Where Beans Are Planted, Beans Grow

It was good up to the point where he boldly embraced him. It wasn't bad that Lee Sa-young, who Cha Eui-jae thought would push him away immediately, didn't. But the problem was that not only Lee Sa-young, but Cha Eui-jae's body also stiffened, making it feel like two solid logs were standing pressed together.

Lee Sa-young's body was colder than the normal body temperature. Almost like a dead person. Suddenly, the nape of Cha Eui-jae's neck felt chilly. He bit his lip. His mouth went dry from nervousness.

'…No, Lee Sa-young is alive.'

Cha Eui-jae unconsciously tightened his embrace and focused on the pulse beating at the nape of his neck. Thump, thump, thump… He closed his eyes, feeling the somehow fast-beating pulse.

Every time he patted and stroked Lee Sa-young's back, he could feel the tense movements of well-toned muscles and hear the occasional low breaths. The sweet scent. The spots where Cha Eui-jae's body touched the pale skin were warming up slightly. A sign of life.

Cha Eui-jae tilted his head slightly to listen to the heartbeat a little more.

Wham!

A strong force shoved his right shoulder. Cha Eui-jae, who was pushed back as he was shoved, opened his eyes wide. Lee Sa-young froze in the same position with his hand extended. His black fingertips slightly curled.

Their gazes met and clashed at the distance created between them. Lee Sa-young's purple eyes were slightly widened. Cha Eui-jae, who was also surprised to see the one who pushed him looking more flustered, rolled his eyes.

'Was I hugging him for too long?'

His shoulder, pushed by Lee Sa-young's hand, ached slightly. It had been a while since he felt this kind of pain, as his body rarely got injured by any attack. Cha Eui-jae rubbed his shoulder with his palm. Lee Sa-young's gaze followed every move he made intently.

If it had been anyone other than Cha Eui-jae who was pushed, they would have been thrown into the pile of boxes. Their shoulder bones might have been shattered. Should he advise Lee Sa-young to be careful with his strength when pushing people? Or should he pretend to be more hurt? But the unsettling look on Lee Sa-young's face made it hard to say anything.

He seemed… anxious.

"…"

Lee Sa-young, who had pushed Cha Eui-jae, just stood there blankly staring at him. It was unclear whether his last resort had worked.

However, now it was more important to appease Lee Sa-young than to teach or defeat him. Well, at least he didn't end up in the pile of boxes. Having reached this positive conclusion, Cha Eui-jae nonchalantly brushed off his shoulder.

"Feeling better now?"

Lee Sa-young's shoulder flinched. After a moment, he clenched his fist and sarcastically retorted with a grim face.

"Do you have no learning ability?"

He was trying to get over it nicely, so why was this guy suddenly attacking his intelligence? Cha Eui-jae, who had been smiling leisurely, immediately frowned.

"Hey, why are you bringing up learning ability now?"

"Did you think it was years ago that you coughed up blood?"

"Blood?"

Cha Eui-jae, who was frowning and recalling the words, let out a short exclamation. Lee Sa-young seemed to be referring to the time he had vomited blood during the contract.

Thanks to the 'Basilisk's Venom' trait, he had developed an immunity, so Lee Sa-young's poison was no longer a concern for Cha Eui-jae. What he was actually concerned about…

Lee Sa-young continued to mock without closing the distance.

"If you cough up blood here, how are you going to handle the aftermath?"

"…"

"Why, are you going to leave the cleanup to me too?"

"…"

"Even though the antidote doesn't work…"

"Hey, Sa-young."

Cha Eui-jae, who had called Lee Sa-young without thinking, shut his mouth tightly. No matter how much Lee Sa-young knew about Cha Eui-jae hiding his strength, he couldn't reveal the existence of the antidote trait to him.

'It's so suspicious.'

An S-grade trait that can immediately detoxify and build immunity. Even if he was a hunter hiding his power, wouldn't it be suspicious just to hear about it?

"…"

A short silence fell. Lee Sa-young stopped snapping and stared at Cha Eui-jae with his mouth tightly shut.

Well, it was understandable that he was surprised since the person he had given the antidote to almost died in front of him from not being able to withstand the poison. He probably regretted wasting the nectar… he would keep thinking about it. Cha Eui-jae shrugged his shoulders.

"No… really, it's fine. Your poison isn't that dangerous anymore."

Cha Eui-jae spoke the truth, but Lee Sa-young seemed even more displeased. Lee Sa-young, who had his hands in his pockets, muttered in a low voice.

"Oh… and yet someone like that vomits blood like that?"

"I said it's not like that now. I'm fine."

"I don't plan on dealing with a corpse here."

Cha Eui-jae tried to rebut, but Lee Sa-young seemed uninterested in listening. Instead, he silently took out the tickets registered to both of them.

When Lee Sa-young tore the edges of both tickets at once, the surroundings blurred and sank to the floor, replaced by a new scenery. Where the boxes had been stacked untidily, there was now a long sofa and a table. Where the dark alley walls covered in dust had been, there were clean walls and bright lights.

In a short moment, they found themselves in a spacious waiting room-like area. Black letters appear one by one on the neatly wallpapered white wall.

"Waiting Room for Artisan Exhibition Participants"

[Created personally by Hong Ye-seong.]

[Each waiting room is accessible only with a certified ticket.]

[Please wait in each waiting room until the tournament starts.]

[Leaving the waiting room and causing trouble may result in punishment under the Awakened Special Law.]

[If a disturbance seems likely, evacuate to a personal waiting room and contact the Awakened Management Bureau ^^]

Why put a line through "waiting room"? While Cha Eui-jae was suspiciously eyeing the words on the wall and the newly appeared waiting room, Lee Sa-young, who was more familiar with the place, pointed to the sofa.

"Sit down."

"What's this place for?"

"It's written there. A waiting room."

Cha Eui-jae still looked puzzled, so Lee Sa-young added an explanation.

"The last exhibition almost had the building collapse."

"Why?"

"Because there was a brat without manners."

The abundant chat logs that had filled his mind came to mind automatically. Were the precautions listed there all learned through experience? What kind of battlefield was the last exhibition?

And what kind of person would bring him to such a place under the guise of a date with threats? As Cha Eui-jae remained confused, Lee Sa-young muttered nonchalantly.

"They said they'd isolate us this time… and made a separate space like this. It's like a hamster cage."

According to him, the last time they put several super-hunter hamsters in one cage, the building almost collapsed, and the exhibition nearly failed. So this time, they decided on a one-hamster, one-cage policy.

Not running into others was good, but being alone with twisted Lee Sa-young in this place wasn't all that welcome. Cha Eui-jae, still looking suspicious, sat on the sofa.

Lee Sa-young, folding his arms and staring at Cha Eui-jae, spoke.

"Your shirt."

"Huh?"

"Take it off."

Seeing him gesture toward his shoulder, it seemed he wanted to check the shoulder he had pushed earlier. Though it ached intermittently, it would naturally heal over time. Cha Eui-jae didn't want to undress. He exaggeratedly swung his arm to show he was fine.

"It wasn't even that hard of a hit."

Lee Sa-young muttered darkly.

"You better take it off before I do it myself."

Cha Eui-jae unconsciously clutched his jacket tightly.

"Hey, you didn't take off your gas mask earlier."

"Is that the same?"

"What's the difference? Why don't you believe me when I say I'm fine?"

"Oh, sure I'll believe that."

Though Lee Sa-young was mocking, his gaze was still fixed around Cha Eui-jae's shoulder. Cha Eui-jae blurted out without thinking.

"Are you worried about me?"

"…"

Lee Sa-young took a step forward, clicking his tongue. His black hand gripped the sofa backrest. He looked down at Cha Eui-jae, who was sitting on the sofa, and after some time, answered.

"…No way."

"…"

After a moment, Lee Sa-young took his hand off the backrest, pulled out his phone, and seemed to respond to a message from someone before turning his body and heading towards the door.

"…Get some rest here. Don't think about going out and getting noticed by others."

Squeak, bang! The door closed firmly. Cha Eui-jae stared at the door for a few minutes but saw no sign of it reopening.

Cha Eui-jae finally exhaled a long breath and sprawled out on the sofa. He must have been quite tense without realizing it, as his entire body felt lethargic. Left alone in this space, Cha Eui-jae quietly stared at the ceiling.

Though silence prevailed, it wasn't unsettling. Perhaps because he knew the space was safe, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time washed over him. Stability.

And suddenly, a question he hadn't considered before surfaced.

'Why is Lee Sa-young not curious about me?'

People often pestered him about his abilities under the guise of better utilizing him. They wanted to know what his powers could do, where his limits were, and explored everything.

But Lee Sa-young neither asked questions nor tried to utilize him properly. By now, he would have figured out that Cha Eui-jae was a capable person at a similar level. Cha Eui-jae turned over and lay on his side.

'Isn't it basic to assess the other party before making a contract?'

It was fundamental to ask about skills and characteristics, but Lee Sa-young showed no interest in such things. It was as if Lee Sa-young needed Cha Eui-jae's existence itself.

Cha Eui-jae opened his right hand and stared at his palm. A faint golden chain shimmered faintly. He clenched and unclenched his fist, but the golden chain still glinted there. The thought that had started continued to grow.

'Could he know that I am J?'

No, that couldn't be. If he did, he would have already demanded something in exchange for keeping the secret. But Lee Sa-young didn't ask anything and simply set the condition not to betray him.

'Then why?'

After escaping from the rift, Cha Eui-jae aimed to live a perfect, ordinary life— quiet and peaceful. A life where he lived each day earnestly without involving monsters or rifts. But such a modest life turned out to be harder to achieve, leaving him no room to think about anything else for several months.

But at some point, Lee Sa-young had squeezed into the well-ordered gaps of his daily life. As if he, too, was part of that quiet life, he occupied a corner, and it was only now that Cha Eui-jae noticed it.

Cha Eui-jae's life was now filled with Lee Sa-young. Cha Eui-jae mulled over this realization for a long time.

***

The dark figure stood silently between the stacks of boxes in the secluded alley, the same spot before the ticket was torn. There had been two, but now there was only one. His eyes, chasing the dust floating in the air, turned toward the wall.

"…Okay, I'm sorry."

The strong arms that had embraced him, the warmth that had enveloped him, the hand that had repeatedly stroked his back, the quietly beating heart, the soft hair brushing against his nape.

Gritting his teeth, Lee Sa-young muttered softly, his voice echoing in the alley.

"Guild Leader."

From Lee Sa-young's shadow, a round head poked out slowly. It was A Small Miracle Seo Min-gi who was supposed to be on an overseas business trip. Of course, he had merely touched the threshold of the airplane before sneaking back into the Awakened Management Bureau.

Dressed in a neat suit, he crawled out of the shadow and stood on two feet, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I apologize for being a bit late. I had to wrap up some tasks."

"Report."

"Yes, first, please take this."

Lee Sa-young took the tablet that Seo Min-gi handed him. When he turned on the screen, large red Gothic letters greeted him.

[J Tracking Report]

As Lee Sa-young stared at the screen, Seo Min-gi cleared his throat.

"Then, I will begin the report."