Kwon Taehyuk’s expression instantly turned grim.
Cha Seohu was already an outstanding Supporter with a good personality, and he was surrounded by a swarm of S-ranks because of it.
And now another one was being added to the mix? And it was that Hunter Yoon Jeha—the one even the Association had failed to rein in?
'Absolutely not.'
Kwon Taehyuk squeezed his eyes shut as memories of past encounters with her surfaced.
“Make up an excuse and turn her away. It’s already ridiculous that she came alone, but showing up with the Association in tow? Tsk...”
“Understood.”
Just as the secretary bowed respectfully at the expected command and turned to leave the office—
“Uh, sir?”
“Is there something else to report?”
“No, it’s just...”
The secretary stood frozen in surprise as Kwon Taehyuk abruptly rose from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
Kwon Taehyuk answered with a face that said, Isn’t it obvious?
“I’m going to see Hunter Cha Seohu.”
“Wha—? But the documents I gave you this morning...”
“I’ll review them when I get back.”
Brushing the matter off, Kwon Taehyuk quickly passed the secretary and exited the office.
Heading straight for Cha Seohu’s room, he walked briskly down the hallway toward the elevator. The secretary trailed him with a defeated look, then shook his head in resignation.
'I give up.'
The secretary deliberately ignored his boss’s tendency to dash off to Cha Seohu the moment anything happened.
He didn’t want to know the reason. Whether his boss was dating the guest or not—didn’t matter. As long as he got paid on time for doing his job, that was enough.
'Hunter Cha Seohu... good luck!'
Happily unloading his troublesome boss onto the guest, the secretary returned to his desk. There was never a need to accompany Kwon Taehyuk when he visited Cha Seohu anyway—he always went alone.
Kwon Taehyuk arrived at the room where Cha Seohu was staying and immediately rang the doorbell.
Soon, he heard footsteps approaching. While waiting, he straightened his disheveled clothes and prepared his greeting—only to widen his eyes in shock the moment the door opened.
“Hunter Cha Seohu—are you sick?”
“Oh, this?”
Cha Seohu awkwardly rubbed at the mask covering the lower half of his face and gave a sheepish eye-smile in response to the question that flew out instead of a greeting.
“It’s not a cold, just a cough. I think it was too dry last night, so I wore this for a bit.”
“Dry...?”
Crash—a bolt of lightning struck Kwon Taehyuk’s mind.
Too dry? Dry enough to cause a cough and require a mask?
Unbelievable. Was his body so delicate that dry air made him cough? What if this turned into a chronic condition? Should he go buy a humidifier right now?
As Kwon Taehyuk stood frozen in confusion, Cha Seohu motioned to him.
“Guildmaster? Aren’t you coming in?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. Coming.”
Snapping back to his senses, Kwon Taehyuk quickly followed after Cha Seohu.
'Maybe a warm drink would be better than a humidifier for now...'
Still mulling it over, he sat down on the living room couch # Nоvеlight # and belatedly looked at the person sitting across from him.
Cha Sahyeon. Seohu’s younger brother.
His expressionless, pale face gave off the usual dazed look.
Kwon Taehyuk, scanning a face that resembled Cha Seohu’s, suddenly noticed something odd.
'The corners of his mouth...?'
They were unusually red. On closer inspection, it looked like a minor injury.
He didn’t know the boy’s exact identity yet, but judging by the aura he gave off, he was at least S-rank.
If a body like that had a visible cut, it meant the injury was recent. But how did it happen?
'Don’t tell me... it was dry?'
Was it really so dry that even an S-rank’s lips cracked?
For the second time that day, Kwon Taehyuk was stunned.
“What brings you here today?”
Cha Seohu returned from the kitchen, placed a glass of juice down, and sat beside his brother.
Come to think of it, the fridge had plenty of juice, but he hadn’t prepared any tea or warm drinks. He should gift him a popular tea set right away. And a humidifier too.
Listing all the things he needed to buy in his head, Kwon Taehyuk took a sip of the juice.
“Sorry to drop by unannounced.”
He'd been doing that every day for a while now, so what was he even apologizing for?
But Cha Seohu just smiled politely and said,
“No need to apologize. You gave me this place to stay—feel free to come by whenever.”
There wasn’t a shred of sincerity in his voice, but Kwon Taehyuk didn’t notice at all and simply looked pleased.
“The reason I came today...”
Kwon Taehyuk was about to explain the visit from Yoon Jeha and the Association, as reported by the secretary, but then he hesitated.
'Wait. Should I even bring this up?'
He’d already turned them away at his level. Telling Seohu might just stress him out for no reason.
Most of all, he didn’t want Seohu to even learn about someone like Yoon Jeha.
He already had enough S-ranks orbiting him, including Ryu Sunghyun—there was no reason to toss another one into the mix.
After fiddling with his juice glass and thinking hard, Kwon Taehyuk finally spoke.
“I just... came.”
“...What?”
“My schedule opened up... so I thought I’d stop by.”
He hadn’t come up with a proper excuse because the moment the secretary mentioned Cha Seohu’s name, he’d dashed over like he was possessed.
Cha Seohu gave him a blank stare, while Sahyeon looked at him like, What’s wrong with this guy?
A little flustered by their reactions, Kwon Taehyuk awkwardly rubbed his cheek.
“Is that not allowed?”
“...It’s not a problem. Like I said, come by anytime. This is Yesung Guild property, after all.”
Clearing his throat and recovering his composure, Cha Seohu added,
“Well, this works out. I actually needed to talk to you.”
“To me?”
“I’m planning to go out tomorrow. I wanted to visit the Circle Guild, but it looks like there are still reporters outside the building. If possible, I’d like to borrow a car.”
“If that’s all, of course you can.”
Even if Seohu hadn’t asked, Kwon Taehyuk had already planned to assign him a driver for any outing. And—
“I’ll accompany you as well.”
“...Pardon?”
“Honestly, I thought the Circle side would visit us first, but they seem busy with new members these days.”
Ryu Sunghyun, Song Jiwoon, and Representative Song Jiwon—all of whom seemed close to Seohu—and even the healer Dan Yeoun, who he met during the Great Dungeon.
With so many familiar faces in Circle, it wasn’t surprising that Seohu wanted to visit. But that didn’t mean Kwon Taehyuk would let him go alone.
“Since our guild is in a cooperative relationship with Circle, I also have matters to discuss with their representative. Let’s go together.”
'Cooperative relationship? Since when...?'
Cha Seohu gave him a baffled look. But since he technically belonged to neither guild, there was no real basis for an argument.
“...Sure. Do what you want...”
He had already planned to give some explanations anyway, since both Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun had witnessed various things during the Great Dungeon.
'Didn’t think he’d pull the “cooperation” excuse just to tag along, though...'
Seohu felt a bit conflicted.
The next day, just as discussed, Cha Seohu, Cha Sahyeon, and Kwon Taehyuk finished getting ready and stepped into the elevator together.
Cha Sahyeon had activated a choker item and was in child form.
Though he didn’t need to hide his adult form anymore since the cult known as “Nox Bio” had already marked him, the choker was still used for control, as no one could predict what kind of incident might occur due to his L-rank aura.
Holding the child-like Sahyeon’s hand, Seohu exited the elevator and crossed the lobby on Kwon Taehyuk’s lead—when suddenly,
“Wow, what a coincidence! It’s been a while for both of you.”
“...!”
An all-too-familiar voice cut in.
Startled, Cha Seohu and Kwon Taehyuk turned to the side—only to find a man leaning against the reception desk, waving with a bright smile.
“I was just about to request a meeting. What timing!”
“Eun Woojeong?”
A tall man dressed neatly.
Actor Eun Woojeong smiled as he approached the two. Shockingly, his hair was the same snowy white as it was when he wore his mask.
Frowning slightly at Eun Woojeong’s sudden appearance, Kwon Taehyuk asked,
“What brings you to the guild?”
“I was bored. It’s my off-season, so I’ve got loads of free time. Long time no see, Hunter Cha Seohu.”
“...Ah, yeah.”
Looking at the grinning Eun Woojeong, Cha Seohu reluctantly replied.
'So this is what he meant when he said he’d stick close to me, huh.'
He forced down a sigh that had risen all the way to his throat.

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