VSP 88

A person gives a doll to another person. Nothing special. In fact, it’s something very common.

However, when the person giving it is Cha Dogyeong, it’s no longer something ordinary.

Yerin knows what kind of person Cha Dogyeong is. He’s a natural-born leader, different from Ryu Sehyun, and he’s a hero who saved the world. But it’s not like he achieved all that with a beautiful heart that wanted to dedicate everything for world peace.

He just had power, and he did it because it was something only he could do.

Of course, even that alone is amazing. He really did something great, but… Yerin sometimes thought, what kind of life would that guy have lived if he hadn’t awakened as a hunter?

He had a messed-up childhood because of family conflicts, so he could’ve turned out twisted if he wanted to.

He’s not the type who seeks affection from others, he doesn’t seem to need romance, and even when he dates, he’s not the passionate kind, yet somehow he keeps getting into relationships. Like he’s been programmed as ‘a man who’s never been without a girlfriend,’ clumsily following that setting.

And now, that Cha Dogyeong did something he wouldn’t even do when dating?

…And with Sejun oppa, of all people?

“…..”

Yerin’s expression turned serious while she kept up with her skincare routine. She hesitated for a moment, but she thought she wouldn’t sleep tonight if she didn’t resolve this discomfort. In the end, she sighed and picked up her phone to make a call.

–What?

Cha Dogyeong’s blunt voice came through the speakerphone.

Yerin didn’t stop applying her skincare and replied.

“Did you, by any chance, give Sejun oppa a doll as a gift?”

It was a straightforward question.

–Yeah.

But Cha Dogyeong answered without a hint of surprise. Like it was perfectly natural. Of course, Yerin was speechless.

“You picked it from the machine from the start to give it to him?”

–Not sure.

“What do you mean, not sure?”

She grumbled at his half-hearted reply, but then he added, in a lazy tone.

–When I was picking it, I didn’t know why I was doing it, but after I picked it, I understood.

“What did you understand?”

–That I picked it to give it to Seo Sejun.

Yerin shut her mouth.

This bastard, does he even realize what that sounds like?

Her hand tapping her cheek also stopped. Lotion didn’t matter anymore. That wasn’t important.

“You… I’m just saying this in case, but don’t play with oppa!”

She suddenly yelled.

To her, Cha Dogyeong’s current attitude was just shallow curiosity, a desire to tease the other person. From the start, he seemed like someone who couldn’t love anyone, yet for some reason, he was bothering Seo Sejun now. If anyone were to get hurt in that relationship, it would definitely be Seo Sejun. That guy’s not the one without blood or tears!

–That’s not your business.

No matter how agitated she was, his voice remained calm. And he wasn’t wrong. They were both adults, and whether someone flirted with someone, dated, or did something similar, Yerin had no right to interfere.

But if a person like Sejun-oppa got his hopes up and got hurt, he’d crumble easily. That’s what she thought.

From the time she’d known him, Yerin had noticed how fragile Seo Sejun really was, even though he didn’t look like it. He was the kind of person who could break from even the smallest shock.

He always argued and shouted back against Lee Dohun, never losing once, but that wasn’t because he was strong. It was more like a chihuahua barking, trying to avoid getting hurt.

And someone like that with Cha Dogyeong? That’s not even like an egg hitting a rock. No, in this case, the egg would be too big. It’s more like a grain of millet.

“Hey, Cha Dogyeong. What the hell are you thinking?”

–……

“Why Sejun-oppa, of all people? If you suddenly got interested in men, find someone else. Sejun-oppa’s handsome, but it’s not like you can’t find another good-looking guy.”

–Do you think I’m interested in Seo Sejun because he’s handsome?

Honestly, Yerin didn’t think so either. But if it wasn’t that, then what about Seo Sejun could possibly attract him? Well, that oppa’s personality is kind of cute…

“Then why are you doing this? Do you actually like him or something?”

You? Not someone else, but you? Sejun-oppa?

She didn’t say the rest, but the meaning was clear enough, and Cha Dogyeong didn’t answer.

But that silence only made Yerin even more frustrated.

Why are you quiet? Cha Dogyeong, this is where you’re supposed to say, like it’s obvious, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ Why aren’t you denying it!?

However, Cha Dogyeong’s answer was neither a yes nor a no.

–…Do I like him?

“What?”

What the hell? Yerin was dumbfounded, but Cha Dogyeong’s voice remained unnecessarily calm.

–I happened to think I should check that for myself too.

What the hell does that even mean?

–I happened to wonder what I should do, but thanks to you, now I know what to do.

“What, what are you planning to do?”

–At times like this, there’s only one thing to do.

What is it!? What the hell is that!? Yerin started to panic.

“Hey, Cha Do…”

–Anyway, thanks.

Click.

The call ended just like that.

“…..”

Yerin remained frozen with her mouth slightly open for quite a while.

Then what happened this morning suddenly came to her mind. Seo Sejun and Cha Dogyeong.

Cha Dogyeong stood naturally beside Sejun, and Sejun’s face looked relaxed, as if he felt comfortable with Cha Dogyeong being there. Others probably didn’t notice, but Yerin’s keen eyes caught that particular expression.

It wasn’t only Cha Dogyeong. Seo Sejun, and the people who stood around him, Cha Dogyeong, Lee Dohun, Choi Hangyeol, and Ryu Sehyun.

The way they looked at Seo Sejun, that subtle atmosphere, suddenly flashed in her mind like a light bulb turning on.

Uh…?

Her quick mind instantly formed a certain hypothesis, but she desperately tried to erase it from her head for her own sake.

“Aaah!”

She screamed and jumped up from her seat.

She wasn’t even a little prepared to accept the truth she’d just realized. No, she would rather not know it for the rest of her life!

No wonder she’d never felt drawn to any male hunters. No, more than that, Choi Hangyeol, that bastard.

“Ugh, stop thinking.”

In the end, she gave up on her skincare and collapsed face-first onto the bed like a wilted vegetable.

Of course, she couldn’t sleep.

•••

The medical checkup result was, as always, good.

He could still hear the Association doctor laughing and saying that since hunters aged slowly anyway, they might as well live up to one hundred and fifty.

Well, after the Final Dungeon, S-rank dungeons had nearly vanished, and the chance of dying inside a dungeon had drastically dropped. Even normal people now lived past a hundred, so for a hunter, that one-hundred-fifty talk wasn’t that unrealistic.

But he didn’t want to grow old alone until then.

[You have Hunter Cha Dogyeong.]

When Sejun imagined himself growing old alone in the distant future, he shuddered.

Hearing an unexpected name made Sejun jump.

“Cha Dogyeong? Why the hell is his name showing up here?”

[Who else besides Hunter Cha Dogyeong could be someone you could date right now?]

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m gonna meet a kind and pretty person before I turn thirty and get married!”

[You’re still saying that.]

Even though he’d once admitted that he had a crush on Cha Dogyeong, Sejun immediately started denying it again as if he’d never admitted it that before.

The reason was simple.

“How could there be anything with a guy who doesn’t even contact me!”

After that day, there hadn’t been a single personal message from Cha Dogyeong.

They’d run into each other at the Association during the health check after the night he’d slept at Cha Dogyeong’s place, but everyone was moving together at the time, so there hadn’t been a single moment for the two of them to be alone, and he hadn’t gotten any separate message either.

He had wanted to ask Cha Dogyeong why he’d fought with Lee Dohun if they’d been alone, but he never got the chance.

And to be honest, reaching out first was awkward. Asking something like, “Did you get angry at Dohun because of me?” was too self-conscious, so he planned to casually ask if Dogyeong contacted him first. But the guy simply didn’t contact him!

The system told him bluntly, [Then you should message him first,] but Sejun clung to useless pride, thinking that if he did that, he’d look like the one chasing in this so-called “crush.”

That was how, somehow, neither of them had reached out, and more than a week had passed. It was now almost half a month.

By that point, Sejun started to feel annoyed.

If this was a fling, shouldn’t they be talking every day? Huh? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to go?

Shouldn’t they be having cute conversations like, “I ate this today,” “The weather’s nice, it’d be great to go out,” “Where should we go next time?” that kind of pink and fluffy talk?

Even though he himself hadn’t contacted first because of his stupid pride, Sejun grumbled in frustration.