A Quiet Place Where Eyes Linger

Go Doya seemed bothered by her long, pale-colored hair, and from time to time she lifted the hand that was not holding Ju Noeul’s to sweep the hair that spilled forward back behind her shoulders.

“Good morning. You’re both working hard this early. Doya, want me to tie your hair?”

“Do you have a hair tie?”

“I do.”

“Then tie it low. Down here.”

“So your neck doesn’t show?”

“Yeah.”

Jeong Iheon approached from behind Go Doya as she kept pushing her hair back.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and greeted her in a quiet, gentle tone.

It was always like this around Go Doya.

When you drew near her, everything grew quiet and languid, as if sinking into deep water.

Unlike her hushed exchanges with Ju Noeul, this wasn’t so soft that others couldn’t hear.

The hunter standing beside them could clearly hear Jeong Iheon’s greeting and questions to Go Doya.

Jeong Iheon slipped the blue tie looped around his wrist between his fingers and gently smoothed down Go Doya’s hair.

Entrusting her hair to an S-rank hunter who could tear out a scalp if he misjudged his strength took some nerve, but Go Doya remained calm.

From behind, Jeong Iheon looked genuinely pleased as he toyed with her hair.

Hunter Jeong Iheon usually wore a smile around most people, but this kind of visible enjoyment belonged to an entirely different category.

“Why is it taking so long just to tie some hair?”

Go Doya, who had been continuing her conversation with Ju Noeul as if unaware of Jeong Iheon’s mood, lifted her head and spoke to him.

“I’m just slow with my hands.”

Jeong Iheon lied as naturally as breathing.

An S-rank hunter being slow with his hands.

As if.

At the sound of Jeong Iheon’s voice, a B-rank hunter let out an involuntary snort of laughter.

That small sound made Go Doya react.

Her brightly shining golden eyes turned toward him, and the B-rank hunter froze, his breath catching.

They were dreamy eyes, hazy as if caught in a dream.

Hunter Go Doya’s ability was, without question, “memory manipulation.”

Its rank was low, but it was a rare and special power.

It was also one of the most avoided types of mental abilities among hunters.

Because no one knew the exact conditions under which Go Doya’s ability activated, many hunters avoided making eye contact with her altogether.

Unless they were like Jeong Iheon, touching her hair right now, someone who had carved anti-mental ability tattoos into their body.

Of course, aside from Jeong Iheon, no one else was insane enough to do that.

And yet, their eyes had met.

Even knowing he should look away, he couldn’t tear his gaze from those golden eyes that seemed to emit light.

What finally broke his stare was the back of Hyeon Jaeyul, who had come up beside them without notice.

“I brought hot chocolate.”

“Thanks. And yours?”

“Same.”

A gentle voice flowed out, mismatched with his large build.

Hyeon Jaeyul placed one of the hot chocolates in front of Go Doya and sat across from her, still holding the other cup in his hand.

“But Jaeyul, didn’t you say you don’t like chocolate?”

“It’s fine sometimes.”

“I see,” Go Doya murmured.

As she lowered her head and reached for the drink in front of her, Hyeon Jaeyul’s gaze shifted toward the man.

His pitch-black eyes stared at him without a trace of emotion.

Just black.

The man hurriedly averted his eyes.

He had momentarily forgotten the well-known fact that Hyeon Jaeyul was fiercely protective of his childhood friend, Go Doya.

Go Doya seemed to think of Hyeon Jaeyul as nothing more than a big teddy bear, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Anyone who so much as approached Go Doya could feel those black eyes boring into their back, how threatening they were.

But Go Doya, who only ever looked forward, seemed completely unaware of it.

Being quiet didn’t mean being harmless. That was something Go Doya didn’t know.

When Go Doya lifted her head, Hyeon Jaeyul’s gaze finally moved away from the man.

It was an utterly natural shift of attention.

With three rare S-rank hunters gathered together, people’s eyes kept flicking toward them.

As if to block those glances, Hyeon Jaeyul sat upright directly in front of Go Doya.

The man who had turned away from Hyeon Jaeyul’s gaze noticed a blond man leaning casually against the wall in front of the café.

Blond hair, a gentle impression.

Hunter Won-gyeong.

Unlike other S-rank hunters who radiated sharp hostility, he had an unusually kind demeanor and was often approached by others.

Just standing still, he usually attracted researchers and hunters alike.

Yet today, no one was near him.

Thinking it strange, the man looked at Won-gyeong’s face and quickly understood why.

Won-gyeong’s expression was uncharacteristically cold.

His calmly lowered violet eyes were layered with a thin sheet of killing intent, like frost.

Following the direction of that gaze, he saw Jeong Iheon.

Still not done tying her hair, still winding Go Doya’s hair around his fingers.

Won-gyeong was staring coldly at the hand smoothing through Go Doya’s hair.

People who had been about to approach Won-gyeong noticed his eyes and quietly backed away.

As Won-gyeong watched Jeong Iheon with a sunken expression, his face suddenly softened.

He crinkled his eyes and smiled, like someone caught in an awkward moment.

Perhaps their eyes met.

Go Doya was waving at Won-gyeong.

Following her gesture, he walked over to her.

When Won-gyeong reached her side, he folded his eyes and smiled softly, looking faintly embarrassed.

And with Won-gyeong joining them, gentle conversation continued around Go Doya.

That space alone felt isolated. Utterly quiet.

After falling into this place from a world on the brink of destruction, I felt as though I had been granted a long vacation.

From a world where surviving a single day was difficult, I had come to one overflowing with leisure and comfort.

My sleeping arrangements, food, even the clothes I wore had all changed overnight.

Nothing about it felt familiar.

At the Association’s suggestion, I was staying in the same building as the members who had participated in the apocalypse simulation, and I was lazing around after waking up late.

“This is what living is.”

The bed was soft, but what satisfied me most were the earplugs and soundproofing that had been prepared.

My sensitive hearing wasn’t a secret here.

It wasn’t an ability I could hide for long anyway, but there was still a lingering sense of regret at having it exposed.

The more abilities you hide, the more cards only you hold, the easier it is to respond to unexpected situations.

I was sprawled on the bed, stretching long like a cat, when I heard a knock at the door.

Moving sluggishly, I threw on an outer layer over my pajamas and opened the door.

“Good morning.”

“It’s lunch.”

“For someone who just woke up, it’s morning.”

“You should eat lunch.”

Hyeon Jaeyul stood in front of the door, his expression as unreadable as ever.

Unlike me, who had been sleeping in, he was neatly dressed, as if he had already been out since early morning.

After checking my appearance, Hyeon Jaeyul abruptly pushed me by the back.

“Change your clothes and come out.”

“I want to sleep more.”

“Eat lunch, take a walk, then sleep more.”

“…Are you my guardian or something?”

He was treating me like a sulky child, and the familiarity of it felt strangely natural, as if this were a daily routine for him.

“If you wake up any later, you won’t be able to sleep at night.”

“Okay, okay. Wait a bit. I’ll be out soon.”

“Mm.”

Seeing no sign of him backing down, I yawned deeply and went back into the room.

Aside from pajamas, every piece of clothing I had been issued was formal wear.

Something about maintaining decorum if you were a hunter constantly visiting the Association.

I was used to wearing loose, worn-out clothes, so these sharply tailored outfits felt awkward, but the Association’s reasoning wasn’t wrong, so I followed along.

At the Hunter Association headquarters, hunters, researchers, and administrative staff came and went constantly.

If I walked around looking shabby, I’d draw too much attention.

I fastened my collar almost compulsively.

Buttoned up tight to my neck, I looked in the mirror and saw the same gentle-looking face staring back.

I carefully tied up my hair, which fell to my waist.

My appearance was always too fragile, the kind that looked disheveled the moment I let my guard down.

Among the participants of the apocalypse simulation, I was the only B-rank.

And unlike the other S-ranks, I was the only one whose memories hadn’t returned.

I was already lacking in ability. I couldn’t afford to look sloppy on top of that.

After one last check in the mirror to make sure nothing was amiss, I left the room.

While I was getting ready, Hyeon Jaeyul hadn’t leaned against the wall or moved at all.

He stood exactly where he had knocked, staring blankly ahead.

When I came out, he stepped right up beside me, wearing the same vacant, expressionless look he always had.

As I brushed down my tied hair, noticing how close he stood, I spoke.

“Are we really childhood friends? Since when?”

“Since you were nine. We even lived together from then.”

“Why?”

“All of your guardians were swallowed by a rift.”

Guardians?

I narrowed my brow slightly at Hyeon Jaeyul’s unusual choice of words.

Shouldn’t he have said parents, not guardians?

I questioned him, confused.

“You mean my parents?”

“You didn’t like calling them that.”

“Why not?”

“…I thought it would be fine not to know, if you couldn’t remember.”

Hyeon Jaeyul was the type to answer anything I asked.

Even asking what color underwear he was wearing would probably get a straight reply.

Which made this roundabout phrasing all the stranger.

“I remember bits and pieces from before.”

I pulled up fragments of memory drifting on the surface.

I could feel Hyeon Jaeyul’s quiet gaze resting on me.

As I searched through those memories, I spoke.

“The house I remember always had sentences from some book written everywhere.

The ceiling, the walls, the doors.

Anywhere you could write, there was something written there.”

Hyeon Jaeyul listened without a word, as if waiting for me to continue.