Quest (5)
“What do you think is out there?”
“Well… I’d say there’s probably something a lot tastier than the food they serve in here.”
“Hrrrgh….”
“There’s probably something you’d like out there too, Deokgu.”
“Hngh….”
“…”
“…”
“I’m telling you, I’m fine.”
The people trading remarks fell strangely silent.
It had become an annual event by now.
Jung Hayan came into view, staring at me blankly before once again failing to hold back her tears. They spilled down her cheeks in thick drops.
She wasn’t reacting with the same fevered intensity she had at first, but every time I saw those fat tears pattering down like chicken feed, I couldn’t help feeling a little odd.
Still, the situation wasn’t bad.
Kim Jaejun and Jung Jinho were reading the room and trying to keep their heads down.
Even while everyone was exchanging halfhearted conversation to keep the mood at the party from sinking too low, Jung Hayan kept bursting into tears like this, and there was no way the atmosphere wouldn’t turn a little grave.
Anyone watching would have thought the one who’d died was me, not Lee Gicheol.
In fact, it had become routine for Jung Hayan to glare daggers at Kim Jaejun.
I didn’t even have a clear sense of how uncomfortable that must make him.
By now, they were the ones who had to crawl around and flatter us.
With Lee Gicheol’s unexpected accident, the balance of power that had been holding this place together had collapsed.
Jung Jinho’s party looked as though they had practically given up on hunting us down.
They’d decided it was better to finish the dungeon in a straightforward way unless they truly believed a chance had come.
If I were them, I’d have done the same.
If I’d been in Jung Jinho’s shoes, I would have called off the plan to kill Kim Hyunsung’s party altogether.
That was exactly why they reacted so sensitively to even the slightest friction.
“I’m truly sorry.”
“Not at all, Jinho. It’s a bit embarrassing, actually. The truth is, I’m not the one in a position to keep receiving apologies.”
The fact that they kept apologizing like this made everything obvious.
“I… got carried away.”
“Of course you would. I apologize again as well.”
I had no idea what had passed between them, but whenever Jung Jinho apologized, Kim Jaejun made a point of expressing his own regret too.
The problem was that Jung Hayan’s hostility was slowly, gradually coming to the surface.
“W-why would you do something you should be sorry for….”
She’d started muttering to herself more often, loud enough to be heard.
I worried, briefly, that she might actually spill her real thoughts one day, but she had enough self-control for that.
What was a little amusing was Yoo Seokwoo’s reaction.
“……”
From the moment I first made it clear that I was close to Jung Hayan, he’d seemed displeased.
Sure enough, once Jung Hayan and I started sticking together, he’d worn his discomfort on his face.
Especially now, with her crying so hard her eyes were swollen shut, he seemed to take it as proof of how Jung Hayan felt about me.
Yoo Seokwoo….
At the end of the day, he was nothing more and nothing less than a sex offender as far as Jung Hayan was concerned.
In truth, since he’d only failed in the attempt, it was fair to say he was one of the more ridiculous people present here.
Given what he’d done before, it wasn’t exactly shocking that he’d wind up running with a gang of criminals, but it seemed Jung Jinho and the others had promised him something.
Maybe that was why he’d belatedly picked up a job and been tagging along with them to gain experience.
For instance, Jung Hayan.
He must have been excited at the thought that, if everything went well, he’d get the woman he loved, but now that the whole plan looked like it was about to be canceled, I could understand why he was shooting me jealous looks.
In any case, this party was, at least on the surface, moving in a very pleasant direction.
A beautiful party with minimal conflict, no fighting, and no trouble.
All of that harmony had been created because Jung Jinho and Kim Jaejun were practically eating dirt in front of us, but unfortunately, I had no desire to spend my time giggling and exchanging pleasantries with those bastards.
Kim Hyunsung seemed to be thinking about something from time to time, and as far as I was concerned, I hoped it wasn’t how to dispose of Jung Jinho.
They were the murderers who had killed Park Hyeyoung, and I thought it would be only right for them to die here.
Still, if I thought about Kim Hyunsung’s reaction the first time he’d seen Jung Jinho, the odds of that were practically nonexistent.
Jung Jinho, Yoo Seokwoo, and Kim Jaejun were still wearing masks.
If we made the first move here, the one who’d be branded insane was obviously Kim Hyunsung.
He clearly didn’t want to show us his other face—at least not to me, Park Deokgu, or Jung Hayan—so he might well have been waiting for a pretext or an opening.
No, he definitely was.
An opening to kill them, or at least a justification. The times when Kim Hyunsung would occasionally frown like that looked exactly like the sort of thing someone did when they were thinking about such matters.
Should I help him?
Kim Hyunsung looked like he needed help.
He was probably imagining some plausible situation, or something that would separate him from us and leave him alone with them.
For example…
If they attacked first.
Something like that.
That would probably be ideal.
Justice warriors fighting back against a cowardly band of criminals that suddenly launched a sneak attack—yes, that had a nice ring to it.
The only problem was that Jung Jinho and his lackeys, having lost Lee Gicheol, weren’t likely to attack us, but considering that one of them had anger issues and another was a man crazed by jealousy, it wasn’t an impossible situation.
Maybe it would be an absurdly easy job.
After all, provoking people is my specialty.
Especially in Yoo Seokwoo’s case, since he’d only recently joined Jung Jinho’s pack, there was a real chance he’d pull something even Jung Jinho couldn’t predict.
Once a thought becomes a plan, the rest happens in an instant.
For the time being, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to use Jung Hayan and gently scratch at his nerves.
I didn’t have any grand scheme in mind.
“Ah….”
Just.
Physical contact.
That alone should be enough.
“O-oppa….”
Jung Hayan whispered softly.
She sounded a little flustered, but I didn’t bother moving my hand.
Just keeping it at the border between her waist and hip was enough to make her tremble slightly.
Anyone watching might have thought I was using Jung Hayan as a walking support pole.
The only ones likely noticing how ambiguous my hand placement was were Jung Hayan and Yoo Seokwoo.
Not quite the waist, not quite the hip, not quite the butt.
Just holding that awkward in-between line seemed to be enough to get a reaction.
Pfft….
I could feel the anger being aimed my way.
“Ah, Hayan. Sorry….”
“I-it’s okay. You can hold me wherever it’s comfortable….”
“Still.”
“It’s fine….”
Even I found the expression on his face, like a lover had just been stolen from him, thoroughly pathetic.
Even while Kim Hyunsung, Jung Jinho, Park Deokgu, and Kim Jaejun discussed the dungeon, he was staring only at us.
When I let my hand drift a little lower, Jung Hayan dropped her head, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
She really likes this….
I hadn’t expected that reaction, but by contrast, Yoo Seokwoo looked as though his insides were about to turn themselves inside out.
Our eyes met for a brief instant.
Of course, I didn’t forget to smile.
He’d take it to mean, Jealous?
I didn’t need to say it out loud.
Actions and expressions could be excellent tools of conversation sometimes.
“Thanks, Hayan. It’s not too hard on you?”
“Ah! N-no. Compared to how much Oppa helped me, this is nothing.”
He was the one who’d clearly wanted to grab Jung Hayan, touch her, and keep her close while carrying on with that ridiculous cosplay of his.
So of course he’d look like that when he saw me handling her body as though I were kneading dough.
Whether he’d been serious about Jung Hayan or not didn’t really matter.
Thinking about how pathetic he was, though, I could almost believe he had been serious.
Sweet, isn’t it?
He’d planted the seed himself.
And I still had plenty more to show him: the way Jung Hayan looked at me with concern, her sweet voice.
It didn’t sound sweet to me, of course, but I was certain that honeyed tone would dig into his aching chest even deeper.
Hold her hand.
Press bodies together.
Rest a hand on the waist or the shoulder and keep the tension simmering.
The language of the body is a wonderful thing.
It was a way of speaking that provoked sexual tension.
Jung Hayan’s face was already as red as it could possibly get.
Even so, the smile hanging on her lips refused to disappear. Her breathing seemed to be getting rougher and rougher, so I thought I should stop, but…
I couldn’t bring myself to end it.
In the end, since he couldn’t hold back anymore, Yoo Seokwoo spoke up.
“Miss Hayan, you look really tired… I, I can.”
“……”
And then a laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.
Jung Hayan was completely ignoring Yoo Seokwoo.
I could see Yoo Seokwoo’s face turning red for an entirely different reason than Jung Hayan’s.
At the small commotion behind us, Kim Hyunsung, Jung Jinho, and Park Deokgu glanced over.
When Park Deokgu saw Jung Hayan breathing a little harder than before, he immediately spoke.
“Hey, if you’re tired, miss, we can switch out now….”
“Yeah, Hayan. To be honest, you’re not even that badly hurt….”
“Ah! N-no! I-I’ll do it. I’ll… stay… with….”
“Looks like our miss wants to stick close to the boss after all. If you get tired, make sure you say so.”
“Yes.”
Park Deokgu stepped in at just the right moment.
It was as good as indirectly letting them know this was what Jung Hayan wanted, not me.
When I rested my hand on Jung Hayan’s waist and glanced back, our eyes met again.
That grinning smile.
It must have been unbearable for him.
“Sweet, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, Hayan.”
“Yes….”
I could see him trembling.
If he had the slightest self-control, he never would have pulled that stunt back in the Shelter in the first place.
If Jung Jinho had been alone, he might actually have been harder to deal with.
Watching him grip his sword so tightly that it looked like he wanted to run me through with it right then and there, I almost wanted to compliment his restraint.
I couldn’t tell whether he was short on stimulation or simply waiting for an opening, but he probably needed both.
It was when I glanced back once more, still holding Jung Hayan around the waist.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
“Battle ready.”
Just in time, a good opportunity arrived.
With a listless expression, I lifted my spear, and Jung Hayan stepped away for a moment before beginning to chant.
Park Deokgu, Jung Jinho, and Kim Hyunsung all locked their attention on the front.
“Puhuhuh….”
I muttered softly, just loud enough for him to hear.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“Y-you….”
“She was really soft. Our Hayan.”
I kept the corners of my mouth raised, my grinning face never quite stopping.
“There are five of them. We’re preparing for battle! As fast as possible!”
“You son of a bitch!!!”
He drew his sword in an instant.
I could see the blade driving straight toward my stomach and briefly wondered whether I should dodge, but…
Better to take it.
I could survive.
With Jung Hayan’s healing ring, a wound from a sword like this should be recoverable.
With a wet, tearing sound, a nauseating sensation began to spread through me.
“Aaaagh!”
The pain was nothing like being struck in the face.
It was so hot it felt as if I’d been seared with fire, and before I knew it, a scream tore out of my throat.
Of course everyone’s attention snapped toward us.
Jung Jinho and Kim Jaejun both looked blankly bewildered, though they understood that something had happened.
Yoo Seokwoo had stabbed me.
I was a little worried Jung Jinho might decide Yoo Seokwoo was insane and throw him away on the spot, but…
The loud shout he let out made me realize my worry had been pointless.
“I-I did it! I did it, Jinho hyung! Jaejun hyung! I got this bastard!”
For the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings, his voice was far too proud.
At the very least, one of Jung Jinho’s cards was a complete land mine.