? Treating me like some puppy…

“W-What the hell?!”

A booming roar shattered the quiet of the conference room. Startled by the sudden intrusion, Eui-rim whirled toward the door.

His face contorted like a furious demon, Kim Si-hoon glared at the two of them, panting with ragged fury.

“Fuck, Kang Eui-rim! Get the hell away from that bastard right this second!” Si-hoon bellowed.

Why is he picking a fight the second he lays eyes on me?

Eui-rim quickly scanned the room. Fortunately, there were no loose objects for him to hurl. Seeing that the table and chairs were bolted firmly into the floor, the Association had clearly taken precautions before setting up the negotiation table.

So that’s why they arranged a conference room instead of his hospital suite. To keep an agitated Kim Si-hoon from unleashing his aura indoors.

Well, if push came to shove, Eui-rim intended to freeze time and slip away regardless.

“I knew it. I knew something was rotten the second you started blabbering about quitting as a healer,” Si-hoon sneered.

Muttering venomously under his breath, he looked like a man possessed by a malevolent spirit. Striding over with bloodshot eyes, he seized Eui-rim and Hae-gun by their shoulders, violently trying to shove them apart.

“Whining about mana depletion and whatever else—you just wanted to fool around like this, didn’t you? Flirting with some sugar daddy and living the easy life?”

Unlike Eui-rim, however, Hae-gun did not budge an inch. Standing like a granite wall, he narrowed his eyes, radiating an icy, crushing aura that cooled the air.

“Affiliated with Cheongho Guild, my ass… There’s no way in hell you became a member with just some piss-poor mental barrier! Cheongho isn’t some damn day-care any random nobody can waltz into! How could someone like you get in? Playing innocent when you went to meet the Cheongho Guild Master—you went there to seduce him, didn’t you? And how did you hook this ajussi? Fuck, if you were going to spread your legs like this, why did you play so hard to get with me?!”

Did this bastard fail to get his debuff cleansed properly? Between the crimson veins spiderwebbing his sclera and the unhinged drivel spewing from his lips, he looked completely off his rocker.

“I believe I was told he was in stable condition,” Hae-gun remarked dryly.

“What?!” Si-hoon snapped.

Hae-gun seemed to share Eui-rim’s diagnosis, his tone carrying a razor edge directed at the Association staff member. Ignoring Kim Si-hoon entirely, he addressed the official.

“Take your hands off him before you speak, Guild Master Kim,” Hae-gun said, his voice dropping into a chilling command.

“Back off, ajussi! You’re not even involved in this, so why the fuck did you crawl in here bossing me around?”

At such close range, the man’s hot, ragged breath blasted over Eui-rim’s face, driving his revulsion through the roof.

“The debuff itself was cleared, but owing to neurological aftereffects, he experiences severe emotional volatility,” the staff member stammered, rushing forward to defuse the confrontation.

Even though the Association’s cardinal rule was non-interference in inter-guild disputes, standing by while an S-rank proxy and an unstable A-rank collided was a disaster waiting to happen.

Eui-rim watched Kim Si-hoon pivot the crosshairs of his rage onto the trembling employee.

I could tell his temper was worse than usual. So even an A-rank vanguard couldn’t escape the lingering psychosis of the debuff. This was going to be a massive headache.

Still, knowing Kim Si-hoon was mentally compromised meant there was no reason to panic. Tedious though it would be, wrapping up the negotiation as swiftly as possible was the only goal.

Tap, tap.

Eui-rim lightly patted the hand clamped onto his shoulder, drawing those wild, bloodshot eyes back toward him.

Letting out a measured sigh, Eui-rim said, “My shoulder hurts, Guild Master Kim. Please calm down and take a seat. We have a great deal to discuss, don’t we?”

“Look at you. You used to cringe away, but now touching people comes fucking naturally to you. What kind of dirty tricks have you been learning on the side, huh?”

Just what kind of hallucinations drive a man this insane? Eui-rim felt a pang of genuine pity for the low-ranking hunters who had joined White Noise simply because they had nowhere else to turn.

Throwing his hands up in mock surrender, Kim Si-hoon retreated to his chair with a sneering laugh. Moments ago he had looked ready to tear the walls down, yet his temperament swung like a pendulum.

“Fine. First, get rid of anyone who isn’t a concerned party. We’ll talk after that.”

“I am very much a concerned party,” Hae-gun interjected.

Having observed the tantrum in silence, Hae-gun spoke up. The icy glare he had leveled at Kim Si-hoon’s hand was gone, replaced by an expression of serene mockery.

“I am here as the direct representative of Cheongho’s Guild Master.”

“You? Cheongho’s representative, ajussi?”

Kim Si-hoon snorted derisively, leveling an accusatory finger at Hae-gun.

“Cut the crap. Counting the Guild Master, there are only six active members in that guild. You think I wouldn’t recognize them?”

“Guild Master Kim, actually, that gentleman is—” the staff member tried to intervene.

“Or you may consider me Hunter Kang Eui-rim’s legal counsel,” Hae-gun cut in smoothly. “Cheongho retains far more external legal partners than you might realize.”

The employee’s attempt to reveal the truth died in his throat as Hae-gun neatly talked over him, deliberately keeping the farce alive.

Catching the panicked gaze of the Association official, Eui-rim subtly shook his head. If Hae-gun had chosen not to reveal his true face, contradicting him would only cause chaos.

“Then why the hell were you fondling his face earlier? Since when does being a legal proxy give you the right to grope a contracted healer?” Si-hoon demanded.

“Colleagues who are close can certainly do that much,” Hae-gun countered smoothly.

“What?!”

Hae-gun chuckled low in his throat and turned back to Eui-rim. Reaching out with deliberate languor, he cupped Eui-rim’s chin once more, resting his index finger beneath his jaw while stroking the soft curve of his skin with his thumb—a touch far more intimate and possessive than before.

“And if there happens to be something on his chin, I have every right to wipe it away.”

“Ah, fuck! This perverted bastard is really—!” Si-hoon shrieked, slamming his fist onto the table.

“Ahem.”

Realizing this absurd spectacle would escalate indefinitely, Eui-rim cleared his throat, snapping the attention of all three men toward him.

“Counsel,” Eui-rim prompted firmly. Playing along with the charade, he gave Hae-gun a warning look, prompting the S-rank to withdraw his hand with a faint, amused glimmer in his eyes.

“Healer Kang,” Kim Si-hoon growled.