Chapter 05
‘Isn’t that Kang Gwon-hoo? What on earth is he doing here again!’
I didn’t want to believe it, but Baek Woo-jin’s eyesight was sharp enough to take in every detail of the standoff between Kang Gwon-hoo and Baek So-hyuk. No amount of rubbing my eyes could erase what I was seeing.
Instinctively, I jumped down from the window ledge and ran toward them. By the fifth or sixth long stride it occurred to me that charging in was probably just inviting trouble—like a shrimp caught between fighting whales—but it was too late. Both of them had already spotted me. The pressure radiating from them was so intense it made me shrink back.
‘This isn’t shrimp-between-whales territory—this is plankton getting crushed.’
I skidded to a stop, almost tripping as I tried to brake my momentum. Baek So-hyuk’s glare and Kang Gwon-hoo’s amused smile made my knees wobble. I wanted to smack myself for rushing in without thinking.
“Careful.”
Somehow Kang Gwon-hoo, who had been a few paces away, was suddenly right beside me, catching my arm as I stumbled. His arm against my waist felt hot.
“Thanks,” I blurted, realizing for the first time that when my brain overloads, nonsense just falls out.
“Can’t you take your hand off him?”
Baek So-hyuk’s voice was a low, dangerous growl. Maybe I was the only one intimidated, because Kang Gwon-hoo only tightened his arm around me.
“Why? It’s not like I’m touching you—or your girlfriend,” he said, taunting him even more. Baek So-hyuk’s expression turned colder than a tundra blizzard.
“You think I don’t know what you’re up to? You reel people in, use them until they’re dry, then toss them aside. Pretend to be some saint, but inside you’re just chasing your own amusement.”
Baek So-hyuk had pegged Kang Gwon-hoo’s intentions with unsettling accuracy. A mere S-rank’s brute force alone couldn’t have built that kind of influence at his age.
Maybe Kang Gwon-hoo hadn’t bothered to hide his nature after all.
Despite being called out, Kang Gwon-hoo only gave a thoughtful “hmm,” drawing it out. His hand was now resting against my side.
“At first, yeah, that was the plan. I thought I’d toy with your clueless older brother for a bit and then toss him. Watching you lose it and self-destruct sounded fun. Honestly, it was funny that you even cared when you’re not real brothers.”
His voice was as calm and gentle as if reciting scripture, yet his words could make the devil flinch.
“But I changed my mind. Just keeping Baek Woo-jin near me doesn’t seem so bad.”
“You’re joking, right?”
The question slipped out of me, not Baek So-hyuk. I’d meant to play the role of a silent rice sack in Kang Gwon-hoo’s grip, but that shocking statement yanked the words from my mouth.
“If you find it funny, you can take it as a joke,” he said lightly, his pleasant voice tickling my ear. I hated to admit it, but I could see why people believed his nice-guy act when he chose to put it on.
“My brother told me yesterday he’d never join your guild.”
‘I never said it like that! I only said it wasn’t likely!’
The grip around my waist tightened, sending a chill through me. Was he about to squeeze me to death?
“True enough. I’m the one begging Baek Woo-jin to join.”
“My brother’s guild?”
Baek So-hyuk’s gaze snapped to me. Whatever warmth he’d had toward me drained away, leaving his eyes as blank as glass marbles in the sunlight.
“You planned to start a guild? And let Kang Gwon-hoo in?”
I wanted to tell him I was completely against it and beg him to help me stop it.
‘And maybe calm that murderous aura while you’re at it.’
Being wedged between two S-rank hunters felt like having hands clamped around my throat from both sides.
Then—
“Did you forget I told you to stay out of this yesterday?”
Once again, my mouth betrayed me. Maybe I should just sew it shut for survival. I expected Baek So-hyuk to lash out at my cheeky remark, but instead he pressed his lips together and said nothing. A heavy silence settled. My fingers curled inward with anxiety.
“Baek Woo-jin.”
He’d been calling me “hyung” (big brother) until a moment ago.
‘Sure, he slipped and used my name yesterday when he was angry, but he corrected himself right away.’
That cold, formal address drove home how broken our relationship had become. Yet my impudent mouth kept running.
“So you’re done calling me brother now?”
It was one of Baek Woo-jin’s old in-game catchphrases. Back when I was just playing the game, I’d cringed every time he said it. Saying it myself was oddly surreal.
“If you follow Kang Gwon-hoo, we’re finished.”
“What?”
“I’ve held back for the sake of our past. But if you team up with him, from that moment on, Baek Woo-jin is no brother of mine—just an enemy.”
Considering he’d already dropped the word “brother,” he sure had a way with declarations. He must have made up his mind long ago, sick of my antics.
“I don’t care about being treated like a brother anyway. Do what you want.”
“Fine.”
I turned away without a backward glance, any earlier hesitation gone. As I walked off, I left one last warning:
“Becoming my enemy means if you’re dying in front of me, I won’t save you.”
Faint traces of unspoken emotion lingered in the spaces between his words. I didn’t want to trample even that fragile kindness, so I stayed silent.
Only after Baek So-hyuk’s presence completely vanished did Kang Gwon-hoo speak.
“You’re pretty ruthless with your little brother. Different from yesterday. I like it.”
Not exactly the comment one should make after witnessing such a painful family fight—especially when he’d been the cause of it.
“It’s not like I want things to be this way,” I said bitterly, pulling free of his arm. He let go surprisingly easily—probably just holding me to provoke Baek So-hyuk. My head throbbed from all the broken plans, too much to calculate my words.
‘Maybe I should’ve delivered that letter yesterday.’
Embarrassing or not, handing it over in person might have been better. Not that Kang Gwon-hoo’s sudden appearance would have changed much, but I couldn’t help feeling regret.
“Is that the face of someone with big regrets?” he asked, as if oblivious to human feelings.
‘Well, he’s closer to a sociopath than a normal person,’ I thought. That was part of why I kept trying to get away from him.
“Anyway, why are you here? I thought you said you’d give me time to think.”
Changing the subject seemed easier than trying to reason with him. Baek So-hyuk hadn’t literally declared he’d stab me, so maybe there was still room to maneuver.
“I said I’d give you time to decide, not that I wouldn’t come see you,” he replied. Technically true, but most people don’t show up the very next day after saying that.
‘But expecting normal behavior from Kang Gwon-hoo was my mistake.’
I strolled a few steps to put a safer distance between us.
“It’s something important. I need time alone to think,” I said, trying to look as pitiful as possible. But he wasn’t the type to be moved by pleading.
“Then think while keeping me by your side. Pretend I’m not even here if you like.”
What nonsense.
‘How am I supposed to pretend you’re not here? And how am I supposed to recruit guild members with you looming over me?’
With those long legs of his, he closed the gap I’d made in an instant.
“Okay?”
If I said no, he’d just pressure me until yes came out.
“Do whatever you want,” I sighed. Weak as I was, all I could do was nod.
