VSP 22

Jeong Siwoo, 23 years old. Mental-type. His foxlike face was marked by a beauty mark under his left eye. He stopped when he saw Sejun, then smiled softly, eyes folding as he always did.

“Oh, hello hyung.”

“Uh… hi.”

They hadn’t exchanged a word for the past few months, but since they had suddenly run into each other alone on the stairs, it would have been awkward to ignore him. So he greeted Sejun with a smile.

Sejun gave a reluctant greeting back. It wasn’t because he disliked Jeong Siwoo, it was just so awkward to talk again after such a long time.

Jeong Siwoo looked at the two drinks and the cake box in Sejun’s hands and tilted his head.

“Are you going to drink all that yourself?”

“Huh? Ah.”

Normally, anyone seeing that would think he had bought it for someone else, but since Jeong Siwoo had spoken to him after such a long time, Sejun unconsciously showed kindness.

“No, not all. …Do you want one?”

“Wow, really? Thanks.”

Without refusing, Jeong Siwoo immediately reached out toward him.

For some reason, Sejun handed him the lemonade he had bought for Cha Dogyeong, thinking he probably wouldn’t run into him anyway. And Ryu Sehyun would likely prefer the vanilla latte over lemonade.

It was absolutely not because seeing the lemonade reminded him of that kiss that day. Absolutely not!

“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it~ Sehyun-hyung is in his office.”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jeong Siwoo said with a bright smile as he walked off holding the lemonade.

Sejun naturally passed him and continued up to the second floor, tilting his head.

Wait, did I ever tell Jeong Siwoo I was meeting Ryu Sehyun?

[Maybe because the only person you would come to the Association to meet is Hunter Ryu Sehyun.]

“Is that so?”

[Unfortunately, it’s true.]

That made sense. The only hunter Seo Sejun could really call a friend was Ryu Sehyun. It wasn’t something to be hurt about. Sejun headed straight to Ryu Sehyun’s office.

“Hm.”

After going down to the first floor, Jeong Siwoo glanced for a moment at Sejun’s back going upstairs, then looked at the lemonade in his hand.

“Should I call this clueless?”

He smirked, then tossed the lemonade into a nearby trash can without hesitation. The yellow drink spilled inside, soaking the bin in an instant.

•••

As always, Ryu Sehyun was buried in paperwork in his office. Before he became Association President, he had always been running wild inside dungeons, but after becoming president, he was always calm, focused on work. Watching that often gave Sejun a strange feeling. Like now.

“What’s with the coffee?”

Ryu Sehyun tilted his head when he saw Sejun bring coffee. Sejun, staring wearily at him buried in a mountain of documents, set one remaining cup down on his desk.

“Ah, it’s for you, hyung.”

“That’s not like you. Why?”

At those words, Sejun wondered, was it really that unlike me? Then he realized this was the first time he had ever bought coffee for someone else. He nodded. It was unlike him.

“Thanks.”

Ryu Sehyun thanked him without fuss, unwrapped the straw, and immediately drank the vanilla latte. Seeing him drink it smoothly, apparently not disliking vanilla latte, made Sejun feel a bit pleased.

Good thing he didn’t dislike the taste.

“Hyung, do you want some cake too?”

Feeling satisfied that he had matched his taste well, Sejun shook the cake box he was holding. Sehyun smiled and shook his head.

“I don’t think I’ll have time to eat it. You eat it.”

“Mm.”

Sejun naturally settled onto the sofa in his office. After another sip of coffee, Sehyun, still focused on his documents, asked casually.

“No problems clearing dungeons lately?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The memory of that long kiss with Cha Dogyeong suddenly came to mind, but that had been an accident.

Sejun tried hard to push away the image of Dogyeong’s flawless face right in front of him and gave a vague reply.

“Dohun isn’t giving you trouble?”

“……”

Though Sehyun’s eyes stayed on the papers, Sejun looked caught off guard, then quickly turned his head the other way.

“No? Do you think I’d let him push me around?”

He even scoffed. Ryu Sehyun glanced at him and chuckled, then fixed his gaze back on the documents. His eyes scanned them quickly, impassive.

“Good.”

“So why did you call me? If it was just to ask that, you could have called.”

“I thought we could have a meal together, since it’s been a while.”

No wonder he had been focused on finishing his papers quickly, it was to make time.

“Ah, then maybe I shouldn’t have bought the coffee?”

Thanks to that, it turned into a strange situation where they drank coffee before eating. Sejun clicked his tongue, but Ryu Sehyun shook his head casually.

“No, thank you for buying it. I’m drinking it well.”

After that, when Ryu Sehyun fell silent, the office was filled only with stillness.

Normally, Sejun was the type to chatter away, but in front of the heavy-atmosphered Ryu Sehyun, it wasn’t easy.

He was also much older than Sejun, and Sejun knew he was one of the causes of Sehyun’s fatigue.

It felt awkward to just sit there blankly, and if he went straight to eat like this, the cake box would be bothersome. Thinking it would be better to just finish it quickly, Sejun opened the box and scooped up a big bite with the disposable fork.

It wasn’t anything special, but since carrot cake itself was something he liked, it tasted good.

[You look ecstatic eating the cake while saying ‘it wasn’t anything special,’ that’s something too.]

Shut up.

He almost said it out loud, but then remembered Ryu Sehyun was concentrating, so he quieted his voice as much as possible.

Glancing at Ryu Sehyun, who processed documents quickly with an indifferent face, Sejun hesitated for a moment then stood up holding the cake.

When Sejun approached with the cake in his hand, Ryu Sehyun looked straight at him without a word.

Sejun, looking a little embarrassed, cut a piece and held it out to him.

“This is good.”

“I told you to eat it yourself.”

“It feels weird if I eat alone, you know?”

Ryu Sehyun, who had been focused on his papers with a blunt face, looked at the carrot cake Sejun held out in front of him, then slowly opened his mouth and took it.

If you had to pick one person in the Association who would accept food offered by Seo Sejun without hesitation, it would probably be only Ryu Sehyun.

And of course, there was no one else to whom Sejun would dare offer a piece of cake he had already been eating.

Feeling awkward about giving him one bite and going straight back, Sejun scratched his cheek.

“Aren’t you tired? Busy and all…”

“I have time to eat with you.”

Ryu Sehyun was always like this. He would casually get close, buy Sejun a meal, take him for a drive, or ask if anything was hard these days.

If there was only one person who treated Sejun the same now as before, despite everyone pointing fingers at him, calling him villain, troublemaker, nuisance, that was Ryu Sehyun.

Ah, of course, Cha Dogyeong was the same as ever too, in another sense.

Thinking of Cha Dogyeong made his brow furrow automatically, and Sejun only mouthed silently, unable to smooth it out, when Ryu Sehyun reached out and stroked his hair.

The hand that came down naturally touched his cheek, then the fingers that gently caressed his face withdrew.

“Wait a little. I’ll be done soon. You can play that phone game you said was fun before.”

“Uh, okay.”

Since it felt wrong to play games in front of someone working, Sejun had just been eating the cake, so he was delighted to hear that.

He immediately sat on the sofa, entered multiplayer mode, and started playing enthusiastically. Watching him, Sehyun chuckled, then lightly pressed the fingers that had caressed Sejun’s cheek to his own lips before returning to work.

The two finally headed to a restaurant near the Association for dinner after about an hour.

•••

The Association was in Gangnam.

So when they went out to eat during rush hour, most places were already packed with people. Not as bad as the employee cafeteria at lunch, but in the evening, restaurants that served alcohol with meals were mostly full, and popular places had lines forming outside.

To make matters worse, that day was Friday. All the shops were crammed with office workers meeting for drinks after work. Not only famous popular restaurants but even franchise barbecue places had hardly a seat in sight.

“Oh!”

On top of that, if both Ryu Sehyun and Seo Sejun were recognizable enough that people passing by opened their mouths in shock and pointed at them, such outings became even more difficult.