The Guild Master of Black Lotus
The guild I currently lead, Trinity, was originally a major guild headed by my older sister, the S-class hunter Seong Hanna. These days it's a shabby little outfit that Baek Soyun and I barely keep afloat with nothing but a signboard, but back then... it probably ranked among the top three in Korea.
Around the same time, Kang Yewon was making a name for herself as a promising rookie in the guild called Black Lotus. One day, after she and my sister ended up clearing a gate together, they kept in touch and eventually became close enough to call each other best friends. She and I were on friendly terms too, speaking casually with each other, until that incident happened... and everything fell apart.
"Yewon noona, hey, could you let go of that for a second... ugh!"
"Why should I?"
"...People are watching, you know."
The sight of one guild master grabbing another by the collar and slamming him against the wall was certainly a rare spectacle. Every Association employee passing by was staring. But Kang Yewon wore an expression that said she couldn't care less if a dog was barking, completely ignoring the attention.
"So you do know what embarrassment feels like. Is that why you've been strutting around the Association with that shameless face?"
"........."
"That expression of yours is truly disgusting... How dare you make a face like that? You, of all people?"
The hand gripping my collar tightened sharply before slowly loosening. In Kang Yewon's eyes as she stared at me burned fierce anger... and an unmistakable sorrow. Because I understood that pain all too well, I didn't bother resisting her.
"Just get lost already."
"...Yewon noona."
She, too, never went beyond venting her anger on me. Because no matter what she did, Hanna noona wasn't coming back.
"Didn't you hear me tell you to get lost? Never mind. I'll just leave myself."
Kang Yewon shot me one last glare, then turned on her heel and started walking away down the corridor. Watching her retreating figure... a single thought suddenly occurred to me.
She was currently riding a wave of impressive results as the guild master of Black Lotus, successfully leading the organization for several years now. If anyone could give me advice on my problem, it would be her.
"Yewon noona, wait a moment... Noona!"
I carefully caught her wrist to stop her since she wouldn't slow down even when I called out. Immediately, a fist flew toward my face. I stood there without even trying to block it.
"...You crazy bastard."
Kang Yewon stopped her fist just before it connected with my face. Her fist trembled for a moment before she finally pulled it back, clicking her tongue.
"Call me whatever you want. I just... I just want to talk with you for a little while. ...Is that really not possible?"
Meeting her purple eyes, I swallowed hard.
"Thank you for agreeing to listen even though it was so sudden."
We had moved to a café on the first floor of the Association and were now sitting across from each other with one cup of coffee between us in complete silence. The atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it would be awkward even between two men.
"I never said I'd listen. I just said I'd sit here for a moment while you ramble."
Kang Yewon snapped coldly, then slipped off her leather jacket and hung it beside her. This revealed her upper body, smoothly wrapped in a tight black sleeveless turtleneck. Her well-toned shoulders and slender arms were boldly displayed, while the fabric clinging tightly hinted at firm yet feminine curves beneath. Thanks to that, the volume of her chest and the overall shape of her figure were heavily emphasized, but rather than seeming lewd, the impression was more that of a refreshing, confident older sister.
"So, how's Soyun doing these days?"
"She's working as my secretary now. Even when I told her she could go to another guild, she chose to stay."
"...What an idiot."
Kang Yewon gazed out the window with a distant look, as if recalling the past, then finally met my eyes, ready to listen. It was a meeting that could only be described as coincidence, or perhaps fate. A powerful intuition told me that if I didn't speak now, I might never get another chance. My mouth moved on its own.
"There's something I'd like to consult you about, Yewon noona."
Kang Yewon blinked at me, then glanced outside again. After that, she stared at me with an expression that suggested she might have misheard.
"Consult? With me?"
"...Yes."
I told Kang Yewon everything that had happened at the previous A-class gate. How the Iron Fist guild members had formed a solid party and followed us to the gate that had been secretly commissioned to us. Kwon Taeho's testimony that they had obtained the information from the Hunter Association. My speculation that high-ranking Association officials seemed to be targeting me and the prisoner unit. And how I had come here today to confront the Association president about it.
Even while I spoke, Kang Yewon mostly stared out at the people passing by, only half-listening. When I finally finished and took a sip of coffee to wet my throat, she turned a skeptical gaze toward me.
"So what you're saying is, information about the Hunter Supervisory Department and the prisoner unit leaked from the Association... and it seems even the president didn't know about it?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"The prisoner unit is a group that even the government is keeping an eye on right now. The Association is the same. The fact that someone leaked information specifically to sabotage the prisoner unit... suggests there's an executive moving against both the government's and the Association's interests."
Kang Yewon tapped her fingers in the air for a moment, then continued.
"Right now, there's no group that would benefit from openly antagonizing the prisoner unit. North Korea? China? Russia? No, those countries are all too busy dealing with their own internal affairs. And it's not like an S-class guild would take such a reckless risk just to maintain its position..."
"But they must have done it because they stand to gain something."
"What could that gain possibly be...? ...I have a bad feeling about this. This isn't something we can just brush off as minor."
Watching her stroke her chin, I cautiously voiced the thought that had suddenly occurred to me.
"Would the Black Lotus guild... be willing to take our side? My side, I mean, the prisoner unit's?"
"...What the hell kind of insane nonsense is that?"
"To be honest, our prisoner unit is still in no position to even properly solidify our internal structure. The two of them don't coordinate their breathing at all, and their skills are still lacking compared to active S-class hunters. In a situation like that, being targeted by an unknown enemy is—"
Kang Yewon raised her hand to cut me off.
"...Normally, when there's an S-class hunter, other hunters naturally gather around them. The existence of an S-class almost inevitably creates a faction."
"But—"
"Your prisoner unit is different. Those S-class hunters are basically on borrowed time. Who in their right mind would attach themselves to S-class hunters who could be thrown back in prison at any moment, especially by making an enemy of high-ranking Association officials whose intentions aren't even clear? Even without those ridiculous rumors about you."
"........."
"And from what you've told me, those girls Calathea and Audrey seem to have completely lost their minds. They're not just on a time limit, they're walking time bombs. Under those conditions."
"That's exactly why I'm asking you, noona."
"Me? What, did you think I'd help just because of 'old times' sake? Don't talk shit. Even now, I want to rip that tongue out of your mouth for casually spouting such nonsense."
"But you haven't ripped it out, have you?"
"......Ha."
Kang Yewon let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I know you hate me, Yewon noona... But right now, you're the only person I can think of who might help. In this desperate situation where I'm being targeted by someone whose identity and purpose I don't even know—"
"Desperate situation, huh. I saw the news this morning, you know? You looked like you were having quite a good time with those pretty girls with amazing bodies on either side of you."
"T-that's..."
Having spent last night in bed having my manhood taken turns sucking by Calathea and Audrey, I couldn't find any words to refute her and simply shut my mouth.
"Besides, what kind of compensation can you offer for the risk we'd take by siding with you?"
"That... I'll think about it later..."
"In other words, you have no idea."
Kang Yewon stared at me with a look of pure disdain.
"Yohan, if you're going to make a proposal like this, you need to come with a plan that can actually persuade me and clear written terms. Even if we knew each other before, this is a matter between guilds. The fact that I'm even considering helping you fill the void left by Hanna unni is already far more than most people would ever do."
She was right. I had been far too hasty. The moment I realized some high-ranking Association official was targeting us, I had grown impatient, run into Kang Yewon, asked for advice, and then impulsively grabbed onto her coattails thinking she might be the answer. Of course she was hostile toward me right now... but I knew from past memories that she was fundamentally a good person.
"......Fine."
And my judgment hadn't been wrong.
"What does that mean...?"
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying I've forgiven you."
Kang Yewon's fingers tapped the table irritably before suddenly stopping.
"I'm doing this for Hanna unni. ...If she were here, she definitely would have asked me to help you."
"......Thank you."
"However, there are conditions."
"Conditions...?"
"Suck it."
As if it were the most casual thing in the world, Kang Yewon spoke in a languid voice and held out her long, slender finger right in front of my mouth. Her decadent purple eyes watched me with clear mockery, as if asking whether I would really accept such humiliation.
Did this noona have tastes like this...? But not only was she Kang Yewon, I was in a position where I might need to build even more allies in the future. I couldn't back down from this spot over something as trivial as her strange preference. Besides, this wasn't just about me... it involved Calathea and Audrey as well.
...Damn it.
The Black Lotus guild that Kang Yewon led was a mid-sized guild that rivaled the major ones, with an extremely solid foundation. Kang Yewon herself had been skilled enough during her active hunter days to join S-class gate clearing parties. If I could secure both her and Black Lotus as definite allies... this much was definitely a cheap price to pay.
If I could just endure a little humiliation.
"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to do it?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, I took Kang Yewon's elegantly extended finger into my mouth.
"There we go. Suck it properly now."
With her purple eyes half-lidded in languid pleasure and the corners of her lips twisted into a smile, she treated me exactly like a dog. Awkwardly, I touched her finger once with my tongue.
The cool, hard foreign sensation inside my warm mouth... Even as the sound of my pounding heart rang in my ears, Kang Yewon watched me without blinking. With a gaze that seemed to be testing me, her face strangely flushed, she simply left her finger in my mouth as if entrusting it to me.
"Yes, like that..."
I took her slender, good-smelling finger fully into my mouth and began slowly moving my tongue. Savoring the faint mix of perfume and soap, I traced the smooth lines of her finger with the tip of my tongue, feeling every texture. It was as if the shape of her finger was being etched clearly into my mind. From the delicate base, to the beautifully protruding knuckles, to the straight length and the neat nail at the tip...
Even while overwhelmed by the sense that I was doing something strange and dangerous, my instincts diligently licked her finger.
".........♡"
Watching me, Kang Yewon let out a long sigh filled with a strange heat.
"...That's enough."
She slowly withdrew her finger from my mouth, never once looking away. It was as if she were observing every single one of my reactions...
"You really must be desperate for help if you're willing to go this far."
She casually wiped her saliva-coated finger with a handkerchief, then neatly folded it and slipped it into her pocket.
"Alright. Now I'll tell you the real condition."
"...Wasn't that the condition just now?"
"What a joke. Did you really think I'd risk not only myself but my entire guild to jump beside a walking time bomb over something that trivial?"
She gave a small laugh as she watched my face turn bright red with embarrassment. In that smile, I caught a glimpse of the same pure smile she used to have.
"As you know, we hunters always speak with results. So you'll have to prove it the same way. That your prisoner unit is worth staking the future of me and the Black Lotus guild on."
"Which means...?"
"It seems you took two S-class hunters into one A-class gate last time. What I demand is for you and one S-class to clear A-class gates together. Fifteen of them. Within one month."
"Clear fifteen A-class gates in one month? As you know, we've only just cleared one A-class gate for the first time...!"
"They're S-class, remember. They're in a completely separate category because normal ranking standards can't even measure them. If you can't manage it with two of them, then that just means you and those S-class hunters have reached your limit."
Kang Yewon observed me with half-lidded eyes and took a sip of her coffee.
...Let's think about this.
During the last A-class gate clear, when Calathea had casually blown off the head of the boss monster, it seemed that while they might not match active S-class hunters, clearing A-class gates alone was definitely possible. The problem was that gates weren't always so straightforward, and there were scheduling and stamina issues to consider. It meant each of them would have to destroy one A-class gate every four days. If one of them got injured and had to rest for several days, it could result in game over depending on the situation. Even for S-class hunters, maintaining a perfect clear streak with their current sense of real combat wouldn't be easy. Especially not for me, who had to keep up with them.
...But I'm the one asking her and her guild to bet their future on me, knowing they might end up antagonizing the Association.
"If you can't do it—"
"I'll accept those conditions."
Kang Yewon's gaze turned toward me with clear interest.
"You don't want to negotiate the terms?"
"There's no benefit in showing weakness to you, Yewon noona."
"You say that right after licking my finger."
"T-that was..."
"Well, you don't have to think about it too negatively. While you're busy clearing gates, the people targeting the prisoner unit will also have to hold back—"
Leaning one arm lazily over the back of her chair, she watched my flushed face and chuckled. She was about to say something more to me when her gaze suddenly shifted to somewhere behind me.
And then.
"Get under the table, quickly."
"What? Suddenly what—"
"Hide before they see you."
Before I knew it, Kang Yewon had forced me under the table. For a moment I crouched there in the cramped space, staring at her long, slender legs stretched out in front of me, completely confused. A 'dark curtain' suddenly wrapped around the underside of the table where I was hiding, and at the same time—
"Where the hell did that rat Seong Yohan run off to?!"
The furious roar of Gu Sangcheol, the guild master of Iron Fist—who had been thoroughly humiliated by Audrey—echoed through the café.