Chapter 45. Death Anniversary (1)

“Hunter Baek Tae-beom, are you listening?”

Baek Tae-beom slowly opened his eyes. Cold, golden eyes that looked like they would embrace nothing stared at him as he crossed his legs while sitting loosely on the sofa. He yawned a beat too late. But nobody here could say anything to such a man.

Only Lee Myung-won frowned and touched his forehead.

“You weren’t listening.”

“I slept late last night.”

“Didn’t I tell you to go to bed early when you have to show up in public?”

“Do I need to hear that?”

Baek Tae-beom tilted his head back and smiled. He had an unbelievably beautiful appearance, but no one was deceived by the man’s appearance anymore.

It has nearly been a year since the first monster incident, and the second incident was just about to be sorted out. It goes without saying that Baek Tae-beom’s contribution was great in managing it. However, as it was true that a Hunter’s grade and personality are inversely proportional, no one could easily touch Baek Tae-beom. As he did not belong to any guild, he was truly an outlaw.

The legislator coughed briefly, but he continued to murmur.

“My hair isn’t even dry yet….”

There was no way that an S-class hunter could not hear it, but Baek Tae-beom insincerely ignored it. Of course, the meeting ended unsatisfactorily. Baek Tae-beom, who was watching the people leaving, looked up at Lee Myung-won standing in front of him.

“What is it?”

“I want to talk. Are you doing this on purpose?”

“What?”

Baek Tae-beom pretended to be innocent, but Lee Myung-won was not such an easy person.

“Are you saying that Choi Ga-hyun’s death anniversary is coming up?”

Baek Tae-beom’s expression noticeably stiffened. He spit out in a ferocious voice.

“It’s not the anniversary.”

“Isn’t it time for you to accept it?”

“I’m sorry, but Hyung is not dead. So shut up.”

Baek Tae-beom got up from his seat and pushed Lee Myung-won’s shoulder. Lee Myung-won, who stepped back a few steps, shouted at the back of Baek Tae-beom, who left without giving in.

“Choi Ga-hyun-ssi is dead! Now let him go!”

Baek Tae-beom exhaled heavily. People freaked out and stepped aside as they saw him stride quickly.

I know.

Baek Tae-beom knew well enough.

That Choi Ga-hyun was dead.

Where was he? He even witnessed his body disappear before his eyes. He searched all over the country just in case, but he was nowhere to be seen. As funny as it was that he was worried about Baek Tae-beom, who was left alone with his younger brother, Choi Ga-hyun had no connections whatsoever. He didn’t even have an address. It was like all traces of his existence had become an illusion.

Choi Ga-hyun is dead.

But Baek Tae-beom could not accept that fact.

Was Choi Ga-hyun that important to Baek Tae-beom? Was he the only one who was important to him?

If you think about it that way, it wasn’t necessarily so. He still had his younger brother. But then the whole story goes back to the beginning.

So.

‘Choi Ga-hyun….’

Everything came down to Choi Ga-hyun alone. He was the one who endeavored to get him out of the illegal hunters’ trap, moved his brother away from the hospital in Seoul, the center of the first incident, contributed to his living and hospital expenses, and kept faith in all of his actions, helping out, holding him, and supporting him.

He looked at me with such honest eyes… Choi Ga-hyun.

Baek Tae-beom was going crazy.

He left abruptly, leaving a huge and deep scar on the life of a man who had nothing. He didn’t even have time to prepare himself. He had to live emptily forever. The place that Ga-hyun Choi cut off was too big. He believed that he was the man that saved his life, but rather, he was the one who ruined him. Baek Tae-beom slept every night with solely the wishes of Choi Ga-hyun being alive.

Cruelly.

Lee Myung-won probably doesn’t know why he was doing this. Baek Tae-beom himself doesn’t know either, so how could he know? He bumped the shoulder of the man who was blocking the way to his car in the parking lot. He sat in the driver’s seat and put his head on the steering wheel.

Today, he has to go back home again.

Alone.

He bit his lower lip hard. Two empty eyes swayed aimlessly. He would cause an accident if he continued driving like this, so he leaned back on the backrest. Then Baek Tae-beom thought of Choi Ga-hyun again. He couldn’t get rid of him. As time passed, he only became clearer. Baek Tae-beom washed his face dry. And exhaled a long breath.

“…That fucking good-for-nothing constellation.”

Since Choi Ga-hyun’s death, he had been grinding his teeth thinking about his constellation, who had been silent. No coin giving, no messages. He could only feel the sense that he was Baek Tae-beom, as if it was proof that he signed the contract.

The man thought that his true constellation was.

“Wait a minute.”